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Twins’ Michael Cuddyer discovers passion for photography
On any given road trip, Michael Cuddyer may bring four or five gloves along with him to be prepared to play any of the six different defensive positions he has played in his career.
In his 11th season with the Twins, Cuddyer has added something else to his bag this year — a brand new Canon EOS 60D digital SLR camera.
During the offseason, Cuddyer saw some pictures his brother-in-law had taken at a beach house, with some picturesque sunrises and sunsets, and it got him thinking.
“We’ve got some great access to some pretty cool places in this country that people pay to go to, and we get to go to them every day for free,” Cuddyer said. “So I thought, ‘Why not just start taking shots of them, pictures to kind of chronicle our season on the road and be able to make something like a coffee book at the end of the year for family members?'”
Cuddyer started doing his homework. He read up on photography and researched cameras after Thanksgiving.
He didn’t want to just take the average vacation pictures taken by most amateur photographers and posted online for friends and family to see. Cuddyer wanted his photos to look good; he wanted something he could be proud of, and that his family would be impressed by if he printed them out and gave them as gifts.
“I’m the type that if I’m going to do something, I want to do it the right way. I didn’t want to just take snapshots of stuff,” Cuddyer said. “I wanted to, first of all, learn how to take pictures, and I’m still learning every day. I wanted to learn how to use a camera and how to make cool effects and stuff like that, and apply it to the stadiums.”
Cuddyer kept studying through the end of Spring Training, when he finally settled on a camera and lenses to purchase. His wife bought it for his birthday — Cuddyer turned 32 on March 27 — just in time for the start of the regular season.
The Twins traveled north of the border for Opening Day to Toronto, which turned out to be an excellent location for Cuddyer to test out his new camera. He liked the results that first weekend of the season, especially with the pictures he took of the skyline just before sunset.
From Toronto, the Twins went to New York, giving Cuddyer another excellent opportunity. Minnesota has traveled to five other cities already this season, and Cuddyer has photographed three of them: St. Petersburg, Baltimore and Boston.
While the Twins also took trips to Kansas City and Chicago, the trips were short and the weather did not make for good photos. Knowing he’d be back to both cities, Cuddyer saved those two for another time.
“I think as I’ve gotten better, the pictures have definitely gotten better,” Cuddyer said. “I really like the skyline I’ve taken of Toronto, at night as the sun was going down and the lights are starting to come on, which I thought was pretty cool.
“I took one, with the baseball and the warehouse blurred out in the background in Baltimore; I thought that was a good one, too. I just like looking at the stadiums; they’re some of the most awesome places in the country that have ever been built.”
In addition to doing his homework on how to take photos, Cuddyer has been studying the Twins’ travel schedule and scouting interesting backdrops for his project. His hope is to take photos of every stadium the Twins play in, while also getting shots of the city when his family is not with him.
On the club’s next road trip, he’s hoping for some good shots of Oakland/San Francisco and Seattle, though he won’t have a lot of time with just two games against both the Mariners and the A’s.
“That’s the big thing — I have very, very little time for photography. Very, very little,” Cuddyer said. “I get out for maybe an hour and take all these pictures of the stadium in that time. Then I get back to concentrating and focusing on the game.”
Cuddyer is sharing his photos with more people than just his family, too.
Shortly after getting his camera, Cuddyer opened up a Flickr account where he can share the photos digitally with fans. They’ve been popular, too, with nearly every photo on his account having been viewed 500 or more times, and some more than 1,000 views.
This week, Cuddyer had a few of his favorites printed out, which he plans to sign and give away to fans.
“I just got these prints made to see what it looked like, see if I had the right colors and stuff like that,” Cuddyer said. “I really like the way they turned out, so maybe I’ll sign them and we do a bunch of charity auctions and stuff throughout the year, so maybe we’ll auction some off and some people will like it.”
As he balances his time between a new hobby and his profession, Cuddyer even sees some similarities between baseball and photography, particularly with the work involved.
Cuddyer said both take a lot of studying, comparing the video and scouting reports he uses in baseball to the research and scouting he does to find good locations for taking photos. In both, preparation is important for success.
Now that he’s developed his photography skills, does Cuddyer see a future for himself in profession after baseball?
“As a hobby, a personal hobby,” Cuddyer said. “I don’t think I’ll be doing it as a profession or anything like that. I think it’s definitely something that I have a passion for. I always felt like in my head I was artistic, but I could never draw, I could never paint, I could never put what I saw in my head on paper. I think taking pictures is a way for me to do that.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Twins show fight, but drop fifth straight
MINNEAPOLIS — As he saw Matt Tolbert’s double headed to the gap in right, the only thing on Twins outfielder Ben Revere’s mind was scoring from first base. With his head down, Revere took off, quickly rounding second and then third.
With the relay coming in, Revere slid between the legs of catcher Alex Avila, as the throw from Tigers second baseman Scott Sizemore went wide. Revere was safe, tying the game, but he paid a price for his efforts, taking a hard hit to the chin from Avila’s knee.
