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Thrylos

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  1. Thrylos
    They practice every day, esp. the minor leaguers. The off days and the days when the MLB team is playing away are actually the best days to watch the minor leaguers (and the major leaguers who were left behind) practice or play in minor league games. Some minor league teams (the minor leaguers are divided into very fluid AAA, AA, A+ and A squads) will play away but others will play at home. Usually there is at least one minor league game. Also the ones that are rookie level always practice (no games at that level) at the flield next to the clubhouse (the SW most field). Lots of players do infield practice with the likes of TK and Paul Molitor. Rookie pitchers usually do pitching drills. Great times to see some of the unknown players in the organization
  2. Thrylos
    (originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch) --- For a baseball team to content, one of three things need to happen: An organization has to develop impact starting pitchers. An organization has to trade for impact starting pitcher. An organizations has to sign impact starting pitcher free agents. I demonstrated earlier this month that the Twins' last two year abysmal record could have been predicted as earlier as 2008, based on the state of their starting pitching prospects. Only 11 pitchers who have been in the Twins' minors in 2008 are still in the organization and none has been an impact starter. The Twins have been adverse in doing numbers 2 and 3 above, so in order to compete, they have to develop starting pitching talent. The Denard Span and Ben Revere trades infused the Twins with 3 young starting pitchers: Vince Worley, 24, and Trevor May and Alex Meyer, both 22, which makes the future a bit more hopeful. How hopeful? I will try to quantify, so the rest of the discussion here will be metrics and numbers based. This will actually be somewhat of a logical continuation of this analysis, where in August last year, I tried to look positively into the 2012 Minnesota Twins pitching and draw conclusions based on potential. What I am doing here is looking at the whole organization Starting Pitching, under very similar metrics and see what the future might look like. This will include potential rankings of Twins' starters, but it is not a prospect list. They are based on their 2012 performance (and adjusted for age and playing level) and not their potential. Injured players, such as Wimmers and Salcedo will be higher on prospect lists that ranked here, because their numbers were awful. The metrics I like to use to do this have been some simple things of my own device: Pitching Effectiveness or PE and Expected Pitching Effectiveness or xPE. I fiddled around with PE in 2008 and with xPE in 2009. Here is the reason I devised PE and here is the reason I optimized it to xPE. My main arguments were a. I felt like xFIP and FIP and DICE weigh too much things like home runs (which anyone who watched the home runs by Miquel Cabrera and Delmon Young against the Twins yesterday cannot deny that they are a matter of inches and ballpark and luck and fielding performance from being a long fly ball). Also these formulae are hard to memorize and I wanted something simple I can calculate looking at a stat sheet and also something that you can calculate using splits (e.g. how has Brian Duensing or Glen Perkins been as a starter vs as a reliever); you can find xFIP around, but not in a spit form. So in 2008 I devised PE, which simple takes account three things: Strikeouts, walks and hits. So a pitcher who strikes out more people, walks fewer and gives lesser hits is more likely to succeed than someone who doesn't. And all hits are counted equal because the difference between a single and a triple might be the difference of having Delmon Young or Ben Revere play Left Field or the difference between a fly ball out and a home run might be the difference of having Torii Hunter or Rich Becker playing Center Field. And I use WHIP, K/9 and K/BB to calculate PE (a simple PE= (K/9*K/BB)/WHIP). xPE further normalizes for BABIP (to league average .290) to account for "luck" with hits. And unlike FIP and ERA, these two measures go the opposite directions (higher is better) and have a large variation (0.x to 100+) to allow for granularity in comparisons vs. compressing performance from 0 to 10 or so. Over here, I show that xFIP and FIP correlate pretty well to the much more complex SIERA, which is way too complex to be able to calculate just with a cell phone calculate (which is my goal as far as metrics go.) PE and xPE have been fine to show performance and expected performance. How about potential? This is the many million dollar question, because if someone is able to guess estimate future potential of a player in single A, he/she will be having a great advantage in identifying cheap, future impact players, in a more objective way than scouting reports. So yet a new measure in the PE family has been devised: the adjusted expected pitching effectiveness or axPE. I tried something similar the off-season after the 2008 season, but the resulting formula was too complicated (cannot fit on a T-shirt or be calculated using a cell phone calculator), so needed to be refined. I hope I am close to this, since axPE is simpler. It takes into consideration level of play. Each level of play gets a number. Here are these numbers: All Rookie Leagues: 1 A: 2 A+: 3 AA: 4 AAA: 5 MLB: 6 the average of the levels a player participated is taken into consideration for axPE. For example if a pitcher spent part of the season in high A and then moved to AA, the average level grade is 3.5. The other adjustment involves someone's age. Younger players in higher levels have higher potential; this is the premise here. axPE is defined as xPE* (level/age) *7 . The 7 is a coefficient that makes it a number in the neighborhood of PE and xPE. A note of importance: agPE is biased towards better performance in higher levels; this is by design, since there