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Game Thread: Twins v Rangers, 5/26 @ 1:10pm CT

Squirrel

By Squirrel
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Squirrel GOAT

Squirrel

Community Moderator
Posted
Posted

Game-time forecast: Partly cloudy with a 50-percent chance of rain. Winds blowing from right to left field at 5-10 m.p.h. Temperature around 80.

 

Rangers:

SP, Tepesch

 

Shin-Soo Choo DH

Elvis Andrus SS

Mitch Moreland 1B

Adrian Beltre 3B

Alex Rios RF

Chris Gimenez C

Leonys Martin CF

Michael Choice LF

Rougned Odor 2B

 

Twins:

SP, Correia

 

Brian Dozier 2B

Joe Mauer 1B

Trevor Plouffe 3B

Oswaldo Arcia RF

Josh Willingham LF

Jason Kubel DH

Kurt Suzuki C

Aaron Hicks CF

Eduardo Escobar SS

 

--------------------------------

 

Brian will post some thoughts for you here.

-------------------------------------------------------

Things to Think About:

 

1. Texas -- Perhaps nowhere in the US of A will you find a state prouder of themselves than Texas. The state pride shows up in the many slogans... The Lone Star State... Don't Mess with Texas... It's like a whole other country... On the 8th Day God Created Texas... Obviously you get the picture... Texas thinks they are better than Arkansas and 95 percent of all Texans have not traveled past Arkansas. When Texas was first formed... the border stretched all the way into modern day Wyoming. As a condition of statehood... Texas was forced to give up a large portion of it's land because it was important to the government that Oklahoma has a panhandle where nobody lives. Economically... Texas is a major exporter of Oil, Beef, Jalapeño's, Football Players and Cheap Labor.

 

2. The Rangers -- They were established in 1961 and named after Clayton Moore. Original uniforms actually came equipped with a Lone Ranger mask but they didn't have the eye holes and eyesight was a simple explanation for their 62-100 record. It was Jay Silverheels who convinced the baseball club to take off the masks in 1969. Which was about the time that KISS formed. Fast forward today and we have a huge disabled list with important players such as Prince Fielder, Jurickson Profar, Martin Perez, Matt Harrison and Derek Holland on it. GM Jon Daniels has been seen roaming the countryside wondering where all his players went. Shin Soo Choo currently leads the team in walks with 31... That makes him the Walker Texas Ranger Walker award leader.

 

3. Willingham and Arcia -- OK... it's May 26 and they are back and in the lineup. It doesn't take much imagination to conclude... Going into the season... The front office probably believed that the combination of these two were supposed to supply a large portion of the power on this team. They are back and healthy now... Let's see if they can do what they are expected to do. As a hitter... Arcia was supposed to watch the veteran Willingham and learn what to do. It ended up being the opposite. Arcia hurt his wrist on April 4th and Willingham copied him on April 6th.

 

4. Josmil Pinto... Gardy it's your lineup... But I gotta ask... What are you doing in regards to Pinto? You just came off a swing of 5 games of National League Parks and Josmil Pinto started just one of those 5 games. I think we can say he's rested unless he stayed up late last night to play video games. In the one game he started he hit a home run. While Kurt Suzuki has gone 2 for his past 15. If Pinto doesn't start at catcher today... DH would have been option because Kubel is 0 for his last 11. Yet... Pinto is on the bench once again.

 

5. Memorial Day... My wife thinks that I need a Memorial Day every day but she says that because I forget to pick up milk sometimes. Today is a big day... It isn't just a day off. Many Americans have sacrificed more than I could ever imagine. They fought and died for something bigger than all of us. I don't ever want to take it for granted. I try to imagine what it was like to be on a landing craft heading for Omaha Beach. You got to get through Council Bluffs just to reach the beach and slog through deep water carrying heavy equipment maybe 200 yards under heavy fire just to reach the beach which was loaded with landmines while bullets picked off those around you at a horrible pace. The story is well known but I try to imagine what it was truly like. To know that you got to get out and move forward with the weight of the country and world on your shoulders when natural instinct would have been to swim back to Portsmouth England. I know I would have been scared and I know I would have been thinking of my loved ones and it's time for loved ones to think about them. Not just them... Every last one of them from the 18th Century to today.

