The Bleacher Bums: April 2006 Archive

Hunter: “I’m too pretty to keep running into walls”

Posted at 12:01 AM on April 1, 2006 by David Zingler (2 Comments)

FT MYERS -- Twins centerfielder Torii Hunter, coming off a 2005 season cut short by injury, vowed to change his sometimes reckless playing style in 2006. “I’ve got a $10 million smile, the body of a Greek god and a enough money to never work again, why should I risk it all to save a measly homerun? Basically, I’m too pretty to keep running into walls.”

The revelation came as a surprise to Twins GM Terry Ryan, who refused to comment. Manager Ron Gardenhire meanwhile, ordered reporters out of the Twins spring training facility after learning of the surprising quote. A teammate, who requested anonymity, said a closed door, expletive-laced team meeting ensued, “Joe (Mauer) looked as if he had never heard such language before,” the player commented.

What exactly will come of this mini-scandal remains to be seen, but a source close to the team said to expect to see Hunter in his customary position on Opening Day. Stay tuned.

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I'll have what Francisco's having.

Posted at 5:41 PM on April 2, 2006 by Josh Lee

As I stagger around my apartment in a semi-annual state of Daylight Saving Time-induced discombobulation, I'm trying to get it into my head that it's Opening Day. Well, it's not exactly Opening Day Opening Day, per se; it's the Opening Day Before Opening Day, when baseball's scheduling gods present us with a game featuring the reigning champions and an up-and-coming division rival to whet our appetites for the real smorgasbord of games that kicks off tomorrow. Then TV's scheduling gods go and slot the game in on ESPN 2, as March Madness drags on into April.

Meanwhile, the Twins have been making preparations for their own opener on Tuesday by getting their 25-man roster settled. Francisco Liriano made the cut, even after getting pulled over for driving under the influence. It seems that the team is not going to take any disciplinary actions against Liriano, choosing instead to "let the law take its course," because while performance-enhancing substances are banned in baseball, performance-detracting substances are your own problem.

The big surprise on the Twin's opening-day roster is the absence of Jason Bartlett, who'll be cooling his heels in Rochester while he learns about "leadership" or something. But hey, Lewwwwww Ford and Nick "Master of the Walk-Off Bunt" Punto are in, so I'm happy.

Twins knocked out of first place!

Posted at 9:43 AM on April 3, 2006 by Ben Tesch

In a fairly anti-climactic Opening Day, the White Sox weathered the 3-hour rain delay and beat the Indians 10-4 late last night. It's impossible to know what might have been, but it sure appeared Cleveland had some momentum before the delay after evening the matchup at the top of the 4th. I gave up after a while, along with pretty much everyone else, except for the few dozens who stayed at the ballpark.

But anyways, baseball has started. The White Sox raised their championship banner, and the Twins are tied for second place in the division, a half game behind the Sox and a half game above the Indians. Sounds about right.

Results mixed for former Twins....

Posted at 10:24 AM on April 3, 2006 by David Zingler (1 Comments)

In a somewhat unexpected move, Oakland sent Bobby Kielty to Triple A on Sunday to clear room for a 12th pitcher. He is expected to be re-called this month.

Dustan Mohr meanwhile, accepted his assignment to Pawtucket because of his desire to stay in Boston’s organization.

The news was better for veteran lefty Terry Mulholland, who was added to the Diamondbacks major league roster yesterday. 2006 will be the 43-year-old’s 20th big league season.

Luis Rivas' attempt to crack the Devil Rays roster ended when he broke a knuckle on his right index finger last week. He is expected to miss a month. Knowing Rivas, expect it to be longer.

The Washington Nationals have taken on the unenviable task of finding a position for former DH Matthew LeCroy. Right now, he’s listed as a first baseman.

Rochester native Michael Restovich's bid to make the Cubs roster was unsuccessful as he will begin the season at Triple A Iowa.

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It's Opening Day!

Posted at 8:04 AM on April 4, 2006 by Josh Lee

Well, it's not exactly Opening Day Opening Day, per se; it's the Opening Day after Opening Day, when baseball's scheduling gods present us with the last first game of the season, featuring two Cy Young winners and two teams that are really going to need them if they hope to make any noise in their divisions. I think I'm coming down with a serious case of anticipation. So excited!

Well, beat the drum and hold the phone

Posted at 9:13 AM on April 4, 2006 by Ben Tesch

Not surprisingly, baseball is all over the airwaves today. Midmorning talks about the stadium proposals at 9am, and Midday bring in Howard Sinker and some guy named Harmon Killebrew to talk about the 2006 season at 11am. Feel free to leave comments as you listen.

Also, for future reference, you can keep track of the Twins stadium bill in Votetracker.

Five predictions for the 2006 Twins....

Posted at 10:05 AM on April 4, 2006 by David Zingler (3 Comments)

Tony Batista will not last the season.
His bat looks slow and he’s a complete hack in the field. Terry Ryan did not do enough to address the gaping hole at third during the off-season and the team will pay for it.

There will be bullpen issues.
Their only lefty is the talented, but unproven Francisco Liriano, Willie Eyre has thrown as many big league pitches as I have, and Juan Rincon has elbow issues. Rick Anderson will earn his salary this year.

Scott Baker will win more games than Kyle Lohse.
Although he only has a handful of big league starts under his belt, Baker looks to already have a better head on his shoulders than the enigmatic Lohse.

Justin Morneau will hit 30 homeruns.
It just has to happen this year. Doesn’t it?

Brad Radke will continue to wallow in mediocrity.
We love your loyalty Brad, but your 20 win season was almost 10 years ago and minus that year, your career record is under .500. The fact is, we’re not getting our $9 million worth.

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Midday audio is up

Posted at 2:29 PM on April 4, 2006 by Ben Tesch

The Midday audio is now available. I find it particularly useful for the conversation to point out similar pitchers to Brad Radke, including one-time Twins Kevin Tapani, Scott Erickson, and Frank Viola.

