Does Johan get $150 million?

R&R queens breathe new life into a dead horse. 1995. This ought to ruffle some feathers. Something you want to see? Call the request line. Did you miss a video or want to watch one again from a while back? Click here for the SBG Music Archive.

The Bulls and Wolves got on a plane last night and flew from Chicago to Minneapolis for a rare back-to-back home and home series. I don't know if I recall the Wolves ever playing the same team on consecutive nights. It's a good thing, too, because the Wolves will have a chance to [...]

If, in fact, Santana wanted out because of the Twins' poor offense, then playing Nick Punto at third really cost the Twins big time. Then again, maybe he just wanted to hang out with slappy.

I'm holding off on an overall analysis of the Santana trade until I find out more about the players involved and until Johan Santana actually puts on a Mets cap. But that means I'm busy finding out more about the players involved.
Speed
Carlos Gomez is the lone position player that the Twins are receiving in [...]

In the second entry in the "At the Movies" feature, SBG reviews the Marilyn Monroe flick The Seven Year Itch and finds it much less tasty than the actress herself.

GH and I had worked up a mid-season conversation on the Wolves, which I intended to post after game 41. As it started at the beginning of the 8 game death march, it was basically a bunch of man they suck stuff. A funny thing happened on the way to game 41. [...]

In this life, one thing counts / In the bank, large amounts
It looks like Santana's gone. That sucks, huh?
Well, the last two steps between Santana and the Big Apple are a physical, which won't be an issue, and the contract negotiation window. I hope Santana gets every last penny possible.
The Mets are getting [...]

The Strib is reporting that someone else says that the Twins have traded Johan Santana to the Mets for outfielder Carlos Gomez and pitchers Phil Humber, Deolis Guerra and Kevin Mulvey.
Rotoworld says:
It's a pretty disappointing day for Twins fans.
Both packages being discussed by the Red Sox and Yankees during the winter meetings seemed more attractive [...]

From "Impacto Deportivo:
No fears; Francisco Liriano used his entire repertoire without any hassle
The Dominican pitcher Francisco Liriano knows how important it is for the Minnesota Twins in 2008.
That is why we work hard to achieve a full recovery.
According to reports on Sunday the website of Minnesota, Liriano has been throwing without restrictions.
He has thrown bullpen, [...]

It's not shade-grown or anything, but I figured I'd serve up a new cup today. --ubelmann

Better late than never.

[contributed by: Rhubarb_Runner]

Minnesota Twins (America's Game)

Something you want to see? Call the request line. Did you miss a video or want to watch one again from a while back? Click here for the SBG Music Archive.

Go here the first installment in this series, and a description of my methodology. Previous seasons:
2005
2006
And now on to the 2007 ratings:

