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Game 156: Kansas City Royals at Minnesota TwinsTonight could be the night that the Twins clinch a playoff berth. If so, they'll do it on the field. That would be fun. At the very worst, Chicago is going to have to come to Minnesota and sweep the Twins. More likely is that the Twins will be the only team with anything to play for next weekend.
Twins Win and clinch a postseason berth! This entry was posted by SBG
on Monday, September 25th, 2006 at 5:35 pm and is filed under Game Logs, Minnesota Twins. It is one of 3094 entries by the author.
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270 comments to Game 156: Kansas City Royals at Minnesota Twins |
Cup of Coffee Wolves give up 79 points in the first half on Tuesday night (a club record), but they tightened the screws in the second half and only gave up 73. I expect another Korean recipe over at Canis Hoopus. Citizens Online20 Users Online WGOM Sign InLog InRetired WGOM Jokes
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Race to the Bottom: Highest Loss Totals in T-Wolves History67: 1991-92 Recent Letters to the EditorIn Response to Cup of Coffee: March 17, 2010, bjhess wrote: Hoping for some help here. I've recently been inspired to try a business venture that will allow me to focus on one of my great passions in life, baseball. I'm hoping to spread the word by… SBG wrote: Chuck Knoblauch, admitted wife beater. In Response to Cup of Coffee: March 15, 2010, meat wrote: I'm in favor of a softball game. SBG wrote: And, apparently, it is insured. SBG wrote: Is Nathan's contract insured? Because if it is, then you have to readjust your calculus. brianS wrote: that is awesome. brianS wrote: Meat?? Calling Meat!!! Andrew wrote: I'm … My old roommate Adam and I always refer to Juan Dixon, formerly of Maryland, as The Illiterate Juan Dixon. Through him, my hatred for Maryland basketball is 3rd to only Purdue… SBG wrote: I'll do that, what is it? In Response to Cup of Coffee: March 16, 2010, spookymilk wrote: Heh heh. I thought about posting that and some other Citizen stuff here, but figured I shouldn't without asking. freealonzo wrote: Ask Beau what his 6 word definition of NASCAR was. sean wrote: And more is being added! BR is adding box scores from Retrosheet for 1920-1939, and play-by-play for '52 and '53 soon. There even appears to be the occasional game with play-by-play for the '20-'39 data.… frightwig wrote: It could be true that an obsessive ego, which may compel someone to sleep with a different woman every night, might also be what drives that person to be the best in his … I… spookymilk wrote: Stick, I've got to thank you for doing the six-word evaluations last year; I used them for my Creative Writing Survivor game last week to hilarious results. It was a blast. For the record, three… frightwig wrote: I know a hipster woman in Portland who also loves the Twins (she grew up in Minnesota)--and she dyes her hair red. Sad to say, though, I think she's been with a guy from PDX… frightwig wrote: His eyes will glaze over when he gets to, "However it seems like you are unaware of how much data is available on-line regarding baseball statistics and history." brianS wrote: Rhu_Ru is about to become a Cincy Reds fan, judging from this story. despite the fact that I'm not a Reds fan and that I'd be looking at 10 hours of driving for 81 games a… Milt on Tilt wrote: Reading a review of The Show, apparently one of the time wasting animations is a hot foot in the dugout? I've not seen this yet. Anyone else? Also, EA Sports is tracking online gameplay. Favre… New Guy wrote: Ha! No, this is a new New Gal. Our first real date was the drunken Alice in Wonderland escapade a couple weeks back. In Response to The Fiery Furnaces - Blueberry Boat, AMR wrote: That, plus the discussion, plus I've heard the FFs (Only Widow City) and I know their reputations. FirstTimeLongTime wrote: What, the 4.14 rating gave you the impression it would be a bad video? In Response to Patty Griffin - Mary, AMR wrote: I bought it for my wife for her … two originals on it, but they're both very good. All of the songs are religiously themed. Some old gospel standards. Others not so… E-6 wrote: I'm with you, AMR. Patty Griffin is awesome. I happen to think this is one of her best songs, too. And while I would also prefer she sang it solo, Ms. Maines doesn't exactly ruin… In Response to Happy Birthday--March 16, E-6 wrote: Blondie? Patsy? Flowers? It's a league of their own. Popular Recent Posts
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Tonight the Twins will be facing KC starter Jorge De La Rosa, who, according to the Twins' official site, has an ERA of 6.66.
