Cody Christie

[CENTER][attachment=5512:1826.attach][/CENTER] For the first time since 1996, [URL="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/10/sports/baseball/no-players-elected-to-baseball-hall-of-fame.html?_r=0"]the Baseball Writers' Association of America did not select anyone to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame[/URL]. This was the eighth time that no one was selected by the writers but most onlookers could see this coming. The influx of suspected steroid users on the ballot makes it tough to judge players and there has been plenty of debate surrounding who should be elected in the coming years. Craig Biggio was the closest person to getting 75% of the vote needed to be enshrined but he only mustered 68.2% in his first year on the ballot. Twins World Series hero Jack Morris came in second with 67.7% of the vote in his 14th year on the ballot. Rounding out the rest of the top five were Jeff Bagwell (59.6%), Mike Piazza (57.8%), and Tim Raines (52.2%). [URL="http://www.nodaktwinsfan.com/2013/01/bagwell-biggio-should-enter-hof-together.html"]In my ballot that I released last week, I hoped that Biggio and Bagwell would comprise the Class of 2013.[/URL] I knew this was a long shot but it seemed fitting for two of the former "Killer B's" from the Astros. With so many other worthy candidates, I had a full ballot of 10 players but I divided them into different categories. Those categories included: "Future Inductions," "May Never Get In (But Still On My Ballot)," and the "Under-Appreciated Duo." Check out the entire piece to see the reasons I gave for each selection. For Morris, it was discouraging to see that he only made a small jump in the voting. In the 2012 voting, he finished in second place with 66.7% of the vote and it was looking like he could make the jump needed to get to 75%. His 1% increase this year doesn't bode well for the 57-year old former pitcher that will be on the ballot for one last time in 2013. As more players from the steroids era enter the ballot, the numbers for Morris look more likely that they won't stack up to the competition. The clock is ticking for Jack Morris since there will be some very strong first time candidates on next year's ballot. Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, and Frank Thomas will all have strong cases to be elected in their first time on the ballot. There will also be some strong returning candidates like Biggio, Bagwell, and Piazza. Morris will get one more chance but the odds are not exactly looking like they will be in his favor when it comes to election time next January. When compared to Glavine and Maddux, Morris doesn't seem to stand a chance on the 2014 ballot. Maddux has a career WAR of 101.6 and this should make him almost a lock to be a first ballot selection. Glavine has a very good 76.8 WAR, which isn't as high as Maddux but it is still very good. Morris is much further down the list with a 39.3 WAR and that would rank sixth among pitchers on next year's ballot. There are plenty of people on both sides of the debate surrounding Morris. [URL="http://www.cbssports.com/columns/story/21511614/hall-mess-means-this-voter-wont-vote-for-tainted-players---this-time"]Some writers have spoke out loudly to try and push for Morris[/URL] to get in as he runs out of years on the ballot. [URL="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=1815"]Other's have compared Morris to other top pitchers and his numbers don't exactly stand out[/URL] above the crowd. With one year left, the voices against Morris seem to be bringing down any momentum that he had building in the last couple of years. Twins fans saw Bert Blyleven get elected in his 14th year of eligibility so there were some that thought this might be the year for Morris. Blyleven had much better numbers for his career and his induction should have come much sooner than it did. The extra years on the ballot helped to build the narrative in favor of Blyleven. The problem for Morris has been the fact that the narrative has been building as much [U]against [/U]him as it has been [U]for[/U] him. Morris pitched one of the biggest games in World Series history and he happened to be wearing a Twins uniform when he did it. On my ballot, I voted for Morris because of the nostalgia involved with Game 7 from 1991. He was the last addition to my ballot so if I had to remove one player it would have probably been him. Does this mean that he probably doesn't deserve to be in the Hall? Most likely... View full article

The Twins won both ends of a double header against Kansas City on Saturday but there was plenty of exciting action across the minor leagues. Let's check out how the Twins farm system fared as their seasons are coming to a close.