Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN -- The entire Minnesota Twins organization is saddened by the death of longtime former coach Rick Stelmaszek, who passed away today at age 69 from complications of pancreatic cancer. The Twins issued the following statement regarding the loss of Stelmaszek:
"The Minnesota Twins are deeply saddened by the loss of Rick Stelmaszek. A true Twins legend, "Stelly" was widely respected throughout baseball. He was a professional who dedicated his life to Twins baseball and instilled a winning culture into generations of Twins players. The club, like many of his friends throughout the game, is thinking of his wife and son, Kathy and Michael, and the entire Stelmaszek family during this difficult time."
Stelmaszek spent 32 seasons as a Twins coach from 1981-2012, and is the longest tenured coach in team history and third-longest with a single team in baseball history. He was the bullpen coach under Billy Gardner, Ray Miller, Tom Kelly and Ron Gardenhire and helped the club reach the postseason eight times, including two World Championships in 1987 and 1991. It was announced recently that Stelmaszek would be honored with the Herb Carneal Lifetime Achievement Award, which will be presented at the Diamond Awards in January.
Funeral arrangements will be announced in the coming days.
Twins mourn the loss of former coach Rick Stelmaszek
The entire Minnesota Twins organization is saddened by the death of longtime former coach Rick Stelmaszek, who passed away today at age 69 from complications of pancreatic cancer.
November 6th, 2017