(Note: I scheduled this last night shortly after the game was called, simply cutting and pasting last night's non-game log. In the event the pitching matchups get effed, sorry for the lack of relevance)
Well, here we are. My final game log, barring a (very possible) one game playoff.
It doesn't seem right that the Twins could lead the season series 9-5, clinch the season series with just one win, but still fall way short of the division. But here we are, needing three or four wins from a team we've beaten up on so far.
Three or four wins for the Tigers will clinch the division for them, and a split will probably do enough damage to get the job done. Three Twins wins will tie, and a Twins sweep would probably get the job done for the hometown nine. The pitching matchups seem to favor the Twins in the final two games, and the Tigers easily in tomorrow's Duensing-Verlander tilt. Tonight, one of the greatest young arms to come along in years will appear. So will Rick Porcello!
I have a lot of fun with Ol' Blackie, but really, the two pitchers aren't markedly dissimilar at this stage, and Blackburn does seem to come up with his best results when there's something big on the line (run support notwithstanding). Certainly, Blackburn will have to be good tonight. I don't want to get all StatFreak/national media on you and call this a "must win," but if the Twins lose the opener while staring Justin Verlander in the face, this could get messy in a rush.
The Twins' offense has clicked exceptionally well of late when not facing one of the world's best pitchers, and they need to click tonight. Porcello is a righty, but has almost no platoon split. Rather than analyze it further, I'll just hope the guy's hung over or tired or in a bad mood.
Well, here we are. My final game log, barring a (very possible) one game playoff.
It doesn't seem right that the Twins could lead the season series 9-5, clinch the season series with just one win, but still fall way short of the division. But here we are, needing three or four wins from a team we've beaten up on so far.
Three or four wins for the Tigers will clinch the division for them, and a split will probably do enough damage to get the job done. Three Twins wins will tie, and a Twins sweep would probably get the job done for the hometown nine. The pitching matchups seem to favor the Twins in the final two games, and the Tigers easily in tomorrow's Duensing-Verlander tilt. Tonight, one of the greatest young arms to come along in years will appear. So will Rick Porcello!
I have a lot of fun with Ol' Blackie, but really, the two pitchers aren't markedly dissimilar at this stage, and Blackburn does seem to come up with his best results when there's something big on the line (run support notwithstanding). Certainly, Blackburn will have to be good tonight. I don't want to get all StatFreak/national media on you and call this a "must win," but if the Twins lose the opener while staring Justin Verlander in the face, this could get messy in a rush.
The Twins' offense has clicked exceptionally well of late when not facing one of the world's best pitchers, and they need to click tonight. Porcello is a righty, but has almost no platoon split. Rather than analyze it further, I'll just hope the guy's hung over or tired or in a bad mood.
I hate the White Sox with every fiber of my being. I hate them so much that any time I try to think of a clever name for them in the game log's title, I only think of curse words and such. It's hard, though, to hate a team that doesn't look much like the one I recall hating for so many years.
The Twins, who can ill afford a loss after last night's clunker, are heading into a city where they've been pretty unsuccessful. At least the Luckiest Man on Earth is pitching, right?
Zero walks for his career! Prepare the Unos, boys; you ain't gettin' on any other way!!!
Hudson, a 22-year-old RHP, is going for his first career decision. It's also his first career start, as his SSS above represents just three relief appearances for the September callup. He's been pushed aggressively; he spent '08 in Rookie ball while he played for four minor league clubs in this year alone (26 starts, 147.1 IP, 166 K, 34 BB). He had success at every stop, all in SSS, of course.
Blackburn, on the other hand, is no enigma. He's a soft pitcher with nice-looking results, provided you don't look too closely.
Last year, Blackburn pitched the most important game of his career at The Cell, and he pitched very well. Still, we could probably stand to score a few runs for him this time, right?
Go Twins. We need every series and every game we can get.
At about this time every year, I start obsessing over the standings. The first teams (in this case, the Orioles and Nationals) are about to fall statistically from division contention and in general, the races are clearing up. This year, the races are clearer than ever, with no particularly close divisional races.
