John Bonnes

Thanks to everyone for a fantastic Twins Daily Touch ‘Em All Pub Crawl, sponsored by Proximo Liquors. Over 100 people crawled from Ray J’s American Grill to The Office Pub & Grill to Sneaky Pete’s and finally to the Twins game and beyond. We had a local dignitary join us and a moment I’ll not soon forget. I’d especially like to thank Proximo Liquors for the free sample of Three Olives Vodka, Krakken Rum and Tin Cup Gin that we got at each stop. A few other highlights: Wally the Beer Man joined the crawl at our last stop, serving up beer for the crawlers and being generous with his time for pictures. He’s a Twin Cities baseball institution and we were honored to have him join us.A few local media luminaries jumped into the fray at various points. I don’t want to implicate them too much, but it was great to see you and I know a lot of the crawlers enjoyed meeting you.This year we had a special scavenger hunt contest which encouraged participants to meet and greet MinnCentric writers and contributors, so they could get them to sign the weird fact about them. We got thirteen completed sheets and the winner was Micah Larson, who has been contacted to get his pair of front row Twins tickets. Thank you everyone who worked on it.Download attachment: Contest Picture.JPG Thank you to the MinnCentric writers/contributors who not only hung out but even delivered drink samples to the crawlers. I hope you enjoyed the day as much as I did.Thanks, of course, to The Voice Of Reason for not only tolerating this insanity but throwing herself headfirst into it.Special thanks to Ray J’s, The Office and Sneaky Pete’s and their staff for gearing up for the rush and making us feel welcome.Finally, it was sure nice of the Twins to schedule a day-night doubleheader so we could watch a game while we were pub crawling. It led to the moment I won’t forget. At our second stop, the bar went from loud to suddenly quiet. I looked up and saw why. Miguel Sano was batting in the 7th inning in a game in which the Twins faced a two-run deficit. He represented the tying run. Of course he hit a home run. And of course the bar exploded. High fives with strangers were exchanged, as were smiles and looks of wonder. It was the moment that the pub crawl was made for. I hope you all can experience a similar moment next year when you join us. Click here to view the article

Aaron and John talk about the Twins' playoff odds being on life support, Paul Molitor on experience vs. youth, riding or dying with Mike Pelfrey, recapping the Twins Daily pub crawl, Torii Hunter coming back to life, getting razors from Harrys.com, the least of the rotation evils, strikeouts vs. double plays, eating macaroni and cheese at Mason's, and snapping a 15-year no-vomit streak. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click the Play button below. Click here to view the article

