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This weekend marks the induction of two more Minnesota Twins players — Tony Oliva and Jim Kaat — into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. They are preceded there by Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew, Bert Blyleven and Kirby Puckett. All began their careers with the Twins or with the preceding Washington Senators, which means they were selected by the same scouts and executives who were with the team from the late 1950s (Killebrew and Oliva) to the early 1980s (Puckett).

To have six players selected for the Hall of Fame is a tribute to my father, Calvin Griffith, and his talented scouts, and to Sherrard Robertson and George Brophy, who managed those scouts and made decisions as to who would be signed.

The last team built by this group won the World Series in 1987 and 1991. This was Kirby Puckett's greatest moment and to which Bert Blyleven contributed.

A seventh Twins Hall of Fame player, David Ortiz, was acquired by trade in 1997 but was released from his contract at the end of 2002.

With Kaat and Oliva entering the Hall on Sunday, this wonderful streak is over. But future Twins players may make it — Byron Buxton has great tools — and I hope the fans have the opportunity to watch players as great as these magnificent six now in the Hall of Fame.

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The way I met Tony Oliva was walking down the steps at the stadium — and he was walking up. Our eyes met. I said "You're … you're … you're …" and he said, "Yes, ma'am, I'm Tony Oliva, and you are?" I uttered my name. He said, "Pleased to meet you," and shook my hand. I didn't wash it for hours!

Congratulations to Oliva for all of his accomplishments playing baseball — and for being a great gentleman.

Barbara Nylen, Minneapolis

I read "Mpls. hopes software flags bad cops" (July 17) with my usual sense of déjà vu all over again regarding my city and my Police Department. The article discussed Minneapolis' decision to spend $1.25 million over the next five years to buy and maintain a new "early intervention system" to help identify warning signs of police abuse. This new software system is "the Holy Grail of police reform" according to, oh that's right, the CEO of the company that markets this software. The adage that if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is, comes to mind.

I see no discussion in the article about what, if any, buy-in there is from the Police Federation, MPD leadership and city leadership. Are all the relevant parties on board with doing the hard work to make this "Holy Grail" software meaningful, unlike previous efforts that "died on the vine"? I don't like feeling so skeptical, but given the decades of long history with regard to much of what Minneapolis has done, or not done, to deal with police abuse, a sick police culture, and lack of leadership both within the department and at the city leadership level (I'm looking at you, Mr. Mayor), this article mostly produced a deep sigh.

Rebecca H. Hamblin, Minneapolis

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I'm skeptical that investing in early intervention software, a computer program, to identify bad cops is going to be very effective. Viewed as a tool for helping supervisors hold their employees accountable for performance, a software program could be useful. I get the sense in reading the article that the city is viewing this software as a game-changer. I'm doubtful.

Identifying bad cop performers is like identifying any poor performing employee. The identification process starts first with competent supervision. Competent supervision starts with being crystal-clear about what acceptable performance is.

Third, competent supervision means that when the employee misses the acceptable performance target, the supervisor and employee meet with the supervisor providing the employee with timely, specific and constructive corrective performance feedback. Hopefully that timely feedback corrects the problem; if not, competent supervision establishes a performance coaching process that strives to help engage the employee be successful in hitting the acceptable performance target. The coaching process typically includes options for escalating the consequences, appropriately, if the employee continues to miss the acceptable performance target.

Fourth, competent supervision means supervisors are using all the tools at their disposal. These tools include working closely with his/her leader, with labor relations and human resources departments, with computer software tools, performance logs, performance reviews and so on. Tools like these are all designed to help manage employee performance.

Competent supervision also means that both supervisor and employee feel supported. Both understand why acceptable performance is important to the success of the organization; for example, why performance must hit the target and the consequences if it doesn't. A computer software program is not going to do this.

However, a computer software program combined with competent supervision and existing performance management tools could be a game-changer for the city, one I would support and would like to see.

Bob Doyle, Savage

There are two glaring omissions from the editorial regarding the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice ("State medical board is a campaign target," July 17). The first is that the medical board is obligated to investigate all complaints it receives. It cannot and should not dismiss a citizen's complaint purely for political or other reasons. Gubernatorial candidate Dr. Scott Jensen's issue is not with the board but with the complainants, who have a right to remain anonymous.

Second, the Star Tribune Editorial Board appears to give credibility to Public Citizens rankings of state medical boards. This ranking is based solely and simply on the number of medical board disciplinary actions per licensed physician. In Minnesota, where nearly 90% of physicians practice in one of seven large multi-specialty health systems (Mayo, M Health-Fairview, Allina, Health Partners, Essentia, CentraCare and Sanford), it should not be surprising that the need for board disciplinary action is low. These systems all have active credentialing procedures, internal quality reviews, peer review and mentoring. A more meaningful rating is recent World Population Review's ranking of healthiest states, in which Minnesota ranked seventh. This review specifically states "Minnesota is known to have some of the highest-quality health care in the country."

The Editorial Board should have recognized that when the quality of health care is high, the need for medical board disciplinary actions would be low and Public Citizens rankings meaningless.

Dr. Jim Langland, Minneapolis