Category: Guest Writers
Ex-Tiger Traded To Minnesota To Even Cosmic Balance
November 13th, 2007, 19 Comments
Yes, it's apparently official now.
Here's my knee-jerk reaction: This is neither a terrible move or a great move.
Monroe gives the Twins a bat who is worth potentially 20 runs above replacement level in a corner OF/DH spot--approximately the level he was at from 2004-2006. He also gives the Twins the risk of paying [...]
The Ratliff Dilemma
November 12th, 2007, 4 Comments
I am going to be gone this evening and so I'm delaying posting of The Nation Has Problems until tomorrow. Also, I haven't written it yet.
Instead, I thought I would pose a different kind of question to The Nation. Ratliff was included in the Garnett trade almost entirely on the basis of expiring [...]
Tigers (Essentially) Trade Punto For Jacque Jones
November 12th, 2007, 3 Comments
The Tigers are proving to have the quickest trigger finger so far this off-season, adding Jacque Jones at the cost of utility infielder Omar Infante.
The Punto comparison is overly harsh to Infante--Juan Uribe is probably a better comparison--but Infante was completely expendable and the Tigers had a need for a left-handed hitter in left field. [...]
Must Be That Dreaded No-Coast Bias
November 8th, 2007, 5 Comments
U.S.S. Mariner's David Cameron comes up with a list of three free agent landmines. You might be familiar with them: Torii Hunter, Carlos Silva, and Kyle Lohse. I don't really disagree with their inclusion on such a list--for instance, I'm certainly not suggesting that the Twins try to sign them for the money [...]
Base Paths Statistics
November 7th, 2007, 17 Comments
I've always found statistics lacking when it comes to describing what is happening on the base paths. Consider a single with a man on first as compared to a single with the bases empty. After the hit, the batter gets a tiny bump in is batting average and +1 on his total bases [...]
El Presidente, FOTF Win Fielding Grammies
November 6th, 2007, 14 Comments
[Note: SBG beat me to this topic by three minutes. Doh!]
Story here.
Is Santana the best fielding pitcher in the league? I don't know that for sure, but I don't think anyone out there is significantly better. He's quite an athlete and certainly deserving, in my mind, of this Fielding Grammy.
As far as [...]
The Nation Has Problems 4
November 5th, 2007, 64 Comments
Expectation
One of the most important concepts in sports as well as probability deals with the concept of expectation. Statistics such as ERA or points per game are attempts to use expectation to quantify how good a player or team is. Although these stats aren't perfect, they are based on the concept of expectation.
In [...]
Also, Everything Written About Tom Brady Is The Complete Opposite
November 4th, 2007, 3 Comments
Via John Clayton
"He's a great player," Brady said of Moss. "I think everything that's been written about him is the complete opposite. He's a great teammate. He's a great player. He's very coachable. He's very selfless. He's a great worker. He leads by example."
He doesn't attempt to run over traffic cops. He's never left [...]
Rebuilding a Franchise
November 1st, 2007, 37 Comments
I still remember when it hit me. I was sitting at my computer last season, looking at the Twolves payroll on hoopeshype.com and getting depressed over how terrible it looked. I had a revelation. It was one of those moments of total clarity. The Wolves will never win a championship with Garnett. [...]
Annual Elias BS Rankings Released
November 1st, 2007, 18 Comments
I can't believe anyone would willingly go along with a ranking system this flawed, but here are my observations/rants from the two lists--AL and NL. (If you're looking for some half-baked crap, I apologize--this stuff's completely raw.)
CF Observation…
October 31st, 2007, 33 Comments
I was playing around with some Baseball-Reference.com stats today, and I noticed something. Check out the career park-adjusted lines for the following FA CF'ers:
AVG/OBP/SLG -- Dude
.257/.336/.488 -- Andruw Jones
.282/.340/.456 -- Aaron Rowand
.251/.341/.445 -- Mike Cameron
.268/.321/.465 -- Torii Hunter
They all have pretty similar offensive value. Good power, a decent OBP, and a middling batting [...]
Better Know A Citizen - frightwig
October 31st, 2007, 51 Comments
Name: frightwig
Hometown: Bremerton, WA
Town I Currently Live In: relocating to an undisclosed location in Oregon
Profession: dedicated parental unit
Bats: R
Throws: R
Positions: corner IF/OF
Greatest Career Achievement in Baseball/Softball/T-ball: I was good enough to be a regular starter for my county youth league teams, but I was never an All-Star. I don't recall being the [...]
