Neil Allen suspended

[USAFChief]

According to the STrib, Twins pitching coach Neil Allen has been suspended by the club after being arrested early Thursday morning under suspicion of DWI.

 

Minor league pitching coordinator Eric Rasmussen will temporarily take over as big league pitching coach.

 

http://www.startribune.com/twins-suspend-pitching-coach-neil-allen-after-dui-arrest/381030231/

[jokin]

Wow. It's understandable how the current situation would drive one to desperate self-medicating coping measures- but not good timing PR-wise for a team already in full-flounder. Just one more sad tale from a nightmare season.

[curt1965]

Took the words right out of my mouth, jokin.

[USAFChief]

Mod note:  This is obviously important news for the team.

 

But let's please stay away from turning this into a circus thread.  Please keep to the subject of how this impacts the team, pitching-wise, and off the topic of how this might impact any individual.

 

Thanks.

[Lee-The-Twins-Fan]

Isn't Allen the one who wants pitchers to use the change-up? Could this at least ease the minds of some pitchers struggling with their change-up control?

 

Anyone know Eric Rasmussen's pitching philosophy? 

 

It might help a few pitchers, especially the younger ones, who might have more familiarity with Rasmussen vs. Allen.

 

Just an idea.

[Craig Arko]

Oh, no. It's a shame, but DWI is nothing to mess with.

[nicksaviking]

Isn't Allen the one who wants pitchers to use the change-up? Could this at least ease the minds of some pitchers struggling with their change-up control?

 

Anyone know Eric Rasmussen's pitching philosophy? 

 

It might help a few pitchers, especially the younger ones, who might have more familiarity with Rasmussen vs. Allen.

 

Just an idea.

I'd guess any "philosophy" would be synchronized throughout the organization. The team probably wouldn't have hired Allen if they weren't on the same page.

 

a change of chemistry? Who knows what that will do, and I don't like to buy into that kind of thing, but frankly, I'd buy into anything right about now if it gave some hope.

[Mike Sixel]

Wow. What a season.

[Bark's Lounge]

Luckily he didn't hurt anyone or himself. Addiction is a bitch... I wish him well.

[stringer bell]

IIRC, Allen had struggled with alcohol/substance abuse earlier, but cleaned up his act around the time his father passed away. A relapse would be life-threatening stuff for Allen, not to mention the life-threatening act of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence.

[Thrylos]

On a personal level I hope that he gets his act and life together.   Much more important that baseball.

 

As a Twins' fan I hope that he does the aforementioned elsewhere.

[Bark's Lounge]

 

On a personal level I hope that he gets his act and life together.   Much more important that baseball.

 

As a Twins' fan I hope that he does the aforementioned elsewhere.

In Allen's defense, you can't make a piece of **** into a tasty Cherry Laffy Taffy. Sure, some of the blame falls on his shoulders, that's probably why he slipped up.

 

Even though these guys make good money as coaches, I know it has to be stressful and the way this season has gone, I can see how it could break a man in his position. He did a pretty decent job last year with what he had, this year has been soul crushing. This is his first MLB Pitching Coach job, I am sure he wants to be successful and not lose it after a brief time.

[Mr. Brooks]

I'm not opposed to second chances, but at the same time this is an extremely dangerous and selfish act.

Impaired driving kills thousands of people every year.

 

On a personal level, I have experienced both sides.

I've had a cousin, and a close family friend killed by drunk drivers, in separate incidents.

 

I also have a brother who is currently in prison for killing 2 teenage kids while driving drunk. And he will have to live with the heavy weight of that guilt for the rest of his life.

 

I don't believe that Allen is a bad person. Life is rarely that black and white, as many of us have learned the hard way.

 

His number one priority is for him to realize how lucky he is to have (hopefully) been able to hit rock bottom without hurting anyone. I sincerely hope he can get help and turn his life around.

 

As to whether he keeps his job. I'm not opposed to it, but as his boss the Pohlads have to be convinced that this will never happen again.

Obviously that is a decision only they can make, and I don't envy it.

