2008 Game 127: Minnesota at LAAA
Posted by SBG on Thursday, August 21st, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Game time: 9:05 PM CDT
Scheduled Starters: Scott "Light Rail" Baker (21st Start, 119.7IP, 4.11xFIP) v. Jon Lackey (18th Start, 120.3IP, 3.96xFIP)
I was listening to KSTP on a Sunday morning back in March and Patrick Reusse proclaimed that Delmon Young would have better numbers than Torii Hunter in 2008. I don't know what I was doing at the time -- I think I was making breakfast or cleaning the kitchen or something, but whatever it was I stopped to let out a good belly laugh. I mean, I not exactly Torii's biggest fan, but that doesn't mean that I don't know that at this point in time, Torii > Dell-MON.
Torii's first season in LA to this point has been pretty close to his 2006 campaign, which is to say he's been pretty good. At the time of this writing, Torii's got a career high (although not by much) .341 OBP and a pretty good .490 slugging percentage. He's looking like he'll play about 150 games, so he's been pretty valuable. In fact, his 28.5 VORP is second only to Vlad Guerrero's 29.0 VORP on the Angels (on the offensive side -- Ervin Santana, Joe Sanders, and John Lackey also have better VORPs than Hunter). Dell-MON? Eh, he's a work in progress.
So, yep, Torii's a good ballplayer, but let's not get all misty eyed. He's still not (and never will be) the equal of the Twins two young studs, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. Each of these guys are worth about 1.5 wins more than Hunter at the plate -- and since neither of them appears to be headed, based on their age, into decline over the next four plus years, giving them big bucks as opposed to $90 million to Hunter was the right move. It's probably also true that the Angels are probably not yet regretting that contract, not like say, the contract that they handed Gary Matthews, Jr. or the one that the Mariners handed Carlos Silva. The Twins may have found an heir apparent in Hunter's old buddy Denard Span, so it seems that Hunter signing with the Angels has turned out okay for both teams. Plus, it seems that the Twins might have something in Shooter Hunt, one of the two picks that they got for Hunter in the 2008 draft. The other one, Carlos Gutierrez, was widely panned at The WGOM (college closer with one pitch? whaa?) when he was picked, but he's off to a decent start. I thought that the Twins were going to make him a starter, but he's been used exclusively as a reliever in Fort Myers (Hunt is at low A Beloit).
As I'm sure you are aware, the Twins are starting a mammoth 15 day, 14 game trip, which is apparently their longest road trip since 1969. I doubt that Mauer and Morneau will be auditioning for a job in any of these four cities (like a certain center fielder seemed to do in every city last year), unless you count their performance on the field. Let's hope that in that regard, they have the other teams drooling over the prospect of someday in the future maybe having a shot at their services.
Go Twins!
from what I remember about Gutierrez, the Twins wanted him to finish off the year as a reliever, then next year he will start.
I will be happy with 2 of 4 wins this weekend
Yeah, I'll be real happy with a split, considering how the Twins have done on the road against good AL teams this year. Hopefully, the Twins are catching the Angels at the right time. They're 5-5 in their last 10 and just barely avoided being swept at the Rays. Of course, that could also mean that they will be pissed off and take it out on the Twins.
The wife is watching gymnastics reruns... the game can't start soon enough. I hate these west coast road trips.
I am surprised there is not a gymnastic channel. The NHL has its own channel. So does Tennis and Golf
Living on the West Coast, I love these West Coast games. They don't start at 4 in the stinkin' afternoon.
For the whole road trip, I'm just hoping the Twins can stay at .500 or better. 7-7 would not be a bad trip. However, 4-10 could put them in a deep hole. Remember 2006, just before they went on their hot streak in June, they had a 3 series trip similar to this one, and they went 3-6 or 3-7, winning only one game out of each series.
The good news is that in this same time span that the Twins are on the road, the White Sox will also play on the road for 3 of the 4 series, and the one at home is against the red hot Rays. So, hopefully it won't be too hard to keep pace.
Followed by the ok O's, on the road v. BoSox, and then sadly, @ Cleveland.
Yankees losing to the Blue Jays 13-3 in the 7th
yayness
It would be highly amusing to see the Yankees drop to fourth place. Assuming the 10-run lead holds, it's only a one-game gap.
This just in: Ron Coomer loves corn dogs.
the Twins Radio Network pregame show did a story abouta Twin Cities Whiffle Ball League
the host was noting that a whiffle ball be thrown at over 60 mph. Thats crazy!
Random note of the night:
I'm sorry, but this really kept my attention for longer than it should have. I don't know why I'm captivated by this, maybe because I could actually do it:
http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/player.html?assetid=1417149
Alright, I am going to try out a new avatar tonight, if things go poorly, I am more than willing to switch back to the Buffalo.
I like it
I just got that shirt in the mail today!
It is a fine shirt if there ever was one.
I will be unveiling the latest in Twins fashion in Saturday's game log.
Aaron Hicks Cut Off Jersey, a la Hernandez?
You will have to wait and see..... But no.
The family and I are heading out to North Dakota this weekend to visit my parents. I'll be watching Twins baseball with my Dad. Yippee!
Good Ol' ND. I'd like to get back there some time soon. Plus almost everyone is at least a casual Twins fan there, which is nice. And you don't have to lock your doors . . . unless you live in Grand Forks, but why would you do that?
LOL. Friends don't let friends live in GF, especially between the ages of 18-22.
My experience was that there were very few Twins fans in my neighborhood growing up. I took a lot of grief for being a Twins fan... everyone else seemed to be an A's fan or a Pirates fan. Front runners.
Grand Forks isn't too bad
Bismarck > GF > Fargo
Hey now!
Fargo>Bismarck>Enderlin>Jamestown>Mandan>New Town>Minot>Valley CIty>Rugby>Leeds>Jud>Grand Forks
I may be biased.
Horace>GF
Name a city other than GF here > GF. Except maybe East GF.
I contest that Jud ranks so low in that comparison(although I wouldn't dispute Brockett>Jud). Plus, you obviously have an east coast bias. No ranking of such gems of the west including Reeder, Marmarth, Cartwright or Home on the Range.
To me Minot is the pimple on the face of ND. The magic city just seems to have a tendency to suck more. GF has improved since the flood o' 97, however the scent of Simplot certainly detracts from the towns olfactory index.
I miss Fargo, there was a lot to do there. If you've never been to Newman Outdoor Stadium to see a F-M Redhawks game, you're missing out. If you've never had a fishbowl size beer at the "Just One Bar", you're missing out.
I'm a big Jud fan.
Laddie hasnt lost a step with his bat
13 game hit streak for Mauer, extending a career high
evening folks.
Soon-to-be-beer-dude!
Duffman is thrusting in the direction of the problem.
Possibly my favorite Simpsons line ever.
Justin got a break -- ball 2 really should have been strike 3. But he gave the break right back on an unchecked swing.
Good to see Casilla back in the lineup and on the bases. Hope he can stay healthy.
Lackey has some nasty stuff.
Chlamydia, Genital herpes, or Crabs?
He's been pretty good for a while. Lots of innings every year, good xFIP for the most part. A quality starter.
So his latest STD check is clean?
So, which Baker are we going to see tonight?
Solo homer Baker, apparently.
Yeah, but neither of those pitches was bad at all. Baker looks a little more focused than he has in his previous few outings.
Agreed, just good hitting by Teixeira. And Vlad has never seen a ball he didn't like to hit.
ESPN has a pretty great OTL article if anyone gets the chance to check it out, during or post game.
link doesnt work
Lets try this
There's an extra http// at the beginning there.
damn copy and paste links. Thanks Kris.
East GF > GF
It's ND nite at the WGOM!
EGF does have whitey's, I'll give them that
I don't even know what that means. Ignorance is bliss.
http://www.whiteyscafe.com/
Umm...do I have to be Mr. Obvious to point out that EGF is in Minni?
Well, I'll be damned.
If we're changing the parameters of the comparison, I will add- Trollwood Park>Romkey Park.
Why are you people so enamored of Notre Dame?
d'oh.
This just in: Mark Teixeira is good.
ooooh, Neil Young is coming to The X. Just heard a commercial on teh radio
Neil Young and Wilco will be one hell of a show
Man, I'm going to get sick of Rex Hudler real fast this weekend.
So I have some friends in the Twin Cities and I am thinking about flying out for the Hold Steady shows in November, how many citizens plan on attending?
Right now I'm planning on going to both.
DW - what's up on the bike front?
nothing new...yet. I was told of a used bike shop in town. I guess they sell good bikes at a reasonable price (about 100 bucks)
I have to check them out
What is the best home run call of all time? Herb/Gordon's "touch-em-all"?
Chris Berman's "Back, back, backbackbackbackback...gone!"?
Harry Caray's "It might be...it could be...it is! A home run! Holy cow!"
Hawk's "You can put it on the board...yes!"
For an extensive list, go here.
Not Berman's.
"And we'll see you tomorrow night!"
+ 1 kirby
Gordo was talking about the big road trip back in 1969. Dazzle asked what was the record for the road trip, Gordo did not know
I looked it up, the Twins went 6-9. They played 3 extra inning games (2, 13 innings spliting each). They started teh series 3.5 games up, ended the trip 1.5 up
Well, both teams seem intent on not keeping us up too late.
Seriously, way to take pitches Twins.