Free Agent Third Basemen and the Twins
October 30th, 2007, 14 Comments
Moss queried:
Does the A-Rod situation help or hurt the Twins re: their 3B situation? On the one hand, there's an extra 3B on the market. On the other hand, there's an extra buyer on the market, and it is the Yankees.
I thought this topic deserved its own post.
MLB != NBA
October 30th, 2007, 11 Comments
File under: Half-baked crap.
If Hunter leaves in free agency, the Twins would receive no compensation for losing one of their biggest stars and a locker room pillar who takes some of the attention away from young players like Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau.
(Emphasis mine.)
I understand that how much someone values draft picks relative to veteran [...]
The Nation Has Problems 3
October 29th, 2007, 35 Comments
The Monty Hall Problem
When I first announced that I would be doing this feature on a regular basis, Moss asked me a question about whether a person on the game show "Deal or No Deal" should have switched cases at the very end. I noted that it didn't matter whether or not he decided [...]
Sports Illustrated cover (1987-11-02) - “THE CHAMPS!”
October 29th, 2007, 3 Comments
[contributed by: Rhubarb_Runner]
Sports Illustrated magazine cover - November 2, 1987
"THE CHAMPS!"
Early Christmas in Texas, Some Team Wins WS
October 29th, 2007, 13 Comments
The Rod (with 500 career HR at the age of 31, I think he's earned the definite article) has decided to void his contract. According to Cot's Contracts, Texas owed The Rod $21M over the next three years under the now-voided contract. This effectively gives Texas about 10% more payroll to work [...]
Mugshot Purgatory: 2007 NL Champion Colorado Rockies
October 24th, 2007, 12 Comments
This is obviously who I'm cheering for, even though as of Sept 30, I knew like 5 of these dudes. If you need to know who is on the AL champs, the loathed BoSox, well, I looked at them in early May. [Note: Roster may not be the same. [Subnote: I may not care.]] [...]
Baseball Cards magazine cover - (1988-01) (Kirby Puckett, Kent Hrbek)
October 23rd, 2007, 2 Comments
[contributed by: Rhubarb_Runner]
Baseball Cards magazine cover - January 1988
"1987 WORLD SERIES"
Reusse On Small Sample Size and the Rox
October 23rd, 2007, 3 Comments
Perusing the internets this evening, I ran across a column by a self-described "old-time sportswriter" pointing out a fellow dead tree journalist's mistake of writing the Rockies off in April.
The Colorado Rockies were 7-11 that morning and in last place in the five-team National League West. They were coming off six consecutive losing seasons in [...]
The Nation Has Problems 2
October 22nd, 2007, 42 Comments
I had written an elaborate introduction to probability theory, but my post got to be a little bit long and I wanted to shorten it. It people are interested, I can post it later. For this post, I had a couple of interesting examples and wanted to cut to the chase.
Conditional Probabilities
Often times [...]
Great Moments in Enhanced Gameday History - 21 Oct. 2007, inning 8
October 21st, 2007, 3 Comments
ALCS Game 7: Papelbon vs. Pronk
Computers and College Football
October 17th, 2007, 4 Comments
I'm constantly at odds with the folks who are at odds with computer ranking systems.
I noticed today that SBG pointed out a Deadspin article which pointed to a different blog which mentioned that a single computer ranking system had SBG's beloved Bison ranked in the top 20.
This is the sort of thing that the broadcast [...]
The Nation Has Problems 1
October 15th, 2007, 48 Comments
The first thing they always did was count you.
We're going to be a bit more sophisticated than the counting you did in high school, but I imagine this will be familiar to a lot of you anyway. A lot of the stuff I write about has to do with discrete, finite probabilities. In [...]
Free Agency And Dating
October 15th, 2007, 23 Comments
Earlier this evening, my roommates were discussing their feelings on dating. The consensus seemed to be that dating strangers was a total pain-in-the-ass because you have to play "the game," which stresses everyone out, but helps protect the feelings of those involved (at least, to a degree.) They thought that it was preferable [...]
New Column!
October 14th, 2007, 46 Comments
The other day I posted an interesting stats question in the middle of the comments of one of SBG's posts. To be honest, the reason I posted it was because I hadn't solved it yet and I wanted to know the answer. I figured that it didn't really involve any deep theoretical math [...]
Homer Bailey, Meet Lewis Yocum
October 14th, 2007, 6 Comments
The Cincinnati Reds have chosen the least creative path possible.
