Seven straight wins, and 10 straight quality starts
Posted on June 25th, 2008 – 1:03 AMBy Joe Christensen
SAN DIEGO — Kevin Slowey gave the Twins their 10th consecutive quality start on Tuesday, and the team extended its winning streak to seven games with a 3-1 victory over the Padres.
Some people dismiss the quality start stat — at least six innings pitched, three or fewer earned runs allowed. But the Twins are 9-1 in this stretch.
This wasn’t just quality for Slowey. This was magnificent. Six innings, no runs, four hits, no walks, seven strikeouts.
In my game story, I have Manager Ron Gardenhire’s explanation for pulling Slowey with 92 pitches after six innings.
Remember, Slowey was on the disabled list for 3 1/2 weeks with a strained right biceps earlier this season. Asked how he felt after 92 pitches this time, he said:
“I felt fine. After being injured early in the year, I’ve done a lot of little things differently between starts with Perry [Castellano], our strength and conditioning guy. I still don’t think I’m going to be able to throw 95-97 [mph] but it feels great.”
Short hops
* Justin Morneau went 2-for-3, extended his hitting streak to 12 games.
* The Padres are 8-17 against lefthanded starting pitchers heading into Wednesday’s game against Twins lefty Glen Perkins.
101 Responses to "Seven straight wins, and 10 straight quality starts"
What an exciting young pitching corps in Slowey/Baker/Blackburn.
And if Perkins can turn it on and join their ranks……wow.
What a great win!
Twins need to get rid of Lamb!! and keep Buscher in as long as he keeps doing what he is doing.
Buscher is doing his dangedest to stay up isn’t he. Reminds me of when Casilla first came up. Has had alot of big hits, making it hard for Gardy to pull him out of the lineup, basically letting his bat take care of the situation. Gotta love it when a young player steps up, making the decision to sit the older, more expensive player, easier to make.
Keep it up Buscher, the Twins need that bat.
During last night’s game I saw a camera shot in the Twins dugout of Nick Punto putting what appeared to be “Chewing Tobacco” into his mouth.Did anyone else see this? I did not think that todays players were still using this stuff. And I take it that Casilla has the same stuff in his mouth as well? Its a bad habit for anyone…..
Based on playing in 11 games and having 38 AB’s Buscher is projected to hit 113 RBI’s this year!
What do you think of my DEFENSE NOW! YAAAA!
“Reminds me of when Casilla first came up. Has had alot of big hits, making it hard for Gardy to pull him out of the lineup, basically letting his bat take care of the situation”
But, look at Casilla’s June stats (which include twice as many at bats at Buscher’s had all season, if you want to talk sample size). Pretty mediocre, unfortunately. Unless you like a .665 OPS. Let’s hope he can get hot again.
I think the other motivation for pulling Slowey in the 7th was that the Twins really hadn’t had a game that had taxed the bullpen in a while…so Gardy felt that he could trust his fresher arms to get him to Nathan in the ninth.
Guerrier and Reyes did their part, Crain stumbled.
I’d blame the offense, but they were up against Peavy last night. Not to mention they redeemed themselves against the ‘Hoff later on.
Did anyone else notice the score was listed as Padres 3, Twins 1 above the story headline in the paper this morning???
What’s up with that Joe? Is that your booboo or your editor?
“Did anyone else notice the score was listed as Padres 3, Twins 1 above the story headline in the paper this morning???”
Probably the editor, since I’m guessing the story didn’t get to him till REAL late in the evening. Game didn’t end till almost midnight.
“During last night’s game I saw a camera shot in the Twins dugout of Nick Punto putting what appeared to be “Chewing Tobacco” into his mouth.”
i saw that, way to go nicky now hundres of kids will start using snuff and end up with lip cancer.
seth says:
June 25th, 2008 at 3:13 am
“Twins need to get rid of Lamb!! and keep Buscher in as long as he keeps doing what he is doing.”
