Charley Walters: The year Paul Molitor coached Ichiro Suzuki

Baseball Hall of Famer Paul Molitor from St Paul will be in Cooperstown N Y in three weeks when Ichiro Suzuki from Japan will be inducted into the Hall of Fame Molitor the former Twins American League Manager of the Year in was Suzuki s hitting coach with the Mariners in the season he set MLB s single-season hits record of The funny thing is that during spring training the Mariners yearned me to talk to him about being more recipient taking more pitches and trying to get on base more Molitor narrated the Pioneer Press After trying that in spring trading and two or three weeks of the season I could tell he was getting frustrated and I communicated him that everything we talked about in spring training just forget about it Just go back to who you were Molitor who had hits during a -year career never had a -hit month in a season Ichiro who hits during a major league -year career had three -hit seasons Think about that Molitor revealed It was remarkable to watch him find a way to get hits in a -game schedule I m looking forward in particular to welcoming Ichiro to the Club Suzuki will be one of just seven Hall of Famers with at least hits and stolen bases Among others is Molitor who also missed nearly games because of injuries Molitor and Suzuki by the way are the only players to get triples for their th hits Pro Football Hall of Fame former Viking Randall McDaniel is a big fan of St Paul s Dennis Ryan the Vikings in recent days retired equipment manager who last week was honored in Canton Ohio by the Hall of Fame after years with the Vikings My rookie year being from Arizona in the first cold meeting I ever played in at Lambeau Field in Green Bay I was warming my feet up on the sideline with the old butane heaters and literally set my shoes on fire melted the rubber around my feet and had to run out on the field with this melted rubber on my feet the former offensive lineman communicated the Pioneer Press I come off the field and I can t believe I did this and hopefully no one saw it and there s Dennis standing there on the sideline holding up my backup pair of shoes He already knew With Dennis you never had to ask for anything he already knew what you needed He was the best in the challenge The first-place Cubs come to Target Field on Tuesday to play the Twins with Simley High grad Michael Busch hitting with home runs three homers hit Friday against the Cardinals and RBIs in games Busch traded by the Dodgers last year is playing first base for this season and warrants NL All-Star selection He ll be in for a big payday next season The hip surgery former Gopher Max Meyer had this month is season-ending The Miami Marlins pitcher from Woodbury had Tommy John surgery in that caused him to miss the entire season Hockey Hall of Famer Phil Housley from South St Paul is back in town after his dismissal as associate coach of the New York Rangers He ll still be paid for next season while he contemplates the next phase of his hockey career Former Gopher-NHL center Thomas Vanek s son Blake a right wing who played at Stillwater was the rd overall pick by the Ottawa Senators in the modern NHL entry draft Oklahoma Thunder s -foot- Chet Holmgren inquired whether he considered the Gophers out of Minnehaha Academy Obviously yeah hometown school I just felt it came down to the relationships I built at Gonzaga It was the perfect situation for myself at the time This season s baseball All-Star Tournament is July in Atlanta Only Hall of Famer Tony Oliva who turns in two months and Jimmie Hall remain from a group of six Twins on the American League All-Star club Deceased are Harmon Killebrew Earl Battey Mudcat Grant and Zoilo Versalles Oliva mentioned last week he s slowly recovering from a mild stroke last spring and hopes to return to Target field before the end of this season Condolences to the family of former Gophers baseball Hall of Famer Mike Walseth who passed away Friday at from cancer Jim Christopherson the former Vikings square-toe kicker and Concordia-Moorhead football coach for years was a teammate of late Viking Jim Marshall I don t know if people know that Jim ran track at Ohio State Christopherson commented Happy birthday Former longtime Gophers football trainer Jim Marshall residing at the Minnesota Veterans Home turned last week Champions PGA Tour golfer Tim Lumpy Herron s son Carson III of Deephaven and already nicknamed Little Lumpy made his professional debut Thursday in the John Deere tournament in Silvis Ill but missed the cut after rounds of and North Oaks native Frankie Capan III who will play in the M Open July - at the TPC in Blaine has earned in his rookie PGA Tour season but has missed cuts South Africa s -year-old Aldrich Potgieter winner of the newest Rocket PGA Tour tournament in Detroit is committed to the M Open The - -pounder is averaging yards with his driver No on the tour Among celebrities the M Open is bringing in for pro-ams and assorted appearances is former Timberwolves forward Wally Szczerbiak Scheduled to play in the American Century celebrity golf tournament at Lake Tahoe next weekend are Joe Mauer Adam Thielen Larry Fitzgerald TJ Oshie and Aaron Rodgers Stillwater s Matt Vandelac who has won the last two Minnesota Senior Open golf championships - this spring at Keller still drives the ball yards New Gophers men s basketball coach Niko Medved drew a large Twin Cities Dunkers audience for a modern appearance at Interlachen Country Club where he spoke of the challenges of building a nearly brand new organization promptly To his credit he did not advocate for a new arena Medved appears July at the Capital Club at Mendakota Country Club Just an hour after congratulating pal Mike Guentzel on a hole-in-one at StoneRidge Golf Club the other day St Paul insurance executive John Regal knocked an eight-iron yards into the cup at StoneRidge s No for an ace That was former Gopher-Fighting Saint Pat Westrum a -handicapper scoring a second-career ace on the -yard No hole at Emerald Greens with a five-iron Ex-Gopher Dawson Garcia s free agent signing with the NBA Pistons unites the - Prior Lake grad with coach B J Bickerstaff who is loyal to his alma mater Representing the Gophers at Big Ten football media day on July in Las Vegas will be Koi Perich Anthony Smith and Darius Taylor Don t print that Industry sources say the Twins who began exploring a sale last October and have sought billion for the organization have a deal on the table and that bidding to line up financing is underway Meanwhile Major League Baseball is expected to guarantee the Twins debt reportedly more than million After seeing financial books specific feasible buyers backed off due to the organization s