have been pitchers who blew away rookie leagues and then bottomed out when they went to AA. The PE family metrics translators for starters (and relievers, for the sake of completeness, but RP are out of score here) are roughly translated to: Rotation: xPE/axPE 35+ Ace 25-35 #1- #2 Starter 15-25 #2- #3 Starter 10-15 #3 - #4 Starter 7.5-10 #5 Starter Bullpen: xPE/axPE 35+ Closer 25-35 Closer-Setup 15-25 Setup- Long Relief 8-15 Long Relief-Mopup where axPE denotes intermediate/long term potential. So, do the Twins have any potentially impact starters in their organization, based on their 2012 performance? Without further ado, here are the numbers, that include pretty much every pitcher in the Twins organization, including the new ones, and those who pitched only in the major league level in 2012, under 30 years old. The age indicated is their age in 2012. I am including Nick Blackburn, for comparison's sake. Raw data is taken from B-R and an (*) denotes LHP: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8078/8416556037_f7ef6c3021_c.jpg Thus, it looks like the Twins have 3 potential impact starters in their organization; Kyle Gibson and Alex Meyer are not a surprise. Cole DeVries is. Cole DeVries' axPE is higher than his xPE level (which turns out to suggest a middle of the rotation starter), because he performed at the MLB level. Whether or not potential is applicable to a 28 year old who has reached the majors, is a good discussion. On the other extreme, some of the K/9 leaders in the organization, Josue Montanez, Taylor Rogers, Felix Jorge, Tyler Jones have repressed axPE, because they are still at the lower levels of the organization. I think that they need to prove themselves at higher level. Based on this, and if you cut the list at 25 years old or younger, the Twins have at least couple of pitchers who have impact starter (i.e. top of the rotation/ace) potential and several who have mid-rotation potential. A huge qualifier: This list is of pitchers who were used mostly as starters (i.e. made more starts than relief appearances in 2012.) This leaves at least one particular pitcher out who should be included, but he made 4 starts and 7 relief appearances: Jose Berrios. His numbers (albeit in 11 games and 30 some innings) are out of this world: 284.12 PE, 236.11 xPE, and 91.82 axPE. He should be part of the discussion and definitely has top of the rotation potential, but there is an asterisk for the reasons mentioned. Others who made few starts but mostly used in a relief role but definitely should be part of the equation are (in no order) : Matt Houser, Miguel Munoz, AJ Achter, Cole Johnson, Argentis Silva (the 16 year old high bonus singing) Elias Villasarra, Fernando Romero, Luke Bard, Jose Jimenez, Corey Kimes, Brett Lee and Mason Melotakis.
  3. Thrylos
    (originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch) --- For a baseball team to content, one of three things need to happen: An organization has to develop impact starting pitchers. An organization has to trade for impact starting pitcher. An organizations has to sign impact starting pitcher free agents. I demonstrated earlier this month that the Twins' last two year abysmal record could have been predicted as earlier as 2008, based on the state of their starting pitching prospects. Only 11 pitchers who have been in the Twins' minors in 2008 are still in the organization and none has been an impact starter. The Twins have been adverse in doing numbers 2 and 3 above, so in order to compete, they have to develop starting pitching talent. The Denard Span and Ben Revere trades infused the Twins with 3 young starting pitchers: Vince Worley, 24, and Trevor May and Alex Meyer, both 22, which makes the future a bit more hopeful. How hopeful? I will try to quantify, so the rest of the discussion here will be metrics and numbers based. This will actually be somewhat of a logical continuation of this analysis, where in August last year, I tried to look positively into the 2012 Minnesota Twins pitching and draw conclusions based on potential. What I am doing here is looking at the whole organization Starting Pitching, under very similar metrics and see what the future might look like. This will include potential rankings of Twins' starters, but it is not a prospect list. They are based on their 2012 performance (and adjusted for age and playing level) and not their potential. Injured players, such as Wimmers and Salcedo will be higher on prospect lists that ranked here, because their numbers were awful. The metrics I like to use to do this have been some simple things of my own device: Pitching Effectiveness or PE and Expected Pitching Effectiveness or xPE. I fiddled around with PE in 2008 and with xPE in 2009. Here is the reason I devised PE and here is the reason I optimized it to xPE. My main arguments were a. I felt like xFIP and FIP and DICE weigh too much things like home runs (which anyone who watched the home runs by Miquel Cabrera and Delmon Young against the Twins yesterday cannot deny that they are a matter of inches and ballpark and luck and fielding performance from being a long fly ball). Also these formulae are hard to memorize and I wanted something simple I can calculate looking at a stat sheet and also something that you can calculate using splits (e.g. how has Brian Duensing or Glen Perkins been as a starter vs as a reliever); you can find xFIP around, but not in a spit form. So in 2008 I devised PE, which simple takes account three things: Strikeouts, walks and hits. So a pitcher who strikes out more people, walks fewer and gives lesser hits is more likely to succeed than someone who doesn't. And all hits are counted equal because the difference between a single and a triple might be the difference of having Delmon Young or Ben Revere play Left Field or the difference between a fly ball out and a home run might be the difference of having Torii Hunter or Rich Becker playing Center Field. And I use WHIP, K/9 and K/BB to calculate PE (a simple PE= (K/9*K/BB)/WHIP). xPE further normalizes for BABIP (to league average .290) to account for "luck" with hits. And unlike FIP and ERA, these two measures go the opposite directions (higher is better) and have a large variation (0.x to 100+) to allow for granularity in comparisons vs. compressing performance from 0 to 10 or so. Over here, I show that xFIP and FIP correlate pretty well to the much more complex SIERA, which is way too complex to be able to calculate just with a cell phone calculate (which is my goal as far as metrics go.) PE and xPE have been fine to show performance and expected performance. How about potential? This is the many million dollar question, because if someone is able to guess estimate future potential of a player in single A, he/she will be having a great advantage in identifying cheap, future impact players, in a more objective way than scouting reports. So yet a new measure in the PE family has been devised: the adjusted expected pitching effectiveness or axPE. I tried something similar the off-season after the 2008 season, but the resulting formula was too complicated (cannot fit on a T-shirt or be calculated using a cell phone calculator), so needed to be refined. I hope I am close to this, since axPE is simpler. It takes into consideration level of play. Each level of play gets a number. Here are these numbers: All Rookie Leagues: 1 A: 2 A+: 3 AA: 4 AAA: 5 MLB: 6 the average of the levels a player participated is taken into consideration for axPE. For example if a pitcher spent part of the season in high A and then moved to AA, the average level grade is 3.5. The other adjustment involves someone's age. Younger players in higher levels have higher potential; this is the premise here. axPE is defined as xPE* (level/age) *7 . The 7 is a coefficient that makes it a number in the neighborhood of PE and xPE. A note of importance: agPE is biased towards better performance in higher levels; this is by design, since there have been pitchers who blew away rookie leagues and then bottomed out when they went to AA. The PE family metrics translators for starters (and relievers, for the sake of completeness, but RP are out of score here) are roughly translated to: Rotation: xPE/axPE 35+ Ace 25-35 #1- #2 Starter 15-25 #2- #3 Starter 10-15 #3 - #4 Starter 7.5-10 #5 Starter Bullpen: xPE/axPE 35+ Closer 25-35 Closer-Setup 15-25 Setup- Long Relief 8-15 Long Relief-Mopup where axPE denotes intermediate/long term potential. So, do the Twins have any potentially impact starters in their organization, based on their 2012 performance? Without further ado, here are the numbers, that include pretty much every pitcher in the Twins organization, including the new ones, and those who pitched only in the major league level in 2012, under 30 years old. The age indicated is their age in 2012. I am including Nick Blackburn, for comparison's sake. Raw data is taken from B-R and an (*) denotes LHP: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8078/8416556037_f7ef6c3021_c.jpg Thus, it looks like the Twins have 3 potential impact starters in their organization; Kyle Gibson and Alex Meyer are not a surprise. Cole DeVries is. Cole DeVries' axPE is higher than his xPE level (which turns out to suggest a middle of the rotation starter), because he performed at the MLB level. Whether or not potential is applicable to a 28 year old who has reached the majors, is a good discussion. On the other extreme, some of the K/9 leaders in the organization, Josue Montanez, Taylor Rogers, Felix Jorge, Tyler Jones have repressed axPE, because they are still at the lower levels of the organization. I think that they need to prove themselves at higher level. Based on this, and if you cut the list at 25 years old or younger, the Twins have at least couple of pitchers who have impact starter (i.e. top of the rotation/ace) potential and several who have mid-rotation potential. A huge qualifier: This list is of pitchers who were used mostly as starters (i.e. made more starts than relief appearances in 2012.) This leaves at least one particular pitcher out who should be included, but he made 4 starts and 7 relief appearances: Jose Berrios. His numbers (albeit in 11 games and 30 some innings) are out of this world: 284.12 PE, 236.11 xPE, and 91.82 axPE. He should be part of the discussion and definitely has top of the rotation potential, but there is an asterisk for the reasons mentioned. Others who made few starts but mostly used in a relief role but definitely should be part of the equation are (in no order) : Matt Houser, Miguel Munoz, AJ Achter, Cole Johnson, Argentis Silva (the 16 year old high bonus singing) Elias Villasarra, Fernando Romero, Luke Bard, Jose Jimenez, Corey Kimes, Brett Lee and Mason Melotakis.
  4. Thrylos
    That is more realistic. The DWWS is a real money maker for Disney and ESPN and I just don't think they will let it go. There is a large huge open air stadium in Orlando that is empty (other than a single football game a season and some concerts) and is scheduled to receive a $175 million facelift in 2014. Can Citrus Bowl host baseball games? Probably. And the experience will probably be better than Tropicana, other that the fact that the area around Citrus Bowl is not that great. Problem with having a ballpark around Disney is that the major roads around Orlando are crazy busy and it will be a pain to get there.
  5. Thrylos
    But are the players and their families?
  6. Thrylos
    I think that baseball market and the TV market do not correlate that much. Got to look at the demographics. Orlando has no problem supporting an NBA team and would probably be a better choice than Tampa for an MLB team as well. Tampa/St.Pete has a lot of retirees compared to places like Orlando (and the Cities), which makes it a bad sports market. Plus there is something else about Florida that makes it really different than most places in the country: Most people in FL are from some place else and they still support their original home teams. Wonder if the RTP area in NC can support an MLB team. The demographics are about right. Isn't that where Pohlad and Ryan wanted to move the Twins?