Leave Buscher starting, yes. But why get rid of Lamb? I like a lefty vet on the bench, and backup 1B. Is he expensive for the bench? Yes, but the Twins have payroll room.
Honestly, what kid is going to see that and say “I’m going to start using that because I want to be just like Nick Punto!!!”
Last time I checked, chewing tobacco was still legal in the United States of America for adults. I don’t think “hundreds of kids” will all of a sudden take up chewing because Nicky Punto does it. As long as it’s not Mauer were all safe.
legal =/= right, though.
Nice win. These guys are really beating up the weak / slumping teams right now. Hopefully they can keep it going.
Two thoughts come to mind:
“I’m not a role model” - Charles Barkley
“We’re not athletes, we’re baseball players” - John Kruk
However, I remember trying chew wrapped in bubblegum just the way Rod Carew described it in his book when I was a kid….
That’s why tony bat. always played with his back pocket out. Good thing he is gone and we have a bona fide masher at third with buscher.
People can deny being role models all they want, but if their actions did not influence youth, then they wouldn’t be paid millions by shoe companies. Fact is, their actions do influence other people. We may not want them to, we may agree with Sir Charles that they shouldn’t be, but they are.
“With great power comes great responsibility” - Uncle Ben, Spider Man 
Shaitan
Get rid of Lamb because he is redundant. Plenty of guys can back up 1b (Cuddy, Buscher, etc) besides Morneau is pretty tough to get out of the lineup. he’s missed 1 or 2 games? Macri adds another more needed dimension, and more importantly was productive in his limited opportunities. I would love to see a platoon at 3rd.
Morneau has’nt missed any games this year - He’s DH’d in a couple but not sat out any.
Thanks Krissy. Too lazy to look it up. Though I thought they said on Baseball Tonight (ESPN) that when David Wright got a night off last night he was the last major leaguer to miss anytime.
So Lamb would get a start at 1b once every month? Get 1 pinch hit appearance every week? Or use his roster spot for Macri who would platoon. Thats my baseball preference, but it won’t happen.
These pitchers are young but none of them are a true number 1!!
None of these guys have the stuff to shut down a line-up like Bostons!!
We still haven’t had 10+ K’s in a game this year…yea these guys are soooo exciting
gobbletdork is lame.
I don’t use tobacco but people including athletes should be able to use it where ever they like….keep your bullshit ideas to yourself
or we can disagree respectfully.
I know I can’t use it at my office, and I’m sure that is true at many companies. Why would a baseball stadium, during work, be any different? They’ve already banned it in the minors during games. Employers put all kinds of restrictions on what you can / cannot do at work.
I do agree with your post on no number 1 pitcher though. That was what made me so nervous about the Garza trade, he semmingly has the stuff to be that good (if not necessarily the experience / maturity yet).
As for Lamb, I’m not sure what I’d do with him. I think you give Buscher the chance right now. But, there is little evidence Buscher can keep this up, while there is evidence from the last few years that Lamb can be a good MLB player. I think it is too early to pull the plug on him. Macri does not make this team so much better that you already give up on Lamb.
shameless is a jerk.
i don’t really think kids will start on the stuff today. just making a point you reinforced that bloogers tend to over react!!
People saying dump Lamb are insane. We have him locked for 2 years with 6 million dollars, plus his bat off the bench is much better quality than anyone else. Sitting Macri on the bench is not the answer, as the kid needs atbats in AAA. Also, it’s nice to have some pop on the bench in case we need some late inning crushes. Our last year bench of Ford, LRod, and Tyner was pathetic. The 2 reasons the Twins are excelling this year is because of a deeper bench and Punto not polluting the line-up with his weak bat and bad fundamentals. Thank you HARRIS!!!
What do we designate Lamb for assignement? Aren’t we on the hook for his salary for NEXT year as well? I know it’s not THAT much money, in the scheme of all-things baseball, but with penny-pinching management, I’m sure that’s a factor towards keeping him on the team.
