A baseball fable: Bobby Korecky tells the story of his greatest day
Posted on May 20th, 2008 – 7:51 AMBy Howard
One day, when Bobby Korecky is old and gray, he will put his grandson on his knee.
“Grandpa,” the boy will begin.
“Yes, Juanie?” Korecky will say to the boy who was named for the teammate who put Korecky in position (through utter and ongoing failure) to create the legend of May 19, 2008.
Korecky knows what’s coming. but he plays along with little Juanie, a normal kid in every way — except for his own trouble finding the plate (at mealtime)
“Tell me about the time you beat Texas,” Juanie will ask.
“OK, grandson. But please, please, please stop driving your Mommy and Daddy crazy with your inability to find…”
“I promise, Grandpa Bobby,” young Juanie says, impatiently cutting off his elder because he wants to hear the story again!
“Well, Juanie. We were in the process of throwing away another game to a team that wasn’t very good. It was 5-2 our lead when a pitcher named Boof messed up a double play with a bad throw and Delmon Young hit a runner with a throw right after…”
“Delmon Young?” Juanie interrupted. “He was supposed to hit home runs and remind everyone of Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, wasn’t he?”
“Good boy, Juanie. You certainly do a good job of reading those history blogs on the internet.”
“Thanks, Grandpa Bobby.”
“Well, it was 6-5 them and then it was 6-6 and then the manager Ron Gardenhire…”
“Bathroom caulk!” Juanie shouted with a giggle, thumping the chest of his My Local Hardware Store jammies.
“…brought in Juan Rincon in the 11th inning. Other than me and a guy named Barney Bass, or something like that, he didn’t have any other relief pitchers left. And I hadn’t been around long enough for Mr. Gardenhire to trust me.”
“That was after Juan was having trouble finding the plate, just like me,” Juanie said proudly.
“Right,” Bobby Korecky continued, trying to ignore the incredible coincidence of his old teammate and his grandson’s problems, and wondering if the shared name had something to do with it. “He gave up a double and then walked a guy and, while that was happening, the telephone in the bullpen rang and they finally had no choice but to allow me to warm up. I threw as quickly as I could while Juan Rincon, after walking the eighth man in the Texas order, threw a ball to the No. 9 batter. I could sense the urgency of the situation when Gardy — that’s what we called him — tried to break the rules and go to the mound twice during one batter, which you can’t do in baseball. He was that mad.
“When that didn’t work, Juan Rincon went on and walked the No. 9 batter and then Gardy was able to bring me in. You should have seen the look on Gardy’s face when he walked to the mound.”
“I know, Grandpa Bobby,” Juanie said, knowing his lines from hearing the story so often. “Gardy looked like he’d seen a ghost — or had been listening to Telly Hughes.”
“Such a smart boy you are, Juanie. I saw that Gardy was mad and my teammates were worried and I knew I had to do something. So I told them to hush as we stood on the mound and I reached back into Twins history, all the way back to Game 6 of the 1991 World Series.”
“You mean you pretended you were Kirrrrrbyyyyyyyy Puckett,” Juanie said with a joyful shriek.
“Right you are, Juanie. I looked around at the infielders and the catcher and Gardy and I said to them, ‘Guys, I just have one announcement to make: You guys should jump on my back. I’m going to carry us.’ ”
“You predicted it, Grandpa Bobby?”
“Yes, right then and there, in front of my teammates and the 714 people who were still left at the Dome. And I got Ian Kinsler to hit a pop-up and Michael Young to strike out. And then, because there wasn’t anyone else to bat for me (and Gardy trusted Big Mouth Billy Bass, or whatever his name was, even less than he trusted me), I got to hit. We didn’t have a DH any more because of all the managing that Gardy had to do.”
“And you singled, right, Grandpa?”
“Yes, Juanie, I singled to right and I went to second when Brendan Harris got a single and then Joe Mauer walked and the bases were loaded with Justin Morneau coming up and I imagined myself crossing home plate with the winning run and getting swallowed up in a joyous fit of…
“…celebratory man love,” Juanie interrupted.
“You know this story almost as well as I do,” Bobby Korecky said, glowingly.