The Minnesota Twins fell to the Tigers 5-4 in a game equally doomed by questionable decisions and bad breaks. Let's look at the five plays that swung the game both positively and negatively (as judged by Win Probability Added) and see if we can divine how this one slipped away. #5 Victor Martinez singles home the first run in the 1st inning. (+10% for DET) Pitcher Phil Hughes started this game after he had not pitched in a game, either in the majors or in the minors, since he was put on the disabled list over a month ago. That meant that he would be on a limited pitch count (he threw 65 pitches) and nobody knew how effective he would be. Terry Ryan admitted before the game that they were only looking for Hughes to give them a chance.In the end, I suppose he did. He lasted three innings, and gave up three runs. Of course, that still meant that the Twins needed to rely on the back of their bullpen for those middle innings, which further exacerbates the decision. AJ Achter only gave up one-run in his mop-up role. But of course the Twins only lost by one run. The Tigers grabbed the lead in that first inning, scoring two runs. But watching Hughes' pitches, there wasn't a lot of hope that this gambit would turn out as well as it did. Understandably, he looked rusty, throwing 10 balls in 23 pitches. But worse, he looked slow. He didn't throw a pitch over 91 mph that first inning, and never did the rest of the game, either. So he relied heavily on offspeed stuff. Even if you consider his results reasonably effective, that velocity might ring enough alarm bells to not start him on Sunday. That would mean more innings for Tyler Duffey, which is good news for everyone except Tyler Duffey's arm. #4 Joe Mauer doubles home a run in the ninth to make the score 5-4. (+10% for the Twins). #3 Miguel Sano strikes out to end the game. (+15% for DET) Detroit's closer, Bruce Rondon, likes his heat. And why shouldn't he? It was clocking at 98 to 100 mph. I can't document each pitch he threw, but every time I looked at the speed gun for his first 17 pitches, he was throwing the screaming four-seam fastball. Then up came Sano. Then out came the pitching coach. And then Rondon didn't throw a single fastball to Sano, throwing him three straight sliders, all for strikes that ended the game. But that's not the painful part. The second and third of those sliders dove way off the plate and were only strikes because Sano was fooled and swung. But even that isn't the painful part. The painful part is that the first slider was a called strike because it HUNG. It floated up there (as much as an 85 mph pitch can float), slow and centered in the middle of the strike zone. But Sano didn't swing because he had watched Rondon throw 17 straight fastballs and likely didn't know exactly what the hell that was. It worked the way an eephus pitch works. #2 - Miguel Sano singles, driving in two runs to make the score 4-3 in the 7th inning. (+17% for MIN) #1 - Trevor Plouffe grounds into a double play to end the seventh inning. (+19% for DET) After Sano's single, the Twins had runners on first and second base, were down by one run and, per FanGraphs, had a 45% chance of winning the game. That may not sound like a lot, but mathematically it was the closest they had been since that first run was scored by the Tigers. (And realistically, it was the closest they had been since the decision to start a guy who hadn't thrown a pitch in a game since August 9th.) The second run from Sano's hit was scored by Aaron Hicks who reached on the most beautiful drag bunt I've seen from a Twins player since....I don't even know. Carew? It was gorgeous. I"m a sucker for drag bunts. I would rather see a gorgeous drag bunt than just about any other event in baseball and this might have been the best one I have ever seen. It was masterful. It's possible I'm not totally sober. But the Twins best opportunity ended on Trevor Plouffe's double play. Plouffe has had terrible luck with GIDPs, and this one pulled him within one of the Twins all-time record for most in a season, set by Harmon Killebrew in 1970. (h/t to Aaron Gleeman.) Remember when we would all beat up Mauer for his proclivity to ground into double plays? The most Mauer ever had in a season was 24. That year (2006) he grounded into double plays 18% of the time that he possibly could. This year, Plouffe has 27 and grounded into double plays almost 24% of his opportunities. That has killed his offensive value; despite pretty good overall statistics, he has a slightly negative WPA right now. I don't think there is much that can be done about it. For his career, he's been pretty good about NOT grounding into double plays, usually doing so only about 10% of the time. But this year it's been a real problem. And today, along with a questionable pitching decision, and a hanging slider that wasn't crushed, it cost the Twins a crucial game in the Wild Card race. Click here to view the article

Did one Brain Dozier swing change everything? Yes it did. On Friday, July 10th, the Tigers were playing their second game of a four-game set versus the Minnesota Twins. The Tigers were in an unusual position - behind the Twins by a couple of games in the standings. But there was no way that was going to last. The Tigers had owned the Twins for four years and 2015 was more of the same; the Tigers had an 8-2 record against the Twins so far that season.And for eight innings, the script was followed. Ace Justin Verlander, who had just recently returned to the rotation, was masterful. Meanwhile, the Tigers chased Ervin Santana after just four innings. As a result, the Tigers entered the 9th inning with a 6-1 lead. But the Twins rallied and capped their comeback with a Brian Dozier home run to left field. The Twins walked off 8-6 winners. It was just one game, but to Twins fans it felt like the passing of a torch. The aging Tigers era was over. The youthful Twins era had begun. I don’t know if that’s how it felt to Tigers fans, but since that moment, things have fallen apart for the Tigers. They lost the last two games of that series. Then they stumbled badly enough through the rest of July that General Manager Dave Dombrowski became a seller at the trade deadline, moving ace David Price to the Blue Jays and slugger Yoenis Cespedes to the Mets. Then Dombrowski was fired. Now it looks like the Tigers manager, Brad Ausmus, will be fired at the end of the season. There are even rumors that former Twins manager Ron Gardenhire is the frontrunner to replace him. That’s what happens when a team implodes; the Tigers’ record since that fateful night is only 21-36. So the Tigers visit Target Field this September with recent roles reversed. This year, they are trying to play the spoiler while the Twins are chasing a playoff spot. They’re still dangerous. Detroit is 8-5 versus the Twins this year, though it appears the Twins will miss Verlander in this series and their other top pitcher, Anibal Sanchez, is on the DL. With an extended stretch of summer this week, there should be plenty of Twins fans watching the teams adopt their new roles. After all, who wouldn’t want to see that one swing that changes everything? Click here to view the article