In the NL, the Rockies and Giants are tied for the Wild Card lead and are trailed by 3.5 games by both the Braves and Marlins. The Red Sox lead the AL Wild Card race by the same 3.5 over the Rangers. The closest divisional race, however, is our own (and it looks like it may get a little closer, because as I type this sentence, the Rays lead the Tigers and their amazing late-season acquisition Jarrod Washburn by six runs, still in the first inning. Yay!).
The best news of all is the remaining schedule for our guys, presented chronologically:
HOME: CWS (3)
ROAD: CLE (3), TOR (4)
HOME: OAK (3), CLE (3), DET (3)
ROAD: CWS (3), KCR (3), DET (4)
HOME: KCR (3)
Not all of it is "easy," exactly, but the series that aren't at least manage to put the Twins' destiny into their own hands for the most part. The Toronto series stands out as the toughest thing there, but at least it's followed by a nice homestand. Soooo...howzabout them Tigers (yes, I realize the White Sox are certainly not irrelevant yet, but for our purposes here I'll just include the team we're chasing).
HOME: TBR (1), CLE (3)
ROAD: TBR (3), KCR (3)
HOME: TOR (4), KCR (3)
ROAD: MIN (3), CLE (3), CWS (3)
HOME: MIN (4), CWS (3)
Okay, so granted, it isn't much tougher and doesn't stand out as the kind of schedule that will cost a fisrt-place team a 4.5 game lead, but if you're the team that's chasing, it's those seven head-to-head games that you have to live for.
Today, Nick Blackburn pitches for what seems like the fiftieth time on a Monday this season (note that the Twins have a horrible Monday record...just sayin').
Floyd has always struck me as the White Sox's Blackburn. Well, he obviously manages to strike more guys out, but for the most part he pitches poorly, leaves a lot of guys on base (70.4% to Blackburn's 71%) and has benefitted from a low HR/flyball rate (10.9% for both). Both are guys with decent results but both are just powder kegs waiting to explode. I wouldn't be surprised to see either of them get shelled tonight. Floyd's a righty, so let's say it's going to be him, alright? Plus, the coin flip dictated that this series will be in Minneapolis. It's stupid that such important games would be decided by coin flip, but it's my understanding that this is how sports work.
This might be a lot of words to spend on a team whose playoff hopes are fairly slim, but this thing isn't over yet, and with any luck, I'll be spending a similar amount of words on them a week from now. Go Twins!
Nick already got ruffed up once in the last 7 days; it'd be a nice time for his smoke and mirrors via his deal witht he devil to reappear today. LEN3, Rick Anderson, and Blackbeard have all mentioned that Nick "corrected" a "mechanical flaw" in his bullpen session this week. I guess we'll have to wait for today's game, but don't color me optimistic. We all know how hittable Nick is, but then again shouldn't expect blow outs every week, should we?
A clear illustration of the Twins' season to date. Note the giant vortex of suck at the center. It only seems like a shining light at the end of the tunnel. In fact, that is the glow of horrific screams of energy being thrown off as historically superior seasons by Twins' stars are thrown down the bottomless pit of a black hole. Hubble just thinks this is a picture of NGC-1097.
Now that I've established the tone, here is today's matchup. OH MY FREAKING GOD! THIS IS A MORNING GAME. EARLY MORNING. First pitch is scheduled for 11:05 a.m. Central, 9:05 a.m. Pacific. I guess Seligula wants to get this one over with before anyone notices it is being played.
