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I am looking ahead a little bit, but if you look at the Twins schedule early in the year, look out! The begin the season in Baltimore, that is fine, but then look what the schedule holds for us in order: Home, Angels (3) Home, Rangers (3) Away, Yankees (4) Away, Rays (3) Home, Red Sox (3) Home, Royals (3) Away, Angels (3) Away, Mariners (3) Home, Angels (3) Home, Blue Jays (4) That is very ugly, if you look realistically at that beginning I am seeing a start for the Twins reco
This was originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch -- This is the latest update of the Twins' Bench Battle and the Bullpen Battle Dashboards, to track player performance to date this spring. Performances include those in the game vs the Blue Jays earlier this afternoon. You can read the basic premise behind the Bench Battle Dashboard here and behind the Bullpen Battle Dashboard here. I will be updating them daily and post daily updates. Here is what the Bench Battle Dashboard look
This was originally posted at Knuckleballs By this point, everyone knows the variables that will determine whether the Twins will have a successful 2012 season, right? Mauer, Morneau, Baker and Span have to stay healthy and the bullpen needs to be vastly improved over last year. We know all of that because every beat writer, columnist and blogger has pointed at those issues over and over again since October. Sure, if the established veterans all return to the level of productivity we’ve come
This is a weekly feature at The Tenth Inning Stretch and originally published there ---- Here is this week's installment (also heavily influenced by Spring Training) : Tomorrow is the first minor league spring training day. There are a series of games at the AAA, AA and A level all against the Boston Red Sox' affiliates; also expect the first cuts of Spring Training to be announced today. We all heard of long bus rides for the players to away parks in Spring Training, but if you want to have
I have always been perplexed through recent years with the Twins so called approach of doing the "little" things to win baseball games. We were even called the piranhas by Ozzie (man....I already miss him) and had those Punto type guys who had no pop what so ever, but played the game right. I wont focus on the defensive side because I believe the Twins deserve credit through the years for being a top notch defensive teams with last year being the exception. Now with target field and two years
Originally posted at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- This is the latest update of the Twins' Bench Battle and the Bullpen Battle Dashboards, to track player performance to date this spring. Performances include those in the game vs the Rays earlier this afternoon. You can read the basic premise behind the Bench Battle Dashboard here and behind the Bullpen Battle Dashboard here. I will be updating them daily and post daily updates. Here is what the Bench Battle Dashboard looks like today:
12 March, 2012. Ft. Myers, Florida. I trust this Letter finds you Well and in Good Health and Spirit. Tell Mother I miss her Hot Dish Casserole every Day. I fear this Baseball Season will be what We feared it would be when this Spring Training Campaign began. It is now mid-March, as you can see, and we are still faced with the same Questions of last Year's horrid and shameful Defeat. The Artillery was splendid yesterday, on 11 March 2012, but surely that one sublime Gift of Providence
[Originally posted at Twins Fan From Afar] The Twins had some encouraging Spring Training results over the weekend. I realize that Spring Training games don't count for anything -- they are, in fact, for "training." That's why you see guys taking a lot of pitches, just trying to get their timing down, or you might see a pitcher throw a curveball five times in a row. These guys are trying to get ready for the season, not trying to set Grapefruit League records. But still, tangible results are a
Last year, as some of you know, I wrote an online novel called The HooseCows. It's about an independent league baseball team where broken ballplayers try to find peace dealing with ballpark ghosts and bad people. It's available at http://www.cfcows.com. Currently, I'm preparing it for publication. The problem is I missed writing fiction, and I wanted to write something else. I missed having a story to tell, so there was only one thing to do . . . The new story will have under 5% baseball, an
This was originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- With the first cuts of Spring Training coming as early as tomorrow, I am updating the Bench Battle and the Bullpen Battle Dashboards, to track player performance to date this spring. Performances include those in the game vs the Yankees earlier this afternoon. You can read the basic premise behind the Bench Battle Dashboard here and behind the Bullpen Battle Dashboard here. From now on, I will be combining both Dashboards in a sin
Originally posted at The Tenth Inning Stretch --- You can read the basic premise in detail behind this dashboard here. Also, the update date reflects the date of the last game included not the post. This is the most current iteration after yesterday's game vs the Pirates: Here is a ranking of the combatants based on average game score: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7042/6824654684_209043f836_z.jpg Liam Hendriks 53.5 Jared Burton 53.3 Matt Maloney 53.3 Aaron Thompson 53 P.J. Walters 53
Last year I was the biggest Valencia hater!! I wasn't sure why they wouldn't put 3 players to the left of 2nd base when Valencia batted. All he did was try to hit the ball to the upper deck in left field, I was very, very annoyed by his at bats all season. If Danny Valencia can use the whole field in his at bats I will definitely come around to him as a batter. This is very good news that he is working hard on doing that, last year I was rooting for Hughes to take his spot, or at least give
Originally posted at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- I have been creating dashboards to look at the progression of the Spring Training battle for the 3 bullpen sports for the Twins (You can read about the rationale and details here.) I decided to create a dashboard for the 2-3 bench position battles. To quantify position players performance I am using another Bill James' measurement, the "Batting Game Score", as modified by Baseball Reference. I made 2 changes on the BR way of calculating Batt
As I read posts about the decisions the Twins have made and predictions about their roster, I wonder if they are in danger of entering a cycle of mediocrity. They have been there before, signing older players on the down side of their careers with the thought they would be the necessary difference in the coming season. Ultimately they were not and the Twins entered the following season with the same holes and questions. Of course there are many motivators for signing the veterans. Sometimes th
[h=3]Originally posted at ontheroadwithshawn.[/h] [TABLE=class: tr-caption-container, width: 1, align: center] http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JckYNi1-iOA/T1ljcNzOVjI/AAAAAAAAAOc/7b3AT4nw1gU/s1600/Herrmann.jpg [TD=class: tr-caption]Source: Herrmann's Google Plus page[/TD] [/TABLE] 14. Chris Herrmann, Catcher/OF, 24 years old 2011 Stats: .269/.385/.399 with 8 HRs and 10 steals in 13 attempts between Fort Myers and New Britain. Last Year's Rank: N/A Acquired: Drafted by the Twins in the 6th round
The Saints were down 5-1 in the 7th inning. Culpepper hit a 3-run HR (his 8th HR of the season). In the 9th inning, down one run with 2 outs and 2 strikes, KC singled in the game-tying run.
I am not a follower of Donald Trump. I have participated in several no kings rallies and am disgusted with what he and his followers have done to our country and the world. I would like to know what most Brazilians feel about the United States now and about the folks our citizens have elected to represent us.