IndianaTwin

Among players born in Germany, he's also first in home runs (155, more than No. 2 Mike Blowers' 78 and No. 3 Glenn Hubbard's 70 combined) and RBIs (478, Hubbard 448). He's also atop the career bWAR list at 20.54, ahead of Hubbard's 19.15 and 19th-century pitcher Pretzels Getzien's 18.04. He's also third in hits (822, following Hubbard's 1084 and Bill Kuehne's 993), second in doubles (192, Hubbard 214), tied for third in steals (35, with Hubbard; Kuehne 150, Fritz Mollwitz 70) and second in walks (398, Hubbard 539). Aside from Will Ohman's eight plate appearances, his .756 OPS trails only Brendan Donovan's .763. Also first in strikeouts (720, Hubbard 640). So a pretty convincing argument for being the best player ever who was born in Germany.

Early 1980s was a time when I lost interest in cards for a while. I think it was because of the multiple sets, and I couldn't bring myself to consider three different options. In general, I also thought the backs of the Fleer and Donruss cards were weak. Speaking of, I realized that part of my enjoyment with different sets and why certain sets were favorites was the back side. That's where I found out that Cal McLish's full name was Calvin Coolidge Julius Caesar Tuskohoma McLish (1975 Tony Oliva) or that Tony relaxes by swimming (1974). It was fun to see little factoids about people, to see their birthday and where they were born and to see which players had been in the majors long enough that there wasn't room for their minor league stats, etc. Might you consider including a sample of the back side as you're writing? And again, great stuff. You're bringing back great memories. As soon as I see you've posted a new one, I always give it a read.

There's really three parts to a "pipeline" -- drafts/sign and develop, trades and free agent signings, For example, Cleveland used trades as part of the "pipeline" Falvey was considered to be a part of. Just as SWR was a AA pitcher when sent to the Twins as part of a deadline deal, Corey Kluber was a AA pitcher when he went from San Diego to Cleveland as part of a deadline. Note that I'm not saying SWR is as good as Kluber. I'm not saying he'll become as good as Kluber. I'm just saying that the thought of any team developing an entire "pitching pipeline" through the draft/sign and develop method isn't very realistic.

Calvin Coolidge Julius Caesar Tuskahoma McLish “Cal”

I'm not sure if this is what @CCHOF5yearstoolate, was saying, but I read it as a gentle encouragement regarding the name of the list that people are put on if they are unable to play because of injury. If that wasn't what was intended, I'll offer that perspective instead. I don't want to highjack this thread, since it's about Margot, but I'm glad to have PM conversation on the topic if that's helpful. Regarding the name change from "disabled" to "injured" list, here's an article that I found useful: https://www.twinkietown.com/2019/2/9/18216976/mlb-changing-disabled-list-to-injured-list-is-a-long-overdue-move-twins-mn#:~:text=The move came after disability,being unable to play sports. It's written from the perspective of a person who is "disabled" rather than "injured." As the father of a person with cerebral palsy, the husband of a special education teacher and a board member of a disabilities awareness committee, I can relate to where the author is coming from.

Agree throughout. And not to bring up a swear word, but the scenario in which you describe using your 4th or 5th best reliever is the exact scenario in which Pagan actually thrived last year. If you look at his game log, you'll see that aside from the several games when he completely blew it (the homer against the Dodgers, for example), he actually pitched quite well in the "opportunity for a vulture" role.

I've said it before and I'll keep saying it. "Are the Twins the clear winner..." implies that someone had to lose. Trades don't have to be zero-sum games. In the best trades, both teams "win." The question is, "Did the Twins benefit by trading Luis Arraez for Pablo Lopez and two prospects?" Given their needs and how Lopez (and Julien, et. al) have done, it's an unequivocal "Yes" in my book.

It would have been a Jimmy Piersall running around the bases backwards sort of thing. Oops -- bottom of the eighth. Corrected.

