Well, here we are, seven games out, starting a series in Toronto, where we historically get the crap beaten out of us. I realize most of us have gone GOSO at this point, rightfully, but at least we can hold the line and finish ahead of the White Sox before cheering for the Tigers to beat all the other jerks in the playoffs.
Jeff Manship 0-0, 3.75 ERA, 5.60 xFIP, 12 IP, 5 K, 5 BB
Scott Richmond 1-3, 4.00 ERA, 4.00 xFIP, 27 IP, 20 K, 2 BB
Two walks in 27 innings? That's pretty nice. I guess if the season's over, we might as well watch two of MLB's future Hall of Famers go at it like this.
The Yankees, Tigers, Angels, Phillies, Cardinals and Dodgers lead their divisions, with none of the divisions particularly tight (the Rockies trail by 3.5 in the NL West). The Red Sox and Rockies have the Wild Card right now, though there's still a chance for their closest pursuers. At this point, though, any of those eight teams who don't make it will most likely have collapsed, so we may have a pretty clear picture of who's moving on here. Is there anyone to cheer for? Well, I'm all for the Phillies again. Howzabout you? Will you be watching the playoffs? I never miss 'em...although admittedly, when playoff time came last year, I was no longer particularly in the mood to watch baseball.
The 68-68 Twins are about what most of us expected; a decent team in a bad division. It just turns out that the Tigers were a little more than that. Oh well. Go Twins!
I think I am going to voyage up to Toronto tomorrow night for the game. If for nothing else I will be able to accost people wearing Morneau jerseys with Blue Jays hats. Stupid people who just root for their countrymen.
Stupid people who just root for their countrymen
so, they boo the Blue Jays all the time?
Especially Richmond.
1. Denard Span, CF
2. Nick Punto, SS
3. Joe Mauer, C
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Jason Kubel, DH
6. Michael Cuddyer, RF
7. Delmon Young, LF
8. Brian Buscher, 3B
9. Alexi Casilla, 2B
UGH.
If I'd seen that beforehand, I may have just posted "Game 137: Losing Team at Winning Team" or some such. We're definitely not giving it our all today.
I mean, the Twins, by trotting out this line up, are pretty much admitting that Cabrera is not a born winner and the deal with the A's was in fact not the best trade ever. Way to let the fans down.
At least Cabrera isn't a bad-attitude loser like that bum Jason Bartlett.
I don't know if anyone listens to TRN's "Extra Innings" program, and I'm not sure why I do, but yesterday, in response to a question about the Delmon Young trade, Atteberry and Black Jack were taking turns ripping into Bartlett, talking about what a bad attitude he had with the Twins and how he'd never have been anything if he'd stayed with them. The irony is that, while they thought they were defending the Twins, if that was true it would actually a pretty damning indictment of them. The job of a manager and a front office is to get the most out of players. Without realizing it, they were saying that the Twins had a good player and gave him away because they had no idea how to bring out the best in him.
Well said, Padre.
Luckily, Matt Tolbert and his winning attitude are back up with the big club. Clearly, that's been the missing ingredient.
Let's not forget that:
If memory serves, Gardy was lamenting the loss of Bartlett, but not Garza, after the trade. I believe the Twins didn't want to give up Bartlett but the Rays insisted. I know Gardy had his problems with Bartlett early on, but I don't recall anything but positives after Bartlett became a regular in 2006.
Its too bad Bill Smith's shoulder devil got the better of Gardy's shoulder angel.
Werd to teh Musicologists: I've been listening to John Doe on Terry Gross's show this morning. Great stuff.
If that is his real name.
I find it amusing that while Mets/Indians/Pirates/Yankees games are blacked out for me the closest ML city to my house, Toronto, does not black out their baseball games to me. Stupid, stupid mlb.tv
Canada does not exist.
Incorrect, only Canada's bat doesn't exist.
+4 for 48 (or whatever)
Twins baseball!
It feels comfortable to have LNP in the 2 hole.
I am feeling a little bit Spooky with Mauer at bat.
before or after Mauer's delivery?
2 RBI's are better than a home run. Home runs are selfish.
Semi-clutch.
?
Oh sure, Mountie can hit in Canada
I've noticed the Blue Jays hate their cutoff men. That is wonderful.
