Twins/MLB

“They may not all have been stars, but many of them were stars and signed by major league teams. They were offered tryouts, and nobody knows about it because it has been a missing piece of our history,”

It took him two years to finally put away his Gold Glove, but nonetheless Torii Hunter says he’s only “transitioning” and not retiring from baseball.

Dominic Frost all season has faithfully maintained one of baseball’s time-honored traditions — never mess with a streak. The Minnesota Twins batboy pledged not to cut his hair while the team strives for its first post-season spot since 2010.

Why isn’t baseball the American pastime for Blacks? My late father and late uncle hooked me to baseball as a child. The former would listen to Detroit Tigers games on his car radio. My uncle conspicuously planted an egg-colored earphone in his ear connected to his pocket-sized AM transistor radio, also listening to baseball broadcasts. […]

Randi Chapman of Potomac, Maryland, intended to purchase some team merchandise at the Minnesota Twins stadium store while in town on business. As she left the store, Jim “Mudcat” Grant was selling books outside, in between late afternoon showers before a Twins game.

Ozzie Virgil, Sr. in 1977 became the first Black major league third base coach, one of baseball’s on-field “thinking positions” like pitcher and catcher, or in the dugout, such as manager, pitching coach and bench coach.

Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association, having watched the levels of Black (i.e., African American) players across MLB drop drastically over the last 30 years, made a unique move recently to address the cause and effect and root reasons why top Black athletes were turning away from the American pastime.

Two of Torii Hunter’s four sons are college football players this year: Torii, Jr. is a junior wide receiver at Notre Dame, and Monshadrik (“Money”) is an Arkansas State junior defensive back.

You would think the Twins and their fans, after four straight seasons of 90-plus losses and no chance at the playoffs, would be celebrating what the team has done up to this point this season.

The Minnesota Twins annually promote their “Celebrate Diversity” campaign. But each year, it’s awfully hard to find a decent representation of Blacks and other people of color in the stands at their downtown Minneapolis ballpark. They virtually blend in so completely that they seem invisible as a result.

Aaron Hicks is back with the Minnesota Twins, hoping that this third time’s the charm.

The Twins’ third-year outfielder, called up last month from triple-A, has been stationed in center field, a plot of land formerly patrolled by current right fielder Torii Hunter, who he watched play while he was growing up in California.

“I’m not a politician,” said Oliva. “I don’t know why it is taking so long. I never understood why Cuba and the United States didn’t have a better relationship. I’m so glad that they finally talking and finding a way to have a relationship so people can go visit and work together.”

The days of drawing 40,000 fans to Target Field, at least for now, appear maybe to be a thing of the past, but if you haven’t noticed, the Twins are winning again. After starting 1-6, the Twins are 18-14 and hitting home runs. They are 12-5 at Target Field, which is good.

The Minnesota Twins earlier this week opened its 2015 season with a new manager and its first Black coach since 2012. Butch Davis was hired in January as first base coach.

Davis worked for 20 seasons in the Baltimore Orioles organization as a minor league coach after eight seasons as a major league baseball player (1983-1994). This is his first major league coaching job.