I Thought Leaving Seattle Would Solve Everything…..
Posted on August 29th, 2008 – 12:16 AMBy La Velle
Just watched the five-hit performance by the local nine tonight and I don’t believe what I just saw.
Maybe it’s my fault. I started popping off on the radio about how in 11 years on this beat I come to the park not wondering how the Twins will score runs that day. Now they can’t hit a bull in the rear with a snow shovel.
Alexi Casilla is 6 for 34 since coming off the DL.
Justin Morneau has had success, but he’s expanded his strike zone in recent days, which will catch up with him.
Joe Mauer has one extra base hit over his last 40 at-bats.
You can’t blame Nicky. He’s raised his average from .256 on Aug. 1o to .293.
The lads need to calm down and let their hitting talents show. They are good enough to hit good pitching. And they are good enough to hit pitchers like Eveland. Trying to do more usually leads to doing less. Getting through the rest of this road trip will be enough of a mental challenge. Don’t make it harder by squeezing the bat handle into sawdust and swinging at pitches they shouldn’t swing at.
They should go out tonight and have a good meal. Have a beverage or two. And pretend they’re driving to the Dome tomorrow.
They are 3-5 on this road trip…..
64 Responses to "I Thought Leaving Seattle Would Solve Everything….."
They are 3-5 on this road trip…..
Which is the biggest thing…and it’s not because of the starting pitching either.
Like you said…the hitting and the bullpen have been the Twins downfall…two things I had little concern (except maybe the ‘pen) about heading on this road trip.
They had better figure out a way to pick things up offensively…or the Twins could put themselves in a real bind.
All of the broadcasters and media are too nice. Gardy is a fool to keep turning to Crain in any situation that is not at least a ten run lead, which is tough to do with our ice cold hitting. Why don’t they tell it like it is - Jessie Crain is a sled. Any September call up should get the nod ahead of this sad excuse for a pitcher.
[…] Originally published by Twins Insider […]
Does someone want to call Gardy on his “using Nathan more often when it’s needed most” edict? Seems to me that the bottom of the 9th in a tie game would qualify.
At least he’ll be available tomorrow for a save situation with a 3-run lead, right?
The only thing that has gotten the Twins this far is the system Jim Rantz has assembled. The coaching in the minors, the “system” is second to none; it’s what grooms these players to play TK style ball.
Then, they get up here and sooner or later they adopt the lazy, sloppy mess that is Ron Gardenhire. Between he and that sorry excuse for a GM (why, again, did they trade Bartlett for Harris???) this team honestly has no shot at going anywhere in the post-season anyway.
The truth of the matter is that if Ron Gardenhire has been given several of those 1990s teams he’d have lost 100 games, and if TK had been given this current run, he’d probably have a couple World Series titles in hand.
Gardy has no clue what he’s doing. (I love the way he wasted three players in one move yesterday. That’s classic, man!)
Sox will win the division going away. You heard it here first.
lalalala-
you’re right, with the talent this team has they should already have 100 wins. how pathetic is it that gardy takes the amazing team bill smith assembled in the off-season and sends it into a tail-spin, nosediving all the way into second place, 1 1/2 games back heading into september.
give gardy a jack morris, frank viola, or bert blyleven and he’d go out and take the ball from them in the 6th and give it to jesse crain. give him a first-ballot hall-of-famer and he’d be riding the bench in favor of jarvis brown. he would’ve driven those championship teams right into the ground too, right?
please…everything you said is garbage.
what talent do you see on this current team that gardy is misusing? he has milked these AAA players for all they are worth, and the fact that they are where they are is a compliment to gardy and the entire coaching staff.
harris is the same thing as bartlett, except more consistent defensively with a lot more pop, minus bartlett’s exceptional baserunning.
When the Twins offensive is struggling why doesn’t Gardy start putting the best offensive team out there? Is it against team policy to bench Gomez for consecutive days? Kubel should be in the lineup everyday for the rest of this road trip. Span should be in CF at least 2 out of every 3 days too.
Gardenhire?
RF - Rookie
CF - Rookie
LF - Less than 2 years
2nd - Rookie
3rd - Rookie or less than 2 years
SP - Rookie (Baker less than 2 years)
DH2 - Rookie.
