The Bleacher Bums: May 2006 Archive

The April gauntlet revisited

Posted at 12:57 PM on May 1, 2006 by Ben Tesch (1 Comments)

A few weeks ago, the predictions and hopes were given, and the gauntlet was then dropped, bobbled, and overthrown past the first baseman into the visiting team's dugout. The Metrodome osmosis seemed to be in effect, with the Twins sweeping the A's and taking 2 from the Yankees. Then there's the road trips, where the Twins get swept clean by Cleveland, Chicago, and Detroit, and also lose one to Kansas City.

In the gauntlet of 21 games, the Twins come out with 8 wins, quite handily predicted by Dave and sbg. Does May look any better? Seattle and Kansas City are beatable (by most teams), but we all know about Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, and Anaheim... and Texas and Milwaukee are no pushovers. Care to predict May? Right now I might say 4 or 5.

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International Workers Day.

Posted at 10:05 PM on May 1, 2006 by Josh Lee

Today was a "Day Without Immigrants", during which thousands of immigrants took the day off of work to demonstrate the impact they have on America's economy. Tonight was also German Heritage Night at the Metrodome, during which the Twins marked the impact that German immigrants have had on Minnesota's history. Coincidence? Hard to say.

The player of the day in Minnesota's 2-8 loss to Seattle was, perhaps coincidentally, also an immigrant: Mariners catcher Kenji Johjima had a single, a double, and a homer as he racked up two runs and three RBIs. Johjima, a "rookie," spent nine years with the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks before signing a deal with Seattle. He hit 100 RBIs in 2003, but I have no idea whether that means the same thing in the Pacific League that it does in the MLB. He looked pretty good tonight, though, as did Richie Sexson, who got his 1000th career hit, a homer off of Scott Baker.

In the Twins' dugout, things looked a little less bright. I'm not exactly ready to call the season over and blow everything up yet; on the other hand, any time I see that Batista is at the plate and White is on deck, I think to myself, "now might be a good time to go get another drink, or perhaps some quaaludes." Not all of the gloom belongs to the hitters, though: Baker, Crain, Eyre, and Guerrier combined to give up 19 hits, which actually makes you look at the eight runs that the Mariners scored and think, "wow, it actually could have been worse." Maybe that will be the theme of the new month.

Souvenir baseball night

Posted at 8:10 AM on May 2, 2006 by Ben Tesch

Last night wasn't officially promoted as such, but it sure felt like last night was souvenir baseball night. The Mariners' scouting report must have said to swing early and often, because they did just that, fouling off several dozen balls over the course of the night. (There were also a couple homerun balls, but those were thrown back onto the field, almost to say "you might be running low on balls, so here's one back.") The Twins must have gotten the same intelligence briefing, as there were no walks issued for entire game by either team. The difference is, apparently, that the Mariners can hit the ball when they swing.

The Mariners fouled off so many that Scott Baker ended up having 100 pitches by the end of the 5th inning. Not surprisingly then, he started getting beat up in the 6th, where Seattle put up five runs. This is of course also in part due to Jesse Crain's continued fantasticly terrible blow-up season so far. His line this game: 5 batters faced, 4 hits, 3 runs, 1 out. His ERA goes up from 8.44 to 9.49. Wow.

Silver linings: Willie Eyre and Matt Guerrier pitch some shutout relief innings, Lewwwww has a solid game both offensively and defensively, Hunter treads water above the Mendoza line with 2 hits, and Morneau does the same with one of his standard "I sure can hit when it doesn't matter" solo homeruns, and the fans got alot of souvenir baseballs to take home.

Stadium killer?

Posted at 8:40 AM on May 2, 2006 by Ben Tesch (1 Comments)

Tom Scheck reports that the stadium waters have turned murky after the Senate Taxes Committee votes unanimously to require voter approval of a Hennepin County sales tax that would finance three quarters of the cost of a new ballpark for the Minnesota Twins. Mike Mulcahy has more as well.

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10 Twins headlines you won't see.....

Posted at 3:39 PM on May 2, 2006 by David Zingler

The Minnesota Taxpayers League endorses Twins stadium bill.

Rondell White named April’s AL Player of the Month.

Ron Gardenhire owes calm demeanor to yoga class.

Brad Radke breezes through first three innings.

Twins ask Torii Hunter to be more aggressive at the plate.

Bert Blyleven forgets his birthday.

Joe Mauer to start trash metal band.

Kyle Lohse: model of consistency.

Fans to Dick Bremer: stop being so critical!

Twins to re-launch Victory Sports One network.

Well that sure is an interesting twist

Posted at 8:52 AM on May 3, 2006 by Ben Tesch (2 Comments)

Yesterday the stadium bill gets sent to the Senate Rules Committee, and comes back a completely different beast altogether. Now the tax is metro-wide (and we all know Pawlenty's feelings on taxes), there are transportation projects included, and there are now two stadiums involved — and both have retractable roofs. Wha?

Mike Mulcahy has more on the issue, and Nikki Tundel talked with PiPress reporter Aron Kahn about the state of the stadium and the history of the Twins' fight for a new home.

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The art of the euphemism

Posted at 12:22 PM on May 3, 2006 by Ben Tesch

John Brattain cuts no corners deciphering various baseball clichés.

When they say: "This is not a save situation" what they mean is: "The game is on the line but they're holding back their best reliever in case they’ve got a three-run lead in the ninth."

When they say: "It’s not a level playing field" what they mean is: "We traded our best young talent for over the hill veterans, our general manager gutted our minor leagues for a 38-year-old 'proven closer', our fans are smart enough to see we haven't got a clue and stay away, and we're blaming the Yankees so folks won't realize we're incompetent."

Might as well get this out there, just in case, you know

Posted at 3:46 PM on May 3, 2006 by Ben Tesch (2 Comments)

Relocation? Your Team's Not Going Anywhere

The threat of relocation has been used by clubs and politicians before and will probably be used in the future. But are there really any realistic relocation candidates at this time? When the Expos were relocated to D.C. and renamed the Nationals, would MLB really have pulled up the team after a year playing in their new home if a sweetheart stadium deal didn't come through, given the club was going to be sold for $450 million? Can not only the Royals, but the Marlins, Twins, and A’s use this mantra, “Pay up, or we’ll be forced to look at other options,” to good effect? Can they pack up and go to Portland, San Antonio, Norfolk, Charlotte, or Vegas at this time?

