Riverbrian

I miss some on occasion but I gotta get a couple of points for this February call.

Winning a division weak or not is always an accomplishment. When I look back at those squads... Ozzie Guillen was right... They were Piranhas. Those Twin Teams were not loaded with superstars but they limited mistakes and executed more often then they did not execute. After you got past Johan Santana... The Starting pitching kept you in the game and the offense and defense took it from there. The Defense was great and helped the starters immensely. Nick Punto is often attacked by some because of his offensive numbers but the guy made plays in the field and some plays that he shouldn't have made and in my opinion was a leader by playing the game at full tilt and it wasn't like Nick Punto didn't get a key hit at a key moment from time to time. There is a reason that Nick Punto is still playing in the majors and a reason that Nick Punto has played for a lot of winning teams during what has become a long career. Offensively... We didn't have overwhelming numbers but we pressured defenses by taking the extra base and because the defense and Starting pitching didn't let games get away. They were clutch enough to produce when they needed to produce. I will always look back fondly at those teams. It was a pleasure to watch them play. They played the game the way it should be played and they played with pride. The little things mattered. If you are good enough to make the major leagues... You are good enough to help teams win games... If you are strong enough to hit a home run... You have the ability to hit a double of a single. If you believe that you can win... You will win. There is a difference between baseball teams on the field and baseball teams on paper. Those teams believed that they could win games. So Yeah... Bring back Nick Punto and we are good to go.

I don't like hearing Shoulder Surgery either... I feel better if you hear them say Elbow replacement surgery over Shoulder surgery. All reports have been that the surgery went well and his agent expects him to be 100 percent for Spring Training. Shoulder Surgery is scary for a pitcher and it's also hard to say 10 times fast.

Psst... You left out Deduno. 100 innings with a 3.83 is decent and I think he fell to 3.83 because his shoulder was bugging him.

Masahiro Tanaka: Every time I read his name... I think of Dances with Wolves... "Big Tanaka... Big Tanaka... Hey That's my Hat"!!! Here is where I'm at... I have no idea if this guy is the real deal or not... I haven't seen him pitch... With my team in desperate need for an ace... I want to tell myself that he is the real deal and a guy who can be that much needed lead pitcher. So with that desperation in my mind... I want him to be it and therefore want the Twins to go after him no matter the cost with no idea if he is it. My wishful thinking is controlling my rationale side. This happens from time to time. I'm searching for a therapist. Josh Johnson: He was born in Minneapolis and moved to Oklahoma at age 5. I don't expect the memories of a toddler to be a Minneapolis connection. I'm trying to remember what I was doing at age 5. The only memories that I have are a couple of traumatic events. One time I cut my thumb when I dropped a glass jar and I remember having to get up and turn the channel for my dad when he wanted the channel changed because this was before the age of remotes. I also remember that CBS was channel 4... ABC was channel 8. NBC was Channel 11 and PBS was channel 13. If you wanted to change from Channel 4 to Channel 8... Channel 5, 6 and 7 were static and with the volume up to 11 on the TV. The static would produce a loud hiss sound until you got to channel 8. Also if the President was on... He took over all the channels and your night was shot. Now... However... Toddler memories of Minnesota aside. Josh Johnson still has family in the Twin Cities. His brother reportedly lives in the Twins Cities and is a Twins season ticket holder. People are talking about Josh looking for a one year incentive based prove it deal. I'd like the Twins to take a shot. Those 80 innings he gives us may be good ones. Chris Colabello: He's a legit power guy. I just can't figure out why he insists on standing 47 feet from the plate. I wonder if standing a little closer and actually turning on a pitch would produce 500 foot Bombs to Left Field. Sam Deduno: I still think this guy has it. However... I'm not sure exactly what "It" is. But, I look forward to him being part of 2014. Swinging at Crap: If you have the ability to hit a home run. You have the ability to hit a double or a single as well. You just gotta stop swinging at crap. Young players doesn't always understand this because they feel like they have to do something amazing every time to prove themselves. Come to think of it... Old players don't always seem to understand this either. There are a lot of fans that don't understand this either. I think the best players understand this. Brian Dozier: There were many that wanted to throw Brian Dozier aside after 2012. How many Brian Dozier 2012's did we have on the 2013 roster. If anyone wants to throw aside a Chris Colabello or Aaron Hicks or half the Twins roster based on 2013. Think about Brian Dozier in 2012. Players can get better. The Light bulb can light up. Trevor Plouffe: Trevor will have to hit 30 home runs or start making some plays he shouldn't make on defense or I'm not going to be happy with him. It's probably not fair to Trevor but I can't help it. I spent too much time watching Brett Lawrie, Manny Machado, Nolen Arenado and even Josh Donaldson make jaw dropping plays night after night at the hot corner. I'm jealous of it... I want one... And if I can't have one... He better hit 30 home runs. Jerry Kill: He had another seizure today and he won't be coaching the big game with Michigan. I had Epilepsy when I was younger. I outgrew it because that happens sometimes. Epilepsy usually isn't genetic but it does run in my family. I've seen the affliction first hand, I have dealt with the aftermath of the affliction. I understand the affliction as well as it can be understood and am very very experienced with the affliction. I even lost a loved one to it. I would never in a million years advocate someone not being employable because of it. In most cases... It's a moment... You have it... You need a short recovery period afterwards because it's hard on the body. A power nap usually does the trick and then you go back to being what you normally are. It can basically ruin a day and not much more. I'm speaking generally because all cases are different from frequent/severe to infrequent/mild. However... Jerry Kill needs to step down here and save the University of Minnesota the PR of having to explain why they are not letting him go because of it. (Wait... This has nothing to do with Baseball... my apologies). Kevin Corriea: He was exactly who I thought he was. He was not my first choice in the off season but I'm glad we signed him. If only we could add a "Big Tanaka... Hey that's my Hat" to the roster so people don't expect Correia to be Kershaw because we don't have a Kershaw.

