After three games in Baltimore things look a little grim for the Twins. After last season's stinkfest fans are carefully attuned to the ups and (especially) the downs. So every little foible fels like a harbinger of another doom-tastic year. ...
Glen Perkins was used to get two high leverage outs in the first game when we were still in it and needed to keep the score close. Now, I didn't get to watch beyond the 4th inning of yesterday's game. I'm looking in the boxscores today and checking my fantasy league team when I see that Perk pitched an inning with two strikeouts. Can anyone explain? Anyone? Seriously, Ron Gardenhire! Seriously?
This post originally appeared at www.puckettspond.comOn Thursday of this past week all four of the Twins full-season affiliate teams were in action, and although the teams split the games with 2 wins and 2 losses, there were a lot of good things to take away from both opening day and the first few days of the 2012 MiLB schedule. As this will be my first season covering the minors with anything more than a casual glance to the big name prospects, I'm still figuring a few things out, including ...
The Twinsare 0-2 after two dreadful performances against the Orioles that saw the Twinsdominated by two average at best pitchers, struggled defensively, and had theirpitchers battered. Some will say that itis over and that Ron Gardenhire should be fired and replaced with PaulMolitor. They will say that Terry Ryanshould never have returned and he is no better than Bill Smith. They will say that Jim Pohlad is one of thecheapest owners in baseball that should spend like the Tigers. They will say ...
Updated 04-08-2012 at 08:58 AM by travistwinstalk
The Twins lost 8-2 to the Orioles on Saturday night in what proved to be a tough day throughout the Twins organization. Including the Twins, the organization went a combined 0-5 on the day. Of course, that doesn’t mean there weren’t some highlights… just that there aren’t as many! The Twins and the Red Wings are the only two teams that play on Easter with the three lower levels able to enjoy a day off on the holiday. Here is what happened on Saturday in the parks of the ...
IT'S ALIV . . . NO, NOPE. IT'S NOT. SORRY: FEAR IN A HANDFUL OF ROSIN PART 1 A MR. HORRORPANTS SCREENPLAY INT. MAD SCIENTIST'S CASTLE. MR. HORRORPANTS IS WEARING A LAB COAT AND STANDING IN FRONT OF A LARGE BODY ON A SLAB. HE IS ACCOMPANIED BY STELLA, HIS TRUSTY ASSISTANT GREAT DANE. Mr. Horrorpants pulls a sheet off of the body on the slab to reveal a Frankenstein creation wearing a Minnesota Twins Jersey. On the sleeve ...
Lily Rothman of Slate.com recently wrote a very interesting piece on the treatment of minor league baseball players and their plight to make ends meet. Rothman noted that these “hidden underclass of workers” make a salary comprising of $1,100 a month and receive that pay for only half the year. As opposed to their major league brethren, minor leaguers have little or no protection as a working class. There have been some players within the system ...
Updated 04-07-2012 at 12:55 PM by Parker Hageman
This blog has been promoted to an article. Please feel free to comment here. Day 2 in the Twins minor league system meant FIVE box scores to follow. In an unusual event, New Britain and Richmond had a scheduled double header. The Twins affiliates went 4-1 on the day. The Rochester Red Wings and New Britain Rock Cats are a combined 5-0 so far on the early season. As you will see every day throughout the season, here are the scores and highlights from the Twins minor league system. ...
Updated 04-07-2012 at 08:37 AM by Seth Stohs
All is well in the world. Spring Training is over and teams are in their affiliated cities. The beginning of the season means jersey selection, locker organization, paperwork and…walkout songs. This decision can be spur of the moment or have months of thought put into it. The reasons for choosing a particular song are unique to each guy. There are a few popular ways I have seen players do this in the past. Play on Words Yesterday I was asking a few guys what they would ...
Updated 04-06-2012 at 11:03 PM by Seth Stohs
Lots of hand-wringing over a not-so-inspiring Game 1. Also, lots of opinions about who should get how much blame, most of it centered on either Pavano or the hitters. Well, now that the spring training kool-aid fest has worn off my question is, "whose to blame"? Let's face it Twins fans, Vegas has us as over/under 73 wins for a reason. We didn't get much love from national pundits and magazines for a reason. I'd like to think we could take second place and give the Tigers a run for ...
Originally posted at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- Not necessarily in any order. Just notes I was making while watching the game: Luke Hughes was the emergency backup Catcher? Say what? I thought that it would had been Josh Willingham who actually caught before. And (I did double check) Luke has played in every position of the field in pro ball(including P) but C.Mauer and GIDP are not a good combination. So are Pavano and his 86 mph "fast"ball, esp when ...
Last night myself and about 700 other folks decided to tempt frostbite to catch a baseball game between a bunch of guys who have spent the last few months in Florida as they tried to adapt to 35 degree weather. This was not a enjoyabe experience for all concerned. Most noticeably Madison Boer. Our starting pitcher hung in for a a couple innngs with some good stuff for game more suited for Lambeau then Pohlman Field. But this promising start was not how the night would be ending for Madison. The ...
Opening Day is a time for hope. So, while the Twins are still undefeated, I thought I'd fire off a list of things I'm hoping will occur in 2012. Some may be more realistic than others, heck I'm willing to admit that some are pure fantasy. But still... These are ten things I hope to see in 2012: 1) Mauer plays well and stays healthy and is in serious contention for a batting title and even MVP consideration. 2) Dan Barriero is publicly ridiculed and forced ...