•Question: Pitcher Brad Radke and former scouting director George Brophy were inducted into the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame Saturday. They joined first baseman Harmon Killebrew, second baseman Rod Carew, outfielder Tony Oliva, first baseman Kent Hrbek, outfielder Kirby Puckett, former owner Calvin Griffith, pitcher Jim Kaat, longtime broadcaster Herb Carneal, pitcher Bert Blyleven, former manager Tom Kelly, former public address announcer Bob Casey, catcher Earl Battey, outfielder Bob Allison, owner Carl Pohlad, pitcher Frank Viola, shortstop Zoilo Versalles, minor league director Jim Rantz, third baseman Gary Gaetti and pitcher Rick Aguilera. What two players would you add to this group in 2010? Note: Players must have been with the team for at least three seasons and be retired from baseball at least two years.
 -Dorr: The first one I would add is right-hander Camilo Pascual who had one of the best curves I have ever seen. I remember him striking out the great left-handed hitter Carl Yastrzemski three times in one game with curves. He had some good years in Washington before coming to Minnesota and then was a standout pitcher from 1961 to 1965 with the Twins. He sat out much of the 1965 World Series season with an arm injury but was still 9-3. In the previous four seasons he struck out 221, 206, 202 and 213 batters, leading the league three straight years from 1961 through 1963. He also led the league in shutouts in 1961 with 8 on a Twins team that wasn’t that good. The next two years he led the league in complete games with 18 each year. He was 80-51 in those five years with 70 complete games and 18 shutouts. He was on the All-Star team four straight years and won 20 and 21 games in 1962 and 1963. He was also a decent hitter, driving in 19 runs in 1964 and having two years with two homers. I remember him hitting the foul pole in Yankee Stadium once for a grand-slam.
How about Jim Perry? He won the Cy Young Award in 1970 with a 24-12 record, had a 3.04 ERA and pitched 4 shutouts. He won 61 games from 1969 to 1971 when the Twins were in the playoffs twice and won 128 games in his 10 years here, pitching 17 shutouts and throwing 61 complete games. He led the league with 40 starts in his Cy Young year and had 39 the year after.
 -Marxhausen: Pitcher Jim Perry and third baseman Rich Rollins. Perry pitched for the Twins in the 1963 season through the 1972 season. Luther does a great job documenting Perry’s fine stint with Minnesota. Perry’s Cy Young 1970 season with the 24 victories stands out.
Rollins held a tight corner at third while playing for the Twins from 1961-68. He had a career .269 batting average, got key hits and played a strong third base. He also had the most votes for any American League player in the 1962 All-Star Game.
 -Larson: I agree with Luther - Camilo Pascual and Jim Perry are the next two most-deserving choices. Both shined at a time when starting pitchers were expected to throw nine innings on three, sometimes two, days rest.
After those two, however, how do the Twins not induct second baseman Chuck Knoblauch?
I can hear your gasps. Sure, he asked to be traded and was swapped to the Yankees. Sure, he was heckled and booed on subsequent visits to the Metrodome and sure, his career took a tailspin after he left Minnesota.
But, the honor should be for players who performed well while wearing a Twins uniform. And, Knoblauch certainly did that from 1991-97.
He was AL Rookie of the Year and earned a World Series ring in 1991. He batted .312 in 1994, .333 in 1995 and .341 in 1996 when he tied teammate Paul Molitor for third place in the batting race behind Alex Rodriguez of Texas (.358) and Frank Thomas of Chicago (.349).
Knoblauch went to the All-Star Game four times as a Twin and he remains the team’s career leader in stolen bases with 276, five more than Rod Carew. And, he won a Gold Glove in 1997.
It will be interesting to see how the Twins handle this one.
Third-sacker Rich Rollins and outfielders Cesar Tovar and Larry Hisle also look like good candidates. And, while Molitor played just three seasons with the Twins, they were very good seasons.
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•Question: Former University of Minnesota wrestling standout and WWE superstar Brock Lesnar successfully defended his Ultimate Fighting Championships heavyweight title by pummeling Frank Mir in Las Vegas Saturday night, avenging a loss to Mir. What do you think of Lesnar and ultimate fighting?
-Dorr: I enjoyed him as a U of M wrestler but I’m not interested in ultimate fighting at all. It is, however, wildly popular among younger people. He made a fool out of himself with the things he said after Saturday’s match and it leads one to believe that sport, if you choose to call it that, has descended into the ranks of professional wrestling with all the stuff that goes on when someone gets in front of a microphone.
-Marxhausen: Brock Lesnar is a great athlete and he has tremendous ferocity. His antics after his win over Mir show Lesnar as an angry, shallow person. He flipped off the crowd, taunted his opponent after the fight was finished and made some inappropriate comments. He apologized for his actions, but still it didn’t reflect highly on his character. Regardless of his attitude and inappropriate actions, he is a great athlete and has to be to accomplish what he did. Ultimate fighting can be brutal and down right barbaric, but the fans love it. The people want to watch and these competitors are willing to go through excruciating pain to advance their career and become great fighters. This sport is becoming what boxing was in the past.
-Larson: Why did Lesnar return to his WWE persona Saturday? Money, of course. He saw a chance to become the face of UFC and grabbed it. And, so far, it’s working. The follow-up to the Lesnar-Mir clash has received a lot more national attention than the build-up to the fight did.
As for ultimate fighting, its vocabulary pretty much sums things up. Two strategies used by fighters are “lay and pray” and “ground and pound.” And, we thought gladiators going at it in the Roman coliseum provided a violent venue!
Ninety-five percent of the sports nation probably doesn’t have an interest in ultimate fighting but the five percent that does appears to be very loyal and very enthusiastic. Major UFC events draw capacity crowds and huge pay-per-view numbers. It’s a little too scary for me, though.
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