The answer is pretty much no, and here’s why.

It's a very good article. In particular, the part about the other options where a team would move to is very interesting, where they look at television territories and population. The MLB broadcast areas map is amazing.

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Justin Morneau: "I'll be all right"

Posted at 9:35 PM on May 3, 2006 by David Zingler (5 Comments)

Coming off a disappointing season and in the midst of a lackluster start to this one, Twins first baseman Justin Morneau is keeping a level head, "(The season) isn't going the way I'd like, I got off to a tough start. I've felt better the last couple of days, been working hard and I still have my confidence. If I stay consistent, I should be all right."

Although his batting average of .214 is dismal and his on-base-percentage of .275 would only be a respectable batting average, Morneau is leading the Twins with 6 homeruns and 16 RBI. Despite the fact his power numbers are solid at this point, many fans have been waiting for the big Canadian to heat up and go on a prolonged power binge. Don't think it hasn't crossed his mind as well.

"In Tampa last (May)," the soon-to-be 25-year-old responded when asked about the last time he was in a groove. "It's been frustrating, but it's starting to come back now. The last couple of days I've felt good. I haven't had any 'A' games, but I've managed to get a hit here and there. It's one of those things where sometimes when I start feeling good, I swing at too many pitches -- I feel so good and am seeing the ball so well that I can get myself out."

In his young career, Morneau has found the tight rope between being too aggressive and too patient -- a delicate balancing act for any power hitter -- tough to navigate. Falling behind early in the count, in particular has been a problem.

"It happens, sometimes you're 0-2, sometimes you're up 2-0," he said, brushing off the idea that he has fallen into a pattern. "I don't know -- I don't really think about it too much, I haven't really looked at it. Obviously it's easier to hit when you are ahead in the count, but I try to stay aggressive and sometimes that gets me in trouble. I'd rather be aggressive than missing pitches I should be hitting."

"(I need to work on) consistency, not giving away at bats," the British Columbia native continued. "It's one of those things where you have to keep it simple and not try to do too much. I am just trying to be consistent with my at bats, my approach and I will be all right."

Late last season Morneau, like virtually all Twins fans, openly discussed his desire for a mentor; a veteran power that could help his development. This year however, he seems resigned to the fact that he is going to have to learn on his own.

"It's just one of those things that I have to learn by myself," the budding slugger commented. "Everybody hits a different way, I mean no one can really hit like Tony (Batista). He's a new guy I can watch -- he always has a plan. He goes up there looking for his pitch -- you can learn from that stuff. It's one of those things...that will come with time, I am not really too worried about it though."

Although he seems confident, many Twins fans have begun to voice some concern, not only about him, but also about the team's season slipping away. According to Morneau however, there's no need to panic, "We have a good team, we are capable of winning," he explained. "We just dug ourselves a little hole, but I think we?ll be all right."

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Baseball blogosphere news

Posted at 3:22 PM on May 4, 2006 by Ben Tesch

MLB Fair Press is a movement to force Major League Baseball to open up its press pass policy to include the world of legitimate blogging. MLB currently enforces a league-wide policy that bans local organizations from granting press credentials to any website not affiliated with a major national news distribution source, like MSN, ESPN, etc. We believe this blanket ban on websites is unfair and unfounded, especially given the expansive popularity of blogs as a preferred source of sports news.

And speaking of blogs, what with the stadium issue being a big deal, you should probably check out Friendly Confines if you don't already. The editor is a Minnesota Legislative clerk, and he thus gives a very insider view of the situation.

I'll see your blogosphere, and raise you one podcast.

Posted at 12:36 AM on May 5, 2006 by Josh Lee

What's a traditional sports columnist to do when he sees his job being slowly obsoleted by an army of passionate, intelligent fans who've found their own ways of discussing and dissecting their favorite team's performance (or lack thereof) without his help? If you're Sid "The Dean" Hartman, you jump on the Web 2.0 bandwagon and start a-podcasting. I'm still trying to decide if this marks the moment when podcasting has finally arrived, or the moment when it has finally jumped the shark.

More from the... podcastosphere?

Posted at 2:30 PM on May 7, 2006 by Josh Lee (1 Comments)

(I keep thinking that if I say the word "podcast" enough times, I'll get used to it the way I eventually got used to "blog." It hasn't worked yet.)

Baseball Prospectus isn't always about spreadsheets and advanced algebra. In this week's BP Radio Podcast, they interview Marvin Goldklang, Linda McNabb, and Mike Veeck of the Goldklang Group, owners of several minor and independent league ballclubs. One of their properties is the Twin Cities' other baseball team, the Saint Paul Saints. It's interesting stuff if you're into the business side of sports, or like to look at baseball as simple entertainment rather than the life-or-death struggle that we often treat it as.

Of course, if your idea of entertainment leans less towards inflatable sumo suits and more towards crazy promotional stunts like "decent pitching" and "players you've heard of," then you might want to steer clear of independent league play. On the other hand: outdoor parks. I'm just saying.

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Circle Bert on your ballot?

Posted at 4:02 PM on May 8, 2006 by Ben Tesch

Considering I hadn't heard much chatter in recent years, I find it interesting that I've seen alot of people discussing Bert Blyleven's Hall of Fame chances. Craig Burley is the latest mention, with reference to Batter's Box and ESPN's Jayson Stark. It may be time to take a trip over to BertBelongs.com, oh Hall voters.

The advent of the batting glove

Posted at 9:58 AM on May 9, 2006 by Ben Tesch (1 Comments)

Paul Lukas' latest article is All you need is glove, a look into the batting glove, its history, variations, and who uses what.

There was always something I liked watching Mark Grace or Doug Mientkiewicz or Vlad bat... just something natural about it. Same with the elbow and leg armor. Any thoughts on the matter?

