Ache #25: The Lakers head to Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the world's most valuable and successful franchises. Valued around $2.7 billion in 2016. They've employed NBA stars like Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson, LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Jerry West, among others. The Lakers, as a franchise, have won 16 NBA championships.

Don't forget that five of those were won in Minneapolis.

In 1947, Ben Berger and Morris Chalfen bought the Detroit Gems of the fading National Basketball League (NBL) for $15,000 and moved the team to Minneapolis. The Gems were 4-40 the previous season and, since the NBL already assigned the former Gems players to other teams in the NBL, the franchise didn't come with any players.

Berger and Chalfen would be building the team from scratch.

The first moves they made were hiring Max Winter as the team's GM and John Kundla as the team's first head coach.

Winter's first job was to come up with a new team name for the franchise. He decided to have a "naming contest". Winter reportedly like the name "Vikings" for the franchise, but the radio station running the contest hear of his preference and advised they not use it so the contest didn't seem fraudulent. Ben Frank, a native Minnesotan, won a $100 savings bond for coming up with the 'Lakers'.

With a new team identity in place, Winter and Kundla began searching for players to fill the roster. Kundla used his U of M connections to sign several former Gophers to form the 1948-49 Lakers squad: Don Carlson, Warren Ajax, Ken Exel, Tony Jaros and Don Smith. Adding other pieces like forward Jim Pollard and playmaker Herm Schaefer. All they needed was a big man to dominate the paint.

And it took the death of another basketball league to get him.

Since the Gems had the worst record in the NBL the previous year, they were awarded the number one overall pick in the upcoming draft. Winter did his homework and set his sights on one player: George Mikan. The problem? Mikan was currently playing for the Chicago American Gears. The American Gears had won the 1946-47 NBL Championship, then moved to the Pro Basketball League of America.. The league folded two weeks into the league's season, making Mikan eligible for the NBL draft. Winter took him first overall. Mikan would average 28 points per game, establish himself as the NBA's first superstar, and lead the Lakers to a 47 win season and the league championship.

The 6' 10" Mikan was unguardable and was eventually named 

the Basketball Player of the Half Century

The following year, the Lakers moved to the Basketball Association of America (BAA). Mikan and the Lakers won the title that year as well. Following the 1949-50 season, the BAA renamed their themselves the National Basketball Association (the present day NBA).

The Lakers won the 1949-50 NBA Championship as well for their third straight title. While they didn't make the Finals in 1950-51, but won three more consecutive championships beginning in 1951-52 after adding more Hall of Fame players like Vern Mikkelsen and Jim Pollard.

Minneapolis Lakers greats Jim Pollard, George Mikan and Vern Mikkelsen

Photo/Pioneer Press File

But while the Lakers were winning on the court, there was trouble behind the scenes. Financial issues were growing. Plus, the Lakers didn't have a "home building". They were shuffled around between the Minneapolis Auditorium, the Minneapolis Armory and the St. Paul Auditorium. The team that had won six titles in seven years was often adjusting their home schedule around expos and conventions.

The Lakers wins dropped off following their NBA title in 1953-54, largely due to the retirement of Mikan. The bottom fell out when Pollard retired following the 1954-55 season, that Mikan, now in a front office role, returned as an active player mid-season. Even after sitting out for nearly two seasons, he was still able to average double figures in scoring, but the team went 33-39 for it's first losing record since moving from Detroit.

With the decline in wins, fan attendance waned too and the team's financial issues piled up. Not interested in a re-build or losing more money, Ben Berger was ready to sell the team. He had a reported offer from a group from Missouri that planned to move the Lakers franchise to Kansas City. But before signing the deal, he decided to give local businessmen the chance to purchase the team and keep the team in Minnesota. The team was sold to a group led by Bob Short, who was elected new Team President and said the team would remain in Minneapolis.

Bob Short (left) was also responsible for moving the

Washington Senators to Texas in 1971.

Photo/AP File Photo via Daylife.com

With the departure of Berger, Chaflen and Winter, Kundla was promoted to GM and Mikan was made new head coach. As coach, Mikan's team won only nine of their first 39 games before Kundla re-assumed the reigns as the Lakers finished a league-worst 19-53 and missed the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.

The Lakers were in the same position they were in a decade earlier, heading into the draft with the number one overall pick. They selected forward Elgin Baylor of Seattle University to re-build the franchise around.

Elgin Baylor with the Lakers in 1958

Baylor, who would win Rookie of the Year and finish 3rd in Player of the Year voting, would help take the league's worst team from the previous year to the NBA Finals for the first time in five years before running into Bill Russell's Celtics dynasty. The 1958-59 season was also the last year of the John Kundla era as he left the team to fill the University of Minnesota basketball coaching vacancy.

Looking to build of Baylor's great rookie campaign, Short brought in his college coach at Seattle University, John Castellani, to coach the team. But Castellani did not meet expectations following a runner-up finish (a 11-25 record), Jim Pollard finished out the season as head coach as the Lakers finished the season 25-50.

Back to their losing ways, the franchise was hemorrhaging money, losing fans and still had no arena to call home.

In the late 1950s and early 60s, pro sports teams were starting to move west. In 1958, Major League Baseball's Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, the New York Giants relocated to San Francisco, and the plans were in motion to grant LA an expansion team as well...the California Angels. With rumors that the Philadelphia Warriors had plans to move west (they would move to San Francisco in 1962), Short wanted to be the first one to sow the seed of the West Coast.

On April 28, 1960, after contemplating moves to Chicago and San Francisco, Short announced that the Lakers would be relocating to Los Angeles. He decided not to rename the franchise.

