Lurkers and rookies please post here

[glunn]

I am opening this thread for the people who visit Twins Daily but have not yet posted on any of the forums.

If you have not yet registered, then you will need to do so. You should also read the TD Comment Policy sticky thread at the top of the Questions About MinnCentric forum. 

Even if you're a little shy, gather your courage and take a chance and post something here. I believe that you will find that most of us don't bite, and those who do bite better not do it here.

Edited December 26, 2014 by ashburyjohn

[righty8383]

[grumpyrob]

I will eat those cookies. A couple of things I see a head for this off season. 1. We will sign Pelfrey to a two year deal. 2. We will sign a pitcher who is not worth the money and cant strike anyone out (and not Pelfrey). 3. TR will say that the signing is a great signing and try to sell it to the Twins fans. 4. No other signings from FA. 5. Payrol, while not the be all of baseball success, will not increase.

 

Some other random thoughts....Joe will remain a catcher, he was signed to it, he is great at it, and will have enough say so to keep doing it. I agree with this as well. I take a look at what positions he can play, and see that he can get injured anywhere on the field. We cant protect him from everything. We will not find a first baseman or third baseman for a couple of years. I wonder how the Twins took so many steps back for such a short time TR was gone. I know he was great when he was here, and made some great moves, but didnt he draft those players who were coming up in the ranks before he left? I also think it is time we move on from what front office we have and get someone in place who does take more stock into what role statistics have in the future success a baseball club has. I dont know much, but that is what I think. So, give me some cookies....nom, nom...

[Nick Nelson]

Great idea Glunn! I'd love to hear from some new voices.

[Shane Wahl]

I will eat those cookies. A couple of things I see a head for this off season. 1. We will sign Pelfrey to a two year deal. 2. We will sign a pitcher who is not worth the money and cant strike anyone out (and not Pelfrey). 3. TR will say that the signing is a great signing and try to sell it to the Twins fans. 4. No other signings from FA. 5. Payrol, while not the be all of baseball success, will not increase.

 

Some other random thoughts....Joe will remain a catcher, he was signed to it, he is great at it, and will have enough say so to keep doing it. I agree with this as well. I take a look at what positions he can play, and see that he can get injured anywhere on the field. We cant protect him from everything. We will not find a first baseman or third baseman for a couple of years. I wonder how the Twins took so many steps back for such a short time TR was gone. I know he was great when he was here, and made some great moves, but didnt he draft those players who were coming up in the ranks before he left? I also think it is time we move on from what front office we have and get someone in place who does take more stock into what role statistics have in the future success a baseball club has. I dont know much, but that is what I think. So, give me some cookies....nom, nom...

 

These predictions seem frighteningly likely to play out. That's pretty accurate. And . . . I just can't believe any of it.

[best game in the world]

It was a wonderful evening in 1987, my best friend Mark and I had been wondering the streets of Minneapolis for hours, there were hundreds of folks seemingly in the same situation as ours. We saw signs, people dressed in costumes, yelling catchy and witty lines to everyone they passed. Mark and I talked of Hrbek launching another miracle homerun in the 9th. Seeing Bert close down the Royals at the dome on that magical Sunday. All tolled we had made over 40 games that season, what a fantastic night. We dodged cars, ticked off crossing guards, I suppose we could have walked 10 miles, the entire season was recounted. Beating the Tigers and talking our parents into letting us go to congratulate our heros at the Dome with fifty thousand of our closest friends... The game was about to start and it was time to call my Mom and have her come and pick us up, still no tickets. We were making our way to the Twins ticket office area to use the pay phone. " You boys need tickets?" a man dressed in a suit asked. No sooner had he asked, at least 10 people swarmed around him. He told all the other folks to get lost, and asked again "You boys need tickets right?" I mumbled something and he understood it to be a yes. He hands 2 tickets to us, section 114. Mark asks "how much"? The man looks puzzled, pauses and says it "dosen't matter" and disappears in the crowd.

