Morneau, Crain headed back after frustrating WBC
Posted on March 10th, 2009 – 6:53 AMBy Joe Christensen
FORT MYERS, FLA. – Entering Monday’s game between Italy and Canada, the Twins knew they would get someone back from the World Baseball Classic: Nick Punto or Justin Morneau and Jesse Crain.
Who knew it would be Morneau and Crain?
Italy stunned Canada 6-2 in Toronto, which meant elimination for Canada, which had lost a 6-5 heartbreaker to the United States on Saturday.
From the AP game story:
“There’s a lot of frustration,” said Morneau, who ended the game with a grounder. “We came in expecting to take a step forward and I feel like we took a little step back.”
Morneau did his part, going 4-for-5. Crain must have been electric, striking out all four batters he faced, and throwing 14 of his 18 pitches for strikes.
Crain and Morneau will be back in Twins camp by Wednesday, I’m guessing.
Punto went 0-for-5 with a walk in the leadoff spot for Italy, which plays Venezuela today at 4 p.m. (Central), with the winner advancing to the second round.
57 Responses to "Morneau, Crain headed back after frustrating WBC"
How sweet is that? We get Morneau back and Italty gets to keep LNP and hopefully they go to the championship game and stretch this thing out as long as possible.
Yeah, I secretely was rooting against Canada just to get Morneau and Crain back.
Wouldn’t mind seeing Mexico get bumped off so the Twins can get back to evaluating Ayala.
Jesse Crain finished the game with 4 batters faced, 4 Ks. I think he’s in for a huge year and will solidify a role as the setup guy.
LNP actually played pretty well on the field yesterday, but a lead off man he is not…
saw LNP play in Kansas City last year..and this is the honest truth…they guy spent more time walking back to the dugout after striking out, than he did on base for the entire series.
He struck out several times..and he takes these long …annoying …walks back to the dugout.
This was also the series where he thought there were more striked on a hitter as he tried to steal second..so he thought the batter struck out..which he did not…and LNP stopped running..looked like a complete idiot…than he spent another several minutes wandering around …confused….
Crain did look great last night, but Italy didn’t pose much of a challenge. It was like he was throwing a bullpen. Punto looked good honestly, smashed 2 atom balls and broke up a DP. Canadians sure are pissed though.
the real key to the italy win was they battled their tails off and really got after it.
163+
You know, I’m rooting for Italy all the way…and praying that Punto wins the WBC MVP (if such an award exists)
That oughta make things interesting around here.
LNP is your 9th place hitter, I wouldnt worry too much.
nicky is hitting .125 to this point, good enough for gardy but probably not an mvp.
I was more disappointed in the Netherlands loss to Puerto Rico last night. Anybody else watch that game? Netherlands led 1-0 until the bottom of the eighth, almost pulled off another huge upset, and then lost it. Fun (tense) game to watch.
gook: In an atmosphere such as the playoffs or WBC, all it takes to earn the MVP is one good game at the right time.
I’m also bummed NED lost to PR yesterday, as it means they’ll have to recreate their upset win over the Dominican team in order to stay in the tourney.
I’m hoping that Blyleven can get the Twins the inside track on one or two of the NED pitchers. That staff was great. I know the Twins have one or two NED pitchers in their system, I hope they could get one or two more from the WBC team. The annoncers also gave Bert his due by saying he was (or is) one of the all-time greatest practical jokers. I agree with that. He used to be great entertainment watching during a rain delay! Sliding on the wet tarp, sneaking around giving hotfoots, etc…
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I guess we won’t get to see Harris at 1B anymore.
I’m sure Gardy will still try different faces at 1B. If only to make sure they’ve got a reliable back up on days Morneau gets rested (and going by 08, Morneau needs a day off now and then)
Morneau will likely get some consecutive starts to make up for lost time for now though.
Is there a game this afternoon or not?
Nick is hitting only .125? Well, vaffunculo! I thought he would be tearing up WBC pithcing!
C’mon, Nick! Drop the bat, take the canolli!
oops, should be “pitching” not “pithcing”.
sounds like i have a lisp.
I would love to hear what kind of harrassment Morneau gets from the Twins locker room for losing to the Punto-led Italians. Will he have to wear an Italian flag under his shirt now.
YES!
World Baseball Classic. A waste of my time.
Let’s just say Nick Punto is a helluva beter ballplayer than any of you idiotic critics….
LOL I love this article.
“Crain must have been electric, striking out all four batters he faced, and throwing 14 of his 18 pitches for strikes.” - Did you watch the game?
and
“Crain and Morneau will be back in Twins camp by Wednesday, I’m guessing.”
Dynamite inside stuff.
Tough to see Canada get bounced out. Morneau needed a few of those hits Saturday against the U.S. Crain looked great last night. Sharp breaking ball and his new delivery where he hides the ball a bit behind his body appears to have helped his fastball.
Right, Marc, Paisan!
You guys no play-a da game, you no make-a da rules, or da snotty remarks. Vaffunculo, all of ya!
Get used to it. Punto will be the guy with the gooseeggs in the batting order box score many, many times this year.
Hey! Vaffunculo Riggs, too! (That’s what Connie yelled at Sonny after he kicked six different kinds of dog crap out of her husband Carlo).
Ciao!
0-5! Can’t even get a hit against sub-major league pitching. Italy all the way! Maybe we’ll get lucky and LNP will slide head first into 1st base and screw up his shoulder or get spiked or something. That would be awesome!
Maybe we’ll get lucky and LNP will slide head first into 1st base and screw up his shoulder or get spiked or something. That would be awesome!
