Last night, _elm_n hit his 7th homerun of the season, and his 5th of the month of August. For starters, here is the game in which each home run was hit [number of games since previous games in brackets]
Game 4: April 12
Game 46: June 20
ame 51: July 3
Game 67 Auggust 9
Game 68 Augus 11
Game 72 August 16
Game 74 August 18
Game 4: April 12 [--]
Game 46: June 20 [42]
Game 51: July 3 [5]
Game 67: August 9 [16]
Game 68: August 11 [0]
Game 72: August 16 [4]
Game 74: August 18 [2]
As you can see, the home runs have come with more frequency as of late. Here's his line since home run #4 on August 9th:
BA
OBP
SLG
OPS
0.281
0.382
0.750
1.132
With 3 doubles, 4 home runs, and 10 RBI. 10 RBI is 27.7% of his total for the year (36), in just 10.8% of GP.
For comparison, his overall 2009 and overall career numbers, respectively:
2009
BA
OBP
SLG
OPS
0.265
0.292
0.388
0.680
Career
BA
OBP
SLG
OPS
0.288
0.321
0.409
0.730
I'll leave it to greater statistical minds than myself to delve further into the advanced numbers. But since August 9th, he's been hitting decently well it would seem. Hopefully this either:
a) Keeps up and he becomes a useful member of the offense, or
b) Keeps up long enough to increase his trade value a bit.
ok, another "almost" request. Andrew was looking for an Oak Ridge Boys cover of the White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army". I couldn't hit that target, but this is pretty bitchin'.
and, after the break, a cover of "Seven Nation Army" from the Flaming Lips
Minnesota Twins: 9-11, 2nd game in current homestand (0-1)
Tampa Bay: 8-12, 8th game on current road trip (3-4)
Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
First pitch: 7:10 PM CT
Probable Pitchers
Francisco Liriano: 0-4, 7.06 ERA, 5.45 xFIP
James Shields: 2-2, 3.67 ERA, 4.76 xFIP
Liriano's last game
Last time Liriano pitched was the night game of a day-night doubleheader in Boston, necessitated by a rain-out the previous night [Game Log]. He gave up 7 runs, all earned, on just 4 hits over 4 innings pitched. Liriano walked 4 batters while striking out 6. Guerrier, Ayala, and Mijares combined to pitch 1-hit baseball over the remaining 4 innings. [Box Score]
Sheilds vs. The Twins
Shields is 1-1 with a 6.26 ERA in four career starts against the Twins and went 0-0 with a 6.35 ERA in two 2008 starts; he is 0-1 with a 7.71 ERA in two career starts at the Metrodome. [Citation]
Twins and scoring runs
At this point in the season, the Twins have a record of 9-11. The Twins are averaging a mere 1.72 R/G in their losses, while scoring 6.88 R/G in their wins. On the other side of things, the Twins are allowing 7.18 R/G in there losses, and only 3.44 R/G in their wins. Obviously, this is to be taken with the standard "SSS" disclaimer. With only 20 games there is plenty of room for statistical oddities, but everyone knows scoring more than you allow is how you win ballgames.
Name: Kelly SBG Monkier: Spookymilk Hometown: Blue Earth, Minnesota Town I Currently Live In: Yakima, Washington. It’s on the less exciting side of the state. Profession: Professional actor and screenwriter. I have an IMDb page as of a few months ago, but it’s pretty lean at the moment. There’s a lot coming down the pipe in 2009/2010. Bats: Switch, extremely poorly. Throws: Right Positions: Third Base. I was quite good at it. Greatest Career Achievement in Baseball/Softball/T-ball: As a hitter, I hit my only home run against Mapleton, and the bases were loaded (we won by 12, but whatever). As a fielder, there are a lot, but I got to start a triple play once in fifth grade, which is hard as hell to do with such short baselines. Click here to continue reading Better Know A Citizen – Spookymilk...
For Monday games*, the Twins will sell HR Porch tickets at the same price as the DOW. For example, if the DOW closes Friday between 7,000-7,999, then tickets will be $7.
