Are the Twins ready for what’s about to hit them?
Posted on September 30th, 2008 – 1:44 AMBy La Velle
Joe C. and Jim Souhan are at the mike tonight for the show at The Cell. And while I often embrace the,`You don’t know what’s going to going to happen when you get to the ballpark,’ thing, I just don’t know how the Twins can pull this one off.
I have my reasons:
1.The game was sold out within a hour. It will be the most hostile environment many Twins players will have experienced to this point in their careers. I have NOT forgotten the 2003 All-Star Game in Chicago, when fans booed Eddie Guardado mercilessly during introductions.
2. The Sox have called it a black out game. They have urged all fans to dress in black and will hand out black, `Sox Pride’ towels. The place will rock.
3. The Sox hate playing in the Dome to the point where they feel they the Twins can’t beat them at The Cell. I’m not kidding. Sox officials told me last week that they can’t wait until the Twins move out the Dome because the Twins get away with bloops and chop hits and luck - I guess they’ve forgotten the 90-something horseshoes they had up their rears in 2005.
But they are convinced that the Twins are a different team out of the Dome. I agree. The home-road splits back that up. But it’s not because of bloop hits, it’s because their pitchers - especially the relievers - have been awful at times on the road.
4. The Sox hate losing to the Twins. Read this…and this. The Sox talk more stuff about the Twins than any team I know. They will be fired up. Expect A. J. Pierzynski to be at his best tonight.
5. Weather. It’s expected to be in the 60’s with wind gusts up to 30 mph blowing toward center-right center. Not good for Blackburn, who’s has left the ball up too much in recent starts. He did pitch better against the White Sox at the Dome, but he’ll need to be better tonight.
6. Nick Blackburn. Is he ready for what he’s about to experience? Sox fans will be all over him. Ozzie Guiilen talks like his team is about to make mincemeat out of him. Blackburn was 0-2 with 7.20 ERA in The Cell this season. The wind is blowing the WRONG way. He’s got to keep the ball down and mix his pitches - and the batting champion catcher needs to make sure he does that!
If Blackburn and the Twins can pull this off, it will be one of the greatest wins in club history. I have purchased a ticket to Tampa to cover Wednesday’s workout before Game One of the ALDS.
I would like to use it.
350 Responses to "Are the Twins ready for what’s about to hit them?"
Sox talk about the Twins. But how has that helped them? Not a heck of alot. Twins hate the Sox as well and will be fired up as well. I can go on and on..
We know you are from Chicago but Sox are getting way too much credit. None of those reasons mean the Sox are going to win. Playoffs in the motivation and both teams have the same motivation. Twins have also sweeped the Sox. Twins are in the Sox’s heads. I think that is to the Twins’ favor. If the Sox want to once again underestimate the Twins they can go ahead. How many times does that work out for the Sox in the past in end of season games?
Sox are wrong in the regaurds to bloops. Since when are hitting multiple triples, Doubles and HRs bloops. Guess the Sox are bloop hitters as well based on that.
Tiebreaker system-Did’nt we win in the head to head series during the season??10-8 I believe-Why wasnt that used instead of a coin flip?? The Twins would be playing at home tomorrow! Other sports use head to head records to determine tiebreakers, but not baseball. Whats the point of winning during the season against an opponent, but then it is decided by a coin flip. Sorry, I just disagree with that decision by baseball! Go Twins- and they will win tomorrow night- Twins and Tampa Thursday-Get Ready!!!!
LaVelle-this is BS and I am outraged at this! We win the series 10-8 and we have to go to Chicago? It’s so obvious that MLB’s plan all along has been for the White Sux to go into the playoffs…look at the Post season ads on TBS-that have been playing for 3 wks now. They included the Brewers, the Mets,the Dbacks, the White Sux, and all who clinched or were close to at the time (Angels, Cubs, Red Sox, Rays, Phillies etc) Who was missing? The Twins, even though we have always been there, right in it. I doubt Blackie will be able to pitch in that environment. I’m tired of hearing that arrogant a$$ Pierzynski shoot off his big mouth. I wish someone on the Twins would punch him out, or deliver a fastball to the ribs next year-that would be real Fan Appreciation-screw the calendar!! I find this very, very suspect. Cliff Lee, unable to pitch due to a “stiff neck” and then the Tigers folding so quickly…all those WPs. Once again, the Twins couldn’t put ‘em away and due to ridiculous and suspicious circumstances, we are in Chicago. The Sux seem to be over confident and arrogant, hopefully that will go against them.
Sox do seem overconfident and arrogant. What I want to know what is that based on? Too me it is all false. Twins won the season series and swept Chicago earlier last week. They seem to think because the have a home game that they simply need to just show up and they will win. Underestimating the Twins has been there undoing before so I hope they are stupid enough to do it again. AJ certainly is. And people wonder why Twins fans boo AJ. All you have to do is read his punk comments in dismissing the Twins.
If the young Twins pitchers can’t perform in a hostile environment then getting to the playoss would not matter much then. So I hope that is not the case. Sox have their own issues they are pitching their pitchers on 3 days’ rest. Ozzie is going to kill their arms.
i mean, playoffs
[…] Twins Insider – […]
I think we’ve discovered an unjust rule in baseball that needs to be changed.
The team that won the season series should get to play at home. If the season series is 9-9 then it should go to a coinflip. This game should be played at the dome.
Gardy can’t let Blackburn try to work his way out of too many jams. He needs Boof, Perkins, Mijares, everybody ready to go. Span, Casilla, Gomez, and Young need smart at bats and Punto needs to dial it down a notch, no baserunning or fielding errors trying to do too much. Play Twins ball and this team will win.
Alright, so the Sox are cocky, they are arrogant, so what you say? It means a lot; it means they have one hundred percent confidence in their abilities. When you say the Sox are over looking us because of this… You are dead wrong.
There is no way that Ozzie is looking past us. He loathes us with utmost care. We give him and his team nightmares. This won’t be an easy game by any means for the twins.
Sure the Twins have won 10 of 18, but only 2 of 9 in their house. This is a formidable task.
Both teams have young pitchers going out there, before 2007 neither pitcher had seen the big leagues, with Danks only seeing a few more. Both pitchers will be feeling the pressure tonight, Danks will have the hopes and admiration of 40,000 fan riding on his left arm, and Blackburn will have 40,000 fan’s absolute detest and ill well falling upon his right arm. So I wouldn’t call either pitcher suffering much of a handicap in that department, at least relative to the other.
The twins so far have hammered Danks, in fact one of our two wins at U.S. Cellular was against Danks, and that was in his first home start, a day after their home opener, the other two games we have played against Danks at home, he gave up two runs on May eighth and five on June ninth. Who knows what this means, other than the Twins have not had their offense shut down by Danks at home yet. Blackburn’s performance in that stadium has been similar allowing two, four, and seven in his three starts in the stadium; by the way that two run allowed start, was in the White Sox home opener. Other than one disastrous inning in which he let up five runs, he has held his own.
I think that he can deal with the pressure of closing the stadium… I mean he did open it.
I like the look of the Twins going into this, we have won six of the last seven games against the Sox, if you go to the last game before those it was June ninth, and this Twins team is much improved since then.
Sure the Sox have momentum, but then again so did the Twins after sweeping the Sox.
What this boils down to is this game is a toss up, the Twins things have many things that look in their favor going into this game, but two things take those away, experience– the Sox have been here before, and we are at the dreaded U.S Cellular. Look for a knockdown drag out fight. This one should be good. For me I’ll take the Twins, but you might as well flip a coin.
It’s so exciting that it’s agonizing. Win or go home for the Twins. Win or stay home if you’re the White Sux. I could throw several stats at you:
Based on overall ERA by the starters, Sox win by 0.09 runs. Based on starts vs. the other team, Twins win by 2.24 runs. Twins are 2-7 at the Cell this year. Twins are 11 under .500 on the road this year. Mauer must go 0-7 to lose batting title- extremely unlikly he even gets 7 AB’s, much less goes 0-7 in them- Morneau needs 1 to tie, and 2 to pass Hamilton in the RBI dept.
But ultimantly I think you can throw out the stats and numbers. EVERYTHING. This is one game. One game for all the proverbial marbles. A game with Everything to play for. Anything can happen- especially in a division game. You know them. They know you. No secrets. Your big time players NEED to step up. That’s what they’re the paid big money for, and that’s why they ARE big time players. The pitcher NEEDS to pitch a big game- reguardless of how he’s faired recently. It’s a brand new, one game, season. Win. Or your season, everything you worked for, 6 months of working and playing hard to win is all for naught. Win, or go home.
Not sure how that happened… the above comment was mine, not Saam’s.
To borrow a line from an upcoming movie:
W. A baseball team misunderestimated.
Read what this idiot Mike Celzic wrote over on MSNBC.com:
“You also know the Twins aren’t going to keep coming back year after year. They’ve got Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer, two of the best players in the game, and soon enough they’ll be somewhere else as free agents with price tags that only the wealthy teams can afford. ”
Dude better check his facts and realize that Morneau is locked up for years to come and that Mauer most likely is going to get a nice 6 year contract coming up from the Twins. Idiot!
Kevin,
Sure the Twins had momentum after sweeping the Sox, but it quickly disappeared after losing 2 games to the Royals.
The Sos DO have momentum- 2 wins in a row plus the playoff game is at their house.
Nora-sure the Twins just swept the Sox but it was at the Dome. Sox fans I work with hate the Dome. That being said, they are confident against the Twins at home knowing they have owned the Twins at home. I don’t get why you seem to feel the Sox don’t have anything going for them.
Of course I want the Twins to win, but it certainly won’t be easy.
I’m glad nobody expects the Twins to win, because that’s usually when the Twins play their best.
Don’t forget that a week ago today we were talking about how it’d be a miracle if the Twins could win 2 games let alone sweep the Sox to take the lead.
The crowd? Non-factor. Yeah the Sox hate the Twins, but that’s ALWAYS been the case. They’re going to be just as loud and obnoxious as they always are.
If the fans were to suddenly start running on the field and attacking players (which would NEVER happen in Chicago) then it would be a factor…but otherwise it’s crowd noise.
And I’m not going to let myself dwell on the coin flip. It’s a stupid way to do things, and I’ve already voiced that. To say anymore is to turn into a Sox fan (or worse, the Hawk)
For the last few days people have been going on an on about that One-Win (TM) that would’ve handed the Twins the AL Central crown.
Well, you wanted to figure out which game it was? It’s today’s. Like that shirt said “162+. No Excuses.”
Baseball is such a beautiful sport. So many facets. Psychology playing such a huge part. But in a one game series it comes down to the pitcher and how he is handled. I hope Blackburn is on tonight. I know he’s got it in him. But if he’s not I hope Gardy pulls the plug a lot faster than he normally does and STICKS with the guy getting the job done.
lets face it, if anyone had to bet with real money, you would bet on the Sox in this game.
That does not mean they will win, butwe have to agree with La Valle that thats who one would have to bet on
Well said T, I just looked at the accuscore and it has Sox 62% to 38%. I swear every time It’s been ~60/40 this year the 40 team has won.
As much as I’d love for the Twins to win, I don’t have any expectations of such a thing happening. Yes, we swept the Sox in the Dome. Yes, we won the last game. But I think the many young Twins on the roster will be too emotional and trying to win the game by himself. I’m going to chalk this up to a growth experience and look ahead to next year.
Although… a team over the weekend calling for a “blackout” (U of Georgia Bulldogs football team) did lose. 
Hopefully it will be a good, well-fought contest. That’s all I ask.
