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[Originally published at Twins Fan From Afar] This was my second year attending the Rock Cats' Annual Welcome Home Dinner. The players attend this function shortly after arriving in Connecticut. In fact, some don't even have housing or vehicles arranged yet! It's truly a crazy time of year for these guys. Last year, I had the good fortune of sitting with Twins' top prospect Alex Wimmers at this charity event that raises funds for the Connecticut Children's Medical Center. Wimmers was kind, fun
As Twins broadcast signs off and repeats the 8-2 score, my thoughts turn to a Minnesota Twins playoff run. Don't blame me. I tried to smother them in cynicism and reality. The Twins just have to win games ugly and scrappy for this first third of the season. It's going to take cold weather, weird heroes, and relentless scrappiness. In that time, they sort out their pitching staff. If they can come up with 3 above-average pitchers and then they can grind out some victories. It's not much,
Also posted at wgom.org Tom Herr (1956) Casey Daigle (1981) Second baseman Thomas Mitchell Herr was with the Twins for most of the 1988 season. Born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, he signed with St. Louis as a free agent in 1974. He hit for a high average with a good OBP in the minors, although he showed little power. He reached AAA in 1978 and got to the majors for the first time in mid-August of 1979, staying for the rest of the season but getting only twelve at-bats. He was with St.
Last season, I started a Random Twins Thoughts series that included a post a week every Tuesday. I was told that people actually liked those and missed them when I stopped, so I will continue them this season. I decided to change it up a bit this season and do it a bit more randomly. This first one is after the Twins competed their first series of their young 2013 season, hosting the Detroit Tigers who are the favorite to win (at least) the AL Central in the 2013 season. I will try t
Doesn't Mauer batting second feel so much better? If you are like me, it makes the frustration I have that he does not drive the ball to RF almost completely go away. I now think of him as a Rod Carew type #2 hitter and not an Albert Pulhols or Miguel Cabrera type hitter that can carry the team on his back. I could never understand why Gardy wanted him in the #3 slot. Now I can finally appreciate him for who he is and not be annoyed that he is not the hitter he was the year before he signed
Like everything else I write: this is also available at our original site: Peanuts from Heaven It's a spring-time tradition. When Spring Break arrives, I say goodbye to my students, make a few Arrested Development jokes with my colleagues, and pick up as much as I can find on the impending baseball season This year, in addition to the standard season preview issues of Sports Illustrated and ESPN, I also picked up the City Pages, on the basis of it's ominous headline "Baseball's Fiscal Cliff: A
The Rangers sure like to get within one out of accomplishing something big. A couple of years ago, Texas was an out away in more than one game from the club's first World Series title. On Tuesday night, Yu Darvish did his best to fit in with the Rangers by getting within one out of a perfect game. He too would fall short of making history. Since the Twins moved to Minnesota in 1961, there have five times when a Twins pitcher has taken a no-hitter into the ninth inning. Many fans might remember
I live in Seattle, a city known for rainy days and craft beer. I like it here, and while I'm a long way from my beloved Minnesota Twins, the Mariners community here in Seattle is quite welcoming. After watching the Twins fall to the Tigers on Opening Day I headed over to the open house held at Safeco Field. (this post originally appeared at http://www.baseballtwins.com) The Mariners opened the stadium at 6pm with free admission for all fans, free parking and 5-dollar beers all evening. 15,00
Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! Again, I don't plan to write about every game. However, I'm on Spring Break, my pregnant wife has been sleeping since 7pm and my dog doesn't want to talk to me. So, here you are. Aaron Hicks Hicks didn't look great today. He added two more strikeouts to his season total and only put one ball in play. However, I thought his lead-off walk was impressive. He laid off some really close pitches and seems to have good command of the strike zon
Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! Anyone who has studied the mathematical or sabermetric side of baseball has certainly heard of the concept of the Three True Outcomes. Basically, when looking at the battle between a pitcher and a batter, there are three true outcomes: a walk, a strikeout and a home run. By true outcomes, we take away things like defense, park, weather, speed, etc. It was introduced by Rany Jazayerli of Baseball Prospectus back in 2000 and you can read a lot mo
I missed most of this game. I got into my car in time to hear Glen Perkins get all Mama Said Knock You Out on the top half of the ninth. My hopes went up, and Plouffe got on base right as I parked my car. By the time I got inside and let the dog out, the Twins won on a walk-off double from Eduardo Escobar. I thought about tuning into the game for the post-game celebration but, when you miss the moment, you miss the moment. From what I heard of the game, music at Target Field sounds like som
Episode 31 of the Twins baseball podcast, Talk To Contact (@TalkToContact), is now available for download via iTunes or by clicking here. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/openingday2013.jpg In Episode 31, Paul, Eric, and Cody get together to discuss Twins news leading up to Opening Day, the Twins 25-man roster, and they make their MLB predictions for each division, for the World Series, and for MVP, Cy Young, and Rookie of the Year. Cody does a great job in his fir
First, the good news: On Monday, I watched the Twins home/season opener on my TV here in Idaho (thanks to a newly purchased MLB.TV subscription and a brand-new HDMI cable running from my laptop to my TV). Now, the bad news: On Monday, I watched the Twins home/season opener on my TV here in Idaho (thanks to a newly purchased MLB.TV subscription and a brand-new HDMI cable running from my laptop to my TV). I knew when I accepted my new call and moved out to Idaho there would be changes, but as
We’ve moved one important step closer to having baseball in Cedar Rapids… the players have arrived! The 2013 Kernels roster arrived at Eastern Iowa Airport shortly before noon Tuesday. It’s pretty safe to say the weather was just a bit cooler than it was when they took off from Fort Myers. (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com.) Manager Jake Mauer said the trip went well, though he did mention that there was a long line at the security check in Fort Myers and a coup
There were a few surprises on Opening Day at Target Field but for the most part, the game went according to plan. Justin Verlander pitched well. Joe Mauer got his hits. Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder know how to get RBI. The inexperienced Minnesota bats didn't know how to get an RBI. This all led to the Tigers coming out on top. One interesting move made was actually a player left on the bench. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Ron Gardenhire turned to his bench and tabbed Wilkin Ramirez
I DVRed the game yesterday and watched most of it last night. While I didn't see some key events, I heard about them on the radio. The Twins had a chance to beat the Tigers but came up short in key at-bats. They also were hurt by bases advanced by the plodding Tigers. What went right: 1) Worley outlasted Verlander. Even though he was the losing pitcher he managed to go six innings and reached the threshold for a "Quality Start". 2) Fien struck out the side in the seventh and it was the top
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 his job, by keeping the Twins w
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 are any of the oth
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.
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hello Seth......you'll wanna correct the date in headline of today's minor league report. :-) Brad· 0 replies
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.· 1 reply