The Lakers flourished in LA. They had a solidified home venue in the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena and amazing fan attendance. Baylor became a star. The team drafted Hall of Famer Jerry West in 1961 and players like Frank Selvy and Rudy LaRusso reached All Star status. The Lakers were a mainstay in the NBA Finals during the 1960s and early 70s.

Minnesota fans watched as Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain brought LA it's first championship in 1972 after losing in the Finals seven times since the move.

In the 1980s, they watched Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar win five more.

In the early 2000s, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal won back-to-back-to-back titles, with Bryant  and Pau Gasol winning two more almost ten years later.

 

Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Kobe Bryant 

combined to win 10 championships in 31 years.

Today, LA is the hot destination for basketball. Thev have had six of the top eight scorers in NBA history don the purple and yellow (Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Bryant, Chamberlain, LeBron James, O'Neal). LA has added 11 more NBA titles to the Lakers franchise since relocating and is now the second most valuable NBA franchise in the league (after the New York Knicks).

Meanwhile, Minnesota was granted an expansion franchise in 1989...the Timberwolves. In nine post-season appearances, they have advanced past the opening round only once. They made it to the Western Conference Finals behind league MVP Kevin Garnett in 2004 only to be eliminated by...the LA Lakers.

Ache #24: Jim Marshall Runs The Wrong Way

“Many times people ask coaches who their greatest player was. It’s normally very hard to choose, but I don’t hesitate to say Jim Marshall.” - Bud Grant

Longtime Vikings defensive end Jim Marshall had a great career. During Marshall's two decade career beginning in 1960, Marshall played in a record 282 consecutive regular season games (270 consecutive starts), recovered a record 30 fumbles, recorded 127 sacks, played in four Super Bowls and was a part of one of the most daunting defenses of all time.

Although he is not yet in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, his #70 has been retired by the Vikings. Hall of Fame Vikings like John Randle, Paul Krause, Ron Yary, Randall McDaniel and Chris Doleman haven't had their numbers retired. Jim Marshall is one of the most beloved Vikings of all time.

But, unfortunately, he is remembered for one play that occurred the afternoon of October 25th, 1964. In a game against the San Francisco 49ers, Marshall recovered a Billy Kilmer fumble. But, he picked it up he ran 66 yards into the wrong end zone. He threw the ball out of bounds, celebrating what he thought was a touchdown, only to realize he had scored a safety against his own team.

"My first inkling that something was wrong was when a 49er player (Bruce Bosley) gave me a hug in the end zone," Marshall later recalled.

The safety cut the Vikings lead to 27-19. What a lot of people don't remember is that the Vikings scored what would be the deciding touchdown on a Carl Eller touchdown when he ran a fumble recovered by...you guessed it...Marshall into the end zone for a 45 yard score.

The Vikings would be the 49ers 27-22, but people will always remember Marshall for a :10 second, two point mistake...not the 20 years and arguably Hall of Fame worthy career that he had.

Ache #23: Twins Don't Record An Out At First Base

Joe Mauer hanging out at first base against Milwaukee

Photo/Dylan Buell, Getty Images

Although he has never been nominated for a Gold Glove since moving to First Base, Joe Mauer is one of the more consistent defensive first baseman in the league. Nothing flashy, but he gets the job done.

But on July 3rd, 2018, Paul Molitor may as well have kept him in the dugout and played eight men in the field. Mauer played all eight innings in a 2-0 loss to the Brewers at Miller Park at first base - and never recorded a putout or assist...the first time that had happened in the Twins' 57 year history.

Forget just Mauer. It was the first time that the Twins failed to record an assist as a team.

Twins starter Jake Odorizzi struck out nine batters and got five batters to flyout in his five innings of work. Ryan Pressley struck out the side in the sixth and Gabriel Moya struck out four batters and induced two fly outs over his two innings of work.

The Brewers scored their runs on a two-run home run by Eric Thames off Odorizzi in the bottom of the fifth.

Junior Guerra, Josh Hader and Corey Knebel held the Twins to only two hits in the loss.

The last time a first baseman failed to record a putout was Edwin Encarnacion for Toronto in August 2012. It has only happened six times since 1998. The Yankees were the last team to play a full game without recording assist, doing it against Boston in 2014.

It's also worth noting that the Twins had been scoreless for their last 14 innings and counting.

Ache #22 - July 2 2018 - Twins @ Milwaukee

Zack Littell walks back to the dugoug as Manny Pina scores the winning run thanks to a bases loaded walk
Photo/Morry Gash, Associated Press

Late June/early July 2018 was rough for the Minnesota Twins. Despite scoring 25 runs in three games (Joe Mauer had 8 RBI in the first two games), the Twins had just been swept out of Wrigley Field after a hot 100 degree series. The hot weather and poor starts (starters Jose Berrios, Adalberto Mejia and Lance Lynn pitched a combined 10 innings) ate up the bullpen. The Twins were now losers of 9 of their last 11 games, 10 games under .500, and nine games behind the Indians for the AL Central lead.

The road didn't get any easier as they headed to Miller Park to face the first-place Milwaukee Brewers. With their bullpen eaten up from the Cubs series, the Twins called up Zack Littell before the game for an extra arm for the bullpen.

For the first couple innings, it didn't look like they'd need it. After giving up a run in the first, Kyle Gibson settled down and cruised through the next three innings. Gibson also scored on a Brian Dozier ground out in the third, and Robbie Grossman hit his first career grand slam in the top of the fifth to give the Twins a 5-1 lead.

The fifth inning was a different story. Gibson gave up a lead-off home run to Manny Pina, followed by three consecutive hits, including an RBI single by Brad Miller before getting an out. A Willians Astudillo error at third allowed a second run to score. At the end of five, the Twins led 5-4.