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Superstar!? Hardly....

Posted at 12:51 PM on May 9, 2006 by David Zingler (2 Comments)

"Me and Torii (are the only superstars left in Minnesota). Man, it's kind of crazy."
-Kevin Garnett after learning of the Daunte Culpepper trade.

He possess amazing athletic prowess, has a great smile, out-going personality and is a favorite of SportsCenter, but Twins centerfielder Torii Hunter is no “superstar.” Entering the 2005 season Hunter had a batting line of .267/.321/.458. He’s never hit 30 homeruns, has surpassed the 100 RBI plateau only once and has never finished in the top 10 of any major offensive category other than his 7th place finish in triples in 2000 and 8th and 9th place finishes in stolen bases in 2002, 2004 and 2005. Baseball-Reference.com lists Jacque Jones and Juan Encarnacion as the players most similar to our resident “superstar.”

Despite all of those facts, some in the media dared to compare him to Kirby Puckett after Puckett’s death in March. How can this be? How can a guy that has shown zero improvement in his approach at the plate during his career and produces average to above average offensive statistics be called a “superstar” by anyone? The obvious answer is that Hunter’s reputation is a byproduct of the highlight reel generation. We could also blame the media, who always treats the guys that give them quotes a little better. Maybe it’s just that the Twins are so desperate for an everyday player to market that they can’t wait for Joe Mauer to bloom. Who knows, but at $10.75 million this season, the Twins aren’t getting their money’s worth.

Whether you agree or not, with a $12 million team option in 2007, Hunter will likely be playing elsewhere next year, which begs the question, should they trade him now?

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Stadium bills passed

Posted at 2:27 PM on May 9, 2006 by Ben Tesch (1 Comments)

Well, the Senate approves.

The stadium line-up looks like this: the Twins would get a retractable-roof ballpark in downtown Minneapolis; the Vikings would get a stadium in Blaine, also with a retractable roof; and the Gophers would get an open-air stadium on the Minneapolis campus.

All three teams - currently housed in the Metrodome - would have new buildings by 2011 if the bills were to continue on course.

Two taxes would be used to pay for it all.

You can check the vote here.

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A palpable hit. Or 19 of them.

Posted at 10:14 PM on May 9, 2006 by Josh Lee (5 Comments)

This is how easily I'm spoiled: When the Twins went down in the 5th inning of their 15-5 win over the Rangers, I actually thought to myself, "two straight innings without a run? What's wrong with these guys?" In a desert of bad offensive showings, all it takes is an occasional drink from the well of good at-bats to make me forget about all those 6-1 losses, especially since I have a habit of missing these happy outbursts.

Just to make sure that I didn't feel too good about this game, though, the Twins committed two errors, both of the stinkiest variety: the misplayed grounder. The Twins still lead the majors with the fewest errors committed, but that's really just evidence that errors are an overrated stat, and that Minnesota's reputation as a strong defensive club is mostly maintained through inertia.

Also: I'm sure I'm jinxing it, but Rondell White is riding a seven-game hitting streak, and can almost see the Mendoza Line out on the horizon.

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Corky Miller update....

Posted at 9:09 PM on May 10, 2006 by David Zingler (2 Comments)

A lot has happened in the life of the erstwhile Twins catcher since we last checked in with him. The Cork man began the season with the Tacoma Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League, before the Seattle Mariners affiliate released him on April 17 after just two games. For the record, he hit .333 (2 for 6) in the short stint.

Not to worry however, it seems several minor league teams were clamoring for a catcher with Miller’s credentials and, after mulling over the offers for a few days; he inked a deal with thePawtucket Red Sox of the International League on April 25. As of May 8, the Corkster is hitting .308 (8 for 21) with his new squad.

If all the movement wasn’t enough, Miller was behind the plate when Devil Rays prospect Delmon Young chucked his bat at and hit the replacement umpire (the regular umpires are striking and the IL isn’t releasing the names of the replacements). In classic Corky fashion, he nonchalantly adjusted his catchers mask and prepared for the next batter as if nothing had happened.

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Off Day News: Mauer, rebel without a cause....

Posted at 7:04 AM on May 11, 2006 by David Zingler

Twins catcher Joe Mauer surprised teammates and the coaching staff yesterday by showing up 15 minutes late for the team’s charter flight from Dallas donning sunglasses and a black leather jacket with his hair slicked back and cigarette dangling from the corner of his lip. When asked about his new James Dean-like look, Mauer simply brushed off reporters and began to cough after inhaling a puff off his Marlboro Ultra Light.

“Joe has played it so straight his entire life, through high school and the minor leagues, he wants to add a little edge – gain a little ‘street cred’ – to his image,” a teammate, requesting anonymity, explained.

Some doubt the squeaky clean catcher can pull it off. For instance, during the team’s on-flight poker game, which he participated in for the first time, Mauer was heard yelling “Gee wiz!” after losing a hand on Nick Punto’s bluff.

However, a teammate did point out that, for the first time, the 23-year-old finished an entire bottle of beer during the flight. “I don’t think he snuck off to the bathroom to dump any out either,” that same teammate added.

Despite expressing disapproval, Mauer’s mother, Teresa, remains mostly unconcerned, “Joey’s just going through a little phase. He’s still a good boy.”

I'm just a bill

Posted at 10:51 AM on May 11, 2006 by Ben Tesch

Conference committees challenged to find compromise
Bills to fund new stadiums for the Twins, Vikings and Gophers are in flux at the Legislature, since the House and Senate have each passed their own versions. They're headed into conference committee, where lawmakers will try to find a compromise. Former DFL House Speaker Dee Long talks with MPR's Cathy Wurzer about the conference committee process.

Do you suffer from CSFS?

Posted at 1:57 PM on May 12, 2006 by Ben Tesch

Yes friends, I am of course speaking about Chronic Stadium Fatigue Syndrome. There is no cure as of yet, but I'm sure the pharmaceutical industry will be offering a pill post-haste.

PS. I propose we pronounce this disease (CSFS) as "Sisyphus", who (as the myth goes) was compelled to roll a huge rock up a steep hill, but before reaching the top of the hill the rock always escaped him and he had to begin again. Ah, sweey irony.

