Thursday: The Eye of the Tigers
Posted on July 10th, 2008 – 9:00 AMBy La Velle
Detroit has won three straight and 10 of its last 14 and will not concede the division. “We’re no different than any other team,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. “If you play nine innings you have a chance.”
The Twins should be a little ticked off for this series after getting swept by the Red S0x. The offense let them down on Monday. The bullpen blew up on Tuesday. Then came the gangster-slapping on Wednesday.
There were other problems. Livan Hernandez is 7-1 at home. On the road? Yuck. And the baserunning should have been a lot better. The Twins will have to clean up their game against the Tigers.
Miguel Cabrera, the Tigers’ slightly husky first baseman, hit two homers on Wednesday, including a walk-off, and is batting .343 over his past 26 games.
The Tigers sent righthander Eddie Bonine to Class AA Erie after the game as oufielder-first baseman Jeff Larish, who’s batting .265 with 17 homers and 53 RBI at Toledo, rejoins the major league club.
Brandon Inge has been recalled from his rehab assignment and catcher Dane Sardinha was designated for assignment.
Also, the demolition of Tigers Stadium has begun. It’s about time. There’s no city in America that lets old buildings waste away like Detroit. It’s a shame the city couldn’t find a way to transition the park into something useful. At least 90 percent of the place will be recycled.
12:22 update: Michael Cuddyer’s finger problem won’t go away, which puts the Twins in a little bind. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said he hoped to send Cuddy to the minors during the All-Star break to get a couple swings but he can’t grip a bat yet. There’s also some soreness in the palm of his hand. So everything is on hold until Cuddyer can at least hold a bat.
Joe Mauer is getting a day off. Mike Redmond is batting .429 against Kenny Rogers.
Adam Everett was 1 for 3 on Wednesday for the Twins’ Gulf Coast League team as he works his way back from shoulder problems. He’s still a ways away, and he’ll probably get some time at Class AAA Rochester before the Twins figure out their next move with him.
Tigers shortstop Edgar Renteria injured his left hamstring while running to first base yesterday and is out.
Lineups
Twins (50-41): 1. Carlos Gomez, CF. 2. Alexi Casilla, 2B. 3. Mike Redmond, C. 4. Justin Morneau, 1B. 5. Craig Monroe, DH. 6. Delmon Young, LF. 7. Brendan Harris, 3B. 8. Nick Punto, SS. 9. Denard Span, RF. Pitching: Kevin Slowey.
Tigers (46-44): 1. Curtis Granderson, CF. 2 Placido Polanco, 2. 3. Carlos Guillen, 3B. 4. Miguel Cabrera, DH. 5. Mat Joyce, RF. 6. Marcus Thames, LF. 7. Jeff Larish, 1B. 8. Pudge Rodriguez, C. 9. Ramon Santiago, SS. Pitching: The Gambler.
826 Responses to "Thursday: The Eye of the Tigers"
the last two times the twins have faced the tigers, they have been “red hot” and “ready to make a charge for the top of the division”. and what did the twins do both times? shut em down.
Leave it to Sid Hartman, who has every local athlete’s back, to help Michael Cuddyer offer a most elaborate and far-reaching excuse for recent lack of production (and by recent, I mean 1.5 years worth).
In reading Sid’s column, you wonder why the Twins didn’t do their due diligence before signing Cuddy to big money in the off-season. Apparently, the finger(s) issue goes well beyond the 30-something days he will have been on the DL come Sunday…according to Cuddy, it’s a chronic problem that hasn’t gone away since about a year ago.
Really.
So where does that leave us? Are we to feel sorry for Cuddy and let him off the hook for the steady regression since 2006? Should we even look forward to his return? Is there any chance he will return to the form of ‘06?
The whole situation is frustrating for everyone, but the last thing Twins fans want (I suspect) is to think that we’ve been duped by an injury to Cuddy for the last year…I doubt Bill Smith or Carl Pohlad would be too pleased believing that, either.
Face it we just don’t have the talent, health, power, management, whatever ever excuse you want to use to win the big games. Sure we can play small ball till the cows come home but seriously look at this team. While I see hints of greatness, I just don’t think we have what it takes to make an impact this year, especially when we’re getting decimated by our own division now. A good run against the NL isn’t enough.
The Twins should be a little ticked off for this series after getting swept by the Red S0x. The offense let them down on Monday. The bullpen blew up on Tuesday.
On Monday, the Twins offense didn’t score against a pretty good starting pitcher. Neither did the Red Sox offense. Then the manager made an a couple of indefensible moves with the bullpen, and we lost.
On Tuesday, the offense put up some runs on a pretty good pitcher and Blackburn held the Red Sox mostly in check. Then the manager apparently fell asleep while his relief pitcher was getting the crap knocked out of him.
Who, exactly, should the Twins be ticked off at?
I just don’t think we have what it takes to make an impact this year, especially when we’re getting decimated by our own division now.
Uh, the Twins are 5-1 in their last 6 AL Central games. The Red Sox - whom we played close in 2 of 3 games - are in the AL East.
Gardenhire should be released as manager. He constantly sets a bad example for all the children watching the games by throwing wild temper tantrums and getting thrown out of games. He does a very poor job of establishing a regular staring lineup and his habitual affection for Nick Punto is puzzling.
The Twins have done o.k. against the teams that are not very good, but the cannot deal with the really good teams, as was evidenced in Boston. Gardenhire, however, is mostly responsbile for their lack of performance on the field.
Did the Twins win any of the 4 games he’s been thrown out of???? Seems that always takes the wind out of their sails when that happens.
Span should probably bat lead off regularly. Gomez is very inconsistent and would be better farther down towards the end of the lineup. He strikes out an awful lot and needs alot of work on his approach to hitting. Span is already major league ready.
Although the Twins’ bullpen management has been something a bit more puzzling than it has been for most of the Gardenhire era, I’m sure that whatever decisions Gardy & the staff are making are conscious ones.
Whether or not Gardy is making the correct decisions (I can’t decide if the Boston series was a lapse or an aberration), I think he’s done a fine job making decisions that are manifesting the idea that Gardy has confidence in his guys and he’s throwing his guys in the situations where they will have to be successful for the team to win.
The staff has always been heralded around the league as one that “takes care” of pitchers. This is evidenced by Guerrier getting Monday night off, Nathan rarely if ever being asked to get more than three outs for a save, and pitchers rarely being asked to warm up without ultimately being summoned to pitch.
I think these and other bullpen-management tactics by Gardy, Anderson and company illustrate managing the staff as a strength of this administration rather than a weakness - which makes this week’s bullpen management in Boston all the more puzzling…
Gardy has done well this year…this series was alarming, though.
I agree. Gardenhire is absolutely the worst manager in baseball. He does nothing to help the team and can’t even make out the starting lineup card properly. He comes across as kind of a blundering idiot on the field and in the dugout. The players have a big question mark when it comes to his motivations and effectiveness. The Pohlad family must be getting by on the cheap with his salary, otherwise they would not keep him, unless he helps keep the salaries down by regularly messing up and winning less games through his rediculous decisions.
Maybe because the team won most of the games aginst the redsox at the dome, they didnt want to offend the boston fans by winning on their feild. It wood not be nice to win the other team too much.
So it’s bash Gardy day today. Tomorrow it will be bash Punto followed by bash Young. It’s kind of like a pitching rotation except drop the “p” and add a “b”.
no kidding….go easy on Gardy, for crying out loud…even after the sweep, we’re 50-41 and 3.5 games out…I think he’s done a nice job with this squad.
Poor bullpen management? How about the guys in the bullpen do their jobs? The Monday game was no big deal. Bass gives up a hit to Ellsbury and Manny. Lots of pitchers have. We lose 1-0, big deal. Reyes and Guerrier getting hammered on Tuesday and then the debacle yesterday reflect far more on the players than the manager. Guerrier has been inconsistent all year. I don’t trust him at all out of the pen. I don’t trust any pitchers on our staff outside of Baker, Blackburn & Nathan.
I am really a huge crotch grabber. Adrian Beltre to the Twins whooopeee. I grab crotch
no reaction to my post re: Michael Cuddyer?
On the note…I put it to La Velle….you told us on KFAN a couple weeks ago that you saw a break out streak coming from Cuddyer…was that merely a wishful, Kool-Aid drinking hunch or what’s the story? You, as did Sid in today’s column, seemed to completely dismiss any and all Cuddy struggles as a product of the ongoing finger(s) injuries and even intimated on-air that there was more to it than the public knew…
Well if that was the case, what was it that gave you the impression that he was about to turn the corner? What’s your take now–are you still ready to welcome Cuddy back with open arms, give him is OF job back and assume we’ll see 2006 numbers or have you seen enough positives from Denard Span that maybe you aren’t waving the Cuddy pom-poms quite as forcefully?
eddie you grab crotch too. I grab crotch with herb as well come and join us sometime and we can all grab crotch
I thought is was interesting yesterday that we pull Gomez out of the lineup(which I agreed with) and then we get a throwing error from Span and a fielding error from Kubel. Gomez is a very important piece of the puzzle.
I grab so much crotch during a game Gardy calls me crotchy
I knew coming on this blog would be great for me to meet other crotch grabbers.
Gardy is what has kept this team competitive and fun to watch. Ya, last season was a bust, but there is still alot of this season to go. I hope Gardy is our manager for at least 5 more years and then maybe it would be good for him to go somewhere else for a change of scenery. I think that Gardy ranks in the top 5 of all managers active currently based on teams performance over the last 6 years. I still think that Lamb, Everett, and Livo are the ones on the top of the list to go even if the Twins have to eat their salary.
“just don’t think we have what it takes to make an impact this year, especially when we’re getting decimated by our own division now.”
The Twins are 24-16 vs. Central opponents this year. If all divisions “decimated” us at that rate, we’d end the season with 97 wins. Can someone make that happen?
Anyone who questions Ron Gardenhire needs to seriously read up on their baseball or occasionally watch ESPN. The national media only speaks Gardy’s praises. Jim Leyland (widely regarded as one of the best managers in baseball) says that Gardy is ‘the best.’ Talent wise, this is a pretty sub-par American League baseball club. The difference night-in and night-out since 2002 has been Ron Gardenhire, Rick Anderson, and the rest of the Twins coaching staff.
Gardy has done a pretty poor job of managing the bullpen this season. The April series in Detroit where the bullpen lost both games in the late innings, the first game against Detroit at the end of June, now this series in Boston can all be blamed on bad bullpen management.
gomez cf
casilla 2b
redmond c
morneau 1b
monroe dh
young lf
harris 3b
punto ss
span rf
I guess I only agree to a point, bjwillia…I would center most of the ‘blame’ on the bullpen staff itself. They have proven to be very inconsistent against teams with quality lineups. The only thing I would do differently from Gardy’s standpoint is go to Nathan earlier on occasion (I wouldn’t make a habit of doing this, but I would do it on occasion–such as last Tues. night).
Ultimately, it’s not Gardy’s fault that he doesn’t have a dominate set-up man or a reliable seventh inning guy…
cuddyer for beltre = what we should do
Obviously, it is on the pitchers to do their jobs on the mound. No dispute there.
All I am saying is that leaving a reliever out there to give up 3 or 4 runs in close game is a mistake. Or getting beat by Manny with first base open one night, to turn around and do the same thing the next night is a mistake.
We need good games from the Blue also.
Those FOUR glaring mistakes, reversals and no-calls yesterday were a disgrace. Replays indicate these Major League Umps seldom make mistakes.
Yesterday was just shameful. I’ll list them:
1)Replay showed Punto was safe
2)Replay showed fan interference
3)Replay showed Span trapped it
4)Don’t need a replay to know an infield fly rule when you see one.
I know they reversed some, but nosebleed seat fans even would agree with me, they were so obvious.
Mudcat, get over it…the umps had NOTHING to do with the outcomes of any of the Boston games…
“I would center most of the ‘blame’ on the bullpen staff itself. They have proven to be very inconsistent against teams with quality lineups”
isn’t that a real sign that the bullpen is not very dominate just o.k.?
Billy never got anyone to replace Neshek maybe a sign Front Office realizes this team is not a contender this year so why waste a move for a reliever??
This bullpen isn’t dominant without Neshek. No one has proven they can consistently hold a game in the 7th and 8th innings aside from him.
i didn’t say that, jason, work with me, buddy.
“Billy never got anyone to replace Neshek maybe a sign Front Office realizes this team is not a contender this year so why waste a move for a reliever??”
More likely it’s a sign that guys who would replace Neshek aren’t easily or cheaply acquired.
possibility too.. odd the only confirmed roster moves FO is considering is for 3rd though..
well what was your point then, Mudcat?
Yes, we’d like umps to get it right and be consistent all the time, I agree. But that seems ancillary to the Twins’ woes at the moment.
my point is we don’t have to get bombarded with a bunch of technical statistics and intricate details labeled by acronyms for a few posts. i love that stuff but give me a break!
Fire
Beltre was probably discussed in the context of “how much better whould he be than what we have now and how much of his contract would Seattle have to eat.” His name only came up because he is available and the Twins wouldn’t have to give up much of anything for him.
If there were a dominant setup guy on the market for a reasonable price, I’m sure the FO would be very interested.
If you are talking about Punto getting thrown out at third he was most definitely out. That was a stupid base running move by Punto. Stay at second in SCORING position.
Adrian Beltre? Give me a break. The guy makes 13 million a year and isn’t a free agent after the season. The Dude from San Diego is a joke as well. Atkins is the only upgrade or get upside with Ian Stewart.
As for the bullpen Bonser and Bass should be sent to the minors if someone claims them it’s their problem. At the very least this should happen and Ricky Barrett and Bobby Kornecky should be brought up or just one of the two. They probably suck but they can’t be as bad as the two we got. Develop Bass? He is worthless. You can find a guy like that anywhere in the majors for 300,000 a year. Bonser needs a fresh start somewhere. I wish we has claimed Grant Balfour on waivers before the start of the season. He would be the Twins salvation. Brian Fuentes is available and a free agent at the end of the year. But Colorado wants a lot for him.
last night’s replay showed his hands on the bag and the tag on the shoulder. that’s safe. shouldn’t be called out for stupidity.
but don’t eject me from the blog. LOL!
PUNTO is Mr Fundamental Baseball how dare you criticize him!! Gardy will get mad!!!
“If there were a dominant setup guy on the market for a reasonable price, I’m sure the FO would be very interested.”
I think the mere fact that the Twins have 24+ comeback wins tells you that reliable bullpen help is hard to find. Not that the Twins aren’t a good team but obviously a bunch of those comebacks take place against relievers.
“my point is we don’t have to get bombarded with a bunch of technical statistics and intricate details labeled by acronyms for a few posts. i love that stuff but give me a break!”
So that’s why you decided you wanted better umpiring this series? It sounded to me like you wanted to imply that it was more than just the Red Sox that the Twins were up against the last three days. In any event, I agree the made-up stats and acryonyms that get thrown around here are a laughable overanalysis and you won’t catch me using them to make arguments…we can have an intelligent baseball discussion without diving into someone’s WPA, VORP, or “leverage index”, but that’s just me…
I would not get rid of Bass. I think he’s fairly valuable. We could get something for Bonser in the right situation.
