mikelink45

The team has really done well this off-season. I hope he continues to defy time - if Franco can go to 48, maybe Cruz can do 45! Now finish the BP.

I want the position open for the young guys - Ozuna has not had a stellar career and I do not want us to invest in a one year career year when we have good options in Larnach, Rooker, Sano (Kiriloff should be in LF) and whoever is not catching.

A friend gave me old Popular Mechanics magazines to look through. In 1947 there was a mechanics of hitting article - yes in Popular Mechanics and I got such a charge out of it I had to share. I hope you can enlarge these pages. I suspect the adds will give you as much pleasure as the article. I would love to see what an article like that would be like today - no more bunts (I am sorry to say), don't swing level, who cares if you strike out? It is fun to see the old time greats as well.

I do not want Hill again. If we have questions about signing Cruz at his age then we should not consider Hill based on age and health. And I would not write off our rookies because Pecota does not know how to project them. We know them; now we need to play them.

I went to the team fielding stats on BR and was fascinated to see somethings really jump out - in 1979 the team had 203 DPs. Those really counted when players were not striking out or hitting flyballs like now. In 2012 the team had 188 DPs - the only top ten for this century. By fielding percentage (traditional) the rank would be: 202020122010 - only year on both lists20172009I do wish I had a comparison of team versus league for all the years to see how we ranked within the year and era. Fewest errors - 2020 would have the fewest, but I could not put that on the list 2002 - ranked first in article1994 200920172010 - only season both in article and fielding PctI do find it fascinating that BR and MLB.com all have batting and pitching but not fielding in their sortable stats. Based on Gold gloves our all time Defensive team would be Pitcher - Jim Kaat Catcher - tie Mauer and Battey (3 each) 1B - Power (3) - Mientkiewicz (1) I saw both play and I would take Power 2B - Knaublauch - Dozier (1 each) SS - Versalles (2) 3B - Gaetti (4) OF - Puckett (6),Hunter (7), and Buxton - tied with Oliva with 1 each

The most exciting thing for me in the MLB proposal was going back to 154 games. I see some big issues this season with the Brazilian, South African, and British varients making their way through the country. None of the moves or players moved would have excited me. It sounds like normal baseball routine moves. Do we really need a second Utility player? Can't Blankenhorn be that guy? What is left for us it the decision - Cruz or rookie shuffle at DH and who fills out the BP.

While I agree that PECOTA does not have any meaning for me, it is a fun conversation starter. Thanks for posting. One thing I will say for Pecota - if Sano strikes out at the rate they project I will be one of his biggest critics again. I still do not see Ks as neutral - they are a big negative for me when they come at his rate.

Thanks for the correction - https://youtu.be/MiraekmCNv4

He was constrained by the assignments he was given. Everything was an event he covered.

I find this article interesting https://www.talkingchop.com/2019/2/9/18202695/baseball-analysis-primer-aging "the big finding is that hitters no longer peak, only decline. That doesn’t mean they start declining right away; the decline doesn’t get notable until around age 29. And again, this isn’t some kind of hard-and-fast rule for every hitter, it just describes what happens on average across the whole population." For those concerned about Cruz continuing to produce, this article supports you https://baseballwithr.wordpress.com/2017/05/08/what-age-do-baseball-players-peak/ When you see the peak performance outliers - remember that Cruz really had a very old peak - maybe he can keep it going after all Julio Franco was still playing (not very well) at 48, but he kept it going right up to that magic number. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/francju01.shtml

You are so right. That was the worst trade in so many ways. Everytime I hear Walker's name I shudder. But it does belong.

Great addition. I tried to think of a hockey event that really stood out to me. The closest was when the North Stars 1991 beat Edmonton Oilers in conference championship. I was at that game and it was amazing, but then Norm took the NS to Dallas and I lost all connections. The Wild still have not grabbed my attention. Gopher hockey does not register with me, but UMD winning the championship is great. Timberwolves have been so disappointing. I enjoyed the first years the best even though they were losing - Mussleman had them really trying and the Gophers best team was the scandal ridden them of Haskins that had it record erased for violations.

When he first came up he seemed much slighter than now - the workouts I guess. As a rookie he reminded me of Tom Hall, but Tom never got over 150 pounds and BR lists Berrios at 205 so even though they are both 6 foot, the muscle mass of Berrios should see him through. I expect that he is maturing into a body type and style that will see a long career. Whitey Ford was 5' 10" and 188 so I would not worry about size even though everyone is looking for a Randy Johnson now.

Stan Isaacs chose ten events from his sports writing history that he thinks are significant world events. These are not in order - Munich is his number one on his count down Superbowl I and II The Knicks Willis Reed NBA championship The Amazing Mets World Series Bobby Thompson's "Shot heard round the world" home run Harvard - Yale tie game Secretariat race at Belmont Ali/Fraser - first fight Jets win Superbowl III Bjorn Borg - John McEnroe tennis Wimbeldon The 1972 Munich Olympics He was choosing events he covered. I then tried to think of the ten events in Minnesota Sports history (my history from 1958 on) and this is my list: 1 - Elgin Baylor joins Minneapolis Lakers - I watched him play in the Minneapolis Armory with its 8400 capacity - so close! 2 - Gophers national champions in Football - I saw them play under Murray Warmath and it was an amazing team 3 - Twins move to Minneapolis from Washington DC and I become an usher for the first season 4 - Vikings first game - Rookie Tarkington leads team to defeat of Chicago Bears - I saw this game at the Metrodome 5 - 1965 Twins world series against Sandy Koufax Dodgers - I watched this in the break room at Dayton's where I worked stock 6 - 1967 Harmon Killebrew hit 520 foot HR - longest for Twins 7 - 1987 Hrbek in WS wrestle Cardinal off 1B and tags him out - we win series - Kate and I watched this in a bar restaurant in Sierra Vista AZ. Most patrons were St Louis fans - I loved it. It still makes me smile. 8 and 9 - 1991 We beat Atlanta and I was at all four games - we won the home games and Morris pitched the classic 7 and Kirby won game six by his own personal effort - and thankfully I was at all four home games - game seven with Jon Horn 10 - Lynx win first of four championships 2011 - sorry Timberwolves you are not on the list even though I got to go on court at half time with Jim Brandenburg to present you with his book on wolves. - I did not see the championship game, but we did get to see the team. Since this is a Twins forum and I have four non-Twins events I would have to add these in replacement: Calvin Griffith driving away Rod Carew by his racism The pop-up that never came down in the Metrodome Kirby Puckett losing his eyesight The Dean Chance no-hitter Your turn.

I am looking to sell, but selling I have no idea where to start. Suggestions?

That was fun - how many times would you put Hentgen, Lackey and Bauer in the same set? Bauer is riding high and will be overpaid, but his history does not match his break out season any more than Berrios history matches his 2020 struggles. I had to go their records to see how good Hengen actually was. Thanks. Looking at the career stat lines I see Bauer as the weakest of the three, but he has the chance to change that soon. It is obvious looking at Berrios that we are lucky to have him and the caliber pitcher that he is. I am excited to see what happens next.

Look at the scores in the playoffs - it is not improved pitching that is needed, but someone to hit when we need it.