posted on September 23, 2004
How I Ended Up This Way
When I was a young child, I was extremely blessed. Despite the
crappy play of the Minnesota Twins, my parents annually bought
season tickets right behind home plate. Tim Teufel was my
first favorite player, I knew how to yell, "KIRRRRRRRBY PUCKETT!",
and, most importantly, I learned how to score baseball games before
I even knew how to spell most two-syllable words.
In fact, Kent Hrbek's father-in-law routinely came down to check my
scorebook. He told my parents and I that he felt mine was more
accurate than anybody else's nearby. Of course, it never
dawned on me that he simply had to walk up four or five rows to
check with Tom Mee, the official scorer, for the accurate
report. However, it was a pretty cool treat for a youngster
such as myself.
As a two-year old youngster, I was brought to glove day by my father
(my brother Steve had likely just been born and was being watched at
home by my mother). My father soon discovered that he was
facing quite dilemma. You see, there was absolutely no way
that he could possibly sneak me past the gloves without stopping to
let me get one. However, he also had no idea which glove he
should pick up.
He had to scan his memory for any instance of me throwing baby-food,
a diaper or Cheerios. Unfortunately, his database can up empty
and he had to make an important decision. He suddenly
remembered that he had seen me do something left-handed. He
could not really remember if I held a spoon left-handed when I was
learning how to eat canned fruit. Or maybe I used my left-hand
while I was writing on the wall with a green crayon. Either
way, he knew that I was left-handed.
Apparently, my father made the correct choice because I was
preoccupied with my new glove throughout the game. It seemed
to be a natural fit, and my father had averted a crisis - at least
until he got home. That was when my mother, upon seeing that
my father had made a decision that would ultimately lead to me
getting beat up in junior high, never having a girlfriend and
rebelling against their authority by forming a punk band named "Fast
Eddie G" after a certain future Twins pitcher.
Basically, my mother took one look at me and my new toy and
announced, "I am not raising a left-handed child." However, it
was too late for the glove to be hidden. Its existence had
already been imprinted on my brain. To this day, the sole
reason I throw with my left-hand is probably because of that one
fateful decision. After all, I write and eat with my right
hand.
Because of the Twins, my father made a decision that increased my
chances of becoming a Major League player by about fifty percent as
a LOOGY (as a Left-handed One Out GuY). In the end, the Twins
had a direct influence on an unusual aspect of my life. Now, I
am curious. In what bizarre way has the team affected your
life?
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posted on September 22, 2004
Nibbling Around and Firing Gas
Throughout the course of the season, I will type many things and
cover many themes. Perhaps the most frequent topic of
discussion on my blog has been the performance bullpen this season.
Prior to the start of the year, the bullpen was expected to be one
of the team's weaknesses because of the defections of LaTroy Hawkins
and Eddie Guardado. Instead, Juan Rincon and Joe Nathan have
been as solid this season as Eddie G and The Hawk were in the past
two years. In addition, solid contributions from J.C. Romero,
Jesse Crain, Grant Balfour and Joa Roa all combined to form one of
the best bullpens in the Majors.
The fine work by the bullpen is one of the reasons that I am much
more optimistic about the team's potential to go deep into
postseason play this year compared to last season. Of course,
games like the one played last night will cause me to rethink my
entire outlook.
After another disappointing start by Kyle Lohse, J.C. Romero entered
the game with a two-run lead in the seventh inning. By the
time he left, the bases were loaded and he had not allowed a hit.
While an error definitely hurt him, he should not be walking two
batters with a two run lead. Challenge the hitters!
Jesse Crain then entered the game with the bases loaded and promptly
allowed a grand slam. After a string of great appearances by
Crain, he has now pitched poorly in two straight games. On the
bright side, Grant Balfour pitched a scoreless inning without having
his shoulder come flying out of socket.
While the Twins' bullpen has the potential to carry the team through
the playoffs, it is necessary for the second-tier pitchers (those
not named Nathan or Rincon) to pitch effectively. All of these
guys throw hard fastballs and all except Jesse Crain strike out a
batter per inning pitched. Therefore, they need to come in
firing and make the other team connect to do some damage. I
hate to see J.C. Romero nibbling around the corners, but that might
be the defining sight during the Twins' playoff run.