Doug Glanville has been writing guest pieces for the NY Times, and I was lucky enough to across this article the other day. He discusses being a baseball player and how and to what extent it defined him. I haven't been able to shake his thoughts from my head. How do we as people define who we are? The question has been slowly mulling in my head for a few days now, and I'm not able to satisfactorily answer yet. I wasn't expecting a existential blindsiding from Doug Glanville of all people.
Name: Ben SBG Moniker: Gutzon Hometown: Minneapolis, MN Town I Currently Live In: Minneapolis, MN Profession: Student teaching/semipro brass musician/barista Bats: Right Throws: Right Positions: In order of competence - 3B, 2B, C Greatest Career Achievement in Baseball/Softball/T-ball: Leading off and going 3 for 3 with two 2B, a walk, and four runs in my first Little League game. Career-wise, things went downhill from there. Hobbies: Trombone, reading, baseball, tasty food and beverages What are you known for around the WGOM? - I'm not sure what I have a reputation for...skulking around the game threads after games, maybe? Click here to continue reading Better Know A Citizen – Gutzon...
Last Wednesday, I met up with Will Young (no relation to Delmon) in Chicago to see the USA take on Trinidad & Tobago in a qualifier for the 2010 World Cup. Â The car I was in got to Toyota Park about 15 minutes after the parking lot opened. Â We were about the 10th car there. Â We immediately got our table and grill set up and cracked a few beers. Click here to continue reading SBG Field Trips: USA vs. Trinidad & Tobago World Cup Qualifier...
SBG Moniker:Yickit Name: Eric Hometown: Fargo, North Dakota Town I Currently Live In: Washington, DC Profession: I hope to be a lawyer soon. Bats: Right Throws: Right Positions: First, Third, Left Greatest Career Achievement in Baseball/Softball/T-ball: Intentionally pegging a batter in a Wiffle Ball game over the Fourth of July comes to mind, probably because of the fight/argument that came next. I guess that's why drinking and baseball don't mix. Hobbies: Procrastinating, Reading, Running. What are you known for around the WGOM? I hope I'm not known for anything. If you could have a nice, polite dinner with any 3 people - dead or alive - who and why? John Marshall, Teddy Roosevelt, Andrew Jackson. I'd want leadership and professional advice, and to see if history's take on these individuals is close to the mark. And an exclusive book deal. Maybe a the rights to produce HBO mini series on each. If you could pick any 3 people - again, dead or alive - to go out and party (or if you're not the party type, go for martini's or whatever it is you do) who and why? Colin Farrell, Russell Crowe, and Sidney Ponson. Apparently I find bar fights, telephone throwing, and drinking an entertaining way to spend an evening. Sports Allegiances: Twins, Vikes, Drake Bulldogs, and I guess the Nationals too (Out of proximity). Favorite Books: Coach, Armageddon in Retrospect, anything Hemingway, The Fountainhead, Anthem, 1984, Oedipus, Chaucer, Samuel Beckett, White Nights, Billy Bud, LOTR, Arabian Nights, Crime and Punishment, Rhetoric, Anied, The Odyssey, Crime and Punishment, Without Remorse, Debt of Honor, Into Thin Air, Rainbow Six, Happy Days, Slaughter House 5, Catch-22, Closing Time, The Stranger, A Man Without A Country Favorite Music: NFG, Taking Back Sunday, Dredg, The Starting Line, The Academy Is, Finch, Smashing Pumpkins, Jimmy Eat World Favorite Baseball Movie: Black Irish Favorite Non-baseball Movie: Vertigo Favorite Food & Drink: Reuben, Coke Favorite TV Show(s):Scrubs, Robot Chicken, Nova, The Secret Life Of ___, Man v. Wild, Deadliest Catch Favorite Twins Player, historically: Rod Carew, and more recently Puck, Shane Mack and Radke. Favorite Twins Player, currently: Neshek, but basically the entire team (Even Mike Lamb: I admire his angst beard). Best Twins Memory: Witnessing Delmon Young's first home run for the Twins in Chicago. One of the only high points of that series. Favorite Sport to Play: Is javelin a sport? Probably football. Favorite Sport to Watch: Baseball. If I was commissioner for a day, I'd: Move the Pirates to Fargo. They'd be more popular there. Or for laughs I'd contract the Angels, Yankees, And