What’s the deal with the ‘blackout’??? Are the Sox mental? Did they not see how well the ‘blackout’ worked for Georgia this past weekend? [url=”http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/ee/fullj.14d2b7d5389ed1a26c79efdf2b643a5e/14d2b7d5389ed1a26c79efdf2b643a5e-getty-82151149db014_alabama_crims.jpg”]This[/url] is what the stadium looked like for that game…not very intimidating. ‘Blackouts’ are dumb.
P.S. I hope that link thing worked…otherwise I’ll look like an idiot…ha
I dont want a good, hard fought contest. I would rather the Twins get blown out from the get go then lose by one run where they could have won if only one other thing had gone right
Of course, I would rather have them win either blow out or close, but I dont like to lose close games
Alright Twins, now is the time! You can’t look back now, you’ve come too far! The chance at greatness is upon you and you have to go out there and earn it. Take it to the Sox and show them why you are the First place team in this division!
The time is now, no turning back.
Go Twins Go!!!
I would rather the Twins get blown out from the get go then lose by one run where they could have won if only one other thing had gone right
I’d rather the Twins blow out the Sox and have the Cell emptied by the 7th inning.
I cannot see a better environment to clinch a trip to Tampa.
Regardless the fact that for statistical reasons the MLB calls this game ‘regular’ season, it is the postseason.
methinks that there will be butterflies for the Sox too and for Blackie, remember that cold weather April was his best month.
Twins win 6-1. Gogo and Delmon hit dingers off Danks.
Heard on Mike and Mike…this is the 11th time this season a team has played 3 different teams on 3 consecutive teams. Those ten teams are 0-10 in their attempts to win all 3 games. Let’s make it 0-11.
*3 different teams on 3 consecutive days
See you guys on the T-Wolves Blog
Of course we want to see the Twins win.
That said, this game (and in fact this season) is going to valuable for this young team to go through, regardless of the outcome. As they go in to 2009 and beyond, all of these 22-23 year olds will have already gone through their first pennant race and their first “playoff” game… on the road.
Nothing that comes in the future will be any more challenging than what they’ve faced in the past couple of weeks and will face tonight. That’s invaluable experience.
Way too much negativity on the board!
I have used the quote by Jim Valvano when the Twins were down 6-1 in the last game at the Dome.
“Don’t give up! Don’t ever give up!!!”
GO TWINS Prove them all wrong!!!!!
Hoping for the best, expecting the worst. Twins are just horrible on the road. Mauer and Morneau need to go Kirby Puckett and put them on their back.
TalkVikes site is down, where is a good Twins forum today?
If MLB wanted Chicago all along is that part of the east coast bias or is there now a midwest bias?!!! I agree the coin flip is not the best way to determine home field for this game but bottom line the Twins could have locked up this division a long time ago and they didn’t. The setting does not sound favorable for the Twins, however if they do win it should be a great scene.
Also wondering what’s up with talkvikes…anyone have the inside word?
Maybe Morneau will break out of his slump here, since it is a sure bet that the Chicago fans won’t be chanting “M-V-P!” for him. I just keep thinking back to ‘07, and his three-homerun game. Man . . . that would be nice tonight.
all indicators point to the twinkies getting thumped tonight. on and off again rookie pitcher, our big rbi guy in a serious slump, .130 last week and .204 last 2 weeks. very young team with very little exp in this kind of game, a terrible road record and generally very poor play on the road. on the other hand this team has played better as an underdog, chasing the sox. when they have went into first they have always fell right back, like they didn’t want to lead. maybe being the underdog tonight will help, i hope so, but it just seems like this game is set up for them to get blown out.
gardy’s 3b choice will be interesting, buscher is .000 in last week and .133 last 2 weeks, and has not played well in field, harris .385 last week and .318 in last 2 weeks with some nice fielding. rest of lineup is set it would seem.
i can’t see them winning this game, i hope i’m wrong.
La Velle, perhaps you didn’t read my posts at 8:24 and 9:44 last night.
You sound like a Chicago kid who is freaking about losing the big homecoming game.
And where do you get your weather info? weather.com says 14-15 mph winds all day, and then down to 11 at game time.
Are they playing the game out on the lake?
Are people still going to be on here Wednesday even if the season is over. If not I will take 2 months and step over to the Vikes and Wolves blogs and switch from ragging on Pohlad to ragging on Childress and McFail.
Come on Twins Fans - let’s get positive and own up to the fact that the Twins have just as good a chance to win this game as the White Sox! We beat them 3 times at the Dome last week and can handle them just fine for 1 game at the Cell - we can rule the Central Division tonight - Go Twins Go! Oh and by the way, Celzic is an idiot!
lets face it, if anyone had to bet with real money, you would bet on the Sox in this game.
I find it bad luck to bet against the team I root for. So you’re quite wrong there.
For those who have suggested Ozzie’s job would be in jeopardy with a loss tonight:
From Charlie Walters column which is not the Bible, but not clueless:
“Anticipated American League manager of the year finishers: 1. Tampa Bay’s Joe Maddon; 2. the Twins’ Ron Gardenhire; 3. the White Sox’s Ozzie Guillen; and 4. the Angels’ Mike Scioscia”
It’s improbable, but didn’t the 87 Twins have a horrible road record and then sweep the Tigers on the road in the ALCS as a heavy underdog? Win or lose, this will be a fun game (unless the Sox put up 8 runs in the first inning.)
Thanks for the tidbit sane, but as we’ve learned watching the sporting world…what the media at large percieves and what actually happens with the FO can be two drastically different beasts.
I think last night’s win will help Ozzie a LOT. Though I was utterly SHOCKED that he got so roundly booed when he pulled Danks after the Sox had taken their 6-2 lead.
Blackburn is way too inconsistant why the he_ _ is he starting tonight. he is probably the most inconsistant pitcher we have right now as a starter
wait what? The fact that Ozzie Guillen is even in the conversation as manager of the year means that list is a joke. whoopdedoo - you took a team to ‘maybe’ the playoffs with a bunch of underachieving veterans and a $100 million+ payroll that went into major meltdown mode to end the season only to steal one on Sunday and Monday because the teams rolled over and died.
Manager of the year material right there >_<
I’m been hearing all of the negative talk, but I think it is important to focus on the good. The Twins play their best when no one gives them a chance. It’s time to go 1987 ALCS style–when NO ONE gave the Twins a chance against those Tigers, in Tiger Stadium. What happened? The Twins kick some a$$.
Morneau needs to come through tonight–he’s let the team down the last few weeks–way too many men left on base. You won’t get many chances tonight.
Morneau vs Thornton: 2-for-11
Mauer vs Thornton: 2-for-9
Kubel vs Thornton: 1-for-4, 3 K
If there’s a close game in the 7th or 8th, look for Thornton to come in to face Mauer and Morneau. I’m guessing that Gardy will start Cuddy tonight. Let’s hope it pays off.
My guess at Gardy’s lineup:
Span
Casilla
Mauer
Morneau
Cuddyer
Young
Harris
Punto
Gomez
if this team is serious about winning a world series, they need to win big games on the road. there’s none bigger than tonight. i think they can do it. blackburn has every reason to pitch well tonight ,and the twins have every reason to hit danks hard like they normally do. i think they’re gonna do it!
kubel hits danks hard, so i think he’s in there at DH, what with cuddyer not hitting at all since coming back
Wait a minute. If MLB gives a manager of the year award they should also give a golden egg award as well. My 2 candidates are Joe Girardi and Jiim Leyland. Hey Yankee fans I thought that Torre was overrated and anyone could make the playoffs with that team and payroll
Right, OHOH. Gotta start Kubel. And Harris at third. Maybe Busher can get a big pinch hit, but that’s all we can expect from him. Morny’s trying, but I don’t see where tonight will be his night. Just don’t hit into any double plays, he’ll be alright. I’ll just keep hoping for an ‘87 replay.
It seems like the Twins always get warned at the dome for games getting out of control with the fans, what are the chances we will see Ozzie on the field tonight telling the fans to knock it off or risk forfeitting the game?
“Sox have their own issues they are pitching their pitchers on 3 days’ rest.”
I watched Linebrink’s performance yesterday. Looks good on paper. But he couldn’t get his FB down and Detroit looked like little-leaguers swinging at his curves in the dirt. He didn’t have mastery over his pitches, but Detroit batted as if he did.
Detroit’s just had what arguably is their worst performance in franchise history, and looked the same yesterday.
I believe you have to be foolish to fear tonight’s encounter in Chicago. Blackburn just went 5 with 2 earned runs against them last Wednesday. Also not as good as it looks on paper, but he’s turned the corner with them and threw 69% strikes in that game.
Let’s see how cold these Old Sox hitters get, standing and waiting for their ideal pitch to hit a HR….while the Twins stay warm playing their station-to-station offense while the Chicago defenders chill themselves on the field.
I’m not too wound up about having to play this game in Chicago. The bottom line is, they had many chances to put this division away over the past month and failed to take advantage of them. They have no one to blame but themselves for having to even go to a one-game playoff. Second, if they can’t beat the White Sox in a one-game playoff, they have no business being in the playoffs anyways.
As I was driving to work and listening to ESPN 1000 down here in Chicago I heard Mark Buerhle say words to the effect “I hope if we’re up by 20 runs we’re still stealing bases.”
Real classy!
Go Twins!!
Like everyone else here, I hope the Twins can win tonight, but even if they don’t, I think the experience of playing in this big game and last week’s stretch run will be a big character builder for all the young guys in the lineup. It will definately help for next season.
Let’s not get too caught up in the White Sox hype. Yes, they have won two games at home when it mattered. Do not forget, however, that, also when it mattered, the White Sox lost the first 2 games - at home - to Cleveland. Do not forget that they were just swept by the Twins and that we faced, and defeated, the same team that we are facing tonight.
Have the White Sox magically become pitching dynamos in the last 5 days? Do they suddenly have 5 players of the starting 9 hitting over .300? No, and no. This is the same White Sox team that has been struggling.
Let’s hit AJ clap, clap, clap, clap, clap. Lets hit AJ clap, clap, clap, clap, clap…..
Yeah, MLB needs to rethink how they determine home field for these things but it’s not like they made a sudden change that screwed the Twins. They’ve only been doing things this way forever, so it is what it is.
To be successful in the playoffs, you’re going to have to find a way to win tough games on the road. Might as well start tonight.
If the Twins win, it will be sweet to celebrate on the BitchSox field in front of their fans. As ‘bama said of Georgia last week, “why are they all wearing black to the game? Cuz that’s what you wear to a funeral.” Time to bury the Sox.
If it goes the other way, and Chicago ends up winning 3 straight, on 3 consecutive days, against 3 different teams, then more power to them… they got on a roll when they needed to and deserve to move on.
“lets face it, if anyone had to bet with real money, you would bet on the Sox in this game.”
Actually have a few $$$ (my regular play) on tonights game. 2/3 on Twins +130 (10 to win 13) and 1/3 on Twins +1.5 runs -165 (16.50 to win 10).
No value to place cash on the Sox.
Regards,
Regards,
(chanting) Let’s hit AJ clap, clap, clap, clap, clap. Lets hit AJ clap, clap, clap, clap, clap…..
This year the White Sox are known for hitting home runs whereas the Twins are known for a suspect bullpen. Sure enough this is what we’ll see tonight.
Seriously a blackout? Didn’t they watch the ‘Bama-Georgia game on Saturday? Blackouts just don’t work.
The real question is which Twins player or coach gets caught on camera saying that the Sox are wearing black and their fans are wearing baclk because “they’re going to a @^%#%$# funeral!”
“I heard Mark Buerhle say words to the effect “I hope if we’re up by 20 runs we’re still stealing bases.”
Yeah, and I hope Thome, Konerko, Griffey, AJ, Uribe, and Swisher have to be carted to MRI machine after they try to steal.
“lets face it, if anyone had to bet with real money, you would bet on the Sox in this game.”