His MLB photo also makes him look a bit demonic.
Does he have a reputation for being a fireballer?
We're off to a good start tonight!
if de la Rosa sold his soul, he deserves a refund.
+5, brianS.
SBG, I don't think that will be true. Unless the Twins go on a nose dive, the Ligers will also have "anything to play for" all week. The division and possibly home-field advantage.
Nobody with any sense wants to face the Yankees' offense in a short series, particularly if the Yanks have home field advantage. I don't imagine that Toronto will simply roll over for Detroit, despite not having Roy Halladay tomorrow. Ted Lilly and AJ Burnett are good pitchers. Lilly has been murder on lefties all year (547 OPS; although righties have hit him pretty hard). Burnett has actually been as good as Halladay since the A-S break (slightly higher ERA, but more K/9).
I meant that between the Chisox and Twins, only the Twins will have something to play for.
and you don't think that sending the Twins to Yankee stadium would make AJ and the boys feel just a teensy bit better?
Fr: mlb.com: Tourneau...is proud to award the Bank of America Presents the American League Co-Players of the Week Torii Hunter and Raul Ibanez with a Tourneau luxury Swiss timepiece.
Torii slugging is th' masterpiece theatre icon on MLB.com. If we forget about the first 3/4 of the season, it's like Don Baylor.
Top of 4: Cleveland 4, White Sox 1.
Huh? Oh, yeah, this makes sense... I get the frickin' Kansas City feed from DirecTV's Extra Innings tonight. It's a Twins home game, FSN North is carrying it, and instead I get the sad sack, craptastic production values and KC-centric viewpoint of the Royals' broadcast on a night when it looks like the stars are aligned for the Twins to clinch the playoffs.
Just what I wanted.
Looks like I'll be watching the mlb.tv feed tonight instead. Extra Innings, I trusted you! And you let me down in my hour of need.
I figured MLB.tv and Extra Innings always showed the same games.
mlb.tv shows ALL games except for when we Get FOXed. They almost always choose the home feed unless there isn't one. Sometimes -- inexplicably -- they'll show the away feed, and I have no idea why.
Tonight's game is clearly on FSN North -- yep, there it is on my program guide, but BLACKED OUT! - instead, they "force" me to watch the crappy FSN Midwest feed, which doth sucketh.
I want my homer commentators tonight. Let me revel in the triumph of the Twins over adversity and the forces of evil.
Bert: "Boof, there it is! Boof, there it is!"
Me: "Where's the Bertin' mute button?"
How many votes for MOY will Buddy Bell get? He leaves the team due to tonsilitis and the Tiggers beat up on KC like it was an April series against the Twins.
Tyner in LF--Rondell getting a breather I assume.
Of Tyner-White-Nevin-------what combo would you like to see at LF/DH.
Personally-I like the way its been set up recently---White in left, and the platoon at DH, although it makes me cringe seeing our DH as Tyner
I want to see Nevin play to see what he can do.
Wow, heres a good laugh. Sad really.
http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060925&content_id=1681637&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
Better them than us.
That is outrageous. Do they have anything else they'd like to trade to the Twins? Maybe Krivsky wants Silva. How about Silva for Dunn? (That story indicates that Dunn was ejected for charging Silva, btw.)
SatanJorge not looking sharp so far.Maybe it should be Diablo.
Mauer: .348, Cano: .344
Sheesh... Mauer fends off a charge from one Agent Of Darkness only to have to deal with another?
Joe's back, folks. Just in time for the playoffs.
Our old friend the DP is back, although Cudds it typically not the the one the guilty one.
Indigenous Peoples piling on the runs. Looking good.
Oh, and the Pale Hose have 3 errors in 5 innings of play.
ChiSox Pride.