Bo Sox. If I had Bill Smith's job I'd: Fire Terry Ryan. And make sure the Twins new stadium gets named Land O' Lakes. Favorite Ballpark: Camden Yard Favorite blogs: I read around 100 a day in google reader, but my favorite Twins blogs are WGOM, Gleeman, LENIII, and The Curse of Big Papi. Will Young went to GW in DC. Does that make you friend or foe? Well I generally like Twins fans, but I generally dislike GW students. Tough call. I don't know Will personally but I can predict whether or not we could be friends based on DC bars. If WYoung hung out at McFadden's we are clearly enemies; if his bar of choice was The Big Hunt we could be friends. Any other bars or no bars at all, then we're frenemies. 100 Blogs & quite the book list - how do you find that much time to read? Caffeine. Were you ever at the Knapp Center way back with Quantel Murphy and Lonnie Randolph? I definitely was at the Knapp Center way back then. The Bulldogs did not win, but then I don't remember winning a basketball game at home until we beat Iowa. That win erased all the past frustration. I'm sure its a much different atmosphere at the home games now. Did you ever think the Bulldogs would make it to the NCAA Tournament? Yes, although I was hoping it would have been while I was still attending Drake. Drake going to the dance the year after I graduated was unfortunate, although it was fun being the only Drake fan in Virginia, where everyone for an unknown reason was rooting for Western Kentucky. Until Drake lost. On a buzzer beater. That part sucked.
Name: First Time Long Time, on the internet or Tedd Getman in person. Hometown: Buffalo, NY Town I Currently Live In: Buffalo, NY Profession: Business guy. Bats: Righty. After an ill-fated attempt to become a switch hitter. Throws: Right Positions: Catcher. Greatest Career Achievement in Baseball/Softball/T-ball: No one memory stands out. I made a lot of all-star teams because I had "heart". I guess I was sort of like the David Eckstein of the little league circuit. Hobbies: Watching/Reading/Writing about baseball. Also, any, and everything Buffalo related. Oh, and booze. What are you known for around the WGOM? Taking up game thread space arguing who has the best wings in Buffalo. If you could have a nice, polite dinner with any 3 people - dead or alive - who and why? Michael Schur of FireJoeMorgan/Office fame. I think that he may be the funniest person writing now-a-days. I would love to invite Delmon Young to dinner and ask him why he swings at every first pitch. I cannot do this while drinking because I might become a little too aggressive, and I think that he could, and would, beat me up. Lastly, I would invite Keith Law. Mr. Law combined with Mr. Schur would convince Delmon Young that he should take a few more pitches and maybe to quit swinging down on the ball. Law through Sabermatics and Schur through humor. Also, Keith Law seems to be quite the accomplished cook. If you could pick any 3 people - again, dead or alive - to go out and party (or if you're not the party type, go for martini's or whatever it is you do) who and why? My first choice is someone that I am sure only "Meat" will know. His name is Rick Jeanneret and he is the Buffalo Sabres play by play announcer. If you don't know who he is please, youtube him right now. He makes every game more enjoyable. Also, I am pretty sure that he is drunk ALL OF THE TIME. Secondly, I would have to choose Mary Louise Parker of Weeds/West Wing fame. I am just sort of in love with her and I think that if I got her drunk enough that she might talk to me. Lastly, I think that I would choose Craig Finn from the Hold Steady. He writes about getting drunk and loves the Twins. This way I would have someone to drink whiskey with and talk about baseball. Also, if it was just Craig Finn, Rick Jeanerett, Mary Louise Parker, and I hanging out, well, I would have to think that I was the best looking guy around and Ms. Parker might be a little tipsy.... Favorite Books: A Fan's Notes by Fredrick Exley. Favorite Music: Broken Social Scene, Beulah, and The Hold Steady Favorite Baseball Movie: Field of Dreams. Favorite Non-baseball Movie:Manhattan/Shawshank Favorite Food & Drink: Beef on Weck/ Jameson and water Favorite TV Show(s):The Wire. Favorite Twins