I agree on all the stats. Stats are overblown.
On the lineup…
I see it’s status quo (or status Go-go)…I was thinking maybe 1-for-3 with 2 BBs might get Span the lead-off spot…I think Go-go best find a way on base the next couple games or spots 1 and 9 may easily be flip-flopped in the order.
Suprised we haven’t heard any cries for Kubel…like I’ve been saying all week, Gardy does it his way, and his way has been working…
What this team needs is a Denny Hocking.
In fact, is he available? He’s probably within our price range.
except the sweep by R. Sox Gardy’s way didn’t work so well the past 3 games
1) Gomez bats ninth, with Span leading off and Casilla batting second. All the speed stays in a sequential order and you have a player with more plate discipline and a higher obp at the top of the order.
2) Lanb should never see the field again (let alone when Everett=when healthy).
3) Trade Livan for a prospect or two to the Natioanl league. That opens up a spot for Livan.
4) Trade for a strong middle reliever, being we need one and are in the middle odf an unsuspecting playoff run.
5) Trade for a player like Jason Bay or Atkins. That would fill needs in the infield, as well as, offensive punch!
6) Keep pitchers in longer than the 95 pitch, or so, rule, especially when the pitchers got a great game going and is still strong physically. They earned the right to, at least, get the win, didn’t they?!
7) Make me the G.M. with all these obvious and stupendous decisions.
THUS ENDETH THE LESSON!
No doubt Span should be batting lead-off. Gomez swings like Ryan Howard from the lead-off spot, except without the power.
“except the sweep by R. Sox Gardy’s way didn’t work so well the past 3 games”
I think maybe the Red Sox wanted to win too. Not very many teams have had any luck at Fenway this year. Newsflash, they are really good especially at home.
Dawgzilla, who are you going to trade for all these players? The other team would like something besides garbage and a bag of balls in return I’m sure.
Iowa - The BoSox are especially good when you thow a fastball down the heart of the plate to Manny.
How is jason bay going to help our infield?
No, they are just good. In the first two games(that were close) they hit some tough pitches. Nonetheless, are you arguing Gardy called for fastballs down the middle to Manny?
Twins would have won games 1 & 2 if Gardy would have made better bullpen moves
Fire Vavra - Game one, we gave up one run, I think that game might have been on the offense.
Game 2, gardy put the guy in who everyone was screaming for the day before, he threw like crap, we lost.
Not sure I put either loss on gardy. Either way, I will agree putting bass in a tied game is ridiculous.
Not at all. But Gardy shouldn’t have let Guerrer pitch to Manny at all. He beat the Twins in a similar situation the night before - a close game with first base open.
I am just saying the Twins lost the first two games in Boston as much as the BoSox won them.
hard to say we would have won game 1 since we never scored any runs. Game 2 Big Sweat followed by Guerrier were probably the right moves. Take Guerrier out when tied? maybe…. still not a guarenteed win.
Walking Manny the 2nd go around might have been a good idea though.
I didn’t have a problem putting Bass in. I don’t have as big a problem with him as I do Guerrier.
per Gameday, Rodgers Fastball and Changeup are the same, 83mph
I hate those “made up” stats too, unless they’re the old and antiquated ones, then they’re perfectly fine.
Why does Punto have to make EVERY throw from shortstop on the run? Even when he has plenty of time to stop and set he seems to prefer to throw on the run. He’s been accurate,but i have to wonder if that is wise.
I’ll throw out a boredom discussion topic during the game…
What should the name of the new Twins stadium be? If it’s corporate (almost certainly a given), then which corporate name could you live with?
I would vote for Twins Stadium but I know that won’t happen…
morneau = stud
How about the Mistake By The 10,000 Lakes.
That’s kinda been taken, I guess.
first swing Young again?
Gardenhire is back to managing the Twins like a Minnesota Welfare Program once again. He has players playing so many different positions that nobody knows what they are supposed to be doing for sure. His irrational game plan detracts from the team’s ability to perform at its best. Gardenhire is surely lacking as a competent manager.
My guess is Best Buy Park or Wells Fargo Field
Gomez leading off is an embarrassment. On any other ballclub this kid would be down in triple A working on his approach at the plate.
The Target Center. oh wait….
please no, SweetOne…
That’s all we need is for a return of the Fargo jokes about Minnesota…
how about Hennepin County Stadium?
Oh, corporate names! First mistake I ever made!
How’s about the MMMetrodome.
ok that was dum.
and thats why harris needs to keep playing
The problem with the Twins is that no one ever critiques Gardenhire’s performance as a Manager. Likewise, the media is always careful not to offend him. He probably thinks he is the greatest manager in the world of baseball. Thus, he seems to enjoy glorifying himself by constantly manipulating the team lineup. His ego is apparently not at rest unless he is mixing up the starting positon players with a new lineup everyday. He certainly does not help the team by his overbearing confusion in writing out the lineup cards.
Why isn’t LNP bunting??
ARRGGHHHHHHHH!!!!
nice Span!!
Bill…LNP proved last year that he can’t bunt anymore.
I’ve heard that the park is going to be named Land O Lakes Field. Which isn’t bad.
Michael who?
Gardy = overrated
Managing in the AL is easy, plus the front office is a bunch of George Constanza’s so Gardy never has to worry.
yeah I could roll with Land O Lakes field.
IowaTwin:
Thanks for the polite response, instead of some critical b.s.! You would first have to open up dialog between another teams management/g.m. to find out what it would take to acquire someone like the following players. We can’t just wait for teams to call us. Otherwise, one never knows if a match can be found.
Jason Bay would be our “all-star” caliber shortstop! Then you could platoon Harris and Buscher at third, release or trade Lamb, cut Everett and bring back Tolbert when he’s healthy.
1st=Morneau
2nd=Casilla
ss=Bay
3rd=Buscher/Harris
c=Mauer
outfield=Kubel, Gomez, Cuddy, Monroe, Span, and Young (with anyone of them dh-ing when not starting). Obviously, we would have one to many players in the outfield when Cuddy comes back; so, I’d trade him and/or Kubel with either Livan and/or Bonser (I’d throw in Lamb for good measure=for nothing). Lariano then has a spot to be brought up then.
Atkins would also be someone I would be interested in inquiring about. Dunn and Beltre would cost us too much in return, let alone they have huge salaries, which the Twins are allergic to.
LNP throws on the run because he feels the need to showboat every fielding play he’s involved in instead of just playing fundamental baseball. Looking at his baserunning, I don’t think he knows what fundamental baseball is. And I am sick of Gardy juggling the line-up constantly just to keep his little buddy in the starting line-up.
You can tell there isn’t much room for complaints when you’ve got one person posting under 6 or 7 names.
Eh herb/herby/eddie/nick/tom/dick/harry?
And seriously, the “jumbling the lineup” argument is worn out. Gardy has consistently fielded similar lineups, shifting things rarely as injuries/hot/cold have dictated.
tiger radio guys just said gardy will be dissapointed with punto’s at bat that isn’t twins baseball. they must not know much about the skipper and his little buddy!
nice span!! probably should be leading off but gardy ……….?
Cuddyer = trade bait
although who would want his contract and inability to stay healthy….but hey, he’s a super nice guy that plays hard so he’s a God in their eyes. Cuddy just hasn’t been the same since his hit TV show “Life Goes On”.
Gardy’s teams have never won a pennant. He has always had alot of player talent to work with. Maybe he is the team’s major limitation. Why keep him in the helm with all of his anger mangement problems and eating disorder? He sets a really bad example for children who watch the ball games. I think the Manager at Rochester would better for the Twins and allow them to win the pennant.
Twins = zero heart. No leadership. No fire. They got punched in the mouth by bully Boston and laid down and took it. No amount of spin can change that. They’re not ready to run with the big dogs.
What the heck is gangster-slapping?
“The Twins should be a little ticked off for this series after getting swept by the Red S0x. The offense let them down on Monday. The bullpen blew up on Tuesday. Then came the gangster-slapping on Wednesday.”
I agree Robert.
Manny should’ve got a fastball in the ribs yesterday for the way he pimped his HR Tuesday night but NOOOOOOOOOO Gardy is too much a p@#$y. Instead he goes out to argue a blatantly obvious call and gets ejected.
What is with Gardenhire and Punto? Gardy seems to have to have him somewhere in the lineup no matter how he is hitting or if the substitution is warranted or not. Gardy cost the team about twenty games in the standings in 2007 by playing bench players in the starting lineup. That is why some of the name players wanted to leave the Twins organization.
The Twins competed for 2 and a half games. Remember, they still are a very young, inexperienced team. And Boston is no pushover, especially in Fenway, where they have the best record in baseball. I think what will really be telling is how they respond in this series against Detroit.
Wrong T. The line-up he played was pretty consistent UNTIL LNP came back. And he was quoted as stating that he WOULD NOT mix up the line-up once Punto came back because things were clicking well and, his words, it was not broke so there was no need to fix it. But he just could not resist and he never will be able to. Next week, we may see LNP playing RF.
LNP has naked pictures of Gardy, Bill Smith, and Terry Ryan bowling at Southtown Bowl in Bloomington.
It’s called blackmail…
I agree with most: Land-o-Lakes field would be a great name (and fitting)! The irony here it’s got the lakes somehow involved in the name, which is fine, but remember the Ol’ Minneapolis Lakers and where they are now? That trademark name should’ve remained the rights to the state of Minnesota; like there are any lakes around L.A.!
two walks for Slowey….what’s up with that?
There is absolutely no reason for the Twins not to trade Cuddyer, Bonser, and Punto for some relief pitcher help in the stretch run. I heard Gardenhire wants to keep Cuddyer in the starting lineup instead of Span. He wants to constantly float Span around in the various outfield positons to give the regulars a rest. What a stupid decision. Span needs to be in a regular position and not constantly re-routed around in the outfield. If there is one thing that the fans can be certain of, it is that Gardenhire make ignorant lineup changes. Span is an all-around much better player than the clumsy Cuddyer.
Kay:
Gomez/Casilla/Mauer(Redmond)/Morneau/Kubel(Monroe)/Young/_/_/Span.
That has been the lineup for the majority of games (since Span’s callup) even after The Most Hated of Nicks came back into the picture.
Looks pretty consistent to me. Buscher/Harris/Punto have been swapped around based on right/left and days off. There was also the game where Punto batted 2nd due to Casilla being a late scratch.
I think you’re confusing “inconsistency” with “I don’t like Nick Punto so I hate Gardy by extension.”
Dawgzilla - Jason Bay as our shortstop? He’s an outfielder, unless there is another Jason Bay that I’m unaware of.
What’s with all the Gardy bashing? At the beginning of the year everyone was complaining, because the Twins were gonig to finish at the bottom of the division. Now they are in contention and everyone is ripping Gardy because they lose three games (two could have gone either way) at the toughest home field in MLB. If Gardy had pulled an Eric Wedge, going from hero to zero in a matter of months, I could see complaining, but lay off the guy. He’s done a pretty good job this year and in many previous years.
Wait, why not let LNP pitch the 8th
I think LEN3 used “gangster-slapping” in favor of a potentially more offensive term. (starts with a b, rhymes with stitch)
I agree ES…..if the Twins finish 70-92, then we can get on Gardy a bit…
It’s like I’ve been saying the last couple weeks, he might not do exactly what you would do…but the record speaks for itself…the Twins have been in contention pretty much every year this decade, and Gardy is 4-for-6 in Division titles…Playoffs, of course, are a different story…but the manager’s main job is to get the team there!
Hey ES16. Pay closer attention. You rube.
T:
britches?
slapped in the britches?
like………spanked?
morneau = stud (again)
Hey ES16. Pay closer attention. You rube.
For once, tom/dick/harry/herb/jim is actualy right. If ES paid more attention he’d realize that there really isn’t that much complaining. It’s all just the one guy.
It’s the only reason the “Gardy shuffles the lineup too much” argument got any feet in the first place.
If I had 30 fake names all posting my mantra, I have a feeling this place would shift just the same.
slapped in the britches?
“Spanked” is a good term. But “britch-slapped” sounds closer to what I was thinking. 
Yup. a stud. but i’d like to see some RBI’s. And PDQ or we’ll be SOL.
67 isn’t enough for you, Mudcat?
How much longer do we have to look at Delmon in a Rays cap on Game Day??
Just an observation… not an invitation to the DY-haters.
How about Pillsbury Park? or Grain Belt Stadium
remember len3 is from chicago and may have run with some gangsters in his youth.
Gardenhire should not be criticized because he is only temporarily confused. Once the season is over, he will have things all figured out.
Who is this Joyce fellow? I don’t like him.
“Gomez/Casilla/Mauer(Redmond)/Morneau/Kubel(Monroe)/Young/_/_/Span.”
Uh, yeah! It’s the “Young/_/_/Span” that used to be fairly consistent. And the infield, which was playing well, consistently included:
Morneau - 1B
Casilla - 2B
Harris - SS
Buscher - 3B (w/Lamb and Macri seeing limited time there).
Now, other than Morneau, the infield varies from game to game.
I predicted when LNP came back that Gardy would be absolutely unable to resist putting him in the starting line-up. T, who knows all, stated: “Well yeah, he’s going to want to try him out a few games and see if he’s recovered from his injury, but he won’t start every game.”
I totally share in the opinion of my fellow posters. (Who aren’t me).
As an independent entity, I also agree about the opinions regarding Gardy.
I’m glad that so many people (who aren’t me) agree that Gardenhire needs to go.
baaaa. baaa.
Why does Punto have to stick his nose into every conversation that takes place on the mound. Somebody should tell him to but out. Oh, and Kay, you are correct. Gardenhire will probably be using Punto in the starting pitching rotation before the end of the season.
Oh my god, so like I was on a Twins blog today, and like I pretended to be 10 different people, and like it was so great, and like I tricked these people and everything. Ohhh my god!!!! I ruled!!! Now I’m going to go home, and like write it all down in my diary, so I never forget how cool I was.
I was wrong about Gardy not starting Punto everyday. However, I was also wrong that Punto wouldn’t be able to contribute. I’ll have to check his numbers, but he’s had a number of big hits in the last few series (dinger, bases clearing double, double off Papelbon, rbi hit against Lee)
And Kay, take a look around the league. I tihnk keeping all but two spots in the lineup consistent isn’t too bad, and likely will fit in with what most managers do.
Heck, look at guys like Leyland and Guillen (who according ot people such as yourself are managerial gurus). They’ve jumbled and shuffled their lineups to far more drastic degrees several times comparred to Scapegoat of the Week Gardy.
right ben. nick should be britch slapped.
Two days in a row, our foes are taking batting practice.
Oh and as far as fielding goes, again…it’s been SS/3B getting a bit of shuffling, but again…2 spots out of hte whole roster.
Nyuh Nyuh Nyuh, got you again Twins. I may be little but I will homer against you AGAIN AND AGAIN! heh heh heh heh AH-hahahahhahahaaaaa M.JOYCE OUT
I’m going to start forwarding the Twins my alcohol bill en lieu of good play.
Well obviously Gardy should’ve pulled Slowey.
