gil4

I keep thinking that if they put together that 10-game winning streak, Mauer comes back and turns back into Mauer, Nolasco comes back the way he was supposed to be, and a couple of young guys come up and contribute, and maybe they stay hot after that streak and finish out 25-15 in the other games that aren't part of the streak. That leaves them at 86 wins, 87 if they pick up Perkins after this blown save, and probably steals the last wildcard spot. Then they stay hot in the playoffs, have home-field in the Series, and it's 1987 all over again. This post will probably get me flagged for a drug test at work, but I don't really think this too often. I just figure if you're going to dream, dream big. Don't waste it on "maybe we can get to .500."

It looked like the Twins got their pockets picked on paper, trading undervalued assets for overvalued ones. It wasn't as bad as Capps for Ramos or the JJ Hardy giveaway, but it was bad.

They finally showed an angle that seemed to show he got him on the shoulder. If they had challenged, we probably wouldn't have seen that angle until 10 minutes after the call was reversed.

Jesse Hahn -- Here's a guy who snuck up on a lot of people but I'm not so sure he should have snuck up anyone. He's from Groton Connecticut. He almost certainly wasn't the best pitcher on his high school team, since he went to same school as Matt Harvey (and is only a few months younger.) I found a decent article here: http://sportzedge.com/2014/06/16/against-all-odds-two-players-on-the-same-connecticut-high-school-team-jesse-hahn-and-matt-harvey-from-fitch-in-groton-made-it-to-the-major-leagues/ From the article: "So how do we describe it when two teammates from the same Connecticut high school team, Jesse Hahn and Matt Harvey, have made it to the bigs? It probably never happened before or will happen again" There were two from the same SE CT town fairly recently - Brook Fordyce and Pete Walker (now pitching coach for the Jays) are both from East Lyme, CT. They would have gone to the same HS if Fordyce hadn't gone to the private Catholic school in the next town or if Walker had. (Two of his three older brothers did.)

I do, constantly. I even gave Jim Hoey a new middle name over it - #$%^^#@&! I'm over most of the stupid moves the Twins have made over the years - Delmon Young, The Reunion, overpaying Punto, Brunansky for Herr, Carew for whatever - but I'm not over that one yet. (I'm not quite over letting Lyman Bostock go, either, but I'm closer to getting over that one.)

It Hicks switch-hitting again or has he stayed exclusively right-handed? I know it's only AA and he's done it before, but his line is at least encouraging: AVG AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO OBP SLG OPS vs Right .280 93 19 26 6 1 2 11 16 16 382 .430 .812

I agree - let's not mention them (or at least hope we don't have to.)

Called up Vargas as 1B/DH/CF. Ok, that will probably Parmelee, but to quote Hillary Clinton, "at this point, what difference does it make." We got rid of a short term marginal asset and received a somewhat longer term less marginal asset. (Not sure his arbitration status)

My mom is from Iowa, but I can't say she's too stubborn. Her son might be another story, though.

I found a full track list. (It was something to do while the Twins were throwing the game away.) The Night Chicago Died Paper Lace Takin' Care Of Business Bachman-Turner Overdrive This Flight Tonight Nazareth Be Thankful For What You Got William DeVaughn I Shot The Sheriff Eric Clapton Hollywood Swinging Kool & the Gang Stuck In The Middle With You Stealers Wheel I'm A Train Albert Hammond Rock Your Baby George McCrae Honky Cat Elton John Seasons In The Sun Terry Jacks Rock & Roll Hoochie Koo Rick Derringer Meet Me At The Corner Down At Joe's Cafe Peter Noone Save The Last Dance For Me The DeFranco Family Rings Lobo The Lord's Prayer Sister Janet Mead Love's Theme Love Unlimited Orchestra Show And Tell Al Wilson On An On Gladys Knight & the Pips Let's Put It All Together The Stylistics They must have had some different versions, because I've never heard of "Meet Me At The Corner Down At Joe's Cafe" (but the Youtube video has some cool old footage of London), and I know the Gladys Knight song was Midnight Train (and I don't remember ever hearing On and On, but I probably would have skipped it every time) EDIT - formatting - table didn't save the first time.

I was just going to say Rafferty was the singer, but then I couldn't have named the other guy.

Even spelled it right. Apparently the old K-Tel ad didn't https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-77k5561GM

I had that song on an old K-Tel compilation record. I wore that record out playing it so much - I Shot the Sheriff, Midnight Train to Georgia, Seasons in the Son, Stuck in the Middle With You... OK, I had weird taste in music in 5th grade.

