Call him ‘Three-Run Jack’ Young
Posted on August 13th, 2008 – 11:32 PMBy Howard
I went to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City last Saturday with Ms. Baseball and the Baseballettes and I think I was one of six people there not wearing a Twins jersey. (I had on my “Sprewell Racing” hat to represent, albeit in kind of a perverse way.) It’s a total must-visit when you’re in Kansas City. As a friend of mine said when we talked about it, one of the points that gets driven home by those who played during the Negro League era is that, for all the struggles they went through, the African-American players of that time — despite the indignities and hardships of the era — were convinced they were having more fun than the whites-only major leaguers. It’s a generalization, and even if you disagree, you have to at least give the Negro Leaguers credit for handing out better nicknames.
In that spirit, I give you a nickname for the Twins’ left fielder who did his best to establish himself as a Yankee killer this week with a three-run game-tying jack against Mariano Rivera on Tuesday night and another three-run jack Wednesday afternoon that made the difference in the 4-2 victory.
Introducing Three-Run Jack Young.
Three-Run Jack has three homers in the Twins last five games, all of them important. His boomer to left on Saturday put the Twins ahead of Kansas City 2-0 and began the unraveling of Zach Greinke, who decided to serve his five-game suspension for what happened the weekend before against Chicago rather than appeal, have a hearing and also try to explain why he also threw at Three-Run Jack’s head later in the game.
Much was expected of Young in the deal that brought him here, including the silly comparisons to a young Frank Robinson. In reality, Young is playing like a second-year Delmon Young, with an on-base percentage 20 points higher than last season, as many walks already as he drew in all of 2007 and more steals than in ‘07, as well. Obviously, Three-Run Jack needs a better sense of the strike zone and more patience at the plate — and his defense needs to go beyond just having an excellent arm. But I expect him to be nothing but better in the seasons to come and a staple of the Twins outfield.
Keep it up, Three-Run Jack Young.
A few other scattered thoughts:
*People have been discussing and disagreeing about whether the Twins were foolish not to make a claim on reliever Chad Bradford, who was claimed by Tampa Bay recently. I think that, despite his good overall numbers, he may have been frustrating as a ground ball/low strikeout pitcher working out of the Metrodome. I’m assuming that Bill Smith and friends are working on the reliever issue. In the meantime, however, I would swap out Brian Bass for Bobby Korecky, who was OK during his April/May stint with the Twins and showed the stomach for late-game situations.
*Check out this cheery take on Wednesday’s game from the New York Post: “The pinstriped coffins have been delivered and when the final game at Yankee Stadium is played, it likely will be turned into a cemetery. The headstone will read: March 31-Aug. 13. Looking to build on a stirring victory Tuesday night the Yankees ended a 10-game road trip with a sloppy, 4-2 loss to the Twins in front of 35,187 at the Metrodome. The voyage through Texas, California and Minnesota ended 3-7. And the finale was repulsive.”
*Young220 and I took in our final game of the summer together, as he leaves for the University of Tulsa on Saturday. We abandoned Section 220 for seats in Section 119, nine rows above the Yankees dugout. That meant when Justin Morneau’s bat shattered in the eighth inning, most of it flew in front of us and above head height on its way to the aisle between Sections 119 and 120, where it landed next to a young boy, who got a heck of a scare and souvenir at the same time. If the bat hadn’t landed in the aisle, someone would have been hurt. If you’re in that position, folks, duck and cover.
*Props to commenter dnygard for finding the Larry Gura bobblehead atop the pop machine at the Straight River rest area south of Owatonna on I-35. As he/she explained: “You saved our traveling party from having to negotiate joint custody of the one Gura that we were able to scrounge up after Saturday’s game.” Glad to be of service there and, in answer to your question, I have no idea about the pot of honey near Gura’s feet on the bobblehead. Anyone?
*I hope the Metrodome soundmeisters play this song when Carlos Silva takes the mound on Friday at the Dome. After starting the season 3-0, Silva has been on a 1-13 regression beyond his norm — with the victory barely counting because it came against San Diego. On top of that, Silva called out teammates after losing to Tampa Bay last Friday. Among other things, he went into a third-person rant and suggested: “Maybe Chief has to come and grab somebody in his neck and pin them to the wall. I’m very close to doing that, so write that down.” This is the same Mr. Tough Talk who asked out of a game in Houston a couple of years back after running the bases. Enjoy him, Seattle.
