twins | The Baseball Zealot

Metrodome “snow thud”

Sounds like crews are already on the ball and are inspecting the damage of the “snow thud” at the Metrodome last Sunday.

This isn’t the first time this has happened at the Humpdome.

Commission chairman Roy Terwilliger says it’s the fourth roof collapse since the stadium opened nearly 30 years ago, all caused by heavy snow.

Interesting personal angle with me. The University of Illinois baseball team (who I blog about at Illinois Baseball Report) just came out with their schedule last week and the team is/was scheduled to play at the Metrodome in mid-March at the newly formed Metrodome Tournament.

Gives a new definition to “Tournament jitters”.

Twins hang on to Mauer for $184 mil

Mike Bauman, columnist for MLB.com, explains why the $184 million deal that keeps Joe Mauer in Minnesota for the next eight years, is good for baseball.

This is where the encouragement occurs for the rest of the non-Yankees in the baseball universe. Instead of Mauer moving to the Bronx to take over for Jorge Posada, for instance, he will simply remain in the upper Midwest as a member of the Minnesota Twins. What a nice, clean, refreshing story line.

and further…

There should be encouragement in this example for other franchises of less than gargantuan size, with star players coming into their own free agency. The best players can be retained by someone other than the biggest franchises.

The figure of $184 seems like a high number but for the number of years and the quality of the product, some feel that the Twins got a pretty good deal. I’ve even heard the word “bargain” bandied about.

Put simply, what this does is lock up one of the best players in baseball who was lucky enough (from the Twins’ perspective) to develop within their system. The Twins are saying goodbye to the Humpdome and hello to Target Field which in the long run will probably help pay for Mr Mauer.

Back to Mike Bauman’s point, though. Is this good for baseball? I guess it doesn’t matter since well, it’s already happened right? But part of me understands Bauman’s point. It’s nice to see the small guys hold on to the big players once in a while.

2009 American League All Stars

derek-jeter The Sporting News has announced the American League All Stars as selected by a panel of 31 major league general managers and GMs. Joe Mauer received votes from all 17 AL executives who participated.

C Joe Mauer appeared in 138 games for the Twins, 109 behind the plate, leading the league with a .365 batting average (he also topped the league in average the year before with a .328 mark), while getting beat up at catcher. Joe hit 28 homers, 30 doubles, and drove in 96, leading Minnesota to the postseason as Central Division champs.

1B Mark Teixeira powered the Yankees offense leading the league in homers (39) & RBIs 122, while batting .292, with 43 doubles, scoring 103 times, he also topped the Junior Circuit in total bases with 344.

2B Aaron Hill came back after suffering a concussion, which allowed him to only play 55 games the previous season, to have his best year ever. Aaron batted .286 with 36 home runs & 37 doubles, driving in 108 & scoring 103 times.

3B Evan Longoria was the Rookie of the Year who was one of the leaders of the Rays who made it to the World Series last year, now he’s the best player at the hot corner. He batted .281, with 33 longballs, 44 two base hits, drove in 113 & scored 100 times.

SS Derek Jeter is the captain & leader of the New York Yankees. Jeter batted .334 with an OBP of .406, it was his job to get on for the big bats, steling 30 bases at the ripe old age of 35, he ripped 18 homers to go along with 27 doubles.

OF Ichiro Suzuki is known simply as Ichiro. Since coming to the States all he’s done is hit, a lifetime batting average of .333, over 200 hits every season (9 years), and leading the league in hits the last four years. This year Ichiro batted .352 with 225 hits, 31 doubles, 11 homers, and 26 steals.

OF Torii Hunter just missed batting .300, finishing the season with a .299 batting average, 22 homers, 90 RBIs, despite missing significant time due to injury.

OF Jason Bay has quickly found his Fenway Park stroke since coming over to the Red Sox, socking 36 homers, driving in 119, while scoring 103 runs.

DH Hideki Matsui joins three other Yankees on this year’s all star squad. Due to injuries Matsui took over the team’s fulltime DH duties to keep him healthy and to keep his potent bat in the lineup. It worked as Hideki hit 28 home runs & drove in 90 for the Bronx Bombers.

SP Zack Greinke seems to have it altogether for the Royals, being named Pitcher of the Year. 16-8 with a league best 2.16 ERA and 242 strikeouts in 229′ innings, doesn’t begin to tell the story of this youngster’s dominance, with any kind of run support at all he certainly would’ve been a twenty game winner.