Kyle Gibson was 2-2 at the plate and scored two runs

Photo/Minnesota Twins

Something odd happened over the next three innings: the bullpen was actually kind of good. Addison Reed, Zach Duke, Trevor Hildenberger and Taylor Rogers scattered two hits and struck out five batters. The Brewers' bullpen matched the Twins, although the Twins would scored an insurance run in the seventh had it not been for Keon Broxton pulling a would-be Joe Mauer home run back over the wall.

Still leading by a run, manager Paul Molitor sent closer Fernando Rodney out to shut the door.

Rodney was basically the only player who wasn't used in the Cubs series. In fact, Rodney hadn't pitched since June 28th when he blew a save against the White Sox. It was deja vu for Rodney and the Twins. After getting Eric Sogard to ground up, he gave up three consecutive singles before a Travis Shaw sacrifice fly tied the game at 5.

Corey Knebel set the Twins down one-two-three in the top of the tenth.

Enter Zack Littell, making his second Major League appearance. His first appearance was a start against the White Sox on June 5th in which he lasted three innings in which he gave up six earned runs.

Littell, usually a starter, was 19-1 at High-A and AA in 2017

Photo/ Thearon W. Henderson/,Getty Images

His second appearance was just as forgettable. After getting of Nate Orf 0-2, he hit him. Manny Pina ripped a single to left field and Keon Broxton walked. Before you could say "Here We Go Again", the bases were loaded with nobody out.

Herman Perez, pinch hitting for Knebel, grounded out to short (the Twins forced the runner at home to delay the inevitable) for the first out. 

Brad Miller walked on four pitches to win the game for Milwaukee.

Brad Miller is mobbed by teammates after drawing a bases-loaded walk against the Twins

Photo/Dylan Buell, Getty Images

Ache #21: Sergei Zholtok

This isn't a story of a heartbreaking loss on the ice. This is the story of a heartbreaking loss off the ice.

Sergei Zholtok was a fan-favorite with the Minnesota Wild from 2001-04. Although he wasn't a member of the inaugural team in 2000, his impact was felt during the early days of the franchise.

Zholtok was drafted 55th overall by the Boston Bruins in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft. He appeared in 25 games over two seasons with the Bruins before being picked up by Ottawa. He had his breakout season with the Montreal Canadians in 1999-00, scoring 26 goals. He was traded to Edmonton in December 2000 during a down year in which he scored five goals in 69 games between Montreal and Edmonton.

With his value at a low point, he was acquired by the Minnesota Wild for just a 7th round draft choice. The move gave Zholtok increased playing time on the second-year franchise, including playing the point on the Wild's first power play unit.

Zholton averaged just over 16 minutes of ice time with the Wild during his three season with the Wild with 48 goals and 62 assists in 210 career games with Minnesota. He shared the "C" with Brad Bombadir and Matt Johnson during the 2002-03 season in which Wild broke out, won 43 games and made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.

He was a key contributor as the club made a run to the Western Conference Finals, including recording the assist on Andrew Brunette's legendary OT Game 7 goal against Colorado. Zholtok had 13 points in 18 playoff games that year.

Zholtok became the first Latvian to captain an NHL club

He was traded to Nashville along with Bombadir for draft picks in March 2004. He appeared in 11 regular season games and six playoff games for the Predators.

Throughout his career, Zoltoks had a weird medical history. Zholtok was sent to a St. Paul Hospital after he hyperventilated during a game. After a similar incident in 2003, he was diagnosed at Mayo Clinic with a heart arrhythmia but was cleared to play.

Friend and former Wild teammate Darby Hendrickson told the Pioneer Press in 2004 that Zholtok wouldn't have kept playing if he know is health was at risk. 

With the NHL lockout in 2004-05, Zholtok elected to play in his native Latvia and signed with Riga 2000 (Latvia). He convinced Hendrickson to join him on the team in Latvia. 

On November 3, 2004, Zholtok left a game with five minutes remaining and collapsed gasping for air in the hallway.

Paramedics performed cardiopulmonary resucitation. They attempted to shock Zholtok's heart. Hendrickson saw what was going on and called Wild physician Sheldon Burns, who was familiary with Zholtok's medical history and joined Zholtok as he laid on the floor.

But nothing could be done.

"As difficult as it was, I'm glad I was there. I know he would have wanted me there. I know he would have wanted his father there. He's a guy I loved. I don't relive my final moments with him. I relive the unbelievable moments I shared with him." -Darby Hendrickson

An autopsy determined cause of death was heart failure.

The hockey world mourned the loss of Zholtok. During a game against Minnesota and Nashville, he was honored at center ice in front of a sell-out, misty-eyed Xcel Energy Center. 

Sergei's 16-year-old son, Edgar, is comforted by Wild Captain

Filp Kuba while his father is being honored in 2005

Ache #20: Thaddeus Young

In 2014, the Timberwolves were ready to move on from All Star Kevin Love. They worked out a three-team trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Philadelphia 76ers.

In the deal, Cleveland got Kevin Love from Minnesota. Philadelphia got a future first-round pick from Cleveland and Luc Mbah a Moute and Alexey Shved from Minnesota.

The Wolves acquired Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett from Cleveland and Thaddeus Young from Philadelphia.