Iowa Stubborn too? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV7ZcVFSWWU

hells yes (as long as that doesn't get me another warning - I know it would get my kids a warning from me.) Note - My points not only carried over, they doubled from 1 to 2

Toyota Camry ad - right side just below the recent blogs. There was no way to mute the volume. I have screen shots but don't see a way to upload pictures from my hard drive anymore - just link to url. Do you have an email I can send them to?

The Rangers also have had their mix of bad luck and bad decisions. The Fielder trade has been a disaster, and I have to admit I thought it would be at least 2016 before that contract became an albatross. Steven Wright had a line "I broke a mirror which means I have seven years of bad luck, but my lawyer thinks he can get me five." I think Jon Daniels' lawyer told him the same thing on the Fielder trade, but he was wrong.

I know I would have. I can't remember who has the face-plant headfirst slide avatar, but I slid just like that on a close play to the plate. The field had carpet under the dirt in the batters box to keep it from getting the massive holes when the players dig in. It was going to be a close play in a close game, so I went for the head-first slide, hit the carpet, and stopped dead. I cut my chin on the dirt from hitting hit so hard, but the catcher missed the ball, so I crawled the final 5 feet to score. I'm still expecting the full-sized photo of that avatar to show up in my email inbox with a "remember that slide" note attached.

Does +/- a couple of weeks really make a difference in the grand scheme of things?

Agreed That's interesting, but is it a good or bad thing for the AL? The NL has a bunch of guys bunting because they really have little hope of doing anything else. I can appreciate small-ball if it's a well-reasoned strategy executed by a skilled batter. I appreciate it less when it's the last refuge of someone who really ought to be doing something else. I prefer the AL style, but I actually think MLB stumbled into a pretty good solution by having different rules in the two leagues. Now we have a comparison, we have something to discuss and argue about I don't see it. It's harder to hide an offensive black hole in an NL lineup when you already have one built in at the 9th spot. I'm not sure what you see now with Simmons, but I see a guy who is universally recognized as an outstanding major league player. I don't see how playing in the AL would have changed that. (Plus he played his college ball within walking distance of my house, so I would probably say good things about him anyway.) Molina had hit in the minors and was 22 in his first season. Florimon had not and was 26. Still, I don't remember Florimon being lambasted during the offseason. Plenty of people were skeptical of his ability to maintain even the poor offensive numbers he had, and a number of us preferred Escobar's upside because he's 2 years younger and was likely to take another step forward. There was plenty of discussion over where the line was offensively for Florimon's superior defense to offset it. There probably should have been for Molina, too, especially after his second full year, which was pretty putrid (53 OPS+). But still, Molina was only 23 at the time, plus he had some MLB bloodlines and the minor league track record. Florimon wasn't "run out of town" until he put up a -12 OPS+ in 86 PA. I'm sure a lot of that wasn't his fault - having his appendix removed during spring training set him back and he never really recovered. I think he still could have a role with a major league team, but I doubt he gets another chance to be the full time SS for a team. I can't see how playing for an NL team would have changed anything I'm not sure what alternatives StL had in 2005/2006, but the Twins had one in 2014 and he played pretty well. I believe the difference in runs between the two leagues is almost entirely due to the fact that every 9th batter is a pitcher in the NL. The AL teams also have the flexibility to match up a bit more late in games because they don't have to use PH for the pitchers all the time. I don't see an increased quality of defense and the small ball is almost exclusively the product of pitchers being forced to go to the plate and attempt to hit. There we agree again, although I think if we were forced to choose one style of the other, we would choose the opposite.

You're just fishin'. I'm not falling for it.

I guess nobody does on this thread. I think it comes from this. What I want to know is where d you see the ratings? I can't find them on any thread.

I missed the memo - are oblique strains the new bilateral leg weakness? It doesn't sound like they will be nearly as much fun.

It could have been worse. I was going to start a new thread with the story, but I checked here first to see if it was covered. Unwritten rule number 1 needs to be "when you play the shift, anything done to beat the shift is acceptable." I don't care if it's 15-0 in the 9th inning, if you don't want them to bunt, have your3B play 3B, your SS play SS, and your 2B play 2B (not medium RF). ESPN had a poll question, "Do you have a problem with Colby Rasmus laying down a bunt for a single with his team up by two and with two outs in the fifth?" I was shocked that 96% said they had no problem with it, which is amazingly high, considering 20% of ESPN "readers" are only capable of looking at pictures, voting randomly in polls, and posting idiotic comments made up of texting abbreviations and obscenities altered to get past the text filters. (When I'm not doing that, I post here.)

I'd be surprised if the contract even mentions a position. He signed a contract to play baseball. I don't think too many teams are lining up to trade for an average 1B with a huge contract and a rough injury history.