Mother's Day weekend

Posted at 4:44 PM on May 12, 2006 by Ben Tesch

Apparently Rick Sutcliffe was a little dazed and confused in his visit to the Padres broadcast booth, after a day of golfing (aka drinking) and going to a baseball game (aka drinking) with Bill Murray (aka drinking). In his credit, he quickly apologized. That now makes two broadcast booth gaffes in one month for San Diego. Yow.

Since we supposedly have a bunch of groundball pitchers, it might be good to know The Truth About the Grounder... although I still think Silva is lost without greenies. I guess we'll see on Sunday.

And speaking of Sunday, it's Mother's Day. John Brattain imagines what advice some player's mothers might have given to their kids.

Cross your fingers for another series win.

Pass the smelling salts, I'm getting light-headed.

Posted at 12:16 AM on May 13, 2006 by Josh Lee

Each of the Twins' starting batters got at least one hit in the team's 10-1 victory over the White Sox (they also managed this trick in Tuesday's clobbering of the Rangers). Minnesota hit no less than three home runs: One was by Justin Morneau, which is to be expected; less expected (but no less welcome) were dingers by Joe Mauer and Tony Batista. The Twins didn't do it all with the long ball, though; they also showed that they can, on special occasions, actually hit guys over and even hit them in, rather than grounding into inning-ending double plays.

Ten runs in a game will get the fans fired up, but 10 strikeouts? That will make them feel downright weak in the knees, which is probably why the Twins chose to skip Scott Baker's start to bring Johan Santana on tonight. Baker's been pitching pretty well, and with the run support the hitters were giving, probably would have won this game handily. But Baker doesn't make people swoon the way Santana does, and when you're kicking off a four-game series against a division-leading team that's won six straight against you, you don't want pretty good pitching; you want to see people fainting in the aisles, which is pretty much what happened tonight.

Let's take a moment, though, to think of poor Joe Nathan. One of the league's best closers has been stuck cooling his heels most of the season (only five save opportunities, all converted) because Minnesota has developed this weird habit of either losing ugly games or hitting the stuffing out of opposing pitchers (thankfully, it's been more of the latter than the former this week). One can only hope that he's got some crosswords or sudoku puzzles out there in the bullpen to keep him occupied.

You don't see that every day.

Posted at 11:19 PM on May 14, 2006 by Josh Lee (2 Comments)

What? The heck. Was that?

The amount of strangeness that went on in the Twins' 7-9 loss to the White Sox has left my brain a little scrambled. Or maybe it's all the drinking I had to do to make it through the experience. Either way, the pink bats being swung somehow managed to be the least unusual thing that we saw in tonight's game, and that's saying something.

After Carlos Silva gave up a three-run homer to Jermaine Dye in the top of the 1st, Mark "R Before H Except After E" Buehrle topped him by giving up seven runs in the bottom half of the inning. Because the Sox committed two errors in the inning, however (one by Buehrle himself), only one of the Twins' runs was earned, and so Buehrle's outing counted as a quality start, allowing him to get credit for the win. Which he would get, because the Twins decided in the 4th that the Sox had made unearned runs look like fun or something. I couldn't really read Minnesota's thinking, as I was busy rooting around the apartment for more liquor to numb the pain with, but two errors, one pitching change, and five runs later, Chicago had taken the lead, and rather rudely declined to give it back for the rest of the game.

And as if all that ball-booting, unearned-running action wasn't enough, Luis Castillo managed to pop a bunt up in the 6th with two runners on, leading to an honest-to-goodness triple play. The White Sox had not turned a triple play since the Triassic Era, and the Twins had not batted into one since way back in the Permian. I suppose such a rare event should be cause for excitement, but in this case, it was mostly cause for open-mouthed shock. And another drink.

Hopefully, the Twins and their fans can write this game off as a confluence of freak occurrences, and come back to take tomorrow's game. It's not exactly a rubber match (it's a four-game series), but a series win would go a lot further than a series tie in Minnesota's effort to convince people that the Twins really can make a little noise this year, rather than simply killing time until they can blow the team up and rebuild. Otherwise, there's plenty of room at the bar.

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Who is Minnesota's most exciting athlete?

Posted at 10:11 AM on May 15, 2006 by David Zingler (5 Comments)

Randy Moss is long gone, Daunte Culpepper is yesterday’s news and Kevin Garnett is being held hostage. So, who is Minnesota’s most exciting athlete? Here are the criteria:

1. Must have some element of mystery and/or novelty.
2. Must have the ability/personality to dominate a game.
3. Must be able to get you out of your chair and into the air.

The Nominees
Seimone Augustus, Lynx
The case for: The #1 overall pick in April’s draft is already the Lynx best player and will be an All Star, barring injury, this year. She’s brand new to the scene and could put the Lynx on the map.
The case against: She plays for the Lynx, who have yet to carve a niche on the state’s pro sports scene.

Marian Gaborik, Wild
The case for: He’s the Wild’s “franchise player” and only real creative offensive threat.
The case against: His contract holdout and constant trade rumors have kept the fans from embracing him. Plus, the Wild play a boring style of hockey.

Torii Hunter, Twins
The case for: He’s got the personality and the penchant for the spectacular.
The case against: He’s probably in his last season in Minnesota and isn’t consistent enough with the bat.

Joe Mauer, Twins
The case for: He’s a hometown boy, a former #1 overall pick, has a squeaky clean image and the skills to live up to the hype.
The case against: While he’s been consistent and dependable, but not exciting.

Justin Morneau, Twins
The case for: His mammoth home runs will get you off your feet.
The case against: They have yet to happen on a consistent basis.

Koren Robinson, Vikings
The case for: Via the kick-off return or deep pass, he’s the Vikings most dangerous big play threat.
The case against: The above statement doesn’t have the meaning it used to.

Johan Santana, Twins
The case for: He’s baseball’s best pitcher and currently the best athlete in the state.
The case against: He’s a pitcher and only appears once every five days. He may leave you in awe, but are strikeouts exciting?