To be fair... I can't recall Terry Ryan ever saying "Wait for Buxton and Sano". I can recall Terry Ryan acknowledging that the responsibility for the roster is on him... And he has taken that responsibility every time.

Thanks Jokin... You are correct... Speaking for myself... I wish it was different... However... We have noticed a pattern. Certain words... Labels... Whatever you want to call it... Rightly or wrongly... Lead to a tough responses at times and everything going off the rails. Its a "we've seen it before" type thing. Sometimes we will be wrong but sometimes we are right but we always discuss it afterwards. The best advice I can give is "don't worry about it". It's just a post. It's just a moderation. Based on what we have learned. We recognize the buzz words and we try to step in. We'd rather it just roll off everyone's backs but sometimes it doesn't and we've seen it before. As as for any implication of a double standard. If there is... It isn't intentional. Sometimes things are not addressed for the simple reason that no moderator was available to address it. That's why more moderators have been brought in. Sometimes the moderator that gets there first handles it differently than the guy who would have arrived second. Sometimes it simply doesn't seem that bad and we let it slide collectively. Sometimes we decide to discuss it privately first before acting on it. It's that simple and there isn't a consistent reason nor us there a master plan to suppress one side of an argument. I tend to be more "Apologist" and Chief tends to be more "Hell in a handcart" Both sides are represented amongst the moderators. Once again... The best advice is... Don't worry about it. There are smart people on this site... This is the only place where I can congregate with fellow baseball freaks that can match my interest level. I've tried to talk about merits of Eddie Rosario at 2B with my wife and she tells me to learn how to fix the car instead. We are just working together... Admins, mods, everyone to keep this site healthy.