  7. Thrylos
    Got to be yesterday Eddie. He even got selected into the Twins HOF today. Just has to be
  8. Thrylos
    (originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch) --- Today the Minnesota Twins selected two new members to their Hall of Fame, LHP "Everyday" Eddie Guardado, and long time staffer Tom Mee. All Twins' fans know Everyday Eddie, but who is Tom Mee? Tom Mee has been with the Twins' organization from their first season in Minnesota (1961) until their last title (1991). He was the first front office person hired when the Twins moved to Minnesota in 1960 and was asked to lead their transition from Washington. The following season he became their PR Director, a position he held until his retirement. After his retirement from the Twins he was the official scorer in the Metrodome until 2007 and spend 2 seasons (1992 and 1993) with the Twins' broadcasting team with Dick Bremmer and Jim Kaat. He is a graduate of Joe Mauer's Alma Matter, St. Paul's Cretin High School. Mee was a baseball player with the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers in the late 40s and played a couple seasons in the Independent Leagues. He was then certified by the Brown Institute of Radio as an announcer and his career as a Baseball radio announcer begun. It took him form Detroit Lakes to Montana to New Mexico when he finally settled back in the Cities doing Public Relationships for the St. Paul Saints (the former incarnation) in 1957. One of the little known facts about Mee is that he is the person who hired Jim Rantz to the Twins front office. In 1965, when the Twins won the pennant and went to the World Series, his one man PR department was overloaded and he needed a part time assistant so he hired Rantz who was managing the St. Cloud Northern League Club. Rantz stuck around from 1965 until last off-season. Tom Mee's son and grandson have also played baseball at the University of Minnesota. His grandson, Mike Mee, played a couple seasons in the Diamondbacks organization last decade. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8470/8414916042_d39ae4c3a7.jpg
  9. Thrylos
    (originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch) --- Today the Minnesota Twins selected two new members to their Hall of Fame, LHP "Everyday" Eddie Guardado, and long time staffer Tom Mee. All Twins' fans know Everyday Eddie, but who is Tom Mee? Tom Mee has been with the Twins' organization from their first season in Minnesota (1961) until their last title (1991). He was the first front office person hired when the Twins moved to Minnesota in 1960 and was asked to lead their transition from Washington. The following season he became their PR Director, a position he held until his retirement. After his retirement from the Twins he was the official scorer in the Metrodome until 2007 and spend 2 seasons (1992 and 1993) with the Twins' broadcasting team with Dick Bremmer and Jim Kaat. He is a graduate of Joe Mauer's Alma Matter, St. Paul's Cretin High School. Mee was a baseball player with the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers in the late 40s and played a couple seasons in the Independent Leagues. He was then certified by the Brown Institute of Radio as an announcer and his career as a Baseball radio announcer begun. It took him form Detroit Lakes to Montana to New Mexico when he finally settled back in the Cities doing Public Relationships for the St. Paul Saints (the former incarnation) in 1957. One of the little known facts about Mee is that he is the person who hired Jim Rantz to the Twins front office. In 1965, when the Twins won the pennant and went to the World Series, his one man PR department was overloaded and he needed a part time assistant so he hired Rantz who was managing the St. Cloud Northern League Club. Rantz stuck around from 1965 until last off-season. Tom Mee's son and grandson have also played baseball at the University of Minnesota. His grandson, Mike Mee, played a couple seasons in the Diamondbacks organization last decade. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8470/8414916042_d39ae4c3a7.jpg
  10. Thrylos
    You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1331-2013-Spring-Training-Guide-to-Fort-Myers-Part-II-The-Baseball
  11. Thrylos
    I might call you to join the club then And I really do not mind him passing. This would had been another Correia-like (Marcum is better than Correia, but similarly effective) signing: The Twins will be really hard pressed to compete as is. And (in my book) for the Twins to compete, Harden, Pelfrey and Diamond need to be healthy, so does Morneau, Perk needs to adjust to the closer role, Willingham needs to repeat 2012, so does Plouffe, a MIF (or 2) need to have an OPS North of 700, the new CF needs to catch lightning, and everyone needs to be career average or better. What is the probability of that happening? So, let's say that this team wins 76 as is... (this is +10 from 2012, I know I am generous ) Adding Marcum to the rotation and subtracting (who?) will account for 12-15 wins? Severely doubt it. Waste of money (as is the $ they are paying Morneau, Willingham, Doumit, Carroll and most veterans right now...) Ryan can actually do some trades. Occasionally. I give him that. But as far as signing or re-signing FA Ps, he has been horrid. Batting Butera-like averages. The only FA of worth I remember him sign as far as SP go is Kenny Rogers. The rest were like.... So Correia (and Capps last season) has been more the Ryan Norm than the Exception.
  12. Thrylos
    Seriously? Here is a tally before Pelfrey and Harden. I suspect with Ryan's MLB and MiLB signings the Twins have enough veterans to fill the rotations from MLB to Fort Myers...
