This is a two-part quiz.
Part I:
What do these men have in common? Bucky Harris, Eddie Dyer, Ralph Houk, Bob Brenly, Alex Cora?
Part II:
Who from this group might join the first group? David Bell, Mike Shildt, Brandon Hyde, Rocco Baldelli, Chris Woodward, Charlie Montoyo?
If you know the answer to Part I, you have reason to be impressed with your knowledge of baseball history. Those five gentlemen are the only rookie managers to win the World Series: Harris with the Senators in 1924; Dyer with the Cardinals in 1946; Houk with the Yankees in 1961; Brenly with the Diamondbacks in 2001; and Cora with the Red Sox in 2018.
If, on the other hand, you have the answer to Part II, you are a clairvoyant. That group consists of managers who are rookies this season. I include Shildt in the rookie category because he managed only 69 St. Louis games last season. The others got their jobs in the off-season: Bell joined the Reds Oct. 21; Montoyo took over the Blue Jay Oct. 25; Baldelli was hired by the, Twins Oct. 25; and Woodward joined the Rangers Nov. 2; and Hyde joined the Orioles Dec. 14.
I think it’s pretty safe to say Hyde will not reach the World Series with the Orioles. Montoyo and Bell are just as unlikely to make it. Shildt and the Cardinals seem to have too much competition to get to the playoffs. Woodward and the Rangers, though, have served notice that they plan to be playing baseball in October.
That leaves the Twins, who entered the weekend trailing the Yankees by only half a game for the best won-lost record in the American League.
At the age of 37, Baldelli not only is the youngest manager among this year’s rookies, but he is also the youngest manager in the majors.
Hiring young managers is not a new act for the Twins. When they won the World Series in 1987, their manager, Tom Kelly, was 37 years old. Four years later, they won the World Series again, and Kelly was 41.
Before Kelly, there was Frank Quilici, who was 33 when he became the Twins’ manager in 1972. Billy Martin was 41 when he managed Minnesota to the post-season in 1969.
The Twins named Baldelli their manager despite his absence of managing experience even in the minor leagues. He didn’t even have much coaching experience. Times, however, have changed. The Yankees made that clear when they fired Joe Girardi as their manager after the 2017 season and replaced him with Aaron Boone. The Red Sox did the same thing then, firing John Farrell and replacing him with Cora.
The explanation was basically the same in both cases: the general managers felt there had to be better communications between manager and players. I suppose one has to conclude that Cora did a better job communicating than Boone as Cora and the Red Sox won the World Series. This season, though, Boone apparently is communicating up a storm while Cora has lost his touch.
In Minnesota, meanwhile, Baldelli evidently is communicating with Twins personnel more successfully than Paul Molitor did. The Twins finished last season with a 78-84 record. They began play Sunday at 53-29.
“Contrary to last year when they brought in some players who did nothing,” Kelly said in a telephone interview, “this year they’ve done better.”
Kelly cited the emergence of shortstop Jorge Polanco, whom the Twins signed as an undrafted free agent, in 2009, and right fielder Max Kepler, a German native, whom the Twins signed as an undrafted free agent five days before Polanco. As of game time Sunday, Polanco was the Twins’ leading hitter with a .324 batting average and 104 hits and Kepler led in home runs with 21 and was second in runs batted in with 53.
Not to be ignored is left fielder Eddie Rosario, who has hit 20 home runs and knocked in 60 runs. Then there is Byron Buxton, the center fielder, who missed 13 games with a right wrist contusion.
Despite Buxton’s injury and absence, the Twins are not moaning and groaning. A glance at their offensive statistics tell you why.
The Yankees seem to be an offensive juggernaut, something that was more than evident than in their 17-13 victory over the Red Sox in London Saturday. However, the Twins’ offense doesn’t stop.
Baldelli’s team went into Sunday’s schedule leading the American League in batting average, slugging percentage, runs scored, runs batted in, total bases, home runs. What is extra impressive about the Twins’ batters is that in spite of their gargantuan hitting, they don’t strike out an inordinate number of times. Eleven of the league’s other 14 teams have struck out more frequently.
“A lot of things are going well,” Kelly said. “The players are playing pretty good defense to complement the pitching. If there’s a break to get, we often get it.”
There are more than three months until October but with the way the Twins are playing and the breaks they are getting, Baldelli’s name just might be added to our quiz’s answer.