Hmm..wishing injury on any player is pretty tacky…wishing injury on our starting SS is just stupid.
the good thing is if he gets hurt we have plenty of doctors on this blog. medical opinions for no charge!
the good thing is if he gets hurt we have plenty of doctors on this blog. medical opinions for no charge!
Also plenty of talent scouts, GMs, and coaches. We’d have no problem signing an HoF caliber replacement and winning the World Series.
“Hmm..wishing injury on any player is pretty tacky…wishing injury on our starting SS is just stupid.”
That depends on whether you think we have a replacement player who can do a better job. I’m not saying we do or don’t, but Punto isn’t the starting SS because he’s the lights out best candidate. He’s a good defensive player, light hitter and a Gardy favorite. Maybe Thrylos can do an analysis on his win value over replacement player (Harris and Plouffe). However, that might be difficult since Plouffe has yet to play in the majors. Thrylos???
It’s Pick on Punto day. Now he’s dirty. I found this, the White Sox call Punto “sewer dirty” and go on to say:
“Well I hate to break it to you, but the Twins are hardly David. They are Goliath in the AL Central. In the last six seasons the only team to win the division not named the Twins was the White Sox in 2005. So why do we still see them as an underdog all the time?
Frankly, I’m growing sick and tired of it. I don’t care how much money you make, or what your team’s payroll is, dirty play is still dirty play, and the Twins are experts at it. They’ve got us all fooled too.”
Maybe Thrylos can do an analysis on his win value over replacement player (Harris and Plouffe). However, that might be difficult since Plouffe has yet to play in the majors. Thrylos???
here are Punto’s WAR the last 3 years:
2006 2.0
2007: -0.9
2008: 3.2
Plouffe is perfect as the concept of “replacement player” Harris is not. Here are his WAR the last 2 years:
2007: 2.0
2008: 2.3
I’d love to have Ayala back in camp. I want the team to get a good look at him…
Ouch, Punto makes a costly error Italy losing 3-0
Yeah that was an ugly error. Easy backhand to start a DP to get out of the inning and it goes under his glove. He’ll kick himself for that for a while.
Looks like LNP will be able to hitch a ride to FtMyers with Doc and Crain.
who is LNP?
Maybe they should let Nicky pitch… Venezuela is just launching one 400 footer after another now.
The Netherlands-Dominican Republic game was probably one of the best ballgames ever played (and probably one of the biggest upsets in baseball history)
who is LNP?
No, ‘who’s’ on first.
LNP’s at short.
I don’t know who’s on third, but what’s definately got the inside track on second.
That DR, Netherlands game was epic, Bert has done a tremendous job with that pitching staff. Maybe he should take over for Andy?
Must just be KILLING Bert to be saddled with a mandatory pitch count limit though, don’t you think? 
Pat:
“Canadians sure are pissed though.”
In Canada if you’re pissed you are drunk, when you’re mad you’re pissed OFF!
I’m glad M and C are back and they did their country proud.
The pitch counts might be chafing Bert a bit, but he must have that Netherlands staff really “pitching on that downward plane,” “getting ahead in that count,” “establishing that fastball inside,” and “dropping that curveball right behind the plate.”
Australia and Cuba are currently tied 2-2. Luke Hughes is 1-2 2B BB 2 R.
Also, what the heck did f’n Blyleven put in the drinks of the Netherlands pitchers? I mean come on, they beat DR TWICE!!!
Is anybody else disappointed that here in the States a good portion of the WBC is on the MLB network that a number of people don’t have?
I’m sure TBS or TNT would broadcast the WBC…
I am sure that Stuifbergen rose a few notches in the Twins’ prospects pecking order. I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts in Beloit or even Ft. Myers…
Dammit Austraila…
Now you HAVE to win.
Nothing against Cuba personally, but you were the favorite. I always like to see the favorite lose. Well, usually anyway. Also tired of all the Aussie hatin’. They’ve got a solid team.
“The Netherlands-Dominican Republic game was probably one of the best ballgames ever played (and probably one of the biggest upsets in baseball history)”
This seems like a little bit of a stretch, doesn’t it, thry?
If anything can happen in a short series, it would seem that ANYTHING can happen in a one–or two–game series, in which the players have barely started spring training. Also, when two of three runs score due to errors, that takes a little shine off of the “best ballgame ever played” description, in my opinion.
Or am I being gullible to your humor?
Wow, the combination of the east coast and the weird time stamp makes it seem like I’m up fairly early.
Thry, forget Snappers or Miracle, send Stuifbergen straight to Rochester. Look at the major league biggies he shut down!
No disrespect to Andy but Twins could definitely turn to Bert if ever needed for pitching coach duties. What a job he has done with that Netherlands staff.
AM, appreciate your comment about players, especially position players still only in ST mode, but this was a HUGE upset. Not necessarily the best ballgame ever played but definitely an upset that ranks up there with, if not surpassing, the USA hockey win over the USSR in the Olympics. Their pitcher with most MLB experience is Sir Sidney?? Their position player with most MLB experience is Randall Simon of sausage race wacking fame?? Up against that lineup? Up against Ubaldo Jimenez (that guy was unbelievable)) and those other DR pitchers, even future HOFer Pedro?? WOW!! I feel sorry for anyone who missed this game especially if by choice because they thought it would not be worth watching.
So looking at Pool D, the Twins knocked off both teams in the finals during Spring Training. 
ESPN has declared NED vs. DR the #6 biggest upset EVER.