Probables:
Nick "Past Due Date" Blackburn (8-5, 3.83 ERA, 4.80 tRA, 4.31 FIP, 4.98 xFIP, 58:30 K:BB, 138.67 innings)
Fausto "Yea, I used to be good too" Carmona (2-6, 7.13 ERA, 6.72 tRA, 6.03 FIP, 5.58 xFIP, 37:45 K:BB, 65.67 innings)
Good lord. Hide the women and children. In his last start against the Twins (June 4), Carmona gave up 7 runs on 5 hits (2 HR) and 3 BBs in all of two innings. How did the Injuns ever decide to bring Fausto back from AAA this year? Granted, he racked up a 27:6 K:BB ratio in 33 innings there, along with a slightly-better-than-league-average 4.31 tRA. But he has been gawd-awful with the big club. If he has a bright side, he still is a ground ball-inducing machine (55 pct of batted balls). To be fair, which I am not, today marks just his second appearance in the Majors since June 4 (the first being last friday's 5 inning, 101-pitch outing -- 4 hits, 4 walks, 2 runs), as the Hostiles sent him down to "work on his mechanics," by which I think they meant "learn how to do oil changes." But -13.2 pRAA!!!! His season makes Grady Sizemore's fall from SI-fellated grace (230/328/439) seem MVP-worthy by comparison. His season has been so bad, it almost makes me forget about
Nick Blackburn!! Did you know that Darling Nicky has managed all of SEVEN strikeouts in his last four starts (106 PA) combined? Sorry, ubes. I didn't mean to start you swearing so early in the morning. Seriously, seven Ks combined in four starts. It's probably no coinkadink that he's only managed 22.3 innings while giving up 40 hits and 21 runs in that stretch. Opponents accumulated a ridiculous 392/396/618 line against him (11 doubles and 4 HRs).
Needless to say, I'll be in meetings all morning. Have fun storming the castle.
Minnesota: 47-45, 2 GB, AL Central Win3: .531
Oakland: 38-52, 14 GB, AL West Win3: .476
The Twins head to Oakland for a three game series with the A's. The Twins have won five straight road series, after beginning the season 1-8-1 in road series. The Twins have been swept in three road series -- a pair of two games and one excruciating four gamer That Shall Not Be Further Discussed. With all five of those three game series wins, though, the Twins have won exactly two games. This would be a nice series to break that string and come away with three wins. That would mean a win tonight. The Twins are a much better club than Oakland. Asserting that superiority would be nice.
Blackburn hasn't pitched as well as his results (8-4, 3.06 ERA) suggest, but it's pretty hard to argue with the idea that he's been a work horse. Blackburn is on a pace for well over 200 innings. He's thrown complete games in three of his last five starts. A certain color commentator has to be pleased with that.
Gonzalez has only pitched 24 innings, so I'm not going to talk about his numbers so much. I will tell you that Gonzalez is a left hander with a pretty good strikeout rate (10.4 K/9) and a huge reverse split. Again, small sample size. Gonzalez is 23 years old, drafted in the first round by the ChiSux in 2004. He was traded by the White Sox twice -- the first time in the Thome trade with the Phillies. The Phillies traded him back to Chicago with Gavin Floyd for Freddy Garcia. The White Sox then sent him to Oakland in the Nick Swisher deal. So, he was traded three times before he made the majors.
Mauer is apparently out of the lineup tonight, so go ahead, Gardy! Put Casilla in the two hole again!
Hope every one had a great Fourth of July. What a series so far. Makes it hard to pay attention to friends and family during a series like this. How good had Justin Morneau been lately? In the last week he's hit .440 with 4 home runs and 9 RBIs. The Twins will be going for their fourth straight series win today against the Tigers. Seems like Sunday games always involve a rubber match. Mauer, the Dude, and the Mountie are all lined up against Porcello.
Game Time: 1:10 CDT
Pitchers:
Twins - Nick "Johnny" Blackburn (6-4) tRA+102; WAR 1.2; 4.98 xFIP
Tigers - Porcello (8-5) tRA+ 84; WAR 0.2; 4.38 xFIP
The Twins have one win on Monday this year. May 4th. One. Thirty-nine victories, and these clowns have a single Monday win. Here are the Twins' records going into my Game Logs:
April 13th: 3-4
April 27th: 9-10
May 4th: 12-13
May 18th: 18-20
May 25: 22-23
June 8th: 28-30
June 20th: 35-34
June 29th: 39-38
I know that would work for any day of the week, really, but there you have it: not a single one of them is as far as three games off of .500. So what's the deal? Are the Twins really under their heads, or can they be penciled in for 81 wins? Or, and I'm just reaching here, are the Twins maybe just a reliever or two away from being runaway favorites in this division?
The good news lately is that the Twins have been performing on the road. Probably the best way to keep up a trend like that is to visit Kaufmann stadium and the inexplicable preseason darlings the Kansas City Royals. Even better: do it against right-handed Luke Hochevar.