Idiot.
Punto just cost the Twins a run against the Tiger by his error. Don’t worry through, Gardenhire will overlook his buddy’s error and keep him in the starting lineup, even if he has to put him as the pitcher or catcher.
Wonder what Anderson told Slowey?
So our needs appear to be a starter, an 8th inning reliever, and a 3B.
Boy, when things go wrong…they like to go wrong in bunches.
what’s up with slowey?
According to people such as myself? I’ve never posted a comment on any of these blogs about Leyland or Guillen.
The point is, the infield was pretty solid, consistent and playing well. Now, it’s unpredictable and LNP is more interested in trying to make the highlights’ reel every night than in playing fundamental baseball.
Wonder what Anderson told Slowey?
“Stop it.”
Followed by a backhand slap to the face.
By starting Punto everyday, he has completely cooled off Buscher who was hot. And I don’t think we are that much stronger up the middle, evidenced with Punto’s error here in the 4th inning. There is no such thing as a good manager, only bad managers, because the players play the game. It is the managers responsibility to “consistently” put the best players on the field in order to give the team the best chance to win. Gardy is failing in that respect this week.
Punot opens the door for a slew of Tiger runs. Good going, Slicky Nicki.
eheheh look who has 2 RBIs on the day, M. Joyce. It’s R.SANTIAGO. Donde esta R. Santiago? all over the basepaths! Mucho Gusto!
Slowey was fine what in the heck happened that he totally lost it? Gardy needs to talk to these guys and say whatever he said in Milwaukee because they need it.
Good to see the Twins are playing like they did in Boston. Get a lead and then give it up. Can’t wait till the bullpen comes in and gives up another 10 runs.
this is painful.
Punto seems to cost the team alot with errors and poor hitting. Why does Gardenhire have such an affection for him?
This will be 3 games in a row the Twins could not hold a lead and loose
.
5 to 2. The whole team chemistry now seems to be in a funk. And yes team chemistry means a lot, even in baseball. If you disagree, read Kirby Pucketts quotes regarding the ‘87 and ‘91 teams. The line-up has been been altered thanks to overcoaching of the righty/lefty methodology. I feel sick.
by the break we could be in 3rd place. smith is right this team has no needs everything looks great!
If we get swept this series(anything less that two wins for that matter) the month of June will be a waste.
Just five games above .500 if we go 0-4 this weekend.
Can’t blame it all on Punto. Slowey didn’t need to let the inning get out of control like this over 1 error. Now they take out Slowey. Would have been nice if they had taken him out before a 5 runs scored.
The sky is falling! The sky is falling!
Wow, 3.2 innings, 9 hits and 6 earned. Not going to keep us in a race…
We need a pitcher not a belly itcher
I bet the opposing teams are always very happy to see Punto in the lineup for the Twins. Slick Nick will always find a way to help them.
While I agree Slowey got beat up, they had to try and get him through the inning. Especially with how badly the bullpen got roughed up in Boston.
Gardy’s confidence in his pen is shaken, and now he’s gotta follow that up with this.
And for once the hyrda that is tom/dick/harry is right. Just looked outside and I think I see hail. Not to mention the tornado warning for the region.
is there any way to blame this on young?
Looks like the pitching has decided that their break started on Tuesday. Yikes.
I hate to see this 13 games above .500 slip away so fast.
This young rotation seems to feed off of Hernandez, following his example. That does not bode well with the way he’s been pitching lately. Ship Livan out for a bag of balls, call up Liriano, and let these young guys try to figure it out.
gook: As sane pointed out, that statement was made prior to the bullpen deciding it didn’t like leads.
I will agree that Smith likely was testing the Baseball Gods’ patience, but nobody has a crystal ball.
The important thing now is that he goes to the phone and sees if there’s anything he can do to bring in some help.
The only problem is (as we’ve seen in Boston and now here) there’s really no ONE glaring hole. Sometimes the offense is the issue, sometimes it’s the bullpen, sometimes it’s the rot’.
So the question is, if there’s only enough resources to fix one, which is more vital?
Quiet honestly my opinions shifting to pen help. You can eat an occasional ugly start from the back end of the rotation. The losses that hurt are the ones when the pen can’t close down a lead.
Sexton is available…Could he be someone the Twins are interested in?
TWINTERR:
sure don’t want to get swept but five over isn’t all THAT bad
PS: By “resources” I mean “players to offer”.
I have a feeling that a quality 8th inning guy isn’t going to come cheap. Which means that it’ll be tough to put something together for one of those and still get that 3B the Twins have been wanting for a while.
LNP gets hit and he will get out on baserunning mistakes. If its not one thing with him its always going to be another.
The offense has been pretty good. The pitching lately though leaves alot ot be desired.
Lets chip away here boys!
Yeah, it’s better than below the .500 mark, but I thought if the team could go just 3-4 this week, they’d still be double-digits above.
Sexson would be interesting since we’d have to give nothing up. To bad it wasn’t Beltre their let go.
Since the Twins talked internally about him, I could see them taking a chance there.
I see the Twins are back to their drunken ways again. They’ll be done by August 1, 2008.
We need to get some back here…
He can’t be any worse a gamble than a Bret Boone or a Phil Nevin?
This is one great baserunning team.
should LNP have run there? not watching
It is really annoying after have 1 good game Punto now is a starter.
How much was Punto out at home by? Did he screw up on the basepaths again?
Who is Punto? He is new from the minor leagues? I see he is the Twins shortstop. I hope he is good hitting like Mornew.
Yeah, our baserunning has been stellar this week hasn’t it?
Did Punto screw up on the basepaths again?
I like how Casilla battles every AB. Whether he gets out or not, most of the time he will at least work the pitcher.
TT: It says Sexson is a 1B. Would that mean he comes here and DHs?
That would put Kubel/Monroe out of a job (I doubt they’d get him to be platooning). It wouldn’t hurt to grab him and try for a bit (though it makes me remember Boone/Nevin none to favorably).
Do they do something with Monroe (and risk giving up that potential impact bat off the bench)?
On the plus side, they don’t have to give anything up, and could dump him with little hassle if he doesn’t spark anything.
But I think they have the resources to get something more helpful. Sexson should be a last resort if attempts to get somebody else fail.
please tell us nick did the right thing so we didn’t get doubled up
Lets just run ourselves out of the inning
More great baserunning…
Who is new man Punto? Where did he play before Twins team. Good luck to new Punto guy for twins.
OK, allow me to join the Gardy bashing for a moment….
WHAT WAS THAT?????????????
t you go get houston street and beltre pay what you have to this chance may not come again for a while.
What a call Gardy! A double-steal, are you kidding me?
More great baserunning!
WHAT WAS THAT?????????
YOU ARE KIDDING ME, RIGHT????
That is enoughh bad play for Punto to be sent to the bench. Won’t happen though. Any other player it would happen to except Punto.
TELL ME THAT CALL DID NOT COME FROM THE BENCH!!!!!
Oof. I step away and it looks like we’re still in Fenway.
Not that I think it will happen, but is it possible that the debates on which player to buy will be turned to what player(s) to sell by bedtime Sunday? Maybe the Whities can stumble a bit (fingers crossed.)
I CAN’T DEFEND IT ANYMORE….YOU ARE JOKING RIGHT????
WHAT WAS THAT??????
Gladden just said that Livan Hernandez threw out Span at 3rd. Incredible.
And the game is only halfway over
Tell me about Punto player new to team. Thanks you.
Well, we get some hits and give the Tigers two free outs.
What a disaster. There needs to be a team meeting after this game! Get it together boys. Wow.
STILL IN SHOCK
Shawn,
“should LNP have run there? not watching”
Punto failed to delay until the first baseman’s throw was made to 2B. You can’t break on contact. (unless cotact play is on -not likely down 4 runs)
The 1B throw was home and LPN (Lil Picky Nunto) was dead meat.
That was a frustrating inning and I’m not even watching the game. How many runs have we left out on the basepaths this week? It looks like our average with RISP is starting to come back to reality. No clutch hitting, horrible decisions on the base paths, and bad calls by Gardy have run us out of a lot of innings. It’s starting to get really frustrating and a little alarming.
When things go wrong…they go wrong big.
Fundemental mistakes. What happened to fundamentally sound baseball. The Twins are rattled and not playing good team baseball.
hernandez, rodriguez, aw whatever
gardy needs to get to the hardware store and get a lug wrench to tighten the wheels quick!
Sorry Shaun,
Spelling disorder!
Punto is good player. he only make two mistakes in hole game today as yet.
They didn’t actually try to double steal though did they?
WHAT…NO WAY…DOUBLE STEAL DOWN 6-2….NO WAY, NO WAY
walter, have your buddy herb (or herm…tom…dick…wally…etc) fill you in.
I think the most effective way to score runs is to give away as many outs as possible. We hit well with two outs, so lets just give away two outs every inning.
Walter-
“Tell me about Punto player new to team. Thanks you.”
Seriously?
UNBELIEVABLE
Well, the skies are starting to clear, maybe the worst is over.
…Or this is the eye.
new Punto player should be all star team player. He is good player for being new player. good luck to new man Punto for twins.
bad combo giving your outs away and giving the other team extra outs, very hard way to win.
Don’t mind walter, Patrick. I have a feeling he’s the end result of herb’s multiple-personality disorder finally collapsing in on itself.
vitre vote for punto all star to new york statium on television minnesota team. He is from minnesota. vote pnto
Twins left their brains in the dome.
well, that’s that. back to today’s topic.
How ’bout the hardware store? “Ace Place”
no? how ’bout Summit Beer Park?
Weeeeeeeeeeeee,
Like………
Baseballwelikehotdogs………..
well then forget it.
Here we go again…
Prejudiced.
I like Walter, english not so good, but I like him anyway. 
Alright, Tigers decided to join in on the basepath mistakes.
After today’s game the Twins should….Release Punto, Lamb, Everett and Livo. They are not helping this team.
DOUBLE STEAL?
I’ll vot for Punto for the all-star match.
Please not only Punto, Lamb, Everett and Livo, but also Cuddyer and Bonser. How else will Span and Liriano ever get into the regular scheme of things?
Nick, I’m not so sure they should let Livan go. At least trade him. If you can get something for Ramon Ortiz, there is value for Hernandez.
Everett and Lamb do need to go. I’d rather see Macri than either of them.
Not that it matters now, but Span was safe on his attempted steal at 3rd. The Detroit broadcast replayed it 3 or 4 timess, but didn’t comment on Span being safe even though it was very obvious. His feet got in before the tag.
Thanks sane.
Damn the Twins sure want to limp into the break.
This is a classic case of stats being proven meaningless. OBP was supposed to equal scoring. But with Punto and Span on 1b all the time we can’t score for @#$@. Punto and Span probably have better fielding pct. than Cuddy and Harris as well, but all we have done is look crappy and the vibe is totally wrong following Gardy’s tinkering.
yeah, Tigers radio said the same thing…Hohum, but wow, that is so not the point….unreal.
Oh yeah! Boof needs to be gone. He isn’t going to get any better and will never again be in the rotation.
Can Bill Smith figure that out? Heo only allows four runs per outing.
At least when the Twins are up six, they can bring Boof in to setup the save for Joe!
Nora 1:42 pm, You are absolutely right. This team seems to be anaerobic..they can’t function in oxygen/fresh air.
I think we should just release everyone. Fire everyone, including the mascot and hotdog venders. Definately the ground crew and the announcers, both tv and radio. Then we should sell the team to someone who isn’t cheap. And mauer shouldn’t bat third.
Wow, Breslow is falling apart too. He has been great up until yesterday.
Three hits and two walks this inning. Good thing the Tigers made a baserunning error…
Nick,
Please add, Gardie, Bonser and Crain to that list. Why does Gomez continue to lead off with an ob base percentage less then .300. Gardie in all his years here has never been able to make a knowable lineup.
This kinda reminds me of the 06 playoffs. Twins passed their suck bug onto the A’s, who gave it to the Tigers.
So the Twins apparently caught it from the Sox, and are in the process of passing it to the Tigers maybe?
Tony, if you release everyone, you won’t have to worry about Mauer batting 3rd as he’d be gone…
Why would we let Crain go? That makes no sense at all.
Here’s a lineup for Gardenhire to dwell on:
1. Morneau ss
2. Mauer lf
3. Punto p
4. Harris c
5. Redmond cf
6. Casilla 1b
7. Buscher fr
8. Bonsser 2b
9. Plouffe dh
JP - I’m not saying for the twins, I’m saying if anyone wants him after we release him, he shouldn’t bat third for them.
Is it to late for contraction?
Boof will get his chance to raise his ERA before the game is over.
hohum-
Like you said, it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. We would have found a way to not score.
Why would we let Crain go? That makes no sense at all.
Because people like to suggest simply removing the players that aren’t doing well, not realizing that it would require a younger group of players (who would also likely not do well…likely worse) to come in.
The fun thing is, by this point…the entire team has been fired/traded/released/executed.
Except Morneau.
haha, Scott. The image of Red Dog patrolling CF is hilarious.
Me wonders if that pretend Boston fan from yesterday will be around this time as Motor City Kitty or something like that.
Jason says:
July 10th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
I’ll throw out a boredom discussion topic during the game…
What should the name of the new Twins stadium be? If it’s corporate (almost certainly a given), then which corporate name could you live with?
I would vote for Twins Stadium but I know that won’t happen…
Penny Pincher Park
nathan can play short he doesn’t pitch anymore should get some work out of him. guess he’ll get some work in later (8th) if the score stays the same.
Gomez should be batting in the 9 spot with Span in the #1 spot. It’s not hard to figure out. Gomez needs to stop striking out so much.
Alex…Boof still has hope and if the twins put him on waivers he would be gone within hours. He is still young and probably can be corrected into a better pitcher.
scott - funniest post of the day! But with Plouffe dh’ing the lineup still lacks a 3B.
One-Liner Stadium
Though frankly I think Land O’ Lakes is one of those few times when a corporate name is actually befitting.
Can teams approach a company, or is it usually the company that approaches the team?
Morneau is about the only player (and Mauer) who hasn’t cooled down at the plate up to this point.
People should not criticize the Twins team or manager. They are doing the best they can. What do you expect from a Minnesota sports team?
t the fake sox fan sounded a lot like craig.
162 games. Not one; not four.
You have ups and downs every year. 2006 is classic example. We had two 8-10 game winning streaks, followed by 1 win and 5 loss streak, followed by another 8-10 game winning streak.
Sure, you think this sucks now. Just wait…
morneau carrying his weight as usual
I’m not sure Boof has much potential left. At least not with the Twins. Maybe he needs a new home to get things going.
If you look at the Twins from AAA on up to the majors, there is no way he’ll regain a role in the rotation.
T the other day I appologize sincerely for accusing you of blogging under my name. That is the 3rd time in less then a week and a half that this was done to me. I went back to the blog the next day and I did not use your name at all but noticed that someone had done this to you as well. I don’t do this because it is not politically correct. Again I am sorry for accusing you of this terrible act. If you reported this act to Joe C you will find it was not me doing this.
tony i don’t think we can tell other teams where to bat the guys we release. that just wouldn’t be right.