Aaron and John talk about going back to podcast-only, bar-hopping mode, hitting the over on 72.5 wins, playing the White Sox, Eddie Rosario's odds of turning back into a pumpkin, Eduardo Escobar's hot streak, Torii Hunter showing signs of life, Trevor May's future role, not calling up Max Kepler or Jose Berrios, what to make of Byron Buxton so far, and Oktoberfest at 612 Brew. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click the Play button below. http://gleemangeek.l...mber-contenders Click here to view the article

News flash: you're not betraying baseball if you watch some football. And you're not betraying Twins Daily is you check out Vikings Journal. There is room for both in your hearts. There is room for a lot in your heart. Turns out, you have a big heart. So check it out.And if you like to dive into the details on stuff, you might want to pay special attention to the Vikings Journal Forums, where all kinds of smart folks get together and talk Vikings. Maybe even you. Click here to view the article

How the hell is this Minnesota Twins team still competing? That’s not rhetorical. I’m seriously wondering. Consider: The Twins four highest paid pitchers – Ervin Santana, Rick Nolasco, Phil Hughes and Glen Perkins – have all missed significant time this year, and three of them are not available right now, in the midst of the playoff race.The four most productive veterans in the lineup – Joe Mauer, Trevor Plouffe, Torii Hunter and Brian Dozier – look like the walking wounded. None has been put on the DL all year, but if you doubt their status, consider: NONE of them have a higher OPS since the All-Star Break than Shane Robinson. Shane. Robinson. Aaron Hicks has had two stints on the DL. Miguel Sano looks like he needs a walker to get around the bases. Several guys in the bullpen are on the verge of being overused, and that’s not counting Brian Duensing and Casey Fien who haven’t looked right all year. I’ll ask again: how the hell is this Minnesota Twins team still competing? The answer is both pleasant and encouraging: the youngsters have been carrying this team. In the rotation, 27-year-old Kyle Gibson leads the team in innings with a respectable 3.87 ERA. 28-year-old Tommy Milone came back from a short stay in Rochester and is now posting a higher strikeout rate and lower walk rate than at any time in his career. He’s contributed a 3.54 ERA over 19 starts. And 24-year-old Tyler Duffey has been perhaps the Twins best pitcher down the stretch, posting 2.67 ERA in the five starts since his recall. Everyone knows the impact that 22-year-old Sano has had on the offense, but he’s not alone. 25-year-old Hicks carried this team for a month and looks like he’s having his breakthrough year. Ditto 26-year-old shortstop Eduardo Escobar, who is only behind Sano and Dozier in OPS on the team. And while Eddie Rosario’s strikeout/walk ratio continues to scare me, he’s continued to hit, providing a potent left-handed bat. The baseball season is a marathon, not a sprint, the cliché goes. A number of the veterans look like they’re entering Mile 26. This team may be running on fumes right now, but it’s still running, fueled by some younger, fresher legs. Download attachment: 2015 Twins Post ASB.jpg Click here to view the article

John is joined by the incomparable Steve Neuman, SABR historian Dan Levitt, and Hans Van Slooten of Baseball Reference while Aaron trains kittens to fight in the terrifying wilds of central Wisconsin. They talk about how the Twins can fix their bullpen, where Terry Ryan ranks in comarison to other MLB general managers, some vintage #SanoPorn, the end of JO Berrios' season, Byron Buxton's next three weeks, contemplate what alien/good-intentioned ghost has taken over Eduardo Escobar's body, the emergence of Tyler Duffey, Glen Perkins' various maladies (with a Twitter update from Perkins himself), and if the Twins' "hero of the week" method can get them to the postseason. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click the Play button below. Click here to view the article

