I don't want to give anyone the impression that I'm hung up on one or two solitary moments in what will be a series of moments as the long season marches on. Some moments will go our way and some moments won't. That's baseball in a nutshell. With that said... I would like to revisit the 8th inning of the season opener yesterday to make a broader point. The Twins were in position to win the game. Vance Worley was out dueled by Verlander but the Vanimal did ...
I tried to study the impact of the batting order change using ZIPS projections. I was a little disappointed in the results. I used the average plate appearances by batting order position in the AL last year. The second spot had 103 more plate appearances on average than the 8th spot. That made sense as it is close to 6x18. I then compared a Dozier with 735 plate appearances to a Dozier with 632 plate appearances. (Yes... I know he is not going to play 162 games and neither ...
I'm not going to write about every game or every day of the season. However, I watched a lot of baseball yesterday and I have some thoughts to share. I thought the Twins game went about as would have been expected, and I was happy that they made it close near the end. I don't like to get too caught up in one game, but it's just too much fun to write about baseball, so here are some thoughts. Aaron Hicks Aaron Hicks had a tough debut. Justin Verlander is the best pitcher ...
Also posted at wgom.org Reggie Smith (1945) Tom Johnson (1951) Billy Sample (1955) Curtis Leskanic (1968) Denny Hocking (1970) Outfielder Carl Reginald Smith did not play for the Twins, but spent his first year, 1963, in their farm system. Smith was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, went to high school in Compton, California, and signed with Minnesota as a free agent in 1963. He played in Wytheville in the rookie-level Appalachian League, hitting ...
The last two Aprils have been rough for Twins Territory. Slow starts out of the gate meant the club would only accumulate single digit wins in 2011 and 2012. As fans know, the team never recovered from those slow starts and Minnesota finished at the bottom of the American League for two consecutive years. It's a new year and the Twins are hoping not to repeat the slow starts of the last two season. For some people, there is plenty riding on the start by the Twins. Ron Gardenhire is ...
John and Aaron talk about loving Opening Day at the ballpark and on the couch, the Minnesota Twins' lowest expectations ever, moving Joe Mauer up and Brian Dozier down in the batting order, what to do with Justin Morneau, appreciating the greatness of Johan Santana, bullpen and bench usage issues, finding what you need on Ticket King, exactly how bad the rotation can get, and why baseball is so damn comforting. Here are: the podcaststhe rss feed if you want to subscribe ...
It's been a few years since I did this. You'll either love it or hate it. Here are some anagrams of the 25-man roster. I don't claim a lot of creativity, and I used a program to generate possibilities. I spared the mods some grief by leaving out the dirty ones. Some names are pretty barren (had to cheat and use Mauer's given name Joseph), while others give an embarrassment of riches and you might think up better ones. Or you might even spot some typos/errors, ...
Updated 04-02-2013 at 12:30 AM by ashburyjohn
When I sat down in my home office and turned on the Nationals game to hear how Denard Span did with his new team, the sun was friendly and my view was mostly free from snow. By the time I got in my car and tuned into the Twins game, all I could see were piles of snow and gloomy skies. Gray is the official color of being down by two runs. The Twins must have settled in after that, but when I got back in my car I listened to them waste a bases loaded opportunity. Duensing ...
I am curious as to who - each of you see as breakout "Players to Watch" at each minor league level. Elizabethton - Besides new 2013 draft prospects - I see Joshua Burris as the player who should have moved up a level and as the player who will still impress. Cedar Rapids - Adam Brett Walker was Top 5 in Appalachain League in HRs (1st)- Runs Scored (4th) - RBIs (4th) - Total Bases (5th) - Triples (tied with 3rd). He is my stat line prospect for the MWL in 2013. If he ...
Target Field - Phenom Aaron Hicks is not the only Minnesota Twins player who will be making the jump from AA to the big leagues in 2013. Rule 5 pick Ryan Pressly is also making that jump, and he’s admittedly, and understandably, “pretty nervous right now” as the Twins and Tigers are preparing to open their 2013 seasons at Target Field this afternoon. Hicks spent the entire 2012 season in New Britain. Pressly didn’t make his AA debut until mid-July, shortly after making the transition ...
It’s Opening Day! Alas, we still haven’t elected a President with the balls to do the right thing and make Opening Day a legal Federal Holiday and mandate that everyone who doesn’t work in a sports bar must be given the day off (and those who do work in sports bars must be paid double-time just for putting up with the rest of us who would spend our entire day drinking beer ...
Originally posted at www.twinstrivia.com The long cold winter still has a hold on the area as most of the grassy areas are still covered with snow, you can still walk across most of the lakes in Minnesota because ice still covers the shimmering blue waters, there is still snow and ice on the roof of our home and the wind blowing from Canada can still take your breath away but according to the calendar, spring arrived a week or so ago. We heard a ...
Also posted at wgom.org Ron Perranoski (1936) Ted Sadowski (1936) Mike Bacsik (1952) Mike Kinnunen (1958) Left-handed reliever Ronald Peter Perranoski pitched for the Twins from 1968-1971. His last name was originally “Perzanowski”, and he is a cousin of former Twins pitcher Stan Perzanowski. He was born in Paterson, New Jersey and went to high school in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. He attended Michigan State and was signed by the Cubs as a free agent in ...
Three years ago, the Twins were in an ideal position. The organization was proud to be opening Target Field on a beautiful day in downtown Minneapolis. Minnesota would be on their way to 94 wins, the most for the franchise since the 2006 season. It would be a memorable season for Twins Territory but there were some problems starting to bubble under the surface. The dreaded Yankees were again waiting for the Twins in the first round. It would be another quick exit from the postseason ...
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