*Speaking of clueless guys signing fat contracts (not to be confused with fat guys signing clueless contracts), there was a funny (pathetic) story in the Kansas City paper last weekend about Gil Meche figuring out that he needs to change speeds and pitch inside in order to be effective. Among other things, it was reported that: “Meche is pitching effectively inside for the first time in his eight-year career. It required a new approach that is only now starting to feel comfortable, but the results are undeniable.” Seems like this is something that should have been figured out before Kansas City signed Meche to a five-year, $55 million deal. For the entire bag of nonsense, click here.
*Light blogging for the next week or so as I try not to be too much of a weirdly nervous and overbearing parent. Note to self: Good luck with that.
other people are here too
124 Responses to "Call him ‘Three-Run Jack’ Young"
Give Young220 my best, and you try to keep from being overbearing as he heads to Tulsa.
Tell me why he isn’t going to Macalester again…?
Maybe one day I’ll be able to call him Granny Young. We’re talking about baseball right?
He’s a Division I youngster, unlike his D-3 father!
let’s compare the seattle exec’s and the twins for a second. . . . there’s no way the twins would have given silva $12 mil a year. . . they were right with their $4 mil (yet over priced, but knew he wouldn’t take it offer) - Everyone knew Gil Miche was over paid ($55 mil) 2years ago, but how is KC going to get anybody? - oh, same size market as the twins- draft and teach!!!!
Silva has no right to yell at anyone looking at his record and ERA.
that flying bat must have been scary. The width of the bat handles has been exponentially reduced as time goes on. And it is not a maple vs. ash vs. pine question. These new skinny handled bats feel so much better balanced than their ancestors and I don’t blame the current players using them. It’s physics; anyone can have a quicker swing with a Justin Morneau branded bat than with a Jackie Robinson branded bat. Fearless prognostication (and I hate it): within 10 years MLB players will be using metal/composite bats…
Delmon has been a total stud the last few games and it’s about time that the kid gets some kudos. His face in the Monday game after he hit that first 3 spot homer, reminded me of Puck’s in game 6 vs Turner’s team. What a relief must be for a 22 year old to finally be able to act his age…
Re: relief help: I am keeping my fingers crossed but I don’t see anything happening before Sept 1, for practical reasons: The Twins have to claim an AL player (since all NL teams would have priority over any Twins’ claims) and teams like the Yankees and Rangers are more likely to claim players the Twins might want. That said, if I were Smith (god forbid), I’d DFA Bass (who would pick him) and bring up Delaney. And another thing that is missed in the whole Twins’ bullpen discussion, is that the coaching staff still is schizophrenic about whether Boof is a reliever or a starter so basically they let him pitch at 90+% off the pen every 4+ day, thus being another arm short…
in carlos silva’s defense, who among us woulda done any different?
I was siting in Section 119 too Howard, in row 30, near the top. That bat came flying up into the seats so fast it was unbelieveable!! And, almost the entire bat was intact, Mornie must have had only the very end of the handle in his hands. Couldnt see where it landed, but the fact that everyone sat back down within a few seconds and no medics came down the stairs, told me that all had ended well.
I live in Tulsa…give me a call…I will help you move in take you to lunch…talk twins……….
Ron Gardenhhire should be fired as manager of the Twins. He sets a very bad example for the kids that watch the games. His temper tantrums and violent gestures towards the umpires is inexcusable. Gardenhire behaves like a foolish idiot on the field. He appears to be unable to deal with his own emotions and frustrations. He tries to take out his anger on the umps. The fact that he gets thrown out of more games than any other manager in the major leagues should signal the fans and the ownership of the team that he cannot deal with the stress of the job. For his own benefit and the benefit of the team, he should resign or be replaced before he becomes more violent in his actions.
Mr. Gardenhire may be able to learn how to deal with his emotions better as he becomes older. But the fact that he is obiese tells me that he cannot control his behaviors, and over eating is the most obvious example. He may be able to obtain help from the Twins organization or the league through therapy sessions to help him control his over eating and his anger management problems.
Someone left the loony bin doors unlocked…..
Uh…I can’t believe what I am reading on here this morning. (bert and ted) Maybe I need to take a day off from making any postings. Ted, do you know for a fact that Gardy overeats? Well, unless you do then don’t say that he needs ‘therapy sessions’ to help him control his overeating.
Can it be? Nothing left to comment on except the manager’s weight and his emotions. Don’t we have anything else to write about? The end is truly near. For the record, I do not believe the Twins would be in contention without him.