Also, I spent a few more hours today working on the new look for
this page. I am hoping that I will have it completed (or at
least in a form that I like) within a week.
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posted on September 21, 2004
AL Central Division Champions
Last night, the Twins defeated the loquacious Mark Buehrle and the
Chicago White Sox 8-2 and clinched the American League Central
Division for the third straight season. The team powered their
way to victory using homeruns for the second straight game.
Corey Koskie, making up for the loss of fellow Canadian Justin
Morneau, provided the Northern Explosion.
At the same time, two Venezuelans, Luis Rivas and Henry Blanco
overcame physical difficulties to hit homeruns. Rivas, of
course, is playing without his two big toenails. Blanco, on
the other hand, is playing with the equally challenging handicap of
a budding mullet.
Torii Hunter completed the homerun assault despite being from the
United States and despite no longer a physical deformity after the
removal of his braces last winter.
Michael Phelps Torii Hunter and Cuddy Bear soak
up the division title
The players unite to protect themselves from the rabid, shirtless
and tattooed fans from the South Side of Chicago
Corey Koskie daily routine includes the application of an entire
glacier to his bruised and battered body parts. Unfortunately,
after having this jug of water dumped on himself, Koskie broke right
his fibula and four phalanges
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posted on September 20, 2004
A Look at the Lefty
Johan Santana's pretty good. Of course, you already knew that.
Therefore, I am going to write about a lesser known left-handed
pitcher on the Twins staff.
Joe Beimel, unlike Cy Santana, sucks. He has pitched in three
games as a Twin and has allowed at least two runs in each of them.
He has allowed ten base runners while recording just FIVE outs.
You read that correctly. He allows as many base runners to
record five outs as Johan allows while pitching eleven innings!
In fact, Joe Beimel entered his last game with an ERA of 36.00 and
raised it! He has both walked and struck out two batters.
In all, he has faced 15 men, and two-thirds of them have reached
base. Not only that, but after removing the two walks and two
strikeouts and one homerun (the three balls that did not end up in
play), he has allowed seven hits in ten plate appearances.
Basically, seventy percent of balls that are hit into play turn into
hits against him. Obviously, this is just a ridiculously small
sample size. Obviously, he has pitched in some bad luck (I
think even I could get four out of ten balls hit into play turned
into outs). Obviously, he's not going to pitch any meaningful
innings.
Well, to what can we attribute his putrid performance? Is he
Joe Mays in disguise and pitching with his non-surgically repaired
arm? Did he hit on Pat Borders' daughter causing the catcher
to tell the batter every pitch that was coming? Was he trying
to make Twins fans as sick as Ron Gardenhire? Why, you may
ask, does he suck this much?
The answer is simple: his full name is Joseph Ronald Beimel.
Count the letters in each of those names. Yes, I am pretty
sure that Joe Beimel is actually the spawn of Satan.
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posted on September 17, 2004
Pity, Not Hatred
I realized a few weeks ago that I no longer hate the White Sox.
Instead, the emotion I feel is more like pity. After all, it
takes a lot to be so clueless as to continue to talk trash long
finishing behind the Twins for the fourth straight season.
At the same time, they did suffer from some unfortunate injuries.
Frank Thomas, who was having an excellent year, and Magglio Ordonez,
who was having a down year, both hold their lineup together.
Without those two players, the White Sox are forced to rely on the
inconsistent Paul Konerko and the maddening Carlos Lee as the glue.
Not only did injuries hurt the White Sox, but they traded their best
prospect and a solid, young catcher to Seattle in an attempt to
reach the playoffs this year. Now that their gamble has
obviously failed, they are looking to be in a much worse situation
in the long run.
In the past three games, the White Sox had a chance to reclaim some
dignity for their season. It was extremely unlikely that they
would be able to catch the Twins, but a sweep, or even winning two
games at the Metrodome, would have helped their morale.
Instead, they were absolutely destroyed in all facets of the game.
The Twins beat them by a combined 26-4 while listening as the White
Sox had the gall to continue to rip on the Twins.
I honestly do not know what more the Twins can do to Chicago.
Every year the Twins end up ahead of them in the standings.
After surging last September to outpace the White Sox, the Twins
were the main reason that Jerry Manuel was fired as their manager.