RHP Nick Blackburn ERA 3.11; xFIP 4.99 RHP Luke Hochevar ERA 5.87; xFIP 4.91
Huh. I knew those xFIPs would bring these guys closer together, but I didn't realize they'd leapfrog. But because Blackburn leads Hochevar in LOB percentage - 74% to 54.5% - that does tend to muddy the picture a bit.
Despite the hilarious 41 Ks in 101 innings for Blackburn, he's found plenty of success in 2009 thanks to giving up just seven homeruns and managing a Slugging Against of .385. Unsustainable? I keep saying so to my wife, and she keeps laughing and pointing. Nah, I'm just kidding...my wife doesn't love me enough to watch baseball with me.
Anyway, the further you dig into Blackburn's stat package, the more you figure the guy has a deal with the devil. It doesn't necessarily look like the bottom drops out tonight, what with the Royals being the lowest-scoring team in the AL. Still, whenever Nick's on the mound, I wonder.
Hochevar's numbers suggest he's a lot better than he looks, but now that everyone's sufficiently depressed, I'll back off.
Besides, it's Harmon Killebrew's birthday, so the Twins own this one! It's not like he ever played for the Royals or anything. ...right?
Pitching matchup: Zach Duke (7-4, 3.10 ERA, 4.36 tRA, 4.18 FIP, 4.43 xFIP, 47:21 K:BB in 93 innings) vs. Nick Blackburn (5-2, 3.31 ERA, 4.85 tRA, 4.22 FIP, 5.00 xFIP, 37:24 K:BB in 84 1/3 innings)
This is a matchup of two very similar pitchers, both in style and outcomes. Mirror images, almost, what with Duke being a soft-tossing lefty. Sir Duke throws a fastball that has averaged just under 89 mph (per pitch f/x), a mid-70s curve, low-80s changeup and, according to pitch f/x, the rare splitter (mid-80s). He gets a high-but-not-spectacular rate of ground balls (45 pct this year, 46 pct last year), doesn't miss many bats and keeps the ball in the park (6 pct HR/BIA this year; 5.6 pct last year). If there is one unsustainable thing in his record this year, it would be an unexpectedly low BABIP (.269, compared to .315 last year and .375 in 2007).
Looking at his pitch f/x location distribution, he works both sides of the plate pretty effectively. When he misses the zone, he misses low more often than not. So the Twins' announcers should like him -- he keeps the ball down.
Blackburn relies on a low-90s fastball (92 avg in pitch f/x), mid-70s curve and mid-80s splitter, with the fastball and splitter in near-equal proportions. Like Duke, he has demonstrated a reproduce-able level of grounders (46 pct this year, 44 pct last), misses few bats and keeps the ball in the park (4.55 pct HR/BIA this year, 6.3 pct last).
If there is a difference, it might be that Blackburn has a tiny bit more margin for error, thanks to his average fastball, compared to Duke's AAAA-average one. But Duke has slightly better control.
After a laugher and a reverse-laugher in the first two games of this set, expect a plodding, GIDP-filled early afternoon in this one. There should be plenty baserunners, just not a lot of hot action. Don't expect a palate cleanser from yesterday's mess so much as a tongue scraping.
2:35 CDT start (according to Yahoo Sports. PLEASE tell me I read that correctly, for a change). Radio only in this businessman's special, getaway game.
Cahill, 21, is yet another rookie pitcher for the As. Drafted out of high school, he wasted little time in the minors, making the club in spring training this year after never pitching in AAA. His track record in the minors was that of a power-pitching (264:97 K:BB with 23 WP in 238 1/3 innings over Rookie, Low-A, High-A and AA), ground-ball inducing (57-64 pct) machine.
So far in the Majors, he's seemed a bit overmatched. His GB pct is still pretty high (48), but Major League hitters aren't so impressed with his stuff. Whereas the AA hitters he faced last year struck out swinging 17.6 pct of the time, the big boys are registering swinging K's at only an 8 pct clip. His BABIP is a modest .269, so it's not as though there's much evidence that he's been unlucky so far. He's just having more trouble keeping the ball on the ground (27.1 pct fly balls, compared to 17.8 pct in AA) and in the park (8 pct HR/BIA, compared to 6.5 pct in AA).