We'll see whether or not Bill Smith is any good, but right now, I'm glad Wayne Krivsky is nowhere near the Twins' front office.
Top 15 in pitcher abuse points in 2003, in order: Javier Vazquez, Kerry Wood, Livan Hernandez, Mark Prior, Mark Redman, Al Leiter, Woody [...]
July 23rd, 2002
October 13th, 2007, 6 Comments
On July 23rd, 2002, Johan Santana gave up 8 ER in 3.2 innings as the Twins lost 8-7 to the White Sox. Santana has started 157 games since that day, and he has allowed fewer than 8 runs (earned or otherwise) in all of those games.
C.C. Sabathia's still a great pitcher, but that's kind [...]
Great Moments in Enhanced Gameday History - 5 Oct. 2007, inning 10
October 5th, 2007, 7 Comments
One heck of an AB by Grady...
Better Know A Citizen - SoCalTwinsFan
October 4th, 2007, 38 Comments
Name: SoCalTwinsfan
Hometown: Born - Salt Lake City; Raised - All over. If I must pick, I'll go with Nampa, Idaho
Town I Currently Live In: San Bernardino, Cali
Profession: Sports Page Designer. Mainly, I design the national sports pages (Baseball and NBA/NHL) and the agate page (Scoreboard) for the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, which has [...]
Better Know A Citizen - kg2005
October 2nd, 2007, 61 Comments
Name: Erik Dikken
SBG Moniker: kg2005
Hometown: Renville, MN
Town I Currently Live In: Brookings, SD
Profession: Computer Science student, Software Quality Assurance student at Daktronics, Inc
Bats: With a 9-iron
Throws: Picture Johnny Damon
Positions: 2B, CF
Greatest Career Achievement in Baseball/Softball/T-ball: Last year in softball I had a .700 OBP. Nevermind my OPS [...]
Cribs (SBG Nation Edition)
September 30th, 2007, 9 Comments
I don't normally have special contacts of any kind, but today an inside source sent me some pictures of a Lake Minnetonka property that recently went on the market. Unfortunately, I am not allowed to post these pictures here, but I will give out as much information as I can.
This house is alleged to [...]
Better Know A Citizen - Will Young
September 27th, 2007, 40 Comments
Name: Will Young (pronounced "Will Young")
Hometown: Richfield, MN
Town I Currently Live In: Saint Paul, MN
Profession: Making Events Occur Smoothly
Bats: Both (more power as a righty, better bat control as a lefty)
Throws: Left
Positions: Pitcher and First Base through Little League, Left-Center in Softball
Greatest Career Achievement in Baseball/Softball/T-ball: I threw 3 perfect innings in the Little [...]
It’s a 5-Way Tie!
September 25th, 2007, 6 Comments
For most shutouts in a season. The club record is 14, and that's happened five times now.
If the 2007 squad wants the record outright, they'll have to get shutout one more time with just five games left. The probable pitchers appear to be Jair Jurrjens, Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Wakefield, and a [...]
Better Know A Citizen - Sheenie
September 25th, 2007, 83 Comments
Name: Sheenie
Hometown: New Orleans "The Big Easy", LA
Town I Currently Live In: Just up river... St. Paul, MN ... I actually only moved 1 block closer to The River
Profession: I work at a law firm
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Positions: 2nd base and outfield and catching, basically whatever position is needed on a rec. softball team
Greatest [...]
Free Agent Marketplace: CF, Part 1
September 25th, 2007, 36 Comments
When looking at the free agent marketplace, the easy part is figuring out who the free agents are--at the end of every season they have to declare free agency. The part that involves guesswork is the demand side: which teams are going to be interested in free agents? Center field is obviously a [...]
Convention Report Part II
September 23rd, 2007, 19 Comments
The Inaugural SBG Convention was a smashing success. SBG already wrote his review, so I won't repeat everything he said. I'll simply add the pictures I took. All the pictures can be clicked on for larger views. They're after the jump.
For the record…
September 23rd, 2007, 4 Comments
Twins' VORP through September 22nd, 2007:
40.5 -- Hunter
30.2 -- Morneau
28.4 -- Mauer
15.7 -- Cuddyer
14.4 -- Bartlett
10.6 -- Kubel
Hunter's probably somewhere between +0 and +10 on defense, which safely makes him the Twins' most valuable position player this year.