“Thanks, Grandpa,” little Juanie Korecky said, shifting into his best Dick Bremer-doing-highlights imitation. “But Morneau struck out and Cuddyer grounded into a force play and then Bobby Korecky went out to pitch a perfect 12th, retiring the three, four and five hitters in the Texas lineup without any of them getting the ball out of the infield. Then, Gogomez (despite a sore wrist) led off with an infield single and, one out later, scored from second when Howie Clark hit a ball over the center fielder’s head and Bobby Korecky had his first career victory and was the star of the game and never went back to the minor leagues again.”
“Exactly,” Bobby Korecky said. “Told like a true champ, Juanie.”
“Grandpa Bobby,” the little boy said. “Whatever happened to Juan Rincon?”
“That, grandson, is a story for when you’re older. Time for bed.”
other people are here too
90 Responses to "A baseball fable: Bobby Korecky tells the story of his greatest day"
Rincon designated for assignment.
I’m jumping the gun here. Just wanted to know what it feels like to type that.
The Juan Rincon story continued:
Rincon and Cuddyer were cut shortly after tye Texas series and played ball briefly for the Fargo Redhawks. Neither player found much success at that level of Independent league ball either so their careers were short lived.Currently Rincon works as an interpreter at the Fargo Walmart while smiling Michael is the front door greeter.
I believe that Cuddy soon will be sawing pitchers in real life as opposed to commercials and that Rincon will be promoted from assistant to the one being sawed in half. Hmmm, with the way he’s pitching he may have already been halved. Sure looks like a torso with no arms pitching out there.
One other thing: Little Juanie Korecky won’t be able to reference Telly Hughes. TH will be long gone before he is born. When the hell is Marney coming back? Telly and Ann (Bleach Bottle)Carroll make Marney seem like Christianne Amanpour.
Seriously, how can a so-called professional broadcast organization come up with such poor talent? One can’t speak English and the other can’t read English. “Wayne’s World” had better production/talent values. Sheesh.
Hooray for pinch-hitting pitchers and callups named “Howie!” And hooray for celebratory man love!
Col. Jessup,
I know who Telly Hughes is because I’ve watched the video with Grandpa Bobby so many times!
(written by Juanie’s mom)
Excellent story! Thanks for sharing it with us.
Why does everybody keep forgetting about me?!
My one and only major league homerun! If it wasn’t for me we would have all went home with tales of woe, not tales of nuttyness.
And I was errorless.
“Barney Bass” and “bathroom caulk” got me to laugh out loud.
You must be tired of hearing this, but that was nicely batgirl-esque.
Go Bobby Korecky!
I believe we had a reference to Christianne Amanpour on your site, Howard!! Wow!
Nicely done! Nicely done!
Great one Howard. Thanks,
Thumbs down to the Twins brass.
The all you can eat promotion was shut down 4 innings before the game ended. Extra innings or not, they need to be open until the game is over. That’s horrible cusotmer relations. If you want to save $$$ by closing down in the 8th inning, then tell your bullpen to throw strikes and tell your overpaid RF to learn how to hit with men in scoring position and less than 2 outs.
Also, the geniuses at the Dome decided to turn the A/C on late in the game bring the temp in the Dome to like 50 degrees. Nice move cheap a$$ Pohlad.
ahhh, that was cute, Howard, but you’re overblowing things just a bit.
Bobby Korecky played a big role in last night’s win, but this was no folk hero tale.
Actually, the biggest thing we should take from last night’s game is some asleep at the wheel managing by Gardy. Three things come to mind that were blatantly curious, if not, in the case of point 3, downright malpractice:
1) Why would you EVER give singles hitting Joe Mauer the green light on 3-0? They did this in the first inning and he lined to center with Harris at first and one out. There was absolutely no excuse for that…a walk is as good as hit for Joey (who did provide a rare 2 RBI night for our lads).
2) Take Joe Nathan out after a 4-pitch inning? Did I miss something…has he been overworked?
3) We can laugh and chuckle about the sight of Korecky and Livan Hernandez holding bats last night all we want, but there is no excuse–absent emergency (second game of doubleheader vs. Chicago last season)–for a pitcher to be batting in an AL game. What on God’s green Earth was Gardy doing sending our backup catcher, hitting .160, to the plate for Everett in the 9th????? This was bone-headed on two levels: A) You burn your backup catcher in a potential extra inning game and B) You lose your DH when you combine that move with pinch hitting for Casilla (forcing Harris to move from DH to SS).
