nddan67

A relatively new institution opened in Blaine called The Ball Park—Twin Cities. For several years, I've seen a similar model on social media from an outfit in Texas named Home Run Dugout. In simplest terms, it's an indoor baseball simulator with food. It's for socializing, not training. Seeing as Blaine is slightly closer than Houston, I figured I would drag my family against their will to The Ball Park to check it out and provide a detailed report to other baseball enthusiasts. 
Here's the bit: The Ball Park is like the baseball version of Top Golf. You reserve a hitting bay for 30- or 60-minute increments (for $35 or $60) and take turns swinging at foam baseballs flipped out of a pitching machine. The Hittrax-powered technology determines the outcome of the batted ball in various gameplay. 
[You can watch my video breakdown of the venue here.]
Similar to TopGolf, each bay has a lounge area with a high-top table and couch. There's a full bar plus an extensive self-pour beer wall with a catalog of foamy goodness that would require multiple visits to complete the circuit. The menu is gussied-up ballpark fare. They serve local favorites like Kramarczuk's and even Dome Dogs (it has yet to be verified if they are authentic Hormel Dome Dogs). 
There are TVs everywhere and plenty of tables and seating if you want to watch a game or have dinner.
Gameplay: 
The Ball Park provided an attendant to walk us through the Hittrax setup and give us an overview of what to expect. 
There are four basic modes — batting practice, home run derby, versus challenge, and game simulator. You can toggle through any Major League ballpark and choose your digital team in the game sim mode. My kids had as much fun selecting our computer-generated home field as they did ripping dingers into the projection screen. 
The overall setup is geared toward anyone with a modicum of hand-eye coordination. You can easily adjust the speed of the flips from a light toss to something with a bit of mustard on it. They have their own custom Pillbox bats to use, but you can also bring your own (my kids brought theirs). The foam balls don't have the same satisfying feel as connecting with a real baseball, but they are acceptable substitutes. The program tracks exit velocity, launch angle, and projected distance for all the stat nerds. 
With a vast skill chasm between our first grader and me, the Hittrax program allows you to change the level of defensive difficulty for each player and "boost" the power output of the younger players. This evens the playing field when competing in the derby or gameplay. The kids go nuts when they clear the Green Monster with contact that probably wouldn't reach the rubber on the mound, and at that moment, I refrain from explaining expected batting average to them. After all, the world runs on children's smiles. 
The four of us spent most of our time in gameplay mode. It took some adjustment to determine the right balance for difficulty and boost mode (in our first five-inning game, everything I hit was turned into an out by superhuman defenders while my fourth grader launched what would probably be a record 15 home runs in one game). Once we had that dialed in, we hammered out four more games, and everyone felt like they contributed. 
The one downside of the process is that the balls are not automatically gathered or funneled back into the machine. After 50 or so swings, you must flag the attendant down so they can collect the balls and put them back into the machine. While it's not an eternity, the 5-to-10 minutes lost in the reloading process adds up, especially for kids jonesing for more. 
Food:
Once we had it, the food was good. More on that in a moment.
My wife and I split the Ball Park Cheese Burger and Hand Cut Fries, both of which were delicious. The kids rifled through a burger and chicken tenders, respectively. 
Seeing that I am a Dad, I did my fatherly duty and finished the few bites my kids left on their plates. I will say the tenders were of higher quality than you find at most comparable venues—so much so that I had a moment of post-glut clarity, regretting not ordering the tenders for myself.
The menu has a lot more options. We stayed in the shallow end, but there were intriguing items that would be compelling to try on a subsequent visit. After all, what Twins fan wouldn't want the nostalgia of eating a Dome Dog? 
Service:
And here lies my one issue. 
After our attendant introduced us, we were told that a server would come to take our order. Almost a half-hour went by before someone asked what we wanted to drink.
Before I go any further, I want to set some expectations. You may think that Parker seems like the kind of person who complains that the napkins are too sharp or that not enough rose petals cover the floor to walk on. I am not high maintenance, and neither is my wife, full stop. I am so thoroughly Minnesotan that I would stoically eat a sandwich made of shoe meat if it meant avoiding hurting anyone's feelings in the preparation or delivery process. 
We couldn't hand over money if we tried. There were upwards of a dozen employees in the restaurant, which was doing modest business following the end of the Vikings game, and no one seemed interested in trading food and beverage for legal tender from us. 
Our server eventually returned to take the food order. We were nearly through our hitting time allotment when that server returned to inform us that the order was not placed correctly in their system, so that supper would be delayed a bit longer. My only thought was that I was wearing my Twins Daily hoodie, and maybe they only hired Guardian fans.
I chalk the experience up to being a newly opened business, working through some hiccups as they find their footing. In retrospect, a simple Google review search found several entries with people experiencing the same problem. For the most part, I can overlook that since our main focus for the visit was not necessarily on eating. Both the attendant and server were great people. The food was good. The gameplay was fun. As a #BallGuy and parent, I want places like this to succeed. It can help grow the game or mildly reinvigorate one's interest in hitting sloppy taters.
Overall:
Even with the weird service issues, The Ball Park was worth the visit. As we finished our food, the restaurant area filled with Loons fans for a MLS watch party. The customers had a positive, supercharged vibe. 
This venue would be a good place to spend the winter months with the family, have a date night, or hang out with friends. Probably great for a team-building outing or to see which Twins Daily writer can generate the highest exit velo. Our 4th grader was already thinking about organizing his next birthday there.
The one last tip I would submit is that if you are going with a group larger than 4, consider renting 2 hitting bays or adding more time. 
So, even with the hiccups and the 40-minute drive to Blaine, what The Ball Park provided was well worth the time and money.
***
The Ball Park - Twin Cities
10650 Baltimore St NE Suite 100
Blaine, MN 55449