I will be completely honest. I think this sentence from Jim Crikket completely hits the nail exactly on the head dead center. Goin is on the payroll... He obviously serves some purpose. We don't know the level of his influence. Terry Ryan is a General Manager... He has a staff that works for him. He listens to all I would assume and the minute that he stops listening to someone... I would imagine that the person he stopped listening to would no longer be useful and would dry up and float away. Is Terry Ryan old school? Probably... Is the entire staff? Probably Not. Odds would suggest probably not. But most importantly... Who Knows? I thought that Jim's original post needed no apology. I think it was directed at everyone as a valid point and not directed at anyone specifically. I thought it was a balanced "Here's what I wish... Here's what I think" post... I for one... thought it was thought provoking. I guess that just shows how we can all interpret posts differently... Personally... I can read a post on Tuesday and be pissed about it. If I would have read the same post on Wednesday instead... I might see no problem at all. That isn't on the poster... It's on the reader. Personal Note to Jim Crikket... I read your posts and I appreciate your posts. Please continue for my benefit. Can we just... as a group.. be tolerant... self deprecating... Respectful of others... and passionate at the same time. Calling someone an apologist doesn't hurt me at all. If Snepp would make me a badge... I'll put it on my sleeve. Even while I hang out and enjoy the company of the Hell in a Handcart crowd. Both sides are going to be necessary for a site like this to operate. There is such a thing as too sensitive. Moderators are forced to moderate when labels are thrown around because we've noticed that they tend to take the train off the tracks. Let's not call people idiots. That includes... Posters, Players and the idiots() who run the front office. This makes us moderate. Let's not make an extra effort to twist small points and sentences from larger points and use it against posters. This makes us moderate. Let's not shout anyone down. People on the sidelines will not want to participate if someone is going to shout them down. Let everyone be heard. Encourage participation... Don't cripple it. As hard as it is to believe... There are some people in this world that don't want to post in that environment. Some People who are not as confident in their convictions or ability to express those convictions and may not want to post for fear of someone tearing them apart. This makes us moderate. Don't take yourself so seriously... Labels won't matter if you do. Whatever people are going to think about you... They probably already have formed that opinion and it isn't going to change. Might as well just roll with it. And finally... Always consider... That it is possible... no matter how strongly or passionate you feel about something... No matter how seemingly obvious the facts you have... Always consider the slight possibility that you might... might... might... be wrong. As moderators... We just want to keep the train on the tracks. Our understanding of the guidelines are no more refined than everyone else. We all have different levels of interpretation of the guidelines and we discuss it internally to try and become more uniform. But... Without a doubt... We all want to keep the train on the tracks. The Goal is the same.

Yeah... The year of Kirby's Glaucoma... That started bad and stayed bad. That one is up there for sure.

Yeah... Sadly I am... However... I mask my age very well with my behavior, common sense and intelligence.

LOL... Saying this is a good read... Is kind of like saying "Good News for people who like Bad News". As for the question... For some reason it felt worse when I was younger. 1981 Was the season that comes immediately to mind. Danny Goodwin and Mark Funderburk were just not getting it done. As for 2013... Actually 2012 and 2011 feel about the same... Just kind of a numb feeling and they are without question near the top of the list of worst seasons.

It's kind of like Butch Cassidy and Sundance looking over the Cliff and Sundance not wanting to jump because he can't swim. We can't replace Gardy as Manager because the locker room will be upset. It's the Players that are gonna kill you.

That would certainly be dysfunctional. Pohlad: So... Gardenhire? Ryan: (Gives the Thumbs Up Sign) Let's Keep him Pohlad: Really? Why? Ryan: Jim... I'm responsible for giving him the bad baseball players that he had to work with... All in All... I'm very impressed by the job Ron did... Through it all... He hasn't lost the clubhouse. Those players want to play for him. Pohlad: So... You are saying... The players performed better this year because they want to play for Ron. Ryan: Yes... Yes I am... Except... Well... No... No I'm not... (Coughs) What I'm saying is... that if the players played better this year. They would be happy to do so under Gardenhire's direction. Pohlad: Are we keeping those players? Ryan: No we are not... Ok... Let me rephrase that... We will not keep those players IF we can find better players. If we can't... If we can't find better players... We will have to keep them. Pohlad: If we bring in new players... Will they want to play for Ron? Will they come to Minnesota to play for Ron? Ryan: Yes they will... Except... Well... No they won't... Because Ron has lost a lot of baseball games the past 3 years. But I want to be clear that if we hadn't lost this many games... That these players we are trying to bring in... They would love to play for Ron. Pohlad: If we were winning games the past three years... would we be looking for new players? Ryan: No... We wouldn't be. Pohlad: Ok... the recommendation is stay with Ron for another year because he hasn't lost the clubhouse. Ryan: Two Years.

lol... I don't agree with that you said... But it was very amusing... I tip my hat. I'm going to steal that line from you and use it when appropriate at work.

Puck And Howie... I'm gonna step in and ask for niceness. More accurately... Warn... Niceness will prevent slippage from the rails.

