Game Thread: Twins @ Toronto 12:07 CDT 8/27/17

[Dave The Dastardly]

You Can Never Go Home Again (Thomas Wolfe)

 

I don’t know if Tom hit that nail on the head with that one. I thought home is where the heart is. So if we can’t ever go back where our hearts are what’s that make us? Zombies?

 

I’m grasping at straws here for a lead. That makes three cliches already. I’m sounding like a professional athlete. Time to step up. Pull together. Swing for the fences. Take one for the team. Leave it all out there - well maybe not that last one. Sounds more like something a pervert might encourage.

 

Maybe Dorothy, a Minnesota native and she of the red baseball spikes, said it best; “There’s no place like home.”

 

Okay, enough dithering.

 

I was in Toronto once. It’s not my home so I don’t ever have to go back there. Which, fortunately, fits nicely into my plans and should make both Tom and Dorothy happy.

 

Believe it or not, I was in Toronto because I wanted to avoid driving through Chicago. Let me rephrase that, I wanted to avoid crawling through Chicago and pitching coins out my window like a carney rat. So I thought I’d avoid all that hassle by going north around the Great Lakes and driving through Toronto instead. The difference between driving in Chicago and driving in Toronto is about 80 miles per hour. Not that Toronto has an official 80 mph speed limit. For one thing the Canucks are into kilometers, not miles. For another thing, nobody there pays any attention to the posted speed limits. But ignoring all that and subtracting Chicago’s unofficial speed limit of 0 mph from Toronto’s unofficial limit of 80 mph you get your basic huge life-threatening discrepancy. If you don’t believe me take your mini-van up to Toronto and try merging.

 

So what’s their hurry?

 

The official Toronto tourism center lists these ten things as the most popular activities in Toronto;

 

CNE - Not to be confused with CNN but is actually some sort of not newsworthy amusement park. And I thought it difficult for Canadians to be amused.

 

The Beach - Curious as to how you can sunbathe or even swim in parkas and mukluks but if anyone would know how to do it it would be a Canuck. Or a Siberian.

 

Outdoor Movies - Doesn’t say where these movies are shown. Maybe on the side of an igloo? We call them drive-in movies down here, but then we’re going slow enough we can actually watch them.

 

The Big Feastival - apparently organized for gluttons. If they’re not too slothful to attend.

 

Winery Visits - Now you’re talking American! Or more likely French.

 

Shakespeare in High Park - I guess a park is as good a place as any to listen to Shakespeare. Personally, I always believed Shakespeare was a little squirrelly anyway. Maybe because I only speak English and nur ein bisschen Deutsch.

 

ROM - I thought ROM had something to do with computers but I forget. Maybe it has something to do with whales.

 

Beer, Bourbon and Barbecue - Now the Canucks are really talking American! Another food and drunk, uh, drink festival. Not a bad idea and undoubtedly very entertaining. Maybe after a schooner or two and a couple shots of bourbon the participants can understand Shakespeare. If they can find the park.

 

Street Performers - I thought they only worked Hennepin. Who knew.

 

Patios - I guess they’re hard to find in Toronto. Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.

 

 

Noticeably absent on the top ten things to do in Toronto; attend a Blue Jays game. Which comes as a surprise since the Jays are ranked 6th in average game attendance with 35,519 average fans showing up per game. They don’t say how many below average fans attend. Maybe because they’re at the Beer, Bourbon and Barbecue. I’m assuming the above average fans are in the park with Shakespeare.

 

The Twinkies by comparison are ranked 25th in average game attendance with approximately 27,000 fans in the stands. Maybe that’s why metro traffic speeds are slower than Toronto’s; there’s no worry about getting a walk-up ticket to Twins home games.

 

There’s lots of baseball connections between the Jays and the Twins. The Twinkies eliminated the Jays in the 1991 ALCS before Jack Morris stifled the Braves in Game 7 and the Twins went on to win the Whole Enchilada. Jack then stiffed the Twins and moved to Toronto, even though Toronto wasn’t his home. The Jays then took the World Series in back-to-back seasons (1992 and 1993) with the help of native Minnesotans Jack Morris, Dave Winfield and Paul Molitor. Molitor was named the World Series MVP after hitting .500 in the 1993 series.

 

So we need to keep in mind that Twins Manager Paul Molitor once starred for the Jays and maybe that’s where his heart still is. But Molitor also needs to remember he can’t go home again if his team drops this series to the Jays.

 

That kind of makes this series sort of a homestand for both teams.

 

The only question left is whether Molitor is going to be more like Tom or like Dorothy. Here’s hoping he’s wearing his red baseball spikes.

 

On the mound for the Twins, The Giblet. Gibby is still trying to nail down a permanent baseball home with an ERA of 5.76 and sporting a 7-10 record. I see a U-Haul in his future.

 

The Jays are throwing Joe Biagini back into the fire. At 3-8, 5.11 ERA Biagini might want to talk to Gibby about sharing that U-Haul.

