When the Twins did their September call-ups someone posted something along the likes of, "Great with four catchers there is no need to ever see Fryer again." His playing time has not decreased at all despite having Pinto and Hermann (who I doubt will ever catch again). It is really inexcusable. Pinto should have a future with this club. Fryer shouldn't but undoubtedly will.
Line drive to Kinsler who throws it away trying to double the guy off second base. Salvador Perez was on third and never tagged up and ran home. Det challenged without ever appealing the play and Perez was ruled out. I hate replay. They got the call right but got it wrong at the same time since there was no appeal. Just a typical replay cluster ****. Please get rid of it.
A couple that I like and have reread multiple times are "Fantasyland" by Sam Walker, "Birth of a Dynasty" by Joel Sherman (and I am NOT a Yankees fan), and "The Bad Guys Won" by Jeff Pearlman. They aren't necessarily new books but I think they are good in their own separate ways. I am also more of a fan of books about particular teams and seasons than players for what that's worth. Another good one is "One Last Strike" about the 2011 Cardinals season. Lots of good insight by LaRussa, no matter what you think of him.
Chris Young fits the bill. Veteran? Check. Soft tosser? Check. Gives up home runs? Check. Basically guaranteed to miss much of 2015 due to injury? Check.
By the way earlier in the night Hawk said that he has never seen anyone with a better outfield arm than Moises Sierra. Eat your hearts out Clemente, Cobra, Whiten, Ankiel, Furillo, Ichiro!
Here are the things I dislike about baseball in no particular order: Interleague play- not interested in any of the matchups/ Yankees-Mets is as nauesating at Yankees-Red Sox. Wild cards (and additional wild cards)- way to water down the postseason like every other sport. One game playoffs used to be exciting because they were two evenly matched teams between rivals. One game playoffs between teams with 94 wins and 90 teams is just a man-made creation to try and draw money and ratings. Relief pitcher usage- I could deal with drawn out at bats if it was not necessary to make three pitching changes per inning (the post season is even worse). Replay- controversy is good for the sport. Umpires are a part of the game too and bad calls make games/series more memorable. Blocking the plate- I take back my previous point. Controversy when you rule a guy safe at the plate because the catcher was standing in front of the plate and the runner is ten feet away is horrendous.
Does this take into effect players selected for all-star games that did not participate (such as any pitcher that pitches on Sunday)? Injury replacements? How did you factor in increased all-star game rosters?
Why would anyone expect Mauer to be healthy next season? Even playing first base he has been hurt twice. It could obviously happen but his own history indicates that it won't.