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longstrangetrip College Ball

longstrangetrip

Verified Member
Posted
Posted

I'm back in LA after following the club around the state the past week. Saw 4 out of 5 games, but opted to jam on our guitars with an old high school friend in Oakland yesterday rather than watching another loss...just didn't feel confident after two losses with Nolasco on the bump and our meek lineup. I patted myself on the back when I saw the game results.

 

Wow, it's nice to see a lineup with a little pop in it again, although it's tough to get excited about Correia on the mound trying to end the 3-game slide. Nick Tepisch can get a little wild, so with some patience, I think we can outscore them today and rubber band back to .500.

jorgenswest St Paul Saints

jorgenswest

Verified Member
Posted
Posted

Wouldn't the line up be better if the Twins kept Herrmann, released Kubel and played Pinto at DH?

 

I keep hearing the words that those off season minor league free agent signings can't hurt.

 

We have a DH in the line up today that has a slugging percentage lower than Drew Butera's.

 

Kubel needs to step it up now. Strike out rates, walk rates and ISO are no longer small samples.

Hawkeye12 College Ball

Hawkeye12

Verified Member
Posted
Posted

Just read that Hicks has talked to Gardy and officially given up hitting left handed, but they can't send him to AAA to work on hitting righties. So today will be day one of that experiment. Rich Becker had a great season in 1996 after he quit switch hitting and never had to go to the minors in the process, so maybe it won't make a difference. But it does give a good excuse to send him down when Fuld comes back even after his minor success since his pep talk a couple weeks ago.

jorgenswest St Paul Saints

jorgenswest

Verified Member
Posted
Posted

Victorino did well last year switching midseason. This year he hasn't done as well in a small sample for splits.

 

He now has one swing to develop. Hopefully there will be improvement against both left and right handed pitchers with the focus on one swing.

Jerr FCL Twins

Jerr

Verified Member
Posted
Posted

A fine Summer like day for a game and a Twins win!

But, I wish it was someone else starting for the Twins.

Prove me wrong, Correia:p

longstrangetrip College Ball

longstrangetrip

Verified Member
Posted
Posted
Just read that Hicks has talked to Gardy and officially given up hitting left handed, but they can't send him to AAA to work on hitting righties. So today will be day one of that experiment. Rich Becker had a great season in 1996 after he quit switch hitting and never had to go to the minors in the process, so maybe it won't make a difference. But it does give a good excuse to send him down when Fuld comes back even after his minor success since his pep talk a couple weeks ago.

 

Wow, that is great news! His career OPS differential is around .180, and this year it is .280. I have to admit I was close to giving up completely on Hicksy, but this gives me a little hope.

 

I still worry about his commitment to the game though. I'm sure he had fun playing Pebble Beach Wednesday, but I would have rather read about him taking some live batting practice as a RHB.

Guest

Guest

Guests
Posted
Posted

Why does it seem like Texas does a better job of putting young players into its lineup and seeing them have success than the Twins do? There are probably many reasons, but I'll take a wild guess and say that one of them is organization culture.

 

For years, the Twins have talked about the major league clubhouse like it's advanced surgery, where you need post-doctoral graduate work to handle the stress. Therefore, they almost always lean toward giving opportunities to washed-up veterans instead of young players, and, with the exception of Aaron Hicks, young players need to spend years in the minors "proving" they can play. It becomes a self-perpetuating cycle, as management repeats the mantra of how difficult it is to succeed in the majors and magnify every error and mental mistake of a young player, so young players become hyper-sensitive and worried about failure and demotion. On the other hand, Ron Washington is known to be a manager who makes players comfortable and gives them confidence. Most people perform better when their manager gives them confidence instead of fills them with constant worry. Therefore, Texas becomes a place where younger players can succeed at at an earlier age.

 

Also, there may be a little bit of the old "Nobody ever got fired for picking IBM" mentality. It's easier for management to push off blame if a "proven" veteran fails to perform than if the manager takes a chance on an "unproven" young player.

Thrylos St Paul Saints

Thrylos

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
One question about the Texas lineup today...just how unpleasant is a rougned odor?

 

depends on how often he whiffs

glunn St Paul Saints

glunn

Community Moderator
Posted
Posted
Game-time forecast: Partly cloudy with a 50-percent chance of rain. Winds blowing from right to left field at 5-10 m.p.h. Temperature around 80.

