Doubles

I used to hate the Yankees as a kid. Then, when I worked for the Twins, I got an up-close look at the "Yankee Mystique." Most teams would have anywhere between one and three writers covering the team. The Yankees had like, about 25. I still don't like the Yankees, but that experience gave me a whole new respect for the Yankees and how important they are to New York.

Puckett was very good, I'd say Hunter was even better, but Buxton's defense tops these two. I'd betcha anything Torii, and Puck if he were able, would say the same.

Just popped into this thread to write the exact same post. Someone beat me to the punch!

Of all of Buxton's amazing catches, last night's may have been his finest. If that ball would have gotten by him, Kipnis most likely has a leadoff triple. Instead, Buck makes a huge play, Hildy turns & says, "Oh my God!", and you could just see the air go out of the Indians' collective balloon. What a player, what a privilege to watch.

By definition, a sac fly has to score a run. Plays that score runs are gonna generally be prone to less scorn that those that don't, I presume.

I totally get celebrating a division title. I guess I'm wondering if a distinction should be made between making the WC game. Team that wins that, I'd have no issue with celebrating that.

Would be interesting to know if there is any sort of pattern or link between how a team celebrates and how they do in subsequent series'. I'm hoping the Twins keep it tame and stay focused on what they need to do to beat the Yankees.

25 of Dozier's 32 dingers have come with nobody on base. Shouldn't he be batting lower in the order? Especially on a team with no conventional 3-hitter?

Again, as in so many of these situations, 'depends'. In a tie game or trailing by one, if I'm the other team, I'd probably prefer to see a guy with 32 dingers shorten up to bunt. At least I know he's not leaving the yard.

I condone any and all Heinie Manush references.

I hate bunting almost as much as anyone, but I admit it has it's time & place. Can't just say "I hate bunting for bunting's sake" in a vacuum. Gotta look at the entire big picture of the scenario. There are pros & cons that go into every strategic decision. Let's take a look at the 8th inning of the Twins' 10-4 win over Detroit on Saturday night. Dozier Mauer Polanco Rosario Escobar Buxton Adrianza (inserted after Kepler left with injury) Grossman Castro Twins came up in the top of the 8th, trailing 3-2. Mauer led off with a single (breaking the pitcher's leg in the process), bringing up Polanco. We've seen Molitor ask Polanco to bunt multiple times in similar situations. Let’s look at the decision of whether or not to bunt Polanco (switch hitter) vs lefty Stumpf here: *Gets tying run into scoring position with one out. But now you’ve given away one of your 6 remaining outs to merely tie the game. At the conclusion of the inning, the home team will have 6 remaining outs, you will have 3. *A base hit by Rosario or Buxton has a great chance to tie the game. *Bunting here greatly reduces the chances of scoring multiple runs in a game you’re trailing by one. *Polanco has 6 GIDP this season. One more here would be a killer. *Polanco hitting .264 LH / .253 RH *RH Jimenez warming –LH .226 against / RH .453 against (goodness, but that’s horrific vs same-side) *Lefties (Rosario) hitting .241 vs Stumpf *Righties (Escobar) hitting .297 vs Stumpf. That’s just a small example of things to be considered as the decision to bunt or not is contemplated. There are several more that I was too lazy to list. And this decision must be made in only a handful of seconds. I don’t buy the ‘never bunt your number 3 hitter’ argument as the Twins batting order is so non-conventional. Dozier is not a typical leadoff batter. Even as good as Polanco has been the last couple of months, he’s far from a conventional 3-hitter. Come on, this is nowhere near like bunting The Big Hurt, George Brett, or even Sano. It just isn’t nearly the same. Polanco eventually swings away & singles to RF, advancing Mauer to 2nd. Mauer is replaced by pinch-runner Granite. Escobar comes up with runners on 1st & 2nd, and the cycle of decisions to factor in starts all over. Esco fouled off a bunt attempt before eventually punching a single that scores Granite with the tying run, and sending Polanco to 3rd. Twins go on to score a total of 8 runs in the inning, taking a 10-3 lead into the bottom of the 8th. In this particular case, not playing for one run by bunting worked as the Twins went on to score 8, effectively putting the game out of reach. It doesn’t always work this way, because baseball. But Saturday night gave us a great example of what can happen when forsaking handing over one of your six remaining outs and playing for the ‘big inning’ works.

If you essentially take the bat out of your own dangerous hitter's hands, then yes, that can be a bad thing.

The Twins have already won 19 more games this season than last, with 10 games still to play. I'm fired up that they are vastly improved from last season, that they have returned to playing competent baseball, and that their core of position players should give them a great chance of competing for the foreseeable future should they add help to the pitching staff. A weird, expanded playoff format has no bearing on my enthusiasm for how much I've enjoyed watching the Twins this season, or for their considerably bright future.

A lot of tears were shed over not using any direct quotes from Twins management in the last Strib. Well, here they are, albeit from a year ago. Maybe at some point we can get past the denial that this is a big-time issue for the organization, and get past the notion that players' physical condition is a taboo topic. I think LaVelle's column is interesting, even more so now that we have some perspective since it was written. Could pretty much the exact same column be written again today, a year later? The closer we get to the Twins having a chance of making the playoffs, the more it bothers me that they'll likely be without their most dangerous hitter. Especially as the Twins limp out of New York, having scored 6 runs in 3 games against their likely playoff opponent.