Breslow got through that inning somehow. Maybe the 4 base runners and no runs scored will come back to haunt the tiggers.
T - Supposedly LoL has bought a URL for LoL field. So it might be true.
How bout the New Metropolitan stadium
ok. i finally got it. the name of the new park. “SPAM STADIUM”
what do ya think? ? ?
boy, everyone’s kind of testy today.
Mudcat - You’re right, but we can whine and complain about it on the internet. I’m sure that would work.
After two days of variance, Delmon is again back to first pitch swinging. Does anybody coach these guys and, if so, does anybody listen or learn?
At least we are not the T-Wolves stadium
Same thing again. A few hits (runners) and then nothing else.
How about Mills Fleet Farm Field?
jimmy bee,
How do we know that it was you that apologized to T and not T using your moniker and apologizing to himself? In fact, how do we know it is me asking this question? We need a secret handshake or something. Something too clever for those 13 year olds to figure out. How about we end every real post with some form of adulation for Carlos Gomez?
Gomez is really fast!
It’ll probably be 3M Field.
Northland Municipal Ball Park
I agree Carlos G or my Lightning strike me in the Arse
Carlos G says: “Sure, you think this sucks now. Just wait…”
I think I was singing that song yesterday, “The sun will come out, tomorrow….”
“or may” I meant
Twins still shootin’ blanks out there.
Here we go! Slip sliding away - will be a seven game losing streak come Monday - guaranteed!! Put it in the bank!!!
Definition of irony. People at work following a twins game and commenting on a blog saying that managers\coaches\players suck at their jobs.
How about Geek Squad Stadium?
Supposedly LoL has bought a URL for LoL field. So it might be true.
I like the sound of that. Plus “LOL Field” will provide hours of commenting fun during tough home games.
“Baby Jesus Ball Park”
feeling guilty Tony?
Why don’t the twins make an offer to Barry Bonds…the guy can play and hit the long ball and propel us to the postseason…seriously think of the media hype we would get if we signed bonds dirt cheap and the extra people it would put in the stands because it would make us a legitimate team. the reward heavily outweighs the risk
jimmy bee,
I was wondering WHO you were when you said “my lightning”. Thanks for clearing that up.
Gomez is exciting.
Nah, I’m not really that productive on non-game days either.
Forget me not Field
Not a prob Carlos G. I noticed after I entered “My Lightning” I laughed at myself. Also where in the world is BC of ND?
Bottom feeders eat nothing but crap and now we dare say that we do not need any one or two players to help out? Look at the record (sans the BoSox home series) and tell me this team can truly compete with the big boys.
The risk with signing Bonds is he’s been out of ball for over half a season. Even WITH the juice do you think he’d be able to get his swing back in time?
That and the whole “Maybe he sucks now that he’s clean” thing…
Look at the record (sans the BoSox home series)
So ignoring the two series where they played the Sox and Yanks even.
We should also include: “Ignoring the MVP season, and the two season with 30 homers…has Morneau really contributed anything?”
Another leadoff hit. Can we do something this inning or will Punto mess it up on the bases?
WHAT???!!! Punto batting .306!!! - I must be dreaming or something!!!!
You mean .313!
Punto hasn’t been terrible, it’s just the bonehead mistakes that drive us fans nuts.
. . . and he just singled!!! Punto is the reincarnation of Pete Rose!!!!!!!! OMG!!
Does anyone know who actually put up the most $$$ towards the ball park and the names of the companies that that individual owns. This may give you an idea as to the up coming name.
Solid AB for Span. Now we have two on and no outs. Lets get SOMETHING.
I can see it coming bases loaded and no outs - - end of inning - no runs and .000 w/ RISP
why isin’t gomez bunting??
” Penny Pincher Park ” … I suggest “Family Dollar Stadium”. And an absolute NO to Barry Bonds, posted upthread. If you must bring in an aging power hitter, at least let him be righthanded. And preferably off the juice.
because giving away outs when you’re down by 4 isn’t what you want to do. And he’s not that good at it.
well at least go-go didn’t strike out
Here is something interesting I just found:
3M has the following domain registered:
3mpark.com
Salvation Army Park or Starvation Army Park
As to Barry Bonds coming here I say NO. He is a million years old and also if I was to get an old washed up player for a DH it would be Griffey Jr.
yep that RISP has been dropping like a rock no surprise.. team RISP can’t continue to stay 50 points higher then team batting average overall
Well, at least we got something out of some hits.
3M (misers) Park?
Mingy Stingy Stadium
I think it is time to stop batting Redmond 3rd when Mauer has a day off.
TT: I wouldn’t be surprised if corporations right now are locking down domains like that “just in case”.
Wow, Redmond having a bad day. Gardy’s magic pencil may need some sharpening.
Whoever Derek Pettis is, he either works for the Twins and is saving some possible park names, or is going to try and make some money off it.
He has 19 domains reigstered including:
http://www.bestbuypark.com
http://www.bestbuyfield.com
http://www.3mfield.com
bjwillia - absolutely agree. Who should instead?
Who is this Punto all star guy everyone keeps talking about? Is he new to the Twins team? Maybe he will save the team from losing games.
Morrow from Seattle!
Livan to St. Louis!
Wait a minute!
Guess what domain the MINNESOTA TWINS have registered?
http://www.landolakesfield.com
Registrant:
Minnesota Twins
34 KIRBY PUCKETT PL
MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55415-1523
US
What companies does the main contributer towards the new ball park own.
Bonds might be a million years old, but last year he put up a .276/.480/.565 line, and two years ago he hit .270/.480/.545.
No, he wouldn’t help the Twins at all. No place for a guy who can get on base 40+ percent of the time and slug over .500.
I think Morneau until Cuddy comes back. Unless Delmon stops underachieving and starts driving the ball.
Livan to St. Louis!
That was random…
USA Chief Bonds is a tallented individual but he is a me first type of player and is way to big of a distraction. He is a major distarction in the Twins quest for winning a 3rd MLB Championship
Mulder gets hurt last night. His career is very much in doubt. Maybe St. Louis would bite. Don’t want much. Prospects? Just to get Livan out of the rotation.
jimmy bee - The post office and the library.
Of course Livan would probably end of leading them to the playoffs. Look at what Lohse has done there!
TT: This Derek fellow could be a cyber-squatter, but since these involve copyrights (Best Buy, 3M, Land O Lakes, etc) he likely won’t be able to get anything off of them.
Similiar to how many fan pages are often overtaken by corporations once they either become popular or the franchise in question takes off.
Thanks Tony. I actually want to see the new Yankees stadium set to open soon. They say the price on that Beut is somewhere a little over 1 Billion dollars. Don’t qoute me but I thought I heard that price tag somewhere
While we’re at it…maybe Clemens will come out of “retirement” and pitch for the Twins.
I mean, he’s put up insane numbers as recent as one or two years ago too right?
Wow! Morneau is really on the ball today!
Why didnt he bat Kubel for Monroe?
What was the “On-field delay”?
Morneau is 4-4 and hitting .322. Watch out Joe Mauer!
I’d prefer Clemens starting over Livan, T.
Sammy Sosa available and what about Will Clark, Mark Grace and Rafael Palmeiro
It’s too bad the Twins don’t have a better manager who know what he is doing and doesn’t make costly mistakes all the time. Gardenhire is an embarrassment to the Minnesota Twins because he argues umpire calls that are clearly correct and gets thrown out of the game. He really sets a bad example for all the young fans.
Morrow from Seattle!
When are people going to stop suggesting Morrow? He’s Seattle’s equivalent of Joba Chamberlain.
He’s not going anywhere.
Fernando Rodney has a big ass head!
I think the Yankees just asked for an additional 200 mil or so to finish it, but yeah, the original price tag was 1 Billion… same with the Cowboy’s Stadium in Dallas… of course New Yankee Stadium is used 81 times a year, New Cowboy Stadium is used 8
would it be asking too much for Kubel to bat for the HOT Monroe - or Delmon?
Pohlad Place?
*dodging thrown rocks*
You prefer Bass, Boof, etc. in our pen instead of someone like Morrow?
yeah ben. i noticed that. hat’s cocked also.
yep whoever keeps calling Morneau the Teflon man hopefully understands now why Twin’s Nation doesn’t rip him he is GOOD!!!!
Mudcat Grant can still hum that pea.
My apologies snepp I misunderstood your comment. I am just wishing:)!
No, whattodo, we don’t prefer Bass instead of Morrow.
Unfortunately, neither do the Mariners.
You prefer Bass, Boof, etc. in our pen instead of someone like Morrow?
Go ahead and trade them Mauer for Morrow, because that’s likely what it would take.
Oh silly me. Great fundamental baseball. 2 groundouts produce a run. Wow!!!!!!
I don’t get the random Livan and Morrow “trade” comments.
Back to the game…
To bad for those baserunning blunders. We might be tied up here without them.
I think people should not be too hard on Gardenhire. If he is battling with mental health issues, as was previously noted, he could overcome his anger mangement problems with proper therapy. The Twins organization should have something in place to help him. Maybe Ulger or Liddle could take over for a while until things are better for Gardy.
Three worthwhile lefty options on the bench yet you let three righties hit…
You know, it’s a darn shame we didn’t have someone on the bench, a LH hitter perhaps, to PH for Monroe there.
My apologies snepp I misunderstood your comment. I am just wishing:)!
Nevermind my previous comment then.
Punto, Span and Gomez are the last hope in the ninth…
C’MON NICKY! EVERYONE HERE IS PULLING FOR YOU! (LMAO!)
Nathan here, to get some work?
Is that crazy Gomez gonna go 0-5 today?
Gomez with a 3 run dinger then… That should calm everyone down.
Walks away quietly whistling.
Gomez covers a lot of ground in CF.
Gomez needs to be benched through the All-Star break, and then bat 9th when he returns.
On the plus side, bullpen was able to actually stop the bleeding today.
If Monroe comes up in 9th, be sure to let him bat. We wouldn’t want to hurt his confidence(0for 11). After all, if Gomez(0 for 14) has to play today and flail away(oh look! a RBI on a groundout Earlier), why disturb either rally killer.
Good call T. At least there is something to be positive about.
The Craiger is hitting .207, can’t hit lefties…. 16 of the 30 hits are 2b or HR…..
I only want to see this guy as a PH for LNP or another light hitter late for the rest of the year.
If he has to play please don’t use him after Morneau
Hey, just throwing this out there for fun and in case it has been talked about I apologize. I see that Seattle has just released Richie Sexson. Any interest?
Nathan has been on the bench so long he is suffering from atrophy
yep bullpen does great when it doesn’t matter and the game is already out of hand.. also bullpen pitchers not named Bass seem to do better… 
Whimpy Slowey shelled by the big cats. Its really hard to tell how good the Twins pitchers are when they are so inconsistent.
Monroe has to be the streakiest hitter alive. Once a month, he will hit 3 hr over the course of 2 games and then go 0-20 the rest of the month.
Sexson would probably have the same effect as Monroe… all or mostly nothing
Anderson doesn’t seem to do much to help the outstanding pitchers once they arrive from their outstanding training in the Twins minor league system. He does alot of tinkering with the heads, but never seems to come up with any consistency from any of them during the past two years. Maybe he should just allow them to pitch and not constantly mess with the minds.
Righties 1 for 19 today against a lefty starter
Punto should be moved to the 5th spot. He can’t be expected to carry this team every day! Give him some help!!
Shawn is right…Sexson is Monroe Jr. with an 8 figure contract.
Are they going to let Kubel hit jones?
Any reason why Buscher didn’t PH there?
good job LNP
now pinch run for him
I think everyone should vote for Punto to be on the American League All Star Roster.
Wow…I was wrong..LNP with the hit.
What’s the score?
Punto hits 3rd next time Mauer is out of the lineup.
Go Span!
Thank god for the Tiger’s stellar defense
MV-Punto the straw that’s stirs the Twins drink!!
span span he’s our man if he can’t do it no one can ! ! ! !
Go Mauer!
Holy Sh*& Punto!
SPAN! Double! Nicky scores!
A chance yet. Just win this guys!
We have a chance. GO TWINS!!!
gardy really needs to flip flop gomez and span for a while anyway.
WHAT’S THE SCORE!?! I’m stuck at work
GO
GO
GOMEZ!
WATCH HIM
GO
GO
GO! ! !
Joyce isn’t perfect after all!!
6-5 top 9. 0 out, runner on 3rd. Mauer up
6-5 bad guys. top 9. runner on 3rd zero out, Mauer PH, for GoGomez
what percentage of first pitch fast balls does Mauer let go by? I’m thinking at least 98%
He’s a great hitter but is there anything wrong with swinging at the first pitch?
At least he can usually make contact.
Rumor:
The bat that Gomez uses has started talking back to HIM!
Something about “If you aren’t going to use me, then TRADE ME!!!”
6-5 Tigers…Top 9…Span on 3rd…no out.
The Chairman delivers!!!
JOE
JOE
JOE
WATCH HIM
GO
GO
GO! ! !
Tied up on sac fly.
6-6
Ron Gardenhire makes stupid mistakes in almost every game that costs the team in the standings. I think he should be sent to some sort of class in statistics. Apparently, he does not know how to read the stats or he wouldn’t make such bone head blunders as a manager. Maybe a basic elementary class in math would help too.
tie game!
Gardy is nuts pinch hitting some dude off the bench for Gomez. Gomez would have gone yard, but oh well, sac fly from Mauer is ok too.
Gomez is fast.
Can Mauer catch and Kubel come in for redmond?
GIMME AN A
GIMME AN L
GIMME AN E
GIMME AN X
GIMME A BASE RUNNER! ! !
okay, hope we don’t blow this in the bottom of the inning!
Let’s go JUSTIN!!!!!!!
Can we say 5 for 5 today????
ICE COLD BEER
MAKES US WANT TO CHEER!
ICE COLD DUCK
MAKES US WANT TO
FIRE UP FOR VICTORY! ! !
I wanna see the Doc get a HR to cap off the day.
JUSTIN
JUSTIN
WE WANT JUSTIN! ! !
Morneau 4 for 9, 3 2B’s vs Seay
If Gardy does not bring in Nathan, I swear…
I don’t think Morneau is going to see a decent pitch.
Gardy quoted that he won’t mess with the line-up when Punto returned because the team was ‘hot.’
Well that didn’t last long……He has cooled off Buscher at the expense of Punto & Harris……..
Way to go Gardy…..What happened to the Harris/Punto platoon?
as risky as it is moving a guy to second, i wouldn’t give morneau a thing to hit
Bass is warming up in the bullpen.
No, they’ll let Monroe strike out.
Allthough there would be two on. He could try for his patented 3-run shot.
Damn. They wouldn’t pitch to him.
the craiger has a good graces shot
Tiger fans are idiots. They’re booing that pitch around.
monroe is a douche but he can be clutch
Pull Seay?
si!
The only question is, if you’re going to walk him, why not let Jones do it.
Please tell me you’re joking re: Bass warming up…
BEAT THOSE TIBERS!
BEAT THOSE TIBERS!
BEAT THOSE TIBERS!
Wait a minute!
