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Wednesday, January 24, 2007
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Twins pitching - past, present, future COMMENTARY Sports Copy Editor When the Twins Winter Caravan came to the Lodge in Baxter last week I had a chance to speak to Twins pitching legend and current radio broadcaster Jack Morris, reliever Pat Neshek and pitching prospect Glen Perkins.
When it came to the Hall of Fame voting process where Morris received 37.1 percent of the vote this year (needing 75 percent to be elected), he said he doesn't consider himself a Hall of Famer.
"On the other hand, I can play with guys in the Hall of Fame," Morris said. "I have done well with several guys in the Hall of Fame. And, there are other guys who on their good days are going to get hits off me and on my good days they aren't going to get their hits off of me.
"When it's all said and done, I'm not at all ashamed of what I accomplished in baseball. I was on four championship teams. I feel very fortunate and blessed to have had this chance."
Looking back on Game 7 of the magical 1991 World Series, Morris said he didn't feel tired as the game remained tied.
"Once I got through the seventh inning, I felt like I was getting stronger every inning," he said. "It was totally adrenaline at that point. We weren't going to play tomorrow, next week or next month. We had all winter off. Everyone was going home. We were the last two teams standing. So there was no reason to leave anything out there on the mound. I was looking forward to whatever it took."
When Dan Gladden crossed home plate to win the game in the bottom of the 10th, the first thought that came to Morris' mind was, "What took you so long?"
As to whether he would take the mound if there was an 11th inning, Morris said, "As far I was concerned, I was going to pitch until I won."
What gets lost in the shuffle of Game 7 was that it was not Morris' first complete-game victory in the World Series. With Detroit in the 1984 Series he had two complete-game victories.
"Whatever pro or amateur sport it is, I think there are certain individuals that have an ability to rise to the occasion for big games," he said. "I was guilty of pitching relatively poor sometimes in games that didn't seem to mean anything. I had a lot better focus when the big games were on the line."
A rookie reliever last season, Neshek has become a fan favorite with a delivery that he describes as "sidearm, herky-jerky with velocity."
When it comes to his best pitches, Neshek is confident in his slider and fastball. He is also working on a changeup.
With a 2.19 ERA in 37 innings last season, Neshek plans to continue with what works best and make adjustments when necessary.
"I'm just going out with what I got," he said. "Coming up through the minors I faced some of the same guys about 30 times. They didn't have too much success."
Off the field, Neshek is known for his Web site www.PatNeshek.com and his love of autographs. Neshek himself has a distinctive autograph.
Neshek met his wife Stephanee, a former Division I softball player, through his Web site.
"She was a really good pitcher and held strikeout records at Mercer University," he said. "And, I hold strikeout records at Butler University. If we ever have kids, we're not going to push them to play. If they want to play, they can do that. But that would be awesome if they were pitchers."
Rising fast through the minors, Perkins had a brief stint with the Twins in September. The Minnesota native went to Stillwater High School, the University of Minnesota and was drafted by the Twins.
"I think you have a familiarity with the organization," Perkins said of growing up in Minnesota. "And, though I didn't know any of the guys when I got to the majors, I grew up watching them. When I was in high school or even younger, Brad Radke was the man. Coming into the clubhouse, I felt like I've known him for a long time."
Perkins said he's not an overpowering pitcher but one who makes good pitches and gets strikeouts by executing his pitches.
"I like to be a pitcher that's out there and controls the tempo of the game," he said. "The way I see it is that batters have to react to me. If there's a guy who is a first-pitch fastball hitter, you make an adjustment to that. But, for the most part, once you get a pitch or two into the at bat, every hitter is the same and it depends what you threw earlier in that at bat as to what you're going to use to get him out."
Perkins' best pitches are his curveball and changeup.
"Those two pitches came on this year and I think that's what got me from Double-A to the big leagues," he said.
With spring training not too far off, Twins fans will get to listen to Morris on the radio, see how Neshek responds in his sophomore season and follow Perkins in his quest to make the starting rotation.
TREVOR WILLIAMS, sports copy editor, can be reached at trevor.williams@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5866.
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