I just heard on the local news that Tom Kelly, manager of the Minnesota Twins and the longest tenured coach in major league sports, is retiring.
He’s been the coach since 1986, and he helped to bring two World Championships (the only championships, unless you count the Lakers/Millers) to Minnesota.
For those of you who don’t know what TK is like, just imagine the comedian Steven Wright…on downers. If he was any more laid back, he’d be in a coma.
Huge Cleveland Indians fan here. Kelley is without a doubt one fo the 2 or 3 best managers in the game. Look at what he did with that team this year - a bunch of young guys who played their tails off for him and, most importantly, executed good fundamental baseball for 162 games. Minnesota will miss him for being a guy who always tells it like it is. I agree that Molitor has been groomed to move right in - the Twins are a team that could rival the A’s in the coming years as an perennial winner.
Remember when he left Jack Morris in to pitch the 10th inning in the World Series? A reporter asked him about it, and he said, “I figured, it’s just a baseball game.”
Cool? The man was positively arctic.
He may stay on in some capacity. He’s an excellent teacher, and he’d make a great scout.
I just wish he could’ve gotten over his fixation with LaTroi Hawkins. Stiff.
Whether it’s Gardenhire or Molitor, the Twins have, at least, formed a basis for futre success.
(Now, where’s a good left-hand bat and a reliable closer?)