Was that Ellsbury ball catchable? I'm listening to Gladden right now, so I have no earthly idea what really happened. He doesn't seem to care much for Rosario's outfielding.

Outstanding E,W, & F reference!

Here are some interesting nuggets from the LaVelle story from a year ago that I linked earlier. First, the headline: "Miguel Sano promises to do better this offseason but Twins know 'he has a ways to go' " One of the building blocks to the Twins’ future, Sano said Thursday that he’s thought a lot about what has happened this year and wants to take the necessary steps to be more than what he’s been. “My plans for next year are to work harder during the offseason, try to lose weight and come back next year and play the whole season at third base,” Sano said. Hmm, interesting. Two out of three didn't happen, and I don't have the knowledge to speak of the third. If this sounds similar to what he said nearly a year ago, it is. Sano wanted to lose 20 pounds last offseason but only lost a few by the time he reported to spring training. Teammates, from spring training into the regular season, have had to stay on him about getting in his workouts. This is concerning, at a minimum. Maybe this is the point I hope things about 'being a pro,' and maturing as a player will eventually happen with Sano. A year later, these questions seem more prevalent than ever. Sano, at one point this season, was pushing 280 pounds. He was 276 in late July. He said on Thursday that he’s been 268-270 recently. “The team doesn’t want me to lose that much,” Sano said. “They want me to lose 10. But I’m going to lose 20.” Direct quote from Sano talking about his weight. Actions speak louder. “We all know it is going to be a big part of my thoughts going forward, about how we can keep him on the field for 140 to 150 games,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said “He’s an unique body type. He’s going to have to find a way to do that, and that has to deal with the day-to-day things he has to deal with, including being ready when he comes into camp.” Anyone remember if Sano was said to have reported to camp in good shape this spring? I honestly can't recall. Interesting to hear the manager's thoughts with some time since he said that. “I hope that the time in New York is well spent and that he stays focused on what he needs to do,” Twins interim general manager Rob Antony said. “That’s not the easiest place to maintain focus.” There's your concern from Twins management right there. “I didn’t hit good enough,” Sano said. “I don’t feel it’s a good season for me this year. But I’m going to try to make an adjustment about my weight and my swing. When I get back to the Dominican I’m going to work really hard with the pitchers and hit breaking balls better.” There it is, from the man himself. “I think he’s maturing, but he still has a ways to go,” Antony said. “I think he thought it was just going to happen because he has so much talent. It doesn’t happen without the work, the dedication, the focus. “I think his intentions are good. I’m not sure he always showed the ability to follow through on what he knows is the right thing to do.’’ Some pretty frontal criticism from the front office right there. So, nearly 365 days later, does the front office feel any better about Sano? I will be watching very curiously to see how this plays out.

If you're at all interested in Sano and his future with the team, I encourage you to take a step back and check out this article from Star Tribune's LaVelle E. Neale. Published almost one year ago (Sept. 23) to the day: http://www.startribune.com/miguel-sano-promises-to-do-better-this-offseason-but-twins-know-he-has-a-ways-to-go/394527381/ I'll hang up & listen.

Not sure where you got the end of September as to when the Sano was expected back. Sano went on the 10-day DL, when, August 21st? Why would they put him on the 10-day DL is he wasn't expected back until the end of September? The regular season ends on Oct. 1st. Saying he wouldn't be expected back until then would effectively put him out for the season, with an outside shot at returning for the playoffs. It's not too late for Sano to get himself into the shape necessary to be a great third baseman. I submit he was already a good third baseman this season, even at whatever weight he was playing at. And he's definitely more valuable playing third base than he would be playing first base. And playing in the field makes him way more valuable than relegating him to DH. I don't understand why anyone would think that's an acceptable solution for Sano at the ripe old age of 24 years old.

In true "Doubles" style, I chose the absolute worst day- the worst of the worst- to make the original post in this thread yesterday. CC Sabathia is probably the buntiest pitcher in the history of bunts. Or pitching. I was fine with bunting for hits last night against CC. It's sac bunts in ill-advised situations that are truly the bane of my baseball existence. Time to return to hating sac bunts with the fire of 1,000 suns. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming, until we see CC again.

My counters are in red.

http://www.startribune.com/mientkiewicz-aftermath-it-s-a-bad-look/445713903/ Must be a whole lotta stuff at play behind the scenes involved in the decision to divest from Dougie Baseball. Bout the only thing I feel qualified to say is it would've looked a whole lot better for Falvey or Levine to make that phone call, than it did for Brad Steil.

*If* Mauer would've eked out two or three more seasons catching... and *If* the conkies would've been a non-issue... Mauer makes the Hall for sure, and goes down as one of, if not the, all-time greatest hitters among catchers. If there is any justice in baseball, Mauer will become the third player in baseball history to win a Gold Glove at two positions (Darin Erstad, Placido Polanco). Rare air.

I would be very surprised if the actual percentage was anywhere near that high. Would also be surprised if road teams would bunt in that spot nearly as often as home teams. There's gotta be data on that split somewhere.

Can we all please rise up against all this bunting business? It's time to take a stand. Social media has proven itself to be a useful vehicle for several great and important causes. Can we start some sort of twitter movement that unifies our cause? Some people have paper clips in their Twitter handles, some have ribbons representing various causes. How can we put our disdain for willingly reducing our chances to win baseball games on full display? Let this thread serve as a depository for your suggestions to get this erstwhile movement off the ground. This aggression will not stand, man.