Also, will watch the line this afternoon, hoping more money comes in on the Sox
Used an extra Regards on the last post which should be placed here.
Well, the wind blows for both teams. Twins have some guys who can pop it up and let the wind do the rest. Most of the CWS Cell Field home runs are done that way. Additionally, if it’s blowing hard CF to RF, some of those flyballs are going foul.
So, as usual, it will begin and end with the pitchers. If Blackburn can get us to the 6th inning with tie game, or better, I really like our chances against their BP. It’ll be a lot tougher if the Sox build a 2 or more run lead.
The Twins have a shot, but it really does depend on Blackburn, then the pen. We can all hold out hope our hitting heroes will wait out Danks, make him throw strikes, and when he does, spray the ball all over the place. It will be amusing watching all the old fat guys in the Sox’s defense slip and slide all over that field, chasing down gappers, liners, skimmers, and the like……Go Twins!
“…we have won six of the last seven games against the Sox, if you go to the last game before those it was June ninth, and this Twins team is much improved since then.”
ExACTly, Kevin at 6:20. A night-and-day difference.
And they matured immensely in the Sox series last week.
La Velle, are you reading this good stuff?
:(>
Hey Len3 is on espn right now
Do any of you Hostess Twinkie fans remember the 4 game sweep the Sox gave the Twins at Chicago earlier this year? Keep talking about the sweep last week, you will have all October to think about it while watching the White Sox.
When are they going to put T on the ESPN broadcast???
Ummm, Blackburn is a flyball pitcher?
He’s got a 1.34 GB rate in 2008.
We can’t lose. I will be tortured all winter with the Gophers, Vikings and T-Wolves. They give me no hope.
Who care about the American League….MILWUAKEE BREWERS WILL WIN IT ALL!
Flashback to end of March - I was driving across Alligator Alley from Miami to Ft Meyers Beach for some R&R, thinking about the pending baseball season, thinking that it would be good to see some of these new younger kids, thinking a .500 showing would be a decent outcome. Johan was gone at the first of February, Hunter left 3 months before that.. I was looking forward to the last day of Spring Training. Liriano was scheduled to pitch. Everybody was in first place that day. My most optimistic prediction was that they might make a run at it until the end of June and be out of it by the dog days…. As long as they made it an enjoyable ride…
Now look where they are! How exciting is this? 162 Games PLUS!
What a GREAT ride.
Do these guys KNOW how lucky they are to be PLAYING BASEBALL??????
Because they sure a he** act like it!
chiboytaz,
“you will have all October to think about it while watching the White Sox.”
Worst case scenario:
We will have three games to enjoy watching the Rays kick the sh-t out of the WSox.
“This year the White Sox are known for hitting home runs whereas the Twins are known for a suspect bullpen. Sure enough this is what we’ll see tonight.”
Only problem with that is that the Old Sux pen is much worse. Did you happen to watch their performance last Thursday, Mr. “Williams”?
But of course you relate to old guys more than to the future….which is NOW.
Don’t they wear black to funerals?
Hey jimmybee long time no chat I heard T will be taking Buster Olneys spot on ESPN.
Ted Williams,
Howza goin’ hanging upside down in the freezer?
“Hey Len3 is on espn right now”
I suppose he likes the wind coming out of those ESPN mouthpieces too.
La Velle, how many HR’s will Mauer crank to right-center tonight?
the Twins are in a rebuilding project, this year is just a nice pleasant surprise just getting to 88 wins is far superior to anything we could have dreamed of
nice launching point for the future
And what is all this talk about the “Twins only get bloop hits at home.”
What, does the Metrodome some kind of altitude or magical addition that allows for the Twins to get bloops there, and only there?
I’d rather have my toe nails ripped off than lose to the Flippin White Sox!!! Being a MN sports fan for over 40 years has taught me to NEVER get to high for ANY game. Only get excited after the last out or time has expired! Vikings crushed me when I was young too many times!! I’ll be watching with cautious optimism! Shut that CUE TIP headed Pierzinski up!! PLEASE!!!!
Any Twins fans heading to the game tonight with an extra ticket? I’ll pay fair price. I really want to catch this game but I’m not too excited about heading out to the Cell in my Twins’ gear solo. If you have an extra ticket and don’t mind another fan tagging along shoot me an email at rpkiskis@gmail.com.
I agree the stats are against us tonight but we all know we play better as the underdog. I’d have a tough time saying the Twins deserve to be in the playoffs if they can’t go into the Cell and win one game.
Looks like LEN 3 is rooting for his White Sox tonight. Nice to see the Minnesota media negative once again, giving no shot for the Twins to win this game.
I will leap from a tall building in a single bound if Matty G pitches tonight.
Fire- that may be one of your best posts all season!
“the Twins are in a rebuilding project…”
Got news for you, FIRE. They are REBUILT! Check my post at 8:24 last night. They are .300 hitters and superb run-scorers.
Mijares makes their BP viable again. Just need good starting pitching. They had that going for a while, lost it, and it looks like it’s back again.
Enjoy.
I’m realy pissed that the Twins have to go to the cell today i think they got screwed by MLB but then again they had plenty of chances to clinch the division prior to this but didn’t so it’s there own fault. I sure hope Justin snaps out of his slump today.
Hate to say this….but Twins will wet pants just as they do in Yankee Stadium all the time
I haven’t read all of the posts so this could have been mentioned but we have a couple things going for us. Danks is going on 3 days rest for the first time in his career. He hasn’t been good against the Twins even when he’s fully rested. Blackburn is going on an extra days rest. That one day doesn’t seem like a lot but for a young kid who’s never pitched this much over a full season, it should help a little. One thing is for sure, Morneau can’t afford to let the team carry him through this game. He’s gotta bring his big stick today and put the game on his shoulders. Yeah, he played 162 games, but he got a day off: yesterday. He needs to play like an MVP.
Why would you leap from a building if I trot out there? Does it have anything to do with that ball Griffey hit last week that still hasn’t landed yet??
“Worst case scenario:
We will have three games to enjoy watching the Rays kick the sh-t out of the WSox.”
Ha. Exactly.
Even if the Sox win this game, Ozzie has overplayed his hand. His pitchers are done in.
Of the two shaky bullpens, the Twins bullpen has had more rest. Gardy has 9 rested relievers ready to roll. If Blackburn can get through the lineup twice, the Twins will be in good shape. Unless Danks pitches into the 7th, I think the Twins take it.
GO BREWERS says:
September 30th, 2008 at 9:55 am
Who care about the American League….MILWUAKEE BREWERS WILL WIN IT ALL!
That will be hard to do when Joe Torre and The Manny’s kick the sh-t out of the Brewer’s.”
(Thank’s for the scripting sane)
GO BREWERS says:
September 30th, 2008 at 9:55 am
Who care about the American League….MILWUAKEE BREWERS WILL WIN IT ALL!
That will be hard to do when Joe Torre and The Manny’s kick the sh-t out of the Brewer’s.”
(Thank’s sane)
No need to think that, RyGuy. Twins have been beating first place teams (TB and Chicago) and White Sox have been splitting with last place teams. Twins worked for what they got.
Joe Nathan should be ready to pitch a 2 inning save. Mijares in the 7th.
the Twins bullpen is not all shaky… Here are the relievers ERA in September:
Not Shaky:
Breslow: 0.00
Mijares: 1.00
Crain: 1.08
Reyes: 2.35
Nathan: 2.46
Shaky
Humber: 4.63
Bonser: 5.02
Korecky: 6.14
Guardado: 7.71
Guerrier: 10.00
All are available
Now if Gardy gets anyone from the Shaky list up, someone should shake him…
I’m just gonna throw this out there: when was the last time the Twins lost an all or nothing game? They’ve lost elimination games, yes, but what about games that were both clincher and eliminator? Game 5 of 2002… Game 7 of ‘91 and ‘87. I’m not old enough to understand what it’s like to lose this kind of game. Hopefully it’ll still be a foreign feeling.
Has anyone else heard that the winds will be near 30 MPH tonight from any other place than LEN3’s blog?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/weather/
There it says 10-20 MPH.
We can all see the Twins and their difficult road record (35-46). If we are going to use past performance to indicate future results, then we need to look closer at the numbers. The Twins have laid four serious eggs on the road this year. They were swept in Chicago, New York, Boston and Toronto. Their record in those games were 0 (obviously) and 13. Meaning that in the rest of their road games, they were 35-33. What this tells me is that the Twins have been capable of winning on the road, and being really bad.
The other thing that using the composite numbers overlooks is the specific pitching match up. Blackburn and Danks have pitched to similarly poor results in Twins/Sox games this year. Danks has been worse allowing 1 more run in 2 fewer innings. Both starters has had one OK game and two bad ones. In Danks’ case one of his bad ones was covered up by offensive output.
Side note: That game was one of the early indicators of the long season ahead for Mr Guerrier.
Danks’ other win was a 6-2 deal where Slowey pitched well until the 5th.
Numbers? Do they tel the whole story here?
*Chicago is running out Danks on three days rest, which he has never done before.
*The White Sox bullpen is still terrible while the Twins is improved with the emergence of Mijares.
*Chicago has the fresh memory of being up 6-1 and still losing to the Twins.
*This is still a bad Chicago team that just lost 2 out of 3 at home to Cleveland and basically had one good inning against Detroit.
of course LEN hopes the Sox win. Its like if any of us went off to be a writer in another city, we would still be Twins fans at heart.
Yea, I just dont get the flip of the coin thing. Either do head to head record, or intra divsion record.
But as everyone said, the Twins were given all to many chances to win it on their ownn
“BC of ND I heard T will be taking Buster Olneys spot on ESPN.”
I heard that he may take over for Joe Morgan for the playoffs. MLB got mad at poor old Joe for not paying attention to the game and only using his playing days to reference baseball. I feel bad but the new announcer line up as is follows.
Stephen A Smith, Dennis Miller and T
Actually how would the group of Blyleven, Joe Morgan and Reggie Jackson due as an announcer trio???
well, a loss tonight will spare us the anxiety of future play off games.
Does my skill with break tags need help?
Yes.
Am I Sorry for the impenetrable block of text there?
Doubly.
Another place where it says 9 MPH to the NW by 7 PM tonight.
Thanks for the confidence LEN3, glad you mentioned something about how the twins have pounded danks this year and in his career.
Thanks for the confidence LEN3, glad you mentioned something about how the twins have pounded danks this year and in his career.
The Sox have also pounded Blackburn this year and in his career.
“Actually how would the group of Blyleven, Joe Morgan and Reggie Jackson due as an announcer trio???”
That would be hilarious but not sure all three ego’s could fit in one room.
Oh Noez! not Sox Pride towels!!! We’re so doomed. Since when has US Cellular Field been an intimidating stadium? Well, other than for fellow spectators who need to watch out for drunk father/son assault combos. It just sounds like they’re trying to emulate the Twins yet again with that crap. The White Sox always have been and always will be the also ran forgotten team of that city.
“Does my skill with break tags need help?
Yes.
Am I Sorry for the impenetrable block of text there?
Doubly.”
Forgiven. Mainly because you had some good points. Good points that were heartening. The best kind!
“Actually how would the group of Blyleven, Joe Morgan and Reggie Jackson due as an announcer trio???”
That would be hilarious but not sure all three ego’s could fit in one room.
That was wiered i just tried posting and it didn’t go through and i looked again and it showed your name and e-mail jimmybee.
The Sox released picture of Ozzie’s new blackout uniform:
http://www.rotten.com/library/culture/village-people/glen.jpg
The sun is out in Chicago and it looks like it is going to turn into a really nice day - for a Twins clincher!