It's interesting that from time to time there's a lot of complaining about managers not using their best reliever in the highest leverage situation. Then when it happens, people complain. As someone notes above, Duran didn't face 8-9-1, he faced 9-1-2. That meant Duran (our best reliever, right) faced a righty, a lefty who is also the only guy in the lineup with an OPS over .725 (Rojas at .979) and the righty who's seen as far and away their best hitter (Rodriguez). That's not a good split mix for Thielbar, but Duran is probably the person on the team best equipped to face that. If one of them gets on, the next guy up is the switch-hitting Polanco, where there's not a platoon advantage either way. Assuming Duran gets through the inning unscathed (and that's the hope/plan, right?), it means Thielbar gets two switch-hitters and a righty. By definition, the Mariners have at least two platoon advantages in their favor either way. They are also OPSing .638, .626 and .725, with batting averages of .195, .214 and .206. That's much softer than what Duran faced. And if, as @2wins87 says, the switch-hitters are weaker from the right side, they ought to be facing a lefty. There's also another aspect. The Twins batted in between the two innings. Seattle has a good bullpen, but if the Twins score in the bottom of the eighth, it changes the top of the ninth. Said another way, Duran was guaranteed to pitch the situation where the Twins are up one. Assuming Duran does his job, Thielbar could have entered with a one-run lead, but he could have also easily entered with a two-, three- or even more-run lead, which lessens the leverage even more. Ignoring the inning/handedness, would you rather have Duran pitch the inning with a one-run lead and Thielbar with the one, but possibly more run lead or vice versa. I'd rather the former. In my mind, Rocco played it correctly.

I’m listening rather than watching. It sounded like Max would have been out if he tried to score. By getting hung up, runners advanced to 3rd and 2nd.

So then really .8 over the last, what, 13 games? 😀

I also like the opportunity to listen to the other team's radio feed, as offered by MLB Audio. That I typically do that from the fourth to the sixth inning may or may not be intentional.

It's really .6 WAR for 17 games, several of which he was hurt.

My MLB Audio subscription just renewed at $29.99 for the year.

Obvious solution is to have a donut Blizzard tonight, so I’m back to 12.

Duran and Sands not available Sunday. Alcala threw 21 pitches, not particularly effectively. Topa didn’t pitch today, so I have to wonder if he’s activated for tomorrow, with Alcala back to St. Paul.

Oops. Google let me down (like that's never happened before). So yeah, let's call it predictive.

Well, duh. Donuts are always good, but this would have been a more appropriate picture for today. Two hours until post time.

Yes indeed to the Rod Carew Game. It was t-shirt day, with all kids under 12 getting a Carew t-shirt. The actual attendance for the day was at least two less than was announced. My brother-in-law very much wanted a t-shirt, so he bought an extra pair of tickets. We went in to our left-field seats, got the shirt and exited, then returned the t-shirt to the car and went in to our real seats down the right field line. Carew still calls it his most memorable game as a Twin. A couple years ago on a panel at Twins Fest, I was able to ask about it, and he talked for several minutes. We had also gone to the game the day before, where Adams was perceived to have jogged after a fly ball that dropped in an 8-1 loss, so fans were on him a little bit on Sunday.

Know him? I invoked his name in a conversation last evening. The record-setting shot put/discus thrower at the high school IT Junior graduated from (and still volunteers at as the PA guy) is named Borgmann, so I asked him if she was related to Glenn. In explaining who Glenn was, I was able to recite a regular lineup from the 1974 Twins, one of the first of which I threw simulated games tossing tennis balls against the side of the house. Also of note is that he wore No. 12. That memory comes from getting a t-shirt with the number 12. It came with iron-on letters, so I had my mom put "Twins" on the front. I was probably the only kid who ever had a green Eric Soderholm shirsey. I'm old enough for Soderholm, Cubbage and Castino, but not Rollins.

You live in Chicago. It could have turned out worse.

As you were saying.

Speaking of summer sausage, I had some leftover brats in the fridge. The kids didn't like them, so Mrs. IT said to throw them out. So I did, but now what am I going to do with all the leftover brats?

How ‘bout those third-place Twins…