Yeah, but they’re functional and they put us in a position to win. Johan, I believe, only has one 10 or + strikeout game this year.
My god you guys, it’s chewing tobacco, it’s not like there is a needle hanging out of his arm in the dugout. If he likes to chew tobacco, that’s his right.
I think Casilla has been wearing that mouth guard that Cuddyer started using. Could be chewing too..
Baseball players chew, get over it. Michael Jordan smokes cigars when he golfs. That is their choice, and they are not doing anything wrong. Unless tobacco suddenly becomes illegal, shut up and enjoy the game.
We are talking during work, not on their off time. If they want to chew when they are not working, that is their choice.
Plenty of legal things are not allowed in most workplaces (drinking, steroids, smoking, as examples). If MLB can’t ban things that are legal, why can they ban steroids or other PEDs?
Again, too bad we can’t have this discussion rationally…
And, I’ll remind you, they have banned it in the minors. The only reason they haven’t in the majors yet is that any change in rules for players are part of the collective bargaining agreement. I’d guess it will be banned in the next agreement, however. They have said as much in the past.
“If he likes to chew tobacco, that’s his right.”
And nobody is arresting him, so he still has that right.
And if anyone’s kid becomes a cancer victim by emulating him, it is THEIR RIGHT to rip him a new one!
And if they fear that could happen, it is THEIR RIGHT to call out his self-centered ass on the subject.
You can look it up.
“And if anyone’s kid becomes a cancer victim by emulating him, it is THEIR RIGHT to rip him a new one!”
Sure it is. Just as it would then be someone else’s right to laugh at them, and blame them for being a terrible parent.
You can look it up.
Baseball isn’t an office. It’s baseball and chewing is fine to do. Why do people always need to tell others what to do and what not to do? If someone wants to chew during the game that’s their problem not anybody elses. If you kid starts chewing its your fault not a baseball player and if you want to rip on said baseball player you can do so but everybody will think you are a loser who isn’t man enough to take responsbility for their kids problems.
“We are talking during work, not on their off time. If they want to chew when they are not working, that is their choice.
Plenty of legal things are not allowed in most workplaces (drinking, steroids, smoking, as examples). If MLB can’t ban things that are legal, why can they ban steroids or other PEDs?
Again, too bad we can’t have this discussion rationally…”
If baseball wants to ban tobacco use by it’s players, they are more than welcome to. However, they haven’t done so yet. So, until then, let’s not worry about if players are chewing or not.
And one more quick point - steroids are illegal, so your point is kind of lost when comparing tobacco to steroid use.
Because chewing is legal doesn’t mean fans don’t have the right to comment on whether they SHOULD do it. I was asked by my 9 year old nephew why baseball players chew. It would be nice if they didn’t, or at least were discrete about it.
Not sure where you’d look it up, if you were so inclined…
I was not aware that all steroids were illegal.
I’m done on this. I think we’ve all had our say at this point, and no one is going to change their mind…and I’d hate to start ripping each other over this. There are so few real Twins fans we should stick together….
Well these guys are playing a game, as Sean said, it isn’t an office. If their boss says it’s ok to chew on the job and they are over 18, they have every right to do that. Look at TV, there are much worse things on there parents should be worrying about. As a parent it is YOUR job and YOUR JOB ALONE to impress upon your kids the consequences of tobacco, not a ballplayer’s. I know A LOT more ballplayers chewed tobacco when I was growing up and you don’t see everyone in my generation chewing tobacco.
doesn’t have to do with tobacco chewing, but this is today’s line by Liriano:
3.2 IP 8 H 6 R 1 BB 2K 2HR 61 pitches
still in there but does look too good (Rochester is up 8-6)
Let’s hope he can get hot again.
I think we can say that about a few other guys too, Gomez, for example. And they will get hot. And the guys who are hot now will cool off. As long as we have two or three hot guys at a time we should continue to win with this pitching staff.
I don’t care if we have a true number 1 if we continue to get quality starts.