Morneau’s second double was a homer and they missed it?
where’s randy bush to pinch hit when you need him
They must haven’t looked at monroe’s season splits. He’s hitting righties and sucking against lefties. Hopefully that continues.
Monroes future with the team is on the line with this AB. I think he is done anyway when Cuddy is back, but if he screws this up…
If Monroe gets up in th 9th -why that would never happen. Does Leyland know how WELL Monroe hits lefties?
4-6-3
OK Craig it’s time to get back at your old team!
Sorry, Bass was cooked on the grill yesterday.
Did they just use a pitcher to walk Morneau and then replace him? We thought we had bullpen issues…
bringin in bass for the bottom?
Wow, that was a good catch by Thomas to get Mauer out. He would have been on second with no outs
Lamber time.
There’s already 2 down.
Here comes Lamb…
LAMB!!!!!@^#%*%#*!@???
Lamb in for Monroe!!!! WHAT THE!!
LAMB!!!!!!!!!!!!
ah never mind Lamb is batting. My hope for the team is when Cuddy is ready to come back they dump Lamb and Monroe and go get one more real hitter for the bench for situations like this.
One pitch, one out.
Why swing at the first pitch off the bench? Lamb sucks!
I guess we tied it up…
Lamb ph for Monroe
My god one pitch!!!??? Lamb sucks!!!
OH NO, Not Lamb! Gardy Stop the insanity!!!
lamb for monroe….. wow
hopefully it works
why? dead god why?
Lamb? Really?
can I pack his locker for him?
C’MON MIKE
THERE AIN’T NUTTIN LIKE MUTTON! ! !
This is illegal. Nathan can’t pitch in a non-save situation, that’s not what “closers” do.
whoa whoa whoa, ease down fellas. It’s time to put a stop to this and get the game winning hit. I may just blast another one over the fence. Be back soon.
Lamb. What a fabulous PH move.
Good old Lamb, first pitch swingin’.
oops missed the 2nd out, same result.
Wow.. I can’t believe Lamb grounded out. What a surprise. I didn’t see that coming.
6 inches to the left, Lamb’s a hero and Gardy is a genius.
I’d rather have Monroe in that situation. Lamb isn’t any better. I hate when we always go for the “matchups”.
I wonder who will pitch.
Pulling all the stops. OK we are stopped
well, it kinda worked
i’ll wear my hat inside out now and spare you guys
Edited because it’s not even close to the truth….
Wow…horrible. I hope Lamb understands why he sits on the bench now.
What the hell kind of a decision was that to replace Monroe, who’s had a rough day, but has at least put together quality at bats, with Lamb? Hopefully that at bat was the nail in the coffin for him. I just hope it doesn’t cost us this game.
I’d rather have Livan in that situation
Nathan needs to ‘get some work’, being we left that bullet in the chamber in key spots Monday and Tuesday.
The OF is Young, Span, Kubel from left to right.
Mauer catching…
Always go for the matchup? Where have you been today or the 8th innings in Boston games 1 and 2.
Does Nathan pitching mean we’ve settled for a loss? I mean even if the Twins score in the bottom, he can’t come back and pitch the next inning. At least we tried.
I’d rather have Livan there too. Heck, I’d rather have Slowey!
Seriously if the reason we are keeping Lamb and Monroe around is to have some “hitting off the bench” we could just go out and get Sexton. Obviously we owe these guys money, but are they really a step up for Louie Rodriguez off the bench to PH last year? Bring in Bonds, put him in a little room somewhere in the locker room where he won’t mess up the chemstry and then roll him out in situations like this to PH, then stick him back in his own little space.
It’s time to put the Lamb on the livestock truck and send him to South St. Paul.
If Nathan blows this one due to wildness, the reasoning will be that he hasn’t pitched for a while. Right?
Its not a save situation!
Why are they wasting Nathan?
Wait until we get a lead!
August, September, I don’t care!!!
So why is Lamb still in a twins uniform? Oh yea, they signed him for 2YEARS. OUCH! Bye Bye Lamb and hopefully that was your last at bat as a twin.
Leadoff walk, not good.
Nathan really doesn’t normally pitch all that well if it isn’t a save.
ESPN.com reporting the Twins have traded for Seattle Mariners 3B Adrian Beltre.
About time for me to end this one. Better go take a few practice swings. JOYCE TIME.
wow….what just happened…i get back from a meeting and it’s 6-6!
I dont see that anywhere roger, i see a column about Rumors
star tribune reporting roger is really funny
My bad, I misread. Sorry all!
Roger link please; I don’t believe you.
Too bad about Sexson though. That guy could really rake when he was in Milwaukee. Too bad he can’t play 3rd.
I don’t see that anywhere Roger. All I see is this:
Rumor Central: Twins talking about Beltre?
Which leads to the STrib thing that Joe C. reported.
Another walk!
That’s why Nathan never comes in when it’s not a save. He has never been good at it. Going back to last year at least.
Looks like Nathan could be joining the Bullpen suckage.
well nathan is doing his best here to get into a boat load of trouble
time to rduce my carbon butt print- i’m going green.
Wow, this guy bunts as well as LNP.
Two missed bunts here. Maybe it’ll come back to haunt them (Please, please!)
Cabrera’s run doesn’t count anyway, so why give him anything to hit?
What are they doing bunting?
??? what is the differnce b/w save and non save?
moving a guy to third with one out, seems pretty logical to me
gardy seems to be on a streak with his pitching changes.
At least we came back. See you all tomorrow
One out, runners at first and second still.
Why would you trade 3 chances to win the game with a base hit for 2 chances to win the game w/ a base hit and 1 chance to win it with a deap fly ball?
roger Roger!
Over and GTF out!
Clete Thomas looks like he smoked crack before his picture.
you’ve never played baseball before have you
Who needs to bunt with a WP?
boy do we have stuff to bitch about after this!
Please.
It’s all over. Turn out the lights.
Nuts n’ bolts. If they didn’t try to make me bunt I would have had it. M.Santiago, you out there? Que?
So he gets a good out and then a wild pitch does what Joyce couldn’t do. I hate to say it, but this game is over…
At least we faught back.
you bunt there, the wild pitch score a run for one reason
begging for a 1-2-3 DP here.
If they had called Morneau’s second double a homer…
Nathan is just working his pitch-count so Gardy has a real excuse to use for not keeping him in a second inning.
huge.
Well, we have a chance to get out of this. Still, I’m not going to get a lot of hope here.
Everybody who can, it’s rally cap time!
Give Nathan some credit. He’s close to extracting himself from his own kerfuffle.
Asuming we get out of the inning
inning over. sit nathan for two weeks now.
Man, please don’t repeat that!
Wow…Great comeback Nathan!
Score a run, and Bass will come in for the save!
Now that’s a true All-Star! Lets get a run or two…
clutch
Nathan summoning his inner Guardado
swing and a miss.
The big problem is that we wasted through enough of the lineup that their top men will be batting next inning again.
HOLY GUACAMOLE! ! !
I CAN’T BELIEVE HE PITCHED OUT OF THAT MESS! ! !
Nathan is something else. What a pitcher!
I got to hand it to Nathan. He repaired his own mess. Bullpen..Take note of how you can pitch well and get out of jams.
nathan throws 31 pitches to keep his arm in shape!
I think he just wanted to give Gardenhire a near heart attack to get back at him for not using him in the Boston series.
31 pitches to retire the ninth. No second inning for Joe N today? Or manana?
Well, I guess I’ll be eating my hat. How did they get out of that inning???
TwinsTerritory - Did replays show that the Moose’s 2nd double was out or something??
Yeah just had to pull and Everyday Eddie didn’t he
TT - Morneau scored anyway. Groundout by Delmon
ANYONE NOTICE THE TIGERS DON’T SWING AT FIRST PITCHES TOO MUCH?
Well, you can decide for youselves. It is under the video on GameDay:
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2008_07_10_minmlb_detmlb_1&mode=gameday
Personally, it looked to me like it hit something over the fence and came back.
BTW, it’s called “Morneau’s Disputed Double”.
My bad, it’s correct to bunt there. Run expectation decreases but the odds of getting 1 run, which is all they needed increases.
If Punto goes 4-5. I’m not saying sh*& about him for a week at least!
DY just hit a home run…at the dome.
Oh yeah. Guess it doesn’t matter then. For soem reason I was thinking it happened at a different time.
Looks like we’ll have to hope for eleven. Some quick outs here…
this is a crazy game…we need it.
Hits: 1
Errors: 0
- Twins eighth.
- C.Thomas in as left fielder.
- Rodney pitching.
- Morneau doubled to center.
- Monroe grounded out, second baseman Polanco to first baseman Larish, Morneau to third.
- Delm.Young grounded out, third baseman C.Guillen to first baseman Larish, Morneau scored.
- B.Harris grounded out, shortstop Santiago to first baseman Larish.
Tigers realize Punto’s power good idea to walk Nicky!
Span!
Span is just solid right now.
OK, guess we can package Michael Cuddyer as part of that trade for Beltre….my word Span…give him lead off tomorrow Gardy!
AHHHH - Go Joe!…Span is the Man!
Joe will ground out 4-3.
TT - I always enjoy your posts - truly
I would bet they don’t give Mauer much to hit here.
gardy has to flip flop span and gomez no reason except stupidity for not doing it at least until span cools off.
With the AS Break coming up and the Twins having 4 days off, they can set up their rotation anyway they want to.
What do you think the rotation should be?
I’d go with:
Baker
Blackburn
Slowey
Perkins
Hernandez
OK Casilla
Sweet, I was going to flipflop Slowey and Blackburn…. before today
bone head steel by span. oh for youth!
Why the heck did Span steal 2nd w/2 outs and Mauer batting??
they would’ve walked Mauer anyway…
We need a knock Alexi…Come on!
SweetOne, Francisco’s last name isn’t spelled “Hernandez”, it’s spelled “Liriano”.
Bases loaded=Kryptonite for the Twins.
can Nathan go one more inning?
I suppose Span goes to try to force a bad throw to second. Ballsy(or stupid) with two outs and Mauer up.
Would someone please tell me why Span stole 2nd with Mauer at the plate, thereby taking the bat out of Mauer’s hand?
BASS, BASS, BASS, WE WANT BASS!!!!
What happened to that .315 team BA w/ RISP?
Regression to the mean is a B.
If I were up w the bases loaded I’d be darned sure the ball accidentally struck my knee…
How did the Tigers get out of THAT one? Puh-sheesh!
Of course not. His arm would fall off.
Oh good, Guerrier’s coming in.
Well, who wants to win this game anyway. Both teams leave the bases loaded. What happened to Minn’s clutch 2 out hitting?
It was actually pretty funny to hear howt the Tigers’ radio guys were reacting to Mauer being at the plate and not wanting to face him with runners in scoring position…they made it seem like he is the biggest RBI machine in baseball…pretty funny.
They were going bananas–openly saying “thank you, thank you” when Span stole second….
22 runners LOB today…Ouch.
Nathan’s arm will break in half if he throws over 31 pitches. After all, it’s not as if he’s a professional athlete
Guess we’re seeing that RISP avg coming back down to earth
can Nathan go one more inning? Yes
Will Nathan go one more inning? No
Mauer was getting the unintentional intentional walk anyway…
Shawn,
After I was posted I was thinking about Swapping Slowey and Blackburn as well so you would never have 2 “similar” pitchers going back to back.
I’d consider Baker and Blackburn similar eventhough Baker is more of a power pitcher and Blackburn is a sinkerballer as they have similar velocities.
Yeah, you don’t pitch to Mauer with the go-ahead run on third with Alexi on deck…I wouldn’t go too hard on Span there…
1 down 2 to go.
So what if Mauer would have been walked (perhaps) anyway? Span mistimes his jump and he’s out no. 3. Not smart baserunning and his move absolutely took the bat out of Mauer’s hands.
I sure hope Guerrier learned something after watching Manny’s HR over and over again on the computer, after the game.
I like it Guerrier…
If nothing else, these Twins just keep scrapping.
I wonder how long gurrier can go.
Tony,
Liriano won’t be up for while. Anderson, Smith and Gardy have all said that they are not going to rush him this time.
Unless one of the pitchers gets traded or hurt, I’d be surprised if we see Liriano before 9/1.
I’d like to see them get rid of Bass or Bonser, move Perkins to the pen and bring up Liriano.
well Kay, on a team with a gazillion fundamentals issues, I would put that one a little further down the list…
Good inning, Matt…12 pitches!
I’m assuming they weren’t holding Span too closely and probably had a great jump, Mauer wasn’t going to see a pitch anyway
So what if Mauer would have been walked (perhaps) anyway? Span mistimes his jump and he’s out no. 3. Not smart baserunning and his move absolutely took the bat out of Mauer’s hands.
If I were Pudge, I’d eat the ball and not risk the throw anyway.
who is left to pitch? maybe bring livan in for an inning he’d didn’t get tired out yesterday.
Gomez may end up being just a defensive outfielder in the late innings and a pinch runner. He looks like a very unpolished minor league hitter at the plate and is most often late in his swings. His batting average is dropping like a rock. Maybe the Mets knew something the Twins didn’t about Gomez.
Kubes, Moose, Lamb.
Three animals.
Kubel is due for a HR.
Gomez is fine. He’s young and learning. The Mets had one idea and that was appease their fans after the meltdown.
Who said Lamb has seen his last at-bat as a Twin?
Smith said in today’s strib that Liriano looked to be “about ready”. I think it won’t be long before he’s called up. One way to help the bullpen is to get Hernandez off the team. He’s been good at home, but he’s been terrible on the road.
Way to pitch, Shaggy!!!! Scooby likes it!
Bass and Bonser are both still available.
Kubel and JM get on and Lamb gets the GWRBI with a duck fart over the third baseman…
I am not down on Span. I really do like the kid and would rather see him in RF than Cuddyer, but that just was not smart.
Span is outstanding and a real plus for the Twins. There is absolutely no reason why he should not be in the starting lineup everyday. Cuddyer, Bonser, Punto and Hernandez should be dumped off for a relief pitcher.
Only 12 pitches for gurrier. Pitched on Tuesday and Sunday (22 and 10 pitches). He’s gone 30 plus pitches 8 times and 40 plus once this year already, so he’s probably good for another inning.
Matty…What the Mets knew of Gomez was that he is young and still developing.
always walk morneau
The only way clete thomas could look more like a clete is if he had a nametag birthmark.
I heard no Liriano until after the AS break due to Super 2. Is that right?? Is the AS break the dividing line?
MRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RBIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Justin = stud
Gone!
MORNEAU!! If you’re the Tigers, why would you give him anything REMOTELY good to hit? This board would probably explode if Gardy had done that.
MVP! MVP! MVP!
shoulda walked morneau
Morneau is playing out of his gord today. He is 5-5. Awesome! He carried the team today like Puck did in the world series against Atlanta.
What did Morneau eat today?
Two doubles, two singles, a walk, and a homerun.
Plus, it could have very possibly been two homeruns.
11 for his last 16. That’s some kind of hot!
Wow! Still can’t believe Twins have a chance to win this one. Goes to show you anything can happen in baseball.