lack of cash flow For the last years buyers of professional sports franchises have been able to write off percent of the cost amortized over a -year-period With Congress passing of the mega tax bill last week in Washington only percent now can be written off That potentially could affect the price of future franchise sales including the Twins The corporate naming rights switch from the Wild s Xcel Power Center to Grand Casino Mille Lacs first stated to happen by the Pioneer Press in May could have repercussions for downtown St Paul It s complicated and sensitive but it wouldn t be surprising if Treasure Island casino in Welch ends up in a direct competing ceiling with Grand Casino if legalized sports gambling is allowed in Minnesota Don t think the Wild aren t livid about the State Legislature s current rejection to fund a renovation of its -year-old arena Meanwhile there s whispering that the gang has considered a revamped entertainment center adjacent to Roy Wilkins Auditorium that would include a professional women s volleyball franchise That would also include moving the parking ramp just south of Kellogg Boulevard to north of the arena where a five-story parking ramp would be built A hotel with between and rooms would replace the existing parking ramp The really sensitive issue would be the possibility of housing a -square foot casino adjacent to the hotel Which tribe would operate it would be fascinating for sure The NHL wouldn t allow owner Craig Leipold to move the Wild out of Minnesota but presumably wouldn t oppose a move to Bloomington former home of the North Stars or Eagan Don t think a move isn t a possibility if St Paul doesn t realize the value of the Wild enough to upgrade its arena We re definitely concerned about that possibility St Paul Mayor Melvin Carter notified the Pioneer Press on Thursday We don t take them for granted So far we ve been working really closely with the company It s not something we see as an acute threat right now Xcel Ability Center s naming rights were worth million a year to the Wild Grand Casino naming rights are thought to be worth at least million annually Pssst Eagan as part of the Vikings complex and Bloomington adjacent to Mall of America on the southeast side are considered favored sites for an NBA arena that would replace Target Center under new Timberwolves-Lynx owners Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore Buzz continues that Lore and Rodriguez intend to bring Kevin Garnett to the Wolves-Lynx in an advisory role then retire his No jersey and perhaps even erect a statue Ohio State is saying publicly it plans to spend million on athletes for the coming academic year The Gophers aren t saying but are expected to spend about million on football and million on men s and women s basketball For an eight-year - Big Ten won-loss record the record that counts Gophers football coach P J Fleck is up for a one-year contract extension that this year includes a new million retention bonus Iowa alum and former Viking Chad Greenway s Gray Duck Spirits company has a deal with the University of Minnesota to donate percent of local vodka purchases up to million to the Gophers name image and likeness NIL collective Also purchases of Gray Duck at Twin Cities golf courses will be directed to the Gophers men s and women s golf programs Odds are less than - that there will be an agreement even by allowing LIV golfers to compete in the M Open which will continue to be held at the TPC in Blaine the week after the British Open While the Knicks ate million by firing ex-Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau in June the Suns ate million by firing coach Mike Budenholzer in April Dwane Casey the ex-Wolves coach who coached new San Antonio Spurs associate head coach Sean Sweeney in Detroit on the fiery coaching demeanor of the Cretin-Derham Hall and University of St Thomas grad in a profile by Substack s David Chabot You look at him he looks like a choir boy then he opens his mouth and it s Lucifer all over again A little birdie says Sweeney is getting a million pay increase to leave the Mavericks as top assistant for the Spurs He also was very close in the hunt for the Suns head job The Los Angeles Lakers are being sold for billion Minneapolis businessman Bob Short and two dozen investors purchased the Lakers for in then in sold the club to Jack Kent Cooke for million No doubt if the Wilf family which bought the Vikings for million in put the Vikings on the sector this day they would receive a minimum of billion There s a decent chance that Major League Baseball will implement robot umpires for The issue I see is twofold retired -year umpire Tim Tschida from St Paul declared No once you bring it in and if it doesn t produce the outcome you had hoped how are you going to get it out And it s not going to totally clean up the strike zone because it s a challenge system I really hope it doesn t happen The Timberwolves average ticket price this season of was the second-largest increase in the NBA from the season before when their tickets averaged per TickPick In an average ticket beer soft drink hot dog parking and band hat for a Vikings championship cost sixth-highest in the NFL per Hard Rock International research This year cost is an increase of percent The average per-game cost for the publicly-owned Packers was Now it s an increase of percent highest in the NFL Rescue Hi Surf the Fox drama in which Cretin-Derham Hall grad Ian Anthony Dale had recurring roles has been cancelled Longtime Twins Ballpark Operations VP Matt Hoy is transitioning to Senior Advisor Operations Ryan Tanke out as Timberwolves-Lynx COO with the Rodriguez-Lore purchase is new COO of the Houston Rockets And John Penfellow is leaving as executive VP and chief revenue officer of the Vikings to become president of business operations for the Las Vegas Golden Knights Overheard Twin Cities native Chet Holmgren who helped the Oklahoma Thunder win the NBA championship in June answers a question during a news conference at the Oxford Neighborhood Center in St Paul on Thursday July John Autey Pioneer Press While at the Jimmy Lee Recreation Center on Thursday on behalf of youngsters Oklahoma Thunder standout Chet Holmgren was questioned by the Pioneer Press his opinion on MVP teammate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander s new guaranteed million four-year contract He s more than earned that Players of his caliber can t be paid what they re worth just the way the structure of salary cap and everything is set up He got paid the absolutely preponderance he could get paid and rightfully so He s earned every dollar He s the type of person you want to see get paid too great person off the floor great family man