Player: Kirby Favorite Twins Player, currently: Joe Mauer Best Twins Memory: Johan's 17K game last season. I went there alone on my last day of my yearly vacation to the Metrodome. I got there at 11:15 to ensure that I would get my Gary Gaetti bobble head doll. I had a grandmother and her 7 year old grandson sitting next to me and during the game I kept turning to the kid and telling him how special this game was. I even have my scorecard framed in my office. I still wish Gardy would have given him the chance for 20. Favorite Sport to Play: Bocce Ball, is that a sport? Favorite Sport to Watch: Baseball If I could live anywhere in the world, I'd live in: Buffalo, NY, or Minneapolis. If I was commissioner for a day, I'd: Allow teams to trade draft picks. It is an antiquated idea to think that this would hurt small market teams. If I had Bill Smith's job I'd: Trade anyone over 30 that any team would take. Favorite Ballpark: PNC Favorite blogs: Joe Posnanski, FireJoeMorgan, WGOM. How does a native Buffalonian come to like the Twins? With there being no major league baseball in Buffalo I was pretty much a bandwagon fan for the first couple years of my life. My first team was the Pirates. At the time Buffalo was Pittsburgh's farm team so it made sense. Then I drifted towards the A's of the Bash Brothers. Strangely enough though, my favorite played was Terry Steinbach. Then the '91 World Series happened. That sort of changed everything. Call me bandwagon if you will, but I have stayed the course. And for someone living in Buffalo who has no real connection to the team, well, lets just say it wasn't always easy. What kind of hockey career did you have growing up? Nothing formal. I was always a baseball kid first. We certainly played street hockey every chance we had, but never anything organized I too am Jameson man. Have you ever made a trip to the distillery? I have not. Any vacation money is for baseball trips. I am not going to make it to Minneapolis this year but I have tickets for a Twins/Jays in Toronto and I am going to make it down to Yankee stadium for a game later this month. As a catcher from the NE - Thurman Munson or Carlton Fisk? I will answer this question from a solely historical perspective as I sort of can't stand the Yankees or the Sox. To make my decision I will look at the "Similar Batters" feature on baseball reference. Fisk= Johnny Bench. Munson= Carlos Baerga. Yeah, I think I will go with Fisk.
Hey everyone. Here are some pictures from this weekend's convention. I posted these in kind of a rush. I haven't had a chance to tweak them in Photoshop yet, so some of the pictures are a little dark. I'll re-post them when I have a chance to clean them up. Also, I know I have pictures of New Guy and Greenmachine somewhere too, so I'll make sure they get up.
Our picnic spot SBG snagged for us. It wasn't his first choice, but it turned out to be an excellent spot.
Well, the Second Annual SBG Convention is now history. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. We had a beautiful day in the park, a pretty good turnout and a nice Twins win.
I got to Minnehaha Falls Park early in the morning so that I could claim a spot. There were a couple of choice spots that were already taken, but I was able to snag a decent spot, albeit one that was a ways away from the parking lot. All that meant really, was that trips to the car to get stuff took a little longer.
Andrew and his friend Q were the first to arrive. Our guy Andrew ran a 5K Saturday morning, and they came over to the Park from there. Then, my right hand man on the Convention, Banjo showed up and we started cooking. Pretty soon, the other people showed up and we had a nice picnic. Folks were talking baseball, visiting in general and having a good time. BabySBG was there, and most folks got to "hear" what a fish said. Folks got a chance to meet the inimitable ubelmann. I didn't get a chance to talk to him as much as I would have liked, but that's okay. It was fun to actually met him and put a face to all the writings.
Will Young brought a delicious birthday cake in honor of Sheenie, his wife and SBG Nation citizen and Andrew, both of whom were celebrating birthdays that day. I was not celebrating my birthday, but I enjoyed the cake nonetheless.