I like Gardy and I always have... I don't believe that Gardy is at fault but I think it's time for a change. Improvement was supposed to be the test. Pitching was a little better but not enough. With the exception of Brian Dozier... The offense took 4 giant steps back. I don't care about 84 losses or 90 losses or 96 losses or 140 losses. This team did not improve at all according to what my eyes saw. I can't look at 2013 and say that improvement happened. I don't think anyone can. The K totals and lack of power and lack of speed and lack of the little things was stunning. I don't care if they lose as much as some... But I would appreciate looking a little better while losing at the very least. I like to think that I have patience and I like to think that I recognize a problem that won't be solved overnight. However... I support an immediate culture change in the Twins clubhouse... It has been said that culture change is the strong and slow boring of hard boards. It's even harder if you continue to use the same tools to strongly and slowly bore those boards.

Indians: SP Ubaldo Jimenez CF Bourn 1B Swisher 2B Kipnis DH Santana RF Raburn SS Cabrera LF Brantley C Gomes 3B Aviles Twins: SP Scott Diamond CF Presley 2B Dozier 3B Plouffe DH Doumit 1B Parmelee RF Herrmann LF Thomas C Fryer SS Florimon Final Things to Think About: 1. Think about 2013... It's been another long year for our Twins. I'm not going to break out a bunch of stats to prove or disprove my feelings but I did watch a lot of Twins baseball this year. I tend to agree with Terry Ryan when he says that the pitchers pitched better than the metrics suggest. No we didn't have a shut down rotation but the rotation did keep us in games enough that we could have had a later draft position in 2014. When I look back at 2013... I look at the offense primarily and the failure of the offense to compete. I saw the lack of the little things that the Twins used to be good at. I saw the lack of key hits at key moments that put W's on the board. I saw way too many strikeouts and it's hard to get anything moving when you are whiffing at an alarming rate and most of all... I saw a disappointing lack of power from a lineup that should have produced power. When Brian Dozier is your home run leader... That's great for Brian Dozier but terrible for a team that has Josh Willingham, Justin Morneau, Trevor Plouffe, Chris Parmelee, Ryan Doumit, Oswaldo Arcia and Chris Colabello expected to hit homers. Granted not all 7 of those had enough at bats to reach 20 homers but all of them have 20 homer potential and in the case of Willingham, Morneau and Plouffe... dare I say... 30 Homer potential. There is no doubt that the pitching needs to improve and the Twins won't get better until the pitching improves... It's that simple... but when I look back at 2013... It was the hitting that stood out as the primary problem among multiple problems. 2. Think about 2014... I suspect that most of us don't feel optimistic about 2014... In case you need a shot of optimism... Here's my best shot of it. Players get better. Take Brian Dozier for example... We were not very happy with him as a SS in 2012... We are very happy with him as a 2B in 2013. Look at players like Pedro Alverez in Pittsburgh... He was top prospect who struggled mightily before figuring it out and becoming the power hitter that everyone thought he would be. Just because 2013 went a certain way doesn't mean it will be the same in 2014. Vance Worley might be better... Aaron Hicks might be better... Oswaldo Arcia can continue to grow and be better. Chris Parmelee might do something decent for us all to enjoy. Josmil Pinto might become a top flight hitting catcher. Joe Mauer may continue to be Joe... Josh Willingham may return to 30 homers. Sano may hit the ground running and be Longoria, Puig, or Braunesque in his 2014 debut. Maybe Plouffe will crawl out of my doghouse. The bottom line is 2013 has nothing to do with 2014. It will be a fresh start and all it will take is a nice stretch of victories and the feeling that they can actually win and have fun doing so. If the team feels like it can win... It will and if they win... it will be like everybody is a different ball player. 3. Think about the Youngsters... Buxton, Sano, Gibson, Meyer, May, Arcia, Pinto, Hicks. We will have some ups and downs with these guys but these guys will most likely be leading this team in the future and sometime to come. The Future is bright... The only problem is that the future isn't here yet. 4. Think about 1,000 Wins... DANG IT... It isn't going to happen... The Twins will win today... It's a no doubter... Gardenhire was destined to finish at 999. Plus... The Playoff Gods love complication... The Indians will lose today just to complicate the Wild Card. A victory for the Twins today is already set in stone. As for Gardenhire... I respect him and I always have and I do not blame him for our current situation but... I do feel it's time for a change. I want a yelling screaming high energy manager. I want a guy who will get in a veteran or rookies grill and let them know that they are going through the motions when they go through the motions. I want a guy who is getting his first job in the majors and therefore a guy who wants to win to secure his future. I don't want a guy who has been through it all before... I want a guy who will over react and present to the team like failure in little details is the end of mankind. 5. Think about the Game Threads... This is the final game thread of 2013... I was hoping to participate in this last one but I forgot that my Fantasy Hockey Draft is today and I'm heading out of town for the draft party and will have to prepare for the draft. I have about 3 hours to go over depth charts and figure out what a Gabriel Landeskog is. Thanks to everyone who participated in the Game Thread over the past year. The game thread was a wonderful place to congregate because of everyone's participation and it will get better next year with even more participation as others join in. It was never an exclusive club and participation is encouraged... I honestly believe that no one is the slightest bit judgmental of failed attempts at humor or straightforward points on the game thread. There is no pressure to be funny so just jump in... You can be the straight man because funny guys like Chief and Ash will need straight material to work with. In my opinion... The Game Thread was like a bunch of us sitting in the left field bleachers talking about life and occasionally the game itself. The Game thread was special because we didn't argue with each other like some of the other TD game threads... We all turned whatever direction it was heading. If someone said that Brian Dozier was great... we went along with that thought... If someone said that Brian Dozier was horrible... we went along with that thought. If someone didn't like potatoes... We could think of funny things or find funny photos of potatoes in strange places to support the horribleness of potatoes. Nobody called anyone else an idiot and it made the place comfortable. We just travelled down the road and we had no idea where the road was leading but we usually enjoyed the ride. I will be spending the winter... Waiting for the first game thread of 2014. Thanks to all.

