h2oface

Pitchers and Batters DESERVE the border line calls the most! This is what their special talents are for, to descern the small differences. Getting robbed of the close ones - the perfect take because it is just outside the zone, or the great pitch that is just barely touching the zone at some point - is the worst, if you ask me. That is why we can no longer leave it up to the best guess by a too proud person. Donaldson (righty) got called out on a ball 3 to 4 inches outside. The ump was giving Yankee pitchers strikes on balls, and Twins pitchers balls on strikes. Nelson didn't have any problem calling pitch one a strike, as it was (pretty similar to pitch 6 to Gardner (lefty) that he called a ball- both pitches were the inside corner to the batter, with the ump looking right at it over the inside shoulder of the catcher. Gardner's was even more in the zone, but both were strikes) ......... but pitch 7 to Donaldson was clearly outside! It is so past the time to take strikes and balls away from the guessing umpires. It is really not their fault. Humans do the best they can, I guess (- at Yankee stadium this is debatable). It is just impossible for them to do anything but guess the best they can in the split second. There is just a better way to do it now.

I gotta bow out. I can't watch the upcoming walk-off homer.

...and sooo many thought Garver was expendable because Jeffers was the man.

I just can't make myself watch with Colome on the mound. Can't do it.

BUXTON! Time to be a hero!

Umpires calling balls and strikes ALWAYS affects the outcome of the game. Always. No matter how overdue, soon we will take them out of the equation, and finally let the players, batters and pitchers, have a fair consistent Strike Zone.

I contend Colome is never a good option and should have been gone long ago. Any option is a better option than Colome at this point. It tantamount to torture to make us watch this guy pitch for us, even if he does have a successful outing.

"btw, I am done with you" ? Just can't help yourself?

Why did I enjoy seeing that foul ball into the umpires mask? Karma screaming at him.

Why do the fans know this is coming, but the Manager can't ever figure it out?

Colome with the opportunity to give up a 3 run homer and blow the game in style.

Consistently wrong is not the case here, by the plate ump,Nelson. How about the outside pitch he rung up Donaldson on last inning? Calling balls strikes for the Twins, and strikes balls for the Yankees. Must have had a pow-wow with Cuzzi.

He might claim he said pitch..... but I did the same, because it was so unexpected.

Morneau - "He went out there and turned on this bitch!" Can I get a witness! You don't hear that in the booth much. I don't think I have ever heard it.

According to Falvey, they will compete for a division (world series seems to have dropped from the dialogue) in 2022, so 82-80 is a complete fail. I am now ambivalent toward the FO and the team in general. They made the pitching choices that were a complete fail in regards to signing vets. Too cheap to go for the cream, and settling for the double rebound, a closer that none of the other teams wanted, and Dobnak. I see that some in this thread have lamented about poor offense, but our offense is better than a good many of the teams that will play in the playoffs. It is a down offensive year accross the board in MLB. I am not talking about the farm (which they have stocked, but none are really really helping the Twins at this point, and may never), but the pitchers they chose who literally tanked the team ...... Colome, Happ, and Shoemaker, in particular. I didn't like any of the choices at the time, and despise them now. I still am forced, if I am to watch "my" team, to still see one of them. Frankly, now, I really don't care much about the front office and the team. They got rid of Berrios, they will probaly get rid of Buxton, but keep Sano. They have driven me into ambivalence, and that is a place I usually don't go. In 2021, I really don't care about 2022. In 2022, I really don't care about 2023. They should though, without sacrificing the present. I want to follow a team that has players I like, and watch them grow - and are not traded just because the hired FO, who were never Twins fans, and are only here for the money, really, and their own personal advancement - and not a team of strangers and "good stories" that can't win, and turn the team from first to last in one year. The pitching choices were totally on the FO. Totally. Even more so for 2022.

Solid. Cellar Dwellers.

Cruz was at .294 for the Twins when traded, and is hitting .245 for Tampa Bay - .277 on the season. So not except for Cruz, either. Arraez at .294 and Buxton at .290 (who, if he gets hot, with his low ABs, would surpass .300 easily) have the best chance to satisfy the mark. And if Polanco now at .280, stays torrid, he could do it, but not likely.

Move on. Pineda is not the answer to improving this rotation.

If anyone else is curious, as I am, on how a run scored in 6 no hit innings..... Balazovic walked the lead off batter in the 3rd on 4 pitches - all high - who stole second. Balazovic got a stike out on a foul tip, and then the lead off batter took 3rd on a wild pitch, and scored on the subsequent tapper/ground out back to Balazovic for the second out. A fly out to center to ended the inning. Miranda keeps hitting. I can't believe we don't see him in the show yet as this lost season ends. I hope Celestino can bring it the next time he gets a chance. He sure has been lighting it up in St. Paul. Great to hear. He sure had some defensive mental gaffs in the show and couldn't hit worth a lick, and that is all I have seen. Personally, I hope we don't get to see him in center much at all, which would mean Buxton is healthy, stays on the field, and is extended for years. Charlie Barnes looked good, eh? I've heard that before.

Guys just don't even try to protect the plate these days. They would rather beg for a walk, than protect the plate.... most of them anyway. Rooker for sure. But yet, they will swing at junk that isn't even close. 2 strikes...... looking for a ball, even if it is too close to leave it in the umpires hands. Battle for the cellar... we won that one though.

I wonder how many times the opponent has teed off on the first pitch of an inning, or first pitch of a new pitcher in the middle of the inning this year. Seems like an awful lot. I haven't a clue how to look it up, though.

The Red Sox have been doing some drastic up and downs since 2013, too. I guess I could give them a bit of a break. It is the drastic fall from first to last in one year that is so disturbing, especially when it comes from the FO choices of filling the roster. I find it pretty sad to watch folks force themselves to get excited about pitchers like Ober and Dobnak. This is where we are. This is where the FO put us with choices like Shoemaker and Happ and Astudillo and the rest of the mediocre fillers in the last 4 years. Even if you have a great year, the post season is torched.

Actual results and what happened is way more interesting than projections and predictions. Until that changes, Ryan is the man. And he doesn't even have a song about that.

My pleasure. Be my pest.

Something else to critisize me personally for. Have at it. You never miss an opportunity.