Twins Fan From Afar

This is the 6th story in "Those Damn Yankees" series, stories about Twins-Yankees rivalry by some of our favorite Twins Daily writers, leading up to the Bombers visit July 1st to the 4th. You wake up hazy -- perhaps a little hung-over and still tasting those apple-tinis from the previous night. Across from you in the king size bed, an aging baseball superstar stirs, gently clutching a bear-skin blanket. His eyes open. He kisses you gently on the nose and says "that was nice." He informs you that he's called a Towncar to take you home. Derek Jeter then rises, stretches, and waves a nude hello to Manhattan from his apartment at the top of Trump Tower. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] You quickly grab your undergarments, what is left of your pride and head down the elevator, wishing he had given you, at least, time to brush your teeth or take an awesome Vine to show your friends. After you walk out the Trump Tower door, you enter the black Lincoln Town Car. The driver says, "Good morning, Ms. Walter. Mr. Jeter has left something for you." Of course you're hoping it's a key to his apartment (*his heart*), or his phone number. But no. To your surprise a cellophane-wrapped gift basket rests in the adjacent seat. After the initial disappointment sets in, you think, "OK, at least this jelly of the month club is going to be pretty awesome. I mean, I didn't think asparagus preserves would be good but I'm willing to give it a try." Then you look closer, and see the following: A Derek Jeter stamp-signed knock-off baseball. You're pretty sure it's not authentic because it's a little un-round and you don't remember "Rollings" being a legitimate baseball company. A gift certificate for a bikini wax. Jerk. A voucher to be a "seat filler" for the wealthy New York businessmen that don't occupy the seats behind home plate at Yankee Stadium. $5 worth of those McDonald's gift certificates you used to get when you were a kid. You're actually pretty happy with that one. [TABLE] http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bT-jn-_T3pM/Uce4CAX92SI/AAAAAAAAAm8/lTeA9D-FvHw/s1600/Mcdonalds.jpg "Thanks, Captain. Now I can get most of anExtra Value Meal." [/TABLE] What you just read was a rendition (with artistic license) of what reportedly happened to a woman whom Jeter had taken home. After the Yankees' captain ditched Minka Kelly, he apparently was enjoying the single life. If you believe the story, Jeter failed to remember taking this particular woman home not once, but twice. When she got in the towncar the morning after their second encounter, there, in the seat next to her, to her surprise, was the identical gift basket she had received after the first go-around. This leads to two somewhat logical conclusions: 1) Jeter does this for all or most of the women he takes home; 2) he did not remember that he previously had -- spent time -- with this lady. In terms of real-life, sports news, and the Twins-Yankees rivalry, this was, and still is, a "nothing story." As far as the Yankees go, I have a strong dislike for them. But I really respect Jeter. He's always seemed like a classy guy on and off the field, and has had one hell of a career. This story -- even if true, and that's a big if -- does nothing for me. But it is humorous. In the comments section, please share what other items Jeter could/should have included in the gift basket. Be creative and funny, but not disgusting. Or, what would be good items in a Twins one-night-stand gift basket? Embers giftcards, a night at the FantaSuites in Burnsville, wild rice? For more of Those Damn Yankees, check out.... The Cuzzi Call by Nick Nelson The Twins and Yankees Go Way Back by Thrylos Confessions Of A Twins Fan by Brad Swanson Chuck Knoblauch by Cody Christie Dealing with Yankee Fans by PeanutsFromHeaven

Last week, I was in the right place at the right time: the AA debuts of top Twins' prospect Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario. One big takeaway from Sano's and Rosario's first couple AA games was that their reputations preceded them; in other words, pitchers knew who these guys were. Take a look at the (grainy amateur) video I shot of some early at-bats -- the pitches weren't even close. As a result, Sano and Rosario, but Sano especially, seemed to only get maybe 1 pitch per at-bat in his wheelhouse. I suspect this is a problem that has plagued him his entire career, and probably won't stop until he he has someone equally or more talented hitting behind him.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Today I thought I would take a look at the very, very sample size that has been Sano's AA career. I want to see how pitchers are approaching his at-bats. As of the writing of this article, Sano has compiled 19 plate appearances for the Rock Cats: 1 hit, 6 walks, 3 Ks, and 9 other outs on balls in play. I'm going to use screenshots. As a caveat, please be aware that the Gameday information is imperfect: it's a good tool, but is, of course, subject to human error. That being said, let's take a look. 1: 5-pitch walk. Arguably 1 pitch to hit, and he fouled it off. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2vGxHB35FZw/Ub-snjZL1bI/AAAAAAAAAjI/5rnRM7Ts7q0/s320/IMAG0467.jpg 2: 2-pitch ground out to third http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-velJSvId9u8/Ub-s50fKY4I/AAAAAAAAAjU/342LdSl50PE/s320/IMAG0468.jpg 3: 3-pitch sac fly. All hittable pitches. 2 called strikes and the fly ball. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hyqEvPejxIM/Ub-tH23kowI/AAAAAAAAAjc/Hhkp9ySBVPY/s320/IMAG0469.jpg 4: 4-pitch swinging K. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UWtp88yGBLo/Ub-t_PiJfZI/AAAAAAAAAjs/xDFgnCZ_0_s/s320/IMAG0470.jpg 5: 5-pitch sac fly. The 3 balls appeared pretty far off the plate. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KOjIGxnF6nQ/Ub-u1hWW4eI/AAAAAAAAAj0/NXWKnISWkqY/s320/IMAG0471.jpg 6: 6-pitch called strikeout. Looked like some hittable pitches up in the zone. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-l-2fZhDMJTQ/Ub-vyp7rBZI/AAAAAAAAAkE/aXslqW0i5hg/s320/IMAG0472.jpg 7: 5-pitch flyout to left. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rQIvp_amxS0/Ub-wnfMTd3I/AAAAAAAAAkQ/yQDYXV-lPHc/s320/IMAG0473.jpg 8: 3-pitch flyout to right. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HzPzkKD5Pg8/Ub-xMzP9QsI/AAAAAAAAAkc/KQ0Topdj2FU/s320/IMAG0474.jpg 9: 1-pitch single to left. Looked like a good pitch to hit. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ifjHj--ISn8/Ub-xspkbxOI/AAAAAAAAAkk/YjtLGa0Vhyg/s320/IMAG0475.jpg 10: 2-pitch groundout to shortstop: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RMXtba-YdRE/Ub-ygfYf1KI/AAAAAAAAAk0/YFGGKKs7vU0/s320/IMAG0476.jpg 11: 5-pitch walk. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5Cj9upCs5YM/Ub-zTEt3RMI/AAAAAAAAAk8/FoBqn6EFS9U/s320/IMAG0477.jpg 12: 3-pitch flyout to center. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mTOPnd2Qocw/Ub-z7BNAOMI/AAAAAAAAAlE/MUs0eD0pwt0/s320/IMAG0478.jpg 13: 8-pitch walk. Looks like he was consistently worked outside. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gT8kQGEwl5E/Ub-0vLuo22I/AAAAAAAAAlQ/Kr-AHR0-Fzc/s320/IMAG0479.jpg 14: 6-pitch walk. Again worked outside. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zoFq2006mPk/Ub-1xH9jeFI/AAAAAAAAAlg/qwhfnWDXes0/s320/IMAG0480.jpg 15: 6-pitch pop-out to first base. He was worked inside. Perhaps only the second or third plate appearance of thus far where a pitcher deliberately challenged him on the inner half. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H6SDwvwDxKE/Ub-5z-qn3rI/AAAAAAAAAlw/MEr9fpQyH2A/s320/IMAG0481.jpg 16: 6-pitch walk. Again worked inside by Harrisburg starter Blake Treinen. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ksazj0O5MM0/Ub-6hNP4nuI/AAAAAAAAAl8/xZ2o808wg8w/s320/IMAG0482.jpg 17: 3-pitch grounder to shortstop. Treinen went inside on the third pitch. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lI02T00D9sI/Ub-7KKETIQI/AAAAAAAAAmI/lk-KE2XpOKU/s320/IMAG0483.jpg 18: 3 called strikes. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9AdQyC8_VHE/Ub-7r_SxRnI/AAAAAAAAAmU/cfyaW493Ofg/s320/IMAG0484.jpg 19: 6-pitch walk. Check out those inside pitches. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Amf2Yefs4yc/Ub-8OjWwoOI/AAAAAAAAAmc/fKb_dOyI79s/s320/IMAG0485.jpg Some quick takeaways from this very small sample size: With the exception of the final game (appearances 15-19), teams are really working Sano outside. Not a big surprise. But the strange part is that the inside pitches, thus far, haven't produced big results. Sano is probably used to being pitched outside so much that the inside pitches might surprise him. Sano has swung at the first pitch in 7 of these 19 plate appearances. He has a strange, strange line of .091/.368/.091. This suggests at least 3 things: 1) the sample size is so small as to be meaningless; 2) Sano is not hitting yet; 3) he is reaching base via the walk at a high, high rate. He's not striking out at a higher rate than he did at High-A. Sano is taking good at-bats, even if they aren't ending with hits. He has only 1 one-pitch at-bat (it was his lone hit, by the way); he's averaging 4.3 pitches per plate appearance (for comparison, right now Joe Mauer is 6th in baseball with 4.24 pitches per plate appearance). My quick take: Sano is doing what he should be doing. He's seeing pitches from pitchers that are new to him; he's managing to reach base at a good clip despite not getting base hits; he's "just missing" -- his words not mine -- baseballs. In other words, just be patient. I'm curious what others think, or can glean, from these screenshots (again, taking them for what they are -- an imperfect tool). It's going to be interesting to see how pitchers plan to approach Sano as spring becomes summer, and as Sano eventually starts to see some of these guys a second time. It will also help matters greatly if those batting behind Sano prove a formidable threat.