It's a cliche, but some things are vastly more important than baseball.

 

Sorry to ramble guys, but obviously these incidents hit close to home for me, as they do thousands of families across the country.

[jud6312]

Here's a story about his problems: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-03-18/sports/9001230582_1_rickey-henderson-camp-in-plant-city-problem

 

Obviously this is way more important than baseball and whether or not he's a good pitching coach.

[jimmer]

A person drinks and drives but doesn't hurt anyone.  is it a mistake that's easily forgiven?

 

A person does the same thing (drinks and drives) but hits someone and either handicaps that person for life or kills that person. Still just a mistake to shrug off?

 

In both cases, the action he did was the same. The results are different, but shouldn't it be about the irresponsible and dangerous actions, not whether or not you were lucky enough to not handicap or kill someone?

 

What if he had killed a child, sibling, parent, or friend of yours?  How would you feel then?

[Bark's Lounge]

 

I'm not opposed to second chances, but at the same time this is an extremely dangerous and selfish act.
Impaired driving kills thousands of people every year.

On a personal level, I have experienced both sides.
I've had a cousin, and a close family friend killed by drunk drivers, in separate incidents.

I also have a brother who is currently in prison for killing 2 teenage kids while driving drunk. And he will have to live with the heavy weight of that guilt for the rest of his life.

I don't believe that Allen is a bad person. Life is rarely that black and white, as many of us have learned the hard way.

His number one priority is for him to realize how lucky he is to have (hopefully) been able to hit rock bottom without hurting anyone. I sincerely hope he can get help and turn his life around.

As to whether he keeps his job. I'm not opposed to it, but as his boss the Pohlads have to be convinced that this will never happen again.
Obviously that is a decision only they can make, and I don't envy it.
It's a cliche, but some things are vastly more important than baseball.

Sorry to ramble guys, but obviously these incidents hit close to home for me, as they do thousands of families across the country.

Mr. Brooks, I feel for you. Sorry you have had to deal with that tragic stuff.

[Pardon My Dinger]

Mr. Allen made a mistake. The Twins are doing the right thing on all accounts. Best of luck to Neil and anyone else who has to deal with this challenge.

[David HK]

Wow, this is sad news.  And we can add that to the long list of things we just don't need to happen in this woebegone year.  Sometimes a mistake is just a mistake, and we can shrug our shoulders and learn from it.  But sometimes the stakes are much higher than making a poorly-timed pitching change.  

 

I'm glad no one was hurt in this incident.  And I hope, for the sake of himself and his family, Mr. Allen can work this out for himself.  It seems to have been a life-long struggle.

[PseudoSABR]

Very sad.  I'd hesitate to call this a mistake given his personal struggle with this kind of addictive behavior.  A mistake would be taking a drink, if his personal struggle posed such a risk; but to put himself in the position of driving, and getting caught driving drunk suggest this might not be the first time.  I hope seeks and receives the help he needs.

 

Clubhouse morale couldn't get much lower, unless Allen was part of the problem (which there's no indication of).

[DaveW]

Alcoholic or not there really is no excuse to drink and drive.

 

This is a young team and absolutely not the leadership they need. I think Allen deserves a second chance, just not here in Minnesota. If we are going to hold the players to high standards then the coaching staff needs to be held to them as well.

 

I wish him the best of luck though.

[USAFChief]

Again...lets try to keep this thread on topic please. I completely understand the wide ranging implications, and the desire to make this incident about the big picture...but it will get derailed if we do, so please don't.

 

If someone wants to discuss the larger issue(s), maybe a thread about them in the appropriate forum would be the place.

 

Here, lets keep this about the impact on the Minnesota Twins.

[DaveW]

Again...lets try to keep this thread on topic please. I completely understand the wide ranging implications, and the desire to make this incident about the big picture...but it will get derailed if we do, so please don't.

 

If someone wants to discuss the larger issue(s), maybe a thread about them in the appropriate forum would be the place.

 

Here, lets keep this about the impact on the Minnesota Twins.

