Minnesota Timberwolves

The Timberwolves finished 44-38, and missed the playoffs for the first time in eight years. Rank: Tied for 3rd in the American League East, 6.5 games behind the Baltimore Orioles. Coach Flip Saunders was replaced in midseason by GM Kevin McHale, who took over the team for the rest of the season. Winning Percentage: .500. The team was plagued with contract disputes and the complaining of key players Latrell Sprewell, Sam Cassell, and Troy Hudson. Losses: 33. In the 2004-05 season, the Wolves kept the same team from the previous season. Wins: 33.

Kevin Garnett finally earned his first MVP award with 24.2 points per game and 13.9 rebounds per game. Losses: 10. They finished as the season as the top seed in the Western Conference with a record of 58-24, and beat the Denver Nuggets and Sacramento Kings in the first two rounds of the NBA playoffs before losing to the Lakers in the Western Conference finals. Wins: 16. During the 2003-04 NBA season, the Timberwolves became the team everyone wanted to beat. (instead of retiring numbers, the Blue Jays instead honour their players and personnel of the organisation with a spot on the Level of Excellence, a series of banners featuring player names that can be seen in the 500-level outfield decks of the Rogers Centre). In 2003, the Timberwolves made two stunning offseason moves, trading away forward Joe Smith and injured guard Terrell Brandon in a multi-player deal for Ervin Johnson, Sam Cassell and embattled guard Latrell Sprewell. However, the club has been pleasantly surprised with the performance of rookie callup Aaron Hill so far.

However, the Lakers came back to win the game on the way to winning the series in six games, as the Timberwolves were eliminated in the first round for the 7th straight year. The Jays were hit when third-baseman Corey Koskie broke his finger, taking him out of the lineup for 6-8 weeks. After being blown out at home in Game 1 the Timberwolves had a chance to take a 3-1 series lead as they led heading into the 4th quarter of Game 4 in Los Angeles. So far in the regular season, the Jays have been able to translate their success in spring training into a excellent start-- the team led the AL East from early to mid-April and as of mid June, they are holding steadily around .500. With home court advantage for the first time facing the three-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers. The Blue Jays finished spring training with a 16-10 record. 2002-2003 seemed to look up for the Wolves. Kevin Garnett had a great season, finishing 2nd in MVP voting while averaging a solid 23.0 ppg and 13.4 rebounds per game as the Timberwolves finish in 3rd place with a 51-31 record. Owner Ted Rogers also promised a payroll increase to $210 million over the next 3 years, which will allow them to have a team payroll of $80 million per year.

However, in the playoffs the Wolves were eliminated in the first round again by the San Antonio Spurs in 4 games in the spring of 2001. Most importantly, the old AstroTurf surface was replaced by the more natural-looking FieldTurf. Despite the trouble the Wolves made the playoffs for the 5th straight season with a 47-35 record. By the start of the season Rogers had upgraded the stadium with a new "Jumbotron" videoboard and added other state-of-the-art video screens around the stadium. They stripped the T-Wolves of three draft picks, fined them $3.5 million and suspended general manager Kevin McHale for one year. On February 2, 2005, several days after finalising the purchase of SkyDome, Rogers Communications renamed the stadium the Rogers Centre, much to the chagrin of the general public. Also in that season, a free agent deal signed by Joe Smith was voided by the NBA, who ruled that the Timberwolves violated proper procedure in signing the contract. Toronto is hoping Hillenbrand and Corey Koskie can team up to fill the power void created after Delgado left.

Guard Malik Sealy was killed in a car accident in the summer of 2000. One month after Koskie was inked, the Jays traded pitching prospect Adam Peterson to the Arizona Diamondbacks for the services of third/first-baseman Shea Hillenbrand. However, in the playoffs the Wolves fell in the first round again losing to the Portland Trail Blazers in 4 games. Koskie alone wouldn't be enough to replace Delgado. Led by Kevin Garnett, who averaged 22.9 ppg and 11.8 rebounds per game, the Timberwolves enjoyed their first 50-win season finishing in 3rd place with a solid record of 50-32. The signing signals that third baseman Eric Hinske will either move across the diamond to fill the hole at first base left by Delgado, or will leave the team. He had a solid season finishing 3rd on the team in scoring with 11.6 ppg. Just days after superstar Carlos Delgado became a free agent after the club refused arbitration, the Jays announced the signing of Manitoban third baseman Corey Koskie, formerly of the Minnesota Twins.

