Detroit Tigers at Chicago White Sox
September 29, 2008
MINNEAPOLIS – There was dark talk in the Twin Cities, grumbling at water coolers and in watering holes and wire chatter on the newfangled Web logs of which the youngsters are so enamored these days. Those unencumbered by allegiance to the scrappy Minnesota club could reasonably assume those [...]

I took the second bus instead of the first one, allowing me to sleep until 5:30. On the way to the bus station, I heard Corey Cove on KFAN state that he wanted the White Sox to win because of the drama. Everyone is entitled to their opinion (even that dumbass), but I'm [...]

Justin Verlander (xFIP 4.64)
Scott Baker (xFIP 4.20)
I usually try to write my game logs during the Twins Thursday night games. So I sat down in the one corner of my apartment that gets free wireless, opened up a pack of cigarettes, cracked a cold one, and cranked up the Hold Steady, while getting ready to [...]

Results of the Roadtrip
At Angels: 2-2
At Mariners: 1-2
At A's: 2-2
At Blue Jays: 0-3
_________________
Total: 5-9, 0.321 WP
Before the road trip, SBG posted a poll asking how we felt the Twins would do. I, like most, chose that 7-8 wins would be alright. After a split with the team with the best record in the [...]

Verlander and Blackburn on the mound.

Light Rail vs. Robertson
If he had enough innings to qualify for the ERA title, Baker's 3.67 xFIP would be 8th in the AL. Not too shabby.
Maybe the whole "Christmas in July" thing on Thursday got to me, or maybe it's because 10am (PT) start times make day games that much more annoying, but it [...]

Perkins vs. Galarraga
First off, in honor of yesterday's game, I'd just like to say Joe Nathan >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Todd Jones.
Next, I'll mention that Glen Perkins is still sporting a pretty good walk rate of 2.1 BB/G. I'm still not willing to completely dismiss the shaky control he had in the minors, but it's not [...]

Slowey vs. Rogers
More day baseball in an attempt to completely halt the nation's economy.
Things more surprising to me than the outcome of yesterday's game:
This last Sunday, I found out while playing cards that one of my friends had never heard the Kenny Rogers classic "The Gambler." But don't worry, I've reported this suspicious behavior [...]

Bonine v. Blackburn

Robertson v. Light Rail
Last night's loss was certainly a tough one, but it's a long season, Citizens, hang in there.
2008 VORP for Twins acquired in offseason trades:
3.5 -- Delmon Young
1.2 -- Carlos Gomez
0.3 -- Brendan Harris
-0.8 -- Craig Monroe
2008 VORP for Tigers acquired in offseason trades:
17.2 -- Miguel Cabrera
6.2 -- Edgar Renteria
-6.4 -- Dontrelle Willis
-7.6 [...]

Galarraga vs. Perkins
I'm back from my trip now--my forehead a little worse for the wear--but of course that means I have some catching up to do. I'm a little disappointed that the White Sox beat the Dodgers and that I missed the historic game Saturday night (which I was originally planning on attending until [...]

Gotta love a good night of sleep. I went to bed at 10:30 last night and my wife was in bed reading magazines. She was more than a little disgusted with me as she wanted to continue to read those rags right there. I calmly informed her that she could read them [...]

Ah, crap.
I put together a post on tonight's game this morning, but the WGOM gremlins must have eaten it for lunch. Here's a few seconds on the game tonight.
Nate Robertson (1-5, 6.08) has been a lot better than those numbers. His FIP is barely over 4.00 and his xFIP is about 4.25. [...]

In case you hadn’t noticed, the last couple of introductions to the Game Logs have been, well, brief. ubelmann contacted me to let me know that he’d be on vacation for a while and so things have been quiet. I thought I’d, you know, actually pitch in and add some content to this [...]

Kenny Rogers vs. Boof
At the moment, I have two thoughts:
1) Being in first place is nice, regardless of how long it lasts.
2) Kenny Rogers 2003 reminds me of Kyle Lohse 2008. (Expected multi-year deal, nothing doing on that front, signed contract in the middle of spring training, figure to be a league [...]

Justin Verlander vs. Scott Baker
I've been making Verlander/Baker comparisons for as long as I can remember knowing about both players, even if no one seems to care at times. But here I go again (on my own/goin' down the only road I've ever known/like a drifter I was born to walk alone?):
10.3 K/9, 2.0 [...]

Livan Hernandez vs. Armando Galarraga
I'm not sure exactly what to make of Galarraga. On one hand, it took him forever to get out of Rookie/A-ball, but he had a pretty decent year last year between AA/AAA, and it wasn't like he was super old for that level. His overall peripherals in the minors [...]