Crap that game sucked last night.

SBG note: I am very excited to have this interview with Jim Thielman, the author of "Cool of the Evening" here at the WGOM. My thanks to Rhubarb_Runner, who set this whole thing up.

Cool of the Evening
The 1965 Minnesota Twins

Unplugged, 1996.

The third place Twins won for the fifth consecutive time, riding the left arm of Francisco Liriano to a 8-1 win over Scott Kazmir and the Devil Rays. Liriano, who improved to 11-2, went 8 2/3 innings, allowing only an unearned run in the ninth. Liriano threw 111 pitches, but couldn't finish a [...]

Vick accused of "conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities and to sponsor a dog in an animal fighting venture in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District in Richmond, Va." These are felony charges. Dogfighting is a despicable activity. Here's hoping that if he's guilty, he's thrown [...]

Nate Robertson vs. Matt Garza
Robertson's a decent enough pitcher, but always seems to pitch better than he should against the Twins.
I attended the Tigers-Mariners game in person last Friday, to do some advanced scouting for this series. Okay, the second part is a lie, but I did attend the game, and I even [...]

Minnesota Twins (49-43) vs. Detroit Tigers (54-36)
The Twins came out of the All-Star break on fire, sweeping Oakland in four games. They enter this series a season-high 6 games over .500, with six games remaining on the current homestand. The Tigers went into the break on a hot streak, 6-1 in July, but [...]

Name: Nick N.
Hometown: St. Louis Park
Sports Allegiances: Minnesota Twins, Gophers sports teams, Tennessee Titans
Favorite Book: Goodnight Moon
Favorite Baseball Movie: Major League
Favorite Non-baseball Movie: The Shawshank Redemption
Favorite Food & Drink: Chicken wings and beer.
Favorite TV Show(s): The Simpsons.
Favorite Twins Player, historically: Puckett.
Favorite Twins Player, currently: Not Nick [...]

They say it's your birthday... well it's our birthday, too, yeah...

The Twins won their fourth game in a row in the first game of a four game series against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The third place Twins improved to 51-40 and moved to within 10.5 games of the idle Detroit Tigers. The Game Log had 92 posts.

Three years ago today, on July 17, 2004, I started a blog that I called "Stick and Ball Guy". The url for that site was stickandballguy.blogspot.com, a site that I left and has now been usurped by a cybersquatter. All of the original posts have been ported over here, but any images that [...]

1977, The Rainbow.

Thanks to E-6 for the pick.

Bonus track. a "live" Beat Club version of Waterloo Sunset, 1967. Ray Davies is awesome. And I think this is the original Kinks lineup with Pete Quaife on bass.

I give the Twins an A's+ for the weekend.

[contributed by: Rhubarb_Runner]

Sports Illustrated cover - October 4, 1965
"World Series"

Ahh, this takes me back. What great, self-indulgent stuff. Of course, this is the slashed-and-burned, short version, without the 20 minutes of solos.

On Playboy After Dark, circa 1968. Thanks to Twayn (and sorry for the delay in posting it). Man, what crappy mime-ing/lip-synching.

Here's a version with better video.

The third place Twins improved their record to 50-40 with a third consecutive win over the Cleveland Indians, 5-2. Rondell "The Insanity" White came off the DL and hit his first homer of the season. Michael Cuddyer and Luis Castillo also homered. Castillo's lead off the game for the Twins and was [...]

Dan Haren vs. Boof!
2.30 -- Dan Haren ERA
4.11 -- Dan Haren xFIP
4.19 -- Boof Bonser xFIP
Haren's a nice enough pitcher, but I'd really like to see him crash and burn in the second half.

The third place Twins defeated the Cleveland Indians 6-2 to run their record to 49-40, 12 games behind the Detroit Tigers. Johan Santana "rebounded from two poor starts by scattering five hits in seven innings" while improving his record to 10-5 with a 2.93 ERA. Justin Morneau hit his 24th home run [...]

Bing Crosby -- the cross-over superstar of the 1960s and 1970s. Bing was the coolest guy in the universe.

Oh, and Happy Birfday to me [--brianS].

Joe Blanton vs. Carlos Silva
Seems like this would've been a great matchup for an eating contest, or maybe a wrestling match.
Blanton's been legitimately good this year, so adjust expectations accordingly. The opponents' pitchers for this series remind me of the last series against the White Sox. After starting off with two mediocre-to-bad [...]

Seriously, what's wrong with Johan Santana?

The Twins defeated the Cleveland Indians 3-2 in ten innings to run their record to 48-40. It was the first of eight consecutive wins. Jason Tyner, called up the night before got the game winning hit. Brad Radke pitched 7 innings allowing just a two run homer. Punto and [...]

1976, Winterland.