Even thought the Sox are pretty beat up, they are better than the Twins, especially at their field!!!! It’s called one-and-done people! Like the character (satan) in “The Devil’s Advocate” said: “It’s been a good run kid; it had to end sometime”—wink, wink!!
Nothing would be sweeter than a Twins victory in The cell. We know the Twins won’t quit. Go Twins!
Regarding the Sox “Black Out” tonight. Hitters always talk about having a good “eye” to look into. You will see parks that have a dark wall or spot which falls right into the hitters line of site. Wouldn’t it make more sense for the Sox to tell people to wear Black then while the Sox were hitting and wear white when the Twins were up? The Twins hitters would then be trying to find a white ball against a white background while the Sox hitters would be finding a white ball with a black background.
Georgia tried a Black Out against Alabama on Saturday in Athens. Final score: Alabama 41, Georgia 30. And it wasn’t that close when the Crimson Tide jumped out to a 31-0 halftime lead.
BC of ND no worries it was trying to do the same to me with JimCrikket’ name. just delete it out.
The 1987 Twins had an even worse road record than the 2008 Twins, and they clinched on the road in Texas. Heck, they won the American League Championship against the Tigers IN Detroit, a team they couldn’t beat home or away. It can be done, it has been done, and it will be done again.
No kidding, so it’ll be like the players are staring out into a night sky? Smart.
of ND says:
September 30th, 2008 at 10:48 am
“Actually how would the group of Blyleven, Joe Morgan and Reggie Jackson due as an announcer trio???”
That would be hilarious but not sure all three ego’s could fit in one room
Or in one City, or in one county, or in one state etc.etc.etc……
[…] But they are convinced that the Twins are a different team out of the Dome. I agree. The home-road splits back that up. But it’s not because of bloop hits, it’s because their pitchers - especially the relievers - have been awful at times on the road.” – La Velle E. Neal III, Star-Tribune […]
wow, nearly every starter has hit well against him except punto and gomez - fittingly they should be 8 and 9 in the order (and start Kubel at DH, he gives you a much better chance to win than Cuddy right now) i like gomez in the lineup because he is just crazy enough to do well in a game of this magnitude
go twins!
Twins clinched in Chicago in 2004.
and here are Danks’ numbers from his last game at the Cell against the Indians:
4 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 2 HR 1 BB, 5 K, 15.75 ERA
I think it’s a bummer that the division comes down to this one game, honestly. The Twins had a better record against the Sox…period.
Unfortunately, I think the odds are stacked against the Twins. The Dome is their comfort zone. Not only with they be playing at another field packed full of Sox fans, but the atmosphere is going to be craaaazy. We have a team of a lot of young players. It will be interesting to see how they’re affected by the Sox environment and expected hostility. I imagine a lot of booing for the Twins and a lot of ear-deafening screams for the White Sox. I am also a bit worried about Blackburn. In interviews, he seems confident, but the stats would show otherwise. I really hope he can pull through.
My thoughts right now….expect the worse, but hope for the best… Either way, I think the Twins have had a great year, even if tonight is their last game of the season.
Gooooooooooo Twins!!!
Wednesdays possible headline
They did much better then anyone had even predicted. If I even see this I will croak. No one even thought we would do this good. Try this next one out. With this core of young players we will be competetive for years to come.
When the Twins clinched in 2004, their on-field celebration was very subdued. They met near the mound, had a group hug, jumped up and down a few times, then took it into the locker room.
Tonight I hope they go nuts with GOGO chasing Casilla around the infield and everybody sticking it in the face of the Sox fans.
It is entirely appropriate that the Sox fans will be dressed in black tonight. It is going to be their funeral.
What is amazing about this season and the tie with Chicago is how absolute the tie is.
The Twins and the White Sox records:
Total: 88-74
Home: 53-28
Away: 35-46
Against the Central Division: 43-29
One game for all the proverbial marbles. Go get ‘em Twins!
jcf817,
the tie is not that absolute… in head to head games, the Twins lead 10-8
jimmy bee,
in the unlikely case that the Twins lose today, I hope tomorrow’s headline is:
Gardenhire and Coaches Fired
Here’s a better headline for tomorrow: Ozzie arrested for assault on Nick Punto after walk off HR knocks Chicago out of the playoffs.
Morneau needs two RBIs to take the RBI title.
We must win this I can’t go on the Vikings or Wolves Blog’s. They depress me to no end.
BC of ND LOL hillarious!!!
Do you think Ozzie’s comments about Blackburn not deserving any credit after he beat the Sox 4-2 last week be any kind of motivation for Blackie?
why not blackburn 2 innings, perkins 2 innings, baker 1 inning, breslow 1 inning, crain 1 inning, mijerias 1 inning, and nathan 1 inning….blackburn will have problems once he goes through the lineup one time…..sox would have a hard time adjusting to a new pitcher every inning…and the order can be changed around for match up purposes?
BC sorry about that this blog is entering names of other members on my end. No worries though
Just a note to mention that the 9:42 comment attributed to “jimmy bee” was, in fact, mine. Nothing intentional, it’s just the weird bug that is causing prepopulation of comment name/addy with the wrong name.
I know it’s wierd every time i refresh it puts your name in there.
it’s wierd jimmy keeps happenning to me to.
You got to love it. Is this going to be fun or what? I predict a big game for Justin.
BC of ND says:
September 30th, 2008 at 11:16 am
BC of ND LOL hillarious!!!
Laughing at your own jokes is not cool!
It’s unfortunate that the Twins don’t get home field advantage due to the head-to-head record against the Sox (which, in my opinion is absolutely rediculous). Either way though I have the most extreme confidence in this club.
Let the White Sox and Guillen keep running their big mouthes a little more…hopefully it’ll bite them in the butt after todays game!!!
Good luck Nick Blackburn and Minnesota Twins!!! Make us proud!!!!
faux e-mail though
sy I’m really no that crazy it’s this stupid blog
glenn… The problem with throwing several arms out there for a couple of innings each is that eventually you know you’re going to find the guy who just doesn’t have it that day. I’m fine with a short leash, but no way do you pull Blackburn if he’s throwing well, just because you’re afraid he MIGHT hit a wall and go bad.
Blacburn on regular rest after a little better outing last start vs Danks on short rest. I’m OK with that match up. It could be a lost worse.
We could still be trotting Livan out there as our only available starter.
DAMMIT, that time it plugged BC of ND’s nick in the name section.
I’m gonna give up on posting until they get this crap fixed. Catch you all, later.
One thing it looks like the Twins have done with Danks, and what the Tigers were doing well against Floyd yesterday, was being patient. Danks throws a lot of pitches out of the zone that make hitters chase. If the Twins can work the counts in their favor*, then they have a shot to drive the ball. Go Twins go!
*no small task, give the strikes Floyd was getting yesterday (the called thirds to Sheffield and Ordonez were mega-bull sh-t)
“JP says:
September 30th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Do you think Ozzie’s comments about Blackburn not deserving any credit after he beat the Sox 4-2 last week be any kind of motivation for Blackie?”
JP, that is an excellent comment!
Did anyone catch LaPanta in the new ballpark during the construction. The safety helmet looked a bit odd on his melon. Good segment though
Also, I’d like to add that I hope Blackburn does this line:
8 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
and as Nathan gets the last out and the Twins win, Blackburn walks up to Guillen and asks if that was dominant enough for him.
I’d love to see Guillen flip.
Hopefully Blackburn shows up tonight. I really would have preffered Baker, Slowey or Perkins at this point
What is really interesting is how the teams have taken such divergent routes to exactly the same place.
*They have identical records, home and away. (H:53-28 R:35-46)
*They have outscored their opponents by almost the same total (T: 85 S:81).
*The Sox lead the league in two things: HR and unearned runs.
*The Twins lead in hitting with RISP and 2 out RISP.
Pretty crazy really. What I don’t understand is how people have watched baseball as long as they have and not realized that runs are runs. They don’t count more when hit in by a majestic home run. Why is a guy hitting a ball to the left field line any more “annoying” than a guy hitting a 3-run 316 foot broken bat home run off of Pat Neshek (Joe Crede did this to spoil a reasonably solid effort from Blackburn, by the way)?
(I know, Its 330 Feet to left field corner. I’m just sayin’)
The Vikings blog went nuts the same way last week, switching names and emails. It didn’t seem to hurt anything, and nobody got viruses or hackers or anything. It went away after awhile and we blamed the increase in number of posts.
“As I was driving to work and listening to ESPN 1000 down here in Chicago I heard Mark Buerhle say words to the effect “I hope if we’re up by 20 runs we’re still stealing bases.”
Real classy!
Go Twins!!”
Regarding the above comment, if you posted Buerhle’s entire comment, it says something to the effect that you can’t trust a 20 run lead by the Twins, that the Twins could come back, and that the Sox would need to keep on playing hard even if the Twins go up by a lot. There is more respect by Sox fans for the Twins and their organization than Twins fans realize. A Sox announcer praised the Twins’ management this week, saying how scary the Twins would be if they would throw some money at this team. Sox fans should feel lucky knowing that will never happen!
I wonder if the Twins gel together more then a team full of overpriced veterans from the steroid days
Matt_EtheC,
The Twins also lead the league in triples.
I hope they change the tie breaker system in the future. But it’s not a conspiracy. This is the way they’ve determined it in the past.
Aside from the venue, I’m glad for this opportunity to win this thing in a game setting. It just would not have felt right to celebrate in the clubhouse without needing to even put on your uniforms first.
I’m also a bit tired of the Sox dissing the Metrodome. Yeah, we don’t like it much either, but they’ve got a bandbox of a ballpark with dimensions that overly inflate their HR totals. With the way the wind blows out every day, it makes any over aged, over weight, over the hill hitter who can hit pop flies a HR threat. The Sox really ought to consider withdrawing from MLB and joining a slowpitch softball league. It would suit their stadium and the make up of their team much better.
Don’t stop believin’!
White Sox will rock tonight!
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why is everyone piling on La Velle? he is stating plenty of valid points and is not a HOMER! I thought we don’t like HOMERS?
I knew I hit submit too soon! All those dinky-doinky triples! How can I forget to put down that the Twins lead the league in the most exciting play!
I agree with the whole coin flip thing, better head to head should have home field. Second, I think Liriano needs to be in the bullpen tonight and ready to pitch. Despite his bad outing against KC he is still our ace and should be starting tonight on 3 days rest. I think players such as Mauer, Morneau, Punto, Baker, Cuddyer, Kubel…so on still have a bad taste from 06 and will be on top of their games tonight to make sure that dosn’t repeat itself this year.
Heres to hoping Danks shows his fatigue and Blackburn pitches like the early ROY candidate he was
La Velle said gusts up to 30 mphs, not the wind itself. If the wind is predicted at 10-20 mph, gusts of 30 mph are not out of the question at all.
Helter,
Believin’, in the more talented team. Hands down Twins win!
Good thing that the game is a black-out because the twins hitters will be able to see the ball much better. This is in contrast to the white outs at the metrodome. Nothing would be more satisfying than to go into Chicago and beating them senseless.
I’m still ticked off about this coin flip. The Twins won the season series 10-8. MLB could have determined after last Thursday’s game at the Dome that the Twins would have home field for the one game playoff after taking the season series. I really hope someone in the Minnesota media asks the question to MLB. Why is a friggin’ coin flip the first tie-breaker when teams bust their ass for
162 games? It’s an absolute joke!
Have Hope Fans! Have Hope!
the coin flip crying needs to stop.. the Twins had dozens of chances to put the White Sox away weeks ago.. if you want to blame someone blame the Twin Players!
The Twins have a chance of beating the Sox for the division championship if Cuddyer is not in the lineup. If Gardenhire puts Cuddyer in the lineup, the Twins will lose due to the Curse of the Cuddyer. Cuddyer is very bad luck for the team. Keep Cuddyer out of the lineup for the sake of the team and the championship.