  13. Thrylos
    This is the second of the three 2013 Minnesota Twins Spring Training Guides. The first one was a guide on the logistics of how to get there and where to stay etc., including some ways to get there as inexpensively as possible, if that is a consideration. The next guide will be about food. This one is about the reason people go to Fort Myers: Spring Training baseball. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] The Twins' Spring Training Complex: Before we get into your options, it helps to have a big picture view of the Lee County Sports Complex where the Twins are based. Here is a satellite image (all images are screenshots from Bing Maps) : http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7062/6870615187_617fab61b1_b.jpg Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch The complex is accessible via the Miracle on 34th St, either from Ben C Pratt Pkwy or from Plantation Rd. The best was to go is via the Parkway, especially if there is traffic. Miracle on 34th St divides the Twins' part of the complex from the four county softball field. Hammond Stadium, the site of the Twins Spring Training home games and the home of the Fort Myers Miracle (the Twins' high A, Florida State League affiliate) is on the Northeast corner of the Complex. Those parallel lines in the parking lot that can fit about 2000 cars. The stadium seats about 8000 people, so parking can be tight. In addition to Hammond Stadium, there are four full size practice fields and two infield practice fields. You can find Twins' major and minor league players working out in those fields throughout the day, so it might make sense to explore the whole complex or even catch a (free, other than parking) minor league game or two. Some hotels offer free shuttle service to the complex, so make sure you explore this option if it is available. During Twins' home games you have to pay for parking, however when the Twins are away, you can come into the complex and park for free and watch the Twins' minor leagues. (You can do that on game days in the morning, as well.) The minor leaguers are using the three full fields further away from the Ballpark and the infield right next to the clubhouse (the tin building). The practice field next to the ballpark is exclusively used by the MLB team. Two different camps take place there (the MLB and MiLB camp) but there is not a "dividing line" that folks who are cut from the big camp have to cross to get "down to the minor league" camp. As you can see, all the fields are next to each other. Often, non-travelling major leaguers (I saw Alexi Casilla and Jamey Carroll do that last season) play in minor league games. So do rehabbing major leaguers. The best way to watch the minor leaguers is to drive and park close to the clubhouse (there are not too many cars on non-game days, about as many as they are in the picture) and go between the three large fields. Usually AAA plays on the Northwest-most field and AA next to it. With a little bit of imagination, one can sit between both fields and watch two games. There are metal bleachers in the area. Bathrooms and a water fountain are in the south of the clubhouse building. Bringing water is a must here because there are no concessions. A lot of lower level or non-playing minor leaguers are around and in the stands watching the AAA and AA games. Actually pitchers are relegated to radar charting duty in tables in the common area behind the home plates and the fence, and standing around there is a good place to look at the radar readings. You can also find Twin Cities sports celebrities in the stands: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7060/6881930842_2aaba33f03_o.jpg The "dugouts" and "bullpens" are just fenced in areas so you can get a great look of the Twins' minor leaguers. All minor league games are free. The new Twins' lease will provide for a dorm to be build in the area. I am not certain where it will be, but likely South of the fields and just west of the county softball fields. Hammond Stadium: Hammond Stadium (and the Lee County Complex) was officially opened in the Spring of 1991, the year of the Twins' last World Championship. It is the home of Fort Myers Miracle, a franchise that has Jimmy Buffett and Bill Murray as part-owners. It has been recently renovated and is one of the largest ballparks in the Florida State League, sitting up to 8500 people. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7197/6870615335_f8962df2e6_z.jpg As with most minor league stadiums, most seating is on the infield between the two dugouts. Hammonds Stadium has a nose bleed 2xx level as well and a small grassy field in short right field for fans to sit picnic style. Spring training tickets cost from $45 to $10 or so, depending on the opponent and the seating. As far as tickets go, there are ticket outlets just outside the park. You can preorder tickets over the web, or you can frequently obtain them from locals in the parking lot who are not interesting in attending the game. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7053/6873268706_ed1c6493c8_b.jpg One thing that you MUST note: bottled water in unopened containers is permitted in the stadium, as are bags up to 16x16x8 (think reusable grocery bags), so please take advantage of that. That said, the stadium has one of the best selections of beers, including more than 20 mainstream, import and microbrew beers and ales. The best variety of beer, including beer sold only for Twins' and Miracle's games, is at the bar at the far left (third base) end of the outside concourse, right before the bullpen They only sell Pepsi products as far as soft drinks go. I will have a food guide within a week, but I have to mention that there is an interesting variety of food, including pizza, sweet potato fries, fish tacos, deep fried nachos on a stick, and two artery clogging specialties: the Carolina Dog, a hot dog topped with pulled pork, baked beans and coleslaw and the Richard Simmons burger a behemoth featuring a 1/4 lb burger, a 1/4 lb chicken, a 1/4 lb brat, held together by 3 slices of cheese and six strips of bacon and contains more calories that the average developing world person eats in a week. There is an annual concession guide for the stadium that yet has to be published. Here is the seating guide from the Miracle web site. Also, this is a great article about Hammonds Stadium with a lot of detail about the ballpark. Also, here is a must see panoramic view of the seating area from last year's spring training. The Twins' dugout is on the third base side and the bullpen on the end of the bleachers in short left. The new lease provides for major renovations to the ballpark including a catwalk area at the outfield. Not sure when this will start and whether it will be around for the 2013 Spring Training. Other things: Last but not least, the Twins do not play home games every day. So what to do in an off day? I would chose from one of the following: either drive to the complex trying to catch minor leaguers (my favorite choice) and non-traveling major leaguers in action, or drive to watch the Twins in an away game. Here is a map of Florida that shows all the Grapefruit League home team locations: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7044/6870615789_e450be9574_b.jpg The Rays play their home games about half an hour away and the Pirates and Orioles about an hour away or so. The Red Sox play in Fort Myers. Those are the most convenient ball parks to visit. Next: The Food Guide.
