Bad Brad Radke

After Kevin Tapani and Scott Erickson were traded away during the 1995 season, Brad Radke became the Twins' ace and retained that title for the next eight season. While he does not have overpowering stuff (but does have a great changeup), he was at least 10 percent better than league average in every year from 1996-2001. Last season, injuries played a great deal in hurting his counting stats, but he pitched well in three postseason starts (but what was he trying to do by getting in the way of all those pop-ups in the first inning of Game 1 vs. Oakland?!). Sadly, this year he has been hittable at times and abysmal at others. Thus far in 2003, Radke has a 3.27 ERA in eight starts on the road and a 7.58 ERA in ten starts at home. The solution - start him more on the road!!!

Ok, maybe that solution was too simplistic, but something very unusual is apparent in those splits. Smarter men than myself have probably attempted to explain what is happening, but I have yet to see an answer that I find satisfactory. Basically, it all boils down to bad luck. Oh ya, and giving up twice as many homeruns at home also hurts a little bit. However, because he is pitching so well on the road, there is little reason to believe that he cannot solve his problems at home. However, until he does solve these problems he should no longer be referred to as The Ace™ of the Twins.

I remember back in 1996 there was a commercial for World Series Baseball on Sega Genesis which featured a conga line of Cleveland Indians rounding the bases while Radke was on the mound. It probably is not the image you want to give to others, but it was funny nonetheless since Radke did lead the league in homeruns allowed the previous year. Since that time, I cannot remember a single other Radke commercial so maybe he felt a little guilty about that first one and pledged to never make another one again. I also remember attending his Major League debut and sitting down the aisle from about six or seven people from his family. When a beerman walked by, one of them tried to order a beer only to find out that the beerman was selling MooseHead Beer rather than Budweiser. His response, "Moose Who? Send Wally over here!"

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