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2011. The Year of the Injury. Nishioka. Bilateral leg weakness. 90+ losses. 2012. The Rebound That Wasn't. Brutal starting pitching. Marginal bullpen and offense. 2013. Stop the Pain. The farm is looking better, but the major league team isn't so major. 2014. TBD. On pace for 90 losses, the consensus seems to be that this year's team is easier to watch. The team has made moves to transition to the next generation of players. This brings us to the question I've pondered and will tr
Sean Doolittle of the Oakland A's did a guest piece for ESPN and made up some Sabermetric stats for Oakland, including in his list were BDP (Beard Dependent pitching), WPA/3+C (win probablitly added with three plus catchers in the lineup) and frFSR (right field fan scouting report) along with others, You can check the article for the full list. What sort of tongue in cheek stats would the Twins have? LAR (Legs above replacement) If you have bi-lateral leg weakness, that's an automatic -2.0 o
I made the 3+ hour trip to Beloit this week for the Kernels' three-game series with the Snappers. Cedar Rapids entered the game tied for second place in the MWL Western Division with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, both a single game behind Divison leaders Kane County. Outside of how it would be nice to be able to say the Twins' Class A club won their Division in the second half of the season, it really doesn't matter where the Kernels finish relative to Kane County because the Cougars won a
Joe Mauer's first season as a first baseman has been a major disappointment. Not only did he not hit well, he was also injured for a month and has proved to be barely above replacement value at first base. I do think that 2015 and 2016 will mean a return to about career averages for Mauer. Now, let's actually consider what this could mean for the Twins: Insert Mauer's .320/.401/.461 line into the second spot of the order for the next two seasons. Next envision about the latter 75% of this time
A day after being part of a no-hitter that he started three weeks ago, Trevor May did something else that was a little strange; he pitched in relief for the Twins game. This was something he hadn't done since 2010 at the High-A level. After a rough big league debut, it was probably nice for May to get back on the mound and prove he belongs at the big league level. It was a strange day in the minor leagues. Two Twins' affiliates had weather interfere with their game and one team had to finish a
There’s much about the game of baseball that never changes. Three strikes and you’re out. Bases are 90 feet apart. Then again, some aspects of the game are constantly adjusting to the times. Witness the amount of defensive shifting going on in Major League Baseball this season. You could say that one thing that never changes is that pitchers try to throw fastballs by opposing hitters. But the arsenal of pitches the pitchers use beyond the fastball seems to differ from one era to another.
Anyone with even a peripheral understanding of Minnesota sports media understands the beating Joe Mauer takes on a regular basis from the area's mainstream sportswriters. The simplest of Google searches will quickly reveal a mass of articles from the likes of Jim Souhan, Patrick Reusse, and others berating Mauer for his lack of perceived toughness. Ever since Joe Mauer's seminal 2009 MVP campaign, this narrative has only intensified, with many now viewing Minnesota's once-considered G.O.A.T. as
TR got another decent return when I thought they were gonna just have to DFA Willingham. Good job, so whats the problem in the organization, talent evaluation?
"Joe Mauer. Now that's a name I've not heard in a long time..." Joe Mauer might be the crazy, old wizard of Minnesota Twins lore at some point, but the former MVP has shown that he still has some magic left. The Minnesota Twins beat the Houston Astros 4-2 last night. Mauer returned to the line-up after missing six weeks, and went 2-4 with a walk and an RBI. Not a bad return for the 3 time Batting Champion. After the game he stated that he, "...expects his oblique soreness to continue for the r
The hometown hero lives. On Monday night, under the lights of Minute Maid Park, Joe Mauer instilled hope back into the hearts of Twins’ fans after missing essentially the whole month of July with a strained oblique. Before the St. Paul native injured himself on a July 1st game against the Kansas City Royals, fans were beginning to question, and even regret, Mauer’s 8-year, $184 million contract extension that, at the time, had made him the third wealthiest player in baseball. Mauer’s lackl
There's a new fad going around MLB with funny signs trolling players. Hunter Pence has been trolled pretty hard by fans across the country, and the Astros mascott, Orbit, was giving it to J.P Arencibia pretty good when Tornoto was in town last week. My favorite was "J.P. Arencibia cried during the Notebook." That's prime time, grade-A, trolling. Joe Mauer is the face of the Twins ballclub, but this season he's struggled to play up to Joe Mauer levels, and to stay healthy. Fans have been booing