In 1999, the Timberwolves drafted Wally Szczerbiak. Rogers Communications, the owner of the Jays, purchased SkyDome from Sportco International in November 2004 for approximately $25 million Cdn (US$21.24 million), just a fraction of the construction cost. In the playoffs the Timberwolves were beaten by the San Antonio Spurs in 4 games. A few days after Christmas, the Jays also mourned the loss of former first baseman Doug Ault, who hit two home runs in the team's inaugural game; he was 54. The Wolves made the playoffs for the 3rd straight season by finishing in 4th place with a 25-25 record. Mattick had also served as the Vice President of Baseball Operations for the Jays. In the 3-team midseason deal that sent Marbury to the New Jersey Nets the Wolves got Terrell Brandon in return. More losses to the Jays family came in the offseason, Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame member Bobby Mattick, the manager from 1980 to 1981 and perhaps the best baseball man in the organisation, suffered a stroke and passed away at the age of 89.

With an already cap heavy payroll the Wolves were forced to let Tom Gugliotta walk away and trade Stephon Marbury fearing both would seek deals similar to Garnett's. However, the Jays' annus horribilis continued after the game, when it was announced that former pitcher and current TV broadcaster John Cerutti died suddenly of natural causes at the age of 44. In 1998, a year after signing Kevin Garnett to an unprecedented 6-year, $126 million contract, the Timberwolves were used as the poster child of irresponsible spending as the NBA endured a 4-month lockout that wiped out the season. One day later, the Blue Jays finished the 2004 campaign with a 3-2 loss against the New York Yankees in front of an announced crowd of 49,948. However, the Wolves dropped Game 4 at home as the Sonics went on to win the series in 5 games. On October 2, 2004, the Toronto Blue Jays announced the dismissals of pitching coach Gil Patterson and first-base coach Joe Breeden, effective at the end of the season. As the series shifted to Minnesota the Timberwolves had an opportunity to pull off the upset as they won Game 3 by a score of 98-90. Rookie pitchers David Bush, Gustavo Chacin and Jason Frasor have also shown promise for the club's future.

After dropping Game 1 on the road to the Seattle Supersonics in the playoffs the Timberwolves earned their first postseason win in Game 2 winning in Seattle 98-93. Alexis Rios has been regarded among the MLB Rookie of the Year Award candidates; however, his chance of winning the award may have been limited by playing time and the performance of Bobby Crosby of the Oakland Athletics. Despite losing leading scorer Tom Gugliotta for half the season the Timberwolves went on to post their first winning season at 45-37 making the playoffs for the 2nd straight season. Adams hit his first major league homerun in his second game, in which Gross also earned his own first major league grand slam. In 1997 Kevin Garnett and Stephon Marbury established themselves as two of the brightest rising stars in the NBA as Garnett averaged 18.5 ppg while pulling down 9.6 rebounds per game, while Marbury averaged 17.7 ppg, and dished out 8.6 assists per game. Nevertheless, prospects Russ Adams, Gabe Gross, and Alexis Rios provided excitement for the fans. However, in the playoffs the Timberwolves made a quick exit as they are swept by the Houston Rockets in 3 straight games. Cheek had to take more time off later to remove a brain tumor, and by the end of the season, Cheek only called the home games.

Gugliotta and Garnett led the Timberwolves in scoring as the team made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history with a record of 40-42. The Jays' trying year also affected long-time radio announcer Tom Cheek, who had to break his streak of calling all 4,306 regular season games since the franchise started playing 1977 in bereavement of his father. The addition of Marbury had a positive effect on the entire team, as Kevin Garnett and Tom Gugliotta became the first Wolves to be selected to the All-Star team. With the team struggling in last place and mired in a five-game losing streak, manager Carlos Tosca was fired on August 8, 2004 and was replaced by first-base coach John Gibbons through the end of the season. In addition the T-Wolves found another star player in the draft as they traded with the Milwaukee Bucks for the rights to Stephon Marbury, the 4th overall pick. The once highly-regarded slugger Josh Phelps was limited to playing against lefthanded pitching and was traded to the Cleveland Indians for first baseman Eric Crozier. Garnett went on to average 10.4 ppg in his rookie season as the T-Wolves finished in 5th place with a 26-56 record. The highly-tauted Quiroz was promoted from the minors near the end of the season.