Our darlin' Nicky continues to lead a charmed life, as demonstrated by the monster gap between his ERA and his xFIP. Blackburn misses few bats (10.5 pct Ks, in line with his track record), but is decent at keeping the ball on the ground (47 pct GB, only 4.3 pct HR/BIA to date). His SLGA to date is an impressive, if probably unsustainable .388 (last year: .441).
The Mausoleum is a very forgiving venue for fly ball pitchers, with its large apron and soul-deadening power alleys. But this is a matchup between two right-handed, ground-ball heavy pitchers. I expect to see a lot of double-play opportunities for both teams. And about 12 hits among Mauer, Morneau and Kubel.
Probable Starters:
Nick Blackburn (4-2, 3.55 ERA, 1.36 WHIP ) vs. Matt Garza (4-3, 3.65 ERA, 1.13 WHIP )
In case you haven't noticed, the Twins in general and Joe Mauer in particular have had a pretty good month of May. Mauer has 11 home runs and 32 RBI on the month, the first time in history a Twins player has accomplished that feat. He's hit .417 with a .500 OBP this month.
As a team, the Twins are hitting .285 in May, best in the AL, and their 273 hits rank second only to Tampa Bay's 275. The Twins have hit 40 home runs in May, second in the AL to the Yankees, who have 44. You would think that all that offense would have given the team a winning record in May, but you would be wrong. In baseball and comedy, timing is everything.
It would have been nice to get some of those hits and homers in a more timely fashion, as the Twins have lost 16 games in May while winning just 13, and of their 16 losses, 10 of them have been by one or two runs. So far the magic number for the Twins appears to be 5. When scoring five or more runs, the Twins win more than half the time. When scoring less than 5 runs, they lose at an alarming rate. But when they score 8 or more runs in a game, they have yet to lose.
In the fun exotic stat category, I notice that Joe Mauer has an OWn% of .907. Offensive Winning percentage tells you how often a team would win with 9 of a particular player batting in the lineup, assuming league average pitching and defense by the other team. So if you stock your batting order with nine Joe Mauers, you will win about nine out of every ten games. With Justin Morneau, you win at a .790 clip. With Michael Cuddyer, .585. With Jason Kubel, .645. And if you had 9 Delmon Youngs batting, you would win at just a .158 rate.
Let's take a look at today's momentum. In his last start, Blackburn struck out a career high seven batters against a tough Boston lineup while giving up just one earned run. In Garza's last start, he gave up three home runs but just two other hits and also struck out seven. What does it all mean? Who knows, but if I had to give the ball to somebody on this team to stop a three game losing streak, Blackburn would be one of my top two choices right now.
First off, let me say Joe Mauer is better than Babe Ruth, Seabiscut, really good beer, and a weekday off from work combined. I was going to start throwing around some numbers today to show the historical significance of what he is doing right now but socal beat me to the punch. After that I thought that maybe I could write a piece about how Joe Mauer makes me feel like I am an eight year old girl and reminds me exactly why I love baseball in the first palace. But then Joe Posnanski had to go and do that. So here I am without anything to write about. And sadly, I don't have the time to come up with a new idea or the patience that would be required to do research on such a topic.
I do have one additional thought on Mauer's performance as of late; this, right now, is better than Santana's prime to me. After Johan was dialed in, striking out batter after batter, we had to wait four more days before we could see him do it again. With Mauer, each day is a new adventure. If Baby Jebus does something out of this world, like hitting a 2 run, pinch hit, home run in the bottom of the ninth, we only have to wait 24 more hours to see what he would be up to next. We are watching something special right now.
Six-game losing streak? Meh. No biggie. I lived through 2006. Below-average offense? Hey, we are better than the Royals, and they are in first second place! Worst ERA+ in the league and pitchers not missing bats? Umm, Houston? Got a Rule 5 you can send us?
Actually, I feel pretty good about today's game. It's International Pitch Like a Pirate Day! (and no, I'm not talking about Ian Snell or Jeff Karstens) Our man Blackie is gonna burn his way through that ChiSox lineup, baby! And I can just feel offensive movement coming against Colon -- or is that the burrito I had last night?