“Bonus Baby” Rule Eliminated, Amateur Draft Implemented in 1965
 
If you read my recent blog article “Players Who Went Right To The Major Leagues” you will know that from 1947 to 1965 any player who signed with an organization for $4,000 or more was considered a “Bonus Baby” and had to spend their first year of professional baseball on a major league roster. This meant little playing time and very little opportunity to develop into a better player. There were 71 players in this category that went straight to the majors of the total of about 120 players who accomplished this feat over the last 120 years.
 
Knowing that this rule was not in the best interest of the player or the organization, Major League Baseball decided to implement an amateur draft in 1965. The premise was simple, the team with the worst record from the previous season would get the first pick and the rest of the picks would be in order of a team's previous year's record.
 
The very first pick in 1965 was Rick Monday, a player from Arizona State, who was selected by the Kansas City Athletics. Monday would end up with a 19 year major league career, would play in 2 All-Star games, and would play in 5 championship series, including 3 World Series (winning one). If that was the type of player that you could draft if you had the first pick, I think you would be satisfied with your selection. There were other first picks in the 60 years of the draft that would never appear in a major league game.
 
Of the 20 players selected in the 1st round of the 1st amateur draft 7 never made it to the major leagues. This includes players taken 4th (Alex Barrett-Astros), 8th (John Wyatt-Dodgers-Not the Relief Pitcher), 10th (Doug Dickerson-Pirates), 12th (Dick Grant-Braves), 15th (Scott McDonald-Orioles), 17th (Ken Plesha-Wihte Sox) and 20th (Joe DiFabio-Cardinals). Notable names chosen in addition to Monday were Joe Coleman (3rd-Senators), Billy Conigliaro (5th-Red Sox), Ray Fosse (7th-Indians), Jim Spencer (11th-Angels), Gene Lamont (13th-Tigers), and Bernie Carbo (16th-Reds). With the 9th pick the Twins selected Eddie Leon a shortstop from the University of Arizona who was one of two players who decided not to sign. Interestingly, Leon would be drafted by the Cubs in the secondary phase of the 1st round in 1966 and again did not sign. Finally, he was taken in the 2nd round of the 1967 draft by the Indians and did sign. Eddie would play 8 seasons in the majors and had a .236 lifetime batting average with 24 HR’s and 159 RBI’s.
 
Over the next 19 years the following players would be taken with the 1st pick in the draft:
1966 – Steve Chilcutt – Mets – One of 3 #1 picks in the 60 years of the draft who never played in the Major Leagues
1967 – Ron Bloomberg – Yankees
1968 – Tim Foli – Mets
1969 – Jeff Burroughs – Senators
1970 – Mike Ivie – Padres
1971 – Danny Goodwin – White Sox
1972 – Dave Roberts – Padres
1973 – David Clyde – Rangers
1974 – Bill Almon – Padres
1975 – Danny Goodwin – Angels (See 1971)
1976 – Floyd Bannister – Astros
1977 – Harold Baines – White Sox
1978 – Bob Horner – Braves
1979 – Al Chambers – Mariners
1980 – Darryl Strawberry – Mets
1981 – Mike Moore – Mariners
1982 – Shawon Dunston – Cubs
1983 – Tim Belcher – Twins – Did Not Sign
1984 – Shawn Abner – Mets
 
In future blog postings I will list all of the Twins first round picks from 1965 to present in 20 year increments, with some statistical information on their career.