I say pretty impressive by Gardenhire and the staff. Are they going to make the playoffs? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean that this organization is not impressive.
Twins need a RH power hitter between Mauer & Morneau. It’s obvious.
Well let’s hope that our guys can still get it together now before Sept gets here. this team has to learn to play better ball away from the dome. either do that now or experience a complete meltdown like the mets had last year..!
You can’t blame Nicky. He’s raised his average from .256 on Aug. 1o to .293.
Can’t. But will. And now with Casilla slumping since his injury, who hits in the #2 spot?
Between he and that sorry excuse for a GM (why, again, did they trade Bartlett for Harris???)
Because Tampa wouldn’t do Garza/Young straight up.
Do try and keep up.
I think Rays would have taken Garza and LNP for Young!!! 
The Twins need a little pop in the bats. One thing I find impressive about the White Sox is that they can have so many players hitting .220 and still win games because of the long ball. The Twins need to find some sluggers in the off season if they want to compete. I don’t know who is out there via free agency, but no one in the organization can fill that role at this point. Right now there are 3 players in the organization who have a history of hitting homers in the big leagues: Morneau, Kubel, and Cuddyer. And both Cuddyer and Kubel are relegated to platoon positions. The 08′ season is interesting because of the potential, but I just can’t see the twins doing much in the playoffs with out another slugger or two on the team.
Morneau’s history over the last 2 years is a disappearing power game during August and Sept. Last year I think he hit a massive total of 2 hr during those 2 months. True to form this year the power numbers are down again but more alarming, his batting ave is around 213 for August. I know he has no protection hitting behind him, and that the Twins have succeded in turing one of the best young power hitters in baseball into a slap singles hitter, but Grady Sizemore at Cleveland has had little protection and look at his numbers.
DG
I think Rays would have taken Garza and LNP for Young!!!
Yeah, and then everybody’d be whining that we lost a middle infielder whose average is pushing .300 and how Bartlett only has a 72 OPS+.
Crain lost 3 games in this road trip
2 of them consecutive
how many more would it take for Gardy to learn not to put him in when close?
Crain is who he is, but its Gardy’s fault to use him where he is using him.
With the game tied on the bottom of the 9th when away, you don’t put in your 6th inning man especially after he lost 2 games in the same situation in the last 4 days… You either put your closer or your long reliever.
I wouldn’t mind assigning the first of the 3 loses to Crain, the other 2 have to go to Gardy. Thanks skip! I hope that BS keeps score of those…
I agree Len3 I think they are trying a little to hard and that maybe there youth is starting show. I thought the biggest problem this year would be the young rotation wearing down but it’s looking more Justin and Joe who are getting tired.
“Can’t. But will.”
Nicely put…
might be because Morneau has played ever single game this year!!! he needs a few games of rest!!
Bring back Guzman!!!
Sometimes teams lose. Baseball is a games of streaks. Everything will be fine.
“Sometimes teams lose. Baseball is a games of streaks. Everything will be fine.”
not if a big winning streak doesn’t follow this woeful streak the club is on now
[…] his blog, LaVelle points out that Mauer has one extra-base hit in his last 40 AB’s and Morneau, while hitting […]
Fire I agree Justin needs a day off but the way everyone else is hitting right now can Gardy really afford to do that?
my point was Gardy should have been more proactive and given him days off early in the summer like a few days off in June & July
Need I remind you that the White Sox open up against the Red Sox…this thing is going down to the wire, the last game of the season.
Your right about that i guess hindsight is 20/20 vision. I did hear some good news though it looks like Josh Beckett might be done for the year so that would help our wild card chances.
Gardy has singlehandedly managed to blow at lest 5 games this year with his bizarre handling of the bullpen. He is a player’s coach and a nice guy but in big games, his record speaks for itself. Check his playoff record. Check his record in big games. He is the ultimate micro manager and his ignoring of who is hot and who is not in the pen in favor of that old tried and true book he carries with lefty vs. lefty and righty vs. righty is infuriating.
Crain is horrible. He is the reincarnation of Juan long Gone Rincon whom Gardy also loved and who cost us several games early in the year. Gardy has NOT done a great job this year no matter what you rose colored glasses guys think. He took Gomez (and his 120+ strikeouts) instead of Span out of spring training. He kept Liriano down while Livan cost us 5 games. He played Lamb, Monroe and Everett while rejecting Macri and others who could have helped. Worst of all he simply can not be another Tony LaRusso, his hero, because he isn’t smart enough.