Game time: 1:05 PM Central
Radio: TRN
Pitching Matchup
Nick Blackburn (2-2, 4.38 ERA, 115 tRA+, 23:14 K:BB in 49.3 innings) for the Twins
Bartolo Colón (2-3, 4.21 ERA, 115 tRA+, 25:14 K:BB in 32 innings) for the ChiSox
The Sox have now won 10 of their last 11 vs. the Twins at the Cell, which is getting pathetic. Yahoo tells us that the Sox entered this series last in the league in runs per game, next to last in BA and coming off an eight-game stretch in which they hit .208. And yet, they have scored thirteen runs the last two games. I'd like to think that the season performance is more indicative of their true offense (think Skanberg). So, with an even-steven pitching matchup, advantage to our boys, right? Right?
A colleague of mine who is a big sports guy (primarily college) read Top Jimmy's column and told me that the Twins should trade Joe Mauer. What do I take from that? Joe's demands are large enough that some of the more casual fans are starting to get turned off by him.
Beau wrote: Joe Cocker -- With A Little Help From My … Rich -- The Most Beautiful Girl
Dar Williams -- You Rise And Meet The Day
Johnny Cash -- Home Of The Blues
Gin Blossoms -- Til I Hear…
davidwatts wrote: 'Glory Days' - Bruce Springsteen Born in the USA
'Bang on the Drum All Day' - Todd Rundgren
'If God Will Send His Angels' - U2 … - The Beatles The White … Contradiction' - Green Day…
hungry joe wrote: i had a full component stereo system, but it was also starting to collect dust. amp, equalizer, cd, tape, record player, and some real decent speakers i picked up real cheap. when the…
Jeff A wrote: Nice to know Gordo and Dazzle are in mid-season form.
brianS wrote: I fully expected that tweet to have been stuttered.
Rhubarb_Runner wrote: We were on our way back to our hotel thinking that we sure did well going to the Tuesday game instead of tonight's. Now, wonder if our flight gets home tomorrow night out of…
meat wrote: Is anyone paying attention to Gordo and DazzL?
Gordo "I don't know.....well, I don't know if fireworks will work in rain like this"
DazzL "Sure they will"
Gordo "uh.....well. Uh."
Me "you guys must be loaded"
Moss wrote: Is there a state-tax component to the deferred money strategy? Maybe after the player retires and settles in Fla., then he's not paying state tax in every state where he plays games (and effectively, pays…
frightwig wrote: I think it depends on the racist. Some may look at Vlad and never get past the dark skin. But some people do have one set of feelings about American-born blacks and a different set…
frightwig wrote: Craig Calcaterra writes:
"There are likely a dozen black kids playing second string safety for second tier college football programs who would have been ten times the ballplayer than the out-machines on your favorite team's…
brianS wrote: No, 'wig. I'm saying that your argument is plausible. It's just that the evidence is ... sketchy, for a hard-to-prove allegation.
somehow, however, I'm thinking that your typical racist doesn't draw too fine a distinction…
frightwig wrote: If management is going to act on racist bases, the first place you would expect it to affect a roster would be the least valuable spots -- low-leverage utility players ("Scrufis" if you will).
I agree.…
brianS wrote: What, exactly, is the problem with MLB signing Latin kids to contracts? Isn't that the way markets are supposed to work? To the degree that factors of production are mobile, we should expect those factors…
brianS wrote: fw:
I have no doubt that racism persists in some quarters of baseball's … hierarchy.
I guess you've picked the softest underbelly here. If management is going to act on racist bases, the first place you…
frightwig wrote: OK, so a few of the top Latin American prospects, besides Cubans, now are getting something like 1st round bonus money. This is a new development, right? And are kids like Sano the exception or…
frightwig wrote: Washington didn't get his foothold in the majors until he was 29-30, and also didn't have much of a career after the Twins released him. Two 6th place teams gave him some playing time in…
September 29, 2009, at 10:00 am 
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Zach Duke (7-4, 3.10 ERA, 4.36 tRA, 4.18 FIP, 4.43 xFIP, 47:21 K:BB in 93 innings) vs.
