Recent content from Patrick Reusse
Reusse: Twins' Game 1 bullpen usage leaves much to be desired
Pitching decisions need to be adjusted when postseason baseball arrives.
Reusse: Baldelli won't win another award, but 2nd year also impressive
Rocco Baldelli was AL Manager of the Year in 2019, but keeping this club together during a pandemic was even more impressive.
Reusse: Wrestling star 'Road Warrior Animal' was also a great father
Joe Laurinaitis died Tuesday at 60. The wrestling world lamented his passing as a great competitor and face-painted showman. Joe is remembered differently by a legion of his children's friends.
Reusse: In these different playoffs, Berrios under same pressure to produce
Playoff ball means it's Jose Berrios' time to bear down rather than backslide
Reusse: Seeing The Big Dipper in a little town in '59 a moment of glory
Patrick Reusse has met most of his boyhood heroes, but he only marveled at Wilt Chamberlain in 1959 in a packed Worthington gym.
More of Patrick Reusse's memories of Wilt Chamberlain
A further look back at a legendary career.
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Reusse: The many swings of Sano — big hits, lots of misses
There have been position changes, piles of strikeouts and legal entanglements, but there's always the chance he could become the most prodigious power hitter in the game.
Morneau says Gardenhire's managing style 'built me up'
Former Twins manager Ron Gardenhire announced his immediate retirement Saturday, saying he had to put his health before baseball. Justin Morneau fondly recalled Gardenhire's impact on his career.
Reusse: As we watch Butler, we gain insight into Wolves
Jimmy Butler is surrounded by Miami players, young and old, who appreciate the fire, reinforcing the opinion that Butler never was the star we should have been mad at in Minnesota.
Reusse: Dream of 'Porta Potty Park' not so absurd now
Former Twins CEO Chris Clouser wanted to build "Porta Potty Park" in a pasture near Metropolitan Stadium for one outdoor series in 2000.
Proposed Twins-Rangers outdoor series: how the games went down
A closer look at the three-game series, Sept. 18-20, 2000
Reusse: Wrong call, Coyle. Men's track program too good to cut
Gophers athletic director Mark Coyle should have made other decisions, and found the money necessary in football's fat budget to save the men's track team.
Calendar has changed, 'but it's still the U.S. Open,' Merritt says
The 120th U.S. Open starts at sunrise Thursday, and for the sixth time, the challenge will be the West Course at Winged Foot. The coronavirus moved the event from mid-June to mid-September, causing a pair of dramatic changes
Reusse: Dutcher's late '70s decision was the right one
Former Gophers basketball coach Jim Dutcher was part of Nike's first "Coaches Advisory Board" in the late 1970s, and it came with perks.
Reusse: Zimmer's lies about Hunter's injury shake out in Vikings' favor
We now can assume Mike Zimmer had added incentive for lying about Danielle Hunter's injury to keep Jacksonville from realizing how needy the Vikings were for a pass rusher as they pursued Yannick Ngakoue.
Reusse: This week, Vikings superfans must taunt Packers from a distance
"Playing the Packers … and we fans can't be there, trying to make life miserable for Aaron Rodgers. We haven't missed an opener since 1987. This is terrible." That's from a Vikings fan who lives in British Columbia.
Syd Davy's journey to becoming a Vikings superfan
A look back, from the early days until now.
Remembering the first training camps as the Vikings turn 60
The expansion Vikings started their 1961 training camp in Bemidji on July 8 and didn't bus the 240 miles back to the Twin Cities until Sept. 1. It barely resembled how teams train for the season now. Patrick Reusse writes about the way it was.
Reusse: Youngest Twins pitcher to start, saw career end in a blink
Jim Manning was 18 years, 281 days when he started for the Twins on April 28, 1962. His big league career was over shortly after.
Reusse: Thielbar back with Twins after long wait to pitch in big leagues again
Caleb Thielbar, signed on last fall to be Augustana's pitching coach, caught on with the Twins this spring more than five years after his last Major League appearance. He has pitched nine consecutive scoreless outings.
Reusse: Blyleven exits the Twins TV booth as Minnesota's 'Bert'
Bert Blyleven, a righthander with the wicked curveball who won a World Series with the Twins and spent 25 years in the TV broadcast booth, on Wednesday drew his final circle.
Patrick Plus: June 29, 1971, was a crippling day for Tony Oliva
He was never the same player after getting injured in the ninth inning in Oakland.
Twins' Nelson Cruz could be the MVP … except designated hitters can't win
The 40-year-old is in the top five in the American League in average, home runs and RBI.
Reusse: Memories of my brother include broken shin guard, integrating Fulda baseball
This is a story of a brother's death on Wednesday, a resilient memory of 1940s racism in a small southern Minnesota town and how little things have changed.
Brew chief: Tschida goes from behind plate to behind bar
Former Major League Baseball umpire Tim Tschida left baseball in 2012. He's been back in St. Paul since, tending bar in his hometown.