Darren Sharper, Vikings
The case for: He’s got charisma and can go 90+ yards after an INT.
The case against: He’s an aging, injury prone safety.

I am always a sucker for a fresh face, so I am going with Augustus. Playing for a franchise that has never had an identity, she has the best chance to make a significant, lasting impact. I would recommend making a trip to the Target Center this summer; Augustus will give you your $10 worth.

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The cord has been pulled

Posted at 2:44 PM on May 15, 2006 by Ben Tesch

Set your clocks for Friday. Gardenhire announced today that Liriano will temporarily join the rotation in Silva's spot, and Carlos will try to redicover his sinker by playing more often than once every five days. Get ready, Milwaukee.

Saints news

Posted at 11:10 AM on May 16, 2006 by Ben Tesch

There's no Darryl or JD Drew around, but it sure seems like first baseman Brian Becker is crushing the ball. I was just looking at the Saints schedule online yesterday and noticed he was leading the league by batting over .700, and still is even after going 0-for-4 last night. His resume is pretty good (6'7" 230 lbs., and hit 41 homeruns last year) so good luck to him. I'll be checking out the game on the 28th against the Forth Worth Cats.

So this is what a meltdown looks like.

Posted at 10:26 PM on May 16, 2006 by Josh Lee (2 Comments)

I got home late from work, and turned on the radio as Kyle Lohse pitched to Carlos Guillen in the bottom of the 3rd. Many, many pitches later, Guillen walked to first, loading the bases up for Chris Shelton. And many, many, many pitches later, Shelton lined a double out to center, scoring three runs and bringing Ron Gardenhire out to send Lohse off to the dugout in search of a strike pitch.

We can only wonder what Joe Mauer and the Twins' infielders said to Lohse in the many, many meetings they held on the mound during these two at-bats. Maybe they talked strategy, trying to come up with a scheme to pick off an unwary runner; maybe they tried to keep Lohse calm, soothing him with promises of warm milk and cookies if he could just throw an ever-lovin' strike; maybe they tried to motivate him with fear, reminding him that he was already on thin ice and that he was never one of Gardy's favorites. Whatever it was that they said, it didn't work, and now Lohse's ERA is ballooning faster than the national debt.

The big problem now is that with Francisco "Safety Valve" Liriano taking over Carlos Silva's spot in the rotation, we're left with a conundrum wrapped in a riddle wrapped in a headcase. Does anyone have any ideas of where the Twins can go from here? Bonser? Durbin? Bueller?

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Purpose pitches

Posted at 9:39 AM on May 17, 2006 by Ben Tesch (3 Comments)

The talk of the town today is Barry Bonds' at-bat versus Astros reliever Russ Springer, which was basically a gradual beaning. Springer was tossed and given a standing ovation by the crowd. The one side, of course, says they're just pitching inside because he previously raked a couple outside pitches. Pitching several in a row right at or near the batter, right after you got warned from your first pitch that went a foot behind the batter isn't exactly the least obvious way of "just pitching inside". Any thoughts on this Bonds carnival?

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Early season Splendid Splinters....

Posted at 12:29 PM on May 17, 2006 by David Zingler

It’s May 17 and baseball’s best hitters are Indians OF Casey Blake in the AL and Braves catcher Brian McCann in the NL. A career .263 hitter, Blake is currently hitting a Tony Gwynn-like .366, but will he even be above .300 at season’s end? The 22-year-old McCann meanwhile, is batting at a .349 clip. Where will this highly touted, but unproven prospect level off at?

I’ll put Blake at .277 and McCann at .292 when the season’s final gun sounds, but for now I’ll just enjoy baseball’s early season quirkiness.

Lohse gets Boofed....

Posted at 4:51 PM on May 17, 2006 by David Zingler (3 Comments)

In their second bold move of the week, the Twins have sent the enigmatic Kyle Lohse to Triple A Rochester and called up right-hander Boof Bonser, who will make his major league debut on Sunday. Bonser was acquirred with Francisco Liriano and Joe Nathan as part of the A.J. Pierzynski trade back in late 2003.

Any favorite Kyle Lohse memories??

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Minnesota's perfect ballpark

Posted at 9:31 AM on May 18, 2006 by Ben Tesch

ESPN's Jim Caple and Kurt Snibbe offer some suggestions to spice up the new Twins stadium, including a Prairie Home Companion studio:

Bored by the Twins stranding another runner in scoring position? No worry because fans can watch Garrison Keillor broadcast "A Prairie Home Companion" from the state of the art WLT radio studio in the visitor's bullpen.

"It was another quiet inning in my hometown, where the men are good-looking, the women are strong and the lineup below average."

Going to Milwaukee....

Posted at 10:30 AM on May 19, 2006 by David Zingler (3 Comments)

Tomorrow my brother, Brian, and I will make a road trip to Milwaukee to see our hapless Twins attempt to upend what looks like a superior Brewers team. Since I likely will not run into anyone I know in Beer Town, I will be there in full rube fan mode – Corky Miller game worn jersey and all.

Visiting Miller Park always gives me a chance to get back at the Cheese Heads, who no matter what the team’s records are or what the scoreboard says, always sarcastically throw “How many rings do the Vikings have?” in my face during Vikings/Packers games. As much as it burns me, there’s not much I can say back.

Now it’s time for a little revenge: Hey Wisconsin, How many rings do the Brewers have?

That makes all the hours in the car worthwhile.

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Weekend Update.

Posted at 4:36 PM on May 21, 2006 by Josh Lee

Saturday was a busy day for baseball. A.J. Pierzynski gave everyone what they've always wanted out of a White Sox-Cubs series when he ran over Michael Barrett at home plate and set off a good ol' fashioned bench-clearer. The Minnesota legislature passed a ballpark bill for the Twins that would fund the team's new home without a Hennepin County referendum. And some guy hit a home run; if you dig real deep on the major news sites, you can probably scrape up some information about it.