The one silver lining is that Rasmussen gets his chance and hopefully a new voice/guy can help turn things around for this pitching staff as a whole. Hopefully he can run with it.

 

Also maybe the team can use this as a rallying point/something to play for moving fwd.

[Jham]

 

Again...lets try to keep this thread on topic please. I completely understand the wide ranging implications, and the desire to make this incident about the big picture...but it will get derailed if we do, so please don't.

If someone wants to discuss the larger issue(s), maybe a thread about them in the appropriate forum would be the place.

Here, lets keep this about the impact on the Minnesota Twins.

 

From a team standpoint, unfortunately, I doubt it can hurt.  If it does, we should probably think about self-implementing a 10-run rule to avoid consistently 5 hour games.

[Blackjack]

From a Twins standpoint, I hope he's done. At this point they needed strong leadership -- and he failed miserably.  Get him to rehab, give him a job somewhere, let his work his way back but the Twins are in dire straights right now, This is the last thing they need!!!!!!!!!!! There should be a penalty for what he did.to the Twins.

 

[Rosterman]

So who is going to be the interim minor league pitching coordinator? Is Dick Such available?

[DocBauer]

How many shoes are going to drop this season? Sheesh! This is just really unfortunate.

 

I'm not going to blast Allen for making a mistake. But I am shaking my head that he allowed this to happen.

 

But it begs a question as to why it happened at all. I know NFL teams have security personnel in place 24-7 that players can take advantage of to avoid this kind of thing from happening. (Unfortunately, many don't take advantage) But do MLB teams have a similar program in place? I confess I really don't know.

[formerly33]

 

How many shoes are going to drop this season? Sheesh! This is just really unfortunate.

I'm not going to blast Allen for making a mistake. But I am shaking my head that he allowed this to happen.

But it begs a question as to why it happened at all. I know NFL teams have security personnel in place 24-7 that players can take advantage of to avoid this kind of thing from happening. (Unfortunately, many don't take advantage) But do MLB teams have a similar program in place? I confess I really don't know.

Part of me sees the wisdom in this idea, but at the same time I can't help but wonder what's wrong with players (and coaches, of course) taking responsibility for themselves like everyone else. Geez.

[Guest]

Impact 1: logic already mandates that the leadership of this historically bad team needs to be blown up. This adds karma to that action.

 

Impact 2: good opportunity for Eric Rasmussen. It seems that he has done a good job with the minor league pitching, even with the odd draft choices he has been given and the way that major league management seems to provide more negative than positive incentives. It's somewhat ironic that, in grand Twins fashion, another capable person in the minors gets a big league shot only upon another person's disability, instead of purely earning it on his merits.

 

Impact 3: bad luck for Eric Rasmussen. If everything at the big league level gets blown up, he'll be part of it. If he stayed in the minors, he had a better chance of avoiding the sweep of the wipe-out.

 

Impact 4: when you've got nothing you've got nothing left to lose. It's hard to see how the absence of Allen could make the season any worse.

 

Personal Impact (sorry Chief): Allen sounded like a decent person with long-time demons. It's sad that in what must be a stressful year, he couldn't resist the pull of those demons. Best wishes to him in this battle.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

In the vein of keeping this solely about the Twins, I think it would be a good opportunity to replace Brunansky. He seems unable to connect with the players or say anything insightful to the media about what is going on.

[DaveW]

How many shoes are going to drop this season? Sheesh! This is just really unfortunate.

 

I'm not going to blast Allen for making a mistake. But I am shaking my head that he allowed this to happen.

 

But it begs a question as to why it happened at all. I know NFL teams have security personnel in place 24-7 that players can take advantage of to avoid this kind of thing from happening. (Unfortunately, many don't take advantage) But do MLB teams have a similar program in place? I confess I really don't know.

I'm pretty sure MLB has it as well, but it maybe doesn't extend to coaches? Either way it shouldn't matter, with uber around there is literally even less than zero excuse to ever drink and drive. Allen makes good money, he can surely afford the $30 max fare or what not.