The Wolves also drafted Zach LaVine with the 13th overall

pick in the 2014 NBA Draft

(LaVine, Wiggins, Bennett, Young)

With Bennett, LaVine, Wiggins all under 20 years old, adding the veteran leadership of Thaddeus Young (a seven-year NBA vet at age 26). Add in other young pieces like Gorgui Dieng, Shabazz Muhammad, a couple vets like Kevin Martin, Corey Brewer, Ricky Rubio and Mo Williams and the return of Flip Saunders to the Wolves bench as Head Coach and you have a foundation for the future.

If the Wolves were going to win out of the gate, they would have to rely heavily on Thad Young.  The 12th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft had a career year in Philadelphia in 2013-14, averaging nearly 18 points per game while setting career highs in points, steals, assists, three-pointers and games started. He could score from both inside the arc and from beyond the perimeter. 

Young's biggest strength was his athletic ability. He was excellent in transition. He was a solid defender too. He averaged a career-high two steals per game (third in the NBA) in 2013-14. Without any proven scorers on the team, Flip Saunders hoped that Young and Rubio would click on the court.

The Wolves started the season 2-2, with their two loses coming by a total of five points. It looked like the Wolves rebuild with their young talent was going to come faster than expected. But the Wolves would lose 26 of their next 29 games.

Young was very streaky over his first 48 games, he could poor in upwards of 25 points per game, or he would leave the stat sheet blank. Flip saw what he needed to over the first 48 games. While Flip wanted to keep Young and the core together, he had the opportunity to bring one of his proven leaders, one of Minnesota's basketball legends back home.

On February 19th, less than six months after being traded to Minnesota, Young was traded to the Brooklyn Nets for Kevin Garnett.

"This is the perfect situation...the talent here is endless"
-Kevin Garnett

Young averaged 14 points and five rebounds a game for the Wolves while starting all 48 games he appeared in.

With Brooklyn, Young eventually cracked the staring lineup, starting 20 of 28 games with the Nets. Brooklyn was 21-31 without Young, but finished the season 17-13 without him. At 38-44 and in the weak Eastern Conference, the Nets snuck into the playoffs as the 8 seed and took top-seeded Atlanta to six games in the opening round.

Young was traded to the Indiana Pacers in July 2016, where he has re-established himself as a starter in the NBA and helped lead Indiana to back-to-back playoff appearances in 2016-17 and 2017-18.

Ache #19: Gretzky, Kurri and the 1984 Conference Finals

In 1984, Wayne Gretzky was on his way to becoming "the great one". In his first four seasons in the NHL, the Hall of Fame center had scored 269 goals and tallied 709 points in 319 career games. He had won four consecutive Hart Memorial Trophies (given to the league's most valuable player), three consecutive Art Ross trophies (given to the league's top scorer) and two consecutive Lester Pearson awards (given to the most outstanding player voted on by the NHL)

The one thing he hadn't been able to do was hoist the cup.

Edmonton was swept by Philadelphia in the first round Gretzky's rookie year in 1979-80. In 1980-81, they swept Vancouver in the first round before losing in six games to the New York Islanders, who were in the middle of their run of four straight championships. In 1981-82, they were upset by a 24-win LA Kings team in five games. In 1982-83, they finally reached the Stanley Cup Finals before being swept by the Islanders for their fourth straight Stanley Cup.

But this isn't a blog about Edmonton. This is a blog about Minnesota.

In the 1983-84 season, the North Stars won their second Norris Division championship in three years.
At 39-31-10 (88 points), the North Stars were the only division winner not to win at last 49 games and have fewer than 100 points.

In fact, eight other franchises (Edmonton, Boston, Buffalo, Quebec, NY Islanders, Washington, Philadelphia, NY Rangers) had more points than the North Stars.

If Brian Bellows and the 1983-84 North Stars

had played in the Patrick Division, they would have 

finished in fifth place.

During their Stanley Cup Finals run in 1981, the North Stars were an underdog in almost every series as well. Brian Bellows, Neal Broten and Dino Cicerelli were up for the challenge.

In the first round of the playoffs, the North Stars drew rival Chicago. After losing to the New York Islanders in the 1980-81 Stanley Cup Finals, the Black Hawks had eliminated Minnesota the past two seasons.

The 68-point Black Hawks won Game One in Bloomington 3-1. In Game Two, the North Stars needed some late-game heroics. Tied 3-3 after the second period, Al MacAdam and Willi Plett each scored to give Minnesota a 5-3 lead. A Denis Savard goal trimmed the lead to 5-4 before Neal Brotten scored to make it 6-4. A late Darryl Sutter goal made it a one goal game before Minnesota's defense locked down to give the North Stars a 6-5 Game Two win.

Game Three at Chicago Stadium went to Minnesota 4-1 to give the North Stars a 2-1 series lead. Game Four saw Minnesota lose a 3-2 midway through the third period to lose 4-3.

The North Stars never trailed in the decisive Game Five at the Met Center, winning 4-1 to take the series.

The semi-final round matched the North Stars up against the St. Louis Blues, who had defeated the Detroit Red Wings in four games. The two teams split the first four games of the series. In Game 5, the North Stars shut the Blues out 6-0. St. Louis responded in Game Six by shutting Minnesota out 4-0. A decisive Game Seven was played at the Met Center, and was tied at the end of regulation. A Steve Payne goal gave Minnesota the series win in overtime and a date with the Edmonton Oilers in the Conference Finals.

Embed from Getty Images

Steve Payne

After going 2-0 in elimination games, the North Stars were pretty confident into their tough match up against Edmonton. They'd need more than confidence against a team that featured eight 20+ goal scorers (Gretzky had 87 by himself) and six future Hall of Famers (Anderson, Fuhr, Gretzky, Kurri, Messier, Coffey).

The series wasn't even close. Edmonton outscored Minnesota 22-10 in the four game sweep. Five of Minnesota's goals came in an 8-5 Game Three loss with Andy Moog in net.

