SkyBlueWaters

Agreed. They match up well against the Royals, Tigers, and Pirates, and also the Reds. (1 game: Homer Bailey's triumphant return?) They could be well over .500 with the other 5 teams. The offense is obviously there. In a short season, depth of pitching works in the Twins favor. The eastern media's story could be that the Twins' record is a fluke. Remember the meme a few months ago that Atlanta would be swapped for Pittsburgh? It would have made the Central corridor more competitive.

The world needs more like you, Brock. Here's to a place with less trauma, where perhaps some day I might stand in a concession line with you and your daughters at Target Field, with no greater worry than missing the next at bat.

That was in Orlando, right? Do you know about the integration of the Grapefruit League teams, in general? This site: http://www.floridagrapefruitleague.com/home/history/ gives some of the history, so you can see the Red Sox, Phillies,Dodgers, Tigers, Yankees Senators/Twins, and others are training in Florida after WW2, but I haven't heard much about how they handled integration.

The narrative I've heard for years includes African-American players explaining why the NL won the All-Star Game so often between 1960 and 1980, 20 out of 21 All-Star games. The African-American NL stars have repeatedly been quoted saying they had something to prove because AL team were slower to integrate. In David Kaiser's Epic Season, the 1948 Pennant Race, he wrote "In retrospect ... the AL racial attitudes were the single most important factor in the league's decline over the next 20 years--and the decline of the stronger league contributed to the overall decline of baseball." The stat you provide backs my over-arching point. It wasn't all or nothing. It wasn't only one league integrating and the other not. The reality was more nuanced.

Carlos Paula was the first Black player for the Washington Senators on Sept 6, 1954. An outfielder (CF in the minors) he had a single and a double that day. The Senators had had Cuban players before, but he was the first Black. The Senators/Twins were the 12th of 16 teams to integrate. Boston was the last, with Pumpsie Green.

If you go to Dodger Stadium, you will see pennants flying for titles won, including 1981. There is no asterisk explaining that the NL team with the best record that strike-shortened year was Cincy (4 games better than LA, 6 games better than Hou), who finished 2nd in both halves but did not make the playoffs. That might qualify that NL season as farcical, but as time passes it gets forgotten. (Except perhaps in southern Ohio.) Similarly, '95 was a strike-shortened season; and the '89 earthquake gave the A's an advantage, using their no. 1 & 2 starters twice. (Only 2 pitchers threw more than 2.2 IP in the series.) The ball is going to be in the air soon. Unexpected players will start hot, stars may struggle, there may be hitting streaks and pitchers taking no hitters deep into games. Key errors will happen, and incredible run-saving catches. Those who care will live in the heat of the moments once again. 9of12, I agree with you to a large extent; I dislike how this has gone down. Farcical might be a bit harsh, however ridiculous the owners' posturing was (I don't believe they ever intended to play more games, thus negotiated in bad faith). And hell yes, grave current events are vastly more important. I totally agree there. So was it a mistake to play baseball during WW2? NFL games the weekend after the JFK assassination? Probably the prior season closest to this is '94, when the poor Expos had a 6 game lead on Atlanta when it ended. We'll see if they make it to the playoffs this time. Rather than strike-shortened, it may be pandemic-shortened. But I lean toward wanting the players to try, to give them a chance. Some careers are short, some are stars only a brief while. Last, if I might take a weak stab at levity, a Twins fan for only 58 seasons? Where were you the other 2?

Exactly! I started to include Robinson and Doby, but felt it was already getting long winded. all the teams in MLB retire Robinson’s number. Ok, he was a great player. But would it take anything away from Jackie if Cleveland retired Doby’s number instead? Or each team retired the number of the first African-American to star for them?