RP Mariano Rivera There are closers, then there is Mariano Rivera. He is that good, he is a step above every other closer in the game, and like a fine wine, he just keeps getting better with age. He has this cutter, a gift from God, the hitters know it’s coming, but can’t do anything to hit it. He has taught his famous cutter to a few pitchers throughout the league, to the chagrin of many hitters. This year Mo, at the age of 39, had 44 saves to go along with a 1.76 ERA, ho-hum.

Twins Complete Sweep of White Sox @ Cell

buehrle

They were the last three games I could go to at the Cell to see my White Sox play in 2009, Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday nights against the Twins. The weatherman predicted rain, so I decided not to go. On Monday the rain held off, but the Twins bats did not, the Sox lost 7-0, Rob went to a Patio Party that night, but couldn’t persuade me to join him, glad I decided to stay home, the White Sox didn’t show up to play, so why should I show up to watch? Tuesday again looked like rain, Chuck was buying tix for his family on stubhub & wanted me to join him, I politely declinced. Again we lost, but this night we hit three homers, and lost by a score of 8-6.

I was determined not to go again on Wednesday, but then it hit me. This was the last game I could go to in 2009. I have a tradition that goes back nearly 40 years to September 28, 1969 when I first attended the last game of the season. After the game somebody tossed a baseball up to my father for me. As we were leaving the ballpark, Dad asked if I’d like to go to the players parking lot to see if we could get some autographs, I’ve still got that baseball proudly on display in my room, with just about everybody’s signature from that team on it. Since then I’ve taken off school to see the White Sox play their home closer, whenever possible I was there. I was there when Bill Melton hitting leadoff in order to bat more often hit a home run (# 33) off Bill Parsons to pass Norm Cash, and become the Home Run Champion of 1971, I bought a button of Bill Melton commemorating the event, which I’ve still got. But even if I couldn’t make it to the last game, I’d still venture out to the last game I could make.

So halfway through Wednesday I decided I would be going down to the Cell to see Mark Buehrle pitch. Mark Buehrle, who has been far from perfect since pitching his perfect game, seeing his record drop from 11-3 to 12-9, and his ERA rise from 3.28 to 3.84. But still, Mark was my guy, this was my team, I was going down there on the Red Line with hope of avoiding the sweep. It was obvious from the beginning Buehrle didn’t have it, he was yanked after giving up 5 runs, and we were down five to zip. I was hanging behind homeplate with Al, Anthony, & Dan, Dick & Bea, Caramel Corn Mike, Debbie, and bought a beer from BIG Bill (we talked a little baseball), my friend Adele saw me from her seats near firstbase, and called my cell. I joined Adele and her friends Tina & Kate, while visiting with them we managed to close the gap to 5-3, but then Tina & Kate went off to get some snacks & drinks, Minnesota put the game on ice with three runs in the top of the 7th. I returned to my normal spot behind home, the Sox closed to 8-6, but couldn’t quite pull it off. We talked about what we’d do if we were in charge, then we bid each other adieu, till next year, when we’ll all be back for another season of White Sox baseball, rooting for our team.

LET’S GO WHITE SOX!

We’ll Be Talking About This One

Dodgers Sox Spring Baseball WHITE SOX WIN 4-2 in METRODOME FINALE, coming back from two runs down, nobody on, two outs, two strikes, against Joe Nathan, Gordon Beckham HOMERS, Paul Konerko HOMERS, pinch runner Dewayne Wise (running for Jermaine Dye, who’d walked), SCORES after stealing second, on a shallow single to left by Alexei Ramirez, another run scores on a wild pitch, and Bobby Jenks gets them 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 9th to close out the Metrodome.

Found out, CLuke’s daughter was responsible for this win, playing “Don’t Stop Believin”, when Beckham was batting in the 9th. Buck also spit out a fantasy win from Brian Duensing, for the cause. And I have Joe Nathan on my WTLNXTYR fantasy squad, he spit out the save, enabling the comeback win.

We’ll be talking about this one, when the Sox win it all, with the greatest comeback in the game’s history!

LET’S GO WHITE SOX!!!

Carl Pavano shuts down Tigers and maybe shuts up critics

I admit I snickered a bit when I read the news release about Minnesota trading for starting pitcher Carl Pavano. My first reaction was: Is the Twins’ pitching really that bad off?