  14. Thrylos
    Last time the Twins won (1991) the internet(s) was in Al Gore's mind
  15. Thrylos
    Dickey? You mean the guy who the aforementioned Twins' scouts and field stuff thought that he will never cut it and they cut him?
  16. Thrylos
    Upon further review, and since he is a rookie and has been invited to Spring Training with the big club, I'd have to say: . . . . . . . . . Anthony Slama
  17. Thrylos
    Yep. Terry Ryan brought many World Championships to the Twin Cities and his replacement of Bill Smith made the Twins contenders again last season. I just hope that the Twins hold him accountable for the club performance but I am not holding my breath after they removed the interim tag after a 96 loss season and let him blame the 99 plus 96 on Jerry and Stelly.
  18. Thrylos
    I just hope that it is the one who wins the CF job (either Benson or Hicks) for the Twins' sake. I think that they will really baby Gibson this season.
  19. Thrylos
    Glad that you found it useful. I really look forward to see if work has already started in the complex and the renovations of Hammond Stadium.
  20. Thrylos
    You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1327-2013-Spring-Training-Guide-to-Fort-Myers-Part-I-The-Logistics
  21. Thrylos
    Less than a month for Pitchers and Catchers to report to Fort Myers so it is about time for you to make your arrangements to see your Minnesota Twins. That means it's time for the second annual Fort Myers Guides. This season there will be three guides and will be different than last year's. I now go to the Central and South Central Florida area multiple times per month, so I have a list of additional tips. This will be the first guide: The Spring Training Logistics Guide, where the area is described and the best and least expensive ways of getting to the Twins' Spring Training home are explained. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Knowing what I know now last season, I could have saved at least a couple hundred dollars in airfare, at least that much in a hotel and about that much in a car rental, money better spent watching the Twins and buying Twins' (and Miracle) gear. As a bonus, I will list the official Twins' hotel, which is the place where a lot of Twins' people stay and a great place to rub elbows with Twins' players and staff. Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch The second guide will talk about what to do once you are there. This is all about baseball. What is going on at the Training Complex, tips and tricks about watching the games at Hammond Stadium (based on my fresh experience from last year) and other ballparks you might want to visit. This with be the Spring Training Baseball Guide. The third guide will be a Food Guide to Fort Myers, but changed from last season's. Last season's was cuisine-specific and I think that it is still a valuable resource. This season will be more restaurant-specific. As a bonus, I will list established hangouts of Twins' players. These guides are mainly from the Twins' perspective but useful for Red Sox' (and soon Nationals') fans How To Get There: Unless you want to have a non-rental car with you (a good choice if you are a player or will be there for a month or so, or you live close to Fort Myers) flying is probably the best choice. There is a local airport (Southeast Florida International, code: RSW) served by a variety of airlines, but there are a total of about 75 flights a day into and out from there. Alternative airports are the larger Tampa International (TPA) and Miami International (MIA), about 2 and 2.5 hrs drive respectively. The Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) is slightly over an hour drive from Fort Myers and is a slightly larger airport than the Southwest Florida International at Fort Myers. Fort Lauderdale (FLL) is also an option, and a potentially fairly attractive one if your home airport has airlines like Frontier, Spirit and Allegient and you are willing to fly them, because they have inexpensive and relatively frequent flights there. Flying into Fort Myers is probably the most expensive option in the list but you do not have to drive far. Also, be aware that the TSA checkpoints in the return trip are a mess. Budget an extra hour to go through. But my favorite option (and what I am doing this year?) is Orlando. Orlando International (MCO) is about 3 hrs away from Fort Myers, but it offers the benefit of having the lowest airfare and lowest car rental prices in Florida, in combination to more that 60 mainstream carrier flights daily. Plus, as a bonus, if you have a family, you can spend a few days there with the kids, which will help them palate more 8+ hrs of baseball-related stuff that you would do once at Fort Myers. As far as airfare prices go and where to find the best ones, go to the ITA Matrix software portal, chose the "show a calendar of lowest fares" and play with it. This is the tool that travel agents are using. Once you find a flight, go online to the airline or an online travel agency and reserve it. My fares in and out of MCO have been in the $150-200 range from the North East, but YMMV depending on departing city. Cars As far as rental cars go (and you do need one since the public transportation in Fort Myers is non-existent,) the best value in Florida is Dollar. And here is a trick: go to the Dollar web site and register to be an express member for free. This way you will have the car waiting in a predetermined spot and you by-pass the counter. Next, make your reservation by viewing all car types and picking the least expensive option. Once you make your