So we can talk about Howie Clark all we want…we can write cute stories about the mind of Bobby Korecky (no one can see into the mind of Twins players like Howard, apparently), and we can talk about Michael Cuddyer’s fraudulent new contract, but at the end of the night, there were some managing gaffes that cannot go overlooked.
Thank goodness we won.
And one more thought for the morning…I know a lot of us were thinking how does Morneau not end this game earlier with two shots at driving in the winning run from third with one out? Well, a couple thoughts there…first off, it was a rare bad night for Morneau, who’s been THE stud of this ball club this season. But more alarming, don’t expect Morneau to see too many good pitches if they continue to “protect” him with Cuddyer.
Funny stuff Howard. I’m thinking little Juanie grows up to become the New View from section 220.
Michael Cuddyer 0-for-6 last night with 9 men left on base.
What is going on? I think he’s trying to show Kubel that 0-for-15 is nothing to be concerned about, perhaps?
Nice story Bobby.
I think little Juanie would enjoy retelling the Boof part. “Remember when Boof goofed with the easy ground ball, grandpa?”
And, also he would enjoy reliving the Alexi moment. “Grandpa, remember how Alexi Casilla got his one and only home run of his career in that game? Isn’t he the one who they wouldn’t let take a swing from the left side after his average dropped below .150?”
“Yes, Juanie. That was the last hit that Alexi got from the left side. They made him bat only from the right side and he played for one more year in 83 games with a lifetime .201 batting average. But he only had 43 errors in those 83 games. It was that year that Gardy lost all his hair and got an ulcer. Some people thought the errors and those conditions were related.”
Good points Jason. We’re on the same page. Gardy had no clue what was going on last night. I can see pinch hitting for Everett, but he should’ve used Monroe, not Red Dog. Then he uses Monroe for Casilla, who hit a 3 run bomb earlier in the game!@??#?$@ WTF Gardy?!?!? Gardy caught lightning in a bottle when TK decided to hang ‘em up 6-7 years ago. If Gardy managed an NL team, he’s last 60 games. He was afraid to do the double switch in Colorado because I honestly don’t think he knows how it works. He’s overmatched and way too much of a Little League coach that thinks everyone gets equal playing time. That line-up he put together on Sunday in Colorado should’ve got him fired. Embarrassing…
Another thing about Gardy is that he babies his players way too much. The slightest little knick, bump, or bruise gets you a week off. These players are soft because of him. Nobody plays hurt anymore and pitchers have no stamina because they’re not allowed to throw more than 90 pitches.
Well I won’t go as far as Brasky in saying that Gardy has no clue, etc.
I just think last night was awful managing…I generally really like how Gardy handles his team. I like the fact that everyone plays.
I just can’t justify any situation where Bobby Korecky steps to the plate…I’m sorry, I know he got a hit…but that was embarrassing. Straight up embarrassing. That should never happen absent an emergency injury.
Oh yeah lets designate Cuddy for assignment because he hasn’t hit for two weeks probably due to the fact that his finger is still bent the wrong way. Morneau went 0-4 I guess we should cut him too? Give me a break. And yes it’s obvious you give Mauer the green light on 3-0 because he is one of the best contact hitters in the game. He also hits over 300 and when he did he hit the ball well but got unlucky.
I posted this over at Gleeman too….
Goodbye RINCON, It’s been nice…
Hope you find your…paradise…
Tried to see your…point of view…
Hope your dreams will…all come true…
Goodbye Juanie…bullpen’s bane…
Hope we never…meet again…
Feel no sorrow…feel no shame…
Come tomorrow…feel no pain…
If you want to take a look at what the Twins might want to look at regarding trades maybe this season or in the off season look at Oaklands Jack Cust - and somebody else said Colorado’s Ian Stewart. Jack Cust is exactly what the Twins need. A guy who can hit 18-24 HRs a year but better yet get on base. He is probably going to get around 90-100 walks this year and have an OBP over 400 plus hit 20HRs. Just like last year. Nobody likes him though cause he hits 230. I think he would be a valuable DH. I also think you look at Ian Stewart at 3B. Bad fielder but that’s okay if you can hit for power at 3B. I think you look at trading Jason Kubel and is expanding cost 1.5 million this year and Kevin Slowley, Jessie Crain & Kevin Mulvey in some combination for these guys. You release Adam Everett this season. You hope Mike Lamb hits a little more so you can trade him Rincoln, Hernandez, Harris and Monroe at the All-Star Break. None of these guys will be around next year (except maybe Lamb/Harris) and all cost money right now. Then you hope Liriano comes back, Ward and Kornecky can pitch in the bullpen. Maybe Luke Hughes can play 2B - Doubtfull - and maybe Chris Parmelee and Anthony Swarzak will be ready to go. This is all assuming you aren’t going to contend in 08 and with what we have it’s amazing we are 500 right now. No HRs, OBP is terrible, bad run differential, no #1 starting pitcher, bad bullpen, no setup guy without Neshek, and terrible defense.