I didn’t write that last post at 11:53. What the hell is going on with this blog?
This is just the first test, beat the sox on the road then head to Tampa believan you can win anywhere against anyone, and I for one am looking way more forward to beating the sox in chicago and running and piling on Joe Nathan at the pitchers mound on their field. This is what baseball is all about if you can’t pumped about this you must be dead already, go TWINS
Logically speaking, the Twins will lose. Hostile environment. Young players rattled by the crowd, cold weather. Road record.
But: This is sports, and there is a reason that games are played … things don’t always go according to plan.
You never know.
You guys reading conspiracies into the coin flip really need to stop. This was a policy in place before the season and for years before that. It’s not like they just put it in to screw the Twins. While I don’t agree with going to a coin flip as the decider, this was not a last-minute thing.
I also like that the sox fans are already coming dressed to THEIR own funeral, they are the cockiest middle of the road team in the history of the game.
Is there a forum somewhere that twins fans post on saying how they hate the White Sox players and talk specifically about things they do?
I only ask, because Whitesoxinteractive.com is filled with posts about how guys hate Morneau and wish Carlos would break his ankle and so on.
I’m curious to find where all the poorly-adjusted Twins supporters hide out. I can’t honestly believe that if there are people who talk like this about the Twins that there aren’t any who do the same for the Sox.
How do you fix a coin flip?
I am really fretting over this 1 game playoff game. I hate our chances. I am very worried about it. I am not ready for cold weather and no Twins. The last viking game stunk so bad I won’t be able to take it.
I am going to throw my doubts out the window tonight and root for them to the very end. Anything can happen! This season has proven that! No matter what happens, I’m proud of the Twins. A lot of us can’t be there with them, but we’re behind them all the way!
I am having a tough time figuring out why we are playing in Chicago, weren’t the Twins on top before Chicago beat Detroit last night? I would like to think that the Twins should get home field for this one game series. Anybody know why we’re in the Windy City?
I won’t look,but how can people on Whitesoxinteractive.com be so full of hate? I mean, there are players I don’t like because of what they say, how they act, etc. I don’t “like” any of the Sox players, but some I have respect for and even admire (and not just for their nice butts!). People have to get a life.
I’m so excited for this game…I know we can win!
Sox are a fat-assed , slow pitch softball team consisting of overpaid mutts. Buehrle, Pierzynski are classless jerks. Go Twins.
BTW, what is going on with these Star Trib blogs?
Geez louise! I just looked at the Star Trib poll, and over 74% believe the Twins will likely loose! Come on people - have a little faith in them. They deserve a supportive fan base.
To answer your questoin Tim: Coin flip.
Jackie: If I had to bet, based on logic, I would think the Sox have to be favored. That doesn’t mean I don’t support our boys!
LEN3, you cover the Twins all year, and you call Nick Blackburn a flyball pitcher? He’s not Brandon Webb or Derek Lowe, but he certainly induces more GB than FB.
His GB/FB is 1.31. John Danks is 1.24.
For comparison sake, Baker’s is 0.70. He’s a flyball pitcher.
I do not like the Twins odds at winning tonight. If they lose tonight Wednesdays possitive headline wil make me vomit.
Thanks…bad luck there. Go Twins! If Blackburn can keep the ball in the park Twins win…
Don’t put too much importance on Twins / Sox series this year. Twins are young. Getting better. Trending up. Sox are old. Past Prime. Trending down.
Tim - Twins were on top but they played one more extra game than the White Sox due to a rain delay so the Sox got a chance to tie yesterday and did so. The game is in Chicago because mlb policy is to flip a coin to determine the home field advantage in the event of a tied division.
On that Buehrle quote - He was actually complimenting the Twins as the rest of the quote says that they may need 20 runs to stay ahead of them. I think he was joking about the game last Thursday.
“Seeing them celebrate on their field after they swept us, they kind of celebrated like they won the World Series,” said White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle, during a Monday morning interview with hosts Tom Waddle and Marc Silverman on ESPN 1000 in Chicago. “A little payback would be sweet.
“It’s one of those games that if we are ahead 20 runs, I hope we are still stealing bases and hitting and running. They are such a good team, they could come back from that.”
Twins fans - stop taking half quotes and whining about them. Buehrle is actually one of nicer, the more decent Sox players.
And an earlier comment about Ramirez being suspect (not actually sure what the complaint was) because how skinny he is but still hits record number of slams (would be Rookie of Year if not for Longoria)…you can’t win - how many of you would be crying foul about steroids if he was jacked?!?
Stop whining about everything and just play the game. Both these teams suck and don’t deserve to make the play offs. They should both go to Tampa and alternate losing games to the Rays!
WHEN YOU WIN THE SEASON SERIES THAT SHOULD BE YOUR TIE BREAKER. OK THEN AT LEAST YOU HOST THE GAME. WE ARE GETTING SO SCREWED HERE. MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL WAKE UP IDIOTS!!!!!! YOU CAN NOW HAVE INSTANT REPLAY TOWARD THE END OF THE SEASON, WHY CAN’T YOU FIGURE OUT A SIMPLE TIE BREAKER.BUD SELIG YOUR A MORON!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think tonight will go the way Morneau goes. Three weeks ago to me he was the MVP, being the quiet leader on an upstart team, with no real protection behind him in the line-up. I don’t know if it is sore legs, a lost batting eye or what, but his huge slump has cost us dearly, along with the near-collapse of our pitching staff. Hopefully with a couple days to rest his legs and get his head straight he could make the difference in a one-game matchup the appears to heavily favor the Sox for all the reasons listed in these posts. The team needs him to step up big-time TODAY! Go Twins
Thanks Michael for actually pointing out that Buehrle was complimenting the Twins.
Also, what’s with the earlier complaint about Ramirez?? Too skinny so something fishy’s going on? If he was jacked, Twins fans would be complaining about steroids. Would be Rookie of the Year with record number of slams if not for Longoria.
Stop complaining Twins fans and just play the game. Both these teams suck and neither should make the playoffs. They should both go to Tampa and alternate losing games to the Rays!
Clearing up a few things here.
1. I grew up a White Sox fan but stopped rooting for them when I started covering baseball in Kansas City in 1993. I still pull for the other Chicago sports teams.
2. I prefer that the Twins win because it’s fun to cover the playoffs - other than putting out special sections.
3. I got the weather report off The Weather Channel’s website late last night - which means the weather could always change from that point until first pitch.
4. I screwed up when I said that Blackburn was a fly ball pitcher. I was trying to point out how he’s gotten pitches up lately and has looked like a flyball pitcher - especially that Baltimore game. I got ahead of myself and it came out wrong.
5. Of course, the Twins can win tonight. But it’s going to take a big effort from Blackburn and the relievers must pretend they are at home.
Hoping for the best, but not expecting it. We had plenty of chances to put the Division away over the past month and just could not do it, especially on the road. And all we had to do was take 2 of 3 from lowly KC and this would not necessary.
If we do lose, I hope it’s close and we at least put a scare into the Sux. If we win … wow. Fun! GO TWINS!!!
I heard that the reason for the coin flip was that so teams would have “sufficient time” to prepare for a one-game playoff. That might make sense if the Twins and Sox met up in game no. 162. But, the season series was decided five days ago. That’s not enough time? Apparently, two days is enough time for a team to set up for the playoffs. It’s not a conspiracy against the Twins - it’s just dumb.
Well, I don’t know how “JP” showed up in the name line with some strange e-mail address to boot, but 12:32 post by “JP” was yours truly, not jp.
Go Twins!
Don’t worry about it La Velle. Fans just love to whine and have it both ways. If a writer is too positive, they blast him as a homer. If he’s too down on the team, they blast him for being negative. You just can’t win with these irrational people.
Kay, was the email address “mail@mail.com”?
Your right about Blackburn Len3 and i hope he doesn’t get ate up by the hostile crowd. If he can go at least five innings with less then 3 runs they have a chance otherwise the bats had better be loaded for bear.
That’s ok La Velle. No need to go all “Ed Hochuli” on us.
How about the Strib actually get a Twins fan to run this blog and not a White Sox fan?
I agree, J.P. — I mean Kay! Should have known such intelligent words would come from a woman!
Patti, can it with all the sexism!
I want the Twins to win, but they do not deserve to be in the playoffs. They completely blew it against Kansas City. If they had won just one more against KC, we wouldn’t even have to deal with this situation. They dug their own grave and if they don’t win this game, they have no one to blame but themselves. They had plenty of opportunities to put this away…
Sorry, JP …
As for the tiebreaker, I called someone with the league office for an explanation and got a three-part response.
1. Teams need to know in advance where the game will be played so they can prepare to have the stadium staffed, concessions in place, security set up, game day staff, ticket sellers, mascots.
2. The league feels that if head-to-head is used in this case, then it must be used in every case. With an unblanced schedule, there may be situations where home field is determined between teams that have played just two series between each other. The league doesn’t think that’s fair.
3. I guess the coin flip is in the original league constitution. So there is a historical component.
I’m not fired up about reasons 2 and 3. But I can see the first reason. You can always scramble to host a game in a pinch but I can see where the league would want clubs to have time to prepare.
bobby says:
September 30th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
“Seeing them celebrate on their field after they swept us, they kind of celebrated like they won the World Series,” said White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle, during a Monday morning interview with hosts Tom Waddle and Marc Silverman on ESPN 1000 in Chicago. “A little payback would be sweet.
“It’s one of those games that if we are ahead 20 runs, I hope we are still stealing bases and hitting and running. They are such a good team, they could come back from that.”
Twins fans - stop taking half quotes and whining about them. Buehrle is actually one of nicer, the more decent Sox players.
And an earlier comment about Ramirez being suspect (not actually sure what the complaint was) because how skinny he is but still hits record number of slams (would be Rookie of Year if not for Longoria)…you can’t win - how many of you would be crying foul about steroids if he was jacked?!?
Stop whining about everything and just play the game. Both these teams suck and don’t deserve to make the play offs. They should both go to Tampa and alternate losing games to the Rays!
A little blunt, but it’s nice to see a realist.
[…] (I should send him a Bukowski book to get his translation skills jump started.) Today I read La Velle E. Neal III’s post about the reasons why he thinks that the Sox are favored heavily today. In particular, the […]
No JP, it was “page” something with a hotmail address. And I am sure that Patti did not mean to offend you.
No Lavelle Fan says:
September 30th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
How about the Strib actually get a Twins fan to run this blog and not a White Sox fan?
This is just brilliant. Ranks right up there with the logic that the Twins will lose if we are negative on this blog. Who gives a sh*t what team he cheers for? He is an excellent baseball writer, and we are lucky to have him here.
Kay,
I guess it’s fair for Patti to gush about palyers’ butts with all the fawning over Jenny Finch that goes on here. [smiley face]
I heard that A.J. Pierzynski’s not a natural blond. I swear, it’s what I heard!
NWS forecast for Chicago tonight: slight chance of showers, temp in the 50’s, northwest wind 10-15 mph.
Absolutely YGTBKM, LENIII is one of the more knowlegeable baseball writers around and we are lucky to have him here. Can you imagine Souhan writing all the Twins’ columns? Joe C and LENIII make a good team.
I like the Twins chances in this game.
For those who think this is near to impossible task, one needs to look back to this past Saturday in London, when the near impossible seemed to happen.
Arsenal, a TOP 10/20 soccer team in Europe was hosting Hull City (a newly promoted team which had never, I believe, played in Englands top League). Odds on Hull City 18.5-1, also +2 goals at better than 1-1. Arsenal had only lost 1 game since they moved to their new stadium several years ago, AND had not lost a game there in 19 months, against all commers including a couple each against Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool (other Top 10/20 European sides). Hull City are 2/7 to be relegated (finish in bottom 3) this year, you risk 7 to win 2.