Ben
Does your 9 year old nephew ask you why are 10,000 fans drinking beer. Blame baseball fans if he grows up to be an alcoholic. This topic is so stupid.
‘Roids are illeagal without a perscription, I would say every player who took them didn’t have a perscription, making themilleagal.As for chew,not all of the same things are banned at all places, some places you can smoke, other places you can’t, if chew isn’t banned from MLB parks,or work places, what ever you want to call them, then our mendoza line hitting utility player has the right to use it. As for Punto being a role model,I don’tthink there are many kids that say, “I want to be the next Nick Punto”.
I’d be pretty happy if one of my kids was the next Punto. He gets to do a job he loves, and gets paid very well to do it. That said, I doubt many kids are saying that.
Stupid Topics a Specialty
How many 9-yr-olds want to emulate pot-bellied, beer-guzzling, belching and vomiting slobs?
How many 9-yr-olds want to emulate major league baseball players?
My understanding is that MLB has banned chew in the minors, they control the workplace in the minors.
Anything along those lines in the bigs would have to be negotiated w/ the union.
In spring training, I also believe that they run an awareness program and talk to all 30 clubs annually about the dangers of chew.
MLB is doing what they can for the kids but once they’re in the show their adults and they’ve got their own representation at the table regarding workplace rules.
Im sure you guys complaining about this have had a beer or a cigarette in front of your children. God forbid your precious little snowflake sees something that you find slightly disagreeable. Quit coddling your children, they are going to grow up to be a bunch of sissies.
My criticism is not a shot at Punto.
Its a shot at the assinine post-adolescent culture that has always been Pro Baseball.
Where chewing and spitting make a pseudo-player look like a real player and can actually fool some of the decision-makers in the business.
Lamb is a career .280 hitter, with decent power/RBI numbers, as a part time player. He has struggled big-time this year, but he may actually function better as a fill-in guy, than as an everyday player. I also like having him on the bench. Like water, guys in baseball usually revert back to their level; Lamb will likely get better as year goes on; Buscher will probably not hit .375 with more than 1 RBI per game played. Look out for the correction!
Robert,
“Im sure you guys complaining about this have had a beer or a cigarette in front of your children.”
WRONG!
Never and never!
And none became sissies!
But if drinking and smoking in front of them guaranteed their success, I would have done it for them.
Luckily, I never read that fictional child-rearing book.
Congrats Sid, “good job” I guess. Do you honestly believe that having a beer or cigarette in front of your kids would have had a negative effect on them?
And if you have to read a book telling you how to be a parent, you have bigger troubles than Nick Punto chewing tobacco.
“in the scheme of all-things baseball, but with penny-pinching management, I’m sure that’s a factor towards keeping him on the team.”
The penny-pinching management let Rincon go with salary still committed.
Also, they’re likely trying with Lamb what they tried with Rincon…and that’s to see if they could move him for some other pieces they could use.
I think Lamb would be a better bench option than 90% of what we had last year…it doesn’t say much, but it’s a start.
But to say they refuse to drop Lamb because they’re penny pincher’s is crazy, the money’s already gone.
bisonaudit,
there is a way to do it without negotiating with the unions: the MLB does not make any rules, but the hosting facilities ban all tobacco use (like “there is no smoking in the Metrodome”) in their facilities.
Hey Robert, if you don’t read a book, and you don’t ask other people, how do you become a good parent? Just curious. It is a skill like anything else, something that can be taught, learned, and improved upon.
Frankly, if we had more parenting classes, I’d bet we’d have more good parents. I’m not sure why parenting would be different than any other skill.
No way they ban chew w/o it being in the CBA. That’s just how it rolls in the MLB, which is cool.
Not sure I want my government in that game.
No one’s ever died from second hand chew.
btw, see what happens when the games start at 9? We all get distracted because the games are so far away…
haha, mike, I’m pretty sure parenting is an instinct. Well a combination between basic instincts and learing from how you were raised (emulating or learning from your parents’ mistakes). I guess some people lack this basic instinct and may need to take a class and that is sad. Maybe we should just all give up our kids to government approved “raising centers” and have hired help who got a college degree in raising children raise our kids. I bet you’d like that.
mike wants wins whats this book reading thing your talking about?