 

That man, Bob Allison.

[Shane Wahl]

It was a wonderful evening in 1987, my best friend Mark and I had been wondering the streets of Minneapolis for hours, there were hundreds of folks seemingly in the same situation as ours. We saw signs, people dressed in costumes, yelling catchy and witty lines to everyone they passed. Mark and I talked of Hrbek launching another miracle homerun in the 9th. Seeing Bert close down the Royals at the dome on that magical Sunday. All tolled we had made over 40 games that season, what a fantastic night. We dodged cars, ticked off crossing guards, I suppose we could have walked 10 miles, the entire season was recounted. Beating the Tigers and talking our parents into letting us go to congratulate our heros at the Dome with fifty thousand of our closest friends... The game was about to start and it was time to call my Mom and have her come and pick us up, still no tickets. We were making our way to the Twins ticket office area to use the pay phone. " You boys need tickets?" a man dressed in a suit asked. No sooner had he asked, at least 10 people swarmed around him. He told all the other folks to get lost, and asked again "You boys need tickets right?" I mumbled something and he understood it to be a yes. He hands 2 tickets to us, section 114. Mark asks "how much"? The man looks puzzled, pauses and says it "dosen't matter" and disappears in the crowd.

 

That man, Bob Allison.

 

What?????? Ok, another nominee for best post on TD ever.

[glunn]

Great posts, rookies! Now we need some lurkers to join in. Please don't be shy.

[Riverbrian]

It was a wonderful evening in 1987, my best friend Mark and I had been wondering the streets of Minneapolis for hours, there were hundreds of folks seemingly in the same situation as ours. We saw signs, people dressed in costumes, yelling catchy and witty lines to everyone they passed. Mark and I talked of Hrbek launching another miracle homerun in the 9th. Seeing Bert close down the Royals at the dome on that magical Sunday. All tolled we had made over 40 games that season, what a fantastic night. We dodged cars, ticked off crossing guards, I suppose we could have walked 10 miles, the entire season was recounted. Beating the Tigers and talking our parents into letting us go to congratulate our heros at the Dome with fifty thousand of our closest friends... The game was about to start and it was time to call my Mom and have her come and pick us up, still no tickets. We were making our way to the Twins ticket office area to use the pay phone. " You boys need tickets?" a man dressed in a suit asked. No sooner had he asked, at least 10 people swarmed around him. He told all the other folks to get lost, and asked again "You boys need tickets right?" I mumbled something and he understood it to be a yes. He hands 2 tickets to us, section 114. Mark asks "how much"? The man looks puzzled, pauses and says it "dosen't matter" and disappears in the crowd.

 

That man, Bob Allison.

 

Great Story

[Oldgoat_MN]

...

That man, Bob Allison.

 

Awesome. Thanks for sharing that!

[TheDean]

Not sure if I can follow up the tale from best game in the world, especially because 1987 is half legend/folklore to me as a child of the 90s. My best memories are watching the Twins lose the ALCS to the rally monkeys (along with the Vikings losing their NFC championships-especially '98, the Wild losing their Western Conference championship, and the T-wolves losing theirs. As an aside, I recently attended UW-Madison, allowing me to jettison my Gophers fandom for the Badgers. While more successful than the Gophs, watching three straight Rose Bowl losses has been tough to stomach.)

 

The point of that whole story is that I'm reluctant to get too excited about the Twins' talent in the minors. I've never really witnessed victory by any of my sports teams ever in 20+ years of conscious life. I've seen abject defeat, like the last few Twins seasons. Those are actually easy to take since they had low expectations and low-level results. I've seen boundless hope, as with the Twins in the ALCS a decade ago, which is really fun to be a part of, but has never resulting in anything other than heartbreak.

 

Now that I've introduced myself as a pessimistic, poor-me sap...