Don’t know about the overeating, but the way he gets kicked out of games is an act that’s getting old. It’s funny for a little while, but there has to be other ways to motivate young millionaires. There are three or four Major League managers who could upgrade their tactics to the 21st Century.
Just an opinion.
Yes, it must be a slow day at the office for bert and ted. Nothing better to comment on besides anger and food. Interesting. Why they are at it they might as well comment on the scent of shampoo he uses as that may have a calming/not calming effect on Gardy’s emotions in the shower in the morning.
Three-Run Jack’s power has been somewhat of a mystery to me. If my memory serves me correctly, every single one of his home runs have been absolute bombs, with the exception of Tuesday night’s shot. You would think he would be able to muscle a few over the fence every now and then. Maybe Tuesday was preview of things to come, we shall see.
I wouldn’t worry about Gardy’s weight, but Delmon looks a little thick. I was pleasantly surprised to read that some of his numbers have improved since last year. That’s the direction we want him heading. I think the Twins should get a nutritionist to keep his weight in check though, so he’s not another Dmitri and can realize his full potential, make more millions of dollars, and help the Twins win even more games. The winning games part would be my priority.
7 HRs and we’re prepared to give him the nickname “Three Run Jack”?
Let me guess, he must play for the Twins, huh? What’s next, shall we bring back that catchphrase phallacy, “Mauer Power”?
Besides, even if that nickname did stick, I doubt the baseball guys in the Twins organization would allow it to catch on. I mean, after all, they have a reputation to uphold, and any thought that they would bring in a guy who routinely blasts long 3-run HRs would be pretty damaging to that rep…
So you left a Gura doll at that Straight River rest stop, hey? My memories of that landmark go a bit deeper, stemming from my teenage years, but I won’t get into that.
Well, we took two of three from a Yanks team that seemed completely disinterested, I’d say that’s a lot better than getting waxed at Yankee Stadium like we did a couple weeks ago; plus, this may have been the final nail in the Yanks’ 2008 coffin, ensuring that if we make the postseason, we won’t have to re-live our feeble efforts against the Bombers as experienced in 2003 and 2004 (plus, we don’t have Juan Rincon anymore and they don’t have Ruben Sierra).
The other side of the story, of course, is the White Sox keep winning. Joe Christensen and Jay Mariotti assured us that they weren’t the team to worry about with their looney manager who obviously doesn’t know a thing about baseball and just pops-off to get attention; but here we are–failing to understand that it’s okay to hold first place for more than 24 hours, and here they are, quietly plugging away while another team 10 miles north grabs all the headlines.
I hope this ends well for the Twins, but I admit, I do hope the White Sox grab the Wild Card and leave Boston and New York out of the party. First round AL playoff matchups of Angels v. White Sox and Twins v. Rays would be pretty cool, in my opinion.
I liked yesterday’s lineup so much, I hope Gardy seriously considers sticking with it for this weekend!
bert and ted are obvious trolls looking to get responses. I’m going to go ahead and ignore them as their comments are ridiculous.
Onto Delmon Young. If Delmon keeps knocking in runs when it matters, I will put my “teenage mutant ninja turtle” nickname into full effect and rewrite the song to fit Delmon Young. (look closely, he looks like a Ninja Turtle). Anyway, I did not realize the improvement in his OBP and BB this year. Definately a good sign. I have a feeling that in roughly 2 years he will be the 3 or 5 hitter the Twins need. The real only downside I see in him is the oddities of a fly ball hit to him. I always cringe.
Liriano vs Silva tommorow night!! MUST SEE TV!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The only thing I would like to see Gardy do different is: When he loses control and charges the ump I want him to have a chicken leg in each hand. So he can argue and eat chicken at the same time.
JJ - halarious! lol That would put Ted over the edge!!
Gardy likes pizza and beer. Maybe an O’Doul”s and a Calzone would be handier.
Yup, Jason. I’m prepared to give Delmon that nickname. Sometimes I watch a baseball game and allow myself to have a little bit of fun! From what I understand, I’m not alone in doing that.
Roto, I’m totally in agreement with you on ignoring Bert/Ted and I suggest the same to others. As for your TNMT comparison, I definitely see it. If he keeps hitting ‘em, do we hafta refer to his jacks as “homers in a half shell”?
Let me add to the nicknames:
Jason Kubel aka “Cheddar Bob”
Adam Everett aka “Little Dumbo”
I chose chicken legs instead of pizza, so when Gardy is arguing and eating he can punt the chicken bone instead of his hat.