This flashed by on my home page and thought some may want to read. I was caught by surprise and good for him. i'm rooting for him.
Angels All-Star Free Agent Signing Showed Up to Camp Nearly 60 Pounds Lighter (msn.com)

The idea of taking a shot at an offseason plan is always a fun one. Here's my attempt. As best as I could, I used the arbitration projections cited elsewhere. I also used the free agent projections at MLBTradeRumors as starting points. And I had the advantage of being able to include the Urshela and Farmer moves and other action that's happened to date. 
 
First, the sunk costs – options that didn’t get picked up: Bundy $1M, Archer $.75M and Sano $2.75M for a total cost of $4.5M
Next is the rotation guys already on the roster – Gray $11.825M, Ryan $1M, Mahle $7.2M, Maeda $3.125M, Paddack $2.4M, Dobnak $1.5M, Winder $0.75M, Ober $0.75M, for a total cost of $28.5M. I’m willing to run with this group of eight, knowing I’ve got Woods Richardson, Varland, Enlow, Balazovic, Henriquez and Enlow in St. Paul. I’ll also grab a couple Aaron Sanchez/Dereck Rodriguez-types on minor league contracts to see if I can catch lightning in a bottle.  
Relievers on the roster – Duran $0.725M, Thielbar $2.4M, Lopez $3.7, Moran $0.725M, Jax $0.75M, Alcala $0.8M, for a total cost of $9.1M. The close reader will note the absence of Pagan. I’m actually not that averse to keeping him around, but I’m going to take advantage of the rumor mill that says multiple teams expressed interest. Stay tuned.
Catcher – Jeffers at $1.3M. We’ll need more, obviously. Stay tuned.
Infield – The mixture of Miranda (1b/3b) $0.75M, Farmer (ss/3b) $5.9M, Arraez (1b/2b) $5M, Polanco (2b) $7.5M and Gordon (2b/ss) $0.75M gets us a base-level infield at $19.9M, with Lewis and Lee waiting in the wings. You might wanna stay tuned, however.
Outfield – The mix of Buxton $15.143, Kepler $8.5M, Larnach $1M, Kirilloff $1M, Celestino $0.725, Wallner $0.725M and Cave $0.8M gives flexibility at $27.893M. I think Kepler will bounce back and at least one of the Larnach/Kirilloff/Wallner trio will fully blossom. Consider as well that Gordon and even Lewis or Lee could fit into this picture as well.
And that gives us a total cost of $91.193M so far, with just the need for a catcher, bullpen depth and miscellaneous other improvements. There's really no one on this list that can't DH, so I'm assuming people will rotate through that spot.
We’ll start with catcher. The Blue Jays are operating from a position of depth with Alejandro Kirk, mega-prospect Gabriel Moreno and still-young Danny Jansen. It’s also a team that is seeking bullpen depth, so I’m going to offer Pagan for Jansen. It may take a prospect to add to the mix, but I’m comfortable that it won’t need to be a highly ranked guy, so I’ll plug in Jansen at $3.7M, bringing us to $94.893M.
I’m still needing bullpen depth, but I’ll first address the elephant in the room – miscellaneous improvements. I give Correa a raise to $35.5M per year for the next four years, with an opt out, followed by two years at $32M with another opt out, followed by two years at $30M. That’s a guarantee of $266M over eight years, but it's front-loaded for him and gives him the ability to opt out after his age 31 and 33 seasons, both ages when he’s still young enough to get a six- or four-year deal. With his $35.5M for 2023, our total is $130.393M as we head to the bullpen.
I’ve always had a thing for David Robertson, and he proved me right this year. He’s served as a closer and as a setup guy in the past, and I offer him the 2/$16M MLBTR suggests. I’m generally skeptical of big contracts to relievers, but seeing Kenley Jansen at 2/$26M is too good to pass up.
That pushes the budget up to $151.393, but I’ll have a bit of savings in that I’ve got dollar figures attached to 30 guys. Though all 30 guys will see MLB time at some point, several of them won’t get the total listed here, since they’ll spend some time in the minors. I figure that’ll save a couple million.
And as it turns out, I’ve got a March birthday, and the bosses give me a birthday present. On MLBTRs list, they’ve got dollar values assigned to nine relievers, with an annual salaries of $4.5M at the bottom. In their list of “honorable mention,” they’ve got Michael Fulmer, Craig Kimbrel, Seth Lugo, Matt Moore and Matt Strahm. If any of them don’t get a major league deal, I give them a minor league contract with opt-out dates and an incentive-based contract.
And the birthday present gets even better – to me, the most conspicuous name that’s missing from MLTTR's article is Aroldis Chapman. Seeing him unsigned, I give him a $3M guarantee with incentives and look forward to him slamming the door in Game 7 of the ALCS at Yankee Stadium.
Chapman’s $3M balances the bit of savings that’s in guys who’ve been optioned, and leaves me with a budget of just over $150M, but when the higher-ups think about adding Chapman, Jansen, Robertson and a veteran on a minor league contract to a bullpen that already has Duran, Jax, Lopez, Thielbar, Alcala and Moran, they say “Go for it” and give me a $300 bonus gift certificate to spend in the team store.
But alas, that’s still not enough to get one of the new jerseys. I liked the old ones better anyway.   

