Splat … and thanks, Cleveland
Posted on September 27th, 2008 – 12:06 AMBy Howard
First of all, for some reason, there’s all kinds of bad Cleveland “fight songs.” I mean, seriously, stuff that makes the Hormel RowHallof Fame song sound like Sweet Caroline. Whatever, here’s a link that’ll get you to some of them, and it would be good to pick your favorite and hum it under your breath while Cleveland’s playing the White Sox.
Let’s Go Tribe!
Weird dynamic at the Dome last night. The Twins were down early and badly, and people stayed in good spirits, probably because of the hangover from Thursday night’s game. Folks were still getting to their feet with two strikes even when the score was 6-0 and it was obvious that Liriano wasn’t sharp. Folks also were missing plays on the Metrodome field every now and again because they were watching the scoreboard updates out of Chicago. It was fun to listen to glum Ed Farmer call the final outs of the White Sox’ 11-8 loss on the way home.
The fan behavior is totally understandable, although I’m a bit concerned that Liriano has thrown two clunkers in his last three starts, with the only win coming at Tampa Bay the afternoon after the Rays clinched and presumably celebrated pretty hard.
It must be pretty pathetic to be the Royals and reduced to being excited about being a spoiler on an annual basis. We used to tell the joke of the Twins that must apply in Kansas City right now — the one about wondering whether the fan will remember to show up for Fan Appreciation Weekend. The best news in our row was when Ms. Baseball had her number pulled. Not that a Cub Foods gift card is anything to sneeze at, but you think that Trader Joe’s could sponsor the Twins the way they do the Athletics? Just askin’ for next season.
Back to baseball. It’s time for Glen Perkins to show that the week off from being skipped in the rotation will return him to mid-summer form. The solid hands in the bullpen all got the night off Friday, so they’ll be ready if he can go 6 or 7 strong. Time to recapture the midweek magic this afternoon and then check out Javier “Big Game” Vazquez when evening falls.
And speaking of music, remember this one?
18 Responses to "Splat … and thanks, Cleveland"
been quite an interesting week on planet earth no matter how you look at it.
Haiku Cheer:
Go Indians Go!
Rip ‘em up and tear ‘em up!
Cleveland O-HI-O!
No question Perkins and Baker on Sunday need to give the team a chance to win with solid outings but the key may lie elsewhere. The offense needs to crank it up and to do so early. Get the lead and give the chance for KC to check out. Keep them in the game and they stay interested. Can’t keep hoping a crazy late inning comeback will get the job done when KC is playing tension free thanks to stinking for the past 5 months. Time for the 4 thru 6 slots on the order to “cowboy up”. The little guys (and one night of Kubel) beat the WSox but now it’s time to understand that they won’t let Morneau beat them (which is getting easier since he’s busy getting himself out in meek fashion). Cuddy, Delmon, Harris, Buscher, maybe even Ruiz, it’s your chance to win a division that the other guys have put the team in position to take.
Like high school is for many of us, don’t let Thursday night be the last highlight of your season. Win two and the title will be yours.
meh, both the Sox and Twins had to be pretty tired out. I can’t even explain how intense yesterday’s game was even as a spectator. Winning that game felt like we’d captured a championship..having to play again the next night seemed like a surreal concept. Hopefully reality sets in tomorrow for the Twins.
[…] A Fan’s View – […]
Since we play the afternoon game today, it would be key to put up a W. Knowing the wsox are watching the scoreboard as much as we are, if we set the bar high today, it only puts that much more pressure on them.
Hormel ROW of Fame …
Howard, in the offseason we should have a blog devoted to discussion re the Franchise. Like you his performance or lack of yesterday was very discomforting for me. I really don’t want to say anything more negative than that at this crucial time of the season but I was struck by something about Liriano as I watched the game last night. It’s a nagging thought I’ve had for awhile and yesterday only reinforced it.
The Royals have been streaky all season and just because they have won 12 of 14, does not mean the Twins have any excuses. The pitching needs to come together for just two more games and the mistakes in the field be kept to a minimum. I believe the Indians have a chance to sweep the White Sox. But even if the Twins lose out and the White Sox lose out, the White Sox would have to play the Tigers which is not a guaranteed win for the Sox.
Huge game for the Twins…
Nice catch, Alec.
B-a-G-G, For an assortment of reasons, I’ve never thought of maturity as one of Liriano’s strong suits, and I wonder if that had anything to do with his inability to do his part in sealing the deal. I mean, what you if you put Slowey’s make-up together with Liriano’s stuff?
He abandonded his chance and slider in the 4 run inning cause he had no confidence in them i am assuming. Mauer has to take control of that too. when you got 2 strikes on a guy 3 in a row as he did, you don’t neccessarily need to get the slider in the strike zone.
I am not too worried because his velocity was good. 92.93 on FB, 87 on the slider, it has been around 84.
Mentally he, andy, and the catchers need a good week for a potential game 1….
if the Twins win tonight and the White sox lose do you chance passing on baker sunday? that keeps him available for tuesday if they need him, game 1 if they don’t. Of course, you’d have to start Bonser and use the bullpen.
If the Twins have to pitch Baker on Sunday and it turns out they have to play a one game playoff vs. the ChiSox on Tuesday and Slowey is still hurt, I think they should start Bonser instead of Blackburn. Bonser has a fresher arm and the White Sox got 8 hits in 5 innings against Blackburn on Wednesday. Also its always easier for a team to hit a guy they have just faced. Blackburn pitched valiantly and just gave up 2 runs but he was just one bad pitch away from his outing being a total disaster. He and Perkins seem to have hit some kind of wall because of the number of innings they have pitched. I know its scary having your whole season ride on the effectiveness of Boof but I honestly think he would give the Twins a better chance than Blackburn at this point of the season.
Friday night setback
Minor bump, or all-out choke?
Weekend Royal flush?
Jay,
thats why if the Twins have a 1.5 game lead tomorrow i’d rather go Bonser and the bullpen. lowering the chance to win tomorrow but keeping Baker for the most important games….
Its moot if they don’t have that 1.5 lead after today.
Slider down and in
Never thrown for a called strike
Hitters look fastball.
Checked in to read the Best Haiku in Major League Baseball, and wasn’t let down. But do you guys still want to start Bonser? (LOL)
Secret to winning:
Pitching staff by committee.
One inning for each!