Halladay much sharper than Santana

Posted at 9:16 AM on April 5, 2006 by Ben Tesch

Either Santana is in his usual beginning of the year funk, the Jays are for real, or both. Twins lose. Halladay settled down after the first inning, the Twins made it a game with solo shots by Batista and Stewart (wow, two home runs in the same game?), but then Rios' 2-run homer and new closer BJ Ryan seal the deal.

And I honestly don't think I have that much of a hometown bias, but there sure were some bad calls at home plate.

Howard Sinker's all-time Twins team

Posted at 9:24 AM on April 5, 2006 by Ben Tesch (4 Comments)

From the Midday broadcast:

1B: Kent Hrbek
2B: Rod Carew
3B: Harmon Killebrew
SS: Zoilo Versalles
LF: Bob Allison
CF: Kirby Puckett
RF: Tony Oliva
C: Earl Battey
DH: Paul Molitor

SP: Johan Santana
SP: Frank Viola
SP: Bert Blyleven
SP: Jim Kaat
SP: Camilo Pascual
RP: Al Worthington
RP: Jeff Reardon
RP: Rick Aguilera

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Time to check the payrolls

Posted at 1:36 PM on April 5, 2006 by Ben Tesch

The average major league salary has increased nearly 9% to $2.87 million, the highest increase in 5 years. (Update: The full list of players earning more than $1 million per year)

Think having a salary cap will help? Neil deMause, author of a new book called "Baseball Between the Numbers: Why Everything You Know About the Game is Wrong" says here that only a little more than half of getting to the postseason is determined by team revenue.

Riding the clutch

Posted at 11:37 AM on April 6, 2006 by Ben Tesch

Nate Silver breaks down clutch hitting in another excerpt from the "Baseball Between the Numbers: Why Everything You Know About the Game is Wrong" book:

Baseball is a game that is won by exploiting small advantages over the long haul. Certainly clutch hitting may exist in the classic sense of the term, but a lot of what we think of as clutch hitting may really be situational hitting. In some sense, the answer to the question of who the best clutch hitters are is that they're usually just the best hitters, period.

It is interesting to see that there are three players in the top 10 of the clutch hitters list that were drafted by the Twins: Kent Hrbek (4th), Matt Lawton (5th), and Kirby Puckett (9th). Only 10 of the players in the top 25 are currently playing, and no two of them are on the same team. Seems like you could work some Billy Beane magic and get all the great clutch hitters on the same team and magically win every game, no?

It Figures.

Posted at 2:49 PM on April 6, 2006 by Josh Lee (2 Comments)

I should've known that the day a relative unexpectedly drops into town would be the day that the Twins start smacking the ball around like crazy people. While I was scrambling to make up the guest bed and figure out where to go for dinner, Minnesota was putting together a box score that I still can't believe is for real: 13 runs on 16 hits? Another homer by Shannon "Forget About Last Year" Stewart? A homer by Luis "I Can't Believe They Kept Me Up in the Majors" Rodriguez? A grand slam by Torii "Too Pretty" Hunter? I am weeping at the thought of what I missed. At least Handsome Brad stuck to his normal warmup routine; if I had missed a first inning without a multiple-run mini-meltdown by Radke, then I'd really be kicking myself.

Next time I have houseguests, I'm going to ignore any and all requests to go out for food or to catch up on family news. Hospitality be darned, we're going to order pizza and huddle around the radio, just in case another freak occurrence like this happens again.

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More on being clutch

Posted at 5:25 PM on April 6, 2006 by Ben Tesch

Tom Benjamin has an interesting post about clutch players in hockey. It doesn't have much to do with baseball, but has an interesting thought:

Calling someone a clutch player is really damning him with faint praise. If he can elevate his game at critical moments, why doesn't he keep it elevated all the time? Isn't every save in some sense a key one? Is goofing up when the game is not on the line really any better than blowing it when the chips are down?

Rusty vs. quality

Posted at 10:58 AM on April 7, 2006 by Ben Tesch

I know it's a bit overinflated, but it's still amazing to note that Carlos Silva threw as many walks yesterday as he did for an entire quarter of last season.

When Silva was asked if he felt that he was behind due to his pitching for Venezuela, the answer was an adamant no.

Sure, whatever, buddy. Giving up two walks and getting gassed in the 6th says "rusty" to me.

Today at 2:05pm CT the Twins start their series against Cleveland, with the back-to-back arbitration winner Kyle Lohse taking the mound against newly acquired Paul Byrd, whose 22 quality starts last year ranked second in the AL behind Johan Santana's 24.

The April Gauntlet

Posted at 12:41 PM on April 7, 2006 by David Zingler (2 Comments)

After three games against the new and seemingly improved Toronto Blue Jays, our new and seemingly unimproved Twins stand at 1-2. To me anyway, it looks like same old Twins. The offense will explode in garbage time, but wilt when the game is on the line. Also, lackluster starts by The Best Pitcher Ever and Carlos Silva are hardly cause for comfort.

I don’t like what I see when I look at the schedule either. There’s three in Cleveland, who finished ahead of our punch less squad in 2005, then a trifecta at the Hump with Oakland, a chic World Series pick, followed by sets against all three 2005 division champs (home with the Yankees and Angels and a stop on the South Side against the World Champs). There’s a little break after that in Kansas City, where Joe Mays will hopefully get a start, and a moderate challenge ending the month in Detroit against the revamped Tigers.

That’s a grand total of 21 games. I say, if the Twins can win 10 of those, they’d be in decent shape. I’m thinking more like 8 or 9 though. Any other guesses/predictions?

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Deja vu all over again.