In addition, Chicago is allowed to hang around the race just long
enough to think that they actually have a chance. This
persuades them into trading away all of their prospects and keeps
them from ever actually taking a step forward. The White Sox
were geared to make their move this year because a lot of players
are old and leaving after the season. Now the White Sox will
have to rebuild on the fly, without their top prospects, while
looking up at the Twins and Indians who have already retooled their
teams.
In short, it is going to be a few years before the White Sox matter
again. However, what's a few years to the franchise that has
not won a World Series since 1917?
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posted on September 16, 2004
Short and Sweet
Last night, Carlos Silva tried to stake a claim to the third starter
spot on the Twins playoff roster. He pitched 5.1 shutout
innings before exiting the game after being hit on the ankle with a
line drive. His groundball-to-fly ball ratio was 12:2 which is
exactly what we expected at the start of the season.
In his two seasons in Philadelphia, Carlos Silva had groundball-to-fly
ball
ratios of 2.38:1 and 1.97:1. This season, it has decreased
over twenty percent to 1.59:1. I have no idea if this trend
means anything, and I'm going to stop talking about it before one of
you guys gets the bright idea to ask me to explain it.
In other news, the Twins dropped their Magic Number to six with
another demoralizing defeat of Chicago. Is it just me is there
a nearly perfect correlation between the amount of whining and
trash-talking the White Sox spew out and the number of poor
defensive plays they make in an individual game?
Jesse Crain continued his fine work out of the bullpen and the game
was a pretty much an easy win for the Twins. I'm getting more
and more excited about this team's chances in October. Plus,
any time your favorite team has a winning streak higher than its
magic number, it is definitely a good day.
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posted on September 15, 2004
The Twins, Fargo style
Last night at midnight, I suddenly was compelled to watch Fargo.
Thus, during the time I normally spend updating this site, I was in
the other room. Afterwards, I quickly fell asleep. Now
that I am awake again, I'm going to update this page, and tie in
Fargo at the same time.
"Well, but see, I don't have 'em in front a me. Why don't I
just fax you over a copy."
Jerry Lundegaard desperately wants to hide the serial numbers of the
cars he used as collateral to secure a loan. He goes out of
his way to blur and distort the numbers all while leading the man
investigating the loan on as long as possible. This closely
parallels the current Joe Mauer situation.
According to the Twins, Mauer is getting healthy and should return
soon. In addition, there was not any additional damage to his
leg. This whole rest occurred simply because of overuse after
his initial return from surgery. I do not want to be a
skeptic, but the Twins story is just not adding up.
"Well, look, I don't want to cut you out of the loop, but this
here's a good deal. I assume, if you're not interested, you
won't mind if we move on it independently."
To Doug Mientkiewicz, Justin Morneau was going to be the first
baseman of the future. He's cheaper and has a much higher
offensive ceiling that you, while your defense is fantastic but not
particularly useful. You could either tag along for the ride,
or be completely cut out from the team. You chose, through
your words and actions, to split from the team and the Twins went
ahead and "moved independently".
"You're not a C student. And yet you're getting C grades.
It's this disparity there that concerns your dad and me."
Kyle Lohse definitely has the talent to be an above-average starter
in the Major Leagues. In 2002 and 2003 he was practically the
definition of league average. However, he was still not even
twenty-five years old, so there was room for a lot of improvement.
This year, however, he has taken a step back. He's got the
potential to be much more, but there is a disparity between his
potential and performance that seems to grow every fifth day.
"There's more to life than money, you know."
Like last year, this offseason could be a very interesting for the
Twins. They have many choices to make regarding which players
will return, and which will be allowed to leave. For veterans
who have already earned a lot of money and established roots in the
Twin Cities (Corey Koskie, for example), I hope that money is not
the primary concern in the negotiations. It will be
interesting to see who goes for the most expensive contract, and who
lets other issues decide their location next season.
"I dunno. Just funny-looking."
Obviously, this describes Juan Rincon.
"I was bringin' you this deal for you to loan me the money to put
in. It's my deal here, see?"
Brad Radke wants his wins. There have been several games this
season in which the Twins have lost because Ron Gardenhire did not
pull Brad Radke when he was tiring. After the game, the excuse
was given that Radke deserves to stick around and get the credit for
his win. I'm sorry, Brad, but it is a team game. We all
know how well you have pitches this season, and a few more wins are
not going to change the fact that you have been fantastic.