Speaking of Little Dumbo, that is one guy who looks like he is glad to be back with the Twins, looks like he’s having fun playing the game, and is even contributing to wins. I can overlook the other things.
Adam Everett aka “Alfred E. Newman”
Ron Coomer aka “Chuck E Cheese mascot”
Many nicknames for Nick Punto, but on television he looks so much like Robert Diniro to me. I don’t think Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter, or Raging Bull fit him. How about “Meet The Fokkers”?
“If he keeps hitting ‘em, do we hafta refer to his jacks as “homers in a half shell”?”
YES. That’s even better than ending the song “Delmon Power”. I’m gonna have to write that down.
I think T hit on Everett’s aka…Gollum.
We could call Harris Double Trouble, but he doesn’t play enough to warrant a name.
And there is nothing more apt than LNP.
bert and ted are obviously the same person just looking for attention.
In all honesty, D Young does look like “Three Run Jack” on this squad…keep in mind, our No. 3 guy in homers has been designated for assignment two weeks now…hopefully he’ll have a hot last couple months and provide this group with more Jack.
I always have fun at baseball games…for instance, last summer in Chicago, I won 24 bucks over the course of that Friday doubleheader for various hits by Nick Punto (we play a game where each guy in our row rotates a player and if they get a hit they get a buck from everyone else…but we handicapped Punto at $4–he came through twice for me, I was so proud!).
One other thought about the Yanks series…it goes to show how huge the bullpen will be in the final month and a half. Tuesday our bullpen can’t get the job done and we lose; yesterday our bullpen gets it done and we win. Hopefully Bill Smith finds a way to get another quality arm. With Liriano in for Livan, our starters are all good enough to win consistently, but you still need a strong bullpen or it doesn’t work!
Morneasie aka Dudley Do-Right
How bout combining Ev’s nicknames and calling him “Lil Gollum”??
Good one, Willie. That looked like Rolllie Fingers on the left.
My sons call Mike Redmond “Ferret Face”. Don’t know why, they like him and everything. Hope Redmond doesn’t care.
As I stated earlier in the week, this nickname choosing would be even more fun with Batgirl’s input, as that was my favorite part of her website.
What would Kevin Youkilis’ nickname be?
Agreed - Chad Bradford makes 3.5 million next season. That’s a lot of money for a guy that gets ground balls and is over 1 point below his career ERA of around 3.40 without this season included in that. So he is pitching a little above the norm and he only has 13ks in 40+ innings of work. The Twins could get Kornecky and probably have a slight upgrade over Bass. The same they would get out of Bradford. Bradford would have been a waste of money. Then again he would be better than Alan Embree who is horrible. But he only has an option for next year that the Twins would not pick up. Maybe Anthony Slama next year might be worth a look and with Neshek back that’s good combo. I would think Reyes, Guerrier might be gone next year. Reyes a free agent and Guerrier looks washed up.
It would be nice if they would get Korecky up before Sep. so we could find out if he’s good enough to add to the playoff roster…
I have my own nickname for Youkilis, but I can’t print it here. Youkilis always “kills us”. When I hear his name though I think of the monster dump trucks my Dad operated in World War Two. He called them “Yukes”.
Euclid Truck Company, I think. They are truly gigantic.
Candidate for Carlos Gomez. Aka Twitchy the Squirrel
Trade bait Gomez
Dennys Reyes is a free agent? He could leave without a catchy nickname. There has to be a good one out there for him.
“…What’s next, shall we bring back that catchphrase phallacy, “Mauer Power””
While I’m skeptical that Jason’s spelling error was intentional, the double-entendre was hilarious.
El perspire Reyes
GO-GO-Go-Go-go-go-g-g-
It’s a wind-up doll that needs to be wound up again.
7 HRs and we’re prepared to give him the nickname “Three Run Jack”?
It’s called having fun. You really should try it sometime.
I call Dennys Reyes “Porkchop”. And “The big sweat”, of course.
When Terry Mulholland used to play for the Twins, my brother and I called him “Grandpa Baseball”.
I usually call Dennys “The Neckless Blunder”
“It’s called having fun. You really should try it sometime.”
I’m having a blast…always do, when I talk baseball.
Maybe it’s called ‘being too sensitive’.
I just thought it was funny that a player with 7 HR gets the name “Three Run Jack”. I don’t think that’s a crazy, negative, or poisonuous thought at all…
When Punto would try to bunt last year, we called him things that aren’t fit to be posted here. We would call Gardy the same things when he brought Juan “the Gasman” Rincon into close games with runners on base.
