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D. Hocking

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Everything posted by D. Hocking

  1. D. Hocking
    I am looking forward to when young Bates writes his first blog for this webpage. The pure excitement and joy of being 8 -- without the cynicism. He probably is just excited for the season without looking for what might be wrong with every move etc. If you can watch that without smiling you have no soul or are a White Sox fan.
  2. D. Hocking
    I guess we will have to wait seven more years to find out if he can make the Twins relevant. (Hopefully we will not still be rebuilding at that point)/ I have heard the Twins were his second choice, that they offered more money per year, but only offered six years. Actually if that were the case, there are probably some valid reasons not to offer a pitcher a seven year contract.
  3. D. Hocking
    Semi-off topic. Did Souhan part ways with 1500? I don't listen everyday and just realized have not heard him for awhile. I was wondering if he left and this podcast is somewhat filling that void with him, or if this was something he could not do when under contract with 1500.
  4. D. Hocking
    He will have a healthy year -- he won't get injured until that Diamondback-Twins World Series. In a move that will rankle Twins fans for years, he will get hurt in a Nick Punto head-first slde to first base that goes horribly wrong.
  5. D. Hocking
    Sometime late in October, 2015 - game 7 of the world series. He will have to fill in for the regular center fielder who got hurt the previous inning. People will be nervous, but he will steal a home run from new Diamondback player, Nick Punto. If it had gone over, the Diamondbacks would have had a walk-off win, but instead it ends the game and gives the Twins their third world series championship.
  6. D. Hocking
    Some pieces of cardboard are priceless (Joe and I are deciding who will keep 7). http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/pics/denny_hocking_autograph.jpg).
  7. D. Hocking
    I am not supposed to say anything, but there is going to be a BIG announcement at Twinsfest. Sadly, it will make it more difficult for me to post in the game threads.
  8. D. Hocking
    I suppose with the right minor league contract there is potential for a nice return. That said, I am a bit doubtful there is a comeback story for him, and I would rather my last memories of him in the Twins system be of him at his best rather than watching him struggle to try for one last chance to make it in the majors. Obviously, would love to be wrong about this.
  9. D. Hocking
    You are a teenager - that explains so many things. From your avatar picture I would have thought you were at least in your mid-twenties. In all seriousness, kudos to the owners, moderators, bloggers, etc. who contribute to this site. You do an excellent job and this site is a premium webpage. Happy Holidays to everyone.
  10. D. Hocking
    I don't think any scout could have predicted the strong strides the sideburns would make in just a few short years. I am bad at judging these things - but he always had a strong arm (which I guess would surprise no one who saw him play football). It was interesting to see some of his mannerisms that he does now, such as how he brushes the plate etc. [semi-related note that does not really deserve a separate thread or even any further discussion, but just a quick vent from a Mauer apologist. I made the foolish decision to look at the Trib comments attached to yesterday's article where Mauer was quoted as saying he wanted normalcy for his kid kids. Wow - there are a lot of people out there who might need to take a deep breath and let go of some of their anger. Cute kids btw.]
  11. D. Hocking
    Because it would be the right thing to help those less fortunate than themselves and would show that all the charitable photo ops they do throughout the year are more than just show? Because they probably have some sort of feeling of fraternity and brotherhood with these players, having been through it themselves? Because they will be visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve if they don't? (One can dream.)
  12. D. Hocking
    You get him and Mauer on the field at the same time and the combined charisma would be explosive. (actually in the right venue or with the right interviewer Gore can be funny and witty, as I am sure Mauer could be....)
  13. D. Hocking
    Then really this should have been the next Target Field concert: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_YWb073Ska2s/TDO0JiqD1SI/AAAAAAAAAJc/udAySdVPi9U/s1600/RS836~Carlos-Santana-Rolling-Stone-no-836-March-2000-Posters.jpg
  14. D. Hocking
    This can't be right, I think they just spent 8 figures on some outfielder a week or so ago. Outfield defense must have been a factor in that deal.
