Twins postgame
Posted on September 14th, 2009 – 11:59 PMBy La Velle
Joe C. is pounding out a blog entry right next to me. We were a pretty good team tonight. I had to file a story by 11 p.m. but got a few extra minutes, which was enough for Joe to feed me some quotes from the clubhouse. Teamwork at its best.
The one thing that struck me was that Morneau usually battles through pain and says nothing about it, but he eventually realized something was different this time.
“Most of time have a little aching annoying pain, this was a little sharper,” he said. “Swing and miss and follow through and finish a swing.”
The debate will rage on about how much his back limited him - and for how long. He batted .201 after the All-Star break and was 7-for-70 (.100) after Aug. 15.
This coincides with the dizziness he battled in August. He took himself out of a Aug. 17 game in Texas and didn’t return until Aug. 24.
So when was the last time he was at all systems go? One thing is for sure: Dude was messed up.
Couple other notes:
Joe Mauer had his 23rd three-hit game of the season.
Delmon Young turned 24 on Monday. By the way, Gardy doesn’t have to worry about whom he should start in the outfield now. Young and Carlos Gomez will get all the at-bats they deserve.
Cuddyer’s homer was the 100th of his career.
Jason Kubel has four career pinch hit homers, three this season.
36 Responses to "Twins postgame"
RIP, Morneau’s 2009 season.
Looks like the baseball gods wanted him to reach 30/100.
And even with that 7 for 70 finish, he finishes with a .363 OBP.
Good year, Justin.
DAMMIT!!!
Thanks for a great season, Justin. Hope your boy Cuddy can pick up the slack at first and Delmon can get hot in LF. Go Twins. It’s not over.
1st and 3rd, they are gone. bad news. time for the expanded roster to shine..
no one could see this coming…
if season is done, time to bring up valencia.
Now it all adds up. Good luck and God Bless JM in his recovery.
who knows? maybe the fill-ins step up. would make a great story…
Ouch…wonder if that sort thing happens on a hit or a miss?
Who are bringing up for Crede and Morneau, or are the Twins giving up?
Pennant drive…no Slowey, Morneau, Liriano, Crede, Neshek.
Could serve as a rallying cry, though…
“Gardy doesn’t have to worry about whom he should start in the outfield now. Young and Carlos Gomez will get all the at-bats they deserve.”
LOL….it should have read: all the at-bats they can handle. Deserve?!? So, maybe 10 a week?
Morneau’s been a black hole in the lineup for the last month and a half. I don’t think they’ll do any worse without him.
Benny W.: You are an idiot.
Hey, the Twins were winning for that week Morneau was out
Okay. I’ve been called worse.
Morneau’s been so bad recently that I’d rather see him shelved than continue to stink up the joint, regardless of the Twins’ playoff chances (which are pretty bad).
It’s a relief to know that there was something physical going on with JM. Thanks for the 30/100 and here’s to good healing, Justin.
Time for the “young” guys to show up. It’ll be fun to see what you can do….and maybe the loss of one of their leaders will give them an added impetus.
I am sure he injured his back carrying this team back in April/May.
Morneau’s injury sucks without question and this team is definitely worse off with him out of the lineup offensively and defensively… but his second half numbers are abysmal and maybe the break will rest both his mind and body in preparation for 2010.
Justin’s splits at the break (Pre All-Star / Post All-Star)
AVG: .311 / .201
OBP: .390 / .310
SLG: .575 / .402
OPS: .965 / .712
HR: 21 / 9
2B: 23 / 8
RBI: 70 / 30
Looking forward to seeing a refreshed and hopefully refocused Morneau next season…hopefully with his health and through September.
Young and Carlos Gomez will get all the at-bats they deserve.
Thanks for writing that, La Velle…
Get healthy MVP, and we’ll see you in the spring.
1st and 3rd, they are gone. bad news
2nd and Shortstop, they are still here. Bad news.
Gardy gets to live out the rest of the season in glory by getting to start Punto and Tolbert in the same line-up.
How long is Huber out?
As bad as this is - think of it this way: We are taking a very cold hitter out of the line-up. I think even Harris will be an improvement over JM’s 7-70 stint.
We can only hope and pray that Justin will be able to heal promptly and be back at 1B at Target Field next April.
Now we just need a 2b,ss,and 3b to find
for him to play with…
Get on it Billy!
Cuddyer’s been looking pretty decent at first, and the way Morneau was struggling having Young and Gomez should more than make up for his second half production. Maybe Young gets hot and pulls off three weeks of his first half production.
Still, the only chance they have now is for the Tigers to run into a couple more 5 game losing streaks, which isn’t actually all that unlikely. Time to watch the scoreboard.
And btw, thanks Justin for another outstanding year.
Is there any chance that Young can play right field for these last 18 games and put Span in left? Young hasn’t been given a chance to play right since coming to Minnesota, and he has a better arm than Span.
Is there any chance that Young can play right field for these last 18 games and put Span in left?
An excellent suggestion, scottz.
Gardy’ll never do it, but an excellent suggestion nonetheless.
I was going to ask the same question about young playing in his natural position of rf. See if he’s better in rf than he is in lf. You know this team ain’t going to be picking up free agents in offseason so trading will be the way to go. cuddy could potentially get us two starters in trade as his trade value is likely way higher than his actual value to the team. last nights big hit was an aberration as he usually only gets his hits with bases empty.
After the Twins open in LA next season, they play all their games in the chilly northern climes of the Central for a month.
So Justin will get his back tested right away.
I should have said all their games except the 3 in KC.
Clubhouse sources report that Justin’s back problems resulted from Little Nicky Punto using Morneau daily in July as a Jungle Gyn in an effort to tucker out for his mid-afternoon nap.
“1st and 3rd, they are gone. bad news
2nd and Shortstop, they are still here. Bad news.”
Hahaha!
Chief: Why won’t Gardy play DY in right?
Chief: Why won’t Gardy play DY in right?
I see two possibilities here.
1. This is a serious question, in which case you’ll have to ask Gardy.
2. This is the straight line for a great joke (y’know, like ‘why did the chicken cross the road?’), in which case I eagerly await the answer.
Lol! Buscher is DH!
Chief…the chicken crossed the road to prove to the raccoon that it could be accomplished successfully.