“I was running top speed trying to tie this game, and luckily I was able to tie the game at that point,” Revere said. “I really did not know. Some guys said I flipped the catcher over, but I got hit in the chin a little bit. It looked like I got more of the collision than he did, but I did anything I could to sacrifice my body to score that run.”
That hustle and determination from Revere, which drew a standing ovation from the crowd of 38,938 at Target Field, was a little like the way Wednesday’s game went for the Twins. Every time they worked hard to come back from a deficit, they were knocked back down by the Tigers, who came away with the 9-7 victory for the two-game series sweep.
“Kind of a wild one out there today,” said Twins manager Ron Gardenhire. “Opportunities lost and we also picked up some big hits and battled our tails off to get back in it. But we didn’t make enough pitches.”
After coming from behind three times to tie the game or take the lead on Wednesday, the Twins were all out of comebacks in the ninth inning.
Entering the inning tied at seven runs apiece, closer Matt Capps surrendered a pair of runs in the final frame, giving the game back to the Tigers yet again.
It was a forgettable outing for Capps, who served up a two-run blast in the eighth to Jhonny Peralta, but still had a chance to pick up the win after the Twins tied it in the bottom half of the inning on Tolbert’s RBI double.
“It was a slider that I left up,” Capps said. “I just left it up over the plate and he hit it.”
According to Peralta, there was a bit of luck involved, too.
“I’m not looking for that pitch,” Peralta said. “I’m looking for a sinker and he threw me a slider right there. I don’t know how I made good contact, but it’s working.”
Peralta’s home run came just after the Twins appeared to have made the comeback needed for a thrilling victory.
Following a one-out RBI double in the seventh that cut the lead to two runs, designated hitter Jason Kubel crushed a 1-1 sinker from Tigers reliever Daniel Schlereth 460 feet into the right field seats for a three-run blast. In their 35th game, it was the Twins’ first three-run home run of the year.
Kubel’s home run was his team-leading fourth of the season, and his four RBIs in the game also put him in the team lead with 20. He added a single and a walk on a 2-for-4 day as the Twins broke out the bats for a couple late rallies that were all for naught.
“It definitely shifted the momentum on our side,” Kubel said of the home run. “But they came right back and put us back down. But we fought back, and then it got away from us again.”
With a thin bullpen, the Twins were hoping for a quality start from right-hander Scott Baker. Instead, Baker delivered a shaky, walk-filled 4 1/3 innings that put his team in a 5-2 hole through five innings.
Baker had been brilliant in his last four starts, going 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA while averaging seven innings per game. Over that span, Baker racked up 25 strikeouts against only four walks.
He continued to add to his strikeout total on Wednesday, recording six, but walks became a problem again for Baker, just as they have been for the rest of the Twins pitching staff early this season. Baker issued five bases on balls, marking a career high for the right-hander.
“Just a couple mechanical issues where at times mechanically you’re not where you need to be,” Baker said. “That translates to your hand not being where it needs to be which translates to the ball not going where you want it to go.
“Obviously we’re not robots, we’re human beings. So sometimes it’s harder to make that adjustment than others. Today, unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make that adjustment.”
Baker’s walks were not the only ones that hurt the Twins on the day.
Lefty reliever Jose Mijares walked Brennan Boesch with one out in the eighth, which set up Peralta’s two-run, pinch-hit blast off Capps one batter later. With his team issuing eight walks on the day, Gardenhire was not at all pleased.
“You walk people there at the end of the ballgame, you don’t want to put anybody on base,” Gardenhire said. “That’s not being too fine, that’s just not throwing it over. You’ve got to have courage, too. Courage is throwing the ball over the plate, making them swing the bat and hopefully we’ll catch it. Sometimes you back away and you shy away and that’s not good enough.”
Gardenhire also was unhappy with the missed opportunities in the game offensively. In particular, he could not understand how center fielder Denard Span was unable to score from second base on Luke Hughes’ double in the seventh.
As Gardenhire saw it, Span should have been at least halfway to third on the play, and as the team’s fastest runner, should have scored easily.
Span eventually scored on Kubel’s home run, but it was a mistake that could have cost the Twins had it not been for their designated hitter’s three-run blast. As much as injuries, illnesses and offensive struggles have been an issue for the Twins early this season, fundamental lapses have found their way into the mix as well.
That, Gardenhire says, is something that needs to be fixed for them to start winning games.
“The fundamental stuff and the little stuff we have done so well, these guys have been part of that,” he said. “There are not any guys out there on the field who have not been part of that through Spring Training and part of the season.
“So you can’t tell me you don’t know. You can’t tell me that. It’s just not getting it done.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Twins 5/11
Young expected to rejoin team on Friday
MINNEAPOLIS — Left fielder Delmon Young, who has been on the 15-day disabled list since April 27 with a strained left oblique, is scheduled to play left field on Wednesday for the first time in three weeks.