This is way off topic but I find the arguments compelling. I’m a firm believer in parents being the ultimate role model. If seeing Nick put a wad of chew in his mouth causes your kid to want to chew, it’s the parents’ fault. Not Nick’s. For that matter if Joe suddenly decides to chew and that influences kids to do the same, then again it’s the parents’ fault. Joe’s being paid to hit balls not raise your kids. If your kids are easily influenced by ball players doing things you don’t like, the choice is easy. Don’t let your kids watch baseball. Same choice (responsibility actually) you have in TV shows, movies and concerts. Take them to minor league games. If watching MLB causes your kid to take up a bad habit, then it’s the parents’ fault for letting him/her watch.
One last point. Did you know that Barack Obama smokes? I didn’t until recently. I guess he’s unsuitable to be a role model then.
bisonaudit,
“No one’s ever died from second hand chew.”
A friend of mine accidentally took a sip from another guy’s spit cup at a poker game. He thought it was his Coca cola.
He didn’t die, but for a little while, taht would have been choice!
Robert, really, do you need to insult people? I have no interest in the govt raising anyone’s kids, and I never said that. You really don’t think you can learn anything about raising a kid from a book or classes or watching how good parents do things?
All the academic research, not anectdotes, but research, shows that people other than parents have the biggest influence on children and their behavior after the ages of 10-12. Who they hang with, and who they see behaving how. You can doubt that if you want….
If you don’t think how an athlete behaves influences how a kid behaves, why does Nike pay so much money to have athletes where their shoes.
And, a bad habit one way or the other does not make someone a bad role model. I don’t think Punto is a bad role model, for example (he does model some behaviors I’d rather not have my kdis copy, like diving into 1st base). They may not be modeling every behavior the way certain people may like, but …. aw nm.
If I could type, my last post would have read:
bisonaudit,
“No one’s ever died from second hand chew.”
A friend of mine accidentally took a sip from another guy’s spit cup at a poker game. He thought it was his Coca Cola.
He didn’t die, but for a little while, THAT would have been HIS choice!
Sorry mike, i didn’t mean to insult you and I apoligize. But honestly I think the only things to be learned in parenting classes are things like what formula to buy or how to powder your baby’s bottom, not things like how to raise your children. Things like that come naturally. I had a great mother, she didn’t need to take any classes either.
If after ages 10-12 it doesn’t matter what you tell your kids then why take the classes?
If you don’t want your kid to chew the best way of going about that would be to give him one and watch him throw up. I guarantee he won’t be touching that stuff again!
True story.
A single Mom trying to raise her kids without a male role model, takes her 9-yr-old son to a Little League practice where the head coach (an ex-Pro player) is “dipping” and spitting into a cup.
As a “good” parent, she has to explain to the boy, that real men aren’t like THAT guy.
I still don’t know how that worked out.
People please understand the Twins have a quality staff of coaches be grateful you don’t understand how lucky you have it. San Diego’s a train wreck outdoor baseball is wonderful see you at Petco tonight.
Robert,
“I had a great mother”
Not everyone is that lucky.
Some parents have to learn from their own bad parents.
Sane, if he was smoking a cigarette would she have had to say anything?
This is a great baseball topic and anyone who thinks great parents = great kids must be living in a fantasy world. It’s just like a great pitching coach making a great pitcher.
“No one’s ever died from second hand chew.”
Quite the contrary, I had a friend who took a sip by accident out of somebody’s spit bottle (also got it mixed up with his coke…perhaps there’s a trend forming)
Two days later *BAM!* struck by lightning.
…On a side note, would we be having this conversation if it weren’t Punto?
my point is that kids can observe bad influences almost everywhere, it is your job as a parent to help them make the right decisions.