Knuckleheads on parade. It took them this long, and they won’t start until late July. Sixty game season creates a different dynamic, More compact. Also, apparently they are returning to the days of doubleheaders. Expanded rosters? What happens to minor leaguers? My hunch, and it’s only a hunch, is that we will see greater use of the “opener” strategy, and further break down of the traditional starter followed by relievers approach. With modern medicine, the coaching staff can monitor stress on pitching arms better, maximizing use of their best arms while hoping not to overwork them. Over the course of a six month regular season, with 162 games, teams could get a higher ratio of innings from their best arms. A more compact two-month regular season probably gives an advantage to deeper pitching staffs. So if you have a few stellar pitchers followed by a bunch of average or worse guys, this doesn’t benefit you. If, however, your staff isn’t dominated by aces but is fairly deep in above average pitching, this schedule benefits you. Of course, after the regular season the playoffs await, and that’s when quality like cream rises to the top.

Yes. It's part of baseball's narrative that the NL integrated and the AL remained white. Yet the reality was more nuanced, including all the Cubans who signed with the Senators. I once went back through the Senators' rosters and looked up the Hispanic players, dating back to the 1930s and '40s. That ought to be part of the game's narrative, too. I'm not denying how awful teams like the Bosox were about this. I am saying the story gets over-simplified. We took a baseball tour once that began in DC, ended in Boston, and stopped at Cooperstown enroute. In the display celebrating the NL and Brooklyn and discussing integration, one clause mentions the Senators, just passing mention, no player names. Not just the names familiar to many Twins fans, Camilo Pascual, Pedro Ramos, Zoilo Versalles, and Tony Oliva. But also Jose Valdivielso, Roberto Ortiz, Rene Monteagudo, Evelio Hernandez, and others. Not to mention "Baby Ortiz" who gave 'em 13 innings in 1944. (I just liked the name.)

Bingo. And in both cases, where is the humor?

So much of the news is divisive lately. I feel like the only person winning is Vladimir Putin, who must watch the raging, violence and inflamed rhetoric with glee. I find myself turning the radio news on then off soon after. With the pandemic, the president's rhetoric, and the violence in all forms, I don't feel like there are many winners. But reading Rod Carew's quotes about Griffith (Reusse's column in the Strib today is good), and of his forgiveness, and what he felt about Griffith, was the closest thing to uplifting I've read in a while. I liked Carew already, of course. But he's an even bigger man for me now.

Agreed about the glut, but drafting the best fungible talent makes sense. These days more than ever minor league talent is prized when it's time to make a deal. I'd say I like his chances of making *a* major league roster.

Wonderful news. We could use some good karma.

We needed more offense against Osteen or Drysdale (once each) or Koufax (twice. Yeah, good luck with that). As far as upgrades, I like the idea of either Arraez or Polanco at second. Neither has hit lefties great, however, so Koufax would have remained tough. I like Bob Allison, great Twin, but he didn't have a good series, going 2 for 16 (.125), with a pair of walks, raising his OBP to .222. He homered and doubled, but more hits would have been nice. Maybe adding Max Kepler to the outfield might have added some offense. Beyond that, hoping Buxton's defense and speed might have shut down the Dodgers and added some disruption on the basepaths (take that, Maury Wills) could have been fun to watch.

Yes, in August. I suppose it's a stretch to wonder what the team was capable of had it never happened. Boswell finished '69 in good form, but declined rapidly after that. Carew went down for a stretch in the middle of '70, and I think Tiant missed a couple months, too.

Perhaps the single worst inning of Jim Perry's career came in the first game of the 1970 ALDS. Perry won the Cy Young Award that year, but trailing 3-2 he gave up a grand slam to Orioles pitcher Mike Cuellar. I've read that the ball was 10 feet foul before it hit a wall of wind at The Old Met, which "escorted" it down the line and dumped it just over the fence, beyond Tony Oliva's mitt. After winning 10-6, the O's never looked back. Hats off to the Orioles of '66 - '71. One of baseball's finer dynasties. But any team with Kaat, Perry, Blyleven, Boswell, Tiant (yes, Louie Tiant!) Perranoski, Oliva, Killebrew, Allison, Tovar and Rodney Cline Carew ain't too shabby, either. Injuries took a toll (as did an infamous fistfight). But they still went 98-64.

Thank you. That article was incredibly good. The "old buzzard" versus the "punk kid"; Bill Terry, Hack Wilson, Walter Johnson and the rest of the hall of famers. It was so good it almost makes up for no baseball. In some ways, it's better.