Being, particularly brilliant, I placed my coffee money on Hull City. The final score? Arsenal 1-2 Hull City. British Bookmakers stood to lose close to 50 million Pounds Sterling with an Arsenal win. Most are calling it their most profitable day in history.
Twins may lose tonight, but it’s not a very long shot.
Regards,
If Blackburn can keep the game close through 5, I hope Gardy considers pitching Mijares for 2 and Nathan for 2. They have an off day tomorrow if they win. Gardy has to pull all the stops, even if Mijares is his “8th inning guy” and he doesn’t like to extend Nathan.
What worries me is that Blackburn might not make it to the 5th. Any chance Gardy brings Liriano in for a few innings on short rest (ala Randy Johnson in 2001) if Blackburn gets in trouble REAL early? I know it essentially forces the Twins to move Baker up to Thursday or start Perkins in Game 1 (scary), but you’ve got to get there first. I know that Liriano is coming off of surgery, but doesn’t he have to do a bullpen today anyway to get ready for Thursday? We would only need a couple of innings to get us to Mijares… I’m scared to death that we are going to have Bonser or Guerrier on the mound in the early innings!
bobby,
Now that you have attacked me-I did quote only half of the garbage Buehrle said, but he could have said “We need to keep playing hard since the Twins don’t quit” instead of what he said.
Plus, that idiot has certainly ripped on the Twins in the past.
So bobby why don’t your troll on a Sox board or go shopping for some new black clothes?
[…] La Velle E. Neal III at the Star Tribune’s Twins’ Insider blog. ”The work we do in November to get in shape during the offseason until now is all for this,” veteran reliever Scott Linebrink said. ”Everybody works all year to get to where we are right now. We need to take advantage of it.” […]
I read this column and assume that it was meant to fire up the Twins players that Michael covers on a daily basis because it contained no valid points whatsoever. I am a Sox fan but not necessarily a Twins-hater. I respect the way they play baseball and wish the Sox incorporated that style into their current roster (as they did in 2005). The Twins always play hard and I have to admit most of my Twins-angst is based on the fact that I wish my team played as hard all the time. My beef is with the unending, ridiculous comments to this column. “We won the season series, its unfair we have to play at the cell.” “A.J.’s a jerk and the Sox fan-base are obnoxious.” And the best one I’ve seen yet, “There’s something fishy about Alexi Ramirez (all 135lbs of him) hitting grand slams.” First of all, you didn’t give a rat’s a– about the multitude of teams who played on the road in a one game playoff after losing a coin flip — now its a baseball conspiracy against the Twins? Second, you claim the Twins are an underrated, superior team to the Sox and that your success at home against the Sox has nothing to do with the Dome–yet you bemoan the possiblity of having to man up and win on the road? Third, Ramirez…never mind, that one’s too stupid to comment on. You want to know something about your own fan base? A.J. did nothing but play his hear out, win, antagonize and beat the Sox every year before he was traded by the Twins to make room for Mauer (and rightfully so I might add, Mauer’s a stud). But now A.J.’s a jerk because he’s a White Sox? You’re just like those losers that boo Thome every time the Sox play in Cleveland because he wanted market value when he signed with the Phillies. As for A.J., win or lose tonight, he’ll be wearing his 2005 World Series ring for the rest of his life while Twins fans root for their next “hot prospect” and watch their former stars win rings with other organizations. Stop your crying and grow some!
the Dragon,
And Stoke City took a point off of Liverpool a week ago. At Anfield!
Grant, I doubt they will bring in Liriano but you can bet if the twins are hanging tought Mijares will be in there for at least 1 and Nathan for 2. So if you can get blackburn for 3 or 4 and attack the lefties with breslow and counter with crain they should be good, say what you want about everyday eddie but he knows about pitching in big games so we may see an out or two from him…
Odds-makers at SportsBook.com are ready, and so are we at Sports-Odds.com. Online Sports Betting Odds have the Chicago White Sox (-150) MLB Betting favorites against the visiting Minnesota Twins (+130) in this one-game playoff tiebreaker
“say what you want about everyday eddie but he knows about pitching in big games so we may see an out or two from him…”
An out or two and ten hits, nine runs, all earned.
The OVER/UNDER for this Minnesota Twins at Chicago White Sox MLB Tiebreaker Prediction has been set at a combined total of 9½ runs.
Hank,
I remember no love for A.J. from Sox fans when he was with the Twins. And how about how Sox fans used to treat Torii Hunter, just because he had the balls to come home hard and your catcher got hurt a little?
Current public betting information shows that 78% of bets for this game have been placed on Minnesota -130 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
I’m not fired up about any of the 3 League reasons.
Who needs preparation, or a profit. It’s all gravy anyway. And you can certainly give notice two BOTH cities who may host a playoff.
And if a coin flip is so almighty righteous and constitutional, then it stands to reason that a coin flip can determine the winner too. Why even play the game? It only lessens the chances of the tiebreaking teams to do well in the first round.
The whole thing is stupid and nonprogressive. Pretty much like American politics as a whole.
Pretty much like Selig as a whole.
A “Black out” game. Lol Its not like Georgia did this over the weekend against Alabama. Way to be original White Sox.
And what happened to Georgia? They got smoked. Its the kiss of death.
It’s time to show the rest of the country how good of a team we really are.
IF MORNEAU DOESN’T COME UP BIG TONIGHT WE WILL LOSE. He needs to get out of this slump, he picked the worse time of the year for that.
Go Twins!!!
Buehrle has ripped on the Twins in the past-he didn’t have to be a jerk with his comments, joking or not.
Ben,
If Nick Blackburn pulls it off tonight, maybe we can call him “Black Out” Blackburn.
JP,
That’s part of why I risked my coffee money The new boy’s have been playing OK, Hull City also won away at Newcastle, a difficult venue with a totally screwed up team (Newcastle).
I had a bit more on +2 goals.
For truth in advertising, I have Hull City +56 pts & Stoke City +53 pts (16-1) to win the Premier league based on handicaps.
Took “She who bosses us all” out for a nice dinner on the proceeds, she should tolerate another month of Euro Soccer on Saturday & Sunday am’s.
Regards,
Hank
Like Sox fans wouldn’t be crying if our roles were reversed - please!
AJ was a jerk long before he became a White Sox. I can honestly say I have never liked him.
If anything AJ is lucky.
I hope you’re eating a little crow tomorrow
Black Beard better win tonight or he must walk the plank!!!
“Shaun says:
September 30th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
bobby,
Now that you have attacked me-I did quote only half of the garbage Buehrle said, but he could have said “We need to keep playing hard since the Twins don’t quit” instead of what he said.
Plus, that idiot has certainly ripped on the Twins in the past.”
Wow Shaun, good comeback! And saying they don’t quit is SO much more complimentary than “They are such a good team, they could come back from that.” Just admit it, Buehrle isn’t such a bad guy…now AJ, that would be a valid rip.
Josh,
That % of money info is a bit worrisome. The public money often/usually gets it wrong.
Regards,
SF wouldn’t keep AJ around for a second year even after they gave up Liriano, Nathan and Bonser for him.
Ramirez is so not juicing. He just hacks like crazy. He has exactly 1 home run off of each pitcher he’s taken deep this year. He has a powerful stroke, but his power hits come from guessing. He also uses the short left field for his dingers in US cellular. He has 13 “Home”runs and 8 on the road. He has taken 2 out of Kaufmann and 1 from six other parks. He is good this year, but scouts will take him to task, unless he shortens his swing or shows better tendency to use the field. All of his dingers go to left or left center, save for 2.
He is a manageable opponent who feasts on weak-er pitchers or bad focus. The top 4 pitchers he’s taken deep: Zach Greinke, Andy Pettitte, James Shields, Justin Verlander. Beyond that its a who-who of middle relief.
Mackdaay, ARE YOU KIDDING ME ABOUT BOOF?I AM SICK OF OUR COACHS NOT DOING THIER JOB WITH THE PITCHERS, HOW MANY GAMES WHERE WE AHEAD, AND BLEW IT IN THE 7TH 8TH AND 9TH INNING?? IF THE STARTING PICTURES ARE DOING GREAT, DONT TAKE THEM OUT UNTIL THERE IS A REASON, AND DONT TELL ME THE PITCH COUNT IS TO HIGH, GIVE ME A BREAK.. WE WOULD NOT BE IN THIS SITUATION IF GARDIE WOULD NOT OF PULL THOSE STARING PITCHERS IN THE LAST MONTH OF PLAY,I BELIVE WE LOST 4 GAMES THAT WE WERE AHEAD GOING INTO THE 7-8-9TH INNING??? DONT EVEN THINK ABOUT PUTTING BOOF IN.. LETS WIN
I like Hank’s post at 1:01. I have soome disagreements, but no big deal.
Except……..if there’s any AJ out there that plays dirty, then I hope he dies. And we remember the ex-Twins catcher’s attempt to disable Morneau by stepping on his foot at the 1st base bag. Someday he’s gonna pay for that.
Because we remember the rather sleazy Dennis Martinez when he ended Kirby’s career. He was an itinerant head-hunter.
Nobody needs any of this kind of stuff.
[…] were at the Dome last week, I just don’t see how we’ll be able to pull this one off. Are the Twins ready for what’s about to hit them? by La Velle E. Neal III: Joe C. and Jim Souhan are at the mike tonight for the show at The Cell. […]
bobby,
It wasn’t a comeback.
I have my opinion of Buerhle, so do you.
Get over it.
Let’s be realistic here. If there’s a way for both teams to lose this game, they will.
La Velle… I’m normally a fan of your articles, but what is this? A list of reasons why you predict the Twins to lose? What gives? Where was a list before the Twins big series in which they had to sweep the White Sox? Because no one really thought that would be possible, either. The Twins have been proving everyone wrong all season. I’m optimistic for this game. But that’s what happens when you’re not from Chicago and you’re rooting for your home team…
Fellas, if you’re going to take the time to respond to a comment I post, at least do yourself a favor and read the thing before responding. For the record, I hated A.J. when he was a Twin but I had begrudging admiration for his ability to get in the opponent’s head and play hard. I don’t hate Torii Hunter for plugging Jamie Burke at the plate because that’s what winners do. What is lost in your comparison J.P. is that Torii never played for the White Sox before becoming a Twin. A more appropriate comparison would be Neal Cotts, who is now a Cub and has pitched against the Sox and is on the presumptive National League World Series representative. I don’t hate Cotts just like a real Twins fan shouldn’t hate A.J.– who did not choose to leave but was traded. I would never make the mistake of painting all Twins fans with a broad brush by suggesting that they’re all a bunch of whiners just because some of their fan base seems to want to make excuses before the game is played. Obviously, many members of Twins nation like to talk smack about White Sox fans without looking in the mirror. As for Sox players talking smack, it was Torii Hunter (and Jacques Jones) who said back in 2005 after the Sox went to the All Star break with the Division lead that it was “too early” to give the Sox any credit and hinted they would blow the lead. It was Morneau in 2006 who during the last month of the season said, when asked who he would like to see in the playoffs, “anybody but the White Sox.” Smack talk goes both ways. It should make for a helluva game tonight.
From everyone I’ve talked to, this game is completely up in the air. Gammons favors the Sox, hesitantly, and Onley favors the Twins, hesitantly. I checked Sportsbook.com - Twins are favored by 1.5 runs. The pitching matchup is slightly in favor of Danks because of the home field. Say what you will about the coin flip- MLB is old school, that is part of what makes it so cool.