Is Terry Mulholland available? Seriously, this bullpen needs some long relief help…
Jason
It’s funny because it’s ironic.
Yes, I caught that too…but not everyone would…I suspect Dick Bremer, for one, will start referring to D Young as a power hitter (which, hopefully, he will be).
And that, to me, is what’s funny…the fact that on this squad you can go back-to-back nights with a HR, accumulate 7 on the year, be tied for third among players on the active roster in HR, and fans will look at you as a power threat. That’s the irony, to me.
Hey does anyone know about the twins putting a claim on either ibanez or washburn.. i heard the twins and tigers put claims on either player.. any info on them?!
Did you guys see that Ibanez was placed on waivers? Pick him up Twins, just so the Sox don’t get him
OwenG-
I have been trying to figure this all out
I haven’t seen any indications as to where either of the two players are going…Pick up Ibanez and send GOmez down for some practice
Bremer thinks the Twins prefer not to hit home runs. At least thats what I infer from that idiot’s rambling foolishness when comparing the Twins to the likes of the Yankees and White Sox. Bremer is a fool. Thank god bert is half insane; he makes the telecasts bearable with his sometimes bizaare, out of the blue statements.
Sorry, had to get that out of my system.
i heard the twins and tigers put claims on either player.. any info on them?!
If the Tigers put a claim on Ibanez, that’s the end of it since they’re lower in the standings.
Thankfully the Twins are currently sitting below the Sox…though they’re ABOVE the Yankees.
I wouldn’t be surprised if claiming Ibanez was a block move by the Tigers. Though I don’t think they’re in this anymore…especially now that Zumaya’s out.
But that’s been the Tigers this season (with the possible exception of Farnsworth). All kinds of offensive moves at the cost of their pitching.
“Thank god bert is half insane; he makes the telecasts bearable with his sometimes bizaare, out of the blue statements.”
———————————————
By this you are obviously referring to Dick’n'Bert’s nonsensicle ramble about Dick’s prom tux a couple Sundays ago. That might have been the funniest, yet awkward moment I’ve ever heard between them.
When Terry Mulholland used to play for the Twins, my brother and I called him “Grandpa Baseball”.
I always liked BG’s “Old Man Mullholand”. Mostly because I always did picture him as the guy in the pen who sits there strumming a banjo with a thistle in his mouth or something.
I’ve now transplanted that mental image onto Redmond.
That prom tux conversation was a hoot!
The Sox would not pick up Ibanez. They have no place to put him. They would, however, be very interested in washburn, as contreras is done for the season. The Tigers would have to be either bitter that they are out of it, or fooling themselves into thinking they are still in it, to claim either player.
Rumors are the Cardinals claimed Washburn, but these are unconfirmed rumors.
I still hope the Twins somehow land Ibanez, he would make a great right fielder for us…
check http://www.mlbtraderumors.com for the latest
Once upon a time this franchise had power hitters…
Remember Hrbek, Brunansky, Gaetti…remember Allison, Tony Oliva…even Kirby Puckett would be considered a power hitter compared to what we have lately….
Here’s some food for thought (and I know the Twins missed the boat on the steroids era and I think we’re all actually thankful for that…), Of the top 10 HR hitters in Twins franchise history, only 2 have played since the strike of 1994: Kirby Puckett and Torii Hunter.
Gary Gaetti, who played 9 full seasons with the Twins, has 201 HRs and is sixth all-time. No Twin other than Harmon Killebrew has more than 300 HRs in franchise history.
Puckett, who wasn’t really considered HR hitter, is fifth all-time in HRs for the Twins.
I just think that is pretty crazy…and we had what I would call a significant jolt at long-last in 2006 when both Hunter and Justin Morneau surpassed 30, but we appear headed right back where we have been from 1987-2005.
Maybe D Young and Morneau will be the guys to rally behind in that respect!
Another note…watching Sportscenter last night I came to realize what amazing numbers Tony Gwynn had…a .338 career average??? That’s insane…if that guy played in New York he would be mentioned in the same breath as all the greats forever and ever…
Of the top 10 HR hitters in Twins franchise history, only 2 have played since the strike of 1994
You could probably make the same argument for most teams. After 1994 players are much more mobile than before and it is rare for someone who is a big home run hitter to stay with the same team after his years of team control are over.
i like the idea of ibanez but i will be mad if they pick him up and not address our MAJOR need for a Bullpen Arm.. Billy Get it done!