This inning brought to you by Punto being in the 2 hole
But he didn't bunt!
How in the hell is this rally happening without a bunt?
Luckily, we haven't hit one of those rally-killing home runs.
Would this actually be called a rally? I mean, it is the top of the 1st.
Everybody hits!
Dick: NO PUN INTENDED HERE ON THIS HOLIDAY BUT RICHMOND IS REALLY LABORING OUT THERE!
FTLT: /snort/ no pun my rear end.
This is what the Jays get for putting a Canadian on the mound.
Canadians, historically, are not good at baseball in September. (SSS!)
on Mondays
with the roof open.
Somebody has to make the outs. Way to come through, Delmon.
yes, but according to Gordo "That was not a double-play ball, by any means."
so he's got that going for him. Which is nice.
A double-play ball would mean you hit the ball hard.
out number UNO
Dick explains that it was Buscher's thumb which made him play baseball poorly to start the season. I thought it was his everything.
What was wrong with his thumb? And if it was making him play that badly, shouldn't he have been on the disabled list?
it was stuck up his ....?
It'd be fun to see "Everything is terrible" next to somebody's name on an injury report.
I miss a half-inning, and...FAH. I'm not superstitious, but dude, I always miss stuff like this.
That's so Spooky.
Hell, it's rotten, even. Perhaps curded, at this point.
Why don't you go ahead and miss 2010
Denied!!!
That's a good start, but it's a long way from over. We don't exactly have Christy Mathewson going for us today.
Manship has Christy beat in the non-girly name department. So he's got that going for him.
if Mathewson's final career start, he gave up eight runs.
(of course, he still pitched a complete game victory)
walking the heart throb!
Jeter plays for the Jays!!?
The WGOM is on pace for 540+ LTE's this game. ...
like Morneau, we'll tire in the 7th and flat-line in the 8th and 9th.
thanks for the cover - I'm working in the basement while listening, seemed like a man(ship)ly thing to do
I'm happy to turn the job back over to the Master, Rhu_Ru.
Not that I like to exaggerate, but this is literally going to be the longest game in baseball history.
Or at least as long as a Yankees/Red Sawx game.
the record is 4 hours, 45 minutes for a nine-inning game.
I'm not sure about the most soul-sucking game, however.
Heh, FTLT. You nailed it on the head. On purpose?
Everything I nail is on purpose.
...hippies.
everything?
I don't see any nails there.
I've seen that one with three different photos now, and I never tire of it.
Have you bought a Director's Couch yet, spooky?
You should definitely see the two girls in our show. Wowie wow.
I'm guessing that's NOT what she (the Cream Gal) said.
Good job by Manship to get out of the first, but I'd still like to see some more Twins runs.
I do not predict a particularly long outing for the Manship today.
And cars, man, I wish I could do without em. Had to bring the new one in for a brake check to see why it squeals so much.
JMIGABB.
The best, I'd say.
If only his first name started with a vowel, that'd even be pronouncable.
....
Oh, I get it now.
Are we finally invading Canada?
Punto looks like Pinball Williams out there!
Hey, two complete in under an hour now. That's more sensible! We might even get the draft started on time tonight!
elm'n is trying to help us be on time.
Sigh. Uno.
Kubel's charisma is inversely proportionate to his baseball prowess.
Delmon is doing his part to try to pick up the pace of the game.
Alright I am going to go home to leave notes on my neighbors doors politely asking them to reset their wireless router so I can take part in the WGOM draft tonight.
Hope to see you there, Buffalo.
I just used my final vouchers to get tickets to October 3's game.
FTLT's home office:
I don't see any alcohol there. Really, that is the only thing missing from the home office.
That's why he's angry.
At least he hits well enough to sit in the two hole.
A new stolen internet!
That was a scary few minutes, eh?
I live very close to work. Also, this connection is spotty at best. But it should be enough to suffice for tonight. Hold it down for me until then. Go Twinkies.
That brings me back to college when we were stealing some internet from our neighbors until my idiot roomate went and told them we were doing it. I really disliked that guy by the end.
All right...off to go see Walter and Jalapeno on a Stick.
Still waitin' on Rhu_Ru to re-take the mantle of leaderSHIP.
The "man" in mantle should've been capitalized too, bS. Wasted opportunity.
tru dat.
The Twins offense appears to believe it's done enough today. I hope so, but I'm none too sure.
I think the answer is Carlos Silva here. Amazing.
A Tango Inning!
Odor free.
Game half over, and we're suddenly back on track for three hours. Sweet! I mean, less sweet that the Twins are being swatted like flies, but still.
Ugh, have to have the whole freekin brake system replaced on my car. Its gonna set me back $875. I'm now having buyer's remorse over getting a new living room set yesterday.
Nice placement, Delmon.
I get annoyed when announcers say, as Dick just did, "well, the pitcher really needs to buckle down here," as if the reason the other team is hitting the ball well is because the pitcher isn't trying hard enough. I also get annoyed when they start talking about how the manager wants the pitcher to finish five innings to get the win. A manager is not supposed to worry about stats. He's supposed to manage to win games.
As you may have noticed, there are a lot of things announcers say that annoy me.
At least ManShip didn't look at the bullpen.
I'm not annoyed by them mentioning how the manager wants the pitcher to finish five innings to get the win, I'm annoyed with Gardenhire for wanting the pitcher to finish five innings to get the win.
Hrrmmmm.
Yeah, it was a bit of a stretch.
Get out.
At least its a humorous picture.
He should, but stats obviously factor into Gardenhire's use of Nathan.
It does drive me crazy anytime that they talk about buckling down, though, for the reason you mentioned. With Bert, there's always the whole "It's important he gets the next guy out, because..." and that is what gets me. If you're a pitcher, "getting people out" is literally your job description. It's always important. That's like me analyzing my own screenwriting and saying, "It's important that when I sit down to write today, I do some writing."
Yes, but it does become more important to do writing today when you screwed around and didn't do any writing yesterday.
It's still non-analysis. Talk about how to get each guy out...I know they're supposed to already.
and the ManShip is sent to the dry dock.
KISO?
Looks like it.
KISS
Well, it's still 5-3. Come on, guys, let's get some runs here.
A baserunner!
A hit!
A run!
A Span! ;)
Wow, with two outs!
Ok, I'm out. Daddy-daughter time. We're going for a walk in the UCD Arboretum.
Wow, that dissertation on pitch counts was fascinating. It simply needed to be said. I'd never even thought of those things before, much less heard about them.
Gameday has its benefits.
Gordo, let's wait until we win the game to worry about who we're going to give the win to.
And no, Gordo and Dazzle, a pitcher can't get both a win and a save in the same game. Good grief.
Yikes.
Wow, just wow.
At least they checked and found out the rule. The thing is, I'm pretty sure I can remember them having that same conversation earlier this season.
Dick was worrying about the same thing.
Good to see Crain pitching well today. Maybe he'll get the win (but not the save as well).
I wonder if he had, like, an epiphany, or something, when he was down in the minors. Seems like he's pitched pretty well since coming back.
I think he was recalled in late July. Since then, in 21 IP he has 8 BB, 19 SO, 0 HR, and an ERA of 3.86. And 2-11 in inherited runners scoring.
It's Craintastic.
UNO!
UNO ... single?!
what idiot throws a first pitch strike to _elm_n??
The Blue Jays radio guys are confused about the concept that _elm_n could be taken out for defensive purposes.
even Gordo & Dazzle can figure THAT out. although they have their own share of intellectual demons
Meanwhile, I'm confused as to why elm'n isn't taken out for defensive purposes prior to Gardy turning in his lineups.
And offensive.
His approach at the plate certainly is.
I still prefer this ultra-goofy long tangent about pets to talking about pitch counts.
good to see B.Jeebus back on his game again; hopefully it's another streak
Okay, when Gordo says that Nathan is coming on to pitch, does he really have to also say that it's a save situation?
A win in Toronto! Who knew? 69 (wins), dudes!
Oh, and in the end, although this game featured a 45-minute first inning, it was a couple minutes short of three hours long. Well done, teams.
Is it just me, or is it remarkable that Nathan threw just as many curveballs as he did sliders?
Dick keeps mentioning Harmon's home run drought before hitting number 500 (and 501), so I counted. It was the 14th game after hitting 499 that he hit number 500 and 501. Except there was a 22 game gap between 498 and 499.
I remember that there was a drought, but didn't remember the details behind it. 37 games between 498 and 500