Does anyone else think that playing against Youkilis inspires the competitive juices in Morneau? That HR marks his eleventh hit in the last four games. What a PLAYER!!
5 for 5
shoulda walked him, azzclowns LOL!
Morneaux?
Lamb just missed it.
Lamb needs to go. No more at bats for this guy. He has lost it. He will be gone even though he signed a 2 year deal. Good Bye Lamb
who do they bring in to close it out now?
MVP = Morneau!
Does anybody think Morneau will reach 30 HR this season?
Like he said at one point, the numbers don’t worry him. He could have a streak where he gets four in five days and is all of a sudden up with the rest of the league leaders.
Please close this one out bullpen!
Man, imagine if Morneau had a respectable RBI man hitting behind him for protection? I am convinced he would approach 50hrs…
We played good enough to win Monday and Tuesday and Fortuna wasn’t on our side. Maybe, maybe (knock wood) she’s with us today.
Young 0 for 6. Not helping…
Won’t Guerrier’s arm fall off?
Nick - I thought Everett had the two-year deal?
I literally did the “You can put it on the Booooooard” when Justin hit the HR, at work.
Lineup protection is overrated.
young needs to sit a few more games. Seemed like last time Gardy sat him he came back fresh and was hitting the cover off the ball.
Two down. Nice bounceback by Guerrier today.
Nope, it’s Burns.
One more! Lets go Matt!
Everett is on a one year deal. Lamb on two.
Morneau/Span 9-9 HR, 4R, 2 RBI, SB
Not over yet Scott
NOOOOOO……
I agree, bison. Protection is overrated/mythical.
Thanks.
Mitch..Everett has a 1 year and Lamb has 2 year. Twins were desperate when they signed him during the off season.
I never did like that Joyce kid…
I didn’t even realize Span was 4-4 until you said that.
Gametracker is so slow!
Great game fellas!
Guerrier wants to make it interesting for Gardy. Make sure his beard even gets grayer.
wow, big win
Huge comeback win!
Another great comeback…Hell yeah!
MLB.com radio is always about a pitch behind their, Gameday package.
Good game. Too bad I could not be home to watch it.
What a game. Maybe that’ll turn around the weekend.
1. Kinsler .335
2. Mauer .328
3. Morneau .324
That’s kind of neat, I guess.
That was beautiful Matty. Nice way to bounce-back!
much needed comeback win!
10 over
breathe out
Ballgame! We needed that win so bad.
Who the heck is Joyce. He has replaces Monroe as a Twins killer for Detroit it seems. Luckily nobody was on base when he came up.
I know it’s not a bad comment, but the Twins Territory above who said:
“Great game fellas!”
Wasn’t me. And, you forgot to put the site address in there…
Mauer and Morneau are now 2nd and 3rd in the league in batting average.
Ok, ok…tonight we get the Jack Daniels to celebrate.
Morneau appears to be dialed in, eh?
Our bullpen went 7 1/3 scoreless innings today. It might not have been pretty, but it sure feels good. Matt G threw 25 pitches over two innings..great job!
Gardy and Punto need to go. Oh, that’s right, we won. No complaining.
OK. Now that the game is over. Who’s the first Twin to get his walking papers?
10 over breathe out
I agree. That’s the one thing I’d like to see at the break, 10 games above. We’ll need to win three to do that however.
Massive win. Too bad I couldn’t hear Dick Bremer’s head explode.
And I mean that in a good way. Sorry Dick!
I’m not complaining about Punto for a while. He has been playing great except for his base running mistakes.
yes that gardenhire guy who always gets his low-talent teams to overperform needs to go. we should fire vavra too, we should be 1st in the AL in runs, not 3rd…
man nothing to complain about for an hour or so.
lamb and his 4m owed and boof plus 1 top prospect and 1 middle prospect for beltre and his 18m. bat him after morneu protection and production. we’re way under our salary total from last yr can take that on. cuddy comes back and monroe goes.
Yeah, all I got to hear was the Tigers announcer. I wish I could have heard Dick call that game-breaker.
Ok Folks I am seriously going to go nuts with this….
Enough of the overhype of Joe Mauer…
Joe Mauer’s a great player…he’s a great catcher…I get all that.
We have a Puckett-like Star on this team and he wears No. 33!!!!!!!
He blows Mauer out of the sky, in terms of Stardom….he just does!!!!
Wow…what a day of Twins baseball…talk about a momentum shift!
MORNEAU = THE MAN
In the post-game Interview with Morneau, Gladden referenced a “rhubarb” behind the Detroit dugout during the game. Anyone know what was that was about?
Morneau: 5-5
Punto: 3-4
Span: 4-4
12 of the 15 hits…
Has anyone ever said that Mauer was the better offensive or overall player? Obviously the team MVP is and has been the guy who has won and MVP. I didn’t know that was ever being questioned.
That’s exactly what we needed. The same kind of back braking loss we’ve had to go through the last few days, and pull one out against the Tigers. Great win. Morneau was a beast as usual and is catching up with Mauer in the batting race. More impressively, Span had a huge day and came through with some big hits. He’s playing a little out of his mind at the moment, but still, great work, Span. These past few games you’ve looked as good as you’ve always said you are.
back breaking and not back braking. it’s been a long day.
A great win like this wouldn’t be complete without taking an irrational shot at one of the league’s premier players.
Well played Jason.
cross your fingers if morneau gets hurt this team is sunk. he is more of a mvp than in 06.
5-for-flippin-5
Morneau rocks…Morneau rocks…
Nathan’s line: 1 IP, 0 ER, 3 BB
I still can’t believe that he worked out of that one-out mess.
This series has a chance to be like Puckett vs. Milwaukee!!!!
Don’t forget Nick Punto was 3 for 4 with a walk. Of course, no one wants to mention that because you Punto haters will never admit that you are blind and cannot see. What I see is one of the better shortstops in the AL…and I wasn’t even that much of a Punto fan until I began reading all the vile, hate filled diatribes directed at Punto and spewed forth here every day. When will you guys realize that last year was an abberation and that he’s a very good infielder, decent (.250 to .260) hitter when the dust settles, who plays hard with grit and determination and deserves your respect not your constant hateful, venemous criticism.
no prob, snepp….I’ll dish up whatever you want under these circumstances!
TT,
Don’t forget about Nathan’s 2Ks.
don’t forget battles and gets after it!
Great job by the BP today.
span is here to stay, thank god, as he should have been here all year…he was as good as anybody in spring training and was a casualty of the gomez craze- but he actually played as well, so im glad he is finally back…cuddy could find it hard to get back in this lineup…he wont replace span
Seriously, why is Span not leading off and Gogo batting ninth?
And obviously we do have to give Mauer credit for doing what Kubel was unable to do Tues. night against Boston….
But man, is there any doubt who the face of Minnesota Twins baseball is???
This guy will sit on the bench while the ugliest face in all of pro sports takes the field in the first inning next Tues. night in New York?????
Punto is ridiculous in the field — a Web Gem waiting to happen every day. That save-and-tag on the back half of the DP ball to Morneau today was amazing. Keep him out there. Any offense you get from him is a bonus, and seriously, even if he drops to .250, you can live with that given the defense he provides.
“But man, is there any doubt who the face of Minnesota Twins baseball is???”
Nope. I’m pretty sure it’s Joe Mauer.
Yep, Morneau should start ahead of Youkilis in the AllStar game because he is better looking. Makes sense to me.
CONGRATS TO THE TWINS. SPAN SHOULD NOT BE OVERLOOKED FOR HIS CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE WIN. 4 FOR 4 TODAY.
makes sense to me, too, Tony:
Morneau:
.324 / 14 HR / 68 RBI
Youkilis:
.319 / 14 HR / 57 RBI
As I said, Morneau looks better.
If Cuddyer has to play, Young should sit and move Span to left. Lamb, Everett and Monroe need to be cut to make room for span and Tolbert.
Obviously the intelligence of the fans hasn’t caught up the the players regarding the best 1B in the AL.
Morneau beat Youkilis in the player vote by over 2-1 margin.
The Youk is one ugly mother f er
just watching youkf-k swing makes me sick-bat flopoin, ass movin, hands up and down the bat…rediculous and ugly….
Cuddyer will be the starting RF, Span will be the #1 reserve OF and will probably give each player 1 day off/week.
Span will play 3 days/week.
It looks like Cuddyer won’t be ready for at least a couple of weeks yet.
“makes sense to me, too, Tony:
Morneau:
.324 / 14 HR / 68 RBI
Youkilis:
.319 / 14 HR / 57 RBI
As I said, Morneau looks better.”
Here are the numbers when voting ended on July 2nd.
Morneau :
.310 / 12 HR / 63 RBI
Youkilis :
.306 / 13 HR / 51 RBI
Then, you can look a little bit further, and see that Youkilis had a higher OBP ( .376 to .370 ) and a higher slugging percentage ( .529 to .483 ) and it seems like Youkilis might have been having a better season.
maybe loose cannon 3 could move loose cannon 1 to 9th
I wonder how Todd Jones is fairing today on Tiger blogs?
Jason,
It should be pointed out that Youk has a higher SLG and OBP. Just sayin’. I mean, I agree with your overall point - I think Justin’s better overall, but yeah.
Jason, I say it every time…I think the only person who has the inferiority complex with Mauer is you.
Morneau and Mauer are the faces (yes there can be more than one) of the team.
It’s always Mauer and Morneau of the Twins.
Pete D….is there any doubt in your mind, that if the stats were reversed (In other words, if Youk played in Minny with his stats and Morneau played in Boston with his stats), Morneau would have won that vote????
That’s kind of my point.
Actually, my point is we might have the best overall baseball player in the AL at first base for us.
T…
My remarks were no disrespect to Mauer…it’s not his fault this market has brainwashed itself into thinking that he is number one. I like Joe Mauer…he’s a great player and by all accounts seems like a great guy.
But Justin Morneau is the MVP of this team, hands down.
Could you imagine a consistent Span/Casilla starting every game? Mauer and Morneau would see everything a starting pitcher had in the first inning. Compare that to Gomez, who all pitchers know will swing at anything within a foot of the strike zone - I think the only pitches he doesn’t swing at are ones that might hit him if he doesn’t move.
The team needs to shore up its bullpen - possibly psychologically converting Boof to a late-inning guy. He has the “stuff” to strike guys out. Let’s face it: EVERY team will look to right its bullpen come the end of the month, and teams will overpay for a mediocre reliever that won’t do anything.
DFA Bass - he’d probably sneak through waivers after his meltdowns in Beantown. Give someone at AAA a shot. Korecky, if I recall, was reasonably effective at the beginning of the year.
Had to work for a while.
Gee. A little better mood this afternoon. Rose colored sometimes works out. You all should give it a try for a week. LOL
Carlos G says:
July 10th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Sure, you think this sucks now. Just wait…
this will be good game to see on squeeze play tonite….
Jason, I’m just saying that I have no problem with Youkilis starting the allstar game. I think he deserves it as much as Morneau, if not more.
I agreed with Jason before the Boston series but after watching all 3 games,Youk is the real deal - his defnse an overall hustle are unbelievable. Trade though - no way
If Cuddy has to play I would sit Gomez for awhile and move Span to CF. It pains me to say that because I love Go-Go but maybe he’s hitting a bit of a wall. Give him some adversity and see if he can work his way back onto the field. Either way, he’s an important part of this team.
Out here in Alaska I see Morneau more than Mauer as the man mentioned as the face of the Twins. Both great players however and still young.
People are too hard on Bass. I don’t want to lose him.
Well it’s not a gross injustice, granted, but I do think some chest-pumping is in order (even though we just got swept by Boston) for our first baseman–who doesn’t get to start–when he’s a former league MVP and his stats are better than Youks…
It’s cool that Youk is starting, agreed…but our guy is better.
My remarks were no disrespect to Mauer…it’s not his fault this market has brainwashed itself into thinking that he is number one
That’s the problem with your remarks. There is no such brainwashing. Do you ever see anybody rip into Morneau?
Ever?
Every time Morneau does well you make it seem like nobody notices. As though we just sorta collectively forgot about the MVP season and b2b 30 homerun seasons.
The only people here who don’t think Morneau is the most important guy on this team are either lying, trolling, or the same person under different names.
dana is also bias by her relative proximity to Canada versus St. Paul
YEAH BABY!!!! THIS GAME ROCKED!!!
Conrats, Twinkie fans, on the hard fought victory today against a five-hundred ball club. That’s the one, and only, benefit to having just faced the merciless juggernaut that is The Nation: every other team in comparison comes off as playing a minor league franchise. It’s like Lex Luther going from being slapped around by Superman to picking a fight with Robin. So, I think we all know who deserves rightful credit for your victory today…
“The Nation.”
Mauer vs. Morneau is a stupid argument, no offense to anyone involved. It’s obvious that you don’t get one without the other. Morneau is the power-hitting monster, and Mauer is the sweet-swinging hometown kid. It’s a pretty good combination and set of faces for the franchise.
Well T, I’d like to think you are right about all that….
I just go back to the voice of Jon Miller:
“Joe Mauer and the Minnesota Twins take on the Boston Red Sox on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball….”
Agreed Steve…
I’ll still take Morneau though…the guy was straight-up Puckett-like today!
Jason -
If the stats/teams were reversed, I fully expect that Morneau would have won the starting job. I also suspect that had Morneau and Youkilis just switched stats, Youkilis would still win the vote. But Youkilis is having a great season - and at the time that the voting for the All Star game ended, Youkilis was probably more ‘deserving’ than Morneau.
“But Justin Morneau is the MVP of this team, hands down.”
Why do you say this? I don’t understand. I don’t think it’s ‘hands down’ at all. Mauer is a great hitter - every bit the hitter that Morneau is. Unless, of course, you only look at slugging percentage.
just go back to the voice of Jon Miller:
Jon Miller is an idiot.
Next topic.
I’m not sure the reasoning behind having to pick a “MVP” for the team and the fact that it HAS to be one player over the next…but what exactly constitutes Morneau being more “valuable” to the Twins than Mauer? I’d like to hear the reasoning behind what you think adds “value” to a team? Because when you just say that Morneau is, and this person is not, with nothing to explain it, that’s standing on some thin branches… or is it just because Morneau went 5 for 5 today and Mauer didn’t play?? Enlighten us, Jason.
Have you guys ever checked out the lineup analysis over at baseball musings? It’s kind of interesting, you put in the players with their obp and slg percentage, and it optimizes the lineup based on which lineup produces the most runs.
I was curious if a lineup of all Morneaus would outscore a lineup of all mauers, so I tried one of each. The Mauer lineup wins.
I’m not saying that it’s correct or that I agree with it. Just found it interesting.
The outcome of the game today was just reversed by MLB!!!!!!!
Apparently the Twins had seven illegal players on the field at the end of the game.
None of them were members of the Twins by the 10th inning, because they had been released earlier today by the blog.
Did anyone else catch Morneau’s little talking hand pantomime thing after he hit his home run? What was that all about?
