Empty mind, full bat.

Posted at 1:51 AM on April 21, 2005 by Josh Lee (1 Comments)

A lot of weird but pleasing things happened in tonight's game between the Twins and the Royals. Johan Santana's wife gave birth to a healthy baby girl mere minutes before he was scheduled to start warming up, but he went ahead and started anyway. A brain fart in the 4th inning allowed Kansas City to score four runs, but he still ended up with 10 strikeouts and no walks in seven innings. The Twins loaded the bases in the 8th after some wild pitches and intentional walks by the Royals' bullpen. Given the way things have been going lately, fans throughout Twins Territory shielded their eyes in anticipation of another double play, but then Shannon Stewart actually managed to knock in Lew Ford, ending the team's double-play-with-bases-loaded streak at infinity minus one.

Those were interesting events, but what really spun my head was seeing (well, to be strictly accurate, hearing on the radio) Jacque Jones draw not one, but two walks. He's got seven walks on the season so far, and an on-base percentage of .509. I don't know if he spent the winter at a secluded monastery, meditating on the virtues of patience or something, but I'm definitely liking the results. Some (e.g., a horrible tendency towards leaving runners on base) you hope are just early-season flukes; other things (e.g., a sudden jump in plate discipline) you hope are a more permanent change for the better.

Comments (1)

Yeah--what's up with Jones??? I don't know how he lays off pitches that close to draw walks. It's a good thing!!!

I could be wrong, but I think he already has more walks this year then all of last year combined.......

Posted by michael | April 21, 2005 5:04 PM

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