My concern for next season (not pitching because everyone already knows that):

Ability to get on base/contact

I realize that on-base percentage and contact rates aren't the same thing, but they're both necessary to improve the offense from this season's dismal showing. It was somewhat expected due to the number of young players this year, but a number of veterans also seemed to regress. The result was an exceptionally high number of strikeouts, and strikeouts significantly lowered the number of baserunners the Twins had, while ensuring that no contact would be made to drive the few souls in scoring position in to home.

 

Ultimately, it's difficult to envision a different situation next year. Mauer will be Mauer, but Dozier/Florimon/Plouffe (or Sano) don't scream "table setter" to me. Arcia/Pinto/Herrman were all young this year and have a lot of room to improve, but their tendencies seem to be in the "swing away" mold (Pinto and Herrman I'm less sure about due to the limited looks we got). Hammer and Doumit are who they are. They've got pop, but pitchers aren't worried about pitching around them since they have no protection and won't hurt them on the basepaths.

 

Given these ideas of who will be filling in the lineup next year, I just don't see who is getting on base to produce runs...with one exception: Hicks. Rapid improvement of Hicks in the batter's box will be necessary to give the Twins a true table setter. Pressley can be a stop-gap (better than Thomas and *probably* Mastro), but Hicks will need to be in place as a top of the order bat by the end of the year. Ideally, he takes the pressure off Buxton once he's up and could slide to #2. I like the sound of Buxton, new&improved Hicks, Mauer.

[MNRebel]

This is a great site. The minor league reports are a daily read during the season...thanks a million for those. It is also great to know there are so many passionate fans of our favorite team. Is this too optomistic for producing runs?

 

July 4, 2014 batting order

 

#1 - Byron Buxton, CF

#2 - Eddie Rosario, 2B

#3 - Joe Mauer, 1B

#4 - Miguel Sano, 3B

#5 - Josh Willingham, DH

#6 - Oswaldo Arcia, RF

#7 - Josmil Pinto, C

#8 - Aaron Hicks, LF

#9 - Pedro Florimon, SS

 

I'd buy a ticket.

[CRF_EC]

Thanks for the opportunity for my first and probably last post to Twins Daily. I have been a Twins fan for over 45 years. I’ve been lucky enough to have seen games at Met stadium, the Metrodome and Target Field. I also remember being ecstatic when Carl Pohlad bought the team from Cal Griffith.

 

I’ve also seen more bad teams than good teams. There have certainly been times where there were players I didn’t like, managers did things that were aggravating and owners that made decisions that disappointed me. For those times, I remember back to the whole Twins experience. It didn’t mean we didn’t have fun at the ballpark. At the Met, a favorite pastime was turning over empty cups and stomping on them to pop them and make an echo, all the while waiting for Killebrew to come bat. In the early eighties, four or five of us would head to the Metrodome, plop down our four bucks for the cheap seats. The Twins weren’t good so we really didn’t care who was on the field. We’d each draw a number from 1-9, that was our batter for each team. If that batter hit a homerun everyone else had to buy you a beer. Not so bad, when the score was 2-1, “ horrible” if it was 8-5. Razzing Brewers’ fans was another favorite time, especially in the game where the Twins got up 8-4 in the fourth inning, and the Brewers fans left. Good thing because the Brewers started hitting and won 13-9 and there were no Brewers fans left to razz us. At least we got to see Ben Ogilvie (Brewers) hit the longest home run hit in the Metrodome. At age 25, I remember bawling my eyes out when my beloved Twins won the 1987 World Series. The 1991 World Series win was great but couldn’t top the excitement of 87. I also remember nearly bawling when the Twins were being contracted and the feeling of elation when they weren’t. Since then, the rest of the years have been gravy, with some lumpy potatoes.