Don’t forget Nick Punto was 3 for 4 with a walk. Of course, no one wants to mention that because you Punto haters will never admit that you are blind and cannot see. What I see is one of the better shortstops in the AL…and I wasn’t even that much of a Punto fan until I began reading all the vile, hate filled diatribes directed at Punto and spewed forth here every day. When will you guys realize that last year was an abberation and that he’s a very good infielder, decent (.250 to .260) hitter when the dust settles, who plays hard with grit and determination and deserves your respect not your constant hateful, venemous criticism.
THE EXACT REASON WE ARE DETRACTORS…HAS A GOOD WEEK AND HE IS AN ALL-STAT SNUB…BEST IN AL…WAIT A WEEK WHEN HE GOES 0-15…..WHY IS HE THE ONLY ONE WHO PLAYS WITH GRIT…..GRIT DOESN’T GO FROM 1ST TO 3RD ON A BALL HIT TO LEFT…EVEN IN LITTLE LEAGUE
PLEASE JUST PONDER PUNTO UP IN THE 9TH INNING OF A GAME THAT MATTERS AGAINST ANY STUD CLOSER IN THE AL….ALDS/ALCS AND PUNTO IS UP IN THE 9TH…..WATCH OUT IN THE FRONT ROW…CUZ’ YOU WILL HAVE A BALL COMING YOUR WAY SOON…THEN A CALLED 3RD!
GO HARRIS AND TOLBERT
Only in Strib blogland would you read a debate about who’s the better player on a team that just won a game against a division rival in the 11th inning on a homer. There are about 100 interesting things to say about that game. Who’s a better player can wait for the offseason when there are no games to comment on.
its easy for alot of people to forget how much mauer contributes to this teams success in calling these games for this young staff…that and his arm should not go unoticed when you compare teammates and their contributions….mauer means one hell of alot to this team as does morneau, so why dicker over who is better - they are both allstars and we are lucky to have them both on this team…stop!!!!
beacon hill big mouth that 500 team has handled the Red Stockings pretty good over ther years. its just typical of you Sox fans and yankee fan to think that your the only two teams to talk about.
Sox suck!!!!!
I don’t see what the problem is discussing a baseball topic on a baseball blog. As long as it’s a friendly, rational discussion without any unnecessary name calling.
Tony: simple answer is Mauer gets on base more, he basically strikes out less than Morneau does… Morneau has gotten his walks up, but overall, Mauer is better at getting on base, which a lineup of Mauer’s will drive in more runs…
it’s probably close though…
“Only in Strib blogland would you read a debate about who’s the better player on a team that just won a game against a division rival in the 11th inning on a homer. There are about 100 interesting things to say about that game. Who’s a better player can wait for the offseason when there are no games to comment on.”
Cmath…..meet Jason!
Didn’t read through all the previous…
But, do we know the ground rules for Detroit and if so, is the yellow stripe at the top of the fence considered in play or a HR? Because that is where Justin’s Dbl came off the wall. Not that it made a difference in the game, but the HR stat would have been nice.
MarkW - Yeah, the last part of that post was sarcastic. I do agree with it and I do think it’s correct. It was meant to be a response to Jason’s “Mauer is no MVP” tirade above.
Whoever said it earlier has it dead on, Mauer and Morneau are a pair. Morneau has credited Mauer ahead of him for his improved hitting, and I’d imagine Mauer sees some good pitching with the big guy up behind him.
For whatever reason, people think that a team requires a “Face”, and that this can only be one player at a time.
In the eyes of Minnesota, Mauer and Morneau are the joint headliners. It doesn’t matter what the perception is nationally…because the national media is a group of bandwagon jumpers.
Tony: oh, sorry… i was taking it too literally I guess…
I concur.
Just imagine Punto up in the 9th. You mean like today? Led off with a hit and scored.
“The National media is a group of bandwaggon jumpers.”
That’s as obvious as it is meaningless. It’s their job to cover the ‘big story,’ it’s not their job to plug the Twins everyday. NYC and Boston are the 1st and 5th (I think) largest media markets in the country and they are clearly the two most baseball crazy markets in the country. The national media are neither idiots or bandwaggon jumpers. They’re businessmen with bills to pay and money to make.
Whoa, whoa, whoa there, Sparky! What are you getting all revved up about? You act as though The Nation has nothing else to do on its day off than magnanimously drop by and offer its congrats on a hard-fought battle with the Mo-town kitty cats…that’s the equivalent to getting on The Nation’s Christmas card list which, trust me, is not an easy feat to accomplish! We’re pulling for your team out here. You think we enjoy beating the snot out of the same pretenders year in and year out??? Your little team would make for a more competitve outing in The Nation’s opinion — being how no other team in the league plays quite the same style as the Twinkies, you might actually have one in a six million chance of catching The Nation off guard and making a series out of it. So go Mauer, go Morneau, go…um, let’s see…Nathan (who almost eff’ed up the game today)…and somebody else, and…way to not strike-out six times again today Gomez who’s not even half the ballplayer Ellsbury is (but the Twinkies didn’t want him). So we need to work together on this one, people! Who in the hell wants to see Ozzie Guillen in the post-season??? God the thought of hearing his mouth on a nightly basis makes your skin crawl!
Regards
“The Nation”
Actually, I just ran it with the current stats, with today’s game included, and the difference between the two is .009 runs/game, or 1.4 runs a season. I guess you can’t get a whole lot closer than that!
That’s what we call “East coast nice.”
BTW Daniel,
The “Red Stockings” are the Reds. The Red Sox are…
“The Nation”
And that’s why “The Nation” is going to pot.
The stathead crowd will (arrogantly) tell you Mauer is the more valuable ballplayer.
Goes to show they don’t have all the answers, either.
It’s your mouth that we’re more concerned about hearing on a nightly basis.
“The Nation”: 4 games to 3 this season… i wouldn’t say that’s beating the “snot” out of us, however the 18-5 whooping yesterday was painful…
But hey, I’m glad after 80+ years of the Yankees spanking your behinds you can finally gloat a little. Kudos to you and the “Nation”
Which is the dumbest nickname I’ve ever heard of.
“America’s Team” comes to mind.
“The stathead crowd will (arrogantly) tell you Mauer is the more valuable ballplayer.
Goes to show they don’t have all the answers, either.”
This member of the ’stathead crowd’ is trying to suggest that Mauer is just as valuable from an offensive standpoint as Justin Morneau is. Add in the defensive positions that each plays, and the argument for Mauer being more valuable is more persuasive to me. Why do you feel that Morneau is the more valuable ball player?
I thought the Reds were the “Redlegs”.
The stat head crowd will attempt to explain calmly that they play different positions and are both signed to long-term deals, therefore, you’re not forced to make an artificial/arbitrary choice between two All-Stars.
B.Audit: Yes, also VERY dumb nickname… stop telling the rest of the world that we like your team, we dont.
Chief: Old Friend… maybe you can help Jason and elaborate on why Mauer is less valuable than Morneau, since no one seems to have an idea why?
And I’m not advocating one over the other, I just would like to know since Morneau has been dubbed the MVP without a resume.
I guess Pete D wants to know too.
“The Nation” are a grubby looking lot, aren’t they? Looks like they all got lost on their way to a Pearl Jam concert. At least the Yankees look like baseball players.
w/out a resume beyond that fact he’s 3rd in the AL in batting, leading the club in RBI (a traditional MVP catergory) and that he’s won the thing before?
Actually, I think the Red Sox look more like baseball players and the Yankees look more like Playboys.
B.Audit: No no, I meant someone on here providing a resume for him being “MVP” of the Twins (not the league either) I’m not interested in awards voted on by press and media types (half the time they get it wrong, see Johan Santana’s Cy Young awards)… I just want to know what Jason and now Chief are basing their assertions with…
well, if they do answer, I’ll have to check later…
I’m sure Chief would say something like, numbers don’t win games, players do. Then he would call us a bunch of statgeeks and insinuate that we live in our mothers’ basements.
“Gomez who’s not even half the ballplayer Ellsbury is (but the Twinkies didn’t want him).”
Haha, this makes me laugh. Ellsbury is so overrated it kills me. It’s not that he’s a bad ball player, because he’s not. He’s ok. It’s just that what we’ve seen from him so far is what you’re going to get for his career. He’s already reached his ceiling. He had a good stretch in the post season last year so people think he’s the second coming, but really, he’s just a poor man’s Kenny Lofton.
Gomez on the other hand is all potential and he’s practically as good as Ellsbury already. All right, he’s a lot more raw and unpolished but he’s got way more talent.
I’m happy with the Mets deal. Although I would have liked Masterson from the Sox. That kid is the real deal.
Man, you people are belligerent! And they’re having the Republican Nat’l Convention there!??! By rule, any place that Dick Chaney is frightened to go to ought to be excluded from possible convention sites.
The Nation’s unbiased, national take on the Mauer vs. Morneau debate is this: Mauer is more the face of the franchise than Morneau, even though Morneau is the better all-around player. That is because 1) good/great 1st basemen are a dime a dozen in baseball; whereas good/great catchers (let alone ones with impeccable sideburns) just don’t fall from trees every day; 2) he’s the typical All-American, midwestern, Little House on the Prairie figure with the Jimmy Stewart mannerisms that everyone associates with the Midwest (Morneau’s a lumberjack from Canada); 3) he dated Miss America; 4) he dumped Miss America; and 5) most likely because of his own team’s relentless marketing of him which, sooner or later, is bound to filter over into the national media.
With all that said, we here at The Nation would prefer Morneau and we’ll trade you Manny straight up for him… take it or leave it.
Sincerely,
“The Nation”
Beacon, as a fan of Minnesota sports, let me say this. We are sick of giving you championships. No more Garnetts or Ortizes for you.
Brian says about Punto:
THE EXACT REASON WE ARE DETRACTORS…HAS A GOOD WEEK AND HE IS AN ALL-STAT SNUB…BEST IN AL…WAIT A WEEK WHEN HE GOES 0-15
Yet,the facts are that Punto’s longest hitless skid this season is six at-bats. How does that stack up with some of the other Twins this season? Harris’ longest hitless streak is eight at-bats, Mauer 11, Cuddyer 12 and the vaunted Morneau 12.
I know Brian was just pulling a number out of his hat, but I wish you Punto haters would work off of facts and not just emotions left over from 2007. Punto is playing well right now. Ride with it.
“And I’m not advocating one over the other”
I didn’t advocate one over the other either, MarkW.
But I stand by my assertion that the (majority of the) stathead crowd has, and will, tell you Mauer is much more valuable.
Mr. Patrick, I’m not going to get into all that makes your proffering of Gomez v. Ellsbury wrong. I shall but address the thing about your rant that I do concur with, i.e., Gomez right now has more “upside.” Of course he does! Here Ellsbury has already learned how to hit a ball out of the infield, make contact with a baseball on a consistent basis, not get caught stealing on a consistent basis, and has actually mastered the art of taking a called ball every now and again. All of these things Gomez has yet to accomplish and gives Twins fans something to look forward to when and if — and that’s one big IF — he ever does. BTW, Ellsbury, 4-5 with 16 RBI’s in yesterday’s snorefest of a game.
Regards,
“The Nation”
IMO, Morneau is the “face” of the Minnesota Twins.
And the guy who keeps bringing back that stupid discussion is the “ass” of the Minnesota Twins
Just imagine Punto up in the 9th. You mean like today? Led off with a hit and scored.
Or the other night, led off with a double against Papelbon.
It’s their job to cover the ‘big story,’ it’s not their job to plug the Twins everyday.
That’s the point I’m trying to get across. How Mauer and Morneau are percieved nationally is irrelevant.
As somebody said, this entire argument is pointless. They’re both premier players on the same team in different positions. There’s absolutely no reason why we as fans of this team need to arbitraily select one as being more valueable or better than the other.
But Mr. Tony,
Minnesota must furnish us with ALL its homegrown superstars as part of the original deal. If you recall the original deal, it clearly states that Minnesota will furnish The Nation with an incessant pipeline into its All-Star Athlete infrastructure in exchange for Brian Rolston. No reneging on the deal!
BTW, you forgot to mention Randy Moss.
Condolences,
“The Nation”
Beacon - Sorry, you’re right. I did forgot the deal. I didn’t forget Moss though, I’m pretty sure he didn’t help you win a Superbowl. Not yet at least.
T - Not only that, they work perfectly together. High OBP guy before high slugging guy, what more can you ask for? Really, I don’t think this is much of an argument, more of a response to Jason’s Mauer rant. I know, we should no better.
Beacon Hill Barker:
Sid says ‘You’ll never work in this town again.’
I’m sure you’re in on the joke but “Minnesota nice” is a backhanded compliment.
Gawd, I love Boston.
bisonaudit says:
July 10th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
“Actually, I think the Red Sox look more like baseball players and the Yankees look more like Playboys.”
See, now here’s a knowledgeable that really ought to think about filling out an application to become a card-carrying member of The Nation. Think about it. The perks are wonderful: VIP status at Fenway, all-you-can-smack A-Rod pinatas, free cheek-pecks from Jennifer Garner or Ben Affleck (depending which way you swing, you know…), a yearly committment to winning, and the guarantee of a World Championship every friggin year.
Not bad, huh?
“The Nation”
Good point, Tony. I think all Moss did was help them to a 17-1 record. A very painful 17-1. Nice job, Randy.
You’re right, Beacon. Ellsbury is a patient hitter who can make contact. He can steal bases and has a good glove. He’ll consistently hit .300 with a high OBP. Four years of college usually helps a player’s game. I don’t think he’s a bad player. I just think he’s highly overrated. Of course, if I was a Red Sox fan, I’d be pissed my team has supplanted the Yankees as the Evil Empire. But I’d also probably be a big fan of Ellsbury. He played a big part in your championship run last year.
Walter Johnson says:
July 10th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
“‘The Nation’ are a grubby looking lot, aren’t they?”
You’re quite perceptive, Mr. Johnson. And btw, I’m a great admirer of your work — especially how you pitched 860 innings a week and never broke a sweat (won’t see that ever again).
A bunch a steak-n’-bean eating brawlers they all are. Pitbulls, really. You won’t find any of these boys sampling the colognes at Bloomingdale’s, that’s for sure! See, that’s the problem the Twins have right now… they’re much too pretty. We should borrow you Youkilis just to balance it out some.
Yes, we here at The Nation have a wonderful “Rent a Youk” program. Good credit, bad credit…we at The Nation take it all. Let’s face it, the Youker will ugly up that pretty little ballclub of yours really fast and make it more intimidating! We’ll take your team’s perfectly-groomed sideburns, pretty white teeth, and subtle scent of Jenkin’s baby powder, combine it with Youk’s bald head, chili-dog stained undershirt, and barracuda underbite, and unleash an altogether different breed of animal on Ozzie G’s ass. The Whities won’t know what hit ‘em! Think about it: late September, four-game series v. Southsiders, @ the Cell, winner take all (or at least the division), Hawk Harrison looking on from above, when from the visiting dugout come your regular bunch of Backstreet Boys. Running out onto the field amid leers and heckling from Ozzie & Co. in sequential order come…Morneau… Mauer…Gomez… Cuddyer… and the ChiSox are all pointing and rolling their eyes at this point knowing that none of these guys have even begun to shave yet, when suddenly…
Pretty enticing BHB, I’ve got to admit. There’s something for my wife there too with the Affleck bit.