Posted at 7:06 PM on April 8, 2006 by Josh Lee

So let's see here: Innings that end with stranded runners, except when they end with grounders into double plays; The Twins' power bats of the future, Morneau and Kubel, going 0-for-4 and 0-for-3, respectively; a lineup that as a whole makes Jason Johnson look more like Randy Johnson, with only Rondell White managing anything more than a single; pitching that's pretty good, but not good enough to somehow force the other team to somehow score negative runs, which is what takes to win when your batters make you wonder why they bothered to show up at the ballpark.

Hey, look: Last year's Twins are back!

The "convenience" of "handling" your own tickets

Posted at 9:31 AM on April 10, 2006 by Ben Tesch

Ex-Bum, now Polinaut, Bob Collins, sends an e-mail:

So today I go online to order two tickets for next Friday night's game between the Twins and the Yankees. My son is a Yankee fan.

I go through the process and it adds a $6 "convenience charge" to the two tickets for a total of $90.00. Then, when I go to the final screen, there's another $3 charge for "handling." Now we're up to $93.00. Now you can print out your tickets at your computer right then. That'll cost you another $1.75 for a total of $10.75 in "extra" charges for buying someone's product.

The thing is, shouldn't there be a $1.75 discount for printing your own tickets? It's my paper, my ink, and my time and the Twins (or MLB.Com) doesn't have to spend any money on postage, envelopes, paper, ink, or a human to put it all together.

Ah yes, the wonderful word of online ticket ordering and fee gauging, first mastered by Ticketmaster, then copied by other ticket ordering services. One wonders:

• whether $3 per ticket is worth being that "convenient",
  
• what "handling" they are doing at all,
  
• why they are charging — for a third time in the same transaction — for printing your own ticket
  

I've never bought a baseball ticket online, but show and concert tickets are exactly the same. Terribly frustrating. It's no wonder ticket scalpers are still in business.

Play ball already, will ya?

Posted at 8:23 AM on April 11, 2006 by Josh Lee

One week into the baseball season, and a gameless day for the Twins already means a day of me wondering what I'm supposed to do with my time. Hopefully, they managed to get a little batting practice in on the off day, in preparation for their home opener. Here's hoping that the first week was just a case of needing a few extra games to shake off the rust that clung to the team all of last season, and that tonight will be the real beginning of the year for the team. Oakland pitcher Dan Haren won't make things any easier for our boys, but hey, delusional expectations going into a game (and a season) are almost as much fun as the game itself.

Two classic games

Posted at 9:29 AM on April 11, 2006 by Ben Tesch

This will be sure to kill 8 minutes of your day: The bottom of the 10th inning of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series meticulously re-enacted, pitch-by-pitch, in RBI Baseball for the original Nintendo Entertainment System. The game (both the real and video) are both classics. Enjoy!

Why can't the Twins hit?

Posted at 10:30 AM on April 11, 2006 by David Zingler

We’ve all been asking ourselves the above question for the past few years. We’ve blamed Scott Ullger, cried out for the acquisition of sluggers and burned Terry Ryan in effigy for releasing David Ortiz (who couldn’t hit in a Twins uniform either), but while all of those points may be valid, the underlying issue goes far deeper. The Minnesota Twins clearly have a deep-seeded organizational flaw in their approach to developing hitters.

Since the early part of this decade, we’ve seen a string of promising prospects that either never improved (Torii Hunter, Jacque Jones, Corey Koskie), regressed (Cristian Guzman, Luis Rivas, Doug Mientkiewicz) or flopped (Micheal Cuddyer, Michael Restovich). The question is why and the answer is complex, but the main issues are plate discipline and command of the strike zone. The Twins organization has been woefully inept in instilling those concepts into their young hitters.

Even the most conservative, traditional clubs have begrudgingly come to the conclusion that on-base-percentage is essential to fielding a productive offense – a fact that seems lost on the Twins. “(On-base-percentage was) not really an emphasis,” former Twin Bobby Kielty said of his time in the organization. “When I was with the Twins, it was more of a free swinging club.” Well Bobby, that hasn’t changed and it needs to.

In 2005, the Twins posted a .323 OBP which topped only the Royals, Tigers, Mariners and the White Sox (by .001). The Royals, Tigers and Mariners were the dregs of the American League, while the White Sox, of course, won the World Series. The difference between the Sox and Twins however, was that Chicago slugged at a .425 clip and hit 200 homers while the Twins slugged a league worst .391 and hit just 134 homeruns (2nd worst). So, we are stuck with a bunch of free-swinging hackers with no power – the worst of both worlds!

While the Twins inability to produce power hitters is embarrassing, it’s a lot more forgivable than the organization’s inability (or possibly unwillingness) to instill some concept of the strike zone into their young players. Without that skill, their hitters will always struggle whether they have power or not.

Another meticulous history

Posted at 4:06 PM on April 11, 2006 by Ben Tesch (2 Comments)

Check out Blake Meyer's Minnesota Twins: A Card By Card History, a work in progress which is chronicling 46 years of Twins baseball card history.

I was always a fan of the 1975 Topps set, but I still think one of my favorite Topps years ever was 1964. I love the simple design of the cards, plus they had those cool stand-up cards. Nowadays they're a bit too glossy with a case of information overload for my tastes, although I'll at least give them a nod for their Heritage collection.

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Soon they'll be serving antacid with those Dome Dogs.

Posted at 11:31 PM on April 11, 2006 by Josh Lee

Brad Radke's second start of the year, in Minnesota's home opener against Oakland, went down in a completely different manner than his first. Having apparently come to the decision that giving up a ton of runs in the first inning is so last season, Radke chose instead to give up a ton of runs in the second inning, as well as a bonus homer in the third. Just to make things interesting.

One thing that looked very similar to last week's outing, though, was the flukey outbreak of hitting on the part of the Twins' batters. Maybe they enjoy rising to the challenge that a big deficit presents, or maybe they were inspired by the pregame tribute to Kirby Puckett; who knows? All I know is that they managed to break through in the bottom of the third by doing some very un-Twins-like things, such as getting on base, and advancing runners, and batting those runners in, and hitting home runs with yet more runners on base.