Young, who batted five times in a designated hitter role on Tuesday for the Twins’ extended Spring Training club, is expected to play six innings in left field on Wednesday in Fort Myers, Fla. Barring any setbacks, Young will rejoin the club on Friday as the Twins open a three-game series against the Blue Jays.
Joining Young on the Twins daily injury report from head trainer Rick McWane were second baseman Tsuyoshi Nishioka and designated hitter Jim Thome, both of whom are also in Fort Myers.
Nishioka was scheduled on Wednesday to continue taking batting practice, ground balls and do some progressive running. Thome was scheduled on Wednesday to take batting practice.
After the injury report was completed, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire was asked about the number of big leaguers rehabbing at the Spring Training complex.
“I’m not counting how many people are down there,” Gardenhire said. “I’m counting how many people are getting closer to coming back, that’s all.
“That’s our rehab site. I don’t think the number’s important. Well it might be important, but I think getting them back is what’s important. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
Repko heads down to Twins’ spring complex
MINNEAPOLIS — Outfielder Jason Repko was the latest injured Twins player to head south to the club’s Spring Training complex, flying out Wednesday afternoon to Fort Myers, Fla.
Repko, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list on May 2 with a strained right quad, also worked out in the morning at Target Field before the Twins wrapped up their series with the Tigers.
As he heads to extended Spring Training, Repko will join Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Jim Thome in Fort Myers, as they continue to rehab their own injuries.
Rare hailstorm delays Tigers and Twins
By Jordan Schelling / MLB.com
As tornado warnings were issued for the area and funnel clouds were spotted in other parts of the city, rain gave way to hail, ranging in size from pebbles to golf balls, which covered the field.
“That was a first in the big leagues, no doubt,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said of the hail delay.
Gardenhire was not the only one who saw a hail delay for the first time. On both sides, players who were asked about it said they’d never seen anything like it.
“I’ve never seen that. It was big. First time for me that I’ve seen that in a game,” said the Tigers’ Jhonny Peralta, who has spent his career in the American League Central and has seen plenty of wintry weather during games. “I’ve seen everything. I’ve seen a lot of snow. I’ve seen ice rain.”
A good portion of the delay was due to the time needed to clear the hailstones from the field. In addition to putting down Quick Dry on wet spots in the infield, the grounds crew grabbed rakes, shovels and buckets to collect the hailstones that had fallen in the outfield and in foul territory. Detroit won the game, 10-2.
Twins designated hitter Jason Kubel thought the hailstorm was fitting, considering everything else that has gone wrong this season for the club.
“It just makes perfect sense,” Kubel said. “Why not?”
Many had fun with the storm, including a few players.
Young fans could be seen throughout various parts of the stadium having the hail equivalent of snowball fights, tossing the small balls of ice at each other.
In the visitors’ dugout, Tigers ace Justin Verlander could be seen tossing hailstones back onto the field. Later, Verlander broke out the fungo bat and took a few swings as teammate Phil Coke pitched the balls of ice to him.
“They were big ones,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said of the hail. “When somebody talks about golf ball-sized hail, that was it, to the fact.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Twins beat, 5/10
Young anticipating Friday return
MINNEAPOLIS — Left fielder Delmon Young is expected to rejoin the Twins on Friday after going on the 15-day disabled list on April 27 with a strained left oblique.
Young batted five times Tuesday in an extended Spring Training game, collecting three hits and showing that he is healthy enough to play left field in another rehab game Wednesday.
“He got three infield hits, and scored from first,” Twins trainer Rick McWane said. “It doesn’t bother him to run, it doesn’t bother him to swing.”
Young is just one of three Twins players currently rehabbing in Fort Myers, Fla. Joining him are second baseman Tsuyoshi Nishioka and designated hitter Jim Thome, both of whom also are making progress with their rehab work.
Nishioka is doing “very light work,” according to manager Ron Gardenhire, without much lateral movement.
“Right now, very light activities on the field, under control,” Gardenhire said. “It’s not like hitting ground balls, fungos all over. Rolling the ball to him, very light.”
The soreness that Nishioka had been experiencing in his left leg was reported to be much better Tuesday.
Thome, who has been out since May 1 with a strained left oblique, took batting practice Tuesday. The Twins hope he’ll be able to begin rehab games soon as well.
“He’s going to take BP again tomorrow,” McWane said. “No problems with his oblique, hopefully he’ll start playing in games on Thursday.”
Twins players, coaches hold meeting
MINNEAPOLIS — With all the injuries to key players early this season, the Twins’ roster is filled with players that have been called up from Triple-A Rochester.
While the difference in talent level is an obvious result, chemistry and experience bring other issues as well. A number of Twins players and coaches met Tuesday afternoon to address some of those issues.
“Talking baserunning, talking quality of at-bats, situations, you handling the situation rather than it handling you, all those things,” manager Ron Gardenhire said. “Last night, we had a lot of opportunities to get a hit, and we were chasing. We were chasing a lot of pitches, and it looked like the situation kind of controlled us.
“We just have to be better. We have to control the situations a little better, and I’m not saying it’s easy, but you know what, we have to keep working at it. That’s all we can do.”
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