Tim Tschida's MLB umpiring career
Tim Tschida: MLB umpire • Umpired the first of his 3,358 regular-season MLB games on July 24, 1985. • Was a full-time major league umpire from 1987…
June 2, 1998: Tschida ejects 13 from Angels-Royals game
Tim Tschida recalls the outbreak of brawls.
Reusse: In person is the only way to watch soccer
Loons supporters on Friday night miss out on chance to cheer team on its return to Allianz Field after 10 months.
Reusse: New kid Jeffers catches on pretty quick
Ryan Jeffers, called-up on Thursday, made an immediate impression for the Twins. That's not new for the 23-year-old, who has been on a fast track to the majors.
Reusse: Left outside NBA bubble, Saunders and Wolves work on their own
A madeover roster didn't get much of a chance to play together before the season was shut down, and the Wolves weren't invited to Florida when it resumed.
Reusse: Uecker remains a Milwaukee treasure in 50th year behind the mic
Widely known for his self-deprecating baseball stories and memorable cameos in movies and commercials, his work with Make-A-Wish families has often turned tears into smiles.
Reusse: Now we have clarity on why Stollings had detractors at the U
Marlene Stollings was 24-9 in 2017-18 as coach for the Gophers, yet athletic director Mark Coyle was quick to make no counteroffer when Stollings informed she had a better deal on the table. Now we know why.
Reusse: Questions plentiful for Johnnies standout center Neumann
A longer spring football season likely would force Nick Neumann to sit out, but there would be that game against St. Thomas he'd have to miss.
Reusse: Tennis? With no volleyball, Glencoe-Silver Lake's Monahan may try
Miah Monahan will be a Glencoe-Silver Lake senior, and in May accepted a scholarship to play guard for Eastern Illinois. She also plays volleyball but with that sport delayed until spring there could be a new challenge.
Reusse: Bowling team had to clear way for Vikings to land their name
The original Vikings were a bowling team about to land a franchise in the National Bowling League, a new concept in kegling and planning to start competition in October 1961.
Reusse: Regional networks get their night baseball, defy pandemic
If this 60-game schedule is to be completed, the Twins will occupy nine out-of-town hotels and move in and out 11 visiting clubhouses. Why so much moving around and no bubble? Money.
Reusse: For Buxton, the mind is willing, but the luck isn't
A great coach once said: "An athlete is someone who can do what his mind tells him to do.'' The mind rarely asked too much of Byron Buxton as an athlete. The body has been another matter.
Noel Jenke, a three-sport athlete for the Gophers in late 1960s, dies at 73
Jenke was a hard-hitting linebacker and potent lefthanded hitter in baseball. Remarkably, he played Gophers hockey after arriving from a high school without a hockey program.
MIAC to move several fall sports, including football, to the spring
Some coaches and athletes have been told that football, volleyball and soccer are among the sports that will switched from this fall to the spring if the NCAA and public health officials allows it.
Reusse: Twins have easy schedule to playoffs? Stop and think about that
Solid pitching teams will have a greater advantage than normal over hard-hitting teams in this 60-game season. And the 2019 Twins won 101 games as a hitting team
Reusse: North Stars' Blair pulled a fast one in 1967 with camp setup
Wild athletes will have it much more comfortable as they embark on this great coronavirus-era experiment than did the North Stars, as they were launching Minnesota into the NHL as an expansion team 53 years ago.
Reusse: Bulgarian lifter Krastev found a home in Minnesota
Antonio Krastev was heading east on Hwy. 13 in Mendota Heights at 3 a.m. on July 9, speeding and driving on the wrong side of…
Reusse: After long and bumpy road, reliever Duffey plays key Twins role
The many twists in Tyler Duffey's now-lengthy tenure with the Twins is confirmation of how difficult it is to rise through the minor leagues and land successfully in the majors.
Reusse: Small-town Minnesota lefty has Clemens' phone number, Blue Jays' interest
Brody Rodning of Gaylord, a three-sport high school star, is the only player still employed by an MLB organization with a waiver to be competing in Minnesota amateur baseball.
Reusse: In Pioneer League, St. Thomas football in for the long haul
St. Thomas' MIAC football rivals are located 3, 4, 10, 45, 45, 70, 80 and 240 miles away. In the Pioneer League, they'll visit Drake (250), Valparaiso (450), Butler (581) and Dayton (700) as closest rivals.
Reusse: Bud Chapman was popular club golfer, artist and storyteller
Chapman was an artist and became famous in the golf world with drawings of fantasy holes located at some of this planet's greatest natural wonders.
Reusse: 'Town team' wins with guys who'll remind you of Puckett, Ripken
Led by three star players, the Minnetonka Millers are shooting for their 15th state championship among amateur teams that are based in the metro area.
Reusse: Brainerd racetrack deserves a victory
Brainerd International Raceway will host a Trans Am Series event this weekend, with social distancing rules in place.
Patrick Plus: Howard University celebrates another whopper of an upset — in hoops recruiting
One of the nation's top college basketball prospects is headed to a historically Black college.