Combine all that with a few nice defensive plays, an insurance homer by Justin "All or Nothing" Morneau, a couple of dingers by the A's Eric Chavez, a couple of runs given up by Jesse Crain to keep things tight, and a near-Guardado-like nailbiter of a save by Joe Nathan, and you have a game that was considerably more entertaining than anything that happened in last weekend's dreary series in Cleveland. If digging yourselves an early hole is what it takes to get the Twins hopping, I'll take it.

A little light reading

Posted at 9:35 AM on April 12, 2006 by Ben Tesch

Today's book club reading is an excerpt from "Stepping Up: The Story of Curt Flood and His Fight for Baseball Players' Rights" by Alex Belth.

A little light listening and watching

Posted at 2:45 PM on April 12, 2006 by Ben Tesch

Strib sportswriters La Velle E. Neal III and Joe Christensen talk about the first week of Twins action and what's up ahead. They also have a cool 360° panorama inside the Dome during a practice.

See my vest....

Posted at 8:44 PM on April 12, 2006 by David Zingler

The Twins debuted their new jersey vests tonight. The concept has potential, but the Twins show absolutely no imagination in the design.

Also, couldn't the plain "34" to commerate Kirby on the uniform sleeves been a little more creative?

Run slowly and carry a big bat

Posted at 9:12 AM on April 13, 2006 by Ben Tesch

In the time it takes you to read this article, a few of these players can make it all the way around the bases.

I found it interesting, yet not surprising, that the 10 slowest players in the league are all catchers (or once pretended to be catchers, in the case of LeCroy).

A Man on a Mission...

Posted at 9:25 AM on April 13, 2006 by David Zingler (1 Comments)

Tony Batista may be the most unconventional player in the major leagues. It’s not just his strikingly bizarre face-the-pitcher batting stance either. In his long and winding career, Batista has endured a skull fracture (incurred after a violent minor league collision), mid-season release, the final season of Expos baseball and a year in Japan. He did all that while compiling 216 major league homeruns and appearing in two All Star games.

Right now however, he sounds like a man that is just happy to be back in familiar territory, “There’s a big difference (between Japan and the US)” Batista commented. “The way they play over there -- they make a lot of noise. Here they are little different about that, more professional.”

Although he was brought to Minnesota to supply power, smacking baseballs into the blue seats of the Metrodome takes a backseat to what he believes is his true mission. “My faith is my life,” the Dominican native said. “You have to continue to look for Jesus Christ. I know he is the one that has been blessing me. I am going to continue to look for him and be at peace and show it to the people.”

Deeply religious since childhood, the 32-year-old says that he has acted as a quasi missionary during his well-traveled career. “God uses me,” he calmly explained. “Everywhere I go, I talk about him and the power he has.”

“I try to talk about my God, Jesus Christ, and my faith,” the veteran third baseman continued. “(I try to show that by) the way I handle situations and the way I praise his name and the way he blesses me. I always try to give a Bible to (my teammates) and I think they like it -- God helps them like it.”

Being around Batista, who counts former teammate Melvin Mora as one his converts, you get the feeling that he is truly a man at peace. He seems genuine, sincere and even a little innocent, which probably helps ease the tension that such overt religious expression can sometimes create.

So, while the Twins fans and front office will ultimately judge Batista’s time in Minnesota by his homerun and RBI totals, you get the feeling that he has other goals in mind. “I am here…to talk about God’s word and the power he has for each one of us,” he confidently stated. “That’s what I am doing.”

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Don't forget your brooms

Posted at 2:23 PM on April 13, 2006 by Ben Tesch (2 Comments)

An overall oustanding showing by the Twinks today, sweeping Oakland out of the Metrodome. Lohse ended up with a quality start after "pulling a Radke" in the first, Liriano was basically lights out with 5 strikeouts in 2 innings, and Guerrier pitches a no-run, two-strikeout 9th inning to seal the deal. Add into the mix solid hitting by Stewart, Castillo, Redmond, Punto, and a late homer by Cuddyer to hopefully get him off the schneide, and you've got a pretty solid game.

Is it too early to start lobbying to get Rondell pushed down the order? I can't care if he's a classy guy. I want him to do well, too, but he can start working on that somewhere else while someone else rakes in RBIs in the cleanup spot.

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In case you missed it

Posted at 10:15 AM on April 14, 2006 by Ben Tesch

Sen. Belanger on the latest push for stadiums
Momentum at the state Capitol is gathering steam for new stadiums for the University of Minnesota Gophers, the Minnesota Twins and the Minnesota Vikings. All three teams currently play in the Metrodome, which opened in 1982. Sen. Bill Belanger, R-Bloomington, has been in the Legislature since before the Metrodome opened. He spoke with MPR's Cathy Wurzer about momentum at the Capitol for stadiums.

Think buying tickets is bad?

Posted at 10:17 AM on April 14, 2006 by Ben Tesch

Apparently there have been quite a few people having problems with MLB.com subscriptions, and in particular not being able to stop them.

I don't have an ESPN Insider account for basically the same reason. The only way to get access is by getting an ESPN The Magazine subscription, and I a) don't want the magazine, and b) don't want to have to deal with proactively cancelling the subscription when it's up.

The academy of professional umpiring

Posted at 11:54 AM on April 14, 2006 by Ben Tesch

Ever wanted to know what it's like to be blind, wear action slacks, and get yelled at and booed every day at your job? Train to become an umpire!

Seriously though, the promotional video on the home page of the site is amazing, in that sort of Tom Emanki/Fred McGriff kind of way. It has that weird You Only Live Twice ninja training grounds feel, and that part at the beginning where all the umpires are running totally reminds me of that Matrix Revolutions playground fight scene.

Protecting a universe near you.