Today's big story, though, was Boooooooof Bonser's first major league start. Boof got to score his first run today, getting hit in by Joe Mauer after reaching on a Brewer error. That's nice, but runs by a pitcher are, like extra-base hits by Nick Punto, a novelty. Of more significance were Boof's eight strikeouts and the composure he showed after wriggling his way out of jams in the first two innings of the game.

Unfortunately for Boof and the Twins, this was a game played by National League rules, which means that even if you're throwing well with a reasonable pitch count, you're liable to be switched out for a hitting specialist, or at least for Rondell White. Even more unfortunately, Jesse Crain did not have nearly as good a day and gave up four runs in the bottom of the 7th, blowing Boof's potential first win and giving Milwaukee a 5-3 win.

Hopefully, though, quality starts by Boof won't turn out to be a novelty, and he'll be able to add a little more stability to Minnesota's rotation. It's important to have good starting pitching, especially for the Twins, but I'd mostly like this rotation to stick because it's really fun to say "Johan-Bradke-'Cisco-Baker-Bonser" out loud.

Said something bad or just plain bad?

Posted at 9:44 AM on May 22, 2006 by Ben Tesch

Rich Hill, the Cubs pitcher who was busy giving up 7 runs to the White Sox on Saturday (including a very-much-talked-about one), was sent back down to the minors very soon afterwards. Sure, he's 0-4 with a 9.31 ERA, but you gotta wonder if he would have been sent down even if he pitched a perfect game, based on his thoughts on the catcher fiasco. You're probably on the wrong side of the fence if both your and the other team's managers call you out. I wouldn't be shocked if he somehow doesn't find a spot on the club for the rest of the year.

I'll take 500 shares of that win

Posted at 4:03 PM on May 22, 2006 by Ben Tesch

The Hardball Times has updated their Win Shares data to include 2006. In particular interest to Twins fans is perhaps the three worst in Win Shares per At Bat: 3) Carlos Silva, 2) Rondell White, and 1) Joe Mays. On the good side of things, Santana, Mauer and Nathan show up well on the charts.

The Wages of Wins is a new book out that attempts to put the Moneyball spin on basketball and other sports. The consistently smart blog Marginal Revolution sums it up, and the consistently smart person Malcolm Gladwell reviews it in the New Yorker.

Shannon's left foot.

Posted at 8:05 PM on May 22, 2006 by Josh Lee

The Twins have placed Shannon "Daniel Day" Stewart on the 15-day disabled list with troubles in his left foot. Over the weekend, Lew "Wwwwwww" Ford started two games in the #1 spot normally reserved for Stewart, hitting 1-for-8. Will Gardenhire stick with him, or perhaps platoon him with Jason "Leadership" Kubel? Or will Gardy finally notice that he's got an experienced leadoff hitter who's having a pretty good season standing right there in the on-deck circle? Off days are full of suspense, no?

Off Day News: Taxpayers to fund new Pohlad mansion

Posted at 12:33 PM on May 23, 2006 by David Zingler (5 Comments)

ST. PAUL - On a high from finally passing legislation that will allow the Minnesota Twins to build a new, open-air Minneapolis stadium, the state legislature recently passed a lesser known bill that will provide team owner Carl Pohlad with a lavish, new mansion funded largely by taxpayer dollars.

“Compared to other Major League Baseball owners, Mr. Pohlad’s current residence is appalling,” Twins president David St. Peter explained. “The bathrooms are inadequate, the hallways are narrow, the kitchen is void of many of the items considered essential to the super rich and the garage does not provide proper storage for his collection of exotic automobiles.”

There was however, one hitch – the 6,000 square foot residence will not have a roof. “We had to be pragmatic here, you just can’t get everything you want in these deals,” St. Peter continued. “Besides, Mr. Pohlad has spent the majority of his nine decades on this planet indoors, so this could be a nice change of pace.”

In a bold move, the legislature passed the bill despite a Star Tribune poll that showed only 1% of area residents support such legislation. “The thing to remember here is that ‘the people’ don’t have the money, but big hitters like the Pohlads do.” House Speaker Steve Swiggum pointed out. “As an elected official, I feel it is my duty to keep the Pohlads of the state happy. It just makes life easier."

Governor Tim Pawlenty had a different take,“We couldn’t let our state be void of a Major League Baseball owner," Pawlenty said of Pohlad, who was rumored to be considering a move to Las Vegas. “(Former Vikings owner) Red McCombs proved that out-of-state ownership doesn’t work. This was really done for the fans.”

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Keeping things lively.

Posted at 11:07 PM on May 23, 2006 by Josh Lee

It's not that watching Johan Santana strike out batter after batter isn't fun, not at all. But after a while, the rhythmic sounds of whiffing bats and balls smacking into catchers' mitts can have a hypnotic effect, and while it feels kind of nice to be lulled to sleep by dominant pitching, it makes it little hard to stay awake and root for your team. So to mix things up a bit and keep the fans on their toes, Santana decided that instead of pitching excellently against Cleveland, he would only pitch pretty nicely, racking up a mere five strikeouts in seven innings for a no-decision.

Luckily for the Twins, Santana isn't the only dominant pitcher on their staff, even if it often seems that way. Joe Nathan came on in a non-save situation and struck out five batters in two innings to protect a 5-5 tie, which was broken in the 10th when Justin Morneau sacrificed Torii Hunter in for the win.

Along the way, Michael Cuddyer had two hits, one of them a two-run homer in the 3rd. Is it safe to say that he's settled into the starting lineup, or is he still stuck in the no-man's-land of batters who have yet to prove themselves and are liable to get on Gardy's bad side with no warning? (Speaking of which, Jason Kubel pinch hit in his return to the majors, and struck out against Rafael Betancourt.)

Sick of stadium talk yet?

Posted at 9:51 AM on May 24, 2006 by Ben Tesch

For those not mad at the stadium:
The stadium bill will apparently be signed on Friday -- on the field at the Metrodome before the start of the Mariners game. (Plus you get a free dog and soda!)

For those aggravated with the whole stadium thing:
"Nausea" by John Brattain

Relationship advice....

