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Otto von Ballpark

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Everything posted by Otto von Ballpark

  1. Otto von Ballpark
    There is a theory that hitting it over the fence is about the only thing teams can try to do with that kind of pitching, aside from taking it (or swinging and missing, of course). Emphasizing the “three true outcomes” style of play. https://twitter.com/mike_petriello/status/1314748748824752130?s=20
  2. Otto von Ballpark
    You sort of answered your own question there: elimination game. And it was only 8-3 through the first 10 pitchers. (And 6 of the runs were given up by the first 2 pitchers — after that, they were just trying to stay alive.) Padres games were a little tedious this postseason due to all the pitching changes, but in fairness they were down to 2 starters.
  3. Otto von Ballpark
    I went to bed early, so I only knew it as "Flyball: CF (Deep CF)". Here's the video for anyone like me who missed it: https://mlb-cuts-diamond.mlb.com/FORGE/2020/2020-10/07/1e7d21a2-7ce5c512-05a7f176-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4 A heckuva play by Bellinger, for sure, but seeing how many no-doubt HR have been hit this postseason, maybe there is a little bit of skill involved in only letting them hit one with a lot of hang time and a trajectory coming down just over the fence. But yeah, not all outs in the boxscore are created equal.
  4. Otto von Ballpark
    John Curtiss redeemed himself a bit for his earlier outing with 1.2 scoreless innings last night. He was able to pitch with a 8-2 lead, though.
  5. Otto von Ballpark
    3 innings! 37 pitches, for an actual closer. His longest outing since 2015 (his first season as a reliever). I wonder if they will still use him today? They did let him struggle through 49 pitches in a game last week vs the White Sox...
  6. Otto von Ballpark
    Yesterday (Wednesday Oct. 8), Liam Hendriks threw 3 shutout innings with 37 pitches to keep Oakland alive. Is he available today, if they need him again to stave off elimination? Brusdar Graterol only needed 7 pitches to record 4 outs for the Dodgers, before Jansen & Kelly *almost* blew the lead in the 9th vs the Padres. Maybe Graterol will get the 9th inning next time?
  7. Otto von Ballpark
    Thursday October 8 Four games today! All potential elimination games, so it is likely the last 4-game day of this postseason. 1:08 pm CDT Atlanta Braves at Miami Marlins (ATL leads 2-0) TV: FS1 2:35 pm CDT Oakland Athletics at Houston Astros (HOU leads 2-1) TV: TBS 6:10 pm CDT Tampa Bay Rays at New York Yankees (TB leads 2-1) TV: TBS 8:08 pm CDT Los Angeles Dodgers at San Diego Padres (LAD leads 2-0) TV: MLB Network
  8. Otto von Ballpark
    To be fair, these are only the pending free agents still playing on the final 8 teams that might interest the Twins (according to this writer). Additional free agents this winter include Trevor Bauer, George Springer, DJ LeMahieu, Michael Brantley, and Marcell Ozuna. (And Nelson Cruz, of course.) A second tier could include Odorizzi, Andrelton Simmons, Jose Quintana, Marcus Stroman.
  9. Otto von Ballpark
    Rough night for ex-Twin John Curtiss. Pitching the 9th inning trailing with his Rays trailing by a run, Curtiss gave up an RBI single to Hicks, then a grand slam to Stanton, not only putting the game out of reach, but also letting the Yankees skip using their closer -- which could be important, in a series with no off days.
  10. Otto von Ballpark
    They didn’t in the first round, but it sounds like they might add him for the NLDS. Padres have Austin Adams who shares a name with a different Austin Adams who pitched for the Twins very briefly. And the Yankees have a pitcher named Nick Nelson, that’s close enough for me.
  11. Otto von Ballpark
    Well, either the Astros are still pretty good, or they're taking full advantage of playing 21st century cursed teams this postseason. (Or some combination of the two. ) They take game 1 vs Oakland, 10-5.
  12. Otto von Ballpark
    Part of it is just natural. The sport had a few decades of crazy revenue growth (coinciding with cable TV and new stadiums) but that level of growth isn’t sustainable — and that’s okay. Everyone will keep trying to get more revenue, or at least increase their share of it, of course, but in terms of the sport’s health, it doesn’t really matter if revenue flattens or even contracts a bit.