Just go out there and hold the other team to one or two runs, and do
not worry about the offense.
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posted on September 14, 2004
More About the Bullpen...
Ok, I know that you are getting sick and tired of reading about me
gushing over the Twins bullpen. I suppose I would be gushing
about Johan Santana, but that territory has already been claimed.
Well, today's entry
is about the bullpen once again. I have become more and
more interested in the usage of the bullpen this season because the
Twins have had a plethora of good options and I am curious about who
has been the best. Simply by looking at the
decisions Ron Gardenhire has made during the games, it is easy to
see who he trusts and who he does not.
If you are interested in looking through Gardy's decisions, it would
require you to either selectively choose a few games or waste a lot
of time. However, I've simplified matters for you
considerably. In fact, right
below the Big Board on the left column, you will know notice that I
have added a Bullpen Usage Chart.
This chart was first unveiled on July 31,
but I have now updated it and plan to continue to update it after
every game for the rest of the season. In addition, I'll
create another one solely for the postseason to help see if Ron
Gardenhire gets reliever-wacky in the same way he did in the 2002
ALCS.
If you look, you will see that Ron Gardenhire identified Joe Nathan,
Juan Rincon and J.C. Romero as his three top relievers. This
makes sense because they have been the team's three best relievers.
However, he has done a great job of giving them the highest leverage
innings that were available.
Those three pitchers were the only ones who have spent substantial
time in the bullpen and have a higher frequency of high leverage
innings and appearances than the team average. Also, just take
the time to soak in how absolutely fantastic Joe Nathan has been
this season.
I'm hoping that someone might pass by and be inspired to do a chart
on their favorite team. Of course, that would require a) a
non-Twins fan to read my blog, and b) that person to possess a lot
of free time.
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posted on September 13, 2004
Funneling the Innings
Let's look at four pitchers:
|
|
IP |
H |
ER |
HR |
BB |
K |
ERA |
WHIP |
|
Player A |
202 |
142 |
64 |
24 |
48 |
233 |
2.85 |
0.94 |
|
Player B |
197.2 |
208 |
77 |
21 |
19 |
132 |
3.51 |
1.15 |
|
Player C |
136 |
91 |
33 |
7 |
53 |
166 |
2.18 |
1.06 |
|
Player D |
118.1 |
85 |
36 |
5 |
54 |
114 |
2.74 |
1.18 |
Player A is pretty good. So good, in fact, that he should win
the American League Cy Young Award this season. Of course,
those are the stats that Johan Santana has compiled so far this
season. I think that it is safe to say that he has been
dominant and effective.
Player B is a step down from Santana, but still does a good job of
limiting both runs and base-runners. I'm sure that it is
pretty easy to finger Brad Radke as B.
Now, you may ask... who are players C and D? Both of these
players have been fantastic at striking out batters in bunches and
also have lower ERAs than Johan Santana. Not only that, but
these two pitchers have also kept the ball in the stadium by
combining to allow half as many homeruns as Santana in more innings.
These traits do not seem to fit with any of the starters the Twins
have tried to use to plug the gaping holes in the rest of their
starting rotation. Of course, that is because these pitchers
have not been given a chance to start in the Twins rotation.
Instead, Kyle Lohse has been thrown out onto the mound every fifth
day in his eternal quest to suck more than in his previous start.
Like a theoretical perpetual motion machine, Kyle keeps on churning
poorer and poorer games (although my fingers are crossed that
Saturday's start was the day he finally got himself together).
Anyway, who are these fire-tossing strikeout artists? Well,
Player C is actually the two-headed monster known as Juan Rincon and
Joe Nathan. When you look at their stats, it is pretty clear
to see why they seem so dominant. The simple reason: they seem
that dominant because they are that dominant.
In the playoffs, I am hoping that Santana and Radke can always reach
the seventh inning in their starts. Then, Rincon and Nathan
can trot in to continue the successful pitching.
Player D is another interesting creature. This three-headed
monster hails from three different countries: the Puerto Rican (J.C.
Romero), the Australian (Grant Balfour, and the Canadian (Jesse
Crain). These guys are the Brad Radke to Rincon and Nathan's
Johan Santana. They have been effective, but not as effective
as the really dominant guys.