Agreed. But we're okay if a few of those above-average players are named Oliva, Carew, Puckett or Morneau, yeah? (A few others come to mind, as well, but I kept it brief.)

I would dearly love to be wrong about this, but so long as Cole, Verlander, Morton, Giolito, Bieber, et al. are in the league, the odds of a Twin winning the CYA are little better than average, as one out of 15 AL teams. With this lineup in particular, it would be sad to not see them play. But I keep thinking about autumn, and the playoffs, when dominant pitching comes to the fore. As deep and potentially dominating as our lineup is, I'd happily trade some of that for a bit more dominance in the rotation.

" ...with an already scheduled set of negotiations looming on the horizon, CBA talks could once again shelve the sport. ... it doesn’t seem to be the worst idea in turning a focus to the long-term game. If there can be some parameters established for the future of the sport, rather than just the reactionary 2020 version, we could all be better for it." Well put. Very proactive and an excellent idea. Have you ever noticed MLB owners and players to be that cooperative and proactive?

One big wild card in the owners v. players association negotiations is playoff revenue. It's a significant slice of the revenue pie. If a second wave of the virus hits (likely), and if players are infected (who knows?), that could mean canceling the playoffs. Not that I have much sympathy for the billionaire owners, but if they guarantee contracts, and playoff revenue isn't then realized ... Why, some of them might have to shop in the same places I do. (Naw, probably not.) It will be interesting to learn how the negotiations proceed--or fail. You'd think with all the money on the table they could work something out, but it isn't a done deal. I also get the sense the next CBA lurks in the background.

As I sat in the stands in Elizabethton, I listened to the people around me talk of who was hosting which players. Many of the (obviously pretty young) players were from the Dominican Republic. Miguel Sano had played for the E-Twins a couple years earlier, and I spoke to one fan about his impressions of Sano. Someone affiliated with the team was circulating through the crowd, speaking to the generally older people who were hosting players, making sure everything was going well. I think it matters to the athletes to have at least a few teammates they can relate to. I've read of Tony Oliva's struggles, coming from a poor, rural area of Cuba, showing up in the American south of the early 60s, trying to get by. My sense was the people of E-town reach out to the kids to make the adjustment as easy as they can. Everybody wants to say they knew the next Oliva, Carew or Puckett back when, after all.

Not that it's any great shakes, but I found Appy League attendance stats here: http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=l_att&lid=120&sid=l120 Elizabethton's average is 811. Nearby Johnson City is a good bit larger; probably fans from surrounding communities also show up occasionally. (Johnson City's Cards draw much more.) I'm guessing the whole league will be lost? I think many of us know what it's like to lose a local institution.

BTW, leadoff hitter Hosken Powell had a hit, two ribbies, and scored a run. John Castino had a double. Mickey Hatcher (in CF) scored a run and had a ribbie. Rob Wilfong and Butch Wynegar both had 2 hits. The only Twin in the lineup slugging over .400 was SS Roy Smalley. But the cavalry was coming. At the end of the year they got 24 games out of 21-year-old Kent Hrbek (up from single-A Visalia) and 22-year-old Gary Gaetti (up from double-A Orlando for 9 games in the bigs). Other call-ups included Tim Laudner, Lenny Faedo, Mark Funderbunk, and Ron Washington.

Great question. The Twins' last game of the '81 first half was June 11. Pete Redfern lost to Dan Petry of the Tigers. The Twins were 17-39, which goes part of the way to explaining the 4,623 in attendance at the old Met. (The day before they drew 5,495.) Not a very long wait for a Hamm's. The two sides reached an agreement on July 31. Negotiations were so acrimonious that Marvin Miller of the players association and owners' negotiator Ray Grebey refused to pose for the usual peacemaking photo. They played an all-star game on August 9th, and on August 10th Roger Erickson beat Rick Langford of the A's 6-2. Jerry Koosman threw 4 innings in relief to get the save in front of 15,414 at the Met. You get the sense that each team got back together, prepared as best they could, their all-stars going to Cleveland for the prelude, then each team traveling as necessary to resume their regular season games the next day.