Nick Blackburn (5-2, 3.31 ERA, 4.85 tRA, 4.22 FIP, 5.00 xFIP, 37:24 K:BB in 84 1/3 innings)
Six-game losing streak? Meh. No biggie. I lived through 2006. Below-average offense? Hey, we are better than the Royals, and they are in 
Recent Letters to the Editor
In Response to Music Day,
Beau wrote: Joe Cocker -- With A Little Help From My … Rich -- The Most Beautiful Girl Dar Williams -- You Rise And Meet The Day Johnny Cash -- Home Of The Blues Gin Blossoms -- Til I Hear…
davidwatts wrote: 'Glory Days' - Bruce Springsteen Born in the USA 'Bang on the Drum All Day' - Todd Rundgren 'If God Will Send His Angels' - U2 … - The Beatles The White … Contradiction' - Green Day…
hungry joe wrote: i had a full component stereo system, but it was also starting to collect dust. amp, equalizer, cd, tape, record player, and some real decent speakers i picked up real cheap. when the…
In Response to Cup of Coffee: March 11, 2010,
Jeff A wrote: Nice to know Gordo and Dazzle are in mid-season form.
brianS wrote: I fully expected that tweet to have been stuttered.
Rhubarb_Runner wrote: We were on our way back to our hotel thinking that we sure did well going to the Tuesday game instead of tonight's. Now, wonder if our flight gets home tomorrow night out of…
meat wrote: Is anyone paying attention to Gordo and DazzL? Gordo "I don't know.....well, I don't know if fireworks will work in rain like this" DazzL "Sure they will" Gordo "uh.....well. Uh." Me "you guys must be loaded"
UncleWalt wrote: Win/win!
Rhubarb_Runner wrote: btw, it's "icky" weather here tonight. Even worse tomorrow.
cheaptoy wrote: I am eagerly anticipating the Dugout's 2010 Twin's Spring Training chat.
cheaptoy wrote: So.... you're suggestion is to cut _elm_n and give that money to Joe? I'm on board!
meat wrote: Where do I line up to take issue?
Moss wrote: Is there a state-tax component to the deferred money strategy? Maybe after the player retires and settles in Fla., then he's not paying state tax in every state where he plays games (and effectively, pays…
In Response to Cup of Coffee: March 10, 2010,
frightwig wrote: I think it depends on the racist. Some may look at Vlad and never get past the dark skin. But some people do have one set of feelings about American-born blacks and a different set…
frightwig wrote: Craig Calcaterra writes: "There are likely a dozen black kids playing second string safety for second tier college football programs who would have been ten times the ballplayer than the out-machines on your favorite team's…
brianS wrote: No, 'wig. I'm saying that your argument is plausible. It's just that the evidence is ... sketchy, for a hard-to-prove allegation. somehow, however, I'm thinking that your typical racist doesn't draw too fine a distinction…
frightwig wrote: If management is going to act on racist bases, the first place you would expect it to affect a roster would be the least valuable spots -- low-leverage utility players ("Scrufis" if you will). I agree.…
brianS wrote: What, exactly, is the problem with MLB signing Latin kids to contracts? Isn't that the way markets are supposed to work? To the degree that factors of production are mobile, we should expect those factors…
brianS wrote: fw: I have no doubt that racism persists in some quarters of baseball's … hierarchy. I guess you've picked the softest underbelly here. If management is going to act on racist bases, the first place you…
frightwig wrote: OK, so a few of the top Latin American prospects, besides Cubans, now are getting something like 1st round bonus money. This is a new development, right? And are kids like Sano the exception or…
frightwig wrote: Washington didn't get his foothold in the majors until he was 29-30, and also didn't have much of a career after the Twins released him. Two 6th place teams gave him some playing time in…
In Response to Frank Sinatra and Antônio Carlos Jobim -- Girl From Ipanema,
frightwig wrote: The album they did together is really special, too.
brianS wrote: That's how it's done.
In Response to Pat Neshek is the Greatest Thing since Sliced Bread!,
Rhubarb_Runner wrote: btw, I meant to mention that I've seen high schoolers that looked older than Danny Rams. Light Rail almost looks older.
In Response to Post-Oscar Review,
Moss wrote: Much obliged, CH!