Trust me, the only stain Bremer got on that tux was jelly. What a cornball.
Ron Coomer= Bucky Beaver
Jason:
You said the Twins missed the steroid era?
Some of those guys didn’t need the Juice, they needed Slim Fast.
Len Faedo was a juicer.
Hey Howard,
Regarding Larry Gura’s honey pot…the ONLY thing I could find was this article from the local NBC affiliate’s website:
http://www.nbcactionnews.com/sports/story.aspx?content_id=0501efe4-ceae-472f-b691-3b168f298ce5
“Royals representative Toby Cook described tonight’s bobblehead: ‘Larry Gura, a great left hander, who had this interesting little leg kick with his right leg and down here you see a pot of honey. Apparently Larry thought honey was the key to pitching.’”
Sounds like the Royals representative doesn’t really know either. Odd.
k-bro
“You could probably make the same argument for most teams. After 1994 players are much more mobile than before and it is rare for someone who is a big home run hitter to stay with the same team after his years of team control are over.”
Is this really true, though? The Twins have been around since 1960. That means, essentially, all of their big homerun hitters played in the 27-years between 1960-1987; in the 21 years since 1987, we basically have one guy in the franchise’s Top Ten list for HRs.
I think that seems a little odd, I guess. And I know HRs aren’t necessarily the key to winning or anything (although we didn’t win much from 1992-2001 without them, either), but they do make baseball more fun at times.
Jason
I’m not quite sure where you are going. Are you in dire need of big boppers? Would the team be better if there were three guys who could consistently hit HR’s?
Aside from 2006, the lack of power has done alright in terms of getting the Twins to the playoffs (in the Gardy era).
It also seems like there is a shift away from HR hitters since the SABR has had more of an impact on baseball this decade. Ryan Dunn certainly had a higher value earlier in his career versus later in his career while producing similar HR numbers. A HR hitter who doesn’t get on base and strikes out a lot doesn’t seem quite as productive as he once would (steroids era). This is why Torii Hunter was expendable
Tom Kelly told us once that a big home run hitter creates havoc in the opponents dugout. Juggling pitchers, repositioning fielders, etc. I suppose. That contributes to wins also.
SM - Is that supposed to be Ryan Howard or Adam Dunn? Either way, they both strike out alot, but they both get on base alot. And hit alot of homeruns.
My apologies, I meant Adam Dunn.
“This is why Torii Hunter was expendable”
Actually, I’m not sure, in the final analysis, Hunter was all that ‘expendable’…I think he was just ‘expensive’…at least as it relates to this year:
Torii Hunter:
.282 / 19 HR / 65 RBI / .345 OBP
Carlos Gomez:
.254 / 5 HR / 35 RBI / .290 OBP
Are we in dire need of big boppers? Umm, perhaps not, although I don’t think it was coincidence that we had our best regular season in the Gardy era in 2006 and also had two guys with 30+ HRs…plus, Three Run Jack helped out nicely the last couple days, even if one came in a losing effort. So yeah, I wouldn’t mind a little more.
So how does Dunn’s .380 career onbase percentage suggest that he doesn’t get on base? Or the .373 he’s putting up this year? Sure he strikes out alot, but I would take him on my team any day.
Agreed, Tony….I’d like to order a few more shots of Jack, please.
“Aside from 2006, the lack of power has done alright in terms of getting the Twins to the playoffs (in the Gardy era).”
So did an extraordinarily weak division in 2002-2004.
But hey, I’m not knocking Gardy; I am definitely a Gardy supporter–I think he’d gladly order up a couple more shots of Jack, too (remember, he, more than anyone, was on board with ditching Dougie for Morneau).
In my mind, Denard Span is our starting CF (although it is strange when our starting CF is lined up in RF, oh well). I just don’t think the Twins put the same value on Torii as Torri did. His OBP was just too low during his career (forget about his walk year, future success is predicted on more than one years work) to give him the contract we wanted. But certainly having him hit those bombs did help us win the division in 2006
*Mind you while I work I try to gather information from my memory rather than from the web to maximize my productivity. It may not be the best system
Good nicknames for Dennys, all in fun I’m sure. Reminded me of a White Sox player in the 70’s named Walt No Neck Williams. Pretty good player, he just didn’t have a neck. His head was right on top of his shoulders.
And the Angels aren’t doing too bad, either, SM.
No doubt..this squad would be comfortably in first if Torii were here.
not sure torii’s numbers = 18 mill a yr salary.