Also first round pick Donyell Marshall was traded that season for Golden State Warriors' forward Tom Gugliotta, who was earlier traded himself from Washington for Chris Webber The trade paved the way for rookie Kevin Garnett to become the go-to player inside. Cash continued to struggle from an offensive standpoint and would be moved in the offseason. Changes were abound for the Timberwolves as Christian Laettner was traded along with Sean Rooks to the Atlanta Hawks for Andrew Lang and Spud Webb. Myers was injured in a collision at home plate early in the season and was out for the season; Estalella was called up, but quickly became injured as well; and Zaun landed the regular catching responsiblility for the rest of the season. In 1995, the Timberwolves selected Kevin Garnett and Flip Saunders became coach. Five different catchers were used: Greg Myers, Bobby Estalella, Kevin Cash, Gregg Zaun, and rookie Guillermo Quiroz. Glen Taylor bought the team and named Kevin McHale general manager. The offense was no better due to the injuries of Wells, Delgado, Catalanotto and others.

Over the next several years, the franchise encountered mediocrity and even a near relocation in 1994 before NBA owners rejected the team's move to New Orleans. Most starting pitchers do not pitch further than the sixth inning; the thus overused bullpen contributed to frequent relinquishing of early scoring leads. They fired their head coach Bill Musselman. Rookies and minor league callups David Bush, Jason Frasor, Josh Towers and others filled the void in the rotation and the bullpen; however, inconsistent performances were evident. The next season the team moved into the Target Center and won 29 games. Although the additions of starting pitchers Ted Lilly and Miguel Batista and reliever Justin Speier were relatively successful, veteran Pat Hentgen faltered throughout the season and retired on July 24. Playing in the cavernous Metrodome the expansion Timberwolves drew over 1 million fans including the 3rd largest crowd in NBA history at 49,551 on April 17, 1990 that saw the Timberwolves lose to the Denver Nuggets 99-88 in the final home game of the season. Much of that is due to the injuries of All-Stars Carlos Delgado, Vernon Wells and Roy Halladay among others.

The Timberwolves went on to finish with a 22-60 record while finishing in 6th place in the Midwestern Division, as Tony Campbell led the team with 23.2 ppg. They started the season 0-8 at Skydome and never started a lengthy winning streak. Just two nights later the Wolves would finally got their first win beating the Philadelphia 76ers at home 125-118 on November 10th. The 2004 season was a disappointing year for the Blue Jays right from the beginning. Five days later they would make their home debut at the Metrodome losing to the Chicago Bulls 96-84. The Jays also announced that a new logo and new uniforms would be used as of January 1, 2004. The Timberwolves made their debut on November 3, 1989 losing to the Seattle SuperSonics on the road 106-94. Roy Halladay won the 2003 American League Cy Young Award and Carlos Delgado was second in voting for the American League MVP although the Jays were in third place in divisional standing.

The Minnesota Timberwolves are a National Basketball Association team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After the spectacular turnaround in May 2003, which helped the team trail just few games behind the wildcard occupant Boston Red Sox, team performance slowly retained normalcy as predicted by team management. Wally Szczerbiak. The top four pitchers of the rotation then included Halladay, Lilly, Miguel Batista from free agency signing, and Pat Hentgen. Latrell Sprewell. Instead Bobby Kielty, another outfielder with a much lower batting average than Stewart's, was obtained from the Minnesota Twins and later traded in November 2003 to the Oakland Athletics for starter Ted Lilly. Michael Olowokandi. Trade speculation had focussed on the acquisitions of pitching at the expense of hitters, but in the end the team simply divested itself of impending free agent Shannon Stewart without getting a pitcher in return.

Mark Madsen. Kelvim Escobar and former NBA player Mark Hendrickson were inserted into the rotation with their places in the bullpen filled by waivers Doug Davis and Josh Towers. Ervin Johnson. Only two of the starting pitchers on opening day - Halladay and Cory Lidle - have pitched well, despite the offseason signing of veteran starter Tanyon Sturtze (assignied to the bullpen in May), Doug Creek and Jeff Tam. Troy Hudson. Despite their hitting successes, poor pitching continues to plague the team. Eddie Griffin. Minor league call-up Howie Clark entered the mix at third after Hinske underwent surgery on his right hand, which had been broken and went unnoticed for several months.