And no one saw this coming…
September 22nd, 2007, 7 Comments
From LEN3:
Pat Neshek will be shut down for the rest of the season because of weakness in his shoulder that has led to an inflamed ligament near his elbow.
This season just keeps getting better and better.
Santana Notice
September 21st, 2007, 14 Comments
Nation, I'm putting you on notice. From what I can devine from the schedule, Johan Santana has two starts left this season--today, and Wednesday, Sept. 26th at Detroit. After the 26th, you won't get to see Santana work his magic in a meaningful game for another six (dismal) months. Yes, the outcome [...]
Better Know A Citizen - Seth Stohs
September 20th, 2007, 80 Comments
Name: Seth Stohs
Hometown: Perham, MN
Town I Currently Live In: Warroad until Sept. 18th, then Bloomington
Profession: Product Planner
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Positions: when I was young, I played Shortstop. In high school, played 3B, SS and pitched some. In college, I was a really good scorebook keeper and occasional pinch hitter!
Greatest Career Achievement in [...]
Anecdotal Evidence
September 19th, 2007, 28 Comments
For some cheap thrills, I took a look at the players with the 20 worst Value Over Replacement Player (VORP) from 2006 (list here, and how they did in 2007.
- For starters, four of them have zero plate appearances in 2007: Antonio Perez, Vinny Castilla, Tomas Perez, and Travis Lee.
- In 2006, the group collectively [...]
Better Know A Citizen - Whiffers
September 18th, 2007, 64 Comments
Name: Whiffers
Hometown: Indianapolis, IN
Town I Currently Live In: Plymouth, MN
Profession: Sales Analyst-type employee
Bats: R
Throws: R
Positions: 3B, 2B
Greatest Career Achievement in Baseball/Softball/T-ball: A Willis Reed moment in Babe Ruth baseball against my team's biggest rival—playing on a sprained ankle, I had a couple hits, stole a base, and a Punto-style [...]
SSST Starring Brian Buscher
September 18th, 2007, 12 Comments
.308/.391/.478 -- 247 AB in AA, 2007
.311/.374/.523 -- 132 AB in AAA, 2007
.273/.359/.382 -- 55 AB in MLB, 2007
.287/.377/.471 -- PrOPS in MLB, 2007
For a larger sample size:
.276/.343/.393 -- 1810 AB in the minors
It's kind of interesting that his actual performance so far with the Twins falls mostly in line with his overall minor league [...]
Great Moments in Enhanced Gameday History - 17 Sep 2007, inning 4
September 17th, 2007, 5 Comments
Warning: this AB is for entertainment purposes only; do not attempt this at home.
My Sources Say No
September 16th, 2007, 24 Comments
From today's Twins notes:
Justin Morneau at least partly blames his participation in the Home Run Derby for his second half offensive slump, and his manager does not disagree.
Morneau is batting just .254 in the second half, compared to .295 in the first half. He's only hit six home runs post-All Star break, whereas he had [...]
Terry Ryan, Baseball Man, Steps Down
September 14th, 2007, 18 Comments
Terry Ryan has stepped down as general manager of the Minnesota Twins.
In some ways, this was the quintessential Terry Ryan move. Like so many of his trades in recent years, it came as a surprise. Like some of his other moves, a veteran is moving so that someone within the organization can be [...]
Better Know A Citizen - Andrew
September 13th, 2007, 116 Comments
Name: Andrew
Hometown: Indianapolis, Indiana
Town I Currently Live In: Des Moines, Iowa
Profession: None, currently, but I've got interviews at a few companies Downtown coming up.
Bats: S. I really only hit lefty to pull something down the line or thrown down a drag bunt.
Throws: R
Positions: 1B, OF
Greatest Career Achievement in Baseball/Softball/T-ball: Hit [...]
Brian Cashman Suggests…
September 12th, 2007, 17 Comments
It's a three-step offseason plan for the Twins:
Step 1: Extend key players already under contract
- Sign Johan Santana to a 6-year, $185M extension. (25, 27, 30, 33, 35, 35)
- Sign Joe Nathan to a 4-year, $60M extension. (12, 14, 17, 17)
- Sign Justin Morneau to a 4-year, $47M contract. (7, 10, [...]
Better Know A Citizen - Greek House
September 11th, 2007, 61 Comments
Name: GreekHouse
Hometown: Minneapolis, MN (although I was actually born in Fargo, ND)
Town I Currently Live In: Ames, IA
Profession: Math PhD Student
Bats: R
Throws: R
Positions: 1B,3B,DH
Greatest Career Achievement in Baseball/Softball/T-ball: When I was in college, I was nicknamed "The One Man Home Run Derby". When the fence was up on the women's softball [...]
