UpstateNewYorker

Agreed. On one of the Twins' broadcasts this year Dick asked Justin why most batters can't hit to the opposite field anymore. His explanation was basically: the modern swing has become very technical and batters spend hours practicing launch angle, backspin, trigger mechanisms, etc., that they just can't make adjustments. Even so, Kepler could hit .290 if he just bunted to the open left side of the infield occasionally.

Very interesting -- thanks for posting. It's worth noting that the Angels have been terrible under their current front office.

Agree about the lack of fundamentals. There's an interesting quote from Steven Kwan of the Guardians (in an article on ESPN.com) about how Francona emphasizes the little things: "He called me into his office, which he normally doesn't do," Kwan said. "And he pulls up a video and it's a runner on first and I hit a single to right. The runner goes first to third and the right fielder sails the ball and I'm standing on first. "He asks me why I didn't take second base? I told him I hadn't had a hit in while and I got to first and I was happy to be there. He was like 'No kid, that's not what we're about. If we're going to do this we're going to do it the right way.' "That stayed with me." From what we are seeing on the field it doesn't seem like the Twins' coaches are pushing fundamentals, or their conversations aren't sinking in with the players, which is just as bad.

I get that giving up an out by bunting is generally a bad strategy, but it sure seems like moving the ghost runner to third is a situation where a sacrifice is appropriate. Apparently Francona thinks so. I don't recall seeing the Twins do this much if at all this season.

Another hit on an 0-2 pitch. Cleveland is great at putting balls in play.

Agreed. Was expecting him to throw his best pitch there (slider).

What a mess.

After a Game 1 loss for the ages, the Twins will tee it up again against the Yankees in Game 2 of the doubleheader. Twins: L. Arraez, DH C. Correa SS J. Miranda 1B N. Gordon 2B G. Urshela 3B K. Garlick RF J. Cave LF G. Celestino CF S. Leon C J. RYan, P (10-7, 1.14 WHIP) Yankees: A. Hicks LF A. Judge DH G. Torres 2B O. Cabrera RF J. Trevino C M. Gonzalez 1B I. Kiner-Falefa 3B E. Florial CF O. Peraza SS G. Cole, P (10-7, 1.01 WHIP)

Good point! I guess the old adage that it's hard to sweep a DH is not necessarily true.

Today The Twins play the Yankees in a doubleheader in the Bronx. Twins fans obviously have nightmares about facing this opponent, especially on their home turf, but fortunately I happen to have at least one fond memory of a Twins-Yankees game in the House of Horrors. I've always lived in New York State and over the years I've tried to catch the team on their visits to Boston and New York. (My trips to Boston have been much more enjoyable on many levels!) The last game I attended was in May of 2019 against the Yankees in the new Yankee Stadium, which is a monolith and is as far removed from a Fenway-type ball park as you can get. My 20-something daughter and I took a two hour Metro North train ride from my home in the Hudson Valley to the Yankees-East 153rd exit for a Saturday afternoon game at a packed Yankee Stadium. Jake Odorizzi pitched two-hit, shut-out ball for six innings, and Mitch Garver, CJ Cron, and Nelson Cruz went deep (the first two against Yankee starter JA Happ) as the Twins pounded New York 7-3 in a rare win in the Bronx. After the game, the two of us and about 40,000 disgruntled Yankee fans all headed for the train station. My daughter and I ended up wedged like sardines into a train car that was SRO, but here's the interesting thing: we were shoulder to shoulder with about 12 other Twins fans! What were the chances? I met a 30-something guy who started following the Twins during the Gardenhire years. He liked how those teams played the game. Another guy had some serious PTSD regarding Joe Nathan's implosions in the playoffs. He couldn't stop recounting Nathan's blown saves, almost pitch-by-pitch. An older man was there with his three adult sons. He said he had recently moved his family from Minnesota to upstate New York. It was great to commiserate with all these Twins fans in the heart of Yankees territory, and it was especially enjoyable to share the day with my daughter. We now have a bucket list item to attend a game at Target Field. Before we get to the lineups, here is a Spot Quiz: What percentage of doubleheaders in MLB this season have been sweeps? There have been 51 doubleheaders through August 18th, and 23 of them (45%) have ended up as sweeps. Which is higher than I would have expected. My guess is the sheer number of bad teams has contributed to this high percentage. Spot Quiz #2: Where does the term doubleheader originate? A doubleheader refers to a train pulled by a locomotive with two engines, and baseball likely started using the term in the early days when teams traveled exclusively by train. Game 1 lineup ... Louie Varland takes the hill to make his big league debut against Domingo Herman (2-3) TWINS L. Arraez 1B C. Correa SS J. Miranda 3B N. Gordon 2B G. Urshela DH K. Garlick RF J. Cave LF G. Sanchez C G. Celestino CF YANKEES O. Cabrera RF A. Judge DH G. Torres 2B R. Guzman 1B M. Andujar LF I. Kiner-Falefa 3B E. Florial CF K. Higashioka C O. Peraza SS

Nice intro! Flood was a key member of those great Cardinals teams from the 1960s. There are showers in the forecast in the NYC area today and especially tomorrow. Tuesday's game might be washed out, so possibly we'll see a DH on Wednesday or Thursday.

I assume Theilbar isn't available. Would rather have kept Jax in than use Fullmer.

Fullmer getting tattooed.

I'm not breaking new ground here, but the only way for the Twins to compete consistently with the big market teams is to develop young pitching. So I was on board with Falvey's original "pipeline" plan. But the fact that he has traded for veteran pitchers (Gray, Mahle, Lopez) tells us what he thinks of his own prospects.

Readers of this thread might like this book: https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Care-Never-Get-Back/dp/0802123767