 

 

Line-ups to follow. If I'm not busy swearing at the Vikings pre-season game.

[Craig Arko]

Philosophical zombies.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_zombie

[sampleSizeOfOne]

Enough dithering?

 

You are a better person than me. I can never decide if it is enough or not.

 

Kudos for actually traveling to the other town and ballpark to write the intro. Now that is dedication!

 

Oh, and i hope we win!

[ashbury]

Oh, and i hope we win!

Concur.

[Rhino and Compass]

Hey, has anyone ever said that it's BS that Toronto is in the AMERICAN league? 

[USAFChief]

Nice job, DtD!

[Craig Arko]

Hey, has anyone ever said that it's BS that Toronto is in the AMERICAN league?

 

Um, Canada is in North America?

[Jerr]

 

Concur.

Yes.

[Rhino and Compass]

Considering how bad the season has gone for Polanco, it's crazy that he is over .250 now. No complaints, though. We live in crazy times

[jimmer]

I think he was safe, but that wasn't a smart baseball play by Mauer.

[TwinsCD]

I don't think I've ever seen a runner thrown out at the plate from that deep of shortstop on a routine grounder.

 

COME ON JOE, GET THE ROCKS OUT OF YOUR POCKETS!

[jimmer]

 

I don't think I've ever seen a runner thrown out at the plate from that deep of shortstop on a routine grounder.

 

COME ON JOE, GET THE ROCKS OUT OF YOUR POCKETS!

He paused too long before going. Once he did that, he shouldn't have even gone.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

I think he was safe, but that wasn't a smart baseball play by Mauer.

Sounded like the infield was playing back? I think Mauer is just very, very slow at this point.

 

edit: oh got it

[jimmer]

 

Sounded like the infield was playing back? I think Mauer is just very, very slow at this point.

the delay before running was his problem.  still think he was safe, but still

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Solid at bat for Vargas to end the inning

 

#not

[mikecgrimes]

 

I think he was safe, but that wasn't a smart baseball play by Mauer.

 

I disagree in an almost always go for it on 4th down sense.  That was the worst result and for the moment it was zero runs and one out just as it would have been with the easy force at first.  I like either taking that run or making them make a difficult play.  The end result easily could have been a run scored zero outs and maybe even a ball getting away from the catcher and runners on 2nd and third.

[Aggies7]

The good news for Kenys is that Rochester isn't far from Toronto

[jimmer]

 

I disagree in an almost always go for it on 4th down sense.  That was the worst result and for the moment it was zero runs and one out just as it would have been with the easy force at first.  I like either taking that run or making them make a difficult play.  The end result easily could have been a run scored zero outs and maybe even a ball getting away from the catcher and runners on 2nd and third.

if he had hadn't delayed, there's no doubt he's safe.  but he did and once he did, he shouldn't have gone.  IMO.

[TwinsCD]

For a guy that should have so much promise, Vargas just isn't a very smart hitter at the plate.

 

But at least Bux is keeping his hot streak going and they got a run out of that threat.  Hopefully the 3 LOB and Mauer thrown out at the plate doesn't haunt them later.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Cleveland (i.e., Falvey) shut down Toronto's big offense in the ALCS last year.

 

I'm hoping the wonder boys can devise a game plan for Gibson today.

[mikecgrimes]

By the way Rosario base running mistake was a very bad one.  No reason to try for third with 2 out if it's not a sure thing.

[TwinsCD]

 

I think he was safe, but that wasn't a smart baseball play by Mauer.

 

The infield is back and they're conceding the run.  The ball is hit to the middle infielder.  That's an automatic go EVERY time.  Problem was, it was a short-hopped line drive so Joe had to hesitate a second.  But even then, he should still get there.  Can't discount the throw Goins made though and the tag Montero made.

[yarnivek1972]

Sinker baller + turf = lots of hits

[jimmer]

Gisbon gets real defense today. People have been excusing Gibson's performance for poor defensive lineups. let's see what happens.

[mikecgrimes]

 

 

if he had hadn't delayed, there's no doubt he's safe.  but he did and once he did, he shouldn't have gone.  IMO.

 

And as things played out the "mistake" didn't cost them a run or an extra out.  Smart base running for a lot of reasons.

[jimmer]

 

By the way Rosario base running mistake was a very bad one.  No reason to try for third with 2 out if it's not a sure thing.

true

[jimmer]

 

And as things played out the "mistake" didn't cost them a run or an extra out.  Smart base running for a lot of reasons.

ok

[yarnivek1972]

Gisbon gets real defense today. People have been excusing Gibson's performance for poor defensive lineups. let's see what happens.

Unfortunately, the turf will limit the range of the infielders.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

All together now, Vargas Sucks!  Vargas sucks! Vargas sucks!  Seriously, why is he playing? It's not just this at bat.  He just really hasn't performed all year. Do we really not have anybody else?

I don't think he's terrible, but at this point he's a decent back up, just a bench guy imo. Occasional DH when it's favorable.

[jimmer]

Bremer just made the rare good point. Shocking.