#
NAME
TEAM
LG
YEAR
VORP
UZR
TOTAL

1
Albert Pujols
SLN
NL
2007
72.1
9.3
81

2
Carlos Pena
TBA
AL
2007
68.5
-2.7
66

3
Prince Fielder
MIL
NL
2007
69.1
-9.3
60

4
Todd Helton
COL
NL
2007
51.9
2.7
55

5
Ryan Howard
PHI
NL
2007
53.6
-1.3
52

6
Derrek Lee
CHN
NL
2007
48.6
0.7
49

7
Adrian Gonzalez
SDN
NL
2007
38.4
5.3
44

8
Lance Berkman
HOU
NL
2007
42.1
-4.7
37

9
Dmitri Young
WAS
NL
2007
35.6
-4.7
31

10
James Loney
LAN
NL
2007
30.7
0.0
31

11
Scott Hatteberg
CIN
NL
2007
25.1
4.7
30

12
Casey Kotchman
ANA
AL
2007
26.2
3.3
30

13
Matt Stairs
TOR
AL
2007
29.5
-1.3
28

14
Justin Morneau
MIN
AL
2007
28.8
-0.7
28

15
Kevin Youkilis
BOS
AL
2007
31.1
-4.0
27

16
Ryan Garko
CLE
AL
2007
27.8
-4.0
24

17
Adam LaRoche
PIT
NL
2007
19.6
2.0
22

18
Paul Konerko
CHA
AL
2007
25.4
-4.0
21

19
Conor Jackson
ARI
NL
2007
20.5
0.0
21

20
Carlos Delgado
NYN
NL
2007
15.5
4.0
20

21
Kevin Millar
BAL
AL
2007
14.4
1.3
16

22
Sean Casey
DET
AL
2007
9.6
2.0
12

23
Mike Jacobs
FLO
NL
2007
10.5
-2.7
8

24
Ryan Klesko
SFN
NL
2007
5.5
2.0
8

25
Brad Wilkerson
TEX
AL
2007
6.2
0.7
7

26
Dan Johnson
OAK
AL
2007
8
-1.3
7

27
Nomar Garciaparra
LAN
NL
2007
0.8
2.7
4

28
Rich Aurilia
SFN
NL
2007
-4.7
4.0
-1

29
Lyle Overbay
TOR
AL
2007
-3.6
2.0
-2

30
Richie Sexson
SEA
AL
2007
-7.1
-5.3
-12

Colors! I [...]

Fear the T-Wolves.

as a supplement to ubes' fine, current 3-part series on first basemen, I thought I'd contribute a little salary data (from Cot's). Entries are ordered as in ubelmann's 2006 table.

#
NAME
TEAM
LG
Experience*
Years/Dollars
Signed

1
Albert Pujols
[...]

Live at Hyde Park, 1969

<GreekHouse>The Wolves have emerged from their brutal 8 game stretch with a 2-6 record. They played as expected for the first 4 games, but really came on strong during the last 4 and almost pulled off the upset of the season at Boston on Friday. The result of the game was disappointing, but [...]

Go here for the first installment in this series, and a description of my methodology. Let's get on to the ratings:

#
NAME
TEAM
LG
YEAR
VORP
UZR
TOTAL

1
Albert Pujols
SLN
NL
2006
85.4
6.4
92

2
Ryan Howard
PHI
NL
2006
81.5
-1.6
80

3
Lance Berkman
HOU
NL
2006
70.1
-9.6
61

4
Nick Johnson
WAS
NL
2006
51.0
4.0
55

5
Justin Morneau
MIN
AL
2006
52.0
0.8
53

6
Paul Konerko
CHA
AL
2006
47.7
-1.2
47

7
Mark Teixeira
TEX
AL
2006
37.4
6.4
44

8
Lyle Overbay
TOR
AL
2006
36.3
2.0
38

9
Todd Helton
COL
NL
2006
31.1
6.8
38

10
Adam LaRoche
ATL
NL
2006
33.3
4.0
37

11
Adrian Gonzalez
SDN
NL
2006
32.8
2.5
35

12
Nick Swisher
OAK
AL
2006
28.1
6.0
34

13
Carlos Delgado
NYN
NL
2006
35.2
-2.4
33

14
Nomar Garciaparra
LAN
NL
2006
27.6
-1.6
26

15
Scott Hatteberg
CIN
NL
2006
16.9
0.8
18

16
Kevin Youkilis
BOS
AL
2006
19.6
-2.0
18

17
Kevin Millar
BAL
AL
2006
15.5
-0.4
15

18
Richie Sexson
SEA
AL
2006
24.9
-10.0
15

19
Prince Fielder
MIL
NL
2006
20.0
-5.6
14

20
Mike Lamb
HOU
NL
2006
16.9
-2.8
14

21
Conor Jackson
ARI
NL
2006
14.1
-0.8
13

22
Chris Shelton
DET
AL
2006
9.5
3.0
13

23
Doug Mientkiewicz
KCA
AL
2006
6.2
5.2
11

24
Mike Jacobs
FLO
NL
2006
12.2
-3.6
9

25
Ty Wigginton
TBA
AL
2006
20.5
-14.0
7

26
Jeff Conine
BAL
AL
2006
-1.7
-2.8
-5

27
Travis Lee
TBA
AL
2006
-11.4
3.5
-8

Colors! I color-coded the table as [...]