Embed from Getty Images
Jari Kurri (above) scored as many goals (5) as
G Grant Fuhr allowed (5) against Minnesota

The Oilers would dethrone the New York Islanders in the Stanley Cup finals, winning their first of five Stanley Cups in the 1980s.

And, just like in 1980-81, the North Stars were once again a footnote of one of the greatest dynasties in NHL history.

Ache #18: Tom Lehman and the 1995 US Open

Minnesota fans have a special place in their hearts for home-grown talent. We love the "One of Us" stories.

Pro golfer Tom Lehman was born in Austin, MN and moved up north to Alexandria at a young age. He golfed collegiality at the University of Minnesota and went pro in 1982.

Lehman, at age 36 in 1995, was still looking for his first Major tournament win. He finished as the runner-up at the 1994 Masters Tournament behind Jose Maria Olazabal. 

Lehman was tied atop the leader board with Greg Norman at the 1995 US Open at Shinnecock Hills (NY) after three rounds after firing a third-round 67.

Greg Norman was also looking for his first career

US Open Championship in 1995

Norman was sitting -5 after Day Two of the event, but a +4 on Day Three brought him to -1 for the tournament, tied with Lehman and one shot ahead of Phil Mickelson and Bob Tway.

Corey Pavin, Nick Price, Steve Stricker, Scott Verplank and Ian Woosnam were all tied for fifth place a +2.

Norman and Lehman both par'd Hole One, but a Norman bogey on Two and a Lehman birdie on Three game Lehman a two stroke lead. Norman played Par Golf through Hole 12. Meanwhile, Lehman bogey'd Four, Ten and Eleven and Double Bogey'd Seven to fall two shots back.

Corey Pavin, who started the day at +2, was now tied with Lehman for second place and two shots behind Norman for the lead.

Pavin and Lehman each shot a birdie on Twelve, and Norman bogey'd the hole to tie the group at +1.

Hole 13 resulted in pars for Pavin and Lehman and another bogey for Norman to move him one shot back.

The group of three each par'd Fourteen. Pavin and Norman recorded birdies on Fifteen, while Lehman shot par.

With three holes left, Corey Pavin had a one shot lead at even par.

Lehman's drive on the Par 5 16th Hole ended in the rough. Lehman had to aim left and play a fade or aim right and hook it back toward the short grass. He chose the hook, only it didn't hook. He then had to chip out of the rough onto the fairway. He later missed a five-foot bogey putt. The double bogey on the hole to move to +3. Norman would bogey Seventeen to move to +2.

Pavin, meanwhile, was still E thru 17 before his second shot from the fairway on Hole 18:

Pavin later described this fairway shot as 

"the best shot of my life"

Pavin would par the hole to win his first Major. Norman finished +2, and Lehman finished +3 after having a two shot lead over Pavin after nine holes.

The 1995 US Open Champion, Corey Pavin

Norman, who was 5 under after 36 holes, was +7 over his last two rounds. He went 32 consecutive holes without a birdie.

For Lehman, numerous missed opportunities with two double bogeys on the final day, unable to overtake a plummeting Norman, yet unable to hold off a surging Pavin.

Ache #17: Twins release David Ortiz

There are very few full time DH's worthy of a Hall of Fame nod. Paul Molitor (3,319 hits), Frank Thomas (521 HR) and Jim Thome (612 HR) are in. Edgar Martinez (2x Batting Champion, 5x Silver Slugger, .312 career average) and Tony Oliva (3x Batting Champion) will likely get in. Then there's a pretty significant drop-off to guys like Brian Downing, Harold Raines, Chili Davis, Don Baylor, Mike Sweeney and Hal McRae.

And somewhere in near the top of all-time great DH's is David Ortiz.

Fans remember David Ortiz (AKA Big Papi) for his clutch hits in the playoffs for the Red Sox and his towering home runs out of Fenway Park.

Ortiz hit .290 with 483 home runs and 1530 RBI over a 14 year career in Boston. He was a 10 time  All Star, and finished in the Top-5 in AL MVP voting four times in four seasons. He helped end the Red Sox 86 year World Series Championship drought in 2004. And, for good measure, led them to championships in 2007 and 2013.

He is the all-time leader in home runs (485), RBI (1,569) and hits (2,192) by a DH. His career batting average in the World Series is .455.

And once upon a time, he was a Minnesota Twin.

And they released him. Flat out cut him.

It was 2002. The Twins had just made the playoffs for the first time since winning the World Series in 1991. Ron Gardenhire had taken over managerial duties after Tom Kelly stepped down after the 2001 season and had inherited a lot of strong, young talent. Guys like Torii Hunter, AJ Pierzinski, Doug Mientkeiwicz, Corey Koskie, and Jacque Jones. These guys had come up through the minors together and would help lead the Twins to back-to-back-to-back AL Central titles in the early 2000s.

Veteran pitcher Rick Reed won 15 games for the

Twins in 2002

The Twins had acquired Ortiz via trade from the Seattle Mariners in 1996, while Tom Kelly was still manager. He got his call-up to the Twins in September 1997 after batting .317 with 31 home runs and 124 RBI combined in the minors (High A, AA, AAA).

As odd as it would seem, Ortiz's bat did not fit TK's baseball philosophy or "The Twins Way". Kelly preferred small-ball tactics and solid defense in his lineup, two things that Ortiz needed to improve on.

After getting his feet wet in the bigs in 1997, Ortiz had his eyes set on the starting first baseman job out of Spring Training in 1998. But, a fractured wrist sent him to the DL and the job went to future Gold Glove winner Doug Mientkiewicz. Ortiz was limited to 10 games that season.