Kevin Garnett. The middle infield positions remains a gametime decision - Bordick plays short and third, Dave Berg second and third, Chris Woodward short and Orlando Hudson second, with no promising prospect or proven players to start regularly. Ndudi Ebi. Delgado took over the major league lead in runs batted in, followed closely by Wells. Sam Cassell. The stunning turnaround was achieved mainly by hitting. 2 Malik Sealy. After a poor April, the team had its most successful month ever in May.

Isiah Rider. The 2003 season has been a surprise to both team management and sport analysts. Terry Porter. Promising young players were assigned to key roles, including starting third baseman Eric Hinske and 23-year old center fielder Vernon Wells who had his first 100 RBI season. Rasho Nesterovic. Ricciardi was credited for dumping Raul Mondesi in mid-season to the New York Yankees to free up his salary, which in turn was used for the off-season signing of Mike Bordick, Frank Catalanotto and Tanyon Sturtze. Sam Mitchell. The hitters were led once again by Carlos Delgado.

Stephon Marbury. Roy Halladay was the team's top pitcher, finishing the season with a 19-7 record and a 2.93 ERA. Christian Laettner. They went 58-51 under Tosca to finish the season 78-84. Tom Gugliotta. He was replaced by third base coach Carlos Tosca. Terrell Brandon. Buck Martinez was fired about a third of the way through the season, with a 20-33 record.

See also Category:Minnesota Timberwolves players. The Blue Jays started the 2002 season with slow progress in performance. During the off-season, the team traded or let go several regular players, including Alex S. Gonzalez, Paul Quantrill and closer Billy Koch. Ricciardi, a former assistant to Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane, is known as one of the more sabermetrically aware GMs in the game. Ricciardi was named general manager and was expected to make the lineup younger and faster, to take advantage of the artificial turf at SkyDome.

J.P. After the 2001 season ended, the Blue Jays let go general manager Gord Ash, who had taken over from Pat Gillick following the 1994 season. Delgado led the team again with 39 home runs and 102 RBI. The Blue Jays were back under .500 for 2001, finishing at 80-82, with mediocre pitching and hitting.

Buck Martinez, a former catcher for the Blue Jays, took over as manager before the 2001 season. maintaining 20% interest and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce relinquishing its 10% share. purchased 80% of the baseball club with the Labatt Brewing Company Ltd. On September 1, 2000, Rogers Communications Inc.

Carlos Delgado had a stellar year, hitting .344 with 41 home runs, 57 doubles, 137 RBI, 123 walks and 115 runs. 2000 proved to be a similar season, as the Jays had an 83-79 record, well out of the wild card race. The offensive picked up somewhat in 1999, but the pitching suffered without Clemens, as the Blue Jays finished 84-78. Johnson was replaced with Jim Fregosi, who managed the Phillies when they lost to the Blue Jays in the 1993 World Series.

They also fired Tim Johnson, after Johnson lied about several things (including killing people in the Vietnam war, to motivate Pat Hentgen). Before the 1999 season, the Blue Jays traded Roger Clemens to the Yankees for starting pitcher David Wells, second baseman Homer Bush and relief pitcher Graeme Lloyd. The pitching was strong, again led by Clemens (20-6, 2.65 ERA, 271 strikeouts), but the hitting was mediocre, and the Blue Jays finished 88-74, in third place, 26 games behind the New York Yankees, who posted one of the greatest records in baseball history. Gaston was replaced with Tim Johnson, a relative unknown.

Before the start of the 1998 season, the Blue Jays acquired closer Randy Myers and slugger José Canseco. Cito Gaston, the manager, was fired at the end of the year. This was not enough to lead the Blue Jays to the postseason, however, as they ended the year 76-86. Clemens had one of the best pitching seasons of the 1990s as he won the pitcher's Triple Crown, leading the American League with 21 wins (against 7 losses), a 2.05 ERA and 292 strikeouts.