Reusse: You can expect unpredictable Twins' season to zoom right by
This will be a Twins season that's going to be like none other in more ways than one and with no guarantees: not in the result from 60 games, nor from a pandemic that might not allow that many.
Reusse: U baseball standouts plan on sticking around
Jack Wassel and Patrick Fredrickson went unselected in an abbreviated MLB draft and are aiming to win a Big Ten title in 2021 instead.
Reusse: Otis Dypwick, golf author, to be part of 2020 Hall of Fame class
Best known for his role publicizing Gophers sports, he also produced instructional golf books.
Reusse: Time is right to honor sport's resolute: Meet Joe Warner and Will Cross
They played football at Minnesota Crookston, where victory came around only every few years.
Reusse: Twins' second-half run in '81 should give woeful Tigers hope
A bad Twins team somehow got in playoff contention the second half of the 1981 split season.
Reusse: Daughter's death took wind out of St. Paul Saints owner Veeck
Only now is the baseball showman starting to show signs of at least a partial return to his affable self.
Reusse: How did a Russian sports legend end up in Detroit Lakes?
In the early '90s, goalie Vladislav Tretiak became a goalie instructor at a hockey camp -- and faced tough questions from 9-year-olds.
Reusse: Four-man Gibbon track team gave metro powers a run for 1954 title
Dr. Edgar Taggatz "keeps the Wildcats spirit alive," one of the key figures says.
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Reusse: Yes, tear down the Griffith statue — and also listen to Carew
Remember former Twins owner Calvin Griffith in whatever way you choose, but there's no defending his racist comments of 1978.
Reusse: Summit League deals blow to Augustana's Division I hopes
Seven months after offering St. Thomas membership, the conference denied the South Dakota's schools application to join.
Reusse: In defiance of governor, it's 'Play ball!' in Stearns County
Tradition (and beautiful weather) override concerns over the coronavirus pandemic in townball hotbeds such as the Stearns County League.
Baseball is back in Minnesota as amateur league creates own path to play
Facing growing unrest from teams, the Minnesota Baseball Association board agreed not to punish teams under MBA rules if they were to start playing this weekend under specific conditions.
Reusse: Hunger for baseball is obvious in Minnesota's town ball communities
Minnesota town ball teams, barred by restrictions, have been traveling to neighboring states to play. ""People want to see baseball so badly we've had 40, 50 people watching us practice," said Milroy Irish manager Bob Dolan.
Reusse: On Hiawatha's tees, black golfers group sees course of America changing
At Hiawatha Golf Club on Tuesday, there was a search for perspective on where we are, where we could be going, in a city and a state these older black men have made home.
Reusse: Threat to Minnesota summer baseball is a false alarm
There had been a hint baseball was classified as "high risk" by Gov. Tim Walz's latest briefing and there was no go-ahead to finally start the Town Ball season. But teams can relax.
Reusse: MSU Mankato was biggest loser when college hockey shut down
The Mavericks had veterans dedicated to putting past NCAA woes behind them, a 31-5-2 record, another WCHA regular-season title, and a grip on a No. 1 regional seed.
Reusse: Longtime Gophers strength coach weighs in on way to retirement
Bob Rohde will retire Friday a couple of months short of 41 years with the Gophers. He was hired for football, although all athletes could use the weightlifting room at the Bierman Building. And they did.
Reusse: Baseball memories of Lake Street turn to ashes
The final game at Nicollet Baseball Park was Sept. 28, 1955. The site became a bank, which was torched Friday night.
Reusse: Stephen Jackson, other activists score with straight talk at Mpls. City Hall
Longtime NBA player Stephen Jackson bared his soul in talking about George Floyd, a dead friend that he called his "twin."
Pro poker player Anderson waits for 'real Vegas' to return to life
With casinos closed, Minnesota native Danielle Andersen has resorted to playing card games with neighborhood kids.
Reusse: Brothers in boxing can't fully share pain over George Floyd's death
For Phil Williams and Ryan Burnet, bonded by their work together at a boxing gym in north Minneapolis, emotions are running raw in the wake of Floyd's death.
Minnesota native thriving as executive with Toronto Raptors
Lakefield native Teresa Resch was the first in a succession of women — now numbering 14 — whom Masai Ujiri hired for his Toronto Raptors.
Reusse: Remembering a good Marine and a beloved sports photojournalist
Rich Nuessle was once a staple in the Twin Cities sports media. If you were in that circle and failed to have a wacky adventure with Rich, you had to be in quarantine. Behind the fun, though, was a hero with a tortured soul.
Patrick Plus: Mainz becomes my main team in European soccer
Swansea City, Borussia Fulda both let me down.
Reusse: Faith, not Minnesota ties, brought Denard Span, Anne Schleper together
The former Twins outfielder was hoping to play in majors this season; instead he has been spending quality family time with his wife, a former Gophers hockey standout.
Reusse: There's room to roam in MLB parks, so let's get teams back
Players in other sports might have more trouble social distancing in smaller arenas and/or with more inherent collisions, but MLB is over-regulating with its 67-page list of dos and don'ts for reopening in the coronavirus era.
