Obie

All three Twins runners in the 9th screwed up. Why was Larnach standing on 2nd on a liner over the right fielder's head? If had been halfway, he would have scored easily, but he ended up held at third. Sano then forced the issue by heading toward an occupied 2nd base. He could have retreated because no fielder was at first. Instead, Urshela headed toward occupied third. Of course a horrific lob from the catcher allowed the baserunners off the hook.

Agreed. He is a professional. Some of his jokes are stale, but I like him much better than Gladden or John Gordon. I loved the guys in the early days--Ray Scott, Herb Carneal, and Halsey Hall.

The second out at the plate on the "contact" play did not cost the Twins a run. Three straight hits to follow meant that the runner who reached first during the play at the plate came around to score.

The above comments suggest Kepler as Larnach's competition for playing time. I think it is Sano. If Sano doesn't hit, Kiriloff moves to first and Larnach to left field. Or, if Sanchez doesn't hit, Sano becomes DH and the Kiriloff and Larnach moves occur. These scenarios also improve the right-handed imbalance in the lineup.

FWIW, ESPN+ gives the Yankees a B on this trade and a B+ to the Twins. Their rationale assumes further moves based upon freeing up significant salary space this year and into the future.

FWIW, ESPN+ gives the Yankees a B on this trade and a B+ to the Twins. Their rationale assumes further moves based upon freeing up significant salary space this year and into the future.

I was there at the '65 game. No, I didn't catch the home run, but I was in the left field stands near where it landed. I was in town because we had tickets to the all star game two days later. The Mpls paper headline the next day was "Forever Harmon," and we prepared a banner that said the same thing. We waved it from our right field seats after he hit a homer in the all star game also. I don't remember that the Yankees were that far back in the standings. I thought they were in second place, and the win meant the Twins went into the all star break with a five game lead rather than a three game lead. There was a collective exhale in Twins land in recognition that the Twins might actually win the pennant.

Tony O and Joe Mauer introduced themselves by hitting .400 in the Appy League. Kirilliloff is approaching select territory. I just checked to make sure my memory was correct, and I was surprised to see that Tony was 22 years old at the time, and he was 25 during his MLB rookie season.

Biggest criticism is that it is only one game for the wild card playoff. Two out of three would be better and wouldn't push the playoffs back that far.

Michael Rand today quotes extensively from an article by Washington Post writer Thomas Boswell. The gist of Boswell's article is to criticize the high wall in right center that makes home runs to that part of the ballpark much too difficult. Target Field is a lovely downtown home for the Twins, classy and comfortable if not breathtaking. But until that right field wall becomes remotely fair to hitters, especially in the 120-foot-long power-alley expanse from the 385-to-403 signs, this is a badly flawed design. I agree.

Sano's left-right splits at New Britain are backwards. His OPS against righties is .965, but against lefties, it is only .714 (overall .899). This would appear to be a positive stat in that his performance against lefties is likely to catch up and pass what he is already doing against righties. Anyone have access to his splits for earlier teams? Has this been a persistent pattern?

Sano's left-right splits at New Britain are backwards. His OPS against righties is .965, but against lefties, it is only .714 (overall .899). This would appear to be a positive stat in that his performance against lefties is likely to catch up and pass what he is already doing against righties. Anyone have access to his splits for earlier teams? Has this been a persistent pattern?

On Sunday's Sid Hartman call-in show, Dave Mona referenced the recent Randball comparison of Kirby Puckett and Joe Mauer at the same stage of their careers. Mona suggested fans were astounded to learn that their stats were essentially equal--quite apart from the different demands between outfielder and catcher. The facts don't fit the anti-Mauer meme. All the "baby-Jesus" naysayers will be shocked when he is a first ballot Hall of Fame inductee. Mauer's career OPS ranks as good as or better than nearly all the great catchers, except for Mike Piazza who was a defensive liability and played during the steroid era.

What the latest report on his return?