Tom Kelly (and the Twins) preferred Doug Mientkiewicz's

solid glove at first over Ortiz's bat

In 1999, he was the everyday designated hitter, appearing in 130 games. He hit a respectable .282, but with only 10 home runs...due in large part to The Twins Way: make plays in the field, don't give away scoring chances with dumb base running or consistently failing to advance base runners, and slapping outside pitches to the opposite field.

The Twins Way attributed to Ortiz's light hitting and lack of power during his Twins years: a .266 average with 58 home runs over six seasons. Needless to say, Ortiz wasn't a fan of Tom Kelly's strategy. In an interview with Tom Power of the Pioneer Press in 2004, Ortiz said "I'd take a big swing and (Kelly) would be screaming at me: 'hey, hey, hey, what are you doing?' Are you kidding me? You want me to swing like a little girl? I'll swing like a little girl."

Ortiz's best season as a Twin was 2002...a breakout year for the Twins. Despite battle knee injuries and a slow start, Ortiz hit 20 home runs and knocked in 75 runs for the 2002 AL Central Champion Minnesota Twins. In the nine playoff games for the Twins (3-2 series win vs Oakland in the ALDS and a 4-1 series loss vs Anaheim in the ALCS), had 8 hits in 29 at bats (.275) with only 4 RBI and zero home runs.

Ortiz was eligible for arbitration following that season. The Twins could either pay him 1.5 million dollars, or release him.

Remember, but this time, Kelly was no longer the manager. Ron Gardenhire had taken the reigns prior to 2002, but Gardy had been a coach under Kelly since 1991 and the "Twins Way" had been instilled in him, as well as GM Terry Ryan who was the ultimate decision maker.

"Obviously, it's a situation that I watched and I've observed and I see what he's done and I see what he's done and I see what he's meant to the Boston Red Sox. Ok, I screwed it up."
-Twins GM Terry Ryan

Terry Ryan and the Twins decided to release Ortiz in December of 2002. Ortiz finished his career with the Twins with a .266 average with 58 home runs and 238 RBI over parts of six seasons. Ryan decided to cut Ortiz for a number of reasons: he didn't want him to take the Twins to arbitration, he felt Matt LeCroy would make an adequate DH over the next handful of seasons, and he wanted a roster spot for the upcoming Rule 5 draft.

Ortiz signed a one year $1.25 million contract with the Boston Red Sox in January 2003...less than the $1.5 million he was expected to get in arbitration with the Twins.

Matt LeCroy became the full time DH for the 2003 season. He appeared in 107 games for the Twins, hitting .287 with 17 home runs and 85 RBI...numbers that were comparable, if not better, than Ortiz during his time with the Twins (Ortiz hit .288 with 31 HR, 101 RBI and finished Top-5 in the MVP voting for Boston, so there's that.)

Matt LeCroy with the Twins in 2005

In limited action for the Twins from 2003-2005, LeCroy hit .273 with 43 home runs and 153 RBI. Ortiz hit .300 with 47 home runs and 148 RBI...in 2005.

The player the Twins coveted in the Rule 5 draft was shortstop Jose Morbon. They selected him from the Texas Rangers for $50,000.

Literally the only photo of Jose Morban in

a Twins uniform in existance

Morban didn't quite work out for the Twins. He was placed on waivers in Spring Training and claimed by Baltimore. He had 71 at bats for the Orioles in 2003, batting .141 with two home runs and 5 RBI, then never appeared in a major league game ever again.

The justifications/excuses to cut Ortiz were there: He was was below average in the field as a first baseman, limiting him to the DH role. He hit only .205 against left handed pitching and .240 with runners in scoring position. He also went on the disabled list for a second consecutive season with writs and knee issues. 

But mostly, it was a money thing to keep the Twins ballooning salary from exceeding a wile $50 million per year.

Ache #16: Randy Moss traded to Oakland

Randy Moss is, hands down, the most physically gifted man to play wide receiver in the NFL. The 6'4'' 210 lb receiver from Rand, West Virginia had over 9,100 yards and scored 90 touchdowns...in his first seven seasons in the NFL.

He had fallen into the Vikings lap with the 24th overall pick in the 1998 NFL Draft due to character concerns and, on the field, he was well worth it (most of the time).

The Vikings were 36-12 during Moss' first three years with the team, including two NFC Championship Game appearances in 1998 and 200, but a 5-11 drop off in 2001 led to the firing of head coach Denny Green as the reigns of the franchise were handed over to Mike Tice.

The Tice era was underwhelming: four consecutive runner-up finishes in the NFC North and 32-32 record. The Vikings did back into the playoffs with an 8-8 record in 2004 with Randy Moss providing an all-time Randy moment in the win over Green Bay:

Moss had four catches for 70 yards and two touchdowns

in a 31-17 win at Green Bay in the 2004 Wild Card round

2004 was a rare off year for Moss. He missed three games with a hamstring injury, and despite 13 receiving touchdowns in 13 games, he failed to reach the 1,000 yard mark for the first time in his career.

Some of Moss' antics and off-field issues were creating problems too. In addition to his "disguising act" in Green Bay. In September 2002, Moss was driving in downtown Minneapolis and bumped a traffic control officer trying to prevent him from making an illegal turn. A search of his vehicle revealed a gram of marijuana. 

The reason that 20 NFL teams passed on Moss was beginning to show, and in March 2004, the Vikings officially moved on from Randy Moss by trading him to the Oakland Raiders for linebacker Napoleon Harris and Oakland's first round pick in the upcoming draft.

