glunn

You are within 100 miles of Chief, who probably went to bed about 3 hours ago.

I admire the KC fans who are still at the game. If I were the owner I would be handing out swag to them on the theory that they are the most loyal of all fans.

I am also on West coast, so I still have some energy. Are you in CA?

The game has restarted.

It looks like the rain is almost over.

The defense today has been putrid. I continue to wonder whether a lot of the problems are a result of poor coaching and player development at the minor league level.

Great setup, Twinssporto.

I agree with Chief. I would add that it seems to me that the minor league development program is deficient. One example -- Buxton's approach to bunting. Buxton is fast. If he were effective at bunting then he could get on base a lot more. Instead, we see him committing too early, which allows the pitcher to elevate the pitch, then Buxton tries to bunt balls at the letters or higher, which is always a bad idea. Also, I don't remember him pulling the bat back and letting a high pitch go by. Also, I have seen him jab at the ball, which is something that I taught my little league players not to do. This is basic coaching, and in light of Buxton's speed, bunting should have been a priority from day 1. I could give lots of examples of what I see as mediocre player development; however, I am not an expert. Fortunately, there are genuine experts outside the organization who could be hired to give impartial opinions in this regard. I also suspect that there has a system wide failure to track performance and hold people accountable. It seems to me that there should be a thick file of reports that track every aspect of a player's game, beginning with his first scouting report and ending with yesterday's game. Again using Buxton as an example, there should be scouting reports that analyze his bunting skills (and other skills) and that meticulously track his progress at every level through the system. Jack, you are a computer guy and I suspect that you do some of this, but with all due respect if I were the GM I would want to see the reports that I just described and would be trying to find out who was supposed to teach Buxton and why they failed. Finally, I am not fond of the "country club" label, but I agree with those who believe that when an organization is failing for an extended period of time then it makes sense to bring in people from organizations that are succeeding. For all I know, Rob Anthony might be an effective GM, but unless he is willing to bring in new blood and new ideas I will not be optimistic that things will get much better. And if I were the owner, I would ask Mr. Anthony why my speedster stud CF does not seem to have mastered the fundamentals of bunting.

It seems to me that he is committing to bunt too soon and that he needs to learn to pull the bat back when the pitch is high. It is very difficult to bunt successfully when the pitch is high.

I keep wishing that Parker would do an analysis of Buxton's approach to bunting. I also wish that Buxton would spend a week with this guy:

I could be wrong, but it seems to me that his approach to bunting could be greatly improved. If so, then there has been a failure to adequately coach/develop this player. I wish that Parker would do one of his amazing articles analyzing Buxton's swing, including his bunting.

What does the charity do?

Great list. Great thread.

Welcome, Nathan. I look forward to your posts.

Moderator note - please be respectful of people you disagree with, even if you think that they are totally wrong.

Moderator note -- please be respectful of others even when you disagree. And don't post just to say that someone else is stupid.

Moderator note -- the Mauer catching again issues have been debated ad nauseum. If you want to debate this then please start a separate thread.

This video does not give me comfort. It looks like the ball is coming in at less than 70 mph and without any movement. I never coached beyond little league, but I would like to see him practicing with actual fastballs and curveballs, or with a batting machine that is coming in at 95 or 100 mph. Maybe he has done other drills, but from the games I have seen his bunting skills are disappointing. Based on his overall skill set, I wonder whether the coaching has been competent.

Not a pretty win, but at least they won.

Pressly might make a solid closer next year?

We could use a triple play right now.

Sano looks like he may need a day off.

Dozier punishes the rookie for leaving the ball up,

We need insurance runs.

Lots of sloppy defense and baserunning today.