“The all you can eat promotion was shut down 4 innings before the game ended.”
Brasky, I was researching the promotion well before last night. It was stated all along that the promotion would end either 2 hours into the game or in the 7th inning, whichever came first.
So complain all you want, but it was all right there for you to read before you bought your ticket.
Correction: “Items available through the top half of the 8th inning”
http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/min/ticketing/allyoucaneat.jsp
Sean, you don’t get it if you think Mauer should have the green light on 3-0…sorry for the name calling…but the whole idea in green lighting someone 3-0 is they will get an extra base hit; Mauer lacks that capability, apparently.
Cuddyer’s slump cannot be explained away…here’s the progression (and I called this in ST, I might add):
–Great year in ‘06 (his only above avg. season in the Bigs)
–Regressed in ‘07 (guys at age 29 aren’t supposed to regress)
–Big Pay Day in the offseason
–Worse regression in ‘08
Another thing, Sean, you lose all credibility when you try to compare what we’ve seen from Cuddyer this season with Morneau’s 0-for-4 last night; the latter truly is an abberration as Morneau has been our one hitting star this season, while the former is serious cause for concern.
Are we really whining about if we got enough all-you-can-eat stuff at the game?
FSN embarrassed itself yet again with Coomer in the all-you-can-eat section; will this telecast EVER focus on baseball?
So aside from his lack of power Jason, you don’t think Mauer’s been hitting that well?
Or is this just side effects of the “Mauer shouldn’t be hitting 3rd” situation?
“Are we really whining about if we got enough all-you-can-eat stuff at the game?”
I saw Brasky’s post and nearly fell off my chair laughing. When you’ve got to start stretching it to the AYCE and air conditioning to rip into Pohlad…you know you’ve run out of things to legitimately complain about.
And Jason, I agree that Mauer 3rd is an issue…I just don’t see a good solution. Since Cuddyer’s shown he’s about as good at protecting Morneau as I would be. (They walked Justin twice last night I think…)
If Delmon Young were to actually show the power he was supposed to be showing this season (whodathunk this would be happening?) it wouldn’t be any question. Like Dicknbert were saying last night…Young was supposed to be hitting 3rd by now.
Mauer’s hitting well (and yes, he shouldn’t be batting third…this almost came into play again last night with Harris at the plate in the ninth…if Harris grounds into a DP, Mauer is left in the on-deck circle in the 9th and the Twins lose)…
I repeat (ROBOT VOICE): “I like Joe Mauer he is a good hitter he can hit for singles with the best of them…”
But yes T, it’s the lack of power…you don’t give a singles hitter the green light on 3-0 with a runner on first; you just never do.
Even Alexi Casilla turned on an inside pitch and hit it over the baggie for crying out loud…don’t tell me Joe shouldn’t be doing that from time to time. Since we know he can’t, he has to take on 3-0 every time.
98% of the Mauer moaning is that he doesn’t swing away enough and then when he gets his pitch 3-0 and goes out on a LINE DRIVE we find a way to whine about that too?
Mauer is exactly the kind of guy you green light 3-0 because he’s a disciplined hitter. If it’s not his pitch in his location he’s not swinging 3-0 and everyone in the ball park knows it including the opposing pitcher and catcher.
batting order doesn’t matter
Kubel can hit third
Monroe can hit third
I would say Cuddy could hit third but at this point I question whether he should be in the lineup at all…
I disagree T that this is an issue of “if not Mauer, then who” because to me, you have to stick a power hitter (or, because we don’t have power hitters, i’ll rephrase–a guy who can hit for power) in that spot.