Napoleon Harris with the Vikings in 2006

Mike Tice had his defensive piece with Harris, and with the seventh overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft the Vikings selected WR Troy Williamson out of South Carolina to replace Moss in the lineup.

Troy Williamson's pre-draft measurables were great...a 4.3 40, 37" vert and a 21 Wonderlic

Harris, a first-round pick by Oakland in 2002, was brought in to help shore up a defense that gave up over 24 points per game in 2004 (26th in the league). Harris played in 15 games (starting three) in 2005 and finished with 18 tackles as he was hampered with injuries. 2005 was better with three interceptions,2.5 sacks and 96 tackles in 14 games. Harris signed a six-year deal with the Kansas City Chiefs after that season. After being released one year into his contract, he re-signed with the Vikings after an injury to EJ Henderson. He finished that season with 32 tackles and one sack in 10 games.

With the seventh overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft, the Vikings selected WR Troy Williamson out of South Carolina to replace Moss.

Troy Williamson couldn't catch a cold...

Williamson had all the tools to be the deep threat to replace Randy Moss: the size, the speed, the smarts. The one thing he couldn't do was catch the damn ball. He blamed bad depth perception for his poor hand-eye coordination that resulted in 11 drops in 2006, none worse than the one Week 17 against the Denver Broncos.

The Vikings started 3-6, but after five straight wins were sitting at 8-7 and on the verge of an unthinkable playoff spot. A win over Denver, who had a playoff spot in the AFC locked up, would put them in the playoffs for the first time in three years.

Then, Troy Williamson happened. 

First, with the Vikings down 7-3, Williamson dropped what would have been a guaranteed 73 yard touchdown from Tarvaris Jackson:

This is still painful to watch...

The second drop was on a crucial first down later in the game. The game would head to overtime tied at 19-19 before a Tarvaris Jackson fumble at the Vikings' 13 yard line set up a 30 yard Jason Elam field goal to win the game. The Vikings were officially eliminated with Washington's 27-6 win over Dallas as the Redskins grabbed the sixth and final playoff spot in the NFC.

Williamson's Vikings career ended with 1,067 yards and three touchdowns in three seasons. He averaged two catches per game. He was traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars for a seventh round pick in 2008.

Moss, meanwhile, was having a career resurgence. After some disgruntled time in Oakland, he was traded to the New England Patriots, where Bill Belichick sorted him out. Moss scored an NFL record 23 touchdowns for the Pats in 2008, helping lead the way to the first 16-0 regular season in NFL history. Meanwhile, the Vikings have only had two 1,000 yard receivers since Moss was traded (Sidney Rice in 2009 and Adam Thielen in 2017).

Ache #15: Michigan 58 Minnesota 0

Not really to much to say about this one. The final score says it all, other than the fact that it could have been much worse. Which is saying a lot because it's already the largest Big Ten loss in Gopher history.

Michigan leads the all-time series between these two teams 75-25-3 including winning 41 of  45 meetings dating back to 1968.

The Gophers were 1-3 heading into the Big Ten Opener, one week after a loss to FCS North Dakota State at TCF Bank Stadium. It couldn't get more embarassing for Gopher fans than that, right?

Wrong.

Michigan welcomed first year head coach Jerry Kill and the Gophers to the Big House on October 1st, 2011 and, in front of a crowd of 111,000 strong, proceeded to annihilate the Gophers.

But perhaps annihilate is too nice of a word.

Michigan dominated in all aspects of the game. It was Michigan's first Big Ten shutout since 2001, and their first shutout of any opponent since 2007. Michigan outgained Minnesota 580-177. Junior running back Vincent Smith had touchdowns rushing, passing and receiving on Michigan's first four drives.

Vincent Smith (2) had 72 all purpose yards and

3 TDs in the first half

Denard Robinson was 15-19 for 169 yards and 2 TDs along with 53 rushing yards and a TD before being pulled after jumping out to a 38-0 halftime lead. Backup running back Fitzgerald Toussaint had 108 yards and a touchdown, freshman Thomas Rawls had 73 yards rushing, and senior Michael Shaw added 60 yards on the ground. The Wolverines gained 10 or more yards on 18 different plays. 

QB Max Shortell was 11-22 for 121 yards against Michigan

On their way to shutting out the Gophers, the Michigan defense didn't allow a Minnesota first down in the opening quarter, and only gave up four in the first half.

The Gophers were in a great position to score and break the shut out before a David Cobb fumble was returned 83 yards for a touchdown by Courtney Avery.

While the numbers were ugly, the outcome was much worse. The 58-point rout was only the third worse loss in Gophers history, because the Wolverines took their foot off the gas.

Ache #14: The 2017 NHL Expansion Draft

In 2017, the NHL was expanding from 30 to 31 teams with the addition of the Las Vegas Golden Knights. It was the NHL's first expansion since 2000 when the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild entered the league.

With an expansion franchise, comes an expansion draft and one player being plucked from every roster in the league.

Minnesota lost two.

In the 2000 expansion draft, the 28 NHL teams were allowed to protect nine forwards, five defencemen and one goalie or two goalies, three defensemen and seven forwards. But in this expansion draft, teams were only allowed to protect seven forwards, three defencemen and one goaltender or one goaltender and eight skaters regardless of position.

Teams had to expose at least two forwards and one defenceman that had played at least 40 games in 2016-17 or more than 70 games in 2015-16 and 2016-17 combined. Teams were also required to protect players with No Move Clauses in their contracts.