Morneau with a great swing and well-hit ball, but KC had him played perfectly. The way he's been spraying the ball all over the place, that's more luck than great managing, in my opinion. Sometimes coaches will look like geenyuses for that.
Even Judy Garland cant save the Caucasian Sox
btw, welcome aboard, DW!
Tonight's the night folks. I's can feel it. Course at this point I'm not far out on a limb.
Torii Hunter looks like he's back too... again, just in time for the playoffs.
Thanks, I check out the site 2-3 times daily and the game logs, I meant to register sooner, but I'm a lazy, lazy man.
lazy's good. +5.
Torii swingin' for the fences.
Think his quest for 30 will affect his production the last few games here?
He looks pretty locked in to me. Two well-hit pulled fouls and a check swing there. I'd give Torii very good odds to get 30 HR in this series. His quest for 100 RBI is much more in doubt, especially if the Twins clinch tonight.
Am I high or is the score 1-0?
There you go, good ol' FSN North.
Tyner swining for the
fenceswarning track.Castro agrees to two-year, $2M extension with Reds
Good. Gardy and Ryan's hands are tied . . . or are they?
Tonight's White Sox game is something of a microcosm for them, with Garland -- their most dependable pitcher this season -- taking it on the chin. 7-1 Cleveland, bottom of the 6th. It just seems like so many things went wrong for the White Sox in the second half... much of it almost inexplicable.
The Indians are looking like the Tigers here. 10-1.
Bartlett's due here.
(crickets)
Sitting in my hotel room in NJ waiting for room service. I was listening to WFAN and the sports guys were lamenting the Yankees losing 3 to Tampa Bay and potentially losing home field advantage. Switched over the the Toronto Red Sox game and the Toronto announcers were talking about how the team is excited at the possibility of a second place divison finish. Maybe they will give the Tigers a bit more than KC has...
As long as we get the same treatment from the Royals as the Tigers did, no complaints here.
I haven't been watching much of the Chicago/Cleveland tussle, so perhaps someone can fill me in: was Ozzie trying to make a point or something tonight in leaving Garland out to twist in the wind to the tune of 5.1 IP, 12 H, 3 BB, and 10 ER?
You'd think that with this being an elimination game for the White Sox they might be interested in winning the game. Not sure why you'd leave a guy out there to put the game completely out of reach.
10 runs, but only 6 earned. (Or so says GameDay.)
14 runs. A real lay down by our friends on the South Side.
Ah. Sportsline's feed has all 10 earned, but then they'll also put crazy stuff in like "Morneau relieves Silva" for fun.
Cleveland with a granny, 14-1 now. Wow, that has all the makings of an infamous beatdown that ChiSox fans will lament for years.
ESPN.com has 10 of 14 runs earned. Only 1 HR for Cle!
3 Errors (all missed catches) by the ChiSox.
I have the biggest stupidest grin on my face right now.
KC announcers: "Where in the world was that pitch?"
I guess you don't get borderline calls against The Joe.
Gordo concurred, saying "That pitch looked pretty good."
This game has been kind of strange. After Mauer's RBI single, this game had all the makings of a triumphant, playoff-clinching lauger. All of a sudden, De La Rosa's deal with the devil kicks in and we're in a pitchers' duel?
I guess it'll make for a more interesting game at least.
The Good Guys have a flair for the dramatic tonight, I can tell. They're going to make this one a squeaker just for the hell of it.
ChiSox could use some insurance runs 'bout now (say 14).
Do they run a good onside kick?
Ah. I see where you're going with this. Switch th' ball over to a pig-skin, then th' HR is 7. Steely logic.
Perfect game for BOOFY-BOY gone.
3rd Commandment of pitching: Thou shalt not walk Joey Gathright.
uh-oh. Leadoff walk. The worst thing that could happen(tm).
DP, the best thing that could happen!
Recovers nicely
Now there's a DP of the Minny-friendly variety.
KC's getting the short end of the stick on some calls here. Without Buddy Bell to exert his influence over the umps, the Royals are lost.
Buddy used to find this stuff hard to swallow. Look out in 2007, however. Buddy will be like Deep Throat.
Boof-o-matic. I guess leadoff walks only hurt against major league teams.
I think Bill Doran was on the Astros team that lost the NLCS to the Mets in '86.
Cano down looking, Mauer's lead in the batting race up to 6 points. Up-to-the-moment stats, folks.
Deep left double for Hunter. Im stuck watching the Gamecast----how deep exactly for those viewing?
Right in the corner. Perfect placement.
Twins are wearing out that LF corner.
With a bat flip for good measure.
The duodecimillion man.
He's like Lee Majors * 2.
does he get that "DU DU DUDUDUDUDUDUDU" sound effect when he runs down a fly ball?
Hunter is playing like a man possessed down the stretch. He and De La Rosa have a lot in common.
Nice!
Tyner is the insurance man.
Tyner--nuff said.
Tyny Powyr.
4-man rotation for ALDS preference (assuming Radke our)
1 Santana
2 Bonser
3 Silva
4 Garza
*out
LOB again hurting
Where is Rod Carew? Either Punto's hurt, he needs another pep talk from Carew, or he's been figured out. I guess it could just be a slump, but his K and BB numbers lately might suggest otherwise.
Poor Tom Burgmeier. Pitched for the Twins when they sucked. Now has to coach the KC pitching staff. Who did he piss off in a previous life?
so much for the no hitter
We could just try to rule it an error.
Good effort by Torii. He seemed fairly close to full speed on that. Maybe not 2001-2 Torii, but pretty similar to 2005 Torii.
Downward-type action!!
(I'd say this indicates we should drink, but I don't want to kill everyone out there.)
so much for the no hitter
Yeah, th' Boof pitches are still flyin' tho.
Cold Gluek waiting in the fridge-----dont want to jinx it yet, but a cold beverage in front of my White Sox fan roommate will be more than satisfying tonight.
See, I don't think Hunter makes that play a month ago. Maybe I'm crazy, but he's looking completely different out there.
Now when Bert uses "type" correctly, it still sounds funny.
Will Bonser's ERA dip under 4 tonight?
He's gotta be #2 man for playoffs!
Anyone else having trouble with SBG's feed? I'm using Google Reader and I'm not receiving updates...
I provided a new feed with feedburner. Click on link in right hand column.
I've never figured out the RSS thing. Reload, reload, reload.
For the record: Interim Royals manager Bill Doran played for Houston from 1982-1990. And in 1986, when the Astros won the NL West, he led the NL in caught stealing.
Hey, it's good to be remembered for something.
I wonder, do you get a plaque or something?
That's black ink on baseball-reference.com. Big points in the HOF Monitor.
Is Boof the new BRadke? I'm starting to get comfortable with him (after the first inning).
Sounds romantic.
Boof's like an old pair of shoes.
smells romantic?
Boof is my dogs favorite pitcher now that I think about it.....
Whaaat? Jeter doesn't have to put up with this sh*t!!! Where's the respect?
It's spreading throughout the booth!
Dick: "I don't think it's hard to see Mauer as a Ripken-type player."
"The Night that Chicago Died" is played over the PA at Jacobs Field.
Sweet! No, I guess that was Paper Lace.
The magic number is one.
It's over in Cleveland. And in Chicago.
THEY GONE!............a thrilling game in Cleveland!
Maybe de la Rosa struck a deal with our buddy Satan for quality starts down the stretch? I dunno, maybe an eon or two on the hot plate?
He looks like an evil Kyle Lohse. Yes, I know that's redundant.
I'm way late on this, but Gardy decides to give White the night off against a lefty? Bizarre. Whatever, we've already clinched at least a tie for the WC now.
dick said ronDL was a late scratch due to a bad wheel
See, this didn't seem to fit Gardy's criteria. Hopefully, RonDL is just being careful what with the turf and the ever-dwindling magic number.
And by my first sentence here, I mean to say that if RonDL was healthy, Gardy normally would've had him in the lineup, so it didn't quite add up.
Everytime Tyner goes in for these platoon screwups, he ends up with an RBI. See, he did it again tonight.
I think he's doing it to taunt us. Or screw with our minds.
Greinke! Honestly, this might be the best pitcher on their whole staff. At least in terms of potential, I guess. But it's not like the competition is stiff. Good thing they guaranteed Joe Mays a spot in the rotation over the kid.
Uhm, Grienke was 60-day DL'd for "psychological issues."
He didn't want to pitch any more.
Yeah, psychological issues exacerbated by a manager that had no idea what he was doing.
Catch-22. That's how they knew he was sane.
+15 Superb.
Royals top young starting pitchers, opening day:
1. 15-day DL for "psychological problems." Somewhat incommunicado in Florida, ponders quitting his career. Like Ricky Williams without the excessive Marijuana use.
2. Demoted to AAA for being out of shape and overweight.
Grienke? I didn't know he was back.
Gameday says he's pitched to 3 batters all season before tonight, all outs.
Dickenbert talking about Greinke's "personal problems" but no detail beyond that. What's the deal with that?
I don't think they took Joe Mays over Greinke. If I recall correctly, Greinke took a leave of absence to sort out some mental problems. He was dominating against the Twins as a rookie, and I guess having to play for the Royals might give me mental problems too.
I did not know that Greinke was back, but I wish him luck against every other team.
Greinke didn't take his leave until after Buddy Bell berted with his head and said Mays was getting a spot by Greinke wasn't guaranteed anything going in to Spring Training.
Oh, no wonder why Kansas City sucks.
He looks like an evil Kyle Lohse.
Wow. Now that you said it, Kris, it all makes sense. De la Rosa is the alternate universe Kyle Lohse, complete with black goatee.
Well, that's no good.
Where is Rod Carew? Either Punto’s hurt, he needs another pep talk from Carew, or he’s been figured out. I guess it could just be a slump, but his K and BB numbers lately might suggest otherwise.
Seems like odd timing, with him going 2 for 3 tonight. He also had a 3 for 5 the night before last.
Though I agree with your larger point. Two things are alarming -- the loss of his "power" (his doubles have disappeared) and the loss of his patience (the walks have dried up).
Gardenhire sounds awfully confident in giving him the 2007 starting 3B job and I suppose he's kinda sorta earned that trust but those "loyalty" moves are the kind that can end up hurting a team trying to keep its mojo going. He sure hasn't "earned" it the past month-plus.
Seems like odd timing, with him going 2 for 3 tonight. He also had a 3 for 5 the night before last.
This is what happens when I get stuck at work, miss Punto's first two AB and see him get out with runners on base. Anyway, hopefully the 5 for 8 means more than the bad K/BB ratio in September.
I did not know that Greinke was back, but I wish him luck against every other team.
He's been with Witchita most of the year. Rather unspectacular numbers, really, but got the call-up here late in the season. He still seems like he could be a good pitcher, though.
"at the major league level"
"-type"
"Perontas"
I'd like to try the Bert Blyleven Drinking Game™ sometime, but I'm afraid I'd end up in the hospital.
The Bert Blyleven Drinking Game(tm) isn't recommended for those with fewer than two livers.
The circles alone would put you in rehab.
Hey Kris, how do you get that cool TM character to show up? Please reveal your HTML secrets and I'll be your bestest SBG friend.
Try this: ™
©
Did it work?
Crap! ¥ ?
d'ya know how to do a backwards K so I don't have to type "backwards K"?
Testing: (tm)
Aha! My mistake was not putting a space between Game and [tm]. (with parens rather than square brackets)
Test: (tm)
Test: ™
Looks like SBG has a filter that automagically turns ( tm ) into ™ but only if it's surrounded by whitespace.
Angel Berroa. Good gravy.
Yeah, that's kinda ugly.
I've seen Boof pitch better, but I'll take one run through six innings.
Good recovery, however. Now how about some offense for the man?
That was a sweet bunt by
The Ball MagnetBartlett.Oh. My. Bert.
Dick's got a huge bunt-love boner for Nevin. You know, Dick, you might want to get a little more excited about Nevin's power than his bunting "prowess."
huge bunt-love boner
+eleventy billion
Dick’s got a huge bunt-love boner
Heh.
Zach Greinke's MLB photo certainly depicts him as a young man with some psychological issues.
He looks like the next Eminem.
More on Grienke:
He was 8-3 in 18 starts, 4.34 ERA in his extensive "rehab assignment" in AA. All signs point to improvement towards the end, and he apparently enjoyed the concept of "winning games."
Stats:
.240 BAA, 94 K, 27 BB, 96 H, 105.2 IP, 12 HR.
That's all I can find at MiLB.com
If you want more Greinke info, check out his minor league splits. After a rough June, he seemed to have a very good July and August.
Punto: "What slump?"
Punt-owned!
Punto doesn't like it when you pick on him ubelmann.
Before I read this comment, I blamed it on Gleeman, but I'm willing to take responsibility for Punto's improved performance.
Punto: “What slump?â€
Yeah, Punto must've read Gleeman today. AG's all about lighting fires under this team. First White, then Hunter, and now Punto.
I like Gleeman as much as the next SBG-ite, but I think he's in denial over the target he painted on Torii. He stayed on-message a little too long, I think... the "Torii is overrated/over the hill" message worked until Hunter started basically carrying the Twins offense over the last month. Now that Torii has apparently gotten his wheels back, it's time for Twins commentators to just can the Torii-bashing for a bit and enjoy the ride... all in my opinion of course...
I agree to a point. However, the signal/noise ratio in Gleemanland has taken a serious turn for the worse in the past month or so, so I can understand his defensiveness about the Torii issue, and other things.
Gleeman needs registration for comments.
It's not really Hunter-bashing, it's more on terms of evaluating his worth. Is Hunter worth $10M-12M? For a team with a $65M payroll? AG doesn't think so and neither does Moss.
I think Gleeman portrayed Hunter pretty accurately as long as you're okay with the idea that no player's contributions can be properly judged without also considering how much salary he makes. If Hunter was making the major league minimum, I can almost guarantee he'd take less heat from the Glee-man.
I agree. I also think that taken to extreme, this is what leads to Chronic A-Rod Bashing Syndrome. There is no known cure for CARBS, but with therapy, those who are afflicted can lead somewhat normal lives.
CARBS deserves at least +15. That's a keeper.
Oh, and I hadn't read Gleeman in a few days... he went after White? Now, I've been on the White bandwagon for a while now, but I'd like to know how someone can pick on a guy who has hit as well as he has since the break...
He hasn't gone after White any more than anyone else has.
By "going after White" I mean he was willing to call his early season performance the worst performance ever by a DH, which it was at the time.
Oh, and that's fair. I was just as much on the "banish White" bandwagon in the first half as I'm on the "Rondell's back" bandwagon now.
It just bugs me when people don't switch bandwagons fast enough.
Anyone else having trouble with SBG’s feed?
I can't even figure out how to set it up. Clicking on "Comments (RSS)" link gives me an error message. Oh well, reload, reload, reload...like when I used to duck hunt. (The difference being that I can actually hit the reload button.)
Cuddy having a bad night.
Yankees : Devil Rays :: Cleveland : Chicago
That was perfect location by Greinke to strike out Cuddyer there. Not much you can do about that. Good to get the one run back, anyway.
Wow -- the GameCenter on CBS Sportsline was ahead of the radio broadcast for Cuddyer's backwards K! 'CCO must be on a delay or something.
Cuddyer playing the goat tonite. Might be time for a little rest. It might also be time to shake up the order a little bit -- 14 baserunners and only 3 runs in 6 innings.
It's probably been time for awhile now, given the lack of efficiency, but knowing Gardy it will never happen.
I dunno. Unless your lineup is extremely dynamic, I'm not sure how much that helps. Just a few weeks ago, a lot of us (well, me) were calling for Bartlett to be put in the 1 or 2 hole while dumping Castillo somewhere further down the lineup. Now that Castillo has been en fuego for the last month and Bartlett has been hitting... well, like a #9 hitter... that doesn't look so brilliant.