So take your pick…but you can’t have frequent outs filling spots 1 and 2 in your lineup and even with 3 hits last night, Harris is only batting, what .260 or something…and Go-go also is not an OBP guy…so you can’t have both of them at the top…but that’s just me…
So I say do the world a favor and put Mauer at 2 and put ANYONE else at 3 who knows where the fences are located…
it’s this continuous insistance that the No. 3 hole is Mauer’s spot that absolutely floors me and epitomizes our State’s undying hero worship of this guy. He’s an excellent singles hitter; no doubt about that.
bison…how do you figure? If all he’s going to do is hit a single you might as well see if you can get the base free on the 3-0 pitch????
Am I the only one who doesn’t get this?
Even if it’s a perfect strike he’s still only going to hit a SINGLE about 40/60 or something…
I agree that singles hitters should not have the green light on 3-0. I also think it is time to bring up Span. You can write him off all you want, but he is 24 and has not had a chance yet in the majors. The light seems to have gone on for him this year. Cuddy, Young, Monroe and Kubel - he might be better than all 4 right now (or might not), but none of them deserve to be playing on a regular basis right now.
No way it happens, but Span should be up and playing and getting a chance. Cuddy’s 2006 appears to be more and more the aberration (as opposed to 04, 05, 07, 08). Of course, that could be the finger, but if he is injured and can’t hit, he should be on the DL and Span should be getting his chance.
jason,
“you don’t give a singles hitter the green light on 3-0 with a runner on first; you just never do.”
Almost 30% of Mauer’s MLB hits have been for extra bases. (152 out of 522)
On a 3-0 pitch (with a runner on first)where the pitcher must groove a fast ball to a notoriosly patient hitter, Mauer can let it fly - unlike 99% of the pitches he sees.
Singles hitters become extra base threats on 3-0 counts.
And IMO Mauer is much more than a “singles hitter”
I guess it’s because I haven’t been brain washed into believing that Mauer is a singles hitter. He’s leading the team in doubles and has more extra basehits than anyone who’s name isn’t Monroe or Morneau.
“it’s this continuous insistance that the No. 3 hole is Mauer’s spot that absolutely floors me and epitomizes our State’s undying hero worship of this guy.”
Somebody mentioned a while ago that Morneau said he likes hitting behind Mauer. I don’t know if that means DIRECTLY behind him or just after him in general.
It could be some of this whole Mauer batting 3rd stuff is stemming from a fear that Morneau goes cold if they stick someone between the two of them.
And honestly, I don’t care if the idea is to get Morneau that one extra AB each game…if you put him 3rd you’ll have about a game of it before people are pulling their hair out over whoever’s “hitting” cleanup.
The Twins have a solid #2 guy and a great #4 guy.
To channel an old meme:
Batting 2nd: Mauer
Batting 3rd: ????
Batting 4th: PROFIT!
And Span should never see the light of day with the Twins. They’ve got a fourth and fifth outfielder who can hit better than him. A CF that has shown he can hit better than him, a RF that has hit better than him, and a LF that should hit better than him.
Span is a fish out of water with the Twins.
78 percent of Mauer’s hits this year have been singles.
Craig Monroe has almost the same amount of doubles and 4 more homeruns than Mauer in nearly half as many at-bats…
I think I rest my case on this…Monroe has been struggling lately, but I still put him at 3 and in CF tonight if it’s my lineup card.
I agree with mike on Span.
For once I am in total agreement with T
On another note: I have a feeling Mauer would still be hitting 2nd today if Cuddyer hadn’t gone down with injury as soon as he did.
Gomez/Mauer looked like an effective 1-2 punch. And we never got a good look at Cuddy this year BEFORE his injury.
The only guy showing anything worth moving up is Monroe. But that would require giving up on Kubel, which it doesn’t appear the club wants to do for some reason.
They need to take Monroe and let him ride this season. Move Kubel or Cuddyer and use the 08 offseason to finally fix 3B and the DH (if Monroe doesn’t work out and you haven’t already addressed it with some midseason trade).
What ticks me off is they made a good deal to bring in Young, and he hasn’t shown any signs of producing at the same level as last year.
I think some of Young’s problems is still trying to figure out the league. They caught on to him after a hot 07 and now he’s got to show he can make the final adjustment…or he could turn into another Lew Ford in a few years.
send rincon to the minors. I never have card for the guy. Every time we really need him he chokes. get rid of the bum.
jim
casselton,n.d.
Ok i just started reading your blog and i just have to say its a little early to start shipping Delmon Back to Tampa, seriously in june when he carries the team you will regret every bad thing you people ever said about him
Except Gardy NEVER gave the Go-go, Mauer, Cuddy rotation a second go after Cuddy came back….not even for one game!