Lenny DiNardo vs. Johan Santana
DiNardo is a decent lefty who gets a ton of ground balls (60% GB%). I think we all know how that song and dance has gone, but just as a reminder:
.272/.343/.396 -- vs. RHP
.261/.317/.406 -- vs. LHP
.272/.341/.407 -- vs. FB
.289/.355/.427 -- vs. avg.F/G
.240/.305/.355 -- vs. GB
The platoon (L/R) splits [...]

Ichiro signed a $90 million, five-year contract extension Friday, three days after he was the unanimous MVP of the All-Star Game.

I was thinking about this Mark Cuban effort to buy the Cubs and thinking about how desperately I want this guy to own a baseball franchise. The Cubs would be perfect. Cuban's loud and obnoxious, in an Al Czervik kind of way. I love the guy like few other sports personalities in [...]

Sorry we're late with the new material.

In honor of tonight's unveiling, we bring you Harry and the Potters.

Here's a live version.

Mark Cuban confirms that he's trying to buy the Cubs. Please, God, let this happen.

I got an idea that it would be cool to have a "This Day in Twins History" feature. So, last night, I was going to look up all the games ever on July 13 in Twins history. Um, well, that is too much work on a daily basis. So, how about starting [...]

The latest Top Jimmy column is classic: T-Shirts, bitches!

[contributed by: Rhubarb_Runner]

1972 Minnesota Twins press guide

Deprived of baseball for the better part of three days, one game wasn't enough for me today, so I was following the Mariners-Tigers game. Let's set the scene:
It's the bottom of the 5th inning, Seattle losing 0-2. Andrew Miller just walked Richie Sexson to load the bases. Adrian Beltre is hitting with [...]

Scott Baker vs. Chad Gaudin
Back in 2003, the Twins had an 8-game losing streak going into the All-Star break. Then, immediately after the break, they swept a 4-game series with the Oakland A's en route to a 46-23 second half record that won them the division. I vote for doing that again.
Gaudin [...]

Link. And down in Arlington, the prayers go up: Please opt out, A-Rod.

Name: New Britain Bo
Hometown: born in Sioux City; father in USAF- spent time in/around airbases including Panama- settled in Park Rapids, MN. After college, 18 years in Scandia, MN; then to Hartford, CT (last 3.5 yrs).
Bats/throws: R/R.
Positions: 2B, SS. Aggressive at base-paths.
Sports allegiances: Minnesota Twins, Baltimore Orioles, Baltimore Colts, New Britain [...]

Believe it. Gotta love Rickey.

This is going to be quick. It was Mrs. Mak's birthday yesterday, so I was busy elsewhere.

Minnesota Twins (45-43) vs. Oakland Athletics (44-44)
Both of these teams are right around .500, and in that spirit the Twins have been alternating winning and losing nicely, going 12-12 in their last 24, and 5-6 in their last [...]

Are you ready for some baseball?

"Could You Be the One" and "She's a Woman (And Now He is a Man)" sandwiched around a thrilling interview with Joan (1987).

Here at the WGOM, we have Albert Pujols waiting in the wings, just in case.

[contributed by: Rhubarb_Runner]

I Love This Game!  My Life and Baseball

Circa 1960.

It looks like our good friend Garrett Jones will be re-joining the Twins.
Asked if the team would recall a third catcher, such as Chris Heintz, Gardenhire said he'd prefer to add a DH. "I'd like to have another hitter, a DH be a threat," Gardenhire said. "Probably a guy who can drive the ball. You [...]

Haren vs. Peavy
I like the All-Star Game. It's a bunch of great performers gathered together to play a great game. Sounds like a good time to me.

Name: Barry Hess (bjhess)
Hometown: Pipestone, MN
Town I Currently Live In: Owatonna, MN
Profession: Freelance web developer. My first website is Scrawlers. It's in the very early stages. The idea is to have a community that writes 100-word stories as an exercise in writing constraints. Eventually we'd like to create the feel of a [...]

With all the lefties out of the Home Run Derby right away, it's a wonder any lefties hit home runs in that park.

An Australian spot for Coca-Cola. The jingle is by Jack White.

Four runs in two games. That offensive explosion seems like it was a month ago.

[contributed by: Rhubarb_Runner]

Sports Illustrated cover - April 30, 2001
"Do You Believe in Miracles?"
"All the first-place Twins have to do is hang on for six months"

By request:

(Click for full size)
The purple bars represent the number of times the Twins have scored a given number of runs per game, and the blue bars represent the major league averages.
Welcome to a league average pitching staff. Well, a little better than league average, but not by a whole lot.
Using the percentages from [...]

[from Rhubarb_Runner]

I wanted to expand on ubelmann’s post on the Twins’ run distribution below.
The Twins have scored 436 runs in 88 games or 4.95 runs per game, slightly above the 4.89 runs per game scored by an average American League team. The Twins have a Pythagorean expected record of 48-40, and have underperformed that record, [...]