Same thing with a lot of guys... Mauer's been hot. Cuddyer not. Morneau's power has dried up but he's still spraying hits everywhere. Torii and Rondell have been knocking the crap out of the ball. With just this information, you might put up a lineup of:
Castillo
Mauer
Morneau
Hunter
White
Cuddyer
Nevin
Punto
Bartlett
I hope you'll agree that might be a bit drastic.
How so? What's wrong with moving Punto down? Hunter had some success as cleanup for awhile earlier in the year. White might be capable as well.
What seems drastic to Moss is that many nights we have four players batting consecutively who are no threat whatsoever to go deep. Moss would advocate moving one of the better hitters down to eighth, maybe Nevin, Cuddyer, Hunter, or White, to break up that string. Otherwise it takes too many hits to score a run.
That's a fair point and I agree -- for power's sake, not for "hot hitter" sake.
It also is a good reminder of an area where the Twins could really improve next season, i.e. minimizing the power black holes in the lineup. One of the reasons the Twins have moved from being a poor offensive team to a decent offensive team is they eliminated horrible black holes of hitting like Rivas and Castro from the lineup. They can take another step by taking so-so guys like Tyner and -- dare I say it -- Punto and looking for upgrades.
I'd say the overall lack of efficiency probably has to do with a lack of XBH and baserunning blunders more than anything else.
Definitely has a lot to do with it. But as Moss mentions above, part of the problem is that we often have four guys batting consecutively who have almost no XBH power. Sure, Bartlett gets an occasional double, but otherwise its singles or nothing. Takes way too many hits to score a run that way. Moss would advocate breaking up that stretch with one of the guys who has some power, possibly Nevin, by putting him eighth. It probably can't hurt...
Yeah, I could get behind that.
Ahhh...I love the 7th inning b/c Gordo is back. "Dazzle" and "play-by-play" go together like "Tyner" and "DH."
Agreed. His tone is too even, and his narrative is incomplete -- you never really know what is going on as it happens. Usually he gets you caught up about a minute after everything happens.
Boof three, you're out.
I will be a happy man if I never hear "Boof! There it is" ever again.
I'd rather see him suspended for "Boof! There it is" than dropping a couple F-bombs.
How great to be taken out because you're doing great, as opposed to..
NYY: 16
TB: 1
In the top of the 9th. Ouch. Those Yanks are a bunch of meanies.
When you're up by 10 or more, I think the only sporting thing is to take three swings at the first pitch and go sit yourself back down.
(especially if you're fighting a Twin for the batting title.)
Boof always looks pissed.
It's so hard to be disappointed with Morneau considering how well he's hitting for average, but man, I like our chances in the post-season a lot better if he's hitting HR.
Bring it on, boys!
If you click on feed right below the article, "You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed", you can get a feed on this particular posting.
Moss can't figure this out either. Can you do a tutorial? If Moss clicks on the link in the sidebar, it says "Firefox can't open this link because no program is associated" or something like that.
Moss installed Pluck but something seems fishy with that too.
Any hints?
In firefox, you should be able to right click and copy the link location. Then you can paste that into a feed reader. For instance, I just paste that link into the entry field at the top of my Google Reader homepage. Click "Subscribe" on the resulting page and I'm done. Subscribed. Bloglines required a similar process.
#30!!!
100 RBI is looking more and more likely.
There you go, number 30! Update those charts, SBG.
Trente Torii.
Gladden: Hunter sure would like to get his 30th on the night the Twins clinch.
Gordo: Hunter swings, it's way back, hey, touch 'em all Torii Hunter!
Aw man, shit's making me want to move back to the midwest.
Quality o' life!
And annual opportunities to freeze to death.
Like he said, "quality o' life."
I cannot believe that Hunter got to 30 home runs. What a tear he's been on.
Wow. Torii just will not be denied. Screw walks, the guy's never looked better at the plate!
I'd like to change my Torii 100 RBI odds from "unlikely" to "even odds" while I'm at it...