Posted at 9:55 AM on May 24, 2006 by David Zingler (1 Comments)

Now that the Twins stadium situation is solved with the Iraq War and global warming sure to follow, I decided to turn my thoughts to more trivial, if not amusing causes – namely, how much more fun it is to root for your team on the road.

At home in the Dome, after listening to fans cheer at a routine catch in the outfield or boo when one of their beloved Twins is called out at first on a play that really isn’t that close, I often find myself becoming sarcastic and cynical (I know, it’s a stretch). I soon begin to pick on my team, whether it’s Joe Mauer’s corny image, Torii Hunter’s unjustified ego or Justin Morneau’s choice of AC/DC for his at-bat intro music. In short, I just don’t play Minnesota Nice.

As I was reminded of last weekend in Milwaukee however, it all changes on the road. Being bad is good for your team. When I am surrounded by beer guzzling, cheddar chomping Brewers fans in Brett Favre jerseys, I soon begin to stand up and cheer at plays that would require mild applause at the Dome. I take great delight in the fact that my sub .500 team is beating up a soon-to-be Triple A pitcher from my home state. I like my team again! It’s a beautiful thing.

So, if you’ve become bored with your team, even taken it for granted or began looking around at more flashy alternatives, I recommend spicing things up a bit. Take a road trip, it could rekindle the spark.

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Foul-ups, bleeps & blunders

Posted at 4:15 PM on May 24, 2006 by Ben Tesch (3 Comments)

After figuring out the worst blunder for each team, the race is on to find the worst blunders of all time. What were the biggest Twins blunders?

• Releasing David Ortiz (2002)
  
• Using first-round draft pick on Tim Belcher instead of Roger Clemens (1983)
  
• Trading Jesse Orosco to Mets before reaching the majors (1978)
  
• Trading Graig Nettles and others to Indians for Luis Tiant and Stan Williams (1969)
  
• Trading Rick Dempsey to Yankees for Danny Walton (1972)
  

Of course, we're in good company. The second highest blunder for the Indians was then trading Nettles again to the Yankees. The Twins also benefitted from other team's blunders: One of the Cardinals mistakes was trading Larry Hisle to the Twins for Wayne Granger in 1972. And, of course, in 2003 the Giants traded Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano, and Boof Bonser to Twins for A.J. Pierzynski.

Have any other favorite blunders involving the Twins that didn't make the list?

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We cannot wish for that we know not

Posted at 10:18 AM on May 25, 2006 by Ben Tesch

Today is all about wishes. MNSpeak has a threading rolling (and a second thread) about what they should do about the building of the stadium and the surrounding neighborhood. There's some links and artists renderings in there, as well as the standard bitching. Twins Without Spin has a nice list of wishes for the season.

As Aristotle once said: "If things do not turn out as we wish, we should wish for them as they turn out."

The LeCroy thing

Posted at 9:54 AM on May 26, 2006 by Ben Tesch

The talk of the town last night was the strange situation of the Nationals and Matt LeCroy. LeCroy was catching, since their normal starter is on the DL, and their backup got a concussion the day before, and the Astros took advantage. They proceeded to steal seven bases, which included two throwing attempts by Matt that went well into the outfield. Nats manager Frank Robinson then did the quite rare move of pulling the catcher in the middle of the inning. All I can say is it was all very strange, coupled with the emotional post-game interviews, and the fact that the whole ordeal was so widely broadcast that made the news ticker and was the subject of much talk on the sports shows. Very surreal.

I'm even getting tired typing the word stadium

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

It may take more than a new field to fill Twins stadium records the fantastical idea that the Twins may have to actually put a winning team together to keep people going to games. It takes a village, as they say.

Chuck Ballentine, Dave St. Peter, and Andrew Zimbalist were all on Midmorning today talkin' stadium.

Funnyball

Posted at 2:36 PM on May 26, 2006 by Ben Tesch

The Onion's sports section has been on fire lately, particularly with baseball stuff:

• Great Moments in Interleague Play
• MLB Fines Russ Springer Negative $50,000 For Throwing At Bonds
• MLB To Place Asterisk, Pound Sign, Exclamation Point, Letter 'F' Next To Bonds' Name In Record Books

Season's 1st AB sets tone for Rondell White

Posted at 11:15 AM on May 27, 2006 by David Zingler

It’s Opening Day in Toronto. Rondell White steps into the batter’s box for the first time as a Minnesota Twin in the top of the 1st. With runners on first and third and one out, the team’s new clean-up hitter promptly swats a laser to dead centerfield...going...going...not quite, it is picked out of the sky by the Jays Vernon Wells - Torii Hunter style. What looked like a three-run homer turns into a run scoring sacrifice fly.

“That’s how it’s been all year,” White explained. “The first at bat of the season, you want to make good contact. I did hit it hard right at somebody, but I’ve done that a lot this year. I guess it was a sign, right from day one, (but) things are going to get better.”

White entered this season a .289 career hitter averaging a homerun every 26.3 at-bats. As of May 26, his batting average stood at .197 and he had yet to homer in 152 at-bats. What has happened to Rondell White?

“(I’ve never been through anything) like this,” the Georgia native admitted. “I’ve been through slumps, but never where I hit the ball hard and didn’t get any hits. That’s the most frustrating part, you hit the ball hard and have nothing to show for it.”

How is this affecting his confidence? “My mind is cool,” the 34-year-old said. “I’ve been playing too long...At first I might let it get to me, but lately my head is clear. I’ve been playing for 12 years, I know it’s a marathon not a sprint. So hopefully the next four months will be good.”

Hitting .143 as April came to a close, White found himself pressing. Since then however, he’s taken a different approach, “Lately I’ve just been clearing my head,” the straightforward veteran explained. “You try too hard and that’s not working, so you try to relax. You really have to have the attitude that ‘what’s going to happen is going to happen’, but if it doesn’t, it’s not life or death. You just have to relax.”

“I try not to (look at my stats), but I know what I am hitting,” the former All Star continued. “I know if I get three hits one day and three hit’s the next day, it will all turn around...Every player knows what they’re hitting, they can say they don’t, but they have an idea what they are hitting.”