The Wild were in a tough spot. It had to protect Jason Pominville (who had a NMC). One of the players that was left unprotected was Eric Stall (who scored 42 goals for the Wild in 2017-18). The Wild also had an outstanding core of young talent (Matt Dumba, Charlie Coyle, Jonas Brodin, Mikael Granlund and Las Vegas native Jason Zucker)

After months of speculation, the Wild protected Pominville, Brodin, Coyle, Zucker, Granlund, Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, Devan Dubnyk, and Nino Niederreiter.

Jason Pominville scored 30 goals in his first full 

season with the Wild, but only 42 in his next 235 games

This left players like Dumba, Eric Staal, Marco Scandella, Darcy Kuemper and Erik Haula exposed.

Wild fans were nervous that Dumba would be the one selected. Dumba was a first round pick by the Wild in 2012 and was regarded as one of the best young defensemen in the game. George McPhee was willing to pass over Dumba for a forward as long as they got a prospect in return.

Matt Dumba stayed in Minnesota on Expansion

Draft Night

The player McPhee liked was Haula, who had spent most of the previous season on Minnesota's fourth line. Haula, a 7th round pick in the 2009 Draft out of the University of Minnesota, was coming off a season in which he scored a career-high 15 goals for the Wild, while averaging just under 14 minutes a game.

While McPhee was concentrating on building a franchise, Wild GM Chuck Fletcher was trying to protect his. He knew that, logically, one of his young defensemen would likely be taken. But he wanted to try and trade one of them for some forward help, while trying to clear some salary cap space.

Fletcher accomplished each of those things. After Las Vegas eventually passed on a Wild defenseman, Fletcher traded Marco Scandella and Jason Pominville (and his salary) to Buffalo for forwards Marcus Foligno and Tyler Ennis (both of whom were protected by the Sabres).

For Vegas, the one piece left in the puzzle was the prospect the Wild would send them to not take Dumba or Scandella. Three names were at the top of their list: Jordan Greenway, Kirill Kaprizov and Alex Tuch.

Minnesota send 2014 first round pick Tuch to complete the deal.

Tuch appeared in six games for MIN with a +/- of -3

Tuch played in his first full NHL season for the Golden Knights and scored 15 goals. Haula went on to score 29 in 76 games, nearly doubling his 2016-17 total. It's worth noting Foligno and Ennis combined for 16.

Chuck Fletcher got inside his own head on this one. Not only did he give up two players to protect one, but he didn't realize what he had in Eric Haula. Why wasn't Haula putting up near-30 goal seasons with the Wild? The previous season, Fletcher decided he had to trade three draft picks (including a first) for Martin Hanzel and Ryan White. Then Bruce Boudreau gave Hanzel more ice time than Haula.

The Wild had Haula and wasted him, then willingly gave him away plya another pretty good forward to boot.

To put more salt in the wound: Haula, Tuch and the Las Vegas Knights became the first expansion team to win their division and reach the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Wild's postseason struggles continued as they lost in the first round of the playoffs for the third consecutive year.

Ache #13: Winter Storm Xanto

Minnesota is proud of their "great, white North" heritage. From freezing Vikings games at The Met and TCF Bank Stadium, to frozen 5Ks, polar plunges and various winter celebrations the cold and the snow are part of Minnesota culture.

But not so much for baseball.

"Spring" 2018 was unseasonably cold, wrecking havoc across the baseball landscape. The New York Yankees, Mets and Detroit Tigers all had their home openers snowed out. Detroit had six of their first twelve home games rescheduled due to weather.

But the worst was still coming.

Winter Storm Xanto hit the the Midwest Friday April 13th 2018 and dumped 15-22 inches of snow in the Metro Area in Minnesota. The Twins had a four game series against the Chicago White Sox scheduled the 12th thru the 15th. 

The fountain (and literally everything else) froze

at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City

The one game the Twins played was a 4-0 win over the southsiders on Thursday the 12th. The other three games were all postponed due to the snow.

And that begs the question that sparked a debate across Twins Territory: should Target Field have been built with a retractable roof like Milwaukee?

One click of a button, and no snow-outs in Milwaukee

The coldest game played at Target Field was April 17 2014 with a temperature of 31 degrees at first pitch. The Milwaukee Brewers played at home the same day, but nobody inside Miller Park made a big deal about the snow until they went to their cars and realized the roads home were covered in snow and ice. Inside the stadium during game time, it was a balmy 62 degrees.

Rain outs and snow outs are a part of baseball. During Xanto, the Atlanta Braves and Chicago Cubs played a game in 38 degree weather, 24 MPH winds, snow and sleet. But nobody is demanding Wrigley Field be rebuilt with a roof.

Every single time there’s a rainout (or a snow out), people complain because the Twins used to have the Metrodome. Rain or shine, you could count on the game being played in the Dome and everyone was happy. Except, The Dome was ugly. We had to crane our necks because home plate was 70° off to the side. Fly balls were lost in the white roof and ground balls bounced over defenders or raced past them at breakneck speed. It was not a pleasant experience for anyone involved, unless you came from North Dakota, because at least your trip to the Twin Cities to see the Twins came to fruition because you were able to watch the Twins.

Though there were discussions to put a retractable roof on the new ballpark, it was ultimately decided that it would be an open-air stadium. The space where Target Field was built used to be a parking lot, meaning the ballpark had to be tiny.

Literally, a parking lot

(Source: www.twinsballpark2010.com)

Not only would a retractable roof cost tax payers more money, but there wasn't really any place to put it because of the size crunch the stadium was already in with their construction site.

The original design of Target Field did include a retractable roof, 

But, as terrible as the weather was (for everyone) during Winter Storm Xanto, there probably aren't many Twins fans that would trade a couple more games in early April for a view like this: