Game 115 Recap: First Place

Big Mak — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 03:58:00 +0000

Minnesota 6, Chicago 1 Twins Record: 65-50 (1st Place AL Central, 1 game ahead of Chicago - it's been far too long since I got to write that) Highest WPA (Pitcher): Liriano (5.2 IP, 1 R, lots of wriggling) Highest WPA (Hitter): Hudson (2 for 4, HR, BB) Kane's last word was "

Game 109 Recap: Live From Tampa

Big Mak — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 04:00:19 +0000

Minnesota 8, Tampa Bay 6 Twins Record: 61-48 (2nd place in AL Central, 1.5 GB Chicago) Highest WPA (Pitcher) - Kevin Slowey (7.2 IP, 9 K, 4 R [3 more than it should have been]) Highest WPA (Batter) - Jason Kubel (2 for 5, 2 RBI) You gonna bark all day little doggie? Or [...]

Game 96 Recap: Match Game ’10

Big Mak — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 03:41:37 +0000

Minnesota 5, Baltimore 0 Twins Record: 51-45 (T-2nd place in the AL Central, 2 games behind Chicago) Highest WPA (Pitcher): The mustachioed one (9 IP, 0 R, 4 SO, 5 H, 1 BB) Highest WPA (Hitter): Delmon (2-4, 2B, 3 RBI) Mine's the one that says Bad Mother Fangraphs ------------ Welcome to [...]

Game 89 Recap: Welcome to the Second Half, Same as the First

Big Mak — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 12:37:37 +0000

Chicago 8, Minnesota 7 Twins Record: 46-43, (third place in the AL Central, 4.5 games back) Lowest WPA (Pitcher) - Slowey and Burnett (4 IP, 11 H, 8 R combined) Lowest WPA (Hitter) - Cuddyer (0-4, SO) also Thome and Kubel (2-10, 5 SO, who could have predicted that?) Fangraphs

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To [...]

Game 85 Recap: SSST

Big Mak — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 12:08:29 +0000

Toronto 8, Minnesota 1 Twins Record: 45-40 (3rd place in the AL Central, 2 games behind Detroit) Lowest WPA (Pitcher): Baker (6 IP, 5 R, 2 of the 5 (five!) HR allowed by the Twins) Lowest WPA (Hitter): O'Dog (0-4, SO, GIDP) Fangraphs

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You know what's fun? Chopping up Drew Butera's [...]

Game 79 Recap

Big Mak — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 13:16:22 +0000

Tampa Bay 5, Minnesota 4 (10 innings)

Twins Record: 43-36 (1st place in the AL Central, 1 game ahead of Detroit, 2 games ahead of Chicago) Lowest WPA (Pitching) - Guerrier (also well into the negative: Rauch, Mahay) Lowest WPA (Hitting) - Hudson (0 for 4, BB) and Span (1 for 5)

Game 72 Recap: Swept

Big Mak — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 11:45:54 +0000

Milwaukee 5, Minnesota 0 Twins Record - 40-32 (1st place in the AL Central, 0.5 games ahead of Detroit) Lowest WPA (Pitcher) - Blackburn Lowest WPA (Hitter) - Pick 'em (no one had a positive WPA) This game looks just as ugly on Fangraphs ---------------

Can I tell you a secret? Would [...]

Game 66 Recap

Big Mak — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 02:50:18 +0000

Rockies 5, Twins 1 Twins Record - 37-28 (First place, 1.5 games ahead of Detroit) Lowest WPA (Pitcher) - Burnett (1 IP, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 HBP) Lowest WPA (Hitter) - Morneau (0-4) I'm linking to Fangraphs because I want to, not because you told me to.

---------------- F-Bomb v. U-Ball

[...]

Game 60 Recap: You Ain’t Got No Alibi

Big Mak — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 12:11:43 +0000

Kansas City 9, Minnesota 8 Twins Record - 35-25, First in the AL Central 4.5 games up. Lowest WPA (Pitcher) - Scott Baker (5 IP, 5 R, 2 HR) Lowest WPA (Hitter) - Cuddyer (0-5, SO - made the final out in the 5-run 7th and the 2-run 9th) Fangraphs has the [...]

Game 54 Recap: Felix Reigns

Big Mak — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 12:19:31 +0000

Seattle 4, Minnesota 1 Twins Record - 31-23 (2.5 games ahead of Detroit) Lowest WPA (Pitcher) - Pavano (7 IP, 4 ER, 1 HR, 2 BB, 5 SO, 5 stolen bases allowed) Lowest WPA (Hitter) - Tolbert (0-4, SO, confusion as to why he's hitting second) Fangraphs doesn't have the standings, but [...]

Game 47 Recap: From the Desk of Ron Gardenhire

Big Mak — Fri, 28 May 2010 11:45:24 +0000

Game 41 - Minnesota 8, New York 2 Twins Record - 27-20 (1st in the Central, 1.5 games ahead of Detroit) Highest WPA (Pitcher) - Blackburn Highest WPA (Hitter) - Kubel (3-4, 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI) Fangraphs

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Game 41 Recap: For Completists Only

Big Mak — Fri, 21 May 2010 12:04:00 +0000

Game 41 - Boston 6, Minnesota 2 Twins Record - 24-17 (tied for 1st in the Central) Lowest WPA (Pitcher) - Liriano Lowest WPA (Hitter) - Mauer (0-4, GIDP, SO) Fangraphs --------------

Amazon won't let me give this zero stars - so this one gets a single star, don't bother with this [...]

Game 29 Recap: Exorcise the Demons

Big Mak — Fri, 07 May 2010 03:17:47 +0000

Game 29: Baltimore 2, Minnesota 0 Twins Record: 19-10 Lowest WPA (Pitcher): Pavano and Guerrier both had positive WPA, so this one is on the offense. Lowest WPA (Batter): Cuddyer (0-4 with 3 LOB) Fangraphs

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It’s my fault.

Don’t point your finger at me, though. It’s your fault too. Here’s the [...]

Game 22 Recap: Hero of the Day

Big Mak — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 02:45:37 +0000

Game 22: Detroit 3, Minnesota 0 Twins Record: 14-8 Lowest WPA (Pitcher): Pavano was the only pitcher and his WPA was positive so this one is on the offense. Lowest WPA (Batter): Delmon (0-3 with a GIDP) Fangraphs goodness

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I could complain about having only one runner in scoring position all [...]

Game 16 Recap: Getaway Day

Big Mak — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 12:23:26 +0000

Game 16: Cleveland 8, Minnesota 1 (Apparently Thursday is 'never-play-a-close-game day') Twins Record: 11-5 Lowest WPA (Pitcher): Baker (5.2 IP, 6 R, 1 HR) Lowest WPA (Batter): [redacted] (0-3 with a GIDP - this is a little unfair to [redacted] because that line really doesn't stand out from the rest of the team as [...]

Game 10: Recap

Big Mak — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 11:15:47 +0000

Game 10: Minnesota 8, Boston 0 (Another Thursday, another blowout win) Twins Record: 7-3 Highest WPA (Pitcher): F-Bomb Highest WPA (Batter): J.J. Hardy (putting the Twins up 1-0 was all they needed today) Fangraphs goodness

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"Hey Kevin, did you know Frankie got 9 groundball outs today?"

[...]

Game 4 Recap: The Sweet Taste of a Series Victory

Big Mak — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 11:28:01 +0000

Game 4: Minnesota 10, LAAA 1 Twins Record: 3-1 Highest WPA (Pitcher): Pat Neshek Highest WPA (Batter): [redacted] Fangraphs goodness

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Twins: Well, the thing is, we’ve got to be in Chicago tomorrow, and with the time zones,.. it’s just better for us to play in the afternoon. If we get too [...]

Mak and Moss cover Twins-Royals in Beautiful Surround Sound

Big Mak — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:59:37 +0000

Moving is a frustrating endeavor. First off, it’s hard work, and secondly, we didn’t have any TV or internet so I wasn’t able to properly follow the Twins for quite a bit while we were moving in.

Fortunately there was a solution to both of those dilemmas. Wednesday afternoon found me and Mrs. Mak [...]

Series Preview in Blog: St. Louis Cardinals

Big Mak — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:00:16 +0000

St. Louis is currently in first place in the NL Central, one game up on the Brewers. They are returning from a 4-3 road trip, where they swept the Royals before losing 3 of 4 to the Mets. The Cards have a pretty good home record (21-16) while the Twins road record is still [...]

Last Trip to Beloit

Big Mak — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:00:53 +0000

Due to our impending move to Kansas, catching Snappers games is about to become a lot more difficult just due to sheer distance. Thus, we took advantage last weekend and took in the last game of the first half of the season for Beloit against the Quad Cities River Bandits (Cardinals A [...]

Series Preview in Blog: Milwaukee Brewers (6/23-6/25)

Big Mak — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:00:47 +0000

The Brewers did the Twins no favors, getting swept by the Tigers this weekend. How are the Twins supposed to catch the Tigers if they keep staying above .500?

You say they could win enough games that they too will be above .500? You mean more than one game above .500? That sounds too [...]

WGOM Week in Review

Big Mak — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 05:13:00 +0000

40 posts and 1,943 LTEs, did you read everything?

ARTICLES HEADLINES ubelmann

Getting Harder To Win on the Road? The Rangers My Least Favorite Baseball Angle David McCarty Out of Curiosity SBG

SBG Convention How We Got Them You Choose - Vol. 3 Rhu_Ru Great [...]

Series Preview in Blog: Houston Astros (6/19-6/21)

Big Mak — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:41:41 +0000

The Astros come to town finishing a nine-game road trip. Houston lost 2 of 3 to Texas this week, which marked their first series loss in June (10-6 in the month). That mild hot streak has not moved them up in the standings, as they remain in last place in the NL Central, six [...]

Series Preview in Blog: Pittsburgh Pirates (6/16-6/18)

Big Mak — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:00:49 +0000

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have our first mediocre Pirates team since 1997."

- Burgher Jon @ The Pittsburgh Men's Blogging Society

The Pirates come to Minnesota winners of four of their last five, and unbridled optimism is the mood of Pirates fans. They are a mere four games out of [...]

Earl Battey, Where Have You Gone?

Big Mak — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 03:41:18 +0000

Fantastic game this afternoon, tons of fun to take in a Twins victory at Wrigley.

We were amazed at the number of Twins fans. I saw in the game log that the TV announcers mentioned the great turnout of Minnesota fans, but it was really something to behold. Mrs. Mak and I kept track [...]

Series Preview in Blog: Chicago Cubs (6/12-6/14)

Big Mak — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:12:58 +0000

The Twins travel to Wrigley to finish off their road trip (3-4 so far). Meanwhile the Cubs come back home to where they haven't lost a series since April. Both teams are hovering right around .500 (Cubs are currently on the good side, 29-28) so I'm fully expecting the teams to somehow find a [...]

Series Preview in Blog: Seattle Mariners (6/5-6/7)

Big Mak — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:00:22 +0000

It seems like the Twins and Mariners have played each other a ton already this season. But we'll give it another go this weekend, this time in Seattle. Let's see what USS Mariner and Lookout Landing have to say one more time.

Yesterday was an off day for Seattle, and [...]

Series Preview in Blog: Cleveland Indians (6/2-6/4)

Big Mak — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 13:00:48 +0000

My word is this team bad on the road. Just think if the Twins had an experience like the Yankees in Cleveland and got kicked out of their hotel. Half the team probably wouldn't even make it to the ballpark. Gardy would have to send Justin, Jason, and the three Joes to [...]

Pitcher’s Duel in Beloit

Big Mak — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:00:26 +0000

A week ago, the Snappers beat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 4-0 in a game that didn't see any scoring until the eighth inning. Joe Testa started for the Snappers and pitched the first three innings before giving way to Bradley Tippett (I assume this was by design, because Testa certainly wasn't struggling [...]

Series Preview in Blog: Tampa Bay Rays (5/29-5/31)

Big Mak — Fri, 29 May 2009 13:00:47 +0000

The Twins start a road trip with a weekend series against Tampa Bay. Minnesota's road woes are well documented (5-14) so hopefully this series against a team struggling with higher expectations this year will get them on track. Tampa Bay currently sits at 23-27, fourth in the AL East, only percentage points above Baltimore [...]

Series Preview in Blog: Boston Red Sox (5/25-5/28)

Big Mak — Mon, 25 May 2009 13:00:47 +0000

The Red Sox come to town to start off a ten-game road trip with a 4-game series with the Twins. Boston lost 2 of 3 against the Mets this weekend, and lost 3 of their 4 series on the road this month. Overall, the Sox are 9-12 on the road, but remain in first [...]

What I Watched Instead of Walk-Off Weekend

Big Mak — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:00:09 +0000

The weather here was beautiful this weekend, so my wife and I made the trip up to Beloit to take in a game on Sunday. Keeping an eye on the Snappers this season (via Seth and JeffA), it seemed like they were having a tough go of it [...]

Series Preview in Blog: Chicago White Sox (5/19-5/21)

Big Mak — Tue, 19 May 2009 13:00:16 +0000

First off, we have to pay our respects to Palehose 9. I first discovered Carl Skanberg's comics doing this feature two years ago. It was hilarious from the get-go, and I immediately bookmarked it and checked it obsessively. Partly, it was that I live in Chicago, and so I was already familiar [...]

Series Preview in Blog: New York Yankees (5/15-5/18)

Big Mak — Fri, 15 May 2009 14:00:08 +0000

I lost this post once, so all I've got is a list of links.

It turns out the Yankees spend way more money than anyone else. Does that mean Yankees fans should feel guilty about it? I know one thing, all that money can't buy Brett Gardner a sense of humor. C'mon [...]

Series Preview in Blog: Detroit Tigers (5/12-5/14)

Big Mak — Tue, 12 May 2009 13:00:18 +0000

The Twins came this close to sweeping the Mariners this weekend and getting back to even. .500 will have to wait at least two more games, and next up are the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers swept the Indians this weekend, with some fantastic pitching (see below) and some fantastic defense. I'm sure you've seen [...]

Series Preview in Blog: Seattle Mariners (5/8-5/10)

Big Mak — Fri, 08 May 2009 16:30:51 +0000

The Twins (13-16) take on the Mariners (15-14) at home this weekend. Seattle has lost their last four games and fallen out of first place in the AL West. They currently sit one half game behind Texas. The Mariners are 8-7 on the road thus far this season, while the Twins are 9-8 at [...]

Series Preview in Blog: Detroit Tigers (5/4-5/5)

Big Mak — Mon, 04 May 2009 13:00:13 +0000

A quick two-game series in Detroit kicks off a short 4-game road trip for the Twins. Minnesota is 3-5 on the road (but 2-1 against teams that don't have Sox as their team name [a-Soxual?]). After this series the Twins will have played one series against each team in the AL Central (they're 4-5 [...]

Series Preview in Blog: Kansas City Royals (5/1-5/3)

Big Mak — Fri, 01 May 2009 13:00:48 +0000

The Twins host the KC Royals for three games this weekend. The Royals are currently in first place in the Central, one game ahead of the fourth-place Twins (in other words, nobody really distinguished themselves in the first month in this division). The Royals are starting off this road trip in Minnesota after taking [...]

Series Preview in Blog: Boston Red Sox (4/21-4/22)

Big Mak — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 13:00:06 +0000

The Twins travel to Boston for a quick two game series having just swept the Angels to get their record back to even at 7-7. The Red Sox welcome the Twins for a quick two game series having just swept the Orioles to get their record back to even at 7-6. The Twins are [...]

Series Preview In Blog: Los Angeles Angels (4/17-4/19)

Big Mak — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:00:05 +0000

Is it over? Can I come out now? That Blue Jays series scared me a little bit, I have to be honest. The Twins dropped 3 of 4 to Toronto to fall to 4-7 on the season (and 3-5 at home). They continue the homestand with the LA Angels, who come in at 3-5 [...]

Series Preview in Blog: Toronto Blue Jays (4/13-4/16)

Big Mak — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 13:00:23 +0000

The Twins return to the Dome (the last time they do that for the first time in the season ... wait, what?) after dropping the final two games of their series in Chicago. I was at the game on Sunday and I've got pictures. If you behave yourselves, maybe I'll share them soon. The [...]

Series Preview in Blog: Chicago White Sox (4/10-4/12)

Big Mak — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 13:00:06 +0000

The White Sox hosted the Royals in some pretty cold conditions this week. The opener was pushed back a day due to snow (headline writers had a field day). Other than a three-run homer by Jim Thome, the White Sox bats were just as cold. They lost 2 of 3 in the series [...]

Series Preview in Blog: Cleveland Indians (07/25-07/27)

Big Mak — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:00:16 +0000

The Twins try to wash the taste of that Yankees series out of their mouth with a three game set in Cleveland this weekend. The Twins enter on a four game losing streak, 2.5 games back of the White Sox in the AL Central.

Sometimes I think the Twins feel a [...]

Back to Beloit

Big Mak — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:00:23 +0000

For my wife's birthday, she decided she wanted to go to a ballgame with a couple of friends (How did I get so lucky?). So once again we drove up to Wisconsin to see the Snappers take on the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Seattle Mariners A affiliate).

The Snappers roster this time around looks quite [...]

Series Preview in Blog: Texas Rangers (7/18-7/20)

Big Mak — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:01:20 +0000

Big Mak reprises his Series Preview in Blog feature and looks at the three game series against the Texas Rangers that kicks off the second half of the 2008 season. [...]

Game 95: Twins v. Tigers

Big Mak — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 17:07:54 +0000

Verlander and Blackburn on the mound.

Beloit Doubleheader

Big Mak — Thu, 29 May 2008 13:00:35 +0000

Last Saturday, my parents were coming into town, and, since Beloit is pretty close to on the way from Marshall to Chicago, we figured why not take in a game to kick off the Memorial Day weekend? After checking the schedule and noticing the unusual start time of 5 PM, I took off from [...]

Beloit Repoit

Big Mak — Thu, 22 May 2008 13:00:25 +0000

I went up last weekend on Sunday to see the Snappers take on the Peoria Chiefs (the Chicago Cubs A-level team). The Snappers won to complete the 3-game sweep and move to two games over .500, which was their high-water mark for this season to that point.

Final Score: Beloit 5, Peoria 4 [...]

The WGOM » Big Mak

Game 128 Recap:

Game 121 Recap: Twins Secure Series Victory Over Sox