Before my time…
September 11th, 2007, 53 Comments
Chris Jaffe was running through some Baseball Reference splits, and he mentioned something I found absolutely crazy:
For instance, you can look up how many times they tried to pull off triple steals. After all, the only way to do it is to have the bases loaded, and the splits pages give SB & CS for [...]
I Don’t Believe My Eyes
September 11th, 2007, 16 Comments
I was reading the Twins' Notes tonight, and things were going pretty much as usual...and then BAM!
According to Baseball Prospectus' Value over Replacement Player (VORP) statistic, Santana's 58.6 mark betters every pitcher but one. Sabathia, who leads the Majors in innings pitched (220), leads all American Leaguers with a 60.2 mark.
VORP? On the Twins' [...]
On Location - Twins at Sox, 9/8/07
September 10th, 2007, 6 Comments
So, I guess I didn't take as many pictures as I thought I did, but I'll share what I've got. Also, I took my smaller, less fancy camera because I was taking my good one to the US-Brazil game, so the zoomed-in shots are a little grainy, but that's a price I'm willing to pay [...]
Series Preview in Blog: Kansas City Royals (9/10-9/12)
September 10th, 2007, 2 Comments
Minnesota Twins (70-73) @ Kansas City Royals (62-80)
The Twins enter the final six series of the season looking to finish with a record better than .500 for the seventh straight campaign. They haven’t helped themselves out too much recently, they snapped a six-game losing streak on Sunday, winning the final game of their weekend [...]
Clutch Hitting
September 10th, 2007, 30 Comments
Earlier tonight, I was debating with a friend over the existence of clutch hitting (I was of course arguing against it). I stumbled upon this article, which gives a pretty good argument saying that clutch hitting does indeed exist. (Note: This article is a few years old. I'm not sure if anybody has done [...]
Great Moments in Enhanced Gameday History - 9 Sep. 2007, inning 2
September 9th, 2007, 24 Comments
no outs in the 2nd, and everyone's favorite opposition catcher at bat:
Situational Madness
September 8th, 2007, 16 Comments
Against left-handed batters, through September 7, 2007:
.187/.268/.358 -- Pat Neshek
.254/.351/.444 -- Carmen Cali
37/155 (24%) SO/PA -- Neshek
12/74 (16%) SO/PA -- Cali
15/155 (9.7%) BB/PA -- Neshek
10/74 (13%) BB/PA -- Cali
I guess what disappoints me most about this is that back in the day, Gardy would let Hawkins, Rincon, and Romero pitch full innings regardless of the [...]
That was then…
September 7th, 2007, 36 Comments
April 24th, 2007:
"[Casilla]'s a very exciting player, one that can really fly," Gardenhire said. "We've seen him attempt a slug bunt. That's something we saw back in my day a la Miguel Dilone -- slug bunts and hitting it over infielders heads. So he's pretty inventive when it comes to being on a baseball field. [...]
Might I Interest You In Some Kool-Aid?
September 7th, 2007, 76 Comments
As everyone and their mothers have noted by now, Nick Punto's had a rough season.
I understand why LaVelle takes the Deer/Punto angle, but really, there's a huge difference between what Deer did in 1991 and what Punto's done in 2007. Because Deer did a better job of getting on base and hitting for power, [...]
Jose Morales, Suspect
September 7th, 2007, 18 Comments
By now, you've likely heard that Jose Morales has been added to the 40-man roster and called up to be with the Twins. The Twins are pretty banged up at the catcher position, so from a logistical standpoint, it makes sense to bring up another warm body. So this move makes sense, but [...]
Better Know A Citizen - Twayn
September 6th, 2007, 48 Comments
Name: Twayn
Hometown: Fort Recovery, Ohio
Town I Currently Live In: Champlin, Minnesota
Profession: Communications.
Bats: Low in the order
Throws: With elbow pain.
Positions: That’s a rather personal question, don’t you think? Oh, you mean...?! Second base and emergency outfielder.
Greatest Career Achievement in Baseball/Softball/T-ball: Batting sixth in the lineup when our Little League team was decimated by [...]
Just how inconsistent is your offense?
September 5th, 2007, 26 Comments
Since the very beginnings of baseball, fans have complained about their offense being too inconsistent. Well, I don't know that for certain, but at the end of the post, I'll give you an example of a team that I think will convince you.
