2008 Game 33: Minnesota Twins vs. Chicago Inflatables
May 8th, 2008 by ubelmann
The phrase "numbers can't tell you (something that numbers can probably tell you" gets thrown a lot in baseball coverage. Well, I'm here to tell you that numbers can't tell you whether or not Kevin Slowey's bicep is pain-free, or whether his bicep is fully healed. But I sure hope that it is. If it isn't, Livan ate all the innings last night, so the bullpen is probably hungry.
Apropos of nothing in particular:
3167 R, 2147 ER, 7354.7 IP -- Cy Young (you know, that guy they named the award after), career
1885 R, 1707 ER, 4916.7 IP -- Roger Clemens
For every two earned runs that Cy Young yielded, he also gave up an unearned run.
Let's write that a little differently:
3.88 RA, 2.63 ERA -- Cy Young
3.45 RA, 3.13 ERA -- Roger Clemens
And for full effect:
1.25 UERA -- Cy Young
0.33 UERA -- Roger Clemens
Once upon a time, the distinction between earned runs and unearned runs was important. That time has passed.
This entry was posted by ubelmann on Thursday, May 8th, 2008 at 11:00 am and is filed under 2008 Twins Game Logs. It is one of 640 entries by the author. We are no longer accepting Letters to the Editor on this post.
Rhubarb_Runner replied on May 8, 2008 at 12:04:20 pm
Once upon a time, the distinction between earned runs and unearned runs was important.
No, once upon a time an error was ruled an error.
ubelmann replied on May 8, 2008 at 12:10:13 pm
That's really not where the problem lies. Look at the gloves used in Cy Young's time and look at the gloves used in Roger Clemens' time. Also, fields are groomed much better today than they were in Young's time.
And it's not like this is something that became obsolete yesterday. Sandy Koufax gave up fewer than 100 unearned runs in his entire career. The scoring has a little to do with it, but mainly it's that fielders and the technology they bring to the field are just better than they were 100+ years ago. ERA is an obsolete tool that needs to be retired with the horse-drawn carriage and the telegraph.
Dread Pirate Will Young replied on May 8, 2008 at 12:20:56 pm
Agreed. While scorers have gone soft, it is amazing how much better the quality of play is defensively compared to years past. Just pick a random game in the 1960s and 2 errors were probably committed.
Beau replied on May 8, 2008 at 12:25:55 pm
Additionally, the rules for determining earned runs doesn't jive with me. If an innings looks like this:
Out, Out, Walk, Walk, Walk, Error, Homer, Homer, Homer
You've given up seven runs, none of them earned. It shouldn't matter that the inning, "would have been over." It isn't, and now it's your turn to make sure it ends.
Of course, that slippery slope just once again proves that ERA is wholly inadequate anyway to describe a pitcher's contribution to the team. There's nine guys out there, not just one.
Dread Pirate Will Young replied on May 8, 2008 at 12:28:49 pm
That's why the 4-run comeback against Detroit was so fun. All four runs were unearned (because of Guillen's error with two outs) to the team's ERA, but both runs allowed by Zach Miner are considered earned on his personal ERA (because the error occurred before he entered).
Diggity Dino replied on May 8, 2008 at 12:46:50 pm
I didn't know that team ERA doesn't necessarily equal the weighted average of the individual pitcher's ERAs.
SBG replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:38:27 pm
ERA is an obsolete tool that needs to be retired with the horse-drawn carriage and the telegraph.
And the newspaper?
ubelmann replied on May 8, 2008 at 2:11:42 pm
And the newspaper.
brianS replied on May 8, 2008 at 8:41:26 pm
the newspaper is still useful
greenmachine replied on May 8, 2008 at 12:06:37 pm
I hope Slowey gets a lot of ground balls to feed to this defensive lineup.
davidwatts replied on May 8, 2008 at 12:18:30 pm
Minnesota
C. Gomez cf
M. Tolbert 3b
J. Mauer c
J. Morneau 1b
M. Cuddyer rf
C. Monroe dh
D. Young lf
N. Punto 2b
A. Everett ss
Chi White Sox
A. Ramirez ss
C. Quentin lf
J. Thome dh
P. Konerko 1b
J. Dye rf
N. Swisher cf
J. Crede 3b
J. Uribe 2b
T. Hall c
Minnesota
K. Slowey
Chi White Sox
J. Danks
Jeff A replied on May 8, 2008 at 12:36:39 pm
Gardy's back!
Moss replied on May 8, 2008 at 12:54:27 pm
That doesn't bode well...
socaltwinsfan replied on May 8, 2008 at 12:37:03 pm
I don't understand Harris getting the day off against a lefty. Slowey has been an extreme fly ball pitcher in his career, so the defensive upgrade would be negligible.
Jeff A replied on May 8, 2008 at 12:45:23 pm
I just told you. Gardy's back!
greenmachine replied on May 8, 2008 at 12:52:40 pm
Gardy back at the helm:
I love that song: http://www.milkandcookies.com/link/48876/detail/
greenmachine replied on May 8, 2008 at 12:46:03 pm
Yeah, I'm scratching my head too.
ubelmann replied on May 8, 2008 at 12:47:37 pm
While I would have rather seen him sit against a tough RHP sometime over the last few weeks, he's played in every game since April 6th, so I'm sure the logic here is just that he needs a day off.
ubelmann replied on May 8, 2008 at 12:50:28 pm
Of course, Delmon could also use a day off, too. Hopefully it's not his consecutive games streak that's keeping him in the lineup.
socaltwinsfan replied on May 8, 2008 at 12:50:51 pm
That's what I figured as well, but I just would prefer to give him a day off in a more ideal situation, like against Dice-K or Wakefield in the upcoming series with the Red Sox. And it's not like Harris hasn't had a day off recently. Only three in the last week or so.
davidwatts replied on May 8, 2008 at 12:59:29 pm
Harris has been struggling
2 hits in his last 7 games
Jeff A replied on May 8, 2008 at 12:55:17 pm
Perkins is pitching Saturday. I'm not sure I wouldn't have preferred to see Bass get a shot, but I don't know that any of the options are that great.
ubelmann replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:07:07 pm
I like Bass where he's at in long relief. I don't really like the idea of Perkins or Bass going against that Red Sox lineup, though. Perkins can't throw strikes and Bass can't miss bats.
New Guy replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:00:32 pm
I have a feeling that today's game is going to be really boring. I think all of the interesting occurrences were used up in the last two games.
I predict a final score of like 4-3 where all the runs are scored on RBI groundouts and sac flies.
Jeff A replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:02:13 pm
Yeah, after those exciting 7-1 and 13-1 games, it'd be a shame to have a boring 4-3 score.
New Guy replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:06:55 pm
Hmm, yes I see how a close game like that might actually be exciting.
How about a score of 5-1 where there are no extra base hits by either team and the runs are all caused by sloppy defense in the first few innings and then both teams just shut down after that.
zooomx replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:09:28 pm
if you do get bored, I posted a wine article at probably the worst time possible: beginning of a Twins game. But, a gotta post when I have time.
ubes, I didn't think about the front page when I posted. I didn't want to post above the game log. If you guys want to move it down, I won't be offended.
ubelmann replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:24:05 pm
Not a big deal. Between juggling three time zones at a time, I've certainly made my share of time mistakes, too.
SBG replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:25:35 pm
The other thing to do is just postpone it until after the game. In any event, we're all good.
Jeff A replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:04:15 pm
Harris a late change back into the lineup replacing Punto.
Jeff A replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:05:45 pm
Punto has a minor hamstring cramp.
greenmachine replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:05:37 pm
Punto scratched, according to Joe C.
ubelmann replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:08:26 pm
Maybe Punto's reading the comments here and figures he'd do the team a favor by getting Harris back in the lineup today. Then Harris can get his day off against a RHP. Thanks, Nick!
twayn replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:11:16 pm
Speaking of people reading the comments, do you think Gleeman stopped in to parse last night's game log? His blog today had some good-natured swipes at himself for his takes on Gomez's hitting and Livan's pitching.
SBG replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:28:32 pm
It's possible. I know Aaron reads the site pretty regularly.
ubelmann replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:30:49 pm
I dunno, he catches enough crap in his comments section for supposedly being an egomaniac only interested in telling everyone how right he was, that when I read it, I figured he was just trying to say something so that people might let up on that point (though I doubt that will happen--some people who drop by there seem to only be interested in being antagonistic.)
I never got really why he was so down on Gomez--yeah, he's kind of frustrating at times, but the numbers said he'd probably be about a replacement level hitter. He's done better than that so far, but it wouldn't take much of a slump for him to go back to about replacement level. Still, replacement level bat plus good glove is good enough for ubelmann in a rebuilding season. I still agree with his original points on Livan. While Livan's been better than I expected so far, it's still relatively early, and I think the Twins overpaid, but I've always thought of the contract as more of an irritating mistake than a crippling mistake. It's really tough to burn yourself badly on a one-year deal.
Anyway, he must be doing something right if people feel the need to point out when he's wrong.
twayn replied on May 8, 2008 at 4:39:13 pm
I'm a Gleeman fan, read him almost every day but I don't comment much over there, mainly because I'm way overmatched when it comes to statistical analysis and the comments do seem a bit confrontational at times. If I see an opportunity for some good natured snark I sometimes take it, but mostly I lurk.
ubelmann replied on May 9, 2008 at 4:05:15 am
twayn, I'd take your opinion over 99% of the folks that comment over at Gleeman's blog. Not that you need to express it if you feel uncomfortable doing so, just that I think you have a good attitude towards the game and generally know what's going down.
twayn replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:07:44 pm
I'm "working from home" this afternoon. That there happens to be a Twins baseball game on TV is immaterial.
New Guy replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:09:35 pm
I wonder if we will ever see a leadoff walk by Gomez.
Jeff A replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:10:41 pm
I mostly hear games on the radio, but it seems like the Twins hit an abnormally high number of line drives for outs. Have the Twins been unlucky, do they hit a lot of soft liners, are Gordo and Dazzle exaggerating, or some combination thereof?
Beau replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:13:55 pm
Ha ha ha. You mean John "and there's a drive!" Gordon?
twayn replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:13:04 pm
Yikes. Slowey's first pitch=Broadway.
zooomx replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:15:07 pm
I like Slowey, but he has thrown a few down broadway so far.
twayn replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:16:37 pm
Yeah, he's hitting too much plate so far. Hope he can adjust.
twayn replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:18:53 pm
Nice job on Thome there. Got him to chase outside.
davidwatts replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:20:29 pm
I dont think I have ever seen Slowey pitch (I catch most of the games on the radio)
He seems to have a lot of movement on his pitches
twayn replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:21:30 pm
Howard has a live game thread going over at his blog. Kind of an interesting interface, with live surveys and auto refresh features.
SBG replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:30:46 pm
I demoed something like that a while back with a couple of readers, but the thing quit working on me. Pfft. I also have a new template in the works -- some of you (davidwatts, I'm looking at you) have seen it. It has AJAXed threaded comments, which will be a lot better than what we have now. Plus, there's a tabbed interface which will save a lot of space. I think it will be pretty cool once I get enough time to implement it.
Beau replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:50:52 pm
I saw parts of it one morning when you must have been working on it. Some of it was confusing, but I really liked the ideas behind it.
SBG replied on May 8, 2008 at 2:02:45 pm
It was confusing because I need to do a lot of work on it.
Diggity Dino replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:23:03 pm
Nice job by Slowey in the first.
zooomx replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:23:16 pm
Thome and Konerko fall victim to the Sloooowwy!
New Guy replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:24:18 pm
He needs to develop an out pitch.
twayn replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:24:22 pm
Very nice inning for Slowey.
Rhubarb_Runner replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:26:15 pm
oops, dragging my feet, it seems
Rhubarb_Runner replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:24:55 pm
twayn replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:27:15 pm
Looks like my gentle nudge worked.
Rhubarb_Runner replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:29:26 pm
I'm "working" right now, so my reaction time is down.
Dread Pirate Will Young replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:26:36 pm
Uh oh, Doug Eddings in the house. There is always the possibility of chaos when you put one of the worst umps behind the plate (like Eddings, or Angel Hernandez).
twayn replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:28:33 pm
Combine that with volatile personalities like Ozzie and Gardy and you have the makings of a conflagration.
ubelmann replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:32:48 pm
Maybe if the strike zone is bad enough, Ozzie and Gardy will double-team Eddings. That would be entertaining.
Dread Pirate Will Young replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:40:57 pm
What's that? Is that... William Ligue, Jr's entrance music? Oh MY GOD!
Jeff A replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:27:53 pm
Go-go Cuddyer!
zooomx replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:28:37 pm
holy stand up steal by Cuddyer Batman!
zooomx replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:30:41 pm
Note to Bert. I am 40 and I don't know what a Mickey Lolich type slider looks like.
Jeff A replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:32:26 pm
I remember Lolich, but I was a kid then, and there were so few games on TV that I have no idea what his slider looked like. In fact, I couldn't have told you that he threw a slider.
Jeff A replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:31:17 pm
That's two called strikeouts and a walk this inning. What happened to our aggressive, free-swingers?
Diggity Dino replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:32:43 pm
Delmon's up, so that trend should change.
twayn replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:32:43 pm
A little luck for Delmon on the checked swing.
zooomx replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:32:48 pm
Gardy will be calling for an attitude adjustment with these pitch takers!
twayn replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:34:50 pm
Danks is really worried about Delmon taking second.
Rhubarb_Runner replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:37:03 pm
cr@p, Punto coulda done that.
twayn replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:42:52 pm
Slowey's looking good so far.
Rhubarb_Runner replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:43:16 pm
zooomx replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:45:32 pm
holy smokes is Everett slow!
SBG replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:48:21 pm
Everyone's bunting -- 'cept Gomez, who's swinging away.
SBG replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:45:38 pm
Slowey is dropping that ERA nicely. <-- Reference to Buggy Whip-type stat.
Jeff A replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:46:00 pm
If we assume Everett is very unlikely to actually get a hit, I don't mind the bunt, but if he's very unlikely to get a hit, he really shouldn't be playing.
Rhubarb_Runner replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:47:06 pm
OKGO, okay go!
Diggity Dino replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:48:42 pm
oops.
Jeff A replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:49:21 pm
OKstop.
SBG replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:49:24 pm
Stop.
zooomx replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:48:43 pm
Cuddy with an easy steal and Gomez gets gunned down.... bizarro world today?
Rhubarb_Runner replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:49:25 pm
zooomx replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:50:15 pm
Diet Dew lightning commercial cracks me up ( :
StatFreak101 replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:50:38 pm
Bummer.
I figured Gomez was a sure bet to steal that base.
Jeff A replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:51:22 pm
Once in a while, during commercial breaks, KOKK in Huron plays a bit of the old dixieland-style Twins theme song. I really like that.
davidwatts replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:53:28 pm
old school!
Rhubarb_Runner replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:53:41 pm
The New Orleans jazz version?! I LOVE that one. Wish I could get a copy of it. They used that back in the late 60's/early 70's
zooomx replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:55:47 pm
Tolbert... is he Punto 2006 or Punto 2007?
If he is Punto 2007, I play him more than Lamb.
(Bracing for sabermetric onslaught)
ubelmann replied on May 8, 2008 at 2:15:07 pm
I think he's in between. Tolbert can out-hit Punto '07. I haven't seen him much in the hot corner, so I can't really compare his defense with Punto's there. Assuming he's somewhat close to Punto on defense at third base, I say he's better than Punto '07, but probably unlikely to match Punto's '06 lightining-in-a-bottle.
StatFreak101 replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:59:36 pm
I'm going to make a call...
A Cuddyer HR right here.
StatFreak101 replied on May 8, 2008 at 2:01:57 pm
Wow.
Nevermind.
SBG replied on May 8, 2008 at 1:59:58 pm
Mauer with a seven pitch at bat. All seven pitches were fastballs, according to PitchfX. Nice discipline by Joe.
SBG replied on May 8, 2008 at 2:04:40 pm
Contrast it with Cuddyer's at bat in which he saw five pitches, none of which were in the strike zone. Result: K.
twayn replied on May 8, 2008 at 2:09:40 pm
Yeah, Danks really mastered Cuddy in that AB.
twayn replied on May 8, 2008 at 2:00:31 pm
Today's field fare: leftover pot roast, warmed, shredded and piled high on a kaiser roll, smothered in Sweet Baby Ray's, with potato salad and a kosher dill spear. Livin' large!
davidwatts replied on May 8, 2008 at 2:04:01 pm
solid!
zooomx replied on May 8, 2008 at 2:04:46 pm
I had a sloppy joe smothered in Sweet Baby Ray's on wheat bread with shredded colby/jack and a side of chicken in a biscuit crackers.
twayn replied on May 8, 2008 at 2:08:50 pm
The Sauce is the Boss!
twayn replied on May 8, 2008 at 2:01:37 pm
Cuddy's gotta stop swinging at the high heat.
StatFreak101 replied on May 8, 2008 at 2:02:47 pm
And everyone else, mostly RHH's, need to stop swinging at that cutter down and in.
twayn replied on May 8, 2008 at 2:07:22 pm
Slowey got Thome to chase outside last time, but he's not biting this time.
SBG replied on May 8, 2008 at 2:09:43 pm
Moving right along... Slowey with a quick 1-2-3 inning.
E-6 replied on May 8, 2008 at 2:09:45 pm
Bang the drum, Slowey. Nice outing, so far.
New Guy replied on May 8, 2008 at 2:09:56 pm
So how about some runs this inning, huh?
StatFreak101 replied on May 8, 2008 at 2:11:40 pm
I have officially given up on Delmon Young as an impact bat.
zooomx replied on May 8, 2008 at 2:11:59 pm
I was all excited about the wine, women and baseball promotion the Twins are pimping, but apparently I misunderstood the whole idea of it... darn.
twayn replied on May 8, 2008 at 2:12:04 pm
Delmon, Delmon, Delmon. *sigh*
zooomx replied on May 8, 2008 at 2:13:25 pm
We have been striking out a lot lately.
Anyone else think that Jonathan Danks sounds like a really nasty English STD?
StatFreak101 replied on May 8, 2008 at 2:14:08 pm
Scott looks good in pink.
zooomx replied on May 8, 2008 at 2:16:04 pm
Scott looks exactly like my son. The sad thing for Scott is my son is 8 years old. (and he doesn't wear pink)
twayn replied on May 8, 2008 at 2:14:55 pm
Hehe. Baker wearing the pink Mother's Day giveaway t-shirt in the promo. Guess who drew the short straw.
ubelmann replied on May 8, 2008 at 2:18:49 pm
We had a party at my house in February, and on a whim (while perhaps under the influence) we decided to make the theme of the party the color pink. I was a little hesitant about the idea, but it turns out that this is a fantastic way to get girls to attend your party.
twayn replied on May 8, 2008 at 2:22:16 pm
Andrew replied on May 8, 2008 at 2:22:49 pm
I can't believe I never thought of that. I feel so dumb right now.
SBG replied on May 8, 2008 at 2:24:16 pm
Having female roommates is another way to get girls to come to your parties.
ubelmann replied on May 8, 2008 at 2:29:12 pm
This is true, but I've had parties with those roommates before, and this went above and beyond that effect. And not only that, the mere presence of that much pink at the party seemed to amplify their happiness.
New Britain Bo replied on May 8, 2008 at 5:06:08 pm
In college, when my roommates and I were having a party, we'd go over to the girls dorms and knock on each door. If cuties, would invite them to our party. If skanks, would ask them if this was Becky Blantzen's room, which it would not be.
SBG replied on May 8, 2008 at 8:24:35 pm
Did you ever run into Fawn Leibowicz?
New Guy replied on May 8, 2008 at 2:28:24 pm
One of my housemates is friends with virtually every single girl at my school, so the girl attendance at our parties has always been pretty high. Except when we threw a party themed after the movie 300. The girls didn't really care for that.
zooomx replied on May 8, 2008 at 2:32:47 pm
we used to have a yearly underwear fashion show. The guys wouldn't dare show up and the ladies would fill the joint. I always ho