[B] ELIZABETHTON 2, BURLINGTON[/B] [B]3[/B] In what looks like it will be a great Appalachian League Championship Series, the E-Twins lost an important first game to the Burlington Royals by a score of 3-2 in extra-innings. Angel Matta started the game for the Twins and pitched five strong innings while allowing one run on six hits with six strikeouts. His only trouble came in the bottom of the second when he allowed the first three batters to reach on singles. He got out of the jam by allowing a single run so it was a good job of sidestepping danger. There were a lot of zeros put on the board until the top of the sixth when the E-Twins were finally able to get on the board. Adam Walker started the inning by belting a solo-home run to tie the game. The next batter was DJ Hicks and he decided back-to-back home runs were in order. For the first time in the series, Elizabethton had a lead at 2-1. Unfortunately, it wouldn't last for the rest of the game. Tyler Herr was called on to relieve Mata on the mound and he was doing fine for the first couple of innings. Even the start of the eighth inning looked to be going well as Herr struck out the first two batters that he faced. Mark Threlkeld was the third batter of the inning for Burlington and he sent one over the fence to tie the game in the late innings, a devastating shot for the young E-Twins. In extra-innings, the E-Twins had their chance to take the lead in the top of the 10th when Romy Jimenez doubled with one out in the frame. There was a wild pitch with Travis Harrison batting to advance Jimenez to third. Harrison would walk but the next two batters would fail to knock in the runner. In the 11th inning, Byron Buxton would reach third with two outs but he was left there. A couple of golden opportunities missed by Elizabethton. The bottom of the 12th saw Burlington lead off with a single by Terrance Gore. He would make it to third on a sacrifice bunt to Travis Harrison at third base. The next batter was Bubba Starling and last year's first round pick for the Royals knocked a sacrifice fly to end the game. [B]ROCHESTER 8, SYRACUSE 4[/B] A back and forth contest between the Red Wings and the Chiefs saw Rochester get back to the .500 mark for the season at 71-71. The Red Wings took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning and the offense went cold for a few frames. Syracuse scored a couple in the third and added another in the fifth to push their lead to 3-1. A big 3-run seventh inning put the Red Wings on top but it would only last until the eighth. Jeff Manship started for Rochester pitched 5.2 innings by allowing one run on five hits. Caleb Thielbar was moving along at a decent clip before running into some trouble in the bottom of the eighth. With a runner on base, the Red Wings turned to closer Anthony Slama who gave up a triple and saw the lead disappear. Brian Dozier had a big night by going 3-for-5 with an RBI. Wilkin Ramirez was able to knock in a couple of runs with his single in the seventh inning. Clete Thomas went 3-for-5 and he knocked in a couple runs of his own. Thomas even scored on his triple after a bad play by the center fielder. Brian Dinkelman and Rene Rivera added doubles in the ninth to push the lead for Rochester. [B]NEW BRITAIN 7, NEW HAMPSHIRE 3[/B] New Britain got down early in this game but had some big at-bats in the later innings to put them on top for good. A four-run sixth inning and a three-run seventh inning were more than enough to cover up the two early runs given up by Luke French. For the second outing in a row, French would be strong on the mound by tossing 7.2 innings and allowing two runs on four hits. The top of the order did a lot of damage for the Rock Cats. Aaron Hicks and Chris Herrmann put up big numbers out of the one and two spots in the batting order. Hicks had two triples and a couple runs scored as the lead-off hitter. He also set the team record for runs scored in a season (97) and triples in a season (11). Chris Colabello tied the Rock Cats season record with 97 RBI. Josmil Pinto, Deibinson Romero, and Herrmann all had multiple RBI performances to help push the Rock Cats to the victory. [B]FORT MYERS 1, CHARLOTTE 4[/B] The Miracle had a tough time getting on the board in this contest against the Stone Crabs. Charlotte starting pitcher Eliazer Suero threw seven innings of two hit ball to keep the damage to a minimum for the Miracle. Fort Myers pieced together a game by having three pitchers throw three innings apiece. Miguel Munoz started the game and only gave up a hit before Ryan O'Rourke took over. O'Rourke allowed two runs but only one of them was earned. Ricky Bowen allowed a couple runs on four hits during his three innings of work. When a team gets handled by the opposing pitcher, there isn't much to talk about on the offensive side of the ball. Angel Morales had the only extra-base hit of the night for the Miracle. It was his fifth triple of the year. Daniel Santana went 1-for-4 with an RBI and Levi Michael was 1-for-3 with a walk. Michael also added his 16th error of the season and this one came on a throw at second base. [B]BELOIT 6, QUAD CITIES 5[/B] With Miguel Sano out of the line-up, Eddie Rosario reminded fans why he should be considered among the best prospects in the organization. In the middle of the batting order, Rosario had a big night with his 31st and 32nd doubles of the season. Kennys Vargas knocked in a couple runs batting behind Rosario. Matthew Koch added a couple hits of his own at the bottom of the order. This was more than enough for Tyler Jones as he threw seven innings by allowing a single run on four hits with nine strikeouts. Jones seems to be ending the year on a strong note as he has tossed seven innings or more in each of his last two appearances. During that time, he has only allowed three earned runs. Quad City made things interesting by scoring four in the ninth but it wasn't enough. --- Players of the Day for September 1, 2012 [CENTER] Hitter of the Day- Aaron Hicks [attachment=5161:1343.attach] Pitcher of the Day- Tyler Jones [attachment=5162:1344.attach][/CENTER] --- A Look Ahead- Sunday, September 2nd Schedule Game 2 of the Appalachian League Championship Series Elizabethton vs. Burlington- LHP Hein Robb Rochester @ Syracuse- TBA New Britain vs. New Hampshire- RHP Steve Hirschfeld Fort Myers @ Charlotte- LHP Pat Dean Beloit vs. Quad City- LHP Matt Tomshaw View full article