The question is why the hell not when two dorks like myself and T can agree on this as being obvious?
I suspect the answer is just as I have hypothesized…our undying love for Joey and our insistence that the three hole belongs to him.
For the last time, Gardy, he’s not Kirby Puckett!
You boys really like to have the same debates again and again, don’t you?
Owen, I hope there aren’t any commenters ready to ship Young back.
I don’t expect him to magically explode for 30 HR and 100 RBI this season after his slow start, but I expect the dingers to start manifesting in a few weeks.
He’s shown some signs of life with a few doubles and triples bunched together in games, but he’s just missing that last OOMPH to get it over the fence.
It could be that the Twins need to rebuild their hitting philosphy sooner than later. And like I said, that would involve far more than simply replacing Vavra.
T,
“And Span should never see the light of day with the Twins”
That is 100% conjecture.
Play him.
If he fails, at least you will have learned something about his ACTUAL capability.
Making decisions without attempting to get some real evidence is just closing your mind to the possibility that Span has corrected his previous deficiencies.
In order to get Span PT, you would have to take some AB from Cuddaver (intentional spelling), Kubel and Monroe. - Not much to sacrifice.
Fun post, Howard. Last night’s game is the perfect example of why I love baseball — because sometimes you get to see the most unlikely of heroes doing the most highly improbable things. Bobby Korecky saves the day, and Howie Clark wins the game. That kind of stuff you just can’t make up.
Except Gardy NEVER gave the Go-go, Mauer, Cuddy rotation a second go after Cuddy came back….not even for one game!
I never did figure that out. I could understand the first few games with Cuddyer getting his swing back, but not this much later.
The most interesting part is that on days when Mauer’s had off, he’s STILL had Cuddyer hitting 5th. Which leaves me wondering if he hasn’t lost some faith in Cuddy higher in the order at this point.
Could somebody specifically ask Gardy why he never tried Cuddyer at the 3-hole again? Or why he hasn’t gone back to trying the Gomez/Mauer combo at the top?
sane’s right, swinging 3-0 when you get a fastball grooved to you isn’t an unproductive out. he hit a rocket to cf…give him some room to either side of the centerfielder and it’s a run-scoring double. even if he only hits a single and moves harris over to 3rd, is that not more productive? i guess not when you constantly need something to whine about (how about not having the ability to stuff your face for over 2 full hours? yah that’s ridiculous! c’mon let’s get that pohlad guy!!)
Could somebody specifically ask Gardy why he never tried Cuddyer at the 3-hole again?
Check Cuddaver’s stats.
Try him in the 3-hole in Rochester.
to be clear Trav, you’ll never hear me whining about any Twins promotion…I stopped going to games for promotional purposes at about age 14.
But the 3-0 green light is a tool for power hitters and we all know this. I think that’s baseball 101…if you’re an on-base guy or a singles hitter (yes, I used the dirty word), you don’t get the green light on 3-0…if you’re Matty LeCroy and a blind swing might result in a dinger, then you swing 3-0.
Bottom line: Having Mauer swing 3-0 derives from the same mentality as keeping him in the 3 spot in our order. There’s a word for this mentality, it’s called delusion.
The odds of making an out on 3-0 when swinging are infinitely higher than when not swinging. Unless you have a guy you are CONFIDENT will get an extra base hit, you don’t let him swing. Why let Mauer swing there? Odds are better he makes an out than he gets an extra base hit.
I don’t understand the Monroe love at all. He was brutal last year, and had 1 good year the year before. He is over 30, so is not part of the future. I just don’t get it.
I also don’t understand why you give up on guys that are under 25, who have never been given a shot. I never thought in a million years I’d want Span to get a shot, but he has earned one this year.
Why acquire Jack Cust?? Yeah, he’s capable of some OK power numbers but once he puts on a Twins uniform - those days will be over. He will be asked to slap the ball the other way with an inside out swing. Wasn’t Delmon Young supposed to be a 18-24 HR guy? How about David Ortiz? Neither had a problem hitting a HR or 2 when NOT wearign a Twins uniform.
Thanks, RD, for a nice chuckle.
I agree with T on the system’s hitting philosophy. Consider that the *only* power hitter developed by the Kelly/Gardy regime has been Justin Morneau. The development of Hrbek/Gaetti/Pucket pre-date them. (although Puck didn’t actually exhibit power until later…so I can see room for debate with him).
