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mikelink45

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Everything posted by mikelink45

  1. mikelink45
    Sorry to say - you are right. But max effort Nolan Ryan still threw 239 innings when he was 42 and players regularly made 300 innings in those old and different times. I miss them.
  2. mikelink45
    Sad to see the fallen Red Sox not make the cut. The White Sox are the most questionable of these (and the Padres). Where does Arizona rank - they are a mystery team to me. I might like the Rangers better than some of the last five too. The Angels are the team that has taught all of baseball two things - it is a team game and having the best player to carry you without supporting pieces does not work outside the NBA and second - pitching matters.
  3. mikelink45
    And just think - in the 50s and 60s they threw 350 innings without needing this surger.
  4. mikelink45
    Since these players are retired - Knoblauch has to get the prize for the Twins. His reception was out of bounds for Minnesota Nice. AJ did get the boos and is a good choice because I think he liked that. For me it will always be the PED guys who destroyed baseballs most sacred numbers! And for all the Yankee haters (me too) I have to remind you that they are so universally disliked that there was a play called Damn Yankees. https://youtu.be/sbvoStVmMCQ
  5. mikelink45
    Excellent points and this could be the most tragic outcome of all when paired with the elimination of all those minor league teams. A lot of baseball players are available for independent leagues or as part of the labor force. Baseball always puts the minor leaguers out on a dangerous limb.
  6. mikelink45
    Not exactly an all star lineup.
  7. mikelink45
    I have always understood that Tyler Duffey had our best curveball so I am surprised by this rating. Am I right in thinking that we have a couple minor leaguers who are going to take May out of the fastball rating?
  8. mikelink45
    Very nice - A strong Ace and #2 with acceptable fill ins for the rest of the rotation. A very good BP. This was definitely a good decade, although the lack of a World Series keeps it down in my list of the best decades as you have exposed them in this series. Joe Mays and Kyle Lohse had interesting runs as SP for the Twins over a few years each and Kenny Rogers and Livan Hernandez were interesting footnotes for the decade. Boof Bonser makes the all the favorite names list (if there is one) And Francisco Liriano was terrific when he paired with Santana. Of course by the time we reached 2008 the rotation was Slowey, Blackburn, Baker and a guy named Perkins. Perkins would start the rest of the decade, The top three in this rotation were the epitome of hit them to the fielders philosophy. A good case could be made for J C Romero in the BP with six years of the decade. And Jesse Crain won 12 games in the BP in 2005 and I think I would make a strong case for both Crain and Romero in the grouping above Rincon and Guerrier.
  9. mikelink45
    In 1981 we had a split season - how did they prepare for the second half? I cannot remember the prep, but it is analogous to this season with the layoff since spring training. There is a lot to learn from that season.
  10. mikelink45
    good speculation. I think the pitchers have the best opportunity in this strange year. you can only use so many OFs so it depends upon injury for most of them. I will take the first three and then the next two pitchers. That should do it unless a major injury.
  11. mikelink45
    Wow - you missed Matt LeCroy, Ron Coomer and Jay Canizaro from the 2000 starting lineup. Well I am sure those were among the just missed. I am so happy you have done this and this is a fascinating lineup. It does not come close to the 60s, but it has an interesting combination of players with 2B the obvious weak point. Of course we can put David Ortiz on the what if team of the decade. I would make a case for Shannon Stewart on this team on the basis of how important he was to the team during his tenure. We got him for Bobby Kielty (one of the most overrated prospects in Twins history). Stewart his 322 and placed 4th in MVP voting. The Twins were 8 1/2 games back at the time of the trade and came back to win the division thanks to Shannon's leadership. We can also look back to the Delmon Young days. Of course after we traded Ortiz the DH became the problem that leads to your choice of Lew Ford for DH. We actually used players like Jason Tyner for our real DH. Here are the DHs for the decade beginning with 2000 (multiple players hit at this spot but I am only listing thee one that had the most ABs. David Ortiz - 2000 David Ortiz - 2001 David Ortiz - 2002 Matt LeCroy - 2003 Jose Offerman - 2004 Matt LeCroy - 2005 Rondell White - 2006 Jason Tyner - 2007 Jason Kubel - 2008 Jason Kubel - 2009 If you limit your choice to one of our real DHs which one gets the position on this team? I think it is Ortiz.
  12. mikelink45
    Okay we will make Green Bay the neutral site! See you in January - it will be the only ticket scalped below market value and I might be able to afford it.
  13. mikelink45
    I liked to see a Don Drysdale, Warren Spahn, Jim Kaat hit. They worked at it and were a challenge, but a pitcher like Bob Buhl could have skipped his AB and just taken an automatic out - which means in a superbly pitched game the pinch hitter could end his night. I am not for DH in the HOF because they are equivalent to the SP who can't make it and gets put in the pen (not in favor of relievers either). There were a lot of really good hitters in the past without the DH option - Dick Stuart at Pittsburgh was Dr Strangeglove, but survived 1B to keep his bat in the lineup. called “Stonefingers” and “The Man with the Iron Glove" made his mark as the poorest defensive fielding first baseman in major league history.called “Stonefingers” and “The Man with the Iron Glove" made his mark as the poorest defensive fielding first baseman in major league history. Others just sat on the bench and waited a turn to hit, but could never be considered for the HOF. Dave Kingman was both a bad fielder and a bad hitter with lots of power. He was matched by Adam Dunn. Casey Stengel, who Throneberry played for with the expansion New York Mets, said to Throneberry on his birthday, "We was going to get you a birthday cake, but we figured you'd drop it." I want a complete player or the HOF should be the hitters memorial.