Posted at 11:43 PM on April 15, 2006 by Josh Lee (1 Comments)

The Twins struck first tonight, scoring three runs off of Yankee starter Jaret Wright in the 2nd inning, and adding one more in the 4th. A game in which Minnesota takes an early lead and holds it for the game's entirety is, of course, a situation which would undoubtedly cause the space-time continuum to implode, and so in order to keep the early heat death of the universe at bay, Johan Santana had no choice but to give up four runs -- obviously, it takes a dire situation to force Santana to do something as unusual as giving up four runs, but the fate of the universe was resting on his shoulders, and what's a no-decision when compared to the fate of the universe?

Ron Gardenhire relieved him of the burden of a potential loss, though, putting the ball in Jesse Crain's hands with the game tied in the 7th. Crain, not unaware of his responsibilities, did his part to protect the space-time continuum by allowing the heart of New York's batting order to hit three straight singles off of him. With the Twins now behind by a run, the stars settled back into their normal orbits, and entropy cooled down to its usual levels. Francisco Liriano and Juan Rincon then reminded the Yankees that when they're not busy saving the entire universe, Twins pitchers are pretty darn good in the clutch (especially now that J.C. Romero is in Anaheim).

Meanwhile, Minnesota's batters didn't want to make the situation any worse, and spent most of the game stepping up to the plate and quickly sitting back down again, with the exceptions of Joe Mauer, who the Yankees intentionally walked twice, and Luis Castillo, who's still new to the team and didn't know about the Twins' alternate role as protectors of space and time. Castillo, oblivious to the danger he was putting the universe in, hit a deep triple, which delighted the crowd at the Metrodome, but put all of reality in jeopardy. Luckily, Rondell White got the memo and struck out to strand Castillo.

All bets were off in the 9th, though, and with the space-time continuum now back in a stable state, the Twins could get back to the business of coming from behind to beat the Yankees, 6-5. Mariano Rivera tried to convince the Twins that a blown save by Rivera would also put the universe in danger, but the Twins are no fools -- they know the difference between a reality-threatening situation and something that just doesn't happen very often. Luis "What Space-Time Continuum" Castillo and Joe "You Should've Walked Me Again" Mauer both singled, and a couple of batters later, Justin "RBIs Are Fun And Easy" Morneau hit them in to swipe the second game of the series from New York's clutches. An entertaining game, another big win, and the equilibrium of the universe maintained -- not a bad night's work!

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Two out of three ain't bad

Posted at 8:57 AM on April 17, 2006 by Ben Tesch

Sorry in advance if I just got Meat Loaf stuck in your head. Don't be sad, as Mr. Loaf says. Twins lose on Sunday to the Yankees in a terribly, terribly quiet Metrodome. I'm guessing everyone was at brunch. Not me, I saw the usual Radke pulling a Radke, the Twins being the Twins, and the Yankees being the Yankees.

After the game, Kubel gets sent down to AAA after Ruben Sierra signals that he's ready. I'm not a huge fan of the move, but I guess there's only so much room. I at least like Kubel's attitude about it:

Though disappointed, Kubel feels that his stay in Rochester might not be for long.

"I know what is going to happen down there," Kubel said. "So I don't think I should be down too long."

Ok, closed circuit to RG. Seriously, it's time to get Rondell out of the 4 spot. Give him a day off, move him down to the 7 spot. Anything. Signed, the tens thousands of fans who can see every Rondell out coming from a mile away. Remember what you said about Kubel? Well, Rondell missed most of last year, too.

Beer Town vs. Twins Territory

Posted at 8:38 PM on April 17, 2006 by David Zingler (3 Comments)

For most of the 90s, nobody cared. At the beginning of this decade, there was no need to ask. But now, for the first time since President Bush had two middle initials, there is a debate: Who is better – the Brewers or the Twins?

Lineup
C: Joe Mauer vs. Damian Miller
“Baby Jesus” vs. a journeyman – please…
Edge: Twins

1B: Justin Morneau vs. Prince Fielder
Both have a lot of potential, but at this point Morneau is more established. This could be fun in a few years.
Edge: Twins

2B: Luis Castillo vs. Rickie Weeks
Castillo is in his prime, Weeks should have a great one – when he gets there.
Edge: Twins

3B: Tony Batista vs. Corey Koskie
Ask Terry Ryan who’d he rather have.
Edge: Brewers

SS: Juan Castro vs. J.J. Hardy
A promising young player or a glorified utility man…let’s see…
Edge: Brewers

LF: Shannon Stewart vs. Carlos Lee
Stewart’s solid, but Lee’s a masher.
Edge: Brewers

CF: Torii Hunter vs. Brady Clark
Clark was a pleasant surprise in ’05, while Hunter is overrated, but still…
Edge: Twins

RF: Cuddyer/Ford vs. Geoff Jenkins
This position is an offensive black hole for the local nine.
Edge: Brewers

Bench
Both benches look decent, if unspectacular.
Edge: Even

Starting Rotation
Santana, Radke, Silva, Lohse & Baker vs.
Sheets, Davis, Capuano, Ohka & Bush

Johan has struggled, Radke is mediocre while Sheets can’t stay healthy and Capuano has to prove he’s for real.
Edge: Twins (but not by as much as you think).

Bullpen
Both have All Star closers (Nathan, Turnbow), but the Twins, with the help of Liriano, are deeper.
Edge: Twins

Conclusion: I have to stick with the Twins because they’ve proven they can be a winning team over the last five years. I do however; think both teams will have similar records when the year ends.

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Slow news day

Posted at 3:53 PM on April 18, 2006 by Ben Tesch (2 Comments)

The Twins are off today, and not many games today. There's always Paul Lukas' Uni Watch, which had kept a sharp eye on various baseball clothing items, such as illegal undershirts, new sleeve designs, batting helmets with earflaps, and memorial patches.