In response to Hank- AJ was slightly unpopular when he was here for the same reason… running his mouth. He is a tenacious player who we love to hate, cheers to that. The Twins an Sox are even in world titles since their origins. We won in 87 and 91 with the same type of team we have now, and there is no reason to think that cannot continue. I would rather have guys before their prime for cheap than guys on the backside of their career for tens of millions. The young players are much more animated and better entertainment for my dollar. Besides, we are just not as big a market and cannot spend as much as the Sox, so we have to do what we have to do to win- 02, 03, 04, 06… At least giving us a chance to win the big game. We have the now two-time AL batting champ and one time MVP, as well as three legitimate all-stars. You don’t think Sox fans would boo anyone on our team that got traded from Chicago? Of course they would. I will say one thing though- With our respective payrolls, if the Sox lose, you will blame your own players for losing to an inferior club. If the Twins lose, we can rest easy knowing we were defeated by a superior club… Just Imagine if your Sox got as much production per dollar as we did… Oh well, lucky for us no one else gets it.
Keep extra bases to a minimum and if HRs do occur, give them up when no one is on base. Keep CWS to 4 runs or less and Twins win. The key is pitching - especially the first 6 innings!!
Hank, I’m sorry Hunter and Morneau hurt your team’s feelings like that.
The post is about the bubbling cauldron of trouble the Twins are headed into tonight. I don’t see the bias in that. I have my doubts about this game but the Twins could pull this one out just like Game 5 of the 2002 ALDS in Oakland, where we all didn’t believe they could win but they did.
And, I’ll state it once again, I like covering postseason baseball. So I would like to use the ticket I purchased to Tampa Bay tomorrow instead of not use it and apply it to a future trip.
Hank: I agree with you on many counts. You are right about fans hating AJ, even though he was traded — he didn’t bail out for more money. He’s the sort of player now that he was then — someone who irritates opposing players and their fans. Though I hope he fails these days, I do like AJ.
To all the people baggin on LaVelle today-
You are all morons. Go check out other web sites blogs and compare it with the quality and unique viewpoints that we get with LaVelle, Joe C and Howard.
We are all very lucky here to have such a great blogging atmosphere, so shut up, or post your ignorant negativity elsewhere
Go Twins, play your game, pitch inside, and keep the ball down, oh yeah, stick it to Ozzie, GO pirahanas!!!!
I feel ya on that. They are walking in to a war zone tomorrow, but this what big games are all about.
Remember when the Twins beat the Yankees at Yankee Stadium in Game 1 of the divisional series a few years back. If that was a one-game playoff, we win. Although not really a rivalry game, Yankee Stadium is about as hostile as you can get, and the lineup was probably twice a scary as what the Sox have now.
Pitching is key. Blackburn has to do what great pitchers do against slugging teams- If their going to hit it, let them hit out of the park. No baserunners. If the bases are loaded, don’t give them anything to hit. If we can keep the damage to a minimum, I like our chances of manufacturing ciritical runs to win this game. I don’t see AJ throwing us out on vary many SB attempts. These guys are mostly old and lazy… Let’s run on em and dink-and-dunk em to death!
Blackburn has actually been more of a groundball pitcher than normal in his last few starts.
http://www.fangraphs.com/graphs.aspx?playerid=4270&position=P&page=9&type=full
Hank, I apologize for my last comment. I am glad you respected Torii for his running over Burke. I remember that Ozzie publicly said that he wished his team played like that. Notwithstanding, you can’t deny that many, many Sox fans razzed him relentlessly after that. And I recall A.J. being berated, not for being a pest, but for what amounted to “cheating” because he used to wear heavy elbow and knee padding then lean into pitches to draw getting hit.
Anyway, until this week I have heard nothing but mutual admiration from both clubs. Maybe they are just trying to rile up the fans (it seems to be working).
From mlbtaderumors live chat
We better off with the Twins or Sox? How far you think we are going?
Both clubs have their flaws…I feel that the Twins are ever so slightly better. Should be fine either way. Can the Rays get to the WS? A lot rests on Kazmir in my opinion.
“Can the Rays get to the WS? A lot rests on Kazmir in my opinion.”
No! They will never get past the Angel’s
a clarification about the tie breaker:
A coin flip is used to determine the divisional champion when the tied teams have a worse record than the wild card team. When the tied teams have a better record than the wild-card team, the tie breakers in order are:
head to head record
division record
league record
coin toss
As far as the bullpen goes, i reiterate my 10:38 am comment… here are the ERAs of the following relievers in September:
Breslow: 0.00
Mijares: 1.00
Crain: 1.08
Reyes: 2.35
Nathan: 2.46
even if Perkins goes 5 or less, all of them can be used with success without screwing up the Tampa series. On the other hand, if Gardy starts warming up anybody else, someone should tackle him…
Jinx. I meant Blackie
Look I don’t like our chances tonight either. Simply because we can’t win on the road. It’s been a great season and we seen alot of improvement from last year! We’ll have a great outfield for years to come and starting pitching to get us to postseason for the next five plus years! The bad news is Nick Blackburn shouldn’t start tonight! Franchise could go on 3 days rest…couldn’t he? This just seems like a huge assignment for a rookie pitcher who hasn’t proved he can be consistant away from the dome. This is on Gardy’s shoulders and surely he’s thought the same things that I just said so what is his plan if or should I say when Blackburn gets lit up? Will he then ask Franchise to come in? Will he go to Bonser or even worse Guerrier?
What is the contingency plan? If plan B isn’t Franchise then we’re screwed…..just my thoughts.
jimmy bee,
the Red Sox will beat the Angels. Here the numbers from their head on games this season:
LAA BOS
.192 BA .269
4 R 19
5 SB 2
0 HR 5
22 K 20
6.66 ERA 1.33
La Velle, thank you for your open and honest responses today.
And I, like Situationer, am grateful for the fine mix of Strib Twins reporters:
Out of towner La Velle
Out of stater Joe
Outer spacer Howard……. :)>
Rather timid Jim
Anything-but-timid Pat
It makes our pasttime on these blogs — while we pay attention to the American Pasttime — a competent undertaking. And enjoyable.
“Can the Rays get to the WS? A lot rests on Kazmir in my opinion.”
“No! They will never get past the Angel’s”
NEVER?
Are these baseball games, or movie scripts?
I don’t use the word “hate” very often but I hate the Chicago White Sox.
The Twins have had a wonderful season and I’m proud of them, win or lose tonight. But at the same time, they just can’t allow the Sox to beat them. Someone must step it up. My candidate is Delmon Young. He’ll come through.
Also, what’s the deal with the Sox claiming the Twins are “lucky”…If you ask me, luck is sitting back and waiting for the 3-run HR every inning, which is what Chicago has done all year long. It’s like watching a beer league softball team.
Thrylos settled that. No Guerrier, no Boof, no Francisco. Stick with Breslow,
Mijares, Crain, Reyes and Nathan. They are our best chances, the rest of the guys had their chances and will get to go to the playoffs if these guys succeed.
Speed Kills. The Sox will really show their age tonight when the Twins Greyhounds (Gomez, Casilla, Span) Run circles around the bases. This will no doubt be Jim Thome’s last game/year. Others are not far behind him.
La Velle, thank you for your open and honest responses today.
I, like Situationer, am grateful for the mix of Strib reporters covering the Twins:
Out of towner La Velle
Outstater Joe
Outer spacer Howard……… :)>
Rather timid Jim
Anything-but-timid Pat
It makes our pasttime on these blogs — while we pay attention to the American Pasttime — a competent undertaking. And fun.
romer
Getting hit in the head did not end puckett’s career. If memory serves, he was absolutely on fire the following spring, when glaucoma set in. Glaucoma cannot be caused by facial trauma, as far as I know. To call Martinez sleazy for having a pitch sail on him, something he felt terrible about, is wrong.
This is definitely a last hurrah for the Sox. Danks, Buerhle and Floyd are main stays, as Ramirez is for their line-up. But they have a ton of aging vets and a guy in Quentin who absolutely played over his head. Wouldn’t at all surprise me if they’re a last place team next year.
thrylos98 The Angels took Boston to the work shed this year.
sy NEVER?
Are these baseball games, or movie scripts?
Yes, scripts I write them in my basement on a nightly basis. Tonight’s script consists of the Twins winning on a PH single up the middle by Mike Redmond scoring Punto from 3rd.
wood shed
Chicago Blackout??
Hey, they don’t call him Blackie Blackburn for nothin’
People forget his first start at Chicago this year: He left the game in the Seventh with a 2-1 lead and got a no-decision in a Twins loss.
I have to agree with LaVelle. His points are right on. The Twins offense needs to come out on fire right away to have a chance in this game. Blackburn is the kind of pitcher the Fence Swinging Sox feast off of. His WHIP lately has been Silva-ish. He will have to pitch the best game of his life or the Twins have to score 10 to win this one. Hope I am wrong cause the White Sox have more jerks on their team then anyone. Plus the worst announcer in baseball in Harrelson.
Ramirez will be worse next year when that BABIP of .329 goes down 40 points.
Let’s not forget the man has an OBP of .315
That is Baaaaaaaad.
Don’t draft him on your fantasy teams next year!
KIDDING ME:
I have to side with Romer, somewhat. That was the beginning of the end. It had lasting effects of some sort. And Martinez is a cocky/confidant type who pitches that way. I didn’t believe him when he apologized and don’t believe him now.
Blackburn needs to keep his composure. At some point, he’ll be in a jam, likely early in the game. How he responds will decide the Twins’ season. And Mauer needs to call one hell of a game.
And you read it here first - Young launches a 3-run HR in the 7th off Octavio Dotel.
8-4 Twins
I said earlier that this will need to be Delmon’s time to shine. We will need to score many runs tonight and it’s time for Delmon to step up to the plate and help us out in a big way. Also, GO-Go is at his best in the ‘Big’ siuations. Opening weekend he was great, the last Chicago series he was great, he like the large stage and he will be a difference maker tonight.
The White Sox are spouting off about getting the Twins in the Cell like they earned the right.
You won a freaking coin toss.
Get over yourselves.
If anything it shows just how pathetic that team is.
The Twins have big game players…or at least guys that I think will earn that label.
Gomez
Span
Mauer
Morneau (hopefully)
Nathan
I don’t buy the fact that they’ll be intimidated by the moment. When you’re young, you sometimes don’t know any better.
They might lose tonight but it won’t be because they can’t handle the environment. They’ll be ready.
I hate to say it….we’re screwed
A. Get a few runs early and
B. Hope the middle pitchers can keep the Sox at bay.
A is possible, B is a big ?.
Outcome: Twins 6-5 in 10 innings.
Can’t believe I am saying this but I am going to sit back and enjoy this game. If the Twins win WOW! if they lose that’s OK too. Either way I am so proud of this team this year. I started the year hoping that maybe/possibly/somehow they would be good enough that I could enjoy them at least through much of the summer. Well, they have done so much more. Win or lose tonight I will always remember the 3 game series last week against Chicago.
Lets face it. Neither team will probably do much in the playoffs anyway this year. GOD I LOVE THE TWINS!! :)
No one gave the Twins much of a chance of beating Oakland in game of the ‘02 ALDS.
Tonight will be a similar outcome.
I hope you’re right, Daithio, but I think we see a replay of the Tiger’s game last night. We’ll get our hopes up early, but won’t be able to overcome the home field advantage.
That coin-flip cost us the division.
I do not like our odds at winning tonight.
I meant to say game 5…
I happen to agree with you Crunch88. I don’t like Blackie’s chances and I hope he proves us all wrong. What I’m most afraid of is that Blackburn gets destoyed in the first couple of innings. I won’t be able to watch the rest of the game and see their pathetic fans celebrating for 2.5 hours.
