IndianaTwin

Rays 8, Red Sox 3 in the 9th. Tigers 1, Royals 1 after 6. Yankees-Mariners not yet begun. White Sox haven't started yet in the Drive for 125.

Sands doing his Juan Berenguer imitation to move to 9-1. EDIT: He's out-Berenguered Berenguer. Beurenguer was only 8-1.

Got us by tonight. Winner.

The handwriting, apparently.

I gather that he hit his own pitcher or something? But seriously, thanks. I do remember the game early last season where the Twins won when a White Sox player doinked a Twin running down the first base line in extra innings. The Twins won that game, so I consider any game with an opposing player-instigated doink a sure win for the Twins.

I joined late because of a Zoom meeting and scrolled through the earlier pages. What happened with Naylor earlier in the game? Did he doink someone on a throw?

Speaking of a dollar, I saw that tickets to White Sox games are available for $1 on Stub Hub. Plus fees, of course. I'm waiting until they are at a negative number and I can get paid to buy them. Wouldn't go, but I'd buy 'em.

Wi- Leeee

Imagine that.

Concur, particularly with the bolded statement. I think it's also naive to think that any of us on TD has access to the medical information to be able to speak authoritatively on this subject.

They go into Mrs. IT’s pumpkin pie, so your analogy at least works there.

The last time through the rotation, SWR, Festa and Matthews combined for 10 innings, 7 runs and 28 baserunners. That's a 6.30 ERA and a WHIP of 2.8. The previous time through they had 13.1 innings, 10 runs and 23 baserunners. That's a 6.75 ERA and a 1.77 WHIP. Combine those and you've got 23.1 innings (less than four per start), 17 runs (6.56 ERA) and 51 baserunners (2.19 WHIP). They are likely key parts of the future, but in late-September 2024, they seem gassed. In his four outings since being recalled, Irvin has pitched 12.2 innings, with 7 runs (4.97 ERA) and 18 baserunners (1.42 WHIP), It looks like there's a reason he was on waivers, but even with that, he's still pitched better than the rookies recently. He may or may not be part of the future,* but for late-September 2024, it seems like a prudent move. *See Seth's note above. I think he's not a bad flyer for the future in comparison to some non-tender candidates currently on the pitching staff, but for now, it's more about these two weeks.

It does help the bullpen when outs are gotten that they haven’t been getting recently. Similarly, it lessens the number of at bats going to people who have been taking the unprofessional at bats.

As a person who deals with depression, there have been times in my life when I have wanted to make (and have made) decisions that seem(ed) quite desperate (even dangerous) at the time. My later self sometimes looks back at them as irrational. I have no reason to know the dynamics in this young man's life. I hesitate in even typing this, because messages like this lead to speculation. I'm saying it only to recognize that there is almost always more to a story than is seen on the surface. I will refrain from making judgments on the young man, and I wish him well in the next steps of his life.

Also, I would dispute the headline. Time never runs out on mocking the Sox. Even if the team is good on the field, there's still plenty of opportunity to mock them for other things, like the amount of cement that was killed to create one of the ugliest stadiums in the majors or the decision to rehire LaRussa.

To aid in your hassling, I think we should come up with a collection of Wacky Sox Factoids. A few favorites for me so far: White Sox: 22 wins against AL clubs. Cubs: 26 wins against AL clubs. White Sox slugging percentage: .338 Zack Greinke career slugging percentage: .336 (So basically, the Sox offense has hit like good-hitting pitchers. Which makes sense, given that their pitchers have basically pitched like a bunch of hitters.) The AL Central has four teams above .500, including three in the playoffs if the season ended today, along with the closest team chasing a playoff spot. Yet the division as a whole is 34 games under .500. And if you're an Iowa football fan like me, you'll remember last year's "Drive for 25," the need to average at least 25 points per game to save offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz's job. This year, the Sox have taken on the "Drive for 125." They appear to have a good shot. Better, it turns out, than Ferentz did.

In discussions like these, I always start from the point of acknowledging that we don't have all the information. We have no idea what offers the FO did or didn't have and what conversations they didn't have. Check that -- we do know one, since they made one trade. But speculation on other deals, or the lack thereof, is just that -- speculation. Depending on what the negotiations and offers were, I have no problem that they didn't make more moves. Conversely, maybe they got offers I think they should have taken. But in either case, it's only speculation on my part. In general, however, if you count transactions over the years, the Twins have been above-average in their activity level at the trade deadline. With that in mind, I find it hard to believe that the Twins sat on their hands and didn't try anything, even if they were working with the parameters of a limited budget, which seems to be the case.

Where do I find a list of players who must be added to the 40-man roster or be exposed to the Rule 5 draft? And since I don't follow the minors that closely, I'd be glad to hear speculation on who among them will be added to the 40-man.

Actually, it often seems that TD only remembers the manager of the last four weeks. Which is another way of saying that recency bias is real in many areas of life, but can be especially prevalent among sports fans.

And now I can start single-tasking with the Fever on the DVR.

Have you seen Javier Baez play defense?

Correctamundo.

I don't know -- Notre Dame sometimes switches to green jerseys when they need an emotional boost. What's wrong with meat that's probably green by now?

When I'm feeling down about the 2024 Twins, one of the things I do is think about a couple friends who are White Sox fans. That always brings a smile to my face.

Tonight’s result was wonderful. Last night’s, not so much, but I have a wondering about last night. I don’t have many opportunities to see games on TV, but they were on FS1 last night. Several things I think I saw: Miranda hustling for a diving stop in the first that he turned into a double play. Farmer looking focused when he jacked the homer. Lewis hustling down the line when he had a chance to beat out a grounder to first, where the pitcher made a nice play. Guys making poor choices on pitches to swing at, but generally erring on being overaggressive rather than cautious with their swings and taking too many pitches.. An example would be Miranda when he was the tying run in the fourth. Henriquez looking good for five batters before the wheels came off for a few batters, but settling after the mound visit. His body language after the homer seemed very much of, “Dangit, I let people down.” Tonkin looking good for two innings. Unless I’m forgetting something, no real defensive or baserunning miscues. For those who were able to (or chose to) actually watch last night (not just read the game report), was I reading things/body language right? I ask because the actual look of last night’s team felt different to me than the way things sounded on the radio the last week. Last night the process felt different, which is a start. Tonight the process also sounded different than last week (I was back on the radio), but the results also followed. Am I all wet on last night?