My vision for these three pitchers is to have them pitching the
sixth and seventh innings in the postseason. They will be
extremely valuable in the games not started by Radke and Santana as
they bridge the gap to the front-tier talent.
If Ron Gardenhire plays his cards right, he should be able to funnel
about seventy-five percent of all the Twins postseason innings to
these seven arms. With Brad Radke representing the "worst" of
these pitchers, I am downright giddy about the Twins' chances to go
deep into October.
Here's the blueprint:
-Santana and Radke: Innings 1 through trouble in the 7th
-Rincon: 8th inning (also the 7th if he has had a couple of days
off)
-Nathan: 9th inning (bail out Rincon in 8th if necessary)
-Romero/Crain/Balfour: 6th and 7th innings
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posted on September 10, 2004
Back from Minnesota
After a quick jaunt home, I am back in the Nation's Capital.
While I was home, I was able to partake in my favorite Minnesota
activity: watching the Twins on cable television. On Sunday, I
enjoyed a visit to the
5-8 Club. Well, I enjoyed eating there, but I did not
particularly enjoy watching Kyle Lohse continue to suck.
Then, on Monday, the Twins continued to go out of their way to not
score runs while I was home. Daniel Cabrera, the same pitcher
I saw the Twins rough up in Camden Yards a month earlier with my own
eyes, held the team to just one run while Terry Mulholland continued
to pitch just well enough to not suck as much as Kyle Lohse.
On Tuesday, the Twins were handcuffed by another young pitcher
before Jorge Julio proved yet again that being a closer does not
necessarily mean that a pitcher is good. After giving up a
long homerun to Cuddy Bear, Julio was ejected for throwing at Augie
Ojeda. Seeing as how Augie Ojeda is Augie Ojeda and not
someone particularly talented, it would have been hilarious if he
had chased Julio all over the place and to have watched Julio turn
and run like Guillermo Mota in 2003 Spring Training.
On Wednesday, I returned flying directly through Hurricane Frances.
It was pretty turbulent. And cool.
Anyway, I did not really see much while I was home that inspired me
with a great deal of confidence regarding October. Of course,
I happened to see the offense completely stop scoring runs while two
of our worst pitchers were on the mound. I'm still not
particularly worried.
In fact, I have taken to pissing off all of my Yankee friends on
campus by telling them that they better not blow the division.
As soon as I remind them four games of Sweet Music Santana and
BRadke await them in the playoffs if they win the AL East, they turn
pretty white. Good times.
I'll be back tomorrow and hopefully have more substance and less
rambling. Thanks for sticking around during my week away.
The website I use for the comments section appears to be down
tonight, so you will not be able to add your thoughts. I guess
that's not such a big deal since I generate about half of the
comments anyway. I promise a switch in the format sometime
soon (hopefully by October, but it might take as long as January
2024...)
posted on September 3, 2004
Biggest Hit of the Season
The Twins are hot. They have won twelve of their past
seventeen games in the second half of the most difficult portion of
their schedule. Now, they can sit back, relax, let the young
kids play, and feast on the Omaha Royals. Well, since rosters
have expanded, I suppose they will now be playing the Wichita
Wranglers, but you get the idea.
After the series against the Wranglers concludes, the Twins return
to Baltimore for the second time this season. Of course, as
luck would have it, the Twins three games in Baltimore are played
during the only three days since April that I will be in Minnesota
rather than forty minutes away from Camden Yards. There is a
word for that, but I am not quite sure what it is. Well,
actually I know what the word is, but I'm doing all in my power not
to quote Alanis Morissette.
In fact, only the only three games the Twins will play against a
team above .500 for the remainder of the regular season are in the
final week against the Yankees. I, for one, would love to have
us play the role of the spoiler as we keep the Yankees out of the
playoffs. Of course, even if we sweep the Yankees, there is
always the possibility (likelihood might be the more appropriate
word), that the Red Sox will promptly allow themselves to be swept
by New York in the final series.
Now that the playoffs are virtually guaranteed, I think it might be
wise to look back on the biggest play of the entire season.
The Twins put away the White Sox in July and I was suddenly
extremely optimistic about the conclusion of the series.