BC of ND, if a kid turns out bad, maybe his “great parents” weren’t so great after all.
sorry i tried to make a funny about all the kids doing what nicky does. however, when i was a kid we all would put a big wad of gum in our cheeks to try and look major league. it didn’t make me actually start to chew tho when i got old enough i figured out it wasn’t my best option.
“would we be having this conversation if it weren’t Punto?”
If it were Joe Mauer and all the little kids followed him around with their little dips and spit cups, you could have a whole generation of little Minnesotans ruined.
Bottom line, Punto is a much safer bad role model.
Your exactly right Robert and i’ve seen it happen both ways with kids who have lousy parents who don’t care but the kids turn out great.
gobble,
You came from a smarter neighborhood than I did.
Some of my friends took tobacco from cigarette butts and chewed it.
Safe to say, none of those guys became “dippers”.
If you really want to protect your kids keep them away from college, I know thats where I picked up many bad habits.
“If it were Joe Mauer and all the little kids followed him around with their little dips and spit cups, you could have a whole generation of little Minnesotans ruined.”
Instead we’ve got a whole generation of little Minnesotans growing sideburns and swinging for average vs. the fences. 
Robert,
By the time kids go to college, the parents have probably already have lost control and influence.
At least then we can deny responsibility.
oooh - ageneration of HOFers
I know sane, it was a joke, not a serious suggestion.
sane Fresno St looks pretty good.
Robert,
I understand.
I also jest.
sane why does it seem like so many good athletes come out of the Covina and West Covina area.
jimmybee,
“sane why does it seem like so many good athletes come out of the Covina and West Covina area.”
It doesn’t seem that way to me.
We beat them all the time.
Except for Bishop Amat HS football in the 60’s, 70’s. 80’s.
I just noticed another HOFer pitching tonight against the Twins. 2 Hofer pitchers going against the twins in less then a week. Cool huh!!! To bad we couldn’t beat both in a week in there prime. But I will take seeing them anyway. This is Maduxx’s last year.
Sure it is. Just as it would then be someone else’s right to laugh at them, and blame them for being a terrible parent.
Amen Pete D.
There’s way too much “it’s someone else’s fault” going on these days, and it seemingly gets worse all the time. Eventually people are going to need to grow a pair and take responsibility for their own actions.
[end pipe dream]
Since it looks like there is a sizable audience here, let me encourage you to go the MLB website and vote 25 times (or more) for Mauer and Morneau. Joe just passed up Varitek but needs more cushion. No way Tek should start over Joe. And Justin is catching up to Youk. GO VOTE!!!
BayAreaTwinsFan No need to vote New York fans are doing it for Minny to keep BoSox players out. Boston might be better then NY right now but they don’t have nearly the amount of people.
Rumor that Punto will start in center tonight and give Gomez the night off. Punto is from the area and has family and friends at the game Gardy wants to give him some face time. Could change at the last minute, right thing to do!
any way we can get a mid year analysis of all of the Twins brilliant off season moves:
Santana trade =
Gomez, up and down
The minor league pitchers, ?don’t know?
Barlett/Garza trade =
Harris, up and down
Delmon, thumbs down
Everett signing, complete bust
Hernandez signing, up and down
Lamb signing, bust
Monroe signing, up and down
The Twins recent streak has been driven by core players and the minor league system. Our free agent signings over last couple years have been pretty weak, so why do we do it?
They need to ban baseball players from: Fighting
Cursing
Scratching
Spitting
Throwing Bats
destroying water coolers
kicking dirt on umpires
You know every kid that sees these things will do it afterwards.
blubbery: so far, the returns ahve been less than stellar. They needed to do the Santana deal, but maybe not this particular deal. Everything else was optional (I guess the Santana thing was too, but given that there was no way they’d re-sign him, I think trading him was right).
