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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'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 in baseball, so
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 .257 with eight home runs in 253 at-bats. He wa
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 in the last
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 podcasts the rss feed if you want to subscribe and the podca
Houston reached base 3 times on Thursday. He's hitting .308/.398/.440 (.838) since joining the Surge and stole his 14th AA base. His 38 total SB is tied with Yasser Mercedes for organizational lead.
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Winning the Cedar Rapids Kernel prize from TD is far better than winning the FIFA World Peace Prize. Thanks.· 0 replies