Ortiz was a “bust” as a Twin. Then becomes one of the game’s top sluggers with Boston.
Young is a bona fide slugger in training, then comes to MN and looks like he’s auditioning for a role in the Butch Huskey (or Carmello Castillo) Story.
I have come to expect that this team will rarely if ever have a player top 30 HR in a season. They are systematically forced to go the other way, advance runners, sacrifice, etc. rather than “swing away”.
Great column today! I’m a writer, and I can’t write this well.
Some of these people can’t enjoy a little humor. Hey you all, it’s just baseball.
Didn’t Kelly have all those guys (Hrbek, Pucket, Gaetti) in the minors?
bisonaudit,
Didn’t Kelly have all those guys (Hrbek, Pucket, Gaetti) in the minors?
I know he had Hrbek, Gaetti, Bush, Laudner, but I’m not sure about Puckett.
Howard, I think I love you. 
Everybody needs to chill and take each win with team assembled. Sit back and look at some of the line-ups this year and appreciate the wins. For the most part they have played better than expected, the starters have been decent but the bullpen other than JOE has been predictable. Its a marathon season. Just look back to 2006. Enjoy the bright spots and remember what you are saying now come Sept. or even next year.
Just in case anyone is interested…
Liriano’s line from today’s game:
7IP 8H 2R 1BB 3K
I would have prefered Livan Hernandez hitting the grand slam to end the game with Bobby Korecky getting the win, but I will settle for Howie Clark, the 34 year old journeyman minor leaguer. It seemed like a fairy tale, a Livan granny would have been a sweet ending.
Hoover, that was actually one question I had about last night’s game.
Since it wasn’t Livan PH but rather the P spot coming up to bat…if Livan gets the winning hit, is it also his win?
Or does one have to throw a pitch in the previous inning to be considered the pitcher of record at that point?
To me the most telling thing about Mauer swinging away 3-0 is that, even in THAT situation, he can’t pull the ball.
There’s only one reason to swing 3-0. You sit on a fastball and try to jerk it hard, hopefully into the seats. Mauer didn’t even get it to the right of second base, and it was more of a humpback liner than a “rocket.”
I’d be willing to bet there were some sideways glances in the dugout and a sheepish look on Mauer’s face after that swing.
wild game, charming tale welltold. . . . Juanie has always carried this look of bewilderment about him. It’s as if he’s quietly but perpetually confused about most everything. In hindsight, that look was his greatest defense against intentional steroid use. I believed that Juanie was capable of making that kind of mistake unintentionally. The numbers since then? Maybe Juanie’s not always as confused as he looks.
T - you have to have been pitcher on the mound to get the win. But, you technically wouldn’t have to throw a pitch. You could be on the mound and pick someone off base for the last out without throwing a pitch. But, yes, you have to be in the game defensively as a pitcher to get the win/loss. As a hitter (even as a substitute for a pitcher), you are only a pinch hitter until you take a defensive position.
Question for everyone - Am I the only one who thought that Gardy knew he couldn’t go out to get Rincon? I immediately thought that he did that intentionally to 1.) make a point to Rincon, and 2.) just to do something to break up the way things were going and give his pitcher a minute to calm down?
No, Seth, I kinda thought so, too. Gardy figured it was a win-win. Either he got Rincon out of the game right then or he bought more time for Korecky. As I keyboard this, I’m watching the FSN replay. The look on Gardy’s face in the dugout after the first walk was killer and when he did get to the mound, Rincon’s lucky Gardy doesn’t bring a conceal-and-carry permit to the ballpark.
Do we bury Juanie in the bullpen for complete blowouts? Someone mentioned that his numbers aren’t that bad…. His ERA isn’t, but how many times has that been saved by other relievers holding his runners? I cringe everytime the guy comes in.
If only some of you had girlfriends.
That’s another thing. Gardy doesn’t even know the rules about taking a pitcher out of the game. Please don’t tell me he knew the rule and was just stalling for Korecky or tryingto prove a point to Rincon. Gardy is not smart enough to pull off something like that.
I wish i had a girlfriend, my fiance is driving me nuts.
“Please don’t tell me he knew the rule and was just stalling for Korecky ”
I 100% believe that he knew exactly what he was doing.