  14. mikelink45
    Actually the Twins after 1965 fielded their best team in 1967 finishing one game out, but no wild cards in those days. That was a heart breaker!
  15. mikelink45
    Expanding the postseason number of teams is of no interest to me and a neutral site World Series will flop - the excitement of a world series in our own stadium is too great to sacrifice. In normal times the reason that the NFL plays in a neutral site is because Green Bay in January would be unbearable. Realignment has been on the radar for years and this could be more than a one year adjustment and that would be okay too. So implement the changes in pitching time clock and other experiments too. Make use of this unprecedented period to roll out all the ideas and then sort them out next year for keepers and losers. DH really does not matter - I am okay either way. I am one of those people who would not have DHs in the HOF so I do not care if the rule survives or goes.
  16. mikelink45
    Maybe the ultimate question is - where else would you put him? Is his bat good enough to put him in the OF or to move Arraez or Sano or Donaldson? His value is at SS. And at this point I do not see anyone ready to push him out. If he is a Twin he is a SS - if not a SS he is traded.
  17. mikelink45
    It seems as if anyone who plays after 40 needs to get some love - so in 1961 we had Elmer Valo, Al Worthington as mentioned in 1969 - no one in the 1970s although I had expected Koosman - he was only 38. In 1983 the oldest player that year was 31! We had no one else in the 40s until 1987/1988 when Niekro and Carlton pitched as the story above points out. That is 18 years between 40 year olds. The next 40 year old was in 1990 - Jim Dwyer. It was his last year and he hit 190 Dave Winfield came to us at age 41 - 1993,1994 and Molitor came to us age 39 and played in his 40s 1997, 1998. In 1999 Terry Steinbach was only 37. And in 2000 Ron Coomer was the oldest at 33. Then 2003 was the Jesse Orosco curtain call making the 12th 40 year old in our baseball history. Terry Mullholand and Pat Borders gave us another 40 year old pair in 2004. Mullholand stayed on for a 2005 encore. Rueben Sierra played in 2006. Jim Thome came at age 39, played at age 40 in 2011. Bartolo Colon was 44 in 2017 and Fernando Rodney was 41 in 2018. This is a total of 18 years of 40+ players for the 59 year Twins history. Thanks for the article it was fun to be stimulated to check things out.
  18. mikelink45
    I should have added this note in my first comment - the shift and the launch angle have actually diminished the high value of defense. Would Mark Belanger play today?
  19. mikelink45
    Glad you brought up Jeter - he was on my mind when I started to read - so there are two answers to your question - he can be there as long as we can win with him there and his bat produces (the Jeter proposition) or until someone comes and beats him out (which is always the best way).
  20. mikelink45
    Mike Marshall is the name that is omitted. 1978 - 1979 he pitched in 54 and then 90 games! His era was 2.45 and 2.65. In his 90 game season he pitched 142 innings! he was 10 - 12 in that 1978 and 10 - 15 in 1979 with 32 saves. I am not sure where you put in on this list, but that is a pretty amazing two year stint. Of course his big year was much earlier in his career when he pitched in 106 games for the Dodgers with a 2.42 era. Then there is Worthington's partner in the pen Johnny Klippstein who, like Worthington was considered too old to pitch any more. Age 36 in 33 games he had an era of 1.97 in 1964 and came back in 1965 to pitch in 57 games with a 2.24 era and he pitched 76 innings. Ray Moore cannot be on this list, but we should acknowledge him as the first MN reliever of note.
  21. mikelink45
    Final thought - so far the rank for the decades 60s 70s (No world series - the only decade so far, but their composite team looks so good. 90s (also despite their world series 80s (despite their world series)
  22. mikelink45
    On a team that had Roy Smith, David West, Bill Krueger, Willie Banks, Carlos Pulido, Frankie Rodriguez, Scott Aldred, LaTroy Hawkins, Eddie Guardado, Mike Morgan, and Mike Lincoln in the starting rotation I have to put Morris at the top of this list. He took us to the World Series and then led us to a win in the series. Nobody on this list comes close. Tapani, Radtke, Willis, and Aquilera are quality, the rest had only one good season - which is why Morris with one good season would be on the list - or a lot of mediocre seasons. While not a starter I would need Every Day Eddie in the bullpen. Forget the other stats - look at how many games he pitched in every year. When pitching is this mediocre you need an arm to fill in innings and Eddie did that.
  23. mikelink45
    How do you compare pitcher to fielder? Outfielder to infielder? Catcher to anyone?
  24. mikelink45
    I Rickey Henderson has the modern record 36 - Cap Anson had 24 when he was 44. julio Franco had 6 at age 47 and 2 in each of the next two years!
  25. mikelink45
    theBOMisthebomb is right - SS and 3B are really weak. I also forgot how slim the choices are - Matt Walbeck the other catcher of the decade (actually the second catcher would be Terry Steinback), Pedro Munoz, Scott Stahoviak 1B, Marty Cordova LF! We could make a really good line up of players who started for us in this decade who should never have been in MLB. I think I might lean towards Coomer too, but Leius is okay for these choices. I might lean to Gladden over Lawton, but I am not sure why. I really liked Lawton when he was here. Thanks for you work putting together these fun lists. I keep wondering who you will have for your interview for this decade.
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