 

I have a reason for taking you on a trip down my memory lane. Since the season has ended (at times during the season), most of the discussion here at TwinsDaily has taken a negative, many times aggressive tone. Quoting dictionary definitions and having moderators have to give out warnings on regular basis is a bit over the top for me. I don’t want to give the impression that I don’t think there should be discussion on both sides of a topic. That is the root of all sports fans. I will say that if your only measure of success for the Twins is to make the playoffs, win the playoffs, and win the World Series, you probably are in for a lot of disappointment. I don’t say that because it’s the Twins – There were 20 teams in the same boat this year. I can’t help but fear that the disappointment will diminish your overall Twins experience and cloud the memories that come with it.

 

I’ve been trying to find an analogy… Being at TwinsDaily is like going with friends to a Bar to discuss the Twins. Everyone will have an opinion and there will be disagreements. If there is that one friend that is always negative and repeats the same arguments over and over, you’d stop asking them to come to the bar with you. I know this is not the right thing to do especially with TwinsDaily. As an alternative, I can look for another bar.

 

A have a special thanks to John. I stumbled on to TwinsGeek quite few years ago as a Minnesotan, transplanted to Packerland, starving for inside Twins info. This led me to Aaron Gleeman, Seth and too many others to mention. The blogs have given me a new perspective about the sport and favorite sports team I am passionate about. Although I am a mathematician by education, I had not delved into the statistics of baseball and am especially happy that others on this site are doing it for me to read and analyze.

 

Although I am passionate about the Twins, I do want to say that I am just as disappointed as most of you in the performance of the team over the last three years. It hasn’t stopped me from throwing on my Twin’s cap as much as possible, sneaking a look at the box scores every day, or stopping to watch a couple innings on the TV. In these down times, I’ll focus on my overall Twins experience where no matter what, being at a ballpark on a summer evening is an experience to remember no matter what the outcome is. I’ll do this despite looking like one of the uninformed, foolishly optimistic, bandwagon fans that are looked down upon.

 

I'll probably stick around at this "Bar" for a bit longer - I'm enjoying reliving the 87 World Series. Later next year I'll poke my head in now and then to see how the minor leagues are shaping up.

 

I'll close this long ramble by saying that my experience here has been mostly positive. I'm not convinced that I want to go through the whole off-season dreading that next article on how awful everything is.

[ashbury]

I’ve been trying to find an analogy… Being at TwinsDaily is like going with friends to a Bar to discuss the Twins. Everyone will have an opinion and there will be disagreements. If there is that one friend that is always negative and repeats the same arguments over and over, you’d stop asking them to come to the bar with you. I know this is not the right thing to do especially with TwinsDaily. As an alternative, I can look for another bar.

 

Moderator's note: Thanks for the observation. Not my intention to derail the thread, but as you could infer from Glunn's intro to this thread, the moderation team actually takes very seriously exactly the atmosphere you allude to. Indeed from time to time a few of the "bar's patrons" have been shown the door - some with more regret than with others - not specifically for negativity but for making it difficult for other patrons to enjoy their time at the site. Now back to the thread.

[Squirrel]

Thanks for the opportunity for my first and probably last post to Twins Daily. I have been a Twins fan for over 45 years. I’ve been lucky enough to have seen games at Met stadium, the Metrodome and Target Field. I also remember being ecstatic when Carl Pohlad bought the team from Cal Griffith.

 

I’ve also seen more bad teams than good teams. There have certainly been times where there were players I didn’t like, managers did things that were aggravating and owners that made decisions that disappointed me. For those times, I remember back to the whole Twins experience. It didn’t mean we didn’t have fun at the ballpark. At the Met, a favorite pastime was turning over empty cups and stomping on them to pop them and make an echo, all the while waiting for Killebrew to come bat. In the early eighties, four or five of us would head to the Metrodome, plop down our four bucks for the cheap seats. The Twins weren’t good so we really didn’t care who was on the field. We’d each draw a number from 1-9, that was our batter for each team. If that batter hit a homerun everyone else had to buy you a beer. Not so bad, when the score was 2-1, “ horrible” if it was 8-5. Razzing Brewers’ fans was another favorite time, especially in the game where the Twins got up 8-4 in the fourth inning, and the Brewers fans left. Good thing because the Brewers started hitting and won 13-9 and there were no Brewers fans left to razz us. At least we got to see Ben Ogilvie (Brewers) hit the longest home run hit in the Metrodome. At age 25, I remember bawling my eyes out when my beloved Twins won the 1987 World Series. The 1991 World Series win was great but couldn’t top the excitement of 87. I also remember nearly bawling when the Twins were being contracted and the feeling of elation when they weren’t. Since then, the rest of the years have been gravy, with some lumpy potatoes.