Here's a baseball-lite version of the OTG.
With the All-Star Game ahead of us, here's a little something to consider when you're putting together your feedbag for the big game. If you're looking for the perfect snack to wash down with a few beers, consider this non-deep fried version of "Wings." One of the more interesting [...]

Carlos Silva vs. Javy Vazquez
More afternoon baseball, because major league baseball wants to cut down on their power bill just as much as you do.
Vazquez is having a really nice season, and his performance is absolutely backed up by his peripherals. 9.0 K/G and 2.3 BB/G is pretty fantastic. The HR rate isn't [...]

Joe Strummer at his lisping best. Rated "T" for a naughty word or two. Although they are kind of hard to make out of Strummer's brogue. [inspired by E-6, although I went with different selections]

and another selection, also from the same 1977 concert: "What's My Name" and "Garageland"

(Click for full size)
The purple bars represent the number of times the Twins have scored a given number of runs per game, and the blue bars represent the major league averages.
I think most observers have considered this to be an inconsistent offense, and this would seem to back that up. Mainly, you see a [...]

Boof Bonser vs. Mark Buehrle
The Twins scored lots of runs yesterday, but Mark Buehrle is a lot better than Jon Garland, and he's a lot better than Gavin Floyd. I suspect runs will be harder to come by today.
Programming note: This game is being broadcast nationally by FOX. And by "broadcast nationally," [...]

Last Tuesday, Howard Sinker noted:
The Boof thing is getting a bit ridiculous. Fine for five innings and a disaster thereafter. Is it physical, mental or some of each? I don’t know, but I want it solved. So far this season, opposing batters have almost a 1-in-4 chance of getting an extra-base hit when they face [...]

You know what they say: when you score 32 runs in one day, act like you've done it before.

Good taste is the first refuge of the non-creative. It is the last ditch stand of the artist. -- Marshall McLuhan
1. How about this? Notes from the ditch! Just a few things I wanted to talk about today.
2. First of all, I have succumbed to the wishes of Rhubarb_Runner and have [...]

Ozzie in the Chicago Tribune: "I have to change the name for [the Twins], from piranhas to sharks. The way they swing the bats they have to be a bigger fish."

Gotta love David Lee Roth. And bluegrass. Like peanut butter and chocolate.

Something you want to see? Call the request line.

Matt Garza vs. Gavin Floyd
Do you have it in you? Can you take more baseball in one day than what was offered in the first game? Last two appearances for each guy in the bullpen (pitches in parentheses)
Nathan -- 7/4 (6), 6/30 (10)
Neshek -- 7/5 (21), 7/4 (14)
Guerrier -- 7/5 (28), 7/2 [...]

Scott Baker vs. Jon Garland
More afternoon baseball! Maybe seeing his old pal Ozzie will put the fire back in Castillo's belly.
The White Sox are hitting .238/.313/.374 as a team. So they have a slightly higher ISO than the Twins, but they've been painfully bad so far this year, scoring nearly 20% fewer [...]

Minnesota Twins (43-41) @ Chicago White Sox (37-45)
The Twins head into the All-Star break with four games in three days in Chicago. This series wraps up the current road trip, on which the Twins dropped to 3-4 when they lost 3 of 4 to the Yankees in New York. After an over .500 [...]

Man, that old pot was stale. Time for a new batch.

Looks like FW and I forgot to schedule fresh material for today. Never fear! George Carlin to the rescue.

Something you want to see? Call the request line.

Not a real trade, but a change in the active roster anyway.
Slowey was struggling to miss bats with the Twins, and he was giving up a ton of fly balls. For reference, Slowey's 27% GB% is even lower than Baker's 33% GB% last year. If Baker deserved "leaving the ball up" criticism (and [...]

[No Graphic Here]
Kevin Slowey vs. Kei Igawa
The Twins have faced some tough pitchers recently, so we can point to that for at least some of their recent offensive struggles. Kei Igawa is not a tough pitcher, though. He's been a fly ball pitcher with a walk problem. I'd really like to see [...]

[contributed by: Rhubarb_Runner]

Sporting News magazine cover - April 8, 2005
"Baseball's 50 Best Players"
"Who's No. 1? How's No. 1?"

Aaron sort of touched on this today, but I want to slice things a little differently. Some numbers through 82 games:
AVG/OBP/SLG
0.240/0.307/0.311 -- 1,2,7,8,9 hitters for the Twins
0.294/0.361/0.484 -- 3,4,5,6 hitters for the Twins
That comes out to a .618 OPS for the scrubs and an .844 OPS for the studs. That's a huge gap. [...]

A short film from 1956, directed by John Hubley, featuring Dizzy Gillespie and his Quintet.

Tonight, Lucy, BabySBG and I went to watch the Eagan Fireworks Display along with my sister and her family. Like a lot of people, we went over to the Eagan Transit Station and parked on the top level to get a good view. We got there early, got a good spot on the