Who’s hot and who’s not as far as batters go:
September OPS
Mauer .931
Tolbert .897
Harris .896
Young .851
Gomez .819
Span .793
Kubel .788
Everett .764
Morneau .716
Redmond .708
Punto .661
Casilla .597
Buscher .578
Cuddyer .578
Methinks the first nine should start today
This is getting flat-out assinine. Now Dennis Martinez is being blamed for ending Puckett’s career? C’mon. Martinez hit Puckett on the jaw on the left side of his face. Puckett developed glaucoma months later in his right eye and Martinez gets blamed for ending his career? I have to say, some of my fellow Twins fans are just becoming unglued at this point.
Re: Puckett’s glaucoma:
google traumatic glaucoma. Martinez did it
and here is the link
It’s George Bush’s fault Puck developed glaucoma. Just like it’s his fault the Twins will lose tonight.
thrylos98, doctors who know more than you or I on the subject found no link between the broken jaw and the glaucoma.
K-Bach: I’m with you. Win or lose, I’ll be more than happy with the season cosisdering where they were predicted to end up. Although I’m not sure I will calmly sit back and enjoy the game — lol. I’m afraid I’ll be jumping and screaming a little.
I did not write that comment above:
It’s George Bush’s fault Puck developed glaucoma. Just like it’s his fault the Twins will lose tonight.
imo we only win if morneau comes up big and doesn’t continue this really bad streak he’s on. bad timing to go into a slump! could lose the mvp for him as well.
probably find out early what will happen with span and casilla, if they pee in their pants we could be in big trouble, if they have quality at bats we may be ok. a lot of pressure on our rookies and near rookies.
Buffalo, your fellow Twin’s fans are aware of the details, but it’s a HEAD injury. As far as Martinez, I just don’t think he was believable as far as regretting it. That guy had a lot of big problems, thought his career was over several times, and wanted to keep it going. I would say it was an “either me or you” type of matchup.
I agree La Velle, I said it b4 the KC series that I thought the Twins needed to sweep KC but felt they may get Swept by KC instead. KC played the Twins tough all year long and were VERY hot going into that last Series. Twins are as bad at CHI as CHI is bad in MN.
I hope the Twins can pull it off, but I don’t have the best feeling about this game
Casilla worries me more than Span does. Rare for Denard to have a bad AB. He’ll at least take a few pitches and work the count. Casilla may go up there trying to do way too much.
Puckett is my favorite Twins player of all time, but blaming Martinez for Puckett’s Glaucoma is just irrationally stupid. This was BEAT TO DEATH 12 years ago, and EVERY doctor cited agreed that one had nothing to do with the other, and Puckett HIMSELF held no ill will toward Dennis Martinez.
“That coin-flip cost us the division”
no if the Twin’s lose tonight it will be because they choked and did not take advantage of a weak division, stop blaming a coin for something the team had total control over!
“imo we only win if morneau comes up big and doesn’t continue this really bad streak he’s on. bad timing to go into a slump! could lose the mvp for him as well.”
I thinki Morneau’s slump proves he doesn’t deserve the MVP this year just as his personally carrying the team on his back in 2006 won him the MVP
The division is not lost yet, despite Gardy’s ineptness…
I feel good about this game
Its Bill Clinton’s fault for 9/11 he was president at the time and we had Osama Bin Laden located. He didn’t know what to do with him so he let him go and years later he masterminded 9/11. This is why Puck got glaucoma. It’s Bill Clinton’s fault.
Kidding, buddy, it’s not the glaucoma cause that is the issue. The last pitcher Puck faced beaned him, sight problems were discovered, and that’s the last time he played. Would you want to play again? That being said, Martinez ended his career.
So who is Gardy going to DH against the lefty Danks ? Kubel or Cuddyer ?
FIRE:
We win the coin flip, we play at home, and we probably win. That being said, the coin flip will cost us the division.
But, HEY, WE MIGHT WIN TONIGHT! GO TWINS ! ! !
MudCat,
Puck and Dennis Martinez were friends. Martinez was pretty shook up when he beaned Puck. He was concerned hitting Puck had caused his eye problem. The doctors assured everyone there was no connection, but I’ve often wondered about that.
Glaucoma is a condition that is not caused by a blow, but I always wondered if the eye was weakened in some way and the glaucoma more easily cased the extensive damage.
Martinez said he was trying to pitch inside and not hit Puck. I believe him. Puck would crowd the plate pretty good, and hang out over it. He was aggressive. I think the pitch just got away from Martinez.
Unless the game goes 20 innings or something, I will be upset if Boof, Guerrier, or Guardado even ever start to warm up at any point tonight.
As much as I fear Blackburn’s performance tonight I have to remind myself it could have been Livan out there tonight if some people on this blog had there way. Thank the Lord it’s not Livan.
OOOH! A blackout! I’m so scared. Why doesn’t someone inform the White Sox that best color for fans to wear to a game is WHITE. So you have a hard time picking up the ball off. Thanks for the black screen around the field so we always know where the ball is.
I have a feeling one player will hurt us tonight and it’s going to be Ken Griffey Jr. We seem to have trouble with these former superstar now wash-up players going back to their glory days against us. Hope I’m wrong.
LET’S GO TWINS!!!!!!!!
You know, It’s not different from little league on up to the pros. You have to come out and be aggressive, put the pressure on the other team. Make them make mistakes. This is how I was taught to play ball. And this is the way the Twins play ball when they’re winning. If the Twins play aggressive (but smart) baseball tonight, I don’t care how hard the wind is blowing out, they’ll win.
Twins are going to beat the dirty sox.
They keep calling the Twins “lucky”
blooped and pooch hitted to death. Well
Twins have more will to win, and to heck with the blackout, Twins will win.
They aren’t ready because they stayed in MN yesterday. They should have been in Chicago before yesterday’s game even started.
I have brought you to this game. I will lead you through it. I couldn’t ruin tradition.
Giants win ‘87 Superbowl; Twins win ‘87 World Series.
Giants win ‘91 Superbowl; Twins win ‘91 World Series.
Giants win ‘08 Superbowl; TWINS WIN ‘08 WORLD SERIES!!!!!!!!!
7+1=8!
Ive been a life long Twins and regardless of what happened tonight, you have to be impressed with what they did this year. Going in as being rated as 4th in the division and now a chance to go to the playoffs in a tie breaker game. Great accomplishment for a bunch of youngsters especially after losing players like Santana, Silva, Garza, Bartlett and Hunter (and for the most part Cuddyer). GO TWINS!!!!!!
Thinking the boys are going to wet themselves when they see the bloodthirsty mob and all the savage anti “Twinkie” signs being waved by the blackshirts. Here’s hoping the only blackout we experience is of the alcoholic variety when we begin celebrating our victory afterwards.
I’m a lifelong ChiSox fan and understand the frustration of Twins fans…If the Sox had Crede and Quentin in the line-up, this game would never have been played! The Sox are struggling with an abreviated line-up and suspect pitching but destiny is on their side…The Twins are a team for the future. Unfortunately, their season will be over tonight…They should consider themselves lucky they got this far with the pitching they have.If Jenks used his curve ball the last game of the last series, we would be on a plane to Tampa right now!
Quick somebody channel Puck!
Why all the disrepect to the White sox organization ? I’m from Chi. and a sox fan, all i here from Ozzie, Ken Williams, Harrelson and most Sox players is respect for the Twins and how they play ball. I have relatives in the Twin Cities and have been to several games at the Twinkiedome, and the antagonism and disrespect for all things Sox was palpable. You provincial little losers need to grow up and stop thinking the world is against you. It is unbecoming a major league city and it’s fans. May the best team win……..Go SOX !
just read every comment posted and I am PSYCHED!!!!!!!!!! GO TWINS!!!!
Bottom line: this twins team is not very good nor do they have the maturity to win a game like this. Just look at their long record of utter failure in the playoffs over the last 7 years. Like those teams, the pitching is terrible and the worst possible matchup against a team that can end a game with one or two swings. The twins play with less than half the energy and focus–especially at the plate–when they’re on the road. Chicago stinks too but the pitching matchup and the environment are all in the sox favor and will prove decisive.
Imagine that! White Sox fans shifting their seething hatred for the Cubs (at least momentarily) toward the Twins.
Makes me shudder to think about it. I’m going to pull a blanket over my head and cry!
Go Twins!
Check out my site and vote in the Poll(click my name)
All or Nothing boys!
(mad I have softball playoff showdown, can’t watch)
Folks,
Aside from the politics and glaucoma talk, great job today. And, to all the Sox fans who jumped on here: Go Bears! Go Patrick Kane! Go Bulls! Go Brian McBride! And I-L-L….I-N-I!!!!!
o.k. all you rubes who ripped La Velle for having objective takes about how tough it would be for Twins to win tonight need to apologize!!!
Ha Twins Lose Twins Lose, where are all those fans saying they were going to win. Nowhere to be found. HA
Look at all you TWINS fans crying about the flip of a coin. That’s the way baseball has decided its tie breaker over the years. Now you are upset that the WHITE SOX won the division….
2008 CENTRAL DIVISION CHAMPS !!!
WHITE SOX !!
Coin flip boo freaking hoo. If you remember the only reason why the Twins have ever won a W.S. championship ever, is because it just so happened that in ‘87 and’91 the AL had the home field advantage. Twins supposedly a Championship club could not beat the Cards or the Braves on the road. All the games were won at home. What goes around comes around. Deal with it. Use those Tissues that I told you twins fans to buy last night.
And now, the Sox play a playoff series in the Suncoast Dome, rumored to be the home of the Tampa Bay White Sox starting in 1991. (Or was that just Gov. Thompson that started that rumor…?)
It is about time that Chicago and Minnesota started having a decent rivalry again. I have not seen this much excitement between the two towns since the mid 80’s between the Blackhawks and North Stars
I’m a sox fan. I was at the cell tonight. Dramatic game. I want you all to know that while our announcer Hawk Harrelson calls you twinkies, he also says things like: “why can’t we have an organization like the Twins?” There is a lot of respect in Chicago for the way Minnesota does things. Farm and fundamentals. You guys were impossible to shake all year. We needed help from KC and the luck of a coin flip to prevail.
Couple of comments on the game: If it were the sox, I would have sent the runner from third also. I wouldn’t beat up on your coach. In a close game where noboby’s hitting, you need to try. Force the defense to execute perfectly. Which they did. But we don’t always do it that well.
Also: I would have let Gomez bat in the 9th. He is your rally starter. I realize your manager was trying to tie it, but, that’s not the way the Twins have been successful. Gomez gives us fits. Hawk says he’s the best young player in baseball.
Anyway, we’ll be lucky to stay in the series with Tampa. You guys were a great rival all year. Remember, it was supposed to be the Tigers and Indians! Not. It was a pleasure to have the Twins on the Sox backs all season. Looking forward to 2009.
quit whining about the coin flip. the twins played like losers and they lost. they would have lost at the dome as well. if you do not believe me look at the box score from saturday at the dome against kc. winners find a way to win and losers look for excuses - like a coin flip.
I love it Black Jack. That is all Twins fans do, MAKE EXCUSES. Haha putting the blame on a coin. How about beating the Royals 2 out of 3. Just saying, Losers
Jim, Gardy needs time off too.
So much for good feelings; teams don’t win without scoring a run.
james… Carlos Gomez is not even close to the best young player in baseball .. he is fast and should be a late inning defensive replacement … he needs to be in the minors next year to develop .. not in the majors ..swinging wildly at every pitch and throwing wildly to who knows where .. and then the sniffing of the bat and talking to it .. he’s a weird one … you obviously don’t get to see that every night
james … we’ll give him to you for Alexi Ramirez if you think he’s so good
GREETINGS FROM TAMPA TWINS FANS!!!!!!!!!!! HAAAAAAAAAA
We wore Black yesterday for the Twins funeral! Ha!