 

 

Thanks for the trip ... you and I are of the same vintage. These memories are mine as well. I hope you keep posting ...

[Let It Sano]

I'm probably one of the younger members on here (16) but when I saw this thread I thought it would be a great time to make my first post. I've been a Twins fan ever since I watched Johan Santana throw that gem in Game 1 of the 2004 ALDS. (Ironically that's the last playoff game they've won). I loved Johan and almost cried when they traded him. He is a FA this winter and I 100% think they should bring him back. He has had a lot of injuries with the Mets and will most likely never be the Ace he once was, but he would still be a great low risk/high reward signing. It would be a huge PR boost for an org that has taken a beating lately. He would most likely sell out Target Field quick if he ever made a start. He would provide lefty pitching depth which is probably our biggest need. At the very least Johan would be a great veteran presence for the younger pitchers to learn from. And he can strike guys out which is always good. That is all.

[ashbury]

I loved Johan and almost cried when they traded him.

 

Almost? What's the point of being ten years old if you can't cry when they trade your ace?

[Guest USAFChief]

I'm probably one of the younger members on here (16) but when I saw this thread I thought it would be a great time to make my first post. I've been a Twins fan ever since I watched Johan Santana throw that gem in Game 1 of the 2004 ALDS. (Ironically that's the last playoff game they've won). I loved Johan and almost cried when they traded him. He is a FA this winter and I 100% think they should bring him back. He has had a lot of injuries with the Mets and will most likely never be the Ace he once was, but he would still be a great low risk/high reward signing. It would be a huge PR boost for an org that has taken a beating lately. He would most likely sell out Target Field quick if he ever made a start. He would provide lefty pitching depth which is probably our biggest need. At the very least Johan would be a great veteran presence for the younger pitchers to learn from. And he can strike guys out which is always good. That is all.

LOVE the username.

[ThePuck]

I loved Johan and almost cried when they traded him.

 

Hey, me too! Except I was 38 :-)

[MinnesotaMike]

Nice website. I find it intriguing to see what has been written about each and every day.

 

The biggest reason I come to the site is that one of my best friends in high school was Seth Stohs and I really enjoy checking up on him since we don't have a chance to talk very much anymore. Seth stood up for me at my wedding like 19 years ago and I have always had a lot of respect for him as a person.

 

As for the Twins... where do they even start? This roster is a complete mess and the current management in place hasn't really shown or given the fan base anything that they are the group that can turn things around. Well, everyone has their solutions as to what the Twins should do this offseason. I'm not smart enough to get into that discussion. To be honest, I don't think there is a reason to discuss the possibility of any moves being made, because to date, there hasn't been anything done ever by Mr. Terry Ryan. I still think that the Twins have not yet hit rock bottom, though.

[MinnesotaMike]

I just wanted to post a 2nd time so I didn't have the number 1 by my name.

[righty8383]

Hey, me too! Except I was 38 :-)

 

Don't you still cry when you get a flu shot, Puck?

 

To be honest, I don't think there is a reason to discuss the possibility of any moves being made, because to date, there hasn't been anything done ever by Mr. Terry Ryan. I still think that the Twins have not yet hit rock bottom, though.

 

I agree with your hesitation about getting hopes up. I however, DO think we've hit rock bottom. We might still be a few years away from contention because our young core will surely have some growing pains. I think we'll see a steady improvement starting next year.