Do Boston women wear pink Sox gear to Fenway? ‘Cause that’s a non-starter. Even Dodgers die-hard, and Who’s The Boss hottie is anti-Pink team gear.
All-in-all though, given your long history, I don’t think ‘the Nation’ takes kindly to people who abandon their loyalties in favor of the recently successful. I’m sticking with my boys.
Kubel, Casilla, and Nathan are no great shakes in the looks department and we’re also hurt by playing inside on carpet half the year. Wait until we get outside and the laundry and seamstress budget goes up 50%, then we’ll look a little more scrappy.
“The Nation,” cont’d:
…tearing out onto the field like the Tazmanian Devil donning a spiked-dog collar and attached to a leash being handled by Nick Punto is what we here at The Nation like to call a “Youk.” Now, for those of you unfamiliar with what a Youk looks like I would ask you to imagine a creature that is a cross between the shark in the movie Jaws and Captain Caveman. So, yeah, you don’t need The Nation to inform you how the look on the faces of the Whi-Sox would suddenly change as they witnessed right then and there that the Youk had caught their scent. And I don’t mind telling you that if there’s one thing that sends a Youk into a blood-curdling rampage it’s when they catch the distinctive scent of a Southsider – which smells sort of like a compilation of a trailer park dumpster and the aroma wafting from a Famous Dave’s Barbeque (why do you think they have that shower out there on the right field patio?). As the Youk charges what Hawk Harrison would refer to as the “Good Guy’s dugout” – growling, snarling, tongue flapping around in that same damn breeze that always manages to hold an opponent’s well-hit ball to right-center field in the park, and yet always seems to suck a Carlos Quentin pop-up over the fence (hmm?), poor Nick Punto being dragged behind as he holds on to the leash for dear life – the Whities would all be scrambling and jumping up on chairs and other household furnishings lest the Youker take one or two legs off right there.
So as the rest can escape, Ozzie would call for a sacrifice and throw AJ out onto the field. The diversion might momentarily work, but since a Youk — much like a velociraptor — is attracted to quick and sudden movements, and considering AJ has neither, the Youk would turn its carnivorous attention towards Geraldo…I mean Guillen, who’d tear through the parking lot screaming in tongues — cursing out every man, woman, child, and ethnic group (and that would be before he even realized he was being pursued by something that wanted to devour him) — much like the scene from Ghostbusters where the Rick Moranis character is being chased through the streets by that direct ancestor of a Youk known as a “hellbeast.” Quillen… Youk, bearing down on him, then…
I think it’s safe to surmise that no longer would we be hearing much of Ozzie in the coming years… or from Youk for that matter; as his new found freedom is bound to take him to distant pastures, rolling hills, and uncharted fields where he can frolic and hunt both with and for all the other mythical beasts (unicorns, griffens, sasquatches, Miguel Cabrera’s) until, eventually, he shall return to the Black Forest from hence he came. God bless you, Youk. We’ll never forget you here at…
“The Nation”
No pink Sox gear. Matter of fact, that’s about the only thing they check you for when entering Fenway. Guns, knives, F-14’s, venus flytraps… no problem getting any of those past security. But the moment Paris Hilton shows up donning the Pink gear it’s Rodney King all over again.
Word, from
“The Nation”
Beacon Hill-
I assume all this takes place after he records an out. And it only happens when Manny isn’t around to b*tch slap him while telling him to stop crying over every bad AB?
I thought this was supposed to be a Twins blog, not an instant-messaging forum. Quit wasting so much space, please.
WOW, beacon hill barker is obviously taking an imense amount of mind altering medication. Take it easy on the meds!
Yellow stripe:
The stupidest invention in baseball. First of all, nobody can see whether the ball hit above, below, or on the stripe because picking up a creme-colored ball traveling 80 MPH away from you against a yellow background 300 ft away is optically impossible. They don’t make the batters’ eye yellow. Why do they insist on putting yellow lines everywhere?
Secondly, unlike the foul pole (which also should not be yellow), when you hit the yellow stripe, it is not a home run. The ball is in play and you get what you get when you’re done running. So the yellow line only serves to confuse casual fans who might think that what applies for foul poles also applies for the yellow line.
The Dome has never had a yellow line and I never remember an issue with disputed home run calls in the Dome, unless they went over the foul screen (also yellow). But ever since ball parks started putting the yellow lines everywhere, there have been a rash of disputed home run calls. It’s not a coincidence.
BHB- LOL!
It’s nice to see Ozzie Guillen and A.J. have yet again found a way of bringing even the worst of adversaries together. Send those douche bags to the U.N.!
Amtrekman, Good to see you’re posting again. Did you listen on TRN to the narrowcast/I mean broadcast today/I mean tomorrow. Livan Hernandez threw out Denard Span trying to steal third base. Gordon and Gladden are brutal!
Sounds like bhb has a case of man love for the “uke”, another strummer like himself. You’re out of your league,bhb. And your steady, another member of the nation named Barney Frank, is waiting to give you something. Cuddle up, tough guy!
Sorry if I’m annoying everybody. I don’t mean anything by it really. I just want to feel like I belong somewhere. Normally this time each year The Nation is staring down at the Yankees waiting for an opportunity to collapse and let them back in the division race. I think the biggest part of it is that we just can’t stand when the media’s not lavishing attention on all of us, so we do stuff to make sure the drama is all up here at Fenway.
This year is a rather unusual one as you can understand, we’re looking up…but instead of seeing the Yankees we’re chasing after the Rays. I mean, come on. We used to beat up on this team on a regular basis, guaranteed wins and all.
But now they’re obviously superior, and since I can’t rip on them anymore I’ve had to seek out other teams to lash out on to feed my inferiority complex.
It’s that way all over The Nation really. Rather unfortunate, as you’d think being the defending champions we’d have better things to do than make ourselves look like morons to other fandoms around the US.
You have no idea what it’s like to go from being the team that everybody’s pushing for to suddenly being hated. It’s not like we did anything to seem like egotisitcal jerks, and its not like we act like we’re better than everybody else or anything stupid like that.
I plan on sticking around for a while, but only because I’m really just a pitiful excuse of a human being. In a few days when the act grows tired I’ll probably going to just change my name to something about the Tigers and start acting like I’m actually a fan of them.
Not because I actually care what the Tigers do, but just because the only joy I can get is from acting like a moron.
At least I get a laugh out of it. In a sad self-gratifying sort of way.
Word, from
“The Nation”
“We should borrow you Youkilis.”
You mean lend.
Liriano is pitching great tonight. So far through 5 innings he has 6 strikeouts and no runs, just 2 hits and a walk. Call him up!
6 ip now 7 so only 70 pitches
Call him up!
Hey, just found out the score after having to leave at the end of the 9th. Great win! Wow! What a day by Morneau! Look, no argument he’s the Twins’ best hitter. But Joe’s value is that he’s great hitter that’s an excellent catcher. How many of those are lying around? And let’s not forget that Joe got the SF that tied the game that allowed Morneau to win it. I mean is there anyone else you want batting in that situation? And will the person who took the real Denard Span please make sure that he doesn’t come back? We like this one better. If Span were leading off today instead of Go-Go, how many more runs would the Twins have had w/ Morneau going 5 for 5 today? Span needs to play everyday…and he needs to be leading off! SWAP Go-Go and Span!
Gardy, try this line-up tommorrow:
span
casilla
mauer
morneau
punto
young
kubel
harris
gomez
Shawn in B., Who is he pitching against or did I miss it. It’s not those little girls down in Pawtucket is it?
Liriano is pitching against Durham. 7 innings, 87 pitches, 3 hits, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts, 0 runs. He should go at least 8, if not get a CG shutout.
nope, Durham
7 IP, 3 hits, 1 BB, 8 so, 87 pitches
i have never been an advocate of cutting Monroe loose…. however, Randy Ruiz may very well fill his role better and would give a backup 1B if Lamb were let go.
That’s it for Liriano. Cali has come in the game to take over the 8th. What else does Liriano have to do to prove that he is ready?
Thanks Shawn and El D., Appreciate the info.
So, with Morneau and Kubes going deep the last couple days (14 and 13 total respectively)…does anybody else think both have an honest shot at hitting 30 on the season?
I think Morneau will get to that number. Kubel I think will be tougher, unless he truly has adjusted to the league’s approach to him this season.
After that, does anybody think the Twins have another guy break 20? Before his injury I would’ve figured Cuddy for sure.
Man, I think the next best shot is Delmon Young, but he isn’t putting up power numbers. I doubt anybody else passes 15 HR, although Craig Monroe could do it if given enough AB’s.
He only had 22 AB against LHP, when he was up, but Matt Macri did a nice job:
OBP SLG AVG
409 .591 .409
He’s also versatile, in that he can play 4 spots in the INF plus corner OF. He has some power, and has some speed. They could try him in a platoon with Kubel.
bhb (aka jmarksor,flafan, sorb, etal.,), you truly are the same, self-absorbed little sissy that I figured you were. How did it go with Barney, your man?
ok, tony. he hit my “hot” button. we gave them two stars, KG and Freak.
well Oakland gave him, I guess.
Poppi wasn’t a star……..YET! ! !
EL DOMINICANO- Lirianos last three outings (combined stats) 20 innings,11 hits,0 runs,3 BB.24 K’s.To answer your question, I’d say nothing.
Monroe is only owed about 1.6 mil at this point. He’s getting closer to his release date. No way, that guy should ever bat any higher than eighth again. He was in the 5 hole again today.
Whoever is wondering where Livan might end up…how about back in Arizona where he would be a stud for these wusses. How about as their closer? They just blew a 3-run x-tra inning lead to the lowly Nationals. NL = AAA+ baseball BTW the Royals just tied the Chisox at 1-1 in the bottom of the 8th.
Royals up 2-1 on the White Sox…
Make that 4-1.
Teahan inside the park HR, 4-1 KC.
El D., You’re too fast for me, amigo.
It’s all good Daniel, all that matters is that the Sox are going to lose!
El D., Last night the Chisox scored 7 runs on 5 hits, 5 BBs and 1 balk. Tonight, they lose 4-1 with 6 hits and 1 BB. The message…don’t walk these bums and they won’t beat you. EX. BA .242,.213,.236,.257 = Thome, Konerko, Swisher and Crede. Final 4-1.
Finally Royals keep it together to get a win over the White Sox.
I’m going to address two problems the Twins have right now, and suggest that they can both be remedied with Denard Span, with some help from Michael Cuddyer…
First of all, I think Carlos Gomez is an exciting player, and one who may one day be a consistently legit lead-off hitter. However, at present, he is among the worst lead-off hitters in the league. His on base percentage is a futile .295. He has only walked 14 times, yet has struck out an absurd 92 times (!). He is, quite simply, not getting on base.
But from the 9th spot in the order, Denard Span is demonstrating he would actually be a perfect lead-off hitter. Though his action has been limited (only 61 ABs), his OBP% is an outstanding .466. In this limited time, he has walked 12 times (only two fewer times than Carlos Gomez who has 365 ABs), and struck out 10. His plate discipline is palpable - I noticed that he walked after falling down 0-2 in the count in the 8th inning against Boston the other night.
Carlos Gomez is a promising player, and one whose confidence is important, but Denard Span needs to be the Twins lead-off hitter. Let’s see if Gomez can get on base a little more hitting 8th or 9th in the order.
If Span becomes the everyday lead-off hitting RF, the Twins would have to figure out what to do with Michael Cuddyer when he comes back from injury. (Now for some serious speculation…) Cuddyer started with the Twins as an infielder. What if they moved him to 3B? Obviously, it wouldn’t be worth it if Cuddy can’t handle the hot corner, but with Span playing so well in RF, and a hitting weakness at 3B, why not give Cuddyer a shot there?
Best possible Twins lineup at this point, once Cuddyer returns:
RF Span
2B Casilla
C Mauer
1B Morneau
3B Cuddyer
DH Kubel/Monroe
LF Young
SS Harris/Punto
CF Gomez
…
buscher has been hitting fine at 3B, when he is actually in. i think they need to send gomez down to AAA for the rest of the year. it’s not the fact that he’s leading off that he is struggling, i mean his whole approach to hitting has major problems. he needs to shorten his swing and stop swinging for the fences. he’s a very exciting player, but not a great one. i’d rather see him get sent down for awhile and have him emerge as a great player down the road rather than watch a great fielder who is only a fast bunter.
whats up with the rumor of the twins getting adrian beltre from the mariners??
The Rangers just scored 6 runs in three innings to tie the LAA of Anaheim (per John Gordon) at 10 all. Guess who gets to join these fine Texas Thumpers next…our own Chisox. Oughta be a lot of souvenirs. Makes one a Ron Washington fan even more, hey?
FYI, Torii Hunter BA .272, HR12, RBI 43. Delmon Young BA .288, HR 3, RBI 35. Not a lot of difference for 10 years and $17.67 MM. Just an observation.
Delmon is a much better fielder than Torii. Ha-ha-ha.
Can we have Garza back?
And Gomez is a better centerfielder than Hunter is. HaHaHa Give the Young trade some time, hey?
Wow, Mr. Daniel1966, simmer down there, Lenny! I don’t know who jmarksman, et al. is, but I certainly am curious what they ever did to you! Do you have any links to this terrible smear campaign they orchestrated against a blogger that, chances are, they’ve never met nor should they give a rat’s ass about? And stealing a man’s moniker just because you were born in the horse crap year of 1966 (really innovative moniker, by the way) is considered a felony in The Nation — you’d be justifiably killed for that here.
What do you have to be pissed at anyhow? Your team won one out of its last four…that’s a .250 winning percentage.
That’s what The Nation gets for magnanimously dropping in to offer congrats on beating an underachieving, five-hundred ball team, I guess.
Why don’t you save some of that spunk and funk for when your cute little team fails to improve itself at the trading deadline again this year… take all the beans and bitches and dump them on your cheap-ass owner’s doorstep instead of polluting Mr. Neal’s — of whom I am a guest of here (go ahead and ask him if you’d like) — blog with negativity and animosity. It’s downright shameful! The Nation would be deeply offended if we weren’t in such high spirits still from all that healthy, effortless sweeping that we did for three straight days!
Anyways, The Nation had a nice, relaxing day off today, making for the perfect opportunity to stop in, shake some hands in Twinkie-town, recruit some of the more notable bloggers here at Uncle La Velle’s blog-o-sphere emperium to try out as a card-carrying members of The Nation. I’ll be taking my notes and observations back to The Nation’s headquarters, making recommendations and offering assessments (Daniel1966, wouldn’t hold your breath). I’ll bring you the results sometime next week during the All-Star break which, for whatever stupid reason, isn’t MLB’s best players versus The Nation (I understand that the league’s best wouldn’t stand a chance against this Dynasty anymore than, say, your team did, but it still would get better ratings considering all of The Nation would be partcipating rather than just three-quarters of them).
With The Nation’s backing we’ll help you catch those Southsiders… bunch of miscreants, the whole lot of them! Good night Minnesota Faithful, and keep your heads up!
Keeping it Real,
“The Nation”
Don’t for get to roll over and say goodnight to Barney, bhb.