Greinke has undergone therapy for his anxieties, which included a dislike to being in a crowd and, by all accounts, he has made tremendous progress. Greinke has undergone therapy for his anxieties, which included a dislike to being in a crowd
KC's the perfect organization then. He should feel really comfortable at home games.
The setup was too perfect... couldn't let it go...
Wow - he might catch Morneau at this rate! 2 30 HR guys on one team. Warm up those hankies.
Wow, the woman whose friend caught the Torii HR ball is just sobbing. I can't decide if that's funny or touching.
Unless she's his mom, sister, wife or mentor it's definitely funny.
Also, there's no crying in baseball!
I'll update the charts later.
Do my eyes deceive me? Did it really just take one pitcher to get all the way through the eighth inning?
Neshek rules.
¡Celebre las buenas épocas, adelántese!
Punto's FIH (Fielding Independent Hitting) tonight is not good.
2 for 3! Woot!
Mauer's been getting some help from dodgy infield play the past couple games. I ain't complaining!
Mauer: .349, Cano: .342, Jeter: .340.
A couple weeks ago, Mauer looked completely doomed to a finish in the .330 range or even lower. Now .350 isn't out of the question... how great is that...
Too bad he's been completely talked out of any MVP candidate discussions...
In an article just posted at foxsports.com, Ken Rosenthal suggests that the Twins may bring back LaTroy Hawkins next season. Wow, with a bullpen bursting with excellent arms, that sounds like crazy-talk to me.
dangit! I screwed that up.
-5 pts for me.
Sounds like he needed a few more sentences and made that up out of whole cloth.
Moss posited that question over at AG.com a couple weeks ago. AG didn't respond to it.
Moss thinks it depends somewhat on whether Hunter is here or not. (Moss hasn't read the article yet...did he make that point?)
Rosenthal does mention that Hunter and Hawkins are close friends.
I don't think that's an alltogether bad idea. Not sure why he'd be needed, but, if so...
DON'T LET HIM CLOSE!!!
I posted this in another SBG thread. It sounds made up to me.
And Cuddy avoids the 0-fer.
Morneau gets a shot, and the only thing missing from making this a quintessential clincher is a Justin long bomb.
Nice call!
Good Call!
Smart base-paths there by th' Twin.
FSN says th' Twin were a dud till Morneau. Hmm.
YES
Take that Torii!!
Morneau!!! Okay, the Twins are ready for the post-season now.
Morneau H. Beaut.
the only thing missing from making this a quintessential clincher is a Justin long bomb.
Prophetic!!
Now there's the topper.
Gotta get a curtain call for Morneaux... crowd's going nuts...
Awwww, that's piling on. Wait until the Royals' big brother comes home!
Not to mention very A-Rodish to hit the 3-run jack in a rout. MVP! MVP!
It wasn't a rout until the 3-run jack.
Wouldn't this be the perfect opportunity to rest Nathan and use Eyre? This will be three days in a row for Nathan, right?
Building his arm back up for the playoffs. Gardy's shrewd.
He was already warmed up in anticipation of a 4-run lead in a playoff clincher, so I don't blame Gardy for just bringing him in.
Some guys don't know when to stop complaining and just enjoy the moment.
I doubt he wanted Willie Eyre to be at the center of all the ESPN clips.
As soon as the game is over, I'll open up a new post so that you don't have to wade through 300 LTTEs to talk about postseason 2006.
You know, it would have been cool to have to clinch a spot against the Sox, especially since I have tickets to Friday's game, but this is probably better.
I've got tickets for Friday, too. I was hoping Radke would get the start.
Time to drink!!
Ah, th' Twin! Perfecto!
A-bertin-mazing. Most. Enjoyable. Season. Ever.
Ready to order the 2006 Homer Hankies. Good game, guys!
Back in June, who'da thunk it? The Twins are the best regular-season story in baseball this year.
Twins win!
The Bar is Open!
You can put it on the board.... YES!
Boooooooooooooffffffffff!!!
Have to admit, I'm getting warm fuzzies over Boof. Nice to have someone solidly in the post season rotation, and 2007...
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