Welcome aboard!!!

I'm still a big Gopher Fan from growing up in Minnesota. I've been waiting for a good year in Football for awhile. Except Hockey... I had to divorce the Hockey Gophers and it's been an ugly divorce.

Yes I am... Been Wearing them all Week!!!

For the Twins... They Found a Mountain that was far too High... When they Found that they couldn't Fly... It was Too Late.

Thanks for the kind words. I'm hoping to be able to participate in the last game thread of the year tomorrow. I can't today because I'll be working the football game. North Dakota is hosting Montana State in Big Sky Conference football action today. Go UND!!!

Thank You ChiTown for having my back and starting a game thread for me. I deleted yours after I finished mine... I hope that was OK. I knew it would be tight time wise with the game being moved forward and I appreciate the fill in.

Indians: SP Scott Kazmir CF Bourn RF Swisher 2B Kipnis 1B Santana LF Brantley SS Cabrera DH Giambi C Gomes 3B Aviles Twins: SP Cole DeVries CF Presley 2B Dozier 3B Plouffe DH Doumit LF Willingham 1B Colabello RF Mastroianni C Fryer SS Florimon Things to Think About: 1. Think about Led Zeppelin and Tool... The Indians are throwing Kazmir and DH'ing Giambi... These are baseball players not bad spellings of songs by Led Zeppelin and Tool. 2. Think about the Indians... This team is inches from the finish line... A possible playoff bound team from a city that hasn't been playoff bound for quite some time. Cleveland sounds like Minneapolis in that sense. 3. Think about Cole DeVries... Just trying to show something... Anything... Against a team that wants it. 4. Think about 1,000 Wins... 2 Wins needed... 2 games to go... GULP!!! Gardy has his back against the wall to reach 1,000 wins this year. 5. Think about the Rangers... The Baseball Rangers may not make the playoffs this year... When I was younger... I thought about being a forest ranger... However... I decided against it because... If I were a forest ranger... I would have no idea where to go to get away from it all.

Indians: SP Corey Kluber LF Brantley 1B Swisher 2B Kipnis DH Santana RF Raburn SS Cabrera C Gomes 3B Aviles CF Stubbs Twins: SP Pedro Hernandez CF Presley 2B Dozier RF Doumit DH Arcia C Pinto 3B Plouffe 1B Parmelee LF Mastroianni SS Florimon Things to Think About: 1. Think about the World Watching... Well maybe not the world... But they are watching in Northern Ohio... Central Florida and Northern Texas and a couple of people in Mahnomen. 2. Think about Pinto... Josmil Pinto... He's been doing pretty good... It's been a good September for him. That may turn into a good April. 3. Think about Roster Options... The Twins have a couple of options each night and the names seem to change each night. 4. Think about 1,000 Wins... I want it... I want it... This Year... 2 Wins Needed... 3 games to play. We have to play winning ball from here on out for Gardy to reach 1,000 wins. 5. Think about Rice Krispies... I stopped eating them... The messages they were giving me each morning were growing more disturbing as the days went by.