Other fodder sure to cause a ruckus is Nate Silver's article on most valuable players, but not the same kind that you're thinking. Nate takes the approach of assuming every single player around the world was a free agent, where all contracts became null and void. Then who is the most valuable player? The top half of the top 50 has alot of future franchisers.

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When pitchers stay up past their bedtime.

Posted at 10:20 PM on April 18, 2006 by Josh Lee

Carlos Silva is a very efficient pitcher: He works fast, doesn't walk many batters, and if you're going to get a hit off of him, you'll probably get it pretty early in the count. In fact, Silva is so efficient that it's easy to get confused and completely miss a half inning here or there, as he can get on and off the mound in the blink of an eye. I can only assume that Ron Gardenhire lost count and thought it was the 6th inning rather than the 9th, because that's the only reasonable explanation I can think of for leaving a starter out there to hold a three-run deficit against the Angels -- one that was a six-run deficit by the time Silva finally gave way to Jesse Crain.

A funny thing happens to a pitcher when you leave him out too long, though. Without the adrenaline rush that keeps him pumped through a complete-game win, a near-complete-game loss leaves him little more than tired and frustrated. And when the home plate umpire works a strike zone the size of a matchbook -- well, that'll make a tired pitcher downright cranky, and the resulting language, in addition to being inappropriate for broadcast or family-friendly blogs, will get a pitcher thrown out of the game even as he's already on his way to the dugout. It will get that pitcher's manager ejected as well, because even if Gardy doesn't know what inning it is, he knows when an ump needs to have a hat tossed at him.

Meanwhile: In spite of all the hullaballoo surrounding the Jason Kubel-Gardenhire-Ruben Sierra love triangle, Lewwwww Ford ended up starting in right field tonight. Ford got two hits, and scored both of the Twins' runs on a night when most of the lineup was so ineffective that they couldn't even score on J.C. Romero. He also lost a fly ball and had a brain fart on a hit-and-run play that left Juan Castro twisting in the wind between first and second base. Whether all that makes him the Player of the Game or the Airhead of the Game is up for debate.

Random somewhat baseball-related trivia

Posted at 9:01 AM on April 19, 2006 by Ben Tesch

I ran across this today, so I thought I'd see who knows: Where is this image from?

I'll give you a hint: It involves the Pointer Sisters.

Update: The answer is here.

Sierra Still Feels "Like a Superstar"

Posted at 8:50 AM on April 20, 2006 by David Zingler

Ruben Sierra's 20 years in the major leagues have seen him evolve from one the game's elite players into a seldom used pinch hitter. Like most aging athletes however, Sierra doesn't think he's changed a bit.

"I feel like a superstar, but I don't have the opportunity anymore to play everyday and let other people know that I can be a superstar again," the 40-year-old explained, somewhat tongue-in-cheek. "I have to take what they give me."

Sierra inked a minor league contract with the Twins over the winter and, after recovering from a quadriceps injury, joined the team this week. The Twins plan on using the veteran mainly as a pinch hitter, but he should also see some action in right field and at DH.

"I was working at first base," Sierra commented when discussing his role with his new team, "but I hurt myself at spring training and everything changed. I am going to work on first base in the off season -- play winter ball in Puerto Rico or something."

Despite a long, distinguished career, the four-time All Star is best known for an award he didn't get -- the 1989 AL MVP. Despite leading the league in RBI, total bases, slugging percentage and triples, the then Ranger finished a close second to Milwaukee's Robin Yount on a controversial ballot.

"People still remember me for that," Sierra noted "It happened a long time ago. Sometimes I think about it...it might have turned my career in a different direction. That's the way I see it."

A veteran of five postseasons, including a World Series appearance with the Yankees in 2003, Sierra says a ring would be nice, but it is not what keeps him going.

"Not really," he quipped when asked about the elusive jewelry. "I am glad that God gave me the opportunity to play in the World Series and playoffs...It's good motivation to work hard all season to get to that point."

While Sierra may not have played on a World Series winner, he does have one very powerful ally -- namely the President of the United States, George W. Bush. While part owner of the Texas Rangers in the early 1990s, Bush described Sierra as his "favorite player" and began a loose friendship with the Puerto Rican that still exists today.

"We are still friends," Sierra said of his relationship with the president. "He's busy right now, but when we went to Baltimore last year, I went to the White House and talked to him."

If Sierra has any future political ambitions (he gave no indication), he hopes they stay on hold for a few more years -- at least. "(I want to play) until they say 'no more'," the grizzled veteran proclaimed with a grin.

You can't come back every time

Posted at 3:34 PM on April 20, 2006 by Ben Tesch

Twins lose another one to the Angels today, with yet more subpar pitching performances. The Twins can't seem to get or hold a lead unless it's in the nail-biting later innings, and are giving up about 6 runs a game. Wasn't pitching supposed to be their strong suit? Apparently, Guerrier is in a sophomore slump, yet there's no word on what you would call it for Lohse, Crain, Silva, Radke, or Santana.

In other news, Rondell is now in triple digits! Huzzah!

Stadium update

Posted at 3:45 PM on April 20, 2006 by Ben Tesch

Twins stadium supporters take their turn at bat
A key Legislative committee holds a second hearing Thursday night on a proposal that would build a new downtown Minneapolis ballpark for the Minnesota Twins.

Wednesday night, the committee hosted a full house of observers as it listened to comments from supporters and opponents of the proposal for a .15 percent sales tax in Hennepin County to help fund the $522 million stadium.

Critics say they will continue to speak out against the proposal but they indicate that they don't have the votes to defeat the bill.

Legislators take stadium show on the road
The stadium debate was to move away from the Capitol on Thursday, as the House Taxes Committee sought input from people who would shoulder the tax burden for a new Twins ballpark.

The hearing, the committee's second in as many days, was to be held Thursday evening at a Bloomington middle school, in the heart of Hennepin County.