Things have been so bad that White has run out of places to turn for advice, “There’s really not much anyone can say to me right now,” he said. “I just have to go back and take a look at the stuff I’ve been doing and take it from there. Nobody can tell me (anything) at this point, I’ll just keep swinging.”

With two-thirds of the season ahead, there is still time for the real Rondell White to appear, “I can hit, you look at the track record,” he emphasized. “This year...if I am doing this in September, then it’s been a bad season, but there’s a long way to go.”

There goes the neighborhood.

Posted at 4:38 PM on May 29, 2006 by Josh Lee

While most of our attention has been focused on the Twins' future ballpark and its environs, this month's issue of Rake Magazine features a little column by Peter Schilling on the Metrodome, or on the patch of downtown Minneapolis that surrounds it. It's never too soon to think about what direction a neighborhood is going to head in after the giant marshmallow that it revolves around gets imploded.

Of course, if the last couple of years are any indication, then we already know what will be built in that area after the Twins move to the other side of Hennepin and the Vikings move to Blaine (or wherever): Condos!

Big baseball weekend

Posted at 10:02 AM on May 30, 2006 by Ben Tesch (1 Comments)

This weekend was a weekend filled with baseball for myself, particularly with all the different ways I took it in... I enjoy all the various ways you experience a ball game:

• I read and heard about the Friday game, a 3-1 win with an excellent pitching matchup.
  
• I attended the Saturday game, a 9-5 win on a hot summer day. The indoor air conditioning was quite nice, and I got to see the triple play and the Boof win. Solid.
  
• On Sunday, it was almost 100° outside, and terribly sunny and muggy. I, of course, did the not-so-smart thing of playing baseball with my usual rag-tag squad for about five hours, then going to the Saints game for another three. I'm sort of surprised I didn't a) die, or b) at least pass out. The buzz that day was, of course, the word spreading of the Lew walk-off homer. (The Saints pretty much stunk it up, losing 13-2 with fairly unspectacular play on both sides of the ball.)
  
• Monday, I watched the game on TV, jumping from place to place in search of air-conditioned comfort. By the 11th, I was barely keeping the corner of my eye out for the game.
  

The end of that night was two-fold for me: I barely watched at all, but still managed to see Rondell get picked off on second (argh!) in the top of 9th, and then Figgins slide into third. I didn't need to watch any more than that. Still, a fantastic weekend filled with baseball in all aspects, and a fantastic sweep of the Mariners. Hopefully they can pull one or two out in Anaheim.

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What to make of Barry.....

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

Barry passed the Babe over the weekend...yawn...and I am still trying to figure out what to make of it. I’d like to pretend it didn’t happen, but like with the George W. Bush presidency, reality’s cold hand keeps slapping me in the face.

I could take the Stuart Scott jock-sniffing approach and gush about it. The ESPN anchor even brought his kids into the mix, calling the moment a cross-generational “I remember where I was” event. Poor Stuart, you get the feeling he has no idea how foolish that sounded.

There’s always the “high horse” option where I could ran and rave about what a travesty the whole thing is and how it’s “disgraced the game”, but that’s a little too self-righteous for me and, let’s face it, this isn’t really that important.

I guess the best thing is to accept it. For the foreseeable future, the all-time homerun list will look like this:

1. Hank Aaron
2. Barry Bonds
3. Babe Ruth

And that’s just the way it is...

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Don't just think of home runs

Posted at 3:25 PM on May 30, 2006 by Ben Tesch (1 Comments)

What are baseball's top best "records"?
If numbers like 714 are going to cease to mean anything, then what do any home run records mean? And if the home run records are no longer the coolest, most celebrated records in baseball, what replaces them?

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Here's Denny....

Posted at 9:10 AM on May 31, 2006 by David Zingler

Thankfully, I didn't stay up and watch Scott Baker implode last night (still recovering from the long weekend), but I did tune in long enough to witness former Twins utility man, Denny Hocking's audition for an announcing gig.

I wonder if Bert Blyleven gave him any pointers...like adding unecessary adjectives to player descriptions - ie. "He's a young 22-year-old" or "He is a strikeout-type pitcher." Or better yet, did he learn the secrets of the mysterious "Circle Machine"? I'm sure that would make Dick Bremer jealous.....

Hump day links

Posted at 11:20 AM on May 31, 2006 by Ben Tesch

Battered Up!
He's Been Hit by Pitches 277 Times, but Houston Astro Craig Biggio Is Having a Ball

Small Ball Who's Who
You hear a lot of talk about "small ball" these days. You know what small ball is, that old-style offensive attack, where speed takes precedence over power. Where one-run strategies such as the sacrifice bunt and the stolen base are preferred to a conservative brand of baseball that depends on walks and home runs to produce runs (and strikeouts) in bunches. Here is a "small ball ranking" of all 30 major league teams.

TwinsCards.com
Blake Meyer has drastically updated his Twins baseball card site. Now has a search engine, and includes front and backs of cards in large easy to read images. Only 15 sets loaded so far, but 50+ more to come.

An embarrassing week for A-Rod
"I've long given Alex Rodriguez the benefit of the doubt. I figured that since he's only 30 years old and has played in just a handful of postseasons -- batting a respectable .305 in the process -- he has plenty of time to prove he's an all-time great and deserves the kind of money he makes. But no more. His showing over the past week forced me to give up on him forever. Let me take you through his embarrassing performances from the past seven days."

Baird out, Moore in.

Posted at 7:46 PM on May 31, 2006 by Josh Lee

With Kansas City on pace for a third straight 100-loss season, the Royals finally decided to put GM Allard Baird out of their misery. Having traded away Carlos Beltran (not that they could have afforded to keep him) and stripped their minor league cupboard bare, Baird leaves the Royals with little more than the label of "perennial doormat." He will be replaced by Braves Assistant GM Dayton Moore.

Moore, by the looks of things, will have his work cut out for him: None of the Royals' everyday hitters has an OPS above .800, and only one of their starting pitchers has an ERA below 5.00 (Scott Elarton is scraping by with a 4.94). When the best thing you can say about your roster is that Jose Lima is no longer on it, you've got issues.