Baden-Baden Germany, 1961.
John Coltrane - soprano sax, tenor sax
Eric Dolphy - flute, alto sax
McCoy Tyner - piano
Reggie Workman - bass
Elvin Jones - drumsSomething you want to see? Call the request line. Did you miss a video or want to watch one again from a while back? Click here for the SBG Music Archive.

In my on-going quest to gauge future performance, I don't always look back in the rear view mirror often enough. So I'd like to take a look at performance from that position over the last three years.
My rating method, which is surely approximate, just like all other rating methods, is pretty straightforward:
- Start with [...]

Drink up.

On West German television.

"G.W."

Bass clarinet solo, "God Bless the Child."

<GreekHouse>Well, this is the game we've all been looking forward to (or dreading). Wolves have been playing better as of late and the Celtics have been playing worse, so it might not be as bad of a blowout as we would have expected.</GreekHouse>

SBG-signal to ubes -- feel free to chime in with your own post or add to this one.
The Twins have apparently signed Justin Morneau and Mike Cuddyer to multi-year deals. There will be a presser at 4 to confirm the details. Reports are varying, but the Strib (hey, they've never been wrong) is [...]

Let's see, are the Wolves playing tonight?

Cosmic country from the late, great Lee Hazlewood. With Frank's kid. 1967. They don't make 'em like this anymore. "Bang Bang" was written by Bono. Sonny Bono. Something you want to see? Call the request line. Did you miss a video or want to watch one again from a while back? Click here for [...]

[ed note: I'm excited to start a new feature -- "At the Movies". I don't know where this is going to go, but we'll just let it go and see what happens. zooomx provides a review of a little known movie for the first offering in the feature. If you are interested [...]

I would prefer some warmer weather.

[contributed by: Rhubarb_Runner]

The History of the Minnesota Twins

With the Twins' future so up in the air right now, I don't have much motivation to write about them. While I'd like to analyze their off-season moves and what their direction looks like, at this point I feel compelled to sit back and wait for the Twins to make a move or for [...]

From the Rock & Roll Circus, 1968. Because Stick and wattsy wanted to rock. The home office approves. Something you want to see? Call the request line. Did you miss a video or want to watch one again from a while back? Click here for the SBG Music Archive.

[SBG] I was late to the party tonight, but I made it. The Wolves close out the first half of the season looking to get their seventh win of the season against the team with the best record in the West, Phoenix (30-12). The Wolves have half a dozen wins this year, [...]

Every husband's nightmare. The wife backed one of our cars into the other last night.

1975, Don Kirshner's Rock Concert.

Surprising win for the Wolves yesterday.

[contributed by: Rhubarb_Runner]

Sports Illustrated magazine cover - August 7, 2006
"Joe Mauer: American Idol"
"The Twins' Hometown Hero Has More Than A Swing That Sings; He Has the Tools to Be The Best Catcher Ever"

Oslo, Norway, 1964.
Charles Mingus - Double Bass
Eric Dolphy - Bass Clarinet
Dannie Richmond - Drums
Clifford Jordan - Tenor Sax
Jackie Byard - Piano
Johnny Coles - Trumpet
Something you want to see? Call the request line. Did you miss a video or want to watch one again from a while back? Click here for the SBG Music Archive.

The Timberwolves travel to Oakland to play the Warriors in a MLK Day afternoon tilt. I like that the NBA plays day games on MLK Day. I think it’s a nice gesture to recognize the day. And given that I’ll be at work during the game, considering the way the Wolves have [...]

St. Brett Favre was no match for Eli the Iceman.

on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, 1974.

Leather-tough folk-blues from an alt-country troubadour. With Eric Heywood on pedal steel. Live in SF, CA, 2002.Something you want to see? Call the request line. Did you miss a video or want to watch one again from a while back? Click here for the SBG Music Archive.

The Wolves played the Nugs back on January 4th and at the time, I wrote about the Nugs and stressed a couple of things. One, they probably are disappointed about how the club has played since the acquisition of Allen Iverson and two, AI has been pretty good.
Since beating the Wolves (natch), the Nugs [...]

It's hard to deny that the NFL has a pretty exciting weekend coming up.