If someone says an offense is good or bad, it's easy to [...]
Great Moments in Enhanced Gameday History - 5 Sep 2007, inning 3
September 5th, 2007, 12 Comments
Hunter coming to bat in the 3rd with 1 out and runners at the corners.
Sports Illustrated magazine cover (1978-04-10) - “THE BIG BATS” (Rod Carew)
September 5th, 2007, 3 Comments
[contributed by: Rhubarb_Runner]
Sports Illustrated magazine cover - April 10, 1978
"THE BIG BATS"
"George Foster and Rod Carew"
Rookie League magazine cover (1992 Summer) - “KIRBY PUCKETT Swings a Hot Bat!”
September 4th, 2007, 11 Comments
[contributed by: Rhubarb_Runner]
Rookie League magazine cover - Summer 1992
"BASEBALL FEVER!"
"KIRBY PUCKETT Swings a Hot Bat!"
Shutouts Throughout Twins History
September 3rd, 2007, 16 Comments
Hooray 13th shutout! Most in all of baseball!!
The Twins are currently in line to lead the league in shutouts, which would be the first time in franchise history they've ever done that. Those pesky Cardinals were shut out again today, so they remain hot on the Twins' heels, just one back.
When looking at [...]
Twins Notes
September 2nd, 2007, 12 Comments
- Mike Redmond is a warrior. He's been playing hurt, but he's still been playing well. Since Mauer went down on the 11th (through Sept. 1st), Redmond has hit .333/.404/.375. There's no power to speak of, but he's been getting on base.
- Alexi Casilla has been--more or less--a complete disappointment since getting [...]
This would be unconstitutional in the U.S.
September 1st, 2007, 7 Comments
Since the Nation is taking the day off, I figured I could get away with this.
has to be seen to be believed. And even then, I'm not so sure.
And the beat goes on
Great Moments in Enhanced Gameday History - 31 Aug 2007, game 1, inning 8
August 31st, 2007, 4 Comments
RonDL to bat in the 8th, 1 out:
Better Know A Citizen - Moss
August 30th, 2007, 104 Comments
Name: Moss (as conferred by SBG, and it has nothing to do with Randy Moss or with the green growth)
Hometown: Winsted, MN
Town I Currently Live In: Golden Valley, MN, one-time home of Torii, Sid and TK (does Death Star live here too?).
Profession: Patent attorney for a pharmaceutical company.
Bats: Weakly -- struck out a lot. [...]
Maybe try thinking?
August 30th, 2007, 58 Comments
So, Ron Gardenhire, you were down 4-3 in the 9th inning of a game you needed to win. Jason Tyner led off with a single. Excellent. What are your options now?
Nick Punto, Alexi Casilla, and Jason Bartlett are due up next. Basically, they are all singles hitters. On your bench, [...]
Great Moments in Enhanced Gameday History - 28 Aug 2007, inning 9
August 28th, 2007, 24 Comments
9th inning, 2 outs...
Better Know A Citizen - Algonad
August 28th, 2007, 45 Comments
Name: Algonad
Hometown: Algona, IA (Ed's Note: This is where I currently, and begrudgingly, live right now - Andrew)
Town I Currently Live In: Chanhassen, MN
Profession: Finance
Bats: Poorly
Throws: Equally poorly
Positions: 2B, OF
Greatest Career Achievement in Baseball/Softball/T-ball: I think I lead the conference in stolen bases and runs scored but had one [...]
Minimally interesting scheduling fallout
August 28th, 2007, No Comments
Originally, the Twins were scheduled to play a T-Th series with the Indians, but thanks to a bunch of snow outs between the Mariners and the Indians way back in April, the series was moved to M-W. This alone wouldn't really have changed anything, but the (completely understandable) Twins-Royals postponement gave the Twins a [...]
If at first you don’t succeed…hey look over there!
August 28th, 2007, 6 Comments
I have a hard time giving up on slim odds (in case you haven't noticed yet), so after tonight's game I went browsing around for a pick-me-up. One nearly surefire way to cheer myself up is to go catch up on Pat Neshek's blog. Because he doesn't have a regular posting schedule, I [...]
Series Preview in Blog: Cleveland Indians (8/27-8/29)
August 27th, 2007, 9 Comments
Minnesota Twins (67-63) @ Cleveland Indians (72-57)
The Twins come off their four-game sweep of Baltimore heading into Cleveland to face the first-place Indians. The Indians just finished a 6-3 road trip, winning two of three from Tampa, Detroit, and Kansas City. Recently the Indians have struggled a bit at home, going 7-14 since [...]