The Twins are the second youngest team (Dimondbacks are #1) in baseball. They play with a ton of youthfull aggressiveness and character. I think that Cuddy will have an impact for the Twins down the stretch and they need his right handed bat. How much will this young team press as we go down the stretch. This will determine their ultimate fate. Go Twins!
Any other team in the middle of a division race would have turned to their closer in that situation. I am sick and tired of having possibly the best closer in baseball sitting in the pen while we struggle to get an out!!! The Yankees would have turned to Rivera, the Sox would have gone to Papelbon and Gardy goes to Jesse Crain??? Give me a break, sometimes I wonder if Gardy really wants to win….and we continue to lose ground….
Some of you are just plain ridiculous. Gardy is not the reason the team is losing. Most of you will find any dum reason to blame him.
Boof gets the flu…Its Gardy’s fault for allowing him to breathe.
Crain keeps losing hair…Its Gardy’s fault for making him wear a hat.
Come on people. Gardenhire does not go out there and throw the pitches or swing the bats. The players just simply need to get it done against the subpar teams. Its plain and simple.
Just win baby.
Hopefully, Barrett and Delaney will get a shot at middle-relief when the rosters are expanded.
Gardy decides who to send to the mound. Sending Crain in to a tight game when he had blown his last two outings and thinking this time would be different when Crain has consistently struggled ALL season is not smart baseball.
“Now they can’t hit a bull in the rear with a snow shovel.” Great line LEN3.
MNballguy - your being a bit to simplistic - “The players just simply need to get it done against the subpar teams.”
why doesn’t Gardy have Nathan start the game pitch 2 innings and perhaps Boof pitches the next 4 innings, followed by Blackburn the last 4 innings? because each player has their role, Gardy just refused to put Nathan in his role when needed CLOSER! instead he puts the 6th/7th inning mop up boy in the bottom of the 9th
Exactly what other options did Gardy have?
Its been stated that Guerrier had pitched the last 3 days and Guardado had pitched the last 3 of 4. Both needed rest.
So Nathan does pitch the rest of the 9th then. Who closes the game out in the 10th or 11th if the Twins score? The answer is Crain in either case.
The fact of the matter is this: If the Twins would score more than 2-3 runs off of rookie pitchers, the pitching decisions would be mute.
BC of ND says:
August 29th, 2008 at 9:40 am
Your right about that i guess hindsight is 20/20 vision. I did hear some good news though it looks like Josh Beckett might be done for the year so that would help our wild card chances
have you seen him pitch this year?
keeping Josh in the rotation would help the Twins’ chances.
Stick a fork in these Twins, they are done.
They have to play the Blue Jays after Oakland so it’s only going to get harder.
Even if they continue to play well at home, if they can’t figure out how to win on the road they will lost the division by 3 to 5 games.
Nice year but it doesn’t look good at all.
The problem with the Twins is a terrible manager and a terrible front office.
The team on the field isn’t conducive to winning.
Look at the terrible makeup for starters:
~a 6′5 catcher who can no longer field his position and even though he’s a giant, has no power.
~a terrible second baseman that would start for nobody else.
~a terrible shortstop rotation that usually has Punto starting. Folks, I hate to break it to you, but Punto’s career stats are right on par with Denny Hocking’s. Nobody in their right mind would start Hocking daily, so why the hell is Punto starting.
~corner positions are suppose to be the power spots on the team. Not only do the Twins have a terrible rotation at third, but the 2 options can’t field a lick. Buscher cost the Twins the game the other day with his awful fielding.
~give me another contending team, or any team for that matter, that would allow a player like Gomez to continue to start damn near every game. He can’t hit, he can’t field, and he no longer steals. He isn’t ready for the Bigs, he needed to be sent down 3 months ago.
~finally, the pen. if Gardenhire didn’t mismanage it so badly, there wouldn’t be an issue. He puts the wrong pitchers out there at the wrong times and it blows up in his face.
