Welcome to the third edition of the EIGHT PACK here at SBG, a look back at the last eight games. The Twins are now approximately through 15% of the season and have completed the month of April. Let me say this. You aren't going to hear a lot of positives about the [...]

Dennys Reyes is the call up.
Listening to the manager's show this morning.
ScruFi's thoughts:
Lew Ford is the one player going well right now.  He's hitting third today.  (Last seven days: .200/.231/.200/.431 in 25 at bats.)
Criticizing Shannon Stewart's lackadaisical play in the outfield is wrong because his wife had a C-Section. SBG's question: if he's so distracted, why not put [...]

Honestly, I wrote the Pottery Barn Rule post below before the game on Saturday.  When I got done with it, Lucy and I had some errands to run and after Friday night I really wasn't interested in watching this game.  I don't know if it was on television and if it was, I'd like to [...]

Former SBGville resident Chuck Klosterman analyzes the decision by the Houston Texans to bypass Reggie Bush with the first pick in the draft.

"You Broke It, You Bought It."
I'm sick and tired about arguing about Michael Cuddyer.  Yes, I'd like to see him play, but in the end, he's not a difference maker.  He's not.  And playing him every day won't make this team appreciably better.  It won't.  All this conversation has accomplished is to piss off a [...]

I'm convinced that Dick Bremer gets a briefing before every game from ScruFi.  When Lew Ford came up tonight, he said that Ford was only hitting .255 but it was an impactful .255.  He is hitting .255/.340/.340/.680.  Then, he promptly struck out.  And it must have been a crappy pitcher that struck him out, too, [...]

I'm listening to Barreiro on the way home from work and he's got this guy on talking about the NFL draft and I had a flashback to Constitutional Law class.  There was a case in front of the United States Supreme Court in which the Court had to decide what an epithet printed on the [...]

From the Strib:
Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett will be announced today as the 2006 recipient of the NBA's J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship award.
The award recognizes an NBA player or coach for outstanding service to the community. Named for the league's second commissioner, it is presented annually by the Professional Basketball Writers Association.
Garnett got national attention in [...]

BP has the Twins report in their notebook today.   If you are looking for snark, try out this beauty:
The Twins' Out Factory (chief foreman: Rondell White) has resembled a real offense when Castillo plays

Seth Stohs mentioned a comment in the Pioneer Press about Torii Hunter and his opinion of the batting coach.  Specifically, the article says this:
"He can't teach me anything," Torii Hunter, the Twins' $10.75 million center fielder, said of Vavra. "Those guys played in the big leagues a long time. I don't think Vavra ever played [...]

I proclaimed at the beginning of the NBA season that I would buy an authentic Derek Jeter jersey and wear it to a Twins game if Kobe Bryant won the NBA MVP. I figured that there was no way on God's green earth that Bryant would win the award. Then, he went out [...]

From the Strib: 
"I'll try to find a way to get [Cuddyer] back out there [tonight]," ScruFi said. "I guarantee you that."
Cuddyer seldom has spoken out about a lack of playing time, but he didn't hide his feelings after the victory.
"It's not easy coming off the bench," he said. "That's not going to happen every day, [...]

I am wondering if you read the 360 degrees and eight pack features that I put together.  I have been trying to provide information for people to digest and talk about, along with a running commentary on the state of the pitching and hitting.  Disappointingly, I find very little feedback on these missives, which require [...]

There's Michael Cuddyer in the lineup today and so far he's 2-2 with a home run and a walk.  On the one hand, Cuddyer is hitting, right now, .241/.333/.586/.919.  And over his last ten games played, he's hitting .318/.423/.772/1.196.  But, we KNOW that he's not an every day player (remember last April?).  How to reconcile [...]

Welcome to the fourth edition of 360 Degrees, a trip around the rotation.  First, let's go to the numbers.
IP:  30.34
R:   19
ER: 19
H:   40
K:   22
BB: 10
HP:  1
HR: 6
ERA: 5.64
WHIP: 1.65
FIP: 4.91
QS: 3
With an ERA of 5.64 and a WHIP of 1.65, you might look at that Quality Start number and not believe that this crew actually got [...]

Shane Nackerud has outdone himself.  Read his blow by blow account of the vote on the Twins stadium bill in the house today.  Whether you are in favor of the stadium or not, you can't help but wonder in amazement at Shane's dedication to this cause.  And watch WCCO tonight, he may be on there [...]

For those of you that don't know, Babe Ruth hit the last three homeruns of his career in one game.
I bring that up because Barry Bonds hit his 711th home run today and now that game is all that separates them on the all-time home run list.