In regards to Adam Dunn, I was inferring that he seemed a much sexier trade option earlier in his career than he does now. Maybe due a shift in the way players are valued, but perhaps due to the fact he is aging. I am just remembering the Jays (SABR advocate) GM saying “why the expletive would I want Dunn.”
all relative gobble…not for us they don’t, I’m sure the Angels are cool with it.
Adam Dunn is 28 and has hit 40 HRs while OPSing around .900 every year. I can’t understand why any GM wouldn’t want Adam DUnn.
Yep, anybody would like the “Adam Bomb” and watching him “Git ‘R Dunn”!
Sorry to make you groan, but Howard started it.
“three run jack” is ok or “how about bases loaded no out K Young”
hey what happened to our comments?
I’ll just throw this out for discussion: Young has been steadily improving at the plate over the course of the season and could be poised to finish strong (he has already raised his average to .290); Kubel, meanwhile, has been inconsistent and Morneau, meanwhile, is getting walked regularly. Time to move Young up the 5th spot?
I kept hitting the refresh key as I could not believe that everyone just stopped chattering at 11:39.
The Reyes talk has reminded me of last season. I went to a game in the Dome and sat in the first row behind the Twins bullpen. We were playing the Angels and about the 6th inning, Dennys comes waddling from the dugout area with a plate of nachos and a big gulp of pop. Wifey and I laughed pretty hard for a long time about seeing him munchin on his nachos
Kay, it could be worth trying again now that Young’s improving.
I was able to watch last night’s replay, and I saw Young hold up on a pitch that he used to K up on pretty easy (The Hunter I think we call it)
I’ve noticed he’s getting better at that lately. Gomez has to a lesser extent, but put men on base and his old self shines right through (well, shines in the “You can see it” sense vs. the “its a good thing” sense)
I think Delmon is definately a future #5 hitter. Possibly #3 if he continues to improve on power numbers. I think the way he is swinging the bat, it wouldn’t hurt to try him after Morneau. If anything it will split up the lefties a little.
Whities lead the Royals 3-2….in looking at the box score, the Royals only have one regular (non-recent call up) hitting .270 or better and that’s Ross Gload. How sad is that?
I mean it’s one thing to have bad pitching (a lot of bad teams have bad pitching), but when you have a lineup that does not have one single player worthy of dragging fans to the ballpark for…that’s really, really sad.
Anyone looking forward to the upcoming stretch of 24 of 30 on the road? I’m guessing Gardy is hoping that some members of the pen miss the team flight. . .
All,
The blog was moved to a new server a couple of hours back, which explains why you couldn’t find new comments for a spell. This one should be more stable than it’s predecessor.
Howard
So anyhow, a few days ago some posters were talking about how easy the Twins had it in terms of the teams they’d be playing, but I’m afraid they’ll have trouble keeping pace given how long they’ll be on the road. Hopefully Delmon hasn’t used up all of his 3-run shots.
none of us are stable why should the server be?
BTW — It’s Dennys “Grand Slam” Reyes. If we’re coming up with nicknames, let’s get ‘em right.
By the way, recall we were talking power and Twins HRs earlier…the Whities have mustered 4 today…
I know there’s more than one way to skin a cat, but the HR can be a nice additive to any lineup.
Yeah Jason, I saw that. It was 3-2, I started doing some actual work and suddenly it is 9-2. Incredible. It seems to happen that way with the White Sox. It’s like they are a video game.
Good grief I know the Royals helped us out huge in ‘06 last week of season but can they beat the stinkin’ Sox once this series?
Howard, thanks for the relief pitcher info.
Gotta disagree though…haven’t the Twins for years specifically sought out ground ball/low strikeout pitchers? Didn’t they make Silva a starter because “he’s a ground ball machine?” Didn’t they draft the reliever from Miami this year specifically because of his sinker?
I agree that Bradford wouldn’t be the guy you’d bring in if you need a “K”. That’d be Crain.
However, if you need a guy to come in and start the seventh inning against some RH hitting, you can do a lot worse than Bradford. Brian Bass, for instance.
Bradford might be a slight upgrade but he costs 3.5 million next year. That’s not how the Twins roll. And he is pitching a lot better than his career ERA. Twins are 67-53 1GB haven’t lost a prospect and got a bunch from last year. Signed their draft picks and have a sweet payroll of under 59 million. That’s how you do it. I can’t see the Twins better placed for 09 and 10. Shooter Hunt, Aaron Hicks, Ben Revere, Anthony Slama and maybe Deloris Guerra look like solid prospects. Have money in the bank for 09 and can have a payroll around 85-90 million for 2010. Those boys at ESPN are going to be annoyed the Twins will probably be around at the end a lot more years to come. Eat it Rob Neyer & Keith Law.