 

On a different note, regarding this thread, I wasn't sure what to expect. Glad to see some new names chime in.

[Let It Sano]

I just wanted to post a 2nd time so I didn't have the number 1 by my name.

 

Good idea.

[Guest USAFChief]

Good idea.

+1.

[ThePuck]

Don't you still cry when you get a flu shot, Puck?

 

 

 

 

I told you that in confidence man...so not cool :-)

[Shane Wahl]

This thread has already been very worth it, for many reasons.

 

One, it HAS brought out "lurkers and rookies" to say interesting things (and they should stick with it!)

 

Two, it serves as a nice mini-reset button for some petty disagreements

[glunn]

It was a wonderful evening in 1987, my best friend Mark and I had been wondering the streets of Minneapolis for hours, there were hundreds of folks seemingly in the same situation as ours. We saw signs, people dressed in costumes, yelling catchy and witty lines to everyone they passed. Mark and I talked of Hrbek launching another miracle homerun in the 9th. Seeing Bert close down the Royals at the dome on that magical Sunday. All tolled we had made over 40 games that season, what a fantastic night. We dodged cars, ticked off crossing guards, I suppose we could have walked 10 miles, the entire season was recounted. Beating the Tigers and talking our parents into letting us go to congratulate our heros at the Dome with fifty thousand of our closest friends... The game was about to start and it was time to call my Mom and have her come and pick us up, still no tickets. We were making our way to the Twins ticket office area to use the pay phone. " You boys need tickets?" a man dressed in a suit asked. No sooner had he asked, at least 10 people swarmed around him. He told all the other folks to get lost, and asked again "You boys need tickets right?" I mumbled something and he understood it to be a yes. He hands 2 tickets to us, section 114. Mark asks "how much"? The man looks puzzled, pauses and says it "dosen't matter" and disappears in the crowd.

 

That man, Bob Allison.

 

This post is beyond excellent, and I hope that you consider converting it to a blog that might even be posted on the main page as an article. If you have any more stories like this, or even 10% as good as this, please post them.

 

One good feature of TD is that anyone can create blog posts, and sometimes these get added to the main page as articles.

[acrozelle]

I don't have much to post at the moment. That will definitely change once we see how the off-season plays out. But for now I have to say, this teams farm system makes me as giddy as a school girl.

Edited October 18, 2013 by acrozelle
I can't spell

[glunn]

Thanks for the opportunity for my first and probably last post to Twins Daily. I have been a Twins fan for over 45 years. I’ve been lucky enough to have seen games at Met stadium, the Metrodome and Target Field. I also remember being ecstatic when Carl Pohlad bought the team from Cal Griffith.

 

I’ve also seen more bad teams than good teams. There have certainly been times where there were players I didn’t like, managers did things that were aggravating and owners that made decisions that disappointed me. For those times, I remember back to the whole Twins experience. It didn’t mean we didn’t have fun at the ballpark. At the Met, a favorite pastime was turning over empty cups and stomping on them to pop them and make an echo, all the while waiting for Killebrew to come bat. In the early eighties, four or five of us would head to the Metrodome, plop down our four bucks for the cheap seats. The Twins weren’t good so we really didn’t care who was on the field. We’d each draw a number from 1-9, that was our batter for each team. If that batter hit a homerun everyone else had to buy you a beer. Not so bad, when the score was 2-1, “ horrible” if it was 8-5. Razzing Brewers’ fans was another favorite time, especially in the game where the Twins got up 8-4 in the fourth inning, and the Brewers fans left. Good thing because the Brewers started hitting and won 13-9 and there were no Brewers fans left to razz us. At least we got to see Ben Ogilvie (Brewers) hit the longest home run hit in the Metrodome. At age 25, I remember bawling my eyes out when my beloved Twins won the 1987 World Series. The 1991 World Series win was great but couldn’t top the excitement of 87. I also remember nearly bawling when the Twins were being contracted and the feeling of elation when they weren’t. Since then, the rest of the years have been gravy, with some lumpy potatoes.