The Blue Jays started 1997 with high hopes, as they signed former Boston Red Sox ace Roger Clemens to a $24,750,000 contract. Ed Sprague had a career year, hitting 36 home runs and driving in 101 runs. 3.22 ERA). 1996 was another mediocre year for the Blue Jays, highlighted by Pat Hentgen's Cy Young Award (20-10.

Gonzalez, Carlos Delgado and Shawn Green, did show a lot of promise for the future. Three young players, Alex S. 1995 was an even worse season for the Blue Jays, as they finished 56-88 in another strike-shortened season. Carter, Molitor and Olerud enjoyed good years at the plate, but the pitching fell off. Juan Guzmán slumped considerably from his first three years (40-11, 3.28 ERA), finishing 1994 at 12-11 with a 5.68 ERA.

It was their first losing season since 1982. Expectations were high for the Blue Jays for the 1994 season, following back-to-back championships, but they slumped to a 55-60 record before the players' strike. In the regular season, three Blue Jays, Olerud, Molitor and Alomar finished 1-2-3 for the AL batting crown. In the bottom of the 9th inning, in SkyDome, Joe Carter hit a one-out, three-run "walkoff" home run to clinch the series, off Phillies closer Mitch Williams.

Game 6 saw the Blue Jays lead 5-1, but give up 5 runs in the 7th inning to trail 6-5. The Jays beat the Chicago White Sox 4 games to 2 in the ALCS, and then the Philadelphia Phillies, 4 games to 2, for their second straight World Series victory. The final featured several exciting games, including game 4, in which the Blue Jays came back from a 14-9 deficit to win 15-14 and take a 3-1 lead in the series. The Blue Jays cruised to a 95-67 record, 7 games ahead of the New York Yankees, winning their third straight division title. In August, the Jays acquired former nemesis Rickey Henderson from the Athletics.

The Blue Jays had seven all-stars, hitters Devon White, Roberto Alomar, Paul Molitor, Joe Carter and John Olerud, starter Pat Hentgen and closer Duane Ward. After the 1992 season, the Blue Jays let Dave Winfield and Tom Henke go, but acquired Paul Molitor from the Brewers and Dave Stewart from the Athletics. However, Morris pitched well in the regular season, becoming the Blue Jays' first 20-game winner, with a record of 21-6 and an ERA of 4.04. Oddly, Morris was acquired in large part for his reputation as a clutch postseason pitcher, but he went 0-3 in the playoffs.

The Blue Jays became the first team outside of the United States to win the World Series. The Braves would again come within one run in the bottom of the 11th, but reliever Mike Timlin retired Otis Nixon for the final out. The game was decided in the 11th inning, when Dave Winfield doubled, driving in 2 runs. Toronto was one strike away from winning in the bottom of the 9th inning, 2-1, but Jeff Blauser singled in the tying run off Blue Jays' closer Tom Henke.

Game 6, with the Blue Jays leading 3 games to 2, was a very close game. The pivotal game in this series turned out to be game 2, in which reserve player Ed Sprague hit a 9th-inning 2-run home run off Jeff Reardon to give the Blue Jays a 5-4 lead, which would hold up. The Blue Jays faced the Atlanta Braves in the World Series. The Blue Jays rallied back from a 6-1 defict, scoring 4 runs off reliever Dennis Eckersley on their way to an 11-inning, 7-6 win, to lead the series 3 games to 1.

The pivotal game of the series was game 4. They met the Oakland Athletics in the ALCS, winning 4 games to 2. The regular season went well, as the Jays finished 4 games in front of the Milwaukee Brewers, with a record of 96-66. After the 1991 season had ended, the Blue Jays acquired pitcher Jack Morris, who had led the Twins by pitching a 10-inning complete game shutout in Game 7 of the previous World Series.

Toronto became the first club ever to draw over 4,000,000 fans in one season. Once again, they fell short in the postseason, losing to the Minnesota Twins, who were on their way to their second World Series victory in five years. This would prove to be an excellent trade, as the Blue Jays again won the division. During the offseason, the Blue Jays made one of the two biggest trades in franchise history, sending shortstop Tony Fernandez and first baseman Fred McGriff to the San Diego Padres for outfielder Joe Carter and second baseman Roberto Alomar.