reservation, check it often and early and "modify" it to see if there are any lower prices posted. Dollar is notorious of dropping their car prices, especially close to the reservation dates. I usually rent cars at about $12-16 a day. But you have to check and change those prices a lot. Refuse the automatic toll machine ($8ish/day) and the GPS ($13ish a day) and deal with the insurance as you normally do (i.e. if you refuse because you are covered by your own car, refuse it.) Driving There If you want to drive down there, the fastest was to get there is via I-75 that goes through the town. From most points of the Midwest or Northwest, the best way to catch I-75 is around the Metro Atlanta area. From South and South West, I-10 hits I-75 in North Florida about an hour east of Jacksonville. From the East Coast, the best bet would be I-95 all the way to Daytona Beach, then I-4 through Orlando and catching I-75 at Tampa. If you live at the Twin Cities area, Minneapolis is about 1700 miles away from Fort Myers, which means about 3 days of 8 hours driving each, each way. Enjoy This is a map of South & Central Florida, to let you see where Fort Myers is situated in Florida (all maps and satellite images used in this post are screen shots from Bing maps) : http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7210/6870615689_9c49c11ca4_z.jpg The Metro Area and the City: Fort Myers (and, btw, it is not Ft. Myers) is the smallest of three cities in the Fort Myers-Cape Coral Metropolitan area. It has about 62,000 people, whereas the Metro has about 650,000 people most of them living in Cape Coral, a city planned and started in the late 50s as a huge retirement community. Interestingly enough the planners wanted to make every property close to water, so they created and extensive system of Canals. Cape Coral has more miles of navigable waterways than any city in the world, including Venice (Italy, not FL) and Amsterdam. About 400 miles of canals. Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel Island and Pine Island are popular beach front communities with a lot of beach-related tourism. Here is a photo of the Cape Coral- Fort Myers metro: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7041/6870615619_08f2faa40c_z.jpg An important note, especially to people from northern climates: average temperatures in March are 80 for high and 60 for low, so make sure that you pack sunscreen, hats, glasses, shorts, t-shirts and a swimsuit, if you are so inclined. And if you get sunburns, you will get a sunburn there, so please plan accordingly. The city of Fort Myers itself is very easily navigated. Here is a map of the City with the Twins' Spring Training Headquarters noted with an orange Marker: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7188/6870615475_684c7baa2a_z.jpg You can click here for a larger picture in a new window. Where to Stay: The Fort Myers Airport is about 6 miles due west from Hammonds Stadium and the Spring Training Complex. Daniels Parkway (that becomes Cypress Lake Dr in the City) will take you from the Airport to the town and the Twins' complex. If you are on a budget and looking for a hotel, the ones on Daniels Parkway and that area west of I-75 offer good bargains and are fairly close to the Twins' Spring Training Complex. Another area for reasonable accommodations is the S. Cleveland Avenue North of Page Field. Mostly everything can be found within a large triangle defined by S. Cleveland Ave to the West, Colonial Blvd to the North and the Ben C. Pratt Pkwy going Northeast to Southwest. The Twins' Spring training complex is on the South part of Ben C. Pratt Pkwy, just South of Daniels Pkwy. Traffic, other than when the games are over, is not an issue at Fort Myers. If you want to rub elbows with Twins' players and staff, the Twins' official/unofficial hotel in the Fort Myers' area is the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Myers (not the one by the airport, but the one "in town"). Alternatively you can stay at Naples (offers more things to do at night) or Port Charlotte (offers less expensive rooms and it is the Rays' Spring Training Home). Both are about half an hour easy drive away. The best bargains for Hotels (unless you are a frequent guest and can use points for free rooms) are either Hotwire or Hotels.com, but the establishments are sometimes name-less so it can be a gamble. On the other hand, if you stay pretty close to the ballpark and away from the downtown area, there are not any seedy places. This year I will be staying at Port Charlotte and will be watching some Twins' games there as visitors as well. The Twins' Spring Training Complex: Here is a satellite image of the Lee County Sports Complex: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7062/6870615187_617fab61b1_b.jpg More about the complex, how and when to get there and all the things about the Twins' Spring Training home in the next guide.
  22. Thrylos
    This was just on the Philly TV 6 o'clock news here. Apparently he will be their starting RF, his best OF position. The deal is for $750K and can be up to $3.5M with incentives. Interesting news.
  23. Thrylos
    Hopefully it is more like the late 80s early 90s They actually won in the post-season then.
  24. Thrylos
    Hard to tell. Really hard to tell. Case in point: .268/.328/.382: Miguel Cabrera's slash line in A Kane County as an 18 year old. Sano's (albeit a year older than Cabrera) slash line in the same league: .258/.373/.521 Huge advantage Sano and just .10 points advantage in BA for Cabrera. So hitting around .300 or higher is not out of the question for Sano.