  13. Otto von Ballpark
    ...and 6 outs into the game, Oakland has exceeded the Twins run total. Solo bomba by Sean Murphy (the good catcher named Murphy), 3-0 Oakland.
  14. Otto von Ballpark
    4 outs into game 1, Oakland has matched the Twins run total across 2 games vs Houston. (A 2-run “bomba” by Khris Davis.)
  15. Otto von Ballpark
    You've got the AL favorites there, and the NL underdogs (at least per Fangraphs): https://www.fangraphs.com/standings/playoff-odds/post-season-zips?&series=ALDS1 Of course, being the favorite did no favors for the Twins in the first round! I too am hoping for 5 game series, although the pitching matchups (or lack thereof -- bullpen games) could get pretty tedious by the end.
  16. Otto von Ballpark
    It's also interesting to took at the table in the article and consider how it relates to team quality. No surprise to see the Red Sox lose a ton of viewers, for example! The Twins were already quite good in 2019, so their capacity for adding new viewers was probably much lower in 2020 than, say, the White Sox (who added a ton this year but still trail the Twins in total viewership). The Dodgers added viewers by finally getting their TV network carried by some major providers. The Cardinals were the only really competitive team on the list that lost viewers (-4%) -- although there are a few teams that aren't accounted for in the list.
  17. Otto von Ballpark
    MLB TV deals aren't renewed annually -- most local ones last for 7+ years, I think. The national TV deals have all been renewed long-term just recently (except maybe ESPN?). So I don't think this data will be much of a factor in that, I just thought it was interesting. That said, I think it's an over-simplification to say that viewership should go up because fans can't go to the ballpark or they weren't able to do anything else this year. There are a lot of factors around this, here are some that come to mind: 1. The rate of cord-cutting is accelerating 2. Related to #1, the economy was poor -- many fans were low on disposable income 3. No T-Wolves and not much Wild, but national NBA/NHL broadcasts could cut into the normal TV audience 4. Ballpark fans aren't necessarily TV fans -- I wouldn't assume they'd all switch over, although some portion certainly would 5. Ballpark experiences can normally drive interest in the TV product -- this year, the TV product had to market itself completely And I'm sure there are more.
  18. Otto von Ballpark
    Baseball is back! Monday Oct. 5 ALDS Game 1 HOU at OAK (in Dodger Stadium) McCullers vs Bassitt 3:07 PM CDT TV: TBS ALDS Game 1 NYY at TB (in Petco Park) Cole vs. Snell 7:07 PM CDT TV: TBS
  19. Otto von Ballpark
    Twins local viewership up 9%. Link to the article at Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maurybrown/2020/10/04/mlb-sees-local-tv-and-streaming-viewership-up-over-4-for-2020/#36bd03b33dac
  20. Otto von Ballpark
    Ex-almost-Twin Nick Anderson did too!
  21. Otto von Ballpark
    You're assuming the Twins would have actually held on to that lead, which seems generous given the evidence we've seen since!
  22. Otto von Ballpark
    That's wild! If you count Nick Anderson, 5 teams closed out their series wins this week with former Twins pitchers on the mound. The only ones who didn't: ATL, NYY, SDP
  23. Otto von Ballpark
    Cardinals lose to the Padres, so all 7 central division teams are eliminated. A few days off, but next week, we get true "Division Series" -- all of the DS matchups are division rivals: ATL vs MIA LAD vs SDP NYY vs TB OAK vs HOU
  24. Otto von Ballpark
    Yup! Marlins have only made the postseason twice prior to this year, and they went the distance and won the World Series both times (1997 & 2003 -- both as a wild card too, never winning their division). As hard as it is to fathom now, the Twins were probably once viewed in a very similar light nationally. Between 1971 and 2001, 30 years, the Twins only made the postseason twice, and won the World Series both times. And just like these Marlins, we even won our next postseason series after that, in 2002 vs the favored Oakland -- people thought the Twins franchise just had good luck in the postseason!
  25. Otto von Ballpark
    ...and the Cardinals lost tonight, so all 7 central division teams that made the postseason were eliminated in the first round. Only two (CHW & STL) even managed to win a game. Combined record 2-14, and 0-6 at home. As we know, the Twins scored only 2 runs in their 2 games. The Cubs scored just 1 run across their 2 games; the Reds, zero. (Kind of puts our late season series against those two clubs in context...)
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