Some time after the All-Star break, I was pondering how the Twins could fit all of their quality major league position players on the active roster. A few weeks later, baseball immortals Mark Contreras and Caleb Hamilton were on the big club. Fast forward to a crucial five-game series in Cleveland and the Twins were starting Bailey Ober, Josh Winder (both coming off injuries) and having Louie Varland make his second major league start and Jake Cave and Gilberto Celestino were considered regular starters. The season unraveled quickly and now the Twins look likely to finish below .500 and in third place in the weak AL Central. How did it happen? I have several answers--there have been enduring issues all year exacerbated by a rash of injuries, most of them season-ending. 
Offense underperformed almost all year. Going back to the start of the season, after a rocky first couple of weeks, the Twins offense was sufficient to win a lot of game despite never scoring runs commensurate with their underlying numbers. Right now, the Twins are 18th in runs scored despite being 11th in OPS and 12th in homers. They have often been futile with runners in scoring position and they have been a terrible running bases as a team. I have seen many posters state that the team is terrible at fundamentals. I would submit that all teams draw their fans ire for not advancing runners and "beating the shift". Part of these problems is the way the Twins are built. They lack team speed and their is a lot of swing and miss in their collective game. With the changes made to limit homers, the Twins (IMHO) have suffered disproportionately. 
Pitching regressed after overperforming early. The Twins seized first place in late April and held on to the top spot for most of the season bolstered by a pitching staff that performed better than expected. Despite seemingly having at least one and usually two or more guys in their rotation that were locks to go no more than five innings, they won a lot of games and obvious weaknesses at the back end of the bullpen were not evident in the win-loss record. Things unraveled here in slow motion. The failure of anyone but Jhoan Duran in late innings cost games (particularly to Cleveland). The extra innings assigned to the bullpen showed the lack of depth that so many short starts demanded. Back to statistics--the Twins currently are right in the middle of total runs allowed stats. Underlying stats (WHIP, Opponents BA and OPS and BB and K numbers) come out slightly below the mean. I think team defense has been slightly better than average, which has helped keep runs allowed acceptable. 
Injuries (oh my!). The Twins lead the AL in total man-games on the Injured List. They went into the season with one player slated to miss time, so it isn't like there were a bunch of players already on the IL. Some of the injuries could be expected and put on the front office. The Twins obtained several pitchers with injury issues and this season have come up snake eyes with most of them missing significant time. 
There have been plenty of position player injuries as well. Regular players Ryan Jeffers, Miguel Sano, Jorge Polanco, Alex Kirilloff, Trevor Larnach, Byron Buxton and Max Kepler have all missed significant portions of the season. Carlos Correa also missed over 20 games with COVID and a badly bruised finger. We all know Buxton hasn't made it through a season without spending time on the IL. The other guys would figure to be healthier than they have this year. 
Dick Bremer characterized the Twins as developing a "slow leak" from June through August. The leak has been accelerated in the month of September and injuries are a factor in that. That said, even without the injuries, the Twins' flaws probably were too big to win the division. The club exhausted their depth and seeing Jermaine Palacios, Mark Contreras, Caleb Hamilton, Sandy Leon, Aaron Sanchez, and (second half) Devin Smeltzer "perform" in key situations just shows that the Twins have scraped bottom.
I think some roster turnover is necessary. Among the position players, they need more guys who make contact, are better base runners and who have more speed. They need more left-right balance in corner outfielders. The front office needs to adjust their focus and bring in more durable players. It should be noted that the position players they brought in (Urshela, Sanchez and Correa) have been basically healthy. The problem has been with the pitchers. 
I think there is too much talent to tear it down. If the club fails to compete next year, it is probably time to try something else, starting at the top. It won't be easy to win the Central next year, but there needs to be significant progress and better health.