Assorted Twins Thoughts
August 27th, 2007, 28 Comments
- Four-game sweep! We must have made up a bunch of ground in the push for the playoffs! What's that? Still six games behind Cleveland in the loss column?
One of the problems with being six games behind is that you generally have to hope for other teams to fall apart. [...]
Catching Up
August 24th, 2007, 38 Comments
Well folks, I'm back from the circus...err...wedding. What have I missed?
- The Twins went 4-3 in my absence--rather fitting for a .500 team, don't you think?
- What's wrong with Johan? Wait, nothing's wrong? Sounds like a good answer to me.
- For the most part, the offense struggled and the pitching did alright--especially [...]
Better Know A Citizen - Banjo
August 23rd, 2007, 39 Comments
Name: Banjo
Hometown: Hoyt Lakes, MN
Town I Currently Live In: Minneapolis, MN
Profession: Small Business Owner
Bats: L
Throws: L
Positions: 1st Base, Right Field
Greatest Career Achievement in Baseball/Softball/T-ball: I was HBP 13 times in Cadets, the equivalent of Little League and took a high, infield fly ball on the noggin. (That might explain [...]
Sharks vs. Piranhas Part III
August 21st, 2007, 10 Comments
Hi, I'm Greek House! You may remember me from such posts as Sharks vs. Piranhas Parts I and II. I am also the author of the best selling book "Guppieball: The Art of Leaving Runners on Base".
The 3rd part of the series deals with what happens when our two teams slump. I [...]
Great Moments in Enhanced Gameday History - 19 Aug 2007, Johan’s 17 K’s
August 19th, 2007, 24 Comments
In honor of El Presidente's career-high and club record 17 strikeouts, I present to you each and everyone one in order. Enjoy.
#1 - Brad Wilkerson. 2nd out of the 1st inning
Better Know A Citizen - Beau
August 16th, 2007, 74 Comments
Name: Beau
Hometown: Coon Rapids, MN
Town I Currently Live In: Buffalo, MN
Profession: Director of Social Services in a nursing home
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Positions: First base, catcher
Greatest Career Achievement in Baseball/Softball/T-ball: My last year in AAA (12 years old), we were playing in the final regular season game, one we needed to win to win the division. We were facing the champion of the other division (a team we’d later lose to in the tournament championship). In the top of the final inning, we were down 4-3 with two outs and runners on 2nd and 3rd. I worked the count to 0-2, before lacing a double over the center fielder’s head. We held on to win 5-4 and take the division.
Great Moments in Enhanced Gameday History - 15 Aug 2007, pre-ejection
August 15th, 2007, 12 Comments
The two "strikeouts" prior to Gardy's ejection...
Gold Stars
August 15th, 2007, 16 Comments
- Gold star to Bartlett for hitting like a shark today. 3 K's and 2 XBH (including a HR.) I was not expecting that.
- Gold star to Punto (!) for not sliding into first base in the second inning. Sure he did lots of other stuff wrong, but perhaps this will start [...]
Better Know A Citizen - Aaron Gleeman
August 14th, 2007, 42 Comments
Name: Aaron Gleeman
Hometown: St. Paul, Minnesota
Town I Currently Live In: Minnetonka, Minnesota
Profession: Hand model
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Positions: Second Base
Greatest Career Achievement in Baseball/Softball/T-ball: I once got beaned in the forehead by a pitch, dropped into an unconscious heap at home plate, woke up to a couple dozen people standing [...]
Game Notes
August 14th, 2007, 25 Comments
In a few hours, this will be overshadowed by what is certain to be a more entertaining feature, but here I go anyway...
1) No joke, this was the image presented to baseball fans at Safeco in the second inning:
Rondell White
I'm not sure if that was supposed to be a mistake or a suggestion. [...]
Great Moments in Enhanced Gameday History - 13 Aug 2007, inning 4
August 13th, 2007, 6 Comments
Pitch #7 - the captions write themselves.
Scott Baker Home Runs
August 13th, 2007, 13 Comments
Is Baker leaving the ball up? Let's let gameday be the judge of that. Graphics after the jump.