It seemed like the day just flew by. I think we could have started the thing at 12 Noon and people would still have been reluctant to head out at 5 PM. But, we had to get to the game. So, off we went. The game itself was fast moving, with very little offense until the Twins exploded for six runs in the seventh inning. New Guy made a number of predictions, and I'm pretty sure all of them came true. Ha!
John Bonnes, AKA, "The Twins Geek" stopped by at the game and gave us all free copies of his wonderful "Game Day" program. Thanks, John.
All in all, it was a fun day. I got to spend some time talking with pretty much everyone, which was cool. Anytime you get to talk Twins with the likes of Aaron, Seth, Nick and all the rest of the guys is a good time. Thanks to everyone who came to the Convention and thanks to Banjo for all your help. It was a fun time. Hopefully, next year's convention will be even better.
Andrew said months ago: Dick Prall is a terrific musician who is starting to get noticed in big ways - Paste Magazine and Starbucks both. I've met him and he's a really cool guy to boot. "The Cornflakes Song" is a breakup song, which at the risk of sounding a bit girly, really has helped me lately. "B & W" is about a serial killer. They're both from his latest album, "Weightless", for which I did (uncredited) consulting work on the album art.
Wolves lose again by 22, Kevin Love down to 17 minutes. This is the worst possible situation for the Wolves. They are driving what is left of their fan base with a tremendous stretch of terrible basketball. Their best, or second-best, player has checked out and is getting buried on the bench. I doubt that Love is in their long term plans. How's that O.J. Mayo deal looking now?
davidwatts wrote: I was very disappointed that the Mankato CBS station went to the Marquette game instead of sticking to the UNI game
and my bracket is done blown up!
meat wrote: Cc to Andrew: I'm suddenly going to be in Dublin for a short weekend this summer (late June), any suggestions would be good as to where to stay / eat drink / be Irish.
spookymilk wrote: Boy oh boy, would most of those references be lost on my...let's call them …
twayn wrote: Danke! Bummer that there's no radio for Friday's game with the Mets.
Slowey vs. Johan.
Klawitter wrote: Working in Century City. Living for the moment in Westwood, at least until I sell my place in DC this spring and move everything.
New Britain Bo wrote: How's this for script idea:
At a planning session for an … a committee of twelve Indians (4 dot, 4 feather, 4 West) hires a crack director to run their event. He shows up at…
DK wrote: I missed this earlier today since I was apparently too busy … in the Nightmare thread, but I'd be down with this too. In fact, I'd probably be willing to contribute to coverage.
Milt on Tilt wrote: I'm picking up my puppy tomorrow. I couldn't be more excited.
spookymilk wrote: Oh, and Rhu: one of my challenges in this week's Survivor game was to do a six-word evaluation of Lew Zealand. These were the … flinger never flounders for puns.
Better than Belladonna with fish…
hungry joe wrote: i wasn't planning on going out, but two heavies from my company were in town, and they took me out for a crazy night (got home at 2, and i've been hating life most of…
spookymilk wrote: I instantly love the person who took that photo, hungry man.
I'm sitting here drinking Bass; yesterday I went the nostalgia route with my St. Pat's choice, opting for a drink that reminded me of college…
spookymilk wrote: To be fair, drama is kind of the world I live in. I'm prone to exaggeration. Plus, I'm drunk because this script is making me tense and I needed to take the edge…
Milt on Tilt wrote: Yeah, man. I wouldn't "disregard" it either, because it was truly a horrifying move.
Oh come now. That's just being completely over dramatic.
Milt on Tilt wrote: O-Cab lead the majors in Outs as a batter in 2009. Call me … Jimmy Rollins actually did. But Cabrera was second, and first in the AL. Even so. I could use that same…
nibbish wrote: I don't know what to make of it. On one hand, Cabrera was made of suck. On the other, any shortstop we put in there was going to.
