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one_eyed_jack

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Everything posted by one_eyed_jack

  1. Casilla is like the Liriano of infielders. He's a tease. He'll have spectacular stretches of play followed by longer stretches of horrid play. He's had plenty of opportunities to establish himself as a regular, and hasn't been able to do it.
  2. I'm not sure how much MVP love he deserves, but no doubt he's had a impressive year. A lot of people were ready to lynch him when he was hitting .270 a month or so into the season, but he's been damn good since then. I hope he can keep it up. And if Morneau is going to be around next year, it sure would be nice to see him return to form as well.
  3. It's disappointing not to get more. But think about it from the perspective of the other teams. If you were the GM of the Braves, Cards, Angels, etc., would you have been willing to part with your best prospects for 2 months of Liriano? I wouldn't have.
  4. I assumed Frankie would be traded, but I'm surprised it was to the Whities. I also thought we might get a little more than that, but then again, how much can you really expect for a rental of an enigma? Oh well, may he be as frustrating for the Whities as he's been for the Twins. Suppose there's a game 163 between Detroit and Chicago, and it comes down to a battle between Frankie and Delmon - what would happen? Would that violate the laws of physics or something? They couldn't both lose the game for their team on the same play.
  5. Barreiro was claiming on the radio that what the Wild did raises the bar for the other local sports teams. I don't know that I buy that, except for maybe the T-Wolves because the competition there is more direct. If Parise and Suter lead the Wild to a cup in the next couple of years, it might be different.
  6. I've gotta think it's pretty rare for a team to get 6 hits with RISP and only score 3 runs. What a frustrating day. I could be wrong about this, but it sure seems like one of the many problems this team as had this year is the way it consistently squanders chances for big innings that would put them comfortably ahead. Today was another game we had a chance to jump out to a big lead and didn't. Even in a lot of our wins (and we have more 1-run wins than anyone else in the AL), I feel like there have been a lot of blown chances to bust games open, and they ended up being nail-biters. Maybe the bullpen could have been conserved a bit better had we been up 5 instead of up 1 going into the 9th in some of those games. Perhaps the Twins stastistically really aren't much worse than anyone else in this area, but I sure feel like I've watched a lot of innings where the Twins walked away with 1 run when they could, and probably should, have had at least 3.
  7. Parmalee just needs to play. If you can't find a way to get him AB's with the Twins, send him down. He's not going to get better by sitting and watching big league pitchers from the dugout.
  8. ---Fully agree that the disease and Sandusky references are over the line. Way over the line. But for those like me who went the silly route (and admittedly maybe swung and missed on being funny), I don't think it's "kicking him when he's down." It's harmless fan venting. Nick Blackburn is a grown-ass man. I seriously doubt anyone here is being harder on him that he's being on himself. I actually do feel bad for the guy. They showed him in the dugout after one of his recent shellings, and his pained look of frustration and hopelessness said it all about what he thinks about he's doing. Hopefully some time in the bullpen or Rochester can get him pointed in the right direction again.
  9. 1) He didn't "just turn 27". He'll be 28 in a couple of weeks. 2) He's had over 1,600 plate appearances and 5 seasons to establish himself as the regular 2B or SS, and he hasn't been able to do it. 3) I'm not sure what he's done to deserve more playing time. You can't keep giving him playing time based on what he did for parts of 2008 and 2010. Outside of those stretches, he just hasn't been a very good player.
  10. ---This should change by then, but as of now, the scheduled pitching matchup for Sunday's final game before the AS break - Blackburn vs. Oswalt!
  11. 8 runs on 10 hits despite only going 1-10 with RISP. That strikes me as unusual.
  12. First 40 games: 13-27 Second 40 games: 22-18 Suppose someone had told you on the eve of opening day that on July 4th, the Twins would be 3.5 behind the Tigers and with basically the same record as the Phillies; would you have imagined that both of those things could be true and the Twins would still be in last place with the 2nd-worse record in the American League? I'm not optimistic about making in 6 in a row with Verlander going tomorrow, but it sure would be sweet if it happened.
  13. I'd rather be the photographer on a combined Matt Capps/Prince Fielder shoot for ESPN's "The Body" issue than see Nick Blackburn get another start in a Twins uniform.
  14. ---Too true. If he gets shelled again tonight, that's gotta be it for him. There's gotta be one of the Red Wings (or for that matter one of the Snappers, Saints, Gophers, FoxSportsNorth Girls or regular posters on this board) who we could start that would give us a better chance of winning.