Series Preview in Blog: Seattle Mariners (8/13-8/15)
August 13th, 2007, 8 Comments
Minnesota Twins (58-59) @ Seattle Mariners (65-50)
The Twins continue their death march road trip with a three game series in Seattle. Thus far they are 1-5 on this trip, and have dipped below the .500 mark for the first time in quite a while. The Mariners on the other hand return home after [...]
Sharks vs. Piranhas Part II
August 12th, 2007, 17 Comments
For any of you who have not yet read part I of the story, I recommend reading it first. I won't bother to reintroduct the two teams here, so you will need to at least look at part I before reading this. I had intended to include slumps in part 2, but in [...]
First Pitch Swinging
August 11th, 2007, 8 Comments
Much has been made lately of whether or not Joe Mauer should be swinging more often at the first pitch. To get kind of a hold on this, I looked at the best hitters for average in the AL and the NL, and I checked how often they swing at the first pitch (thanks [...]
Series Preview in Blog: Los Angeles Angels (8/10-8/12)
August 10th, 2007, 8 Comments
All right, here we go, a series preview from the end of dinner (burgers, corn on the cob, and pineapple straight off the grill) before the end of the game tonight. That way it's still kosher as a preview, right? Thank goodness they're on the west coast so I get the cushion of [...]
1-0 Games
August 10th, 2007, 3 Comments
Inspired by AMR's recent comment and the Twins' recent offensive output, I decided to look into 1-0 games. What follows is a table sorted by total number of 1-0 games in 2007. The W column lists 1-0 wins and the L column lists 0-1 losses.
TEAM
W
L
Total
MIN
2
4
6
CLE
2
4
6
SDN
5
0
5
KCA
2
2
4
LAN
0
4
4
SFN
1
3
4
BOS
3
1
4
CIN
3
0
3
ARI
2
1
3
OAK
1
2
3
CHN
1
2
3
TOR
3
0
3
PIT
0
2
2
NYN
2
0
2
DET
2
0
2
FLO
0
1
1
BAL
1
0
1
ANA
0
1
1
HOU
1
0
1
WAS
0
1
1
TBA
0
1
1
PHI
0
1
1
SEA
0
1
1
COL
0
0
0
CHA
0
0
0
SLN
0
0
0
MIL
0
0
0
TEX
0
0
0
ATL
0
0
0
NYA
0
0
0
I certainly didn't expect to see Cleveland in the [...]
Sharks vs. Piranhas Part I
August 9th, 2007, 33 Comments
I always find it funny when old timers talk about "small ball" and "doing the little things" as an efficient way to win baseball games. I found it even funnier when Ozzie Guillen used to talk about how his hitters needed to stop hitting so many home runs and start doing better situational hitting--as [...]
Lollapalooza 2007
August 9th, 2007, 14 Comments
I just got back from Lollapalooza yesterday night. The two girls who invited me are huge music people, so I wasn't really sure if I would get the same level of enjoyment out of it. I'm a music person, but with my bad knees and ankles I'm not so much of a concert [...]
Early Cy Young Voting Primer
August 9th, 2007, 16 Comments
Your candidates:
Javier Vazquez
Tim Wakefield
Jose Contreras
Fausto Carmona
Joe Blanton
Jeremy Bonderman
Chien-Ming Wang
Nate Robertson
Dustin McGowan
Paul Byrd
and the incomparable Kyle Davies.
Just remember, sometimes it's not who you face, it's when you face them.
Better Know A Citizen - ubelmann
August 9th, 2007, 65 Comments
Name: Herr Ubelmann von Ubel
Hometown: Lake Crystal, MN
Town I Currently Live In: Seattle, WA
Profession: Physics Grad Student
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Positions: Super-futility
Greatest Career Achievement in Baseball/Softball/T-ball: Certainly nothing special. I think the play I remember most fondly is playing catcher in a slowpitch rec league and tagging two [...]
Baseball Digest magazine cover (1991-12) - “Who Says Baseball is a Game for Softies?” (Shane Mack/Dan Gladden)
August 9th, 2007, 4 Comments
[contributed by: Rhubarb_Runner]
Baseball Digest magazine cover - June 1992
"Who Says Baseball is a Game for Softies?"
The Dreaded Gleeman Cover Curse
August 8th, 2007, 7 Comments
Right after Aaron profiled Buscher, he lands on the DL with an infected leg.
Brian Buscher’s right leg infection worsened on Wednesday, so he’s been sent to the Twin Cities to be hospitalized. He’ll be hooked up to an i.v. so he can get medicine in him to attack the infection.
I'm no doctor, but that doesn't [...]