I have no idea why they keep trying the same thing year after year, and it doesn’t work. That said, I think the Lamb signing was different. He’s not old and washed up, just someone that did well in limited duty. They rolled the dice he could do that every day….so far, the results have not born out. That said, someone above said players are like water in that they return to norm (or something like that), and that could happen with Lamb…
I think it is ok if Punto gets 1 start a week or slightly less often. I’m ok with that.
I think with the tobacco issue, everyone here is missing the point. The point is not that Punto chewing tobacco is a bad thing, but the point is that Punto is a horrible offensive baseball player trying to sneak into a line-up that has won 7 straight games and is looking goooood.
Our free agent signings over last couple years have been pretty weak, so why do we do it?
We do it because we have to spend our budget for two reasons:
* All those “Pohlad is just a cheap SOB who doesn’t care about winning and just wants to bilk the taxpayers like he foreclosed on their ancestors” would come out of the woodwork.
* All those rich teams that pay the poor teams revenue sharing would complain about Pohlad pocketing the money rather than spending it.
I guess little kids will all start pulling hamstrings too. Great example for the kids Nick. It’s a parents job to teach a kid to stretch properly, not Nick Punto.
Blubberry,
I don’t have any problems with the off-season signings (in concept) considering the circumstances.
Some have worked, some have not, some are way to early to judge.
IF, as the Twins decided to do, you are trying to rebuild AND contend/compete at the same time, you get something like last offseason.
I have a sneaking suspicion, that the Great 2006 run contributed a great deal to TR’s reluctance to deal with Hunter & Santana in that offseason.
If you think you have some players in your farm system, BUT are not sure how quickly they can contribute consistantly, you end up with Everett, Lamb & Monroe.
Personally, Santana HAD to go, less for the money issues, but rather his quitting at the trade deadline last year. Gomez is likely to be good. He shows flashes of Brilliance, and flashes of lunacy. I really like the Young trade, and it’s no worse than a draw today. You might look back to the AJ trade. If you evaluated it after 3 months, I doubt you would have decided it was the Heist it turned out to be.
The bottom line is perfection is unlikely in this business, particularly where a 65+% failure rate earns a Hall of Fame bust. Where a 60% success rate probably ranks a team as league best or very close. (The last team(s) to win 60% of their games were Chicago WS & St. Louis in 2005.
Regards,
I guess some people have to always be ripping some one.The way the Twins have played lately,you can’t rip the ball club so some just rip each other.Truly amazing!
“Our free agent signings over last couple years have been pretty weak, so why do we do it?”
Because we didn’t know in the offseason that Gomez, Span, Casilla, Buscher, Tolbert, and Blackburn would become impact players.
If they would have repeated their 2007 performances, the Twins would have needed Monroe, Lamb, Everett and Livan to fill the voids.
We did it because foresight is blurry and hindsight is clear as day.
I saw Jason talk about this in one of the blogs, and I saw confirmation of his complaint today.
Brian Runge (he of the “Speed up the game” policy) initiated a yelling match with Carlos Beltran. When the manager stepped inbetween, Runge bumps into him and then ejects him.
This is now being covered on Sportscenter, and the league is investigating.
Further proof that it’s all about who complains…absolutely riddiculous.
The Twins should refile their original protest regarding Runge and his remarks to Gomez (and his suddenly application of the speed policy in Harris’ AB) during the Brewer’s series.
It’s sad when somethign isn’t a problem til it happens in New York.
Never said they should ban chewing. I said they shouldn’t chew (or at least be discrete about it). Should they ban swearing? No. But that doesn’t mean that Bert should drop an F-Bomb on air. Should they ban alcohol? No. But that doesn’t mean Sidney Ponson should make headlines making a spectacle of himself with alcohol. Athletes should be expected to at least put forth the minimal effort to be a good role model. Not because parents can’t teach their kid right from wrong, but because a good role model is better than a bad role model. Why would you argue that athletes SHOULD chew? It’s rediculous. And why does the fact that parents ultimately shoulder the responsibility of teaching their kids right from wrong preclude the rest of us from being decent role models?