  25. Thrylos
    Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch --- This is the second of the three 2013 Spring Training Guides to Fort Myers that will appear here. The first one was a guide on the logistics of how to get there and where to stay etc., including some ways to get there as inexpensively as possible, if that is a consideration. The Logistics Guide can be found here. The next guide will be about food and this one is about the reason people go to Fort Myers: Spring Training baseball. The Twins' Spring Training Complex: Here is a satellite image of the Lee County Sports Complex (all images are screenshots from Bing Maps) : http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7062/6870615187_617fab61b1_b.jpg The complex is accessible via the Miracle on 34th St, either from Ben C Pratt Pkwy or from Plantation Rd. The best was to go is via the Parkway, esp. if it is busy. Miracle on 34th St divides the Twins' part of the complex from the four county softball field. Hammond Stadium, the site of the Twins Spring Training home games and the home of the Fort Myers Miracle (the Twins' high A, Florida State League affiliate) is on the Northeast corner of the Complex. Those parallel lines is the parking lot that can fit about 2000 cars. The stadium seats about 8000 people, so parking can be tight. In addition to Hammond Stadium, there are four full size practice fields and two infield practice fields. You can find Twins' major and minor league players working out in those fields throughout the day, so it might make sense to explore the whole complex or even catch (a free, other than parking) minor league game or two. Some Hotels offer free shuttle service to the Complex, so make sure you explore this option if available During Twins' home games you have to pay for parking, however when the Twins are away, you can come into the complex and park for free and watch the Twins' minor leagues (you can do that on game days in the morning as well.) The minor leaguers are using the 3 full fields further away from the Ballpark and the inflied half field right next to the clubhouse (the tin building). The practice field next to the ballpark is exclusively used by the MLB team. There are 2 different camps take place there (the MLB and MiLB camp) but there is not a "dividing line" that folks who are cut from the big camp have to cross to get "down to the minor league" camp. As you can see, all the fields are next to each other. Often, non-travelling major leaguers (I saw Casilla and Carroll do that last season) play in Minor League games. So do rehabing major leaguers. The best way to watch the minor leaguers is to drive and park close to the clubhouse (there are not too many cars on non-game days, about as many as they are in the picture) and go between the 3 large fields. Usually AAA plays on the North West most field and AA next to it. With a little bit of imagination, one can sit between both fields and watch 2 games. There are bleachers in the area (metal). Bathrooms and a water fountain are in the south of the clubhouse building. Bringing water is a must here because there are no concessions. A lot of lower level or non-playing minor leaguers are around and on the stands watching the AAA and AA games. Actually pitchers are relegated to radar charting duty in tables in the common area behind the home plates and the fence, and standing around there is a good place to look at the radar readings. You can also find Twin Cities Sports Celebrities on the stands: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7060/6881930842_2aaba33f03_o.jpg The "dugouts" and "bullpens" are just fenced in areas so you can get a great look of the Twins' minor leaguers. All minor league games are free. The new Twins' lease will provide for a dorm to be build in the area, but I am not certain on its wearabouts, but likely South of the fields and just west of the county softball fields. Hammond Stadium: Hammond Stadium (and the Lee County Complex) was officially opened in the Spring of 1991. (The year of the Twins' last World Championship.) It is the home of Fort Myers Miracle, a franchise that has Jimmy Buffett and Bill Murray as part-owners. It has been recently renovated and is one of the largest Ball Parks in FSL, sitting up to 8500 people. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7197/6870615335_f8962df2e6_z.jpg As with most minor league stadiums, most sitting is on the infield between the two dugouts. Hammonds Stadium has a nose bleed 2xx level as well and a small grassy field on short right field for fans to sit picnic style. Spring training tickets cost from $45 to $10 or so, depending on the opponent and the seating. As far as tickets go, there are ticket outlets just outside the Park. You can preorder tickets over the web, or you can frequently obtain them from locals in the parking lot who are not interesting in attending the game. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7053/6873268706_ed1c6493c8_b.jpg One thing that you MUST note: bottled water in unopened containers is permitted in the stadium, as are bags up to 16x16x8 (think reusable grocery bags), so please take advantage of that. That said, the stadium has one of the best selections of beers, including more than 20 mainstream, import and microbrew beers and ales. The best variety of beer, including beer sold only for Twins' and Miracle's games there, is at the bar at the far left (third base) end of the outside concourse, right before the bullpen They only sell Pepsi products as far as soft drinks go. I will have a food guide within a week, but I have to mention that there is an interesting variety of food, including pizza, sweet potato fries, fish tacos, deep fried nachos on a stick, and two artery clogging specialties: the Carolina Dog, a hot dog topped with pulled pork, baked beans and coleslaw and the Richard Simmons burger a behemoth featuring a 1/4 lb burger, a 1/4 lb chicken, a 1/4 lb brat, held together by 3 slices of cheese and six strips of bacon and contains more calories that the average developing world person eats in a week. There is an annual concession guide, for the stadium that yet has to be published. Here is the seating guide from the Miracle web site. Also, this is a great article about Hammonds Stadium with a lot of detail about the ball park. Also, here is a must see panoramic view of the seating are a from last year's Spring Training. The Twins' dugout is on the third base side and the bullpen on the end of the bleachers in short left. The new lease provides for major renovations to the Ballpark including a catwalk area at the Outfield. Not sure when this will start and whether it will be around for the 2013 Spring Training. Other things: Last but not least, the Twins do not play home games every day. So what to do in an off day? I would chose from one of the following two things: Either drive to the Complex trying to catch minor leaguers (my favorite choice) and non-traveling major leaguers in action in one (or more) of the fields, or drive to watch the Twins in an away game. Here is a map of Florida that shows all the Grapefruit League home team locations: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7044/6870615789_e450be9574_b.jpg The Rays play their home games about half an hour away and the Pirates and Orioles about an hour away or so. The Red Sox play in Fort Myers. Those are the most convenient ball parks to visit. Next: The Food Guide.
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