Thursday, as you may recall, was my birthday. As the day wore on, I was excited about the prospect of a nice birthday dinner at home with Lucy and BabySBG and kind just enjoying the day. I left the office about 5:15 and headed home. On the way home, my dad called. [...]

ABC IN CONCERT 2nd Anniversary Special 1974, Live from the Rainbow Theater, London England

don't know the source on this one

Here is BabySBG with, from left to right, freealonzo, SBG, Cheesehead Craig, and Shane from Greet Machine. We met at Chipotle on Friday night. Lucy took the picture.

The T-Wolves (5-32) continue their 8 game death march through some of the better clubs in the Western Conference tonight with a stop in Phoenix (27-12). The Wolves are a spectacularly bad 1-18 on the road this year and they look every bit like a high 30 loss (out of 41) team on the [...]

The 2007 Postseason ("It's A Crapshoot!") has given us another comment to go up in the SBG HOF and Museum (and Gift Shop and Café and Planetarium). Everyone's favorite Russian Literature-studying Marine CarterHayes posted his 1000th comment after Game 4 of the World Series

Mlb.com:
Minnesota Twins first baseman Justin Morneau agreed Friday to a $7.4 million one-year contract, avoiding arbitration.
The 2006 American League MVP received a nearly $3 million raise from the $4.5 million he made last year. Morneau is eligible for free agency after the 2010 season.
Kubel is also signed:
Minnesota Twins outfielder and designated hitter Jason Kubel [...]

I ended up spending a good portion of my birthday stranded on Crosstown with a flat tire. Come back tomorrow for a detailed rundown of my four hour commute home.

Covering Robert Johnson (sort of.) From French television, 2003.

Something you want to see? Call the request line. Did you miss a video or want to watch one again from a while back? Click here for the SBG Music Archive.

Today's plaque is from a relative newcomer to the Nation.  davidwatts hasn't necessarily been a Citizen as long as some of the other honorees, but for the time he has been here he's been quite prolific. In just over 9 months, dw posted is 1000th quote with this  comment during Game 2 of the NLDS between the Phillies and [...]

Happy Birthday to me.

[contributed by: Rhubarb_Runner]

Kirby Puckett

And now for something completely different.

January 10th, 1973 in "Le Club Bataclan", Paris

Whiffers is the genius behind today's showcase comment. This comes from the game thread on August 10th, 2007, of what was a fairly diappointing game on the Twins' part from what I read. Game 115 of the 2007 campaign was not only a 10-1 loss to the Angels, but it was also the return of [...]

Another day in Paradise.

John Lennon's favorite drinking buddy. From the BBC special The Music of Nilsson, 1971. Sublime stuff. Watch it to the end.
Smoking a heater and reading the lyrics, Harry still knocks it outta the park.
Something you want to see? Call the request line. Did you miss a video or want to watch one again from [...]

I don't have a lot to say tonight, but luckily, GH has put together a good pre-game read. The line is GS -8 and the O/U is 212. I'm like a novice sailor who can't see land when it comes to predicting the Wolves. I'll go GS and the points.
<GreekHouse>

The news on [...]

Next in our continuing celebration of the half-baked crap that floats around our small portion of the internet, we have brianS and his take on Tejada and Tyner from the August 22nd, 2006 Gamelog.

Break out the long underwear.

[contributed by: E-6]

The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth

1997 on Jools Holland

Dan Szymborski just posted the Red Sox' ZiPS projections, so we can take an overall look at most of the players I consider relevant in this offseason's Santana trade discussions/rumors/baseless speculation/soap opera.
CF:
.297/.349/.392 -- Jacoby Ellsbury, age 24
.283/.345/.436 -- Average CF in Fenway
.271/.333/.410 -- Coco Crisp, age 28
.286/.352/.419 -- Melky Cabrera, age 23
.272/.336/.425 -- Average CF [...]

SBG and I have been talking about creating a sort of SBG Hall of Fame. This is the first entry in what will very likely become a very extensive list - the Comment Club. Here, preserved for all eternity with my mad Photoshop skillz, will be everyone's 1000th comment, 2000th comment, 3000th comment, and so [...]

Can you believe how things have opened up for the Patriots?