“Deloris” Guerra?
A lot was made about Delmon’s surliness and not being a clubhouse guy at the time of the trade. Right or wrong, that seems to be a bigger issue here in Minnesota where harmony seems to be stressed more than other teams.
Delmon has had some ups and downs this year…but does anyone have any real scoop on how he’s regarded by his teammates now?
but does anyone have any real scoop on how he’s regarded by his teammates now?
If there was a problem we’d have heard about it by now.
And considering comments he made when Gardy benched him earlier in the season, he’s gotten over whatever chip he had in the minors.
Possibly, but the way a few of the players have reacted to Delmon makes you wonder how he is really regarded. Earlier in the year when DY muffed up the fly to left field, Nathan gave him the cold shoulder. This past week Morneau made some comments that weren’t meant to be critical, but came off as DY is finally coming around. Leads you to wonder behind the scenes if DY is still a little irritating and/or selfish and still has some of that edge that rubbed his Tampa Bay teammates wrong last year. We’ll see, hope he’s maturing…
Good point about the shunning earlier this season, Fry Dog. But that play in KC (as well as a few other mistakes) was what lead up to Delmon being sat for one or two games.
And after that was when Delmon had his quote about being benched by Gardy. I wish I could find them, because I really respected him for what he said about it.
I haven’t seen any of the comments by Morneau that you’re referring to, but would be interested if you can find them again.
Morneau’s comments were actually on a radio interview…I think the topic was that Morneau is slumping but he commented that other guys are stepping up - and he said something like that’s what we expected from Delmon all along but now he’s finally doing it.
Carl Crawford and some others really hated Delmon last year in Tampa and attribute a lot of their winning this year to “cleansing” the clubhouse of some bad personalities. I don’t think the guys here hate him, but I don’t know if they are on his bandwagon yet either. I keeping thinking there’s going to be some boiling over at some point - a 22 year old can’t totally change over night. Hope I’m wrong…
Go, “Three Run Jack” Young. Lets hope Frankie beats the Mariners! Mauer should be able to get multi hits off of Silva. Morneau should homer and Span should steal second. How about a score of 7-0 in favor of the Twins!!!!!
Fry Dog, like they say it takes two in any relationships. I guess only the Rays know what went on in their clubhouse with Delmon last year.
It seems like the two clubs traded “problems” to each other. Garza wasn’t exactly the model citizen either, at least with the coaches if not the other players. Even though he’s pitching better this year, he already has had a punchout with his catcher Navarro.
Wasn’t Upton also supposedly part of whatever problem they had in Tampa? Given all the hype before Young arrived it would not be surprising if all parties in the Twins clubhouse have been walking on eggshells all season so far. The fastest cure for that behavior is two 3-run HRS in back to back games, including blowing Rivera’s save. Stories circulated that older bro Dimitri gave Delmon a good review about the Twins as a team to join. Now maybe the team can reciprocate with some luv for their new slugger IF there were any cold shoulders before. And I’m not sure there is proof positive that the shoulders were cold in the past. Irritated with some of his defensive gaffes definitely, but cold shoulder? Maybe not.
I worry more about Liriano who always seems to be a loner whenever they show the dugout and he’s in the picture. Maybe Alexi can help out…he seems to be a friend to Gomez, maybe he can cheer up Liriano also.
Roto, everybody is probably settling in to watch the game just about now but I just have to go on the record to say that you gave me quite a good chuckle about Delmon and Ninja Turtles. Yeah, I definitely see the resemblance!
At first I couldn’t figure out why everybody was popping off about nicknames (sorry Howard, I didn’t initially read your part of this blog). But great catch, Roto, on the Turtles. Subconsciously I knew there was a double…just whooooo exactly is it????? LOL
Great blog. One of the most creative things I have seen on the web is http://www.battingstanceguy.com . If you haven’t seen this yet - you’ve got to check it out! This guy is hilarious in his impressions of baseball stars past and present and nails the Twins!
I agree with Jason. Let the Yanks and the Red Sox stay out of the playoff picture for this year. I to would like to see the Whitesox be the wild card team and play the Angels! And the Twins and Tampa play each other. Then watch the Twins beat up on the Angels or better yet Chicago beats the Angels and then our Twins can beat Chicago and move on to the series……