1. Boof is a mop up guy and shouldn’t be used for anything else.
2. Reyes is a mop up guy and shouldn’t be used for anything else.
3. Breslow has been extremely effective against both righties and lefties and should be the 6th or 7th inning guy.
4. Guerrier is a 7th inning guy, 8th inning in a crunch. He’s terrible under pressure and has no business being a setup guy.
4. Eddie should be brought in to get the tough outs and to pitch the occasional 8th inning.
5. Crain should be used primarily as the 8th inning guy. He has trouble with inherited runners, but bring him in to start the 8th, and he would be dominant.
6. Nathan needs to be used more. He needs to be brought in to the 8th inning sometimes to get an out or 2.
convince White Sox to hire “Nico” as scouting director. This should guarantee Twins win division championship for next decade.
WE MISS TORI HUNTER SO MUCH! NOW, MORE THAN EVER, WE NEED SOMEONE TO STEP UP WITH THE SAME PASSION FOR THE GAME AND COME THROUGH IN THE BIG SPOT. WHAT A DIFFERENCE IT WOULD MAKE HEADING IN TO THE NEXT GAME OF THIS CRITICAL ROAD TRIP IF THEY COULD SCRAP OUT A WIN WITH JUST ONE KEY HIT OR UNBELIEVABLE PLAY AS TORI WAS KNOWN FOR. HOW MUCH WOULD THAT BE WORTH TO THIS BALL CLUB RIGHT NOW? I’M A TWINS FAN LIVING IN THE MIDDLE OF WHITE SOX TERRITORY AND THEY FEAR AND RESPECT MINNESOTA LIKE NO OTHER TEAM! WIN TWINS, TONIGHT!
It’s fun to read the blogs… head over to the White Sox pages, and you will see their “fans” freaking out over how soft the Pale Hose played against the Birds.
Calm down folks, lots of ball yet to be played. I predict more “ups” than “downs” for our loveable over-achievers!
Dear Roger “Hell-Man”,
WOW! Talk about revisionist history. Raise your hand if anyone remembers Tori getting a big hit in a game that counted. Yes, he saved some runs in the field, but the man was NOT the guy you wanted up with the game on the line. Nine times out of ten, he would swing at the first pitch, popping up or grounding out. You know it is true.
However, it is a factual statement that White Sox fans fear our team. And they are already panicking as September looms. It’s going to be fun down the stretch!
Am I the only one that is excited for tonight’s game? I am not sure why, but I really want to watch. Weirdest thing…
“However, it is a factual statement that White Sox fans fear our team.”
Yes, yes they do. Many expect their team to fold like a house of cards.
gatty,
its good to be excited. Wish F-Bomb was pitching tonight because i won’t see his start tomorrow.
Culpurple,
the biggest hit i remember Torii getting is when he bowled over the Whities catcher in 03.
Shawn, you are right, that was a big play. I agree he played with passion, he just wasn’t much of a clutch hitter. Most of his HR’s came with no one on base and when the game was not at stake. Despite Gomez’s struggles at the plate this year, the Twins did the right thing by not signing Torri for those ridiculous dollars.
Hasn’t anyone been watching the pitching to the Twins batters? The league has realized that they will not swing on the first pitch and sometimes the second pitch depending on who is up to bat. So they have been grooving the first and second pitch for a strike which leaves the batter in a hole. Only a few can bat good in the hole, hence Punto’s average going up.
If you want to talk about clutch, you have to go back to another Twins centerfielder, KIRBY! Now that guy was clutch!! I say let’s be patient with Gomez, I think he will be all right, maybe great. He’s a young man (especially in baseball years) and is far ahead of where Torii was at this point in his career.
jesse crain just needs to get some outs?!? please, are you kidding me gardy? what jesse crain needs to do is not throw the high fastball inside when the game is on the line. what jesse crain needs to do is stay in the bullpen for awhile. if we have the best closer in the game why is he sitting the 8th and 9th innings when he could be used (despite blowing it a couple of nights ago). in his defense, crain and the rest of the struggling bullen need bats. this isn’t how a team deep in the penant race plays, new york, boston and now toronto are threatening a team that was written off before the start of the season. time to show the east why our development is just so darn good.