Public testimony recaps

Posted at 9:43 AM on April 21, 2006 by Ben Tesch

Tom Scheck's got one, Major League Baseball has one, so does the Strib (plus a couple related stories). You can point to more in the comments, if you've got 'em.

Update: Mike Mulcahy has one over at the Capitol Letter blog.

Welcome back _________?

Posted at 12:30 PM on April 21, 2006 by David Zingler (1 Comments)

I am going to go out on a limb here and state that Twins could probably use David Ortiz in their line-up these days. That being said, are there any other players that the team either unceremoniously dumped or let go via free agent since 2001 that you would like to see back in a Twins uniform?

Here are the nominees – with the franchise’s limited financial resources, keep salary in mind.

Casey Blake (2000-2002), $3.05 million:
Blake barely registered on the Twins radar during his short tenure with the team and has blossomed in Cleveland. He would work nicely at either third base or right field these days.

Eddie Guardado (1993-2003), $6.25 million:
“Everyday Eddie” was priced out of the Twins budget after becoming a free agent in 2003. I’ll take Joe Nathan anyday.

LaTroy Hawkins (1995-2003), $4.4 million:
Like Guardado, the Hawk’s price tag got too step. It has hardly been smooth sailing for him since he left.

Jacque Jones (1999-2005), $4.03 million:
Money was also Jones reason for departure. It remains to be seen if an adequate replacement will be found in rightfield.

Corey Koskie (1998-2004), est. $5.7 million:
At a cheaper price, Terry Ryan would’ve taken him back over the winter.

J.C. Romero (1999-2005), $2.2 million:
Talented, but unstable, a late season flap with Gardy in ’05 sealed his fate.

Any other suggestions?

(Note: I didn’t include players that were traded for other contributing players – i.e. Matt Lawton and A.J. Pierzynski.)

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Baseball science Friday

Posted at 2:26 PM on April 21, 2006 by Ben Tesch

LiveScience has a nice article on the science of pitches, speed and trajectory. The first part explains how it is physically impossible as a hitter to track a pitch all the way to the plate, and the second part explains why it's smarter to catch a fly ball running, rather than standing still.

Legendary hitting coach Charlie Lau on hitting a knuckleball: "There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball. Unfortunately, neither of them works."

My other favorite Charlie Lau quote: "Nobody should hit .200. Anybody should hit .250"

Pattern recognition.

Posted at 9:37 PM on April 22, 2006 by Josh Lee (2 Comments)

Here's a summary of the Twins' offensive performance in their 9-2 loss to the White Sox:

1st Inning: The Twins strand a runner.
2nd Inning: The Twins strand two runners.
3rd Inning: The Twins strand two runners.
4th Inning: The Twins strand a runner.
5th Inning: Lewwwww refuses to be stranded, steals two bases to put himself in a position where Luis Rodriguez has no choice but to sacrifice him in.
6th Inning: Torii leads the inning off with a home run, before any stranding can get underway.
7th Inning: The Twins strand three runners.
8th Inning: Mike Redmond goofs up, and instead of stranding a runner, he grounds into an inning-ending double play.
9th Inning: The Twins strand two runners.

I can't decide if the Twins had a very bad night at the plate, or if they almost had a very good one. On the other hand, there isn't much question as to what kind of night the pitchers had (here's a hint: it starts with an "L" and ends in "ousy").

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A bumper crop of babies.

Posted at 7:18 PM on April 23, 2006 by Josh Lee

If you didn't know that Shannon Stewart's wife gave birth to a baby girl on Thursday, you can probably be forgiven. After all, it was a pretty busy week for blessed events: Brooke Shields had a girl of her own on Tuesday, her second. Even that event, however was dwarfed by the news of another celebrity birth in the same hospital, that of Suri Cruise, who will have to forever put up with being referred to as "TomKitten."

Luckily, Stewart's daughter probably won't suffer a lifetime of being trailed by paparazzi and Gawker Stalkers, the way that Tom Cruise's kid will. However, like the rest of us, she will have to live in a world that waits with bated breath for the oncoming birth of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's baby, which will undoubtedly blind us all with its perfect, perfect, genes.

For Shannon, though, this weekend was doubly sweet. Not only did he get to spend it with his wife and newborn child, but he got to miss out on a complete waste of a Twins series against the White Sox. It's not like having him with the team would have made any difference, either: He would have just spent the entire time languishing on the basepaths, waiting for Godot to hit him in, or in the field, watching Minnesota's pitchers give up oodles of homers.

Stadium happenings this week

Posted at 9:25 AM on April 24, 2006 by Ben Tesch

From Mike Mulcahy in today's Capitol Letter:

The Twins stadium bill is in the House Ways and Means committee Monday night. Assuming it clears the committee, it should come up for a vote on the House floor Wednesday or Thursday.

Probability high of adding WPA

Posted at 12:56 PM on April 24, 2006 by Ben Tesch

The Hardball Times has noticed a trend in baseball blogs adding Win Probablity Added graphs. They list quite a few places that have starting keeping track with such graphs, and now Andy Wink of Twins Killings has seen the light as well. Here's hoping he starts making weekly or game-by-game charts.

Off Day News: Hernandez un-apologizes

Posted at 11:11 AM on April 25, 2006 by David Zingler (4 Comments)

Former All Star first baseman Keith Hernandez, after a weekend spent apologizing for an unenlightened comment, decided a change in course was necessary and stood his ground, telling the Associated Press, “Look, I’m Keith Hernandez, I won the MVP in ’79 – I can say whatever I want!”

The controversy ignited over the weekend when the Mets broadcaster exclaimed, "I won't say women belong in the kitchen, but they don't belong in the dugout," after seeing Padres massage therapist Kelly Calabrese giving Mike Piazza a high five in the dugout.

