Ultima Ratio

Kudos and welcome.

Keep looking...

Pig, no one knows what's in you head or heart but you, that's not the point. If one wants to be taken seriously, one should characterize issues and ideas fairly and accurately. The only reason I wrote something on the thread at all (because I'm just here for baseball and find these squabbles ineffective and only yielding resentment towards a poster that I/you might otherwise very much enjoy reading post about baseball. It colors one's view of that poster) is because the distortions and mischaracterizations in your post and others' deserve to be challenged. You say the GOP has left you? Fine. But don't say: you like Huntsman as a GOP candidate, that the GOP campaigns against women's rights ("war on women" garbage) because you think you have a right to make someone else pay for your contraceptives, use the phrase "tax cuts for the wealthy" and "trickle down economics" (a term coined by democrats to deride Reagan's policies in the 80's, when you say were a big republican) -- and expect us to believe you were ever a staunch "moderate" republican. If you don't want the government in you bedroom (and I don't) then don't have government/taxpayers pay for things that go on in your bedroom, okay? But uttering this makes one in a campaign against women? Come on. I've got to believe you are better than this, and by better I don't mean that you should believe something other than you believe, but at least try be fair. You would be the first person I've ever met to have said such things and claim to have been a GOP member.

Put Gray at second with that play!!!.... wait wait wait.... come on...

This OF would be scary good at defense if Revere were in LF, Span in CF and Matro in RF

Keep the Mastro in right!!!!

But with the current lead, it's a good time to eat some innings, I guess.

See, Gray is warming up...

With a .314/.240 L/R batting split, maybe Doumit should just hit from the left side.... while writing this Doumit makes it a foolish point with that homer. Atta boy!

With 94 pitches, I don't see how they bring him back out at this point. Though, I'm sure this is a situation where Gardy brings Gray into the game and it's tied going into the 9th.

I'm not familiar with Mastro's defense. He's better in the OF right? How good is his defense in the OF and how good a second base does the guy play. I agree, I'd like to find a place for him to play daily and see if he can continue to perform.

Mastroooooooooo!!!!!

Tigers hitter 1-4 all bat over .300. I think the Twins are plenty capable of having 5 guys over .300: Span, Revere, Mauer, Morneau and Doumit. Let's hope the Willingham, Revere, Mauer slumps end tonight.

Let's not. It's already going on elsewhere on this site.

100% agree with Mr. Mackey on this one! It's a specious argument. It also a rhetorical trick. The trick is this: instead of debating a point honestly, choose the most extreme possible viewpoint and portray that as the opposing side. That gives lots of room for fire, brimstone and proselytizing. In this case, the extreme point seems to be that payroll is not THE BIGGEST factor in winning and losing. And if it's not the biggest, it must not be important. The absurdity of the initial argument becomes clear when one carries it through to its natural conclusion: if payroll isn't important, why not cut it further? Why not go back to 2000, when it was under $20M? That is absurd, of course. Which is why a writer sticks to hammering his philosophical point - "it's not that important" - instead of engaging in a discussion of the real-world example. (BTW, I'm quite sure I've done the same thing. I'm not blasting Mackey for this. I'm just saying that it's easy to take it too far.) In this case, the real-world examples are this: 1) The Twins payroll went down $13M or so in the same year that MLB payrolls went up a few percent. To suggest that the Twins couldn't have used that $13M to improve their ball club this year is ridiculous. It doesn't mean they would have spent it wisely. It doesn't mean they would have competed. But it's silly to suggest that would have made the team worse. 2) If the Twins cut payroll again this year it will further limit them. I don't disagree that free agency shopping can encourage "laziness." But we have a team starved for starting pitching and a free agent market that is loaded for starting pitching. That could not be a better situation provided they don't shy away from spending some money. That doesn't fix all the problems, but it can fix that problem, and it's likely that there are going to be some huge bargains this year the same way Willingham looks like a huge bargain. Again, I can't see anyway one can reasonably argue that now having an extrt $10-15M to spend is unimportant. ~~~ I'll make one more point that gets me a little more riled up. It is AWFULLY CONVENIENT for the Twins to start with the "payroll isn't that important" three years after they start to live in a publicly subsidized stadium. I don't remember them making that argument back when they were lobbying for a new stadium. At that point, the mantra was that they "have trouble competing" in their stadium. Seemingly, it was important then. Bingo John! Someone has studied logical fallacies. Good on ya!

You sound like an impartial independent voter with all the forgoing. <<<Sarcasm>>> I hope no on carelessly drops an ember on this field of straw men. Don't bother asking me to point all them out either in order to begin an argument. Just read it over carefully and reflectively. Be proud to call yourself progressive/liberal and move on.org.

That looked awkward. I think if he lays out for it he catches it. And he doesn't get injured.

Oh my stars...

Why did Span leave the game?

Yep, Doumit is in left, Bollinger's tweet.

Is Doumit in LF? (You've got two catchers listed)

Welcome AL East hitters to craptastic AL central pitching.

They could be our "Wrigley Field Baskets." That's exactly what I had in mind but on a much grander scale. I think that's what the overhang in RF is supposed to be already, kinda.

Several pitches were good and on the corners, but yeah, Rays waited for the pitches up and Devries would eventually deliver one right over the heart of the plate and up.

I may have said this the last time a ball was hit there, but I think AT&T/Pacbell keeps it in. That right-center gap and wall combo they have is pretty ridiculous too. There should be a net that comes out over the field to catch those balls when the come down -- for homers.