Um, Torii has had clutch hits over the years. No 1: His homer against the Yankees in the 12th inning in Game 2 of the 2004 ALDS. It gave the Twins a 5-4 lead….but we all know what happened in the bottom of the inning…
La Velle, again, not saying he didn’t have a few, just saying there weren’t a lot of them, considering the number of important games the Twins played over Torii’s years with the club. I’m not bashing the guy, he was a key part of the team. But we’re doing all right without him, and we’re building a team that may contend for years. Go Twins!
What would the O’s want for Mora ?
Apparently Kevin Slowey has 1 BB over his last 31 innings. Wow.
NICO, that may have been the dumbest rant I have ever read. You and all of the Gardy bashers are completely ridiculous…I can’t even believe you people waste your time writing about baseball with as little knowledge you demonstrate of the sport. You write it like the Twins have tons of options just waiting in the wings, but yet they keep playing all of these terrible players that have us a game and a half out of first place going into September. I too question Gardy’s decisions sometimes (last night with Crain being one of them), but he has done an amazing job with a bunch of young kids in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year. We have the 25th payroll in the league and yet we are still fighting for the division…and on a grueling road trip to boot. I don’t mind a little complaining once and a while to vent the frustration, but give me a break, at least try to sound like you have something intelligent to say.
The Twins can’t win away from home because they aren’t playing on field turf. How many hits do they get/ runs they score because a bouncing ball gets through? There is no power in the lineup and I think it’s because the style they play not because they don’t have power hitters. Come on. If we brought in Beltre they would have him pounding balls into the ground and taking his power away. With that said the next problem I see is Casilla has been too anxious at the plate wanting to hit anything that comes his way and it’s rubbed off on the rest of the team with the exception of Delmon Young since he always swings at the 1st pitch!
friartuck,
Ask Nico if he still thinks the loss of Joe Mauer would have no effect on the Twins, and Redmond-Christy would be just as good a catching duo
as Mauer-Redmond.
He accused those who disagreed with that asessment of being Minnesota homers before he was laughed off the blog and back down the steps into his parents’ basement.
About time the offense kicked in…at least for one game.
That’s all for now. Night.
**The Twins should have made some kind of trade at the deadline…and they lost on my B-day**
“**The Twins should have made some kind of trade at the deadline…and they lost on my B-day**”
Both insignificant.
First, VERY Disapointing loss tonight. Nathan gets about 90% of the blame, with the offense getting the other 10. Nathan is looking remarkably unremarkable lately. Second, Jon- It’s basically just a signature. I plan to keep it until the end of the season- because A.) I think the Twins in-action at the July deadline either did, or will cost them a Decent WS chance. And B.) Dude. They lost on my B-day…Against Oakland…At home. Seriously.
Yes, the second part is really only My concern, but the first part possibly affects All Twins fans.
Nathan Blows 2 saves in a row…just think of the talent we could have gotten at the deadline for him. And yes, I know that after blowing 2 saves in a row makes my arguement look better. I’m more convinced than ever that the W. Sox will not win the division. We’ve lost 5 of 7 and are still within a half game of the division lead. We just have to live with the fact that the Twins win 8 of every 10 games at home and lose 6-7 of every 10 on the road- no matter how bad/good the opposition is. When we get back home, we should be good again. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: the Twins may win the division, but the playoffs don’t look promising.
**The Twins should have made some kind of trade at the deadline**
lala72-TK would have won a couple of world series with the 2002,2003,2004, and 2006 Twins teams??? REally???? Because of TK they would have beaten the Anaheim Angels, Boston Red Sox the teams that won during that stretch. TK would have single handedly kicked their asses- Gardy is a good manager- get a clue- TK had Puck, Herbie, Morris, Blyleven, TK was a good manager as well, but had some damn good talent as well!!!!
If everything NICO says is true, well,then we should be about 25 games out of first-wait!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are in the race AGAIN- for what the 5 year in the last 7 years-yeah, you are right NICK-the Twins players, managers, front office, scouts, the whole organization has the heads up their you know whats. I love my Twins and want a World Series again also, but some realistic postings would be nice here. They are basically tied for first -with a team that most picked to finish last. Do they have some wholes in the team?? yep, but at least we have something to rant about it at this point in the season, instead of being 25 games out of first and no one cares!!!!!! Go Twins!!
LENIII, why do you only post once every 2-3 days?
What’s the scoop on Cuddyer?