Who wants a girlfriend? Women are insane… well, except for me, of course. I make perfect sense - always.
well seth there is a first time for everything. (gardy knowing exactly what he was doing)
Yes, bury Juan in the back of the bullpen for blowouts only. Put Boof in Juan’s place for 7th, 8th inning set up role. Thats the best place for him. He either comes in and is lights out for 1-2 innings, or if he’s off, bring in Reyes or Crain until the 9th for Nathan.
Seth - I think you are giving Gardenhire to much credit.He was so PO’ed that at that point he probably didn’t even remember or care, who was warming up.The look of embarassment on his face as he about faced and skipped back in to the dugout gave him away.
see, I disagree… I thought that the look he gave Rick Anderson told me that he knew what he was doing.
What look to Rick Anderson?
It was one of two looks,
1.) a look of Wow, I can’t believe I just did that, or
2.) a look of Wow, I can’t believe I got away with that!
REYES IS NOT GOOD!!!!!
I am sick and tires of watching fat little reyes serving up BP fastballs down the heart of the plate. Matt Gueirer always does a darn good job mowing down batters and than freakin Gardy puts in fat little Reyes and screws us over. REYES IS NOT GOOD!!! Why does everyone think he is?!?!? Sure his ERA is low, but that is because he only faces one batter!!! And over half the time he gets a hit!
So with that said, Reyes and Crain SHOULD NOT hold down the fort for Nathan. That job needs to be reserved for Guerier and maybe Korecky or bring up Graves. I am very displeased with out bullpen. Thank God we signed Nathan.
Justin,
Denny’s is very good. Haven’t you had the grand slam breakfast? I like Perkins and IHOP for the 8th inning as well.
Great stuff, Howard… I laughed out loud. It does make me wonder how this would have all played out in Lego-vision.
I have no comments on the comments… I admit I browsed just enough to see “Mauer hitting 3rd” stuff so I decided to skip catching up on them.
Would be nice to have just a normal run of the mill 6-2 nine-inning win tonight.
And one other thing,
Everett and Lamb had better be on the hot seat. They have gotten plenty of time to turn things around, but they have not. If I was Gardy I would let them know that if they do not turn it around by the time Punto and Tolbert are healthy that they will not be starters on this team.
Mike Lamb has zero homeruns and is batting .210. Adam Everett nearly leads the team with errors while still missing two and a half weeks, and of course is batting UNDER .200.
This is absolutely unacceptable. Why are they getting a free pass by Gardy?
Why is Gardy putting most if not all the blame on Harris for his defense?
Harris is learning a new position, and can hit a baseball, give him a break. Let him learn his position. The blame, though, needs to be put on someone and the blame belongs to Lamb and Everett. If they don’t put it together in 2/3 weeks i would designate Everett (and Rincon by the way) to assignment, and put Lamb on the bench. Maybe Lamb is better as bench player like he has been.
Ok heres a good joke with Lamb… It has been “silence with the Lamb”. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, of course representing his lack of power and poor Batting Average. HAHAHAHAH
JimCrikket, why did you have to bring up Lego-vision? It pains me to think about it. I’m having withdrawls, maybe I’ll see if BG’s website is still up so I can browse the archives. Sigh…
Jared
What makes you like Reyes? Any other Lefty in the pen would be better than him in my correct opinion.
Perkins would definetly be good in the pen, but really has done a good job as a starter. I don’t know where the Twins should place Perkins. But I know it had better not be in AAA. Starter of Reliever in the MAJORS. One of the Two.
…Deport JUAN
*but HE really has done a good job as a starter
*Starter OR Reliever in the MAJORS.
Thanks for channeling a little BatGirl. That game would have been soooo much better in LegoVision…
Justin,
“Sure his ERA is low, but that is because he only faces one batter!!!”
And if even one of those batters scores,
his ERA explodes.
Hypothetical:
Six successful appearances; -
two innings pitched;
one batter scores an Earned Run; -
ERA=4.50.
Kirby Puckett, Tony Gwynn and my brother-in-law were little fat guys.
Not always a bad thing.
I was at the game the night Korecky and Clark came thru for the Twins. It was one of the best games I’ve ever been to! I just wanted to say that I love all the guys on the team - they can’t be perfect all the time - and they are so fun to watch - win (which is of course what I want them to do!)or lose! I have been a Twins fan for over 30 years and no matter who is on the team - they are alot of fun!
If it’s possible, I think I miss Neschek more than the Twins do…