From Top Jimmy:
Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World," one of the greatest songs ever and a fitting tribute to Kirby Puckett's playing career, [has replaced] the wretched, so-bad-it-has-to-be-wrapped-in-a-flag-to-be-heard "Proud to be an American" during Twins' seventh-inning stretches.
I hope this doesn't:
Castro-Castillo. Juan Castro might not hit .250 this year, and Luis Castillo might limp all season, but when [...]

In light of the comments to my last post regarding the Twins defense, I thought I'd have a guessing contest:
Here's an interesting tidbit ... The Twins' defense has committed the fewest errors in the league, but rank dead last in Defensive Efficiency Ratio. Considering the pitching staff's struggles to keep runs off the board, which stat [...]

I'll start by adding a disclaimer.  I'm not sure that Defensive Efficiency is the be all and end all of measuring a defense.  Defensive Efficiency measures the percentage of ball put in play that are turned into outs.  In other words, it discounts plate appearances that end in a strikeout, walk, home run, and hit [...]

Yep, the Twins have played 18 games against some pretty good teams, or at least some teams that we think are pretty good.  A quick check of the Strength of Schedule stats shows that the Twins have played the 8th toughest schedule so far in all of MLB and the third toughest in the AL.  [...]

Guess who said the following?
They're trying to walk me, bottom line.  They're throwing everything in off the plate, trying to walk me. They're just not throwing strikes, and I'm not letting them walk me. . . . It'd be good to take some walks.
Without saying who it was, I'm thinking that the speaker doesn't quite understand [...]

I remember watching Greg Maddux pitch for the Cubs the first time around.  I was sitting out in the left field bleachers and he was working on what was, at that time, another typically brilliant game.  Meanwhile, the bleacher bums were talking constantly about the possibility that he would leave Chicago at the end of [...]

I happened to catch the ScruFi call in show this morning and the Terry Ryan interview with John Gordon.  Thankfully, my brother doesn't get Twins games on TV out there in the hinterlands, so I didn't have to watch another demoralizing loss today.
ScruFi informed us that Michael Cuddyer had his chance to play every day [...]

Brad Radke gets roughed up again in the first inning, as the Chicago White Sox blow out the Twins.  Radke's ERA has ballooned to 7.50 through 4 starts.  He's traditionally a slow starter, but he's had a molasses in January start this year.  We know that the starting staff, supposedly the strength of this team [...]

When Kirby Puckett died, I wrote about how I thought about my own mortality and expressed that I intended to take better care of myself. If you recall, Lucy and I bought a pair of bikes. The next week we got about 20 inches of snow, which was a bummer. However, we've [...]

Hello, SBG fans and welcome to the second edition of Eight Pack.  The Twins have played 16 games, approximately 10% of their schedule.  Let's go to the numbers.
In the past 8 games, the Twins scored 41 runs, or 5.125 runs per game.  That's one more run than the first eight games, and the Twins are [...]

The Twins are in Chicago tonight to play the defending World Champions, who are off to a good start.  It's a marquee matchup on the bump, with Santana facing Buerhle.  Stewart and Castillo are likely out.  Add your thoughts on tonights game.

I'm now ghost-writing Patrick Reusse's column.

Oy vey.
Welcome to another edition of 360 Degrees, our once every five games look at the Twins starting pitching rotation.
The last time we looked at the rotation, my one word summary was BETTER.  This time, the one word summary is HORRIBLE.
First let's go to the numbers:
IP:  29 1/3
R:   30
ER: 28
H:   43
K:   9!
BB: 6
HP:  1
HR: 5
ERA: [...]

I'm not watching, but you can add your thoughts.  Cuddyer and Ford starting in the outfield.  Punto at shortstop.  Obviously a B-squad lineup, but I like the outfield.

The thing about Mike Cuddyer is that he never gets a big hit when it counts. Like that home run the other day late in the game, a typical Cuddyer home run, the game was already decided.  Just like that one last night, too.  After that one, the game was decided.
All snark aside, what a [...]

Dear Mr. Taylor:
In case you didn't know, it's not easy being a Wolves fan. 
I have been a fan of the Minnesota Timberwolves since the day the franchise was awarded to Harv and Marv.  I cheered for Tony Campbell, Randy Breuer (I remember his 40 point game), and Sam Mitchell.  I was very excited to have [...]

Steve Aschburner writes about the train wreck of a season at 600 1st Avenue.  The ultimate indignity is detailed thusly:
An attempt to cajole Garnett and Ricky Davis into playing half-games, first and third quarters only over the final two weeks, didn't pass Garnett's smell test. He didn't like the idea of tanking, period, and wanted [...]