  15. Interesting answers. Lots of picks for the Whities, but I'm having trouble seeing it. It seems like every year there's a team that surprises everyone with a strong first half, then fades after the all-star break. This Whities team feels like one of those. Their second half schedule is tougher, and I question whether guys like Rios and AJ will maintain their production levels. We shall see. Frankly, nothing would surprise me in this division of misfits.
  16. ---Ha! If you're right, and I hope you are, I may drink enough in celebration that I'll need to check into rehab myself!
  17. ---I forgot to even mention Martinez, it could be huge if he came back. I was listening to national radio show doing preseason baseball stuff, and they had one of the local Detroit writers on. He said that the loss of V-Mart was going to hurt the Tigers a lot more than people realized, and I think he's been proven right thus far.
  18. ---Thanks, Nick, and others who commented. Yeah, I know it's too early to make judgments. There's no way of knowing which way he'll go at this point. I was more just looking for initial impressions and gut reactions based on what you've seen so far. But it sounds like it's been enough of a mix of good and bad that maybe it's premature to start leaning one way or the other.
  19. Always nice to win in Detroit. Too bad we dug ourselves into such a deep early hole with the 13-27 start. If we could have managed to play simply bad baseball instead of putrid baseball in that stretch, we'd be right in the mix and feeling very differently about this season. I didn't buy into all the pre-season hype with the Tigers. I think a lot of people were so star struck by the big names that they didn't notice some deeper flaws. That said, I think they'll still find a way to win this lousy division and I'd be wary of facing them in the postseason - with Verlander and that lineup, they could be very dangerous. What's the deal with Hendriks? I didn't get home until late in the game and he was out by then, and I had to miss most of his earlier outings. Has he shown enough to suggest that he has a brighter future, or are we looking at a fringe MLB player?
  20. Here's mine: 1. The Detroit Tigers will win the AL Central with a record of 85-77 2. The Minnesota Twins will finish in 4th place in the division with a record of 75-87 3. Current Twins who will be wearing new uniforms after the trade deadline include: Matt Capps and Jamey Carroll 4. The Texas Rangers will defeat the Cincinnati Reds to win the 2012 World Series.
  21. Not quite there, but close enough. I'd be curious in everyone's answers to these: 1. The ________________will win the AL Central with a record of ______. 2. The Minnesota Twins will finish in __ place in the division with a record of _____. * 3. Current Twins who will be wearing new uniforms after the trade deadline include: 4. The _______________ will defeat the _________ to win the 2012 World Series. *If you already answered this in question 1, I don’t know what to tell you. Good luck in rehab, I guess.
  22. If I may stick my nose in as well, I actually agree with a lot of what both RP and jokin have to say here. Certainly, as jokin said, some guys just seem to have that knack for playing their best when the stakes are highest. The only quibble I have, and maybe I'm picking nits here, is calling it a "trait" - that makes it sounds like an "either you were born with it or you weren't" kind of thing, and I'm not sure it's an either/or. It may come more naturally to some guys than others, but it's not like guys who have never displayed it will never have it. Isn't it something guys can improve on with experience? To take an example from another sport - look at Steve Yzerman. For much of his early career, he was maligned as a guy who put up big numbers in the regular season but disappeared in the playoffs and failed to lead his team when it mattered most. He was almost traded because of this. But several years and 3 Stanley Cups later, his ability to step up in crunch time was beyond question, and the idea that he lacked guts seems ludicrous. But like RP said, I also think that the whole "clutch player" thing can be overblown, and guys get lauded as "clutch" or branded as "choke artists" when there is little behind those labels besides the national media's desire to manufacture a story. Anyway, I'm hoping Mauer gets another shot soon, and buries this debate over this just the way Stevie Y did.
  23. ---That's interesting, but to me there's a lot more to playing good fundamental baseball than not making errors. You could play a really crappy game without being charged a single error. There's stuff like base-running errors, missing cutoff men, only getting 1 out on what should be a double play, failing to get a bunt down to advance a runner, etc. that are fundamental mistakes that don't show up in stats. Granted I'm going from memory and general impressions, but it seemed like there were a lot more of those kinds of mistakes towards the end of the decade. Part of that may be personnel. Gomez and Delmon both had their share of misadventures.
  24. ---No doubt. But hey, I'll take it - better an undeserved W than a deserved L.
  25. That was a fun game to watch. I didn't like the way things were looking when KC made it 5-1, but that's baseball. Let's see what we can do in Detroit. I'd love to see Hendriks get his first W tomorrow. That 4th of July matchup of Duensing vs. Verlander doesn't give me good feelings.
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