As a die-hard cry-hard Twins fan commiserator, Joe Mauer makes me teary-eyed. First things first - I don't hate him, I'm not mad that he's not a great first baseman, I'm not pissed that he hit the DL again this year... but I am sad that I don't have a real reason to care if he is "earning" his dollars. The team continues to lose and no single man, not even Joe Mauer, can change that alone. Mauer, to me, resembled a tremendous opportunity for this team to reload. [heck, if we turned AJ into Joe
(This is an entry in the Blogging For Pizza contest.) April, 2010... "I don't want to be the catcher on the Twins anymore," Joe Mauer said. He looked around the table at the others inquiringly. "Like that?" Gardy beamed. "Exactly like that." The manager picked up his glass and made a vague toasting motion with it, in acknowledgement of the catcher's quick comprehension. Morneau's eyebrow inched up. "And the purpose of this rather esoteric activity is...?" Gardy sighed. "It's a game
Growing up during the 70's into the early 80's I did not pay attention to baseball. I knew Minnesota had a team called the Twins but I grew up a 6 hour drive from the stadium. I grew up in Hockey territory in a basketball crazy town and my favorite sport was football. My home town didn't even have baseball past 8th grade so there was not much to inspire me. I turned 11 in 1980 so the Twins were not inspiring this young man in any way during my early years either. To give an example of my 1975
In my hometown, there’s a family-owned pizza place that has operated under a few different owners for more than 50 years. It’s the kind of place you can find in a lot of small towns, with Midwestern-style pizza cut in squares. And the pizza’s good. The last time the place changed hands was in the early 2000s. The previous owner sold the recipes along with the structure and signed a non-compete agreement that meant he couldn’t sell the pizza anywhere else for 10 years. The new owner kept making
The 2016 Minnesota Twins Some of the young players have emerged and a few others are close or knocking on the door, I thought it would be a good opportunity to look at the 2016 roster (and get a free pizza). Position Players - Near Locks: 1B – Joe Mauer – Joe Mauer will be under contract thru 2018 and it is really hard to see a scenario where Joe is not with the team. His contract is next to immovable, even if he was having a typical .330, 10 HR pace. He, of course is not. I have never b
I've been interested in starting a blog for some time now. Not necessarily a Twins-specific blog, but just a blog in general. But, seeing the Blogging for Pizza post here has prompted me to start one today. I mean, come on, who doesn't love free pizza? First off, a couple things about me. I'm a lifelong Minnesotan and baseball fan I'm an Electric Vehicle Owner & a big advocate of electrified vehicles I really enjoy listening to Alfonso Fernandez & Tony Oliva broadcast the Twins gam
After 3 years of watching plodding, sometimes downright terrible baseball from the hometown 9, it is refreshing to see some of the young guys get their shots. For a time, it seemed as if this day would never come, with guys like Pelfrey, Diamond and Correia clogging the starting staff and doing little more than keeping rotation spots warm for a few seasons, it was starting to get depressing. But now, it seems the fog has lifted and the young guns are making a push to lead our squad out of the ce
Weekend Recap Well said, me. Trevor May I'm not going to dwell on May's debut. He was wild; he was nervous. It wouldn't shock me if we just witnessed one of May's only truly disastrous starts of his career. One start doesn't mean much to me. I still think that May can be a good 3rd/4th starter on a good team. I like his durability and the fact that his stuff can play better than a 3/4. I like that he seems to have an affable personality, likely perfect for shrugging off a rocky debut. It wou
The biggest Twins story of the weekend was the call-up and debut on right-handed pitching prospect Trevor May. Fans have been clamoring for months to see May or his Rochester counterpart Alex Meyer. This new version of the M&M boys is supposed to provide some stability to a lack-lust Twins rotation but only time will tell. One of the stories lost in the hype of May's debut was the demotion of Chris Colabello. The 30-year old former independent league standout is heading back to Triple-A fo
I was able to be talked into taking a trip down to Cedar Rapids on Saturday to catch Joe Mauer playing with the Kernels. For this particular game they had a cool promotion, where it was “Jimmy Buffet Night,” complete with the Kernels wearing special jerseys, which were auctioned off after the game. Mauer’s took in $1,000. After the game, when told that was probably a record for the Kernels jersey auctions, beating Byron Buxton by $250, Mauer remarked, “I’m glad to raise some money. If I was do
I wrote this article a while back, but hadn’t edited it until now. I hope you enjoy the update and a glimpse into the wonderful world of Minnesota Town Ball Baseball. When I was younger, we loved the rain. A storm would come in and my brothers and I would run outside while my dad grabbed the wiffleball and bat. Something about the water pouring down made it a little bit more exciting. Now I sit in the Minnetonka High School parking lot, waiting to play. Rain drops fall on the windshield as I
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