This morning as I was getting ready for work, I was listening to ESPN radio and they were talking about the Duke lacrosse scandal.  It got me thinking.
Assume for the sake of argument that each of the following are guilty.  Who has done the most despicable thing?
1.  Barry Bonds, a black man, took steroids, lied about [...]

After the game tonight, we heard Dick and Bert tell us that ScruFi did a smart thing by not moving up Hunter to the fourth spot.  I'm not going to say that moving Batista to the fourth spot was a terrible idea, because he's been pretty good so far.
However, I'm not too happy with the assertion [...]

Tony Batista is hitting cleanup tonight and I'm okay with that.

Suppose Rondell White wakes up this morning and remembers how to hit and goes on a tear.
Suppose he hits .300/.350/.470 from this point forward.  Would it be okay to say, "Since Rondell White got untracked on April 18th, he's had an OPS of .820."  Or do we have to carry the 4-47 start around and never [...]

I'm tired of picking on Top Jimmy.  His columns are a little better, and he wrote an excellent piece on Jason Bartlett.  Unless he writes something completely inane, I'll only reference him with positive or neutral pieces for a while.  There's another fish to fry in this town.
Dan Barreiro.  What a tool.
All last year, DB [...]

Well, better late than never, I suppose.
With the trip back to SBGville this weekend and the coincidental timing of having a nephew born while I was there, well if I'd have run down the basement and started tapping away on the Internet for an hour or two, I would have had to answer to just [...]

So, I was going to summarize the last trip through the rotation and I suppose I will later.
But, on our way back to SBGville, I called Mrs. Butch and she informed me that the Mayor's wife was in the hospital. We got to SBGville about 10:30 PM. By 11:30, we got the call. [...]

On our way to SBGville, we stopped at Burger King. Lucy wanted a veggie burger, but the girl says how about a veggie Whopper? Ok, that sounds better. Except a veggie Whopper didn't have a fucking patty! Just a bun, mayo, and pickles. I mean, who in the hell wants that?

I need to get that thing working again.  I think I'll have it going before long.  Anyway, brianS writes about the latest "Sports Guy" column that picks Kobe F. Bryant as league MVP.  I was going to ignore that crap, but as brianS points out, on his way to naming his MVP, he has this [...]

Lucky you.  You have been exposed the vibrant Twins blogging community.  You know that things aren't always the way they are printed in the paper.  Take for example this tidbit in the a recent Shooter column (come to think of it, is what Shooter writes ever in tune with reality?):
The Twins have hit 13 home runs [...]

Regarding the 2006 schedule, Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi has received some criticism for agreeing to play North Dakota State on Oct. 21. Wisconsin is playing the University of Buffalo on Nov. 18 while Iowa is playing Northern Illinois Oct. 28.
As our friends to the East know, NDSU is serious about playing big ten teams.  [...]

The New York Yankees come to town tonight for a three game series.  That's not why they call it Good Friday, by the way.
There's no Scrubini Fixation in New York.  They have the game's highest paid, and best, player at third.  They have the second highest paid player at shortstop.  They have, I believe, the [...]

Mauer gets the day off, which is expected, especially in a day game after a night game.  So where does Mike Redmond hit?  Third!  Of course!  That's where the catcher always hits!
By the way, Twins up 3-2 in the fifth with Lohse on the mound.  Hunter has a two-run shot.  However, trouble's a brewing with [...]

As you know, the season is 162 games long.  Thus, 8 games is about 5% of the total number of games played.  One of my thoughts this season is to analyze the Twins offense in eight game chunks.  I'm pressed for time right now, so I'll at least get this started and hopefully as the [...]

The Wolves have signed Ndudi Ebi to assist the team during their stretch run.  The Wolves are also considering bringing in Rick Rickert, as KG is no longer around to punch his face out.  Another rumor has the Wolves trading a first round pick to re-acquire Loren Wood.
Says the Chief Fisherman, "We think that Ebi, [...]

The Timberwolves... ah, hell, I don't care anymore either.

If you've been a Twins fan for the last couple of years, there has been a familiar theme about games in which Brad Radke starts.  Brad pitches well, but doesn't get any run support.  If only he'd get run support, he'd win a lot more games because, after all, he's a quality pitcher.  I am [...]

I walked out of the Metrodome and filed through the cramped concourse behind home plate, making my way to the exit.  As I moved through the crowd on that April Sunday afternoon, I saw the Twins General Manager and I was tempted to offer a comment on the yeoman's work he'd done in the off-season.  [...]