 

Rangers:

SP, Tepesch

 

Shin-Soo Choo DH

Elvis Andrus SS

Mitch Moreland 1B

Adrian Beltre 3B

Alex Rios RF

Chris Gimenez C

Leonys Martin CF

Michael Choice LF

Rougned Odor 2B

 

Twins:

SP, Correia

 

Brian Dozier 2B

Joe Mauer 1B

Trevor Plouffe 3B

Oswaldo Arcia RF

Josh Willingham LF

Jason Kubel DH

Kurt Suzuki C

Aaron Hicks CF

Eduardo Escobar SS

 

--------------------------------

 

Brian will post some thoughts for you here.

-------------------------------------------------------

Things to Think About:

 

1. Texas -- Perhaps nowhere in the US of A will you find a state prouder of themselves than Texas. The state pride shows up in the many slogans... The Lone Star State... Don't Mess with Texas... It's like a whole other country... On the 8th Day God Created Texas... Obviously you get the picture... Texas thinks they are better than Arkansas and 95 percent of all Texans have not traveled past Arkansas. When Texas was first formed... the border stretched all the way into modern day Wyoming. As a condition of statehood... Texas was forced to give up a large portion of it's land because it was important to the government that Oklahoma has a panhandle where nobody lives. Economically... Texas is a major exporter of Oil, Beef, Jalapeño's, Football Players and Cheap Labor.

 

2. The Rangers -- They were established in 1961 and named after Clayton Moore. Original uniforms actually came equipped with a Lone Ranger mask but they didn't have the eye holes and eyesight was a simple explanation for their 62-100 record. It was Jay Silverheels who convinced the baseball club to take off the masks in 1969. Which was about the time that KISS formed. Fast forward today and we have a huge disabled list with important players such as Prince Fielder, Jurickson Profar, Martin Perez, Matt Harrison and Derek Holland on it. GM Jon Daniels has been seen roaming the countryside wondering where all his players went. Shin Soo Choo currently leads the team in walks with 31... That makes him the Walker Texas Ranger Walker award leader.

 

3. Willingham and Arcia -- OK... it's May 26 and they are back and in the lineup. It doesn't take much imagination to conclude... Going into the season... The front office probably believed that the combination of these two were supposed to supply a large portion of the power on this team. They are back and healthy now... Let's see if they can do what they are expected to do. As a hitter... Arcia was supposed to watch the veteran Willingham and learn what to do. It ended up being the opposite. Arcia hurt his wrist on April 4th and Willingham copied him on April 6th.

 

4. Josmil Pinto... Gardy it's your lineup... But I gotta ask... What are you doing in regards to Pinto? You just came off a swing of 5 games of National League Parks and Josmil Pinto started just one of those 5 games. I think we can say he's rested unless he stayed up late last night to play video games. In the one game he started he hit a home run. While Kurt Suzuki has gone 2 for his past 15. If Pinto doesn't start at catcher today... DH would have been option because Kubel is 0 for his last 11. Yet... Pinto is on the bench once again.

 

5. Memorial Day... My wife thinks that I need a Memorial Day every day but she says that because I forget to pick up milk sometimes. Today is a big day... It isn't just a day off. Many Americans have sacrificed more than I could ever imagine. They fought and died for something bigger than all of us. I don't ever want to take it for granted. I try to imagine what it was like to be on a landing craft heading for Omaha Beach. You got to get through Council Bluffs just to reach the beach and slog through deep water carrying heavy equipment maybe 200 yards under heavy fire just to reach the beach which was loaded with landmines while bullets picked off those around you at a horrible pace. The story is well known but I try to imagine what it was truly like. To know that you got to get out and move forward with the weight of the country and world on your shoulders when natural instinct would have been to swim back to Portsmouth England. I know I would have been scared and I know I would have been thinking of my loved ones and it's time for loved ones to think about them. Not just them... Every last one of them from the 18th Century to today.

 

This setup was a great way to start my day. RB, you are both hilarious and profound.

James FCL Twins

James

Verified Member
Posted
Posted

Pitchers... Some day they may learn how to throw the ball to first.

Tibs First Round Pick

Tibs

Verified Member
Posted
Posted
Pitchers... Some day they may learn how to throw the ball to first.

Maybe the 1st baseman needs to squat down and give him a sign

snepp Ft Myers Mighty Mussels

snepp

Verified Member
Posted
Posted
This is an Aaron Hicks thread, stringer bell. The game thread is that way :)

 

Not anymore! Muahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

 

 

*this post may or may not be under some chemical influence

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