I'd have to side with DK and…
spookymilk wrote: Yeah, man. I wouldn't "disregard" it either, because it was truly a horrifying move. 0-Cab cleared the bases for the team's best hitter over and over. I know it's nice to remember…
DK wrote: O-Cab was a baseball band-aid over a severed limb. Acting like doing that was a "victory" is what seems foolish to me.
brianS wrote: I dunno. But we're not really talking about a legal argument so much as an ethical one, I think.
Moss wrote: The old "you can't have your coke and snort it too" … can't get a conviction on a … test...and is possession of any amount of coke a felony??
Andrew 
August 19, 2009, at 6:05 am 
6 LTEs - (Sorry, but the time to add LTEs has expired) 
Andrew, Delmon Young, Guest Writers, _elm_n 
Name: Kelly
Recent Letters to the Editor
In Response to Cup of Coffee: March 18, 2010,
brianS wrote: Yea, Marquette did me no favors.
davidwatts wrote: I was very disappointed that the Mankato CBS station went to the Marquette game instead of sticking to the UNI game and my bracket is done blown up!
meat wrote: Cc to Andrew: I'm suddenly going to be in Dublin for a short weekend this summer (late June), any suggestions would be good as to where to stay / eat drink / be Irish.
spookymilk wrote: Boy oh boy, would most of those references be lost on my...let's call them …
twayn wrote: Danke! Bummer that there's no radio for Friday's game with the Mets. Slowey vs. Johan.
Klawitter wrote: Working in Century City. Living for the moment in Westwood, at least until I sell my place in DC this spring and move everything.
New Britain Bo wrote: How's this for script idea: At a planning session for an … a committee of twelve Indians (4 dot, 4 feather, 4 West) hires a crack director to run their event. He shows up at…
DK wrote: I missed this earlier today since I was apparently too busy … in the Nightmare thread, but I'd be down with this too. In fact, I'd probably be willing to contribute to coverage.
Milt on Tilt wrote: I'm picking up my puppy tomorrow. I couldn't be more excited.
spookymilk wrote: Oh, and Rhu: one of my challenges in this week's Survivor game was to do a six-word evaluation of Lew Zealand. These were the … flinger never flounders for puns. Better than Belladonna with fish…
In Response to Nightmares at WGOMville,
hungry joe wrote: i wasn't planning on going out, but two heavies from my company were in town, and they took me out for a crazy night (got home at 2, and i've been hating life most of…
spookymilk wrote: I instantly love the person who took that photo, hungry man. I'm sitting here drinking Bass; yesterday I went the nostalgia route with my St. Pat's choice, opting for a drink that reminded me of college…
hungry joe wrote:
Milt on Tilt wrote: hehe. Beer.
spookymilk wrote: To be fair, drama is kind of the world I live in. I'm prone to exaggeration. Plus, I'm drunk because this script is making me tense and I needed to take the edge…
Milt on Tilt wrote: Yeah, man. I wouldn't "disregard" it either, because it was truly a horrifying move. Oh come now. That's just being completely over dramatic.
Milt on Tilt wrote: O-Cab lead the majors in Outs as a batter in 2009. Call me … Jimmy Rollins actually did. But Cabrera was second, and first in the AL. Even so. I could use that same…
nibbish wrote: I don't know what to make of it. On one hand, Cabrera was made of suck. On the other, any shortstop we put in there was going to. I'd have to side with DK and…
spookymilk wrote: Yeah, man. I wouldn't "disregard" it either, because it was truly a horrifying move. 0-Cab cleared the bases for the team's best hitter over and over. I know it's nice to remember…
DK wrote: O-Cab was a baseball band-aid over a severed limb. Acting like doing that was a "victory" is what seems foolish to me.
In Response to Luna - 23 Minutes In Brussels (Tell Me Do You Miss Me),
E-6 wrote: Love me some Luna.
In Response to Cup of Coffee: March 17, 2010,
brianS wrote: I dunno. But we're not really talking about a legal argument so much as an ethical one, I think.
Moss wrote: The old "you can't have your coke and snort it too" … can't get a conviction on a … test...and is possession of any amount of coke a felony??
hungry joe wrote: tell me about it...
brianS wrote: It is hard to consume if you do not possess.