  15. D. Hocking
    The double-play talk definitely gets exaggerated (I think this might be helped by some of the radio media). I remember seeing a tweet by Gleeman or Bollinger or some other sports writer responding to someone lamenting about Mauer hitting into another double play. Gleeman/Bollinger or whoever simply responded that was Mauer's first double-play in over three weeks. With his style of hitting, when he is in a funk he does tend to hit into more of them, but he is nowhere near double-play king people believe. He had a particularly bad stretch a few years ago, and some of his critics have never quite been able to let that go.
  16. D. Hocking
    "dbminn, on 11 Dec 2014 - 07:55 AM, said: To those that say he's been on a rather dramatic decline, here's his 2013 stat line: .324/.404/.476 Only Mauer's 2006 and 2009 seasons were better. It's not crazy to believe he could have an upside that looks similar to 2013." Plus wasn't he on pace to hit 10 to 15 home runs in 2013 before losing the last six weeks to the concussion? I know people want more than that, but I think it shows that there is a good chance only hitting four home runs might have been due more to health than that is what he is going to hit from here on out. There is a chance that last year was due more to age and the body breaking down and not due to other issues, but we really won't know until we see how this year plays out. I think you need to consider he might be breaking down, but I don't think you can just throw out his 2014 stats and assume this is who he is now - at least not yet.
  17. D. Hocking
    I know this doctrine is not really applicable to this situation, but "fruit of the poisonous tree" were the first words that sprang to my mind.
  18. D. Hocking
    There must have been an earlier tweet where he talks about everything the Twins are doing, which is why they are the only AL central team not mentioned int he first tweet above.
  19. D. Hocking
    This Lirano talk is crazy. The powers that be do not welcome ex-Twin players back into the fold until they are at least 35. In a couple more years perhaps when he has a veteran presence and can be good for the club house.
  20. D. Hocking
    I am a little more wary that his decrease in production is more to the body breaking down, whether it is back or knee or age or a combination. That said, there are a number of other reasons to hope that is the case. The concussion, even if he was not having overt symptoms,baseball is such a reflex sport, it could have been affecting him without him even being aware of it. Also, even if he had no concussion symptoms at all last year, it took away a good chunk of being able to do anything on his off-season. He was learning a new position. That would not only be mentally tasking which could effect his offense, I heard a couple of people say speculate he was trying to hit more like a traditional first baseman and was not playing to his strengths. The fact that he felt pressure to make the home all-star game as a first baseman probably magnified that. I think the back and oblique also were a factor. I don't think the oblique strains really fully heal until the off season. This could be a positive is they were fluke one time things. If they are going to be recurring problems due to his body breaking down due to age or the wear and tear of being catcher than we might see the Joe of old again. I think he is going to have a bounce back season and be a decent player, but I am afraid what will now be considered a good season for Joe would have been considered a mediocre or average season in the past. I think there were a number of unique factors that contributed to last year's season, but I think age and possible catcher wear-and-tear are always going to be a factor as well.
  21. D. Hocking
    I had seen a couple of your posts recently on some other threads that were lucid and on point, so I needed to read something like this to know that the world had not gone completely topsy turvey. I am not sure I would want to live in a world with a coherent RB.
  22. D. Hocking
    I have not been a huge fan of this signing, but he does fill the void of being able to use voice inflections and make facial expressions while doing a commercial. I am not sure any of the current Twins have that skill. I suspect that "well played Mauer" commercial which was probably Joe's most animated commercial took days worth of takes.
  23. D. Hocking
    It is when they are teens (or even a little younger) that kids start using advanced stats to determine your rating - mercilessly at times.
  24. D. Hocking
    Thanks - I had not heard the actual ad yet. Interesting disconnect when quoting King and fighting for African Americans, then saying but we don't want gays to be able to marry. I wonder if the writer of the ad thought "hopefully no one will bring up when people used to bible to argue against mixed race marriage". This quote from the article made me cringe a little: "The Tigers have more pressing needs than bringing back an aging outfielder who's lost a step, or 12, on defense."
  25. D. Hocking
    The tweet says they are looking for "veteran presence." Wouldn't Hughes provide that for the starters and Perkins for the bullpen? How many veterans do they need? Maybe they want to build a team where they players are all old enough to remember when Molitor was a player thinking that will help create a "good clubhouse".
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