Kevin Garnett's consecutive games streak, which was over 300 games and was the longest current streak in the league ends today.  KG gets a DNP-CD.  Oh, the indignity of it all.
Update: Technically, KG had "tendinitis."  Considering that he didn't show up on the sideline during the game, it's a good bet that he was told [...]

I read the Twins blogs and there are all kinds of good things out there.  Will Young has been doing his thing with the WPA win charts (Will, I've figured out how to prevent the comment box from going goofy when someone tries to comment e-mail me and I'll tell you the trick).  Aaron and [...]

Brett Favre to hold press conference at 6:00PM to announce whether he's decided to have dinner tonight.  He may also address whether he's decided to go to a movie later, however, there's no guarantee that he'll have made his mind up about that by 6.  Stay tuned!

Sid's feeling down about the local sports scene.  Of course, there's plenty to feel down about, but the recent failures have caused Sid to say this:
Well, now we have the Twins to watch.
All the experts have picked the White Sox to finish first in the Central Division, with Cleveland picked to come in second and the [...]

The Wolves threw a game last night against the Utah Jazz.  Coach Dwane Casey did not play Kevin Garnett in either of the second or fourth quarters.  KG played 24 minutes, scoring 14 points and grabbing 13(!) rebounds.
Said Casey:
I thought tonight is what it's going to be like for the rest of the year. It's [...]

Long time reader and frequent commenter brianS makes a good point in the comments to my rant about ScruFi and his treatment of Bartlett.  He points out that ScruFi made an astute move last night by bringing in Rincon in the sixth, even though it didn't work out.  Mr. S called it a "high leverage" [...]

Aaron Gleeman, who, as we know, is the be all and end all of researching the media for all things Twins, links to an article from the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle about the Bartlett demotion.  Imagine for a second that you are a baseball fan in Rochester, NY.  You have to be pretty excited.  You [...]

I was listening to the radio this morning and I heard that some bookmaker has established point spreads for week 1 of the NFL. The games are over 5 months away.
Am I alone here when I say that the NFL is just way too much anymore? Am I so out of touch with [...]

I am living a pretty good life.  I have very little to complain about.  But, today, my heart aches.
As a family, we've been through it before.  It's not the end of the world, but it does suck.
About 10 years ago, I had my wisdom teeth extracted through oral surgery.  Nothing major, but no fun, either.  [...]

From the Strib:
Gardenhire says if players have complaints he wants it handled in the clubhouse and not in the media.
"We had a lot of issues last year when we had a lot of whining, and I'm not going to listen to it," he said. "Definitely this year, I will handle it in-house. "
If you recall, [...]

When I upgraded to WordPress 2.0.2, I lost the ability to present data in HTML tables, one of my favorite things to do on The Mag.  I did a little searching this AM and found that there may be a solution.  I'll try tonight.  Apparently, HTML tables are so 20th Century.
Okay, I'm in full stream [...]

The Twins started off slowly, which is not surprising given that Brad Radke was on the mound. Then, the bats came alive and the Twins cruised 13-4.
Radke gave up a pair of home runs and three runs overall in the first inning. I didn't see what happened in the first inning, but our good friend [...]

I screwed up a project that I had been working on.  No big deal, I just needed to correct my mistake before tomorrow morning.  What that meant was that I missed the beginning of the season opener.  I got the project finished and was home.  By the time I got home, it was 3-1 Toronto.
The Twins [...]

I thought about writing some more about the decision to send Bartlett down, but not today.
I thought about talking about the question marks on this team, TB, Castro, Stewart, etc., but not today.
Today is Opening Day.  The first game of the season.  I'll be watching the game with a sense of optimism.  I won't criticize [...]

Top Jimmy:
The Twins would be in better shape today if they had stuck with Bartlett last year, coaxing him through his growing pains instead of sending him down.
Now they're compounding that mistake.
Will the Twins look to trade for an everyday shortstop, or are they convinced they have the solution in their organization? "We certainly think [...]

Bartlett went 4-for-5 with a home run and three runs scored.
He should have caught that pop up.  The Scrubini Fixation goes unchecked.
 

Just got back from Winona, where we celebrated Lucy's birthday.
Lucy's dad, Mr. Van Pelt is a retired businessman.  Well, semi-retired, he has a little business that he runs just for fun.  He's quite an out-going guy and always has a story to tell.  This weekend, he had an unbelievable story.  No, not the type of [...]

SBG has learned that Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire will go on medical leave before the beginning of the season.  Bench coach Scott Ullger will take over for Gardenhire.  I learned of the news from the Twins organization, specifically from the manager himself.  I first received an e-mail from the Twins office informing me that Mr. [...]