Hernandez backpedaled from the comment at first, but awoke on Tuesday with renewed vigor, “I’ve been on World Series winning teams, compiled over 2,000 big league hits and hooked up with Elaine Benes – I don’t have to answer to you people,” the 52-year-old commented. “If the Bush administration has shown us anything, it is that Americans don’t have to admit to mistakes – especially Americans with as much money as I have.”

Hernandez then entered a gentleman’s club uttering, “I remember when everyone knew their place.”

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Stadium sized indifference....

Posted at 9:57 AM on April 26, 2006 by David Zingler

Am I the only baseball fan in Minnesota that just doesn’t care if the Twins get a new stadium? OK, “just doesn’t care” is a little strong, but I really don’t feel passionate about the issue.

For one thing, I can see both sides. I see the hypocrisy of the billionaire owners, whose politics are undoubtedly anti-taxation, demanding what amounts to welfare from the state to help them build a baseball palace that will exponentially increase the value of their franchise. Meanwhile, I am also enough of a political realist to look around the country at nearly all of the stadiums built during this latest boom and see that they were partially paid for with public funds – it’s the name of the game.

Secondly, there are so many other more important political issues out there that I just don’t have the energy left to deal with this one.

Finally, haven’t we just been arguing about stadiums for so long that it’s lost all meaning?

So, all of you stadium supporters and opponents have your little battle and let me know when you’re done – I am not holding my breath.

Stadium currently in debate

Posted at 2:04 PM on April 26, 2006 by Ben Tesch

The stadium bill debate in the legislature started earlier today despite its contentious nature. Updates sure to come soon.

The state of sports in... the state

Posted at 2:12 PM on April 26, 2006 by Ben Tesch

There was a nice Strib article this weekend on the state of professional sports in the Twin Cities and how there's been a nice drought in the standings of the local sports teams. Apparently even though the Twins did worse than usual, attendance and TV audience was still steady, which is good to hear since the local advertising exec said "franchises that face indifference that need to worry the most."

Also, I sure hope RT isn't putting his money where his mouth is on that "I'm simply assuming the Twins are winning the World Series this year" idea.

Showing them who's boss.

Posted at 10:58 PM on April 26, 2006 by Josh Lee

The Kansas City Royals have an offense that is arguably the worst in the league: As a team, they have the fewest hits, the fewest runs, the worst on-base percentage, the second worst slugging percentage, and the third worst batting average. Mike Sweeney has been scuffling, and didn't even play in tonight's game against the Twins; his backup, Matt Stairs, had zero hits coming into the game. Outside of Mark Grudzielanek, the Royals' lineup ranges from unimpressive to embarrassing.

Well, the Twins have never been a team to let another team outdo them. After accidentally mounting a come-from-not-very-far-behind victory last night, Minnesota's hitters came into their next game focused and ready to do what they had to in order to show KC what a bad night at the plate really looks like. So while Grudzielanek went 3-for-4 with a triple and two runs, and Stairs got his first hit of the season (a double, no less), the Twins racked up a measly four hits on the way to a 1-3 loss.

The only thing to mar an otherwise perfectly unremarkable outing was a solid home run by Justin Morneau, because even when you're trying to outdo another team in a non-hit-off, an 0-for-19 hitless streak is not something you want to extend if you have any choice in the matter. I'm still not convinced, however, that he wasn't trying to pop it up, only to be surprised by his own strength; the kid really reminds of Bam-Bam sometimes.

Stadium bill passed, in more ways than one

Posted at 8:44 AM on April 27, 2006 by Ben Tesch

Well, it passed. It made it through the House on a 76-55 vote. I wonder if the people's vote would also be a 60/40 split.

Also, just for kicks, let's see what happens when you look at the roll call only for districts that are in Hennepin County: 9 for, 29 against.

Collectibles

Posted at 2:27 PM on April 27, 2006 by Ben Tesch

Three True Outcomes somehow catalogs every bobblehead for the whole season, including minor leagues. The list is available sorted by date as well.

Blake Meyer has also updated his Twins baseball card site by adding the 1964 Topps set, one of my aforementioned favorite card designs. Now if only Jim Roland hadn't stayed out so late the night before baseball card picture day...

Every year's an election year.

Posted at 7:39 PM on April 28, 2006 by Josh Lee

A mere twenty or so games into the season, it's already time to start stuffing the ballots for the 2006 All-Star Game. Fans (and non-fans) can vote up to 25 times between now and June 29. The sensible thing to do is probably to wait a while to see who's for real, and who's just riding an early-season streak. Or you can just vote for the big names, feeding the machine that makes the announcement of the All-Star rosters an annual exercise in non-surprise.

Or you can blow your 25 submissions voting for Juan Castro at shortstop and writing in Lew Ford's name (technically, it's spelled with only a single "w"). Of course, the Bleacher Bums would never condone the frivolous wasting of voting opportunities in such a manner; the All-Star game has a long and storied tradition, and the selection of its starting lineups is a serious matter. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go put in another vote for Rondell White.

Wake me up when April ends...

Posted at 1:28 PM on April 29, 2006 by David Zingler

It's the bottom of the 5th and the Twins are down 11-0 in Detroit. There's no rain there and it's just about official.

The Twins offense meanwhile, is making Mel Kiper's over-analysis of offensive linemen seem interesting....zzzzzzzz....

Will April showers bring May flowers?

Posted at 6:54 PM on April 30, 2006 by David Zingler (4 Comments)

The Twins have endured some bad stretches of baseball before, take 1993-2000 for instance, but I can’t imagine it’s ever been as putrid as it was this weekend. In three games at Detroit, our Little Team that Couldn’t Even Come Close was outscored 33-1 and out hit 47-15.

So as April mercifully ends, the Twins record stands at 9-15, Torii Hunter and Rondell White are hitting below .200, Justin Morneau barely isn’t, Brad Radke’s ERA is nearly 9.00, Carlos Silva’s is over 10.00, Johan Santana has one win and Joe Nathan has pitched just seven innings.

I say bring on May, there’s nowhere to go but up – right??

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