This morning, I got 20 more tickets for the pub crawl and am releasing them right now. Grab them before they're gone! Crawl + Twins TicketsCrawl OnlyTwins Daily Touch 'Em All Pub Crawl sponsored by Proximo Spirits:September 19th, noon to ???Ray J's American Grill, The Office Pub & Grill, Sneaky Pete's, Target FieldIncludes T-shirts, free drink samples, prizes, drink specialsPrice: $30 for Crawl and Twins Ticket (but just $25 on Thursday and Friday) or $15 for Crawl OnlyFor more details see:Monday: Touch 'Em All Pub Crawl Set for Sept 19th. Tuesday: Pub Crawl Bars And Route Announced! Wednesday: Extras and Prizes Announced! Please don't delay to get your tickets. We need to cut off sales on Tuesday and the tickets may not last even that long. Again, here are the links: Crawl + Twins TicketsCrawl Only Click here to view the article

I don't doubt he will hit. I do doubt he will hit this year. And I also think he will need some additional bake time in AAA before he's ready for the majors. I'll add one more thing: I don't want to ruin someone that looks like a thoughtful kid by exposing his confidence to a major beat down when I don't need to. But that's something I'll trust Molitor and the team to better evaluate than I.

He also made it to second base on a ball that barely made it out of the infield. The boy has some dazzline skills, no question.

This game had almost everything a Twins fan would want and a lot they would not. The Twins beat up White Sox ace Chris Sale, blew that lead, tied it up again on Miguel Sano's 176th home run of the year, padded their lead with Piranha-ball - and then damn near blew it again in the ninth inning. Here are three observations about players and events in the game. The Good It’s no secret that Eduardo Escobar has been ridiculously hot this last week, and that continued with three hits, two of which were doubles, last night. But “hot” might not do him justice, because “hot” implies his improvement is temporary. He’ll undoubtedly cool down – entering yesterday he had a 1.000 OPS since August 5th – but there are indication that we’re seeing Escobar turn a serious corner.One sign of a player making a fundamental change to his approach is a change in the strikeout-to-walk ratio. Escobar has always been a bit of a free swinger. You might remember us wondering, in early May, when he’d get his first walk of the year. His ratio for his career is close to 3.5:1. It’s hovered around that each year of his career, including this year. Which is why seeing a 10:10 ratio since August 5th is so jarring. Looking at his career, month by month, we’ve never seen anything like this. It’s only been a month, and I’ll be a lot more excited when I see it for a second month, but this bears watching. Escobar won’t stay this hot. Eventually, pitchers will get the message that if they don’t throw him strikes, they're going to get ahead in the count, so they’ll adjust. But making pitchers throw strikes and not swinging at pitches out of the zone - that’s a skill. I wonder if we’re not seeing the first few signs of a whole new level of production from Escobar. The Bad Byron Buxton has all the tools to be an unbelievably good major league outfielder, and shines defensively even when he’s replacing Aaron Hicks. But he has frequently looked overmatched at the plate. And that isn't just the "eye test." He is off to a historically rocky start statistically. Here are the highest strikeout totals for a Twins player in his first 22 games, along with walks and batting average. Download attachment: Buxton Ks.jpg One can argue that Buxton's strikeout total is partially a result of facing last night’s pitcher, Chris Sale, seven times. Or of ending his last stint with four strikeouts with a broken hand. But even with a handful of fewer strikeouts, he’s in the top three historically. And, of course, the strikeouts aren’t the real issue; it’s the strikeouts plus the lack of walks that is the issue. It’s no big deal for a rookie to struggle when promoted to the majors over his first 20 games. Maybe some hits don’t fall or there is a little nervousness. But there is a difference between some initial struggling and just not being ready for play at this level, and the most frequent place that shows up is in K:BB ratio. Buxton is fun to watch. He’s elite defensively. He should eventually be a star. And he might be the best option the Twins have for a third outfielder when Aaron Hicks comes back, though I think there can be plenty of room for contradicting opinions on that point. (And if you want to hear plenty of contradicting on that point, check out the latest episode of Gleeman and the Geek.) But he looks so overmatched right now at the plate that it isn’t clear that he belongs in the majors yet. Let’s not forget that he’s only 21 years old and has had about a week in AAA. If things don’t turn around in a hurry for him, he might not only lose his starting role in this pennant run, he might also give second thoughts as to which level he should play next April. The Ugly Giggle. Gawd, I love playing the White Sox. Here's the play of the game. Also, your moment of zen: http://m.mlb.com/vid...?game_pk=415617 Click here to view the article