Of course, the Twins promptly went into the tank in order to provide
the requisite amount of excitement to justify showing Twins
highlights in the first half of the worst ESPN show this side of
Sportscenter, Around the Horn, Cold Pizza, NFL Countdown, anything
with Dick Vitale, anything with Stephen A. Smith, anything with
Chris Berman, Dream Job, and Hu$tle. Obviously, I am talking
about Baseball Tonight.
Anyway, I was filled with confusion. From where did these
Indians come?
I was filled with rage. Why don't they stop scoring 172 runs
in the first inning against the Twins?
I was filled with depression. Has a team ever won a division
in which its primary competition could outscore them 212-8 in the
first two games of a three game series?
I was filled with contempt. Terry Mulholland is our best
choice to start the final game of this three game series?
I was filled with impatience. Am I really going to be forced
to endure a two-month pennant chase?
However, one plugged the hole in the dam that was allowing all of
these emotions through. The Twins were, predictably, trailing
the Indians after falling behind in the first inning. In fact,
Chad Durbin had shut out the team for five innings despite allowing
64 base-runners.
The Twins put two men on base with two outs in the sixth inning, and
the inevitability of this latest loss was sinking in. The
Twins were about to be tied with Cleveland for the division lead.
Despite having two runners on base, the bottom third of the Twins
lineup could not put fear into the hearts of the West Richfield
T-Ball All-Stars.
Up to the plate, pinch-hitting for Rob Bowen, stepped Jose Offerman.
The first pitch was blocked in the dirt. The Indians were now
mocking the Twins and showing just how close they were to actually
scoring the run that would never come. Then, after taking a
strike and another ball, Offerman lined the 2-1 pitch. By the
time Matt Lawton picked up the ball, Lew and Corey had already
scored and the leak in the dam had been plugged.
If it was not for Offerman's double, Corey Koskie never would have
had a chance to hit the game-winning homerun in the tenth. The
Indians might not have lost every game for the rest of the week.
The Twins might not be cruising to the AL Central title. The
Yankees would not have lost 22-0. Pat Borders might not be the
second-oldest member of the battery on any given day. And,
most importantly, I would not be as relaxed, confident and
cocky as I am today.
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posted on September 2, 2004
Rochester 1, Rangers 0
Last night, Terry Tiffee recorded his first two Major League hits.
The second, a double that he "lined" down the right field line,
proved to be the winning hit of the ballgame. On the play, Lew
Ford scored what proved to be the winning run in the Twins' 4-2
victory over Texas.
Back in April, Tiffee and Ford were slated to be two of the everyday
players for the Twins' AAA affiliate in Rochester. An injury
to Torii Hunter and Lew's hot bat and his unlimited energy helped
keep him in Minnesota for the entire season. Tiffee, on the
other hand, was spending his first day in the Show last night.
Prior to the double, the Twins finally managed to tie the game after
Justin Morneau doubled and scored on a Cristian Guzman single.
Morneau was the third member of Rochester's Opening Day lineup to
contribute to the win last night as he continued to possess a hot
bat. His OPS for the season is now just a touch under 900.
All of these runs gave on one the Twins four power right-handed
relievers a win. This time, Jesse Crain picked up his first
Major League win after spending the majority of the year in
Rochester. To complete the Rochester theme, Augie Ojeda moved
around the infield last night after filling the same role in AAA.
He started at third (his primary position in Rochester while Tiffee
was injured), and then shifted over to second base.
One of my favorite parts of the baseball season is seeing September
call-ups get their first shot in the Majors. Even though the
sample size of playing time that they receive is ridiculously small,
first impressions can always last forever.
I remember thinking that
Benj
Sampson had a chance to be someone special after posting a 1.56
ERA in some meaningless September innings back in 1998. I also
remember
Dan
Serafini pitching a complete game in 1997 and hoping the Twins
could pair him with Brad Radke to form a solid one-two punch in the
starting rotation.
The great part about the White Sox collapse and the Indians
realization that they are a year away from contending is that it
provides the Twins staff with the ability to evaluate these younger
players with their own eyes. Because the division should be
all locked up within two weeks, the Twins will be able to assimilate
the prospects into the starting lineup without having to worry about
missing the playoffs.
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posted on September 1, 2004