Dave Stieb pitched his first and only no-hitter, beating the Cleveland Indians 3-0. In 1990, the Blue Jays again had a strong season, but as in 1988, ended up 2 games behind the Boston Red Sox. In the divisional series, Rickey Henderson led the Oakland Athletics to a 4-1 series win. The club had a 12-24 record at the time of the firing, but recorded a 77-49 record under their new manager to win the American League East by 2 games.

Early in the season, in May, management fired Jimy Williams and replaced him with hitting instructor Cito Gaston. 1989, which saw the opening of the Jays' new retractable-roofed home, SkyDome, also marked the start of an extremely successful five-year period for Toronto. Dave Stieb had back-to-back starts in which he lost a no-hitter with 2 out in the 9th inning; one was a potential perfect game. The season was highlighted by Fred McGriff's American League leading 34 home runs.

In 1988, Toronto again finished 2 games behind, this time trailing the Boston Red Sox. George Bell was named MVP of the American League. The Blue Jays finished with a 96-66 record, second best in the major leagues, but to no avail. 1987 saw the Blue Jays lose a thrilling division race to the Detroit Tigers by 2 games, after being swept in the final series by the Tigers.

The Blue Jays could not duplicate their success in 1986, despite an excellent season from right fielder Jesse Barfield, who hit 40 home runs. However, Kansas City won three consecutive games to win the series 4-3, on their way to their first World Series championship. The Blue Jays faced the Kansas City Royals in the American League Championship series, and took a 3 games to 1 lead. They finished 99-62, two games in front of the New York Yankees.

Their mid-season acquisition of relief pitcher Tom Henke also proved to be important. The Blue Jays featured strong pitching and a balanced offense. 1985 was Toronto's first championship of any sort. The Blue Jays' progression continued in 1984, finishing with the same 89-73 record, but this time in second place behind another World Series champion, the Detroit Tigers.

In 1983, the Blue Jays compiled their first winning record, 89-73, finishing in fourth place, 9 games behind the eventual World Series winners, the Baltimore Orioles. Their pitching staff was led by starters Dave Stieb, Jim Clancy and Luis Leal, and the outfield featured a young Lloyd Moseby and Jesse Barfield. Toronto's first solid season came in 1982 as they finished 78-84. 1981 was the strike season, and the Blue Jays improved their winning percentage but still finished in last place in the American League East in both halves of the season.

1980 saw Bobby Mattick take over the role of manager from Roy Hartsfield, the Blue Jays' original manager. 1979 was highlighted by shortstop Alfredo Griffin being named co-Rookie of the Year in the American League. The Blue Jays fared poorly in both 1978 and 1979, losing over 100 games in each of those seasons. They won 9-5, led by Doug Ault's two home runs.

The Blue Jays played their first game ever on April 7, 1977 against the Chicago White Sox. The franchise was originally owned by Labatt Breweries, Imperial Trust and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. The Toronto Blue Jays came into existence in 1976 after a vote by the American League owners. They are the only remaining Canadian-based team in the Major Leagues after the Montreal Expos relocated to Washington, D.C. to become the Washington Nationals after the 2004 season.

They are in the Eastern Division of the American League. The Toronto Blue Jays are a Major League Baseball team based in Toronto, Ontario, notable for being the first team from outside the United States to win the World Series. Pulaski Blue Jays. Dunedin Blue Jays
Lansing Lugnuts
Auburn Doubledays.

New Hampshire Fisher Cats. Syracuse SkyChiefs. American League
. Pitching Strikeouts: 292 Roger Clemens (1997).

Pitching Wins: 22 Roy Halladay (2003). Hitting Streak: 28 games Shawn Green (1999). Stolen Bases: 60 Dave Collins (1984). Triples: 17 Tony Fernandez (1990).

Doubles: 57 Carlos Delgado (2000). Runs: 134 Shawn Green (1999). Hits: 215 Vernon Wells (2003). Batting Average: .363 John Olerud (1993).

Runs Batted In: 145 Carlos Delgado (2003). Home Runs: 47 George Bell (1987). 42 (Jackie Robinson) (retired throughout baseball). 14 Mickey Brantley (hitting).

12 Ernie Whitt (bench/first base). 52 Bruce Walton (bullpen). 38 Brad Arnsberg (pitching). 55 Brian Butterfield (third base).

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