You know the date and time. You know the places we’ll go. Now lets’ get to the good stuff. Free Booze Each of our stops will have free drink samples exclusively for the Touch ‘Em All Pub Crawl participants, made from Proximo Spirits’ high-end offerings such as Three Olives Vodka, Maestro Dobel Tequila, Kraken Rum or Bushmill’s Whiskey. And that’s on top of all the drink specials that they’ll be offering only to Pub Crawl participants.Great Prizes In addition, we’ll have door prizes and a special scavenger hunt contest where you get to dig up dirt on MinnCentric writers. The top prizes will be two pairs of front row Minnesota Twins tickets for the final series of the year versus the Royals. If the Twins clinch a spot in the playoffs, it will most likely be for one of these games! Price And the best part is the price. We have two options: First, to get the t-shirts, free drinks, prizes and a Field View ticket to the Twins game is just $30. However, thanks to Proximo, we are offering the whole package for just $25 for Thursday and Friday ONLY. And we must cut off sales completely by noon on Tuesday the 8th. You can buy this package at this link tomorrow at 8 AM. Already have tickets to the game? That’s OK – we also have a package where you can just do the Pub Crawl for $15, which include the t-shirt, free drink samples, prizes like the front row tickets and drink specials. Again, sales cut off completely by noon on Tuesday the 8th. You can buy this package at this link tomorrow at 8 AM. For those prices, you'll want to spend some time today rallying your friends to join. You’ll get a package the week of the crawl with your Twins tickets, drink tickets and t-shirts in time for the crawl. Obviously, if you’re not 21 years old, please do not buy a ticket – we won’t be giving any refunds. Finally, there are a limited number of tickets available – we can only fit so many people into these bars. And there will be no tickets available after Tuesday the 8th. So please don’t delay. We’ll see you tomorrow morning. Twins Daily Touch 'Em All Pub Crawl sponsored by Proximo Spirits: September 19th, noon to ??? Route: Ray J's American Grill, The Office Pub & Grill, Sneaky Pete's, Target Field Included: T-shirts, free drinks, prizes, drink specials. For more details see: Monday: Touch 'Em All Pub Crawl Set for Sept 19th. Tuesday: Pub Crawl Bars And Route Announced! Tomorrow: Click here to view the article

We’re very happy to announce our partner bars for the Twins Daily Touch ‘Em All Pub Crawl sponsored by Proximo Spirits. Each will be offering specials only for participants with a valid t-shirt…and something more that we’ll announce tomorrow. Before I get to this, let me remind you – tickets will be very limited. They will only be on sale from Thursday, September 3rd through Tuesday September 8th. And they might not last that long - the Minneapolis Fire Marshall frowns upon us overselling this event. Stop by Twins Daily at 8AM on Thursday to make sure you get your tickets. We’ll give you the link tomorrow, so you’re ready to go.We’ll start at Ray J’s American Grill (Noon to 1:45), who was voted the best wings in Minnesota by WCCO TV. They’ll have some food specials on top of the drink specials they’ll be offering. Also, there should be plenty of reasonable parking options over the river, which should save some dough. From there, we’ll have about a 20 minute walk across the historic and scenice Hennepin Avenue Bridge to The Office Pub and Grill. (2:15-3:30) With 18 HDTVs, we should be able to keep up with college football scores or maybe root against the Blue Jays who will have an afternoon game. Then it’s just a 10 minute walk to Sneaky Pete’s (3:45 – 5:30). It has three bars so there should be plenty of room. Can you still buy a beer from Wally the Beerman at Sneaky Pete’s? We’ll find out. We’ll also finish off our contest and provide the grand prize … which I’ll announce tomorrow. Finally, we’ll head over to Target Field where we have Field View tickets. We’ll also likely continue our Pub Crawl through the various establishments at the ballpark, which we’ll coordinate during the Pub Crawl. Again, we expect somewhere between 100 and 200 people and demand will be high. Please stop by tomorrow to hear about the generous extras that Proximo and our participating bars will be providing exclusively to our group. And then set an alarm for Thursday morning….. Click here to view the article