The Yearly Wrap-Up Begins...

Obviously, the season is not over yet as the Twins have 10 games remaining on their schedule, but with it being their last off day of the season, we took the chance to look back at the highlights of each of the Twins’ hitters seasons, in order to add some good memories to the mostly bad and disappointing ones that represent the second half of this season. In no particular order, here they are.


Mike Redmond-
In an 11-4 win against the Royals on August 8th, Redmond had his only 4 hit game of the season, as he raised his batting average 12 points on the day and drove in a run.
4-5, RBI
Redmond helped Boof Bonser earn his first win of the year as he hit his only home run of the year in a 16-4 clobbering of the Tigers on May 13th.
2-5, R, HR, RBI, BB

Jason Bartlett-
On August 25th, Bartlett reached base all 5 times he came to the plate, with a double, 3 singles, and a walk in an 8-1 victory at Camden Yards.
4-4, 2 R, 2B, 2 RBI, BB
Bartlett stole 10 bases in the month of June, including 2 in an 8-5 win over Toronto on June 28th, a game in which he matched Frank Thomas’s 500th homer with one of his own.
2-3, 2 R, HR, RBI, 2 SB

Brian Buscher-
Buscher has only played in 24 games this year, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that his two best have been the ones in which he has hit a home run: the first on August 28th against Cleveland and the second on September 8th against the White Sox.
8/28: 3-4, 2 R, HR, RBI
9/8: 2-4, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI

Nick Punto-
Opening Day: 2-5, R, 2 2B, RBI, and it all went downhill from there.

Justin Morneau-
In the second game of the doubleheader against the White Sox on July 6th, the Twins won 12-0 behind 6 home runs as a team, including 3 from Morneau, as he became the first Twin since Tony Oliva to hit 3 in a game.
3-5, 3 R, 3 HR, 6 RBI
On May 22nd in Texas, Morneau had another one of his 5 multi-HR games of the year, as he knocked 2 out of the park and drove in 5 runs from the designated hitter position.
3-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 5 RBI

Alexi Casilla-
Casilla scored the Twins’ only two runs against the Angels on August 12th, and he also swiped a pair of bases in the 6-2 loss.
2-2, 2 R, 2 SB
Just a couple weeks ago on September 3rd, Casilla had his first career four-hit game as the Twins had another disappointing game, falling 5-0 to the Indians. (Sorry, I was trying to keep it positive, but it’s so hard when I’m looking back at some of these games.)
4-4, 2B

Lew Ford-
Ford had a very nice June, when he hit .326/.383/.535, and its no coincidence that his best two games came from that month, as he didn't hit over .200 in any other month. He also accumulated seven of his 14 runs batted in on the season in these two games. The game of June 17th, Ford didn't even start, replacing Torii Hunter in the first inning after he got hit by a pitch on the hand.
6/17: 2-3, 2 2B, R, 4 RBI
6/30: 2-4, R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI

Rondell White-
Obviously, Rondell had very few things to be happy about this year. Right now his batting average sits at a putrid--even by Nick Punto standards-- .155. On the days of August 26th and September 7th, however, he managed to hit a pair of ninth-inning home runs, the second one coming before their epic six run, ninth inning collapse against the White Sox.
8/26: 2-5, R, HR, 2 RBI
9/7: 1-3, R, HR, 3 RBI

Jason Tyner-
Tyner had a very special year, in lieu solely of his first career home run on June 28th. After 1220 at bats, the longest such current such streak at the time, Tyner hit a 352 foot laser to right field that just squeaked over the wall (for those of you wishing to relive the glory, as I did, click here). Obviously, that game made the cut. His second game on the list was way back on April 14th, in support of none other than Sidney Ponson, who managed a rare halfway-decent start in getting a win. For one reason or another, neither of his two games with multiple runs batted in were included.
4/14: 3-5, 2 2B, 3 R, RBI
7/28: 2-4, R, HR, RBI

Jason Kubel-
Kubel is the first of three who will bring back fond memories of the 20-14 win over the White Sox in the first game of a doubleheader on July 6th (of course Morneau did elicit memories of the second game already). He set a career mark in RBIs on the day with seven.
2-3, R, HR, 7 RBI, BB
On August 24th at Camden Yards, Kubel succeeded in raking a double and a home run to help the Twins rally from a 4-0 deficit in support of Johan Santana. He and Morneau both homered in the seventh inning, with just a single by Michael Cuddyer in between.
2-3, R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, BB

Garrett Jones-
The decision for Jones' best games wasn't very difficult, as he only had six (after yesterday, seven) games with a hit this year. He did manage a 3-hit performance just a few weeks back, despite his batting average hovering below .200 the entire year.
7/12: 2-4, R, 2B
9/2: 3-3

Michael Cuddyer-
Cuddyer had perhaps an underwhelming year as a whole, but at times showed a lot of life. He tied a career high on May 26th by collecting four hits and set a career high with five RBIs, including a 2-RBI single in the bottom of the ninth as part of a three-run rally to tie the game. The Twins eventually lost in the 13th.
4-5, R, HR, 5 RBI, BB
On June 30th, Cuddy helped Kevin Slowey pick up his third win of the year in an 8-5 win over the Tigers. He tied a season high with seven total bases.
2-4, 2 R, 3B, HR, 3 RBI, BB

Torii Hunter-
In a career year, there were plenty of games to choose from, but there were two that stood out above the rest. Clearly, his game against Detroit on May 13th was chosen, when he had a career high of seven RBIs, along with the first game of that July 6th doubleheader against Chicago. On that day in all, he went 5-7 with 5 runs scored, 2 doubles, 2 home runs, 4 runs batted in, and two walks. That's what you call a great day.
5/13: 3-5, 2 R, 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI
7/6: 3-4, 3 R, 2 2B, HR, 3 RBI, BB

Joe Mauer-
And last but not least, Joe Mauer. His first game, on June 24th, was the final game of interleague play for the Twins, and was also the game in which Johan Santana tripled. It was Mauer's only multi-home run game this year, too.
2-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI, BB
Ah, and let's revisit that glorious day that was July 6th once again, this time still the first game of the doubleheader. Mauer had a fantastic game along with Kubel, Hunter, and many others, accruing his season high in runs batted in, runs, and hits.
4-6, 4 R, 2B, 5 RBI, BB