Since 2004 when Pavano won 18 games with Florida, there have been continual trips to the DL not to mention countless disappointments for Yankee fans save for those who were smart enough to not to get their hopes up. Pavano won only nine games between 2005-2008 including missing 2006 altogether. This year with Cleveland, he has won nine games already despite a 5.37 ERA. A positive stat for Pavano: only 23 walks in 125+ innings.

Well, Carl Pavano may have quieted his critics a little after his first start tonight. Against rival Detroit, he pitched seven scoreless innings in the Twins’ 11-0 victory. Pavano was efficient, facing only 27 batters and throwing only 90 pitches. And yeah, his control remained intact, walking none.

Minnesota is within striking distance of first place in the AL Central. With today’s win, they are only 4.5 games back behind first place Detroit and 2.5 behind second place Chicago. The Twins put out the usual line that Carl Pavano is what they need to win down the homestretch. I wonder if Pavano’s performance tonight helps them convince themselves of their own PR-speak (it shouldn’t surprise them TOO much, Pavano owns the Tigers. He came into the game with a 3-0 record and a 1.93 for the season against them).

Carl Pavano won’t come out and pitch shutout ball every start. But it’s POSSIBLE he could be a productive member of their staff. But the big issue with Mr Pavano is his health. Hopefully for the Twins’ sake, history does not repeat itself.

Crede falls to the dark side

I’m curious what Sox think of this.

Not so much that Crede won’t be with Chicago any more. I think that song was written a few months ago. But now he’ll be playing for their arch-rivals Minnesota Twins.

Comments from the South side?

Oh, from the article (emphasis mine):

Crede, who provided stellar defense and was a clutch hitter during his tenure with the Sox…

I’ve heard from more than one Sox fan that Crede’s defense had been lacking in 2008 at least in comparison to his past years. Perhaps that’s true? Or maybe that was due to his injury??

For what it’s worth, Crede does say he’s almost back to 100%.

SOX t-WIN

All by myself, in the Twin Cities! Took the Light Rail from the Mall of America, got down there as the gates opened, found a nice general admission seat about as far away from the action as you can get, out in centerfield. Tonite I didn’t wear my glasses, I’d rather not see a win, than see the losses I saw the last two nights. I’m not superstitious, but I know what works. Whatever it takes!

It was time for Livan Hernandez, 8-1 at home this year, but it was the White Sox turn. Carlos Quentin hit a solo shot just over the leftfield wall, then ripped a bases clearing, two out double, it was 5-0 Good Guys. The Twinks scored, but then Alexei Ramirez put the game on ice with a three run jack. Gavin Floyd held the Twins hitters at bay. BIG BAD Bobby Jenks was brought on in the 9th to get some work in, Minnesota scored a couple of meaningless runs, despite Nick Swisher hitting the wall to grab an out in right, final score 8-3. Now I’ve got a winning streak to keep going.

One more game tomorrow night, after the game I hop the Big Grey Dog back to the Windy City.

Home Sweet Home for Twinkie Hurlers

I was chatting with my friend Joy the Sox fan over lunch today and she passed on an interesting tidbit about the Twins (a team, by the way, she despises).

Minnesota is currently a half game out of first place with a 59-47. Yet, their pitching staff show a wide gap in their performance on the road and at home. Their ERA at home is third in the majors at a nifty 3.19. When they travel, however, it slides all the way down to 28th in the MLB at a miserable 5.52 ERA.

You can see the splits here.

That results in a 36-19 home, 23-28 away record for the year.

Hopeless in Minnesota

My two game win streak is over! Mark Buehrle got clubbed for 5 runs (4 earned) in five innings & Kevin Slowey had it all going on, final score seven to nothing. The Metrodome lived up to advance billing, it sucks. There are still three games left in the series, tomorrow’s another day, but to be honest – I’d prefer we just blow this race open, rather than have just a 1 1/2 game lead, too close for comfort.

I believe Clayton Richard makes his second big league start tomorrow night. These Twinkies are really pesky, it seems like everybody in the lineup bats in the .310’s, with speed, and they can field.

The Light Rail is a great way to get to/from the game. And I have an 8 hour Greyhound ride to Chicago Friday morning at 1:15 AM, leaving for Waupaca once I get in town, 4 more hours, maybe I should just use my gun and end it now. What do male Twins/Cubs fans have in common? They both pee in troughs, did I tell you this place SUCKS?