 

I have a reason for taking you on a trip down my memory lane. Since the season has ended (at times during the season), most of the discussion here at TwinsDaily has taken a negative, many times aggressive tone. Quoting dictionary definitions and having moderators have to give out warnings on regular basis is a bit over the top for me. I don’t want to give the impression that I don’t think there should be discussion on both sides of a topic. That is the root of all sports fans. I will say that if your only measure of success for the Twins is to make the playoffs, win the playoffs, and win the World Series, you probably are in for a lot of disappointment. I don’t say that because it’s the Twins – There were 20 teams in the same boat this year. I can’t help but fear that the disappointment will diminish your overall Twins experience and cloud the memories that come with it.

 

I’ve been trying to find an analogy… Being at TwinsDaily is like going with friends to a Bar to discuss the Twins. Everyone will have an opinion and there will be disagreements. If there is that one friend that is always negative and repeats the same arguments over and over, you’d stop asking them to come to the bar with you. I know this is not the right thing to do especially with TwinsDaily. As an alternative, I can look for another bar.

 

A have a special thanks to John. I stumbled on to TwinsGeek quite few years ago as a Minnesotan, transplanted to Packerland, starving for inside Twins info. This led me to Aaron Gleeman, Seth and too many others to mention. The blogs have given me a new perspective about the sport and favorite sports team I am passionate about. Although I am a mathematician by education, I had not delved into the statistics of baseball and am especially happy that others on this site are doing it for me to read and analyze.

 

Although I am passionate about the Twins, I do want to say that I am just as disappointed as most of you in the performance of the team over the last three years. It hasn’t stopped me from throwing on my Twin’s cap as much as possible, sneaking a look at the box scores every day, or stopping to watch a couple innings on the TV. In these down times, I’ll focus on my overall Twins experience where no matter what, being at a ballpark on a summer evening is an experience to remember no matter what the outcome is. I’ll do this despite looking like one of the uninformed, foolishly optimistic, bandwagon fans that are looked down upon.

 

I'll probably stick around at this "Bar" for a bit longer - I'm enjoying reliving the 87 World Series. Later next year I'll poke my head in now and then to see how the minor leagues are shaping up.

 

I'll close this long ramble by saying that my experience here has been mostly positive. I'm not convinced that I want to go through the whole off-season dreading that next article on how awful everything is.

 

So you hit a home run in your first and only at bat, then you retire? Teaser!

 

I understand your dislike for the negativity and the bickering. The moderators are working hard to reduce the bickering. The negativity is another matter. We have some members who are generally negative and critical, and other members who are generally positive and supportive of the FO. We are trying to foster intelligent, respectful debate that includes the extremists from both ends of the spectrum, and that means that there will continue to be some posts that are annoyingly negative. There will also be posts that some people find annoyingly positive.

 

I am grateful for your post. Even our senior moderators have been doing this for less than a year. We are all rookies and we are learning as we go. Your input and AshburyJohn's response have crystallized some ideas in my mind and I hope that you will let us know if you find a better bar -- we are open to learning from the success of others.

[Erock]

The Twins won the world series in 1991 on my first birthday. My uncle spilled beer on me that night.

 

Also

 

2 of Kazmir, Hughes, Jimenez, Lincecum, Nolasco, Feldman, Johnson or Tanaka need to be in Twins uniforms next year. In addition, a third pitcher, perhaps someone like Mike Pelfrey or Randy Messenger or even Johan Santana should be brought in, particularly if one of the first 2 is an injury risk like Kazmir or Johnson. My body is not ready for another year of **** and 4.5K per 9 from every starter. While the current free agent class of SP is pretty ugly for playoff caliber squads, it's strangely good for the Twins current situation.

Edited October 18, 2013 by Erock