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spinowner

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Everything posted by spinowner

  1. 9 games to go. 19 hits needed. Dicknbertnmarney are saying on tonight's broadcast that he's going to play every game the rest of the way, although if we clinch wild card #2 I would think and hope he will get a game or 2 off. 0 for 1 so far tonight, but this is Detroit's pitching staff we are facing so there's hope for 6 of the next 9 games.
  2. I really enjoy these threads, IndianaTwin. I realize you are addressing qualifying for the postseason in general, but I'll add for the sake of completeness that Baltimore, Tampa Bay and Seattle have been eliminated from contention for the first wild card berth.
  3. While I generally agree, the AL still has a 154-137 record in interleague games at this point. The AL has 4 good teams, 8 fair teams and 3 bad ones. The NL has 5 good teams, 2 fair teams and 8 bad ones.
  4. I'm going to be a nitpicker because that's just the kind of guy I am. Please use the correct terminology. In baseball, ten teams from each league qualify for The Postseason: three division champions and two wild card teams from each league. In baseball, playoffs refer to the regular season games that are necessary in case of a tie to determine which team(s) qualify for the postseason. So, now that I have that out of my system, I think the Twins are good enough to be the fifth postseason team in the American League. Is it because of parity among the 5th through 12th best teams or is it because of mediocrity among the 5th through 12th best teams in the league? (Hint: the answer is one that Chief loves to give on game threads.) I have no expectations about this team. I don't live and die with them. I'm happy when they win and I accept when they lose. I like being happy and I hope they never lose another game this year. But at my advanced age I think I have finally learned to enjoy it all no matter what happens.
  5. Today's win by the Yankees has eliminated Tampa Bay from contention for the first wild card berth.
  6. Going into today's games (9/20) Baltimore has been eliminated from contention for the first wild card berth.
  7. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. My guess (emphasize guess) is that Steil determined the levels of performance expected for minor league managers, and that he presented this to Falvine and they concurred. Then, Steil's evaluation of Mient's performance led him to the conclusion that his contract should not be renewed, and that he presented this to Falvine and they concurred. Then all three agreed that Steil was the proper one to handle the conversation, the conversation took place and that was that. And that should have been that except for some petulance displayed by Mient and, by extension, Souhan.
  8. One thing about passed balls that should be mentioned: a passed ball is called when the scorer feels a pitch should have been caught and many people view it as the catcher's fault. However, many times a passed ball results from the pitcher missing the sign and throwing the wrong pitch.
  9. At this point in the season calling or shortening a game that could affect the postseason is only done as a very last resort.
  10. Add to that knowing how to help out pitchers whose mechanics may be out of whack. It's been said that a good catcher is like a manager on the field. I'll expand that to say that a very good catcher is like a pitching coach on the field. No data for that either. Edited to add: Dave Duncan is a former catcher who worked for many years as a pitching coach.
  11. Every team does this. It's just that some have learned to guess better than others.
  12. Given the worldwide shortage of outstanding catchers I'm sure he'll get a chance. With the Twins' young batting order (hopefully) coming into its own we may not need much offense from our catcher. A good-hitting catcher is better than a bad-hitting catcher but a good catcher who can't hit is better than a good hitter who can't catch. Edited to add: We were spoiled when we had an excellent catcher who was an excellent hitter. There have been very few of those, and some teams have never had one in their entire existence.
  13. Maybe they should have handled it differently, but I don't think they should be pilloried for it. How Mient was notified of the decision was a very minor error in judgment (if it was an error at all).
  14. Another factor to consider: Cleveland and Houston have clinched the Central and West divisions, respectively. That means they can give more regulars more time off as the postseason gets closer. However, they are only 1.5 games apart for the best league record, which determines who plays the wild card game winner in the ALDS and who gets home field advantage in the ALCS. Both advantages are worth having but the former is probably a bigger advantage than the latter because the wild card team will probably have pitched its best pitcher in the wild card elimination game. There's also the unwritten rule that teams not in the race for the postseason field their best lineups against teams that are. So it will be interesting to see how those teams handle the upcoming two weeks.
  15. The primary purpose of the minor leagues is not to win games. It's to develop players. Certainly it's better to win than to lose, and it doesn't mean a manager shouldn't try to win games. But it does mean you don't overwork pitchers. It does mean you put players in a position to challenge themselves in areas that need improvement. It does mean that players sometimes need to fail in order to learn. Winning games takes a back seat to all of that.
  16. He'll probably sit at least one of those games, probably more if we go on a hot streak and clinch before the last series. But let's say he plays in 12 games. That's probably about 55 plate appearances. And let's say he draws 5 walks. That means he'd have to go about 26 for 50, which is a .520 batting average.
  17. Sorry, postseason games don't count.
  18. Just got done reading today's thread and PDX gets post of the day. Because I don't think he was referring to the dirt on the outside of Donaldson's pants.
  19. Somebody had to go, and he was the logical choice. I wish him well but I'll be surprised if he turns into a bona fide major leaguer.
  20. From the Twins' web site, here is Brad Steil's title: Director, Minor League Operations. It sure seems to me that this title means he's the one to make the decision about who manages the High-A team in Ft. Myers. I'm sure Falvine give him feedback on this but he's in charge. So he's the one who should deliver news about employment or the termination thereof. I can certainly understand Mient being unhappy but IMHO, it was handled the way it should have been handled.
  21. Here's hoping that our boys give the pub crawl attendees a good game to see and that the pub crawl attendees' eyes aren't too crossed to see a good game.
  22. Concur, although it will probably take 3-5 years before the pudding can be evaluated. That's because this is baseball, where teams sign kids who are 16 years old hoping they'll be good players by age 25.
  23. One thing to add about Baltimore and Tampa Bay: They have 7 games remaining against each other. To have any hope at all each team pretty much has to sweep the other. If they split 4-3 or 5-2 they basically knock each other out.
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