glunn

If you click on Mauer's picture they say that he has "bounceback potential." They also say: "Mauer struggled through a tough 2014 season in which he posted career worsts in average (.277) and strikeout rate (18.5 percent) across 120 games..... But with an outstanding batting eye, the 31-year-old should continue to reach base at a strong rate -- even if he does not bounce back fully in the batting-average department.

It appears that Hunter is looking forward to mentoring Hicks: http://m.twins.mlb.com/news/article/107814252/torii-hunter-to-mentor-minnesota-twins-young-outfielders "I know Hicks can play, but with Buxton -- I haven't seen video or seen him play, but every word I hear is good about him," Hunter said. "I definitely think when we get to Spring Training we'll sit down and I'll work out with them and evaluate what they're doing right and what they're doing wrong."

Someone should write a book on the history of baseball in the Twin Cities.

I think that Chief nailed this. We live in a world where one crazy person with guns can kill a lot of people. The founding fathers never considered that. Unfortunately, there are so many guns out there that it seems unlikely that bad people can be prevented from getting guns. It seems to me that we need to better educate people, beginning in elementary school, regarding the dangers of guns. I also feel that guns and ammunition should be heavily taxed to account for the cost to society of guns, including the fact that we need to beef up mental health services to try to reduce the number of mentally ill people who use guns to hurt others. On the other hand, I would not want to give up my shotguns, which are family heirlooms and which are used only to kill skeet. Until bad people stop having guns, I like knowing that I can protect my home. But as Chief noted, my shotguns would be useless against troops who have body armor, much less RPGs, drones etc.

I have read that HIcks was a top pitching prospect when he was in high school and that his fastball reached 95 mph. I wonder if it is too late for him to go back to pitching if he does not make it as an outfielder.

Unless Johan has the worst business manager of all time, he does not need the money. Also, he has endured a lot of pain recovering from some serious surgery and trying to get back into pitching shape. I am not going to express an opinion as to whether Santana would be a good signing, but I do admire his work ethic and his love for the game.

Moderator note -- three posts had to be deleted from this thread because people were being inflammatory and/or disrespectful of others. Such disrespect/squabbling undermines intelligent debate. We are all Twins fans and we can all learn from each other. Feel free to debate the relative importance of pitching versus defense and whether Escobar needs to be in the lineup, but please follow TD policy. http://twinsdaily.com/topic/8228-twins-daily-comment-policy-latest-revision-september-2013/ Most people are doing a good job following the rules and the moderators have been instructed to crack down on repeat offenders. Please do not become a repeat offender.

For those of us who have fond memories of Tovar: http://www.startribune.com/sports/96934744.html A few excerpts: "As the starting Twins pitcher, he faced four batters, getting Bert Campaneris and Sal Bando on pop fouls, walking Danny Carter, and striking out Reggie Jackson on a screwball. Campaneris is the other major leaguer who has played all nine positions. Tovar delighted the crowd of 11,340 with double and triple pumps. His fancy motion cost him a balk call with a man on base, but his earned run average of 0.00 is the lowest in Twins history." "Tovar was equally outstanding offensively, where he had a single, scored the Twins' first run and stole his 33rd base, a team record." BTW, the Twins won the game 2 to 1 and rewarded Tovar with a color TV.

You are a wise man.

I would hope that the Twins will make sure that Boyd gets counselling. I would also hope that in the future his roommate on the road can be someone who will provide a positive influence, and that the coaches can talk to him a lot about how much better his life will be if he can focus on realizing his potential. I think that some players need more attention than others, and hope that Boyd will be getting a lot of attention, including positive reinforcement when he does what he needs to do. Does anyone know how teams handle similar situations, i.e. prospects with huge upside who falter? It seems to me that having a psychologist on staff at every level would be an investment that would probably pay off. The cost would be less than $500,000 per year and if it meant success for two prospects who would otherwise have failed it seems like the return could be worth millions of dollars compared with having to hire free agents to fill in the gaps from prospects who failed but could have succeeded with counselling.

Seth, is there anything that we can do to try to influence this?

Who votes on the Twins HOF? Maybe we could influence them for next year?

I think that they are both deserving. But could Mack play all 9 positions in one game? Mack is deserving, but Tovar was almost magical in that one game. I will start a petition for Mack if you will start one for Tovar. The Tovar fans are dying off and it would brighten our lives if Tovar made it.

With season ticket sales down, it seems to me that not honoring Tovar is a huge mistake. Tovar is one of my all-time favorite players and I think that he should be honored before more of his fans get too old (or dead) to celebrate his contributions, including playing all 9 positions in one game.

These google translations are both funny and interesting. Thanks for posting this.

I wonder how many bombs, guns and cases of ammunition are manufactured in the Middle East. It seems to me that the civilized world should stop supplying so many weapons.

Thanks for posting this, Secondary User. I hope that we see a lot more from you as time passes.

No, but I can see how someone might be very attached to an alligator after raising it from a pup for 37 years.

One more story of man loves gator:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/alligator-lived-los-angeles-familys-backyard-37-years/story?id=28249346 It seems a little unfair to me to take away a family pet who was legal when the family bought her. Plus, the gator seems pretty cute and friendly.

I think that with BOTH Scherzer and Shields the Twins could contend, but Steve Carrell might explode.

Moderator note -- I just removed some posts in this thread that included personal attacks/bickering. We don;t allow that here. http://twinsdaily.com/topic/8228-twins-daily-comment-policy-latest-revision-september-2013/

I just read the following article that addresses some of what we have been talking about in this thread, but from a more global perspective: http://www.tikkun.org/nextgen/mourning-the-parisian-journalists-yet-challenging-the-hypocrisy

I have read that more than 15,000 children die every day from lack of nutrition. Compared with this, what happened in Paris and even 9-11 seem less important. Human beings are tribal. We have a natural affinity for those who are like us and we tend to disregard those who are different. I feel that religion is one attribute that divides us, but there are other important divisions, including race, ethnicity, economic class, sexual orientation, nationalism, language and geographic proximity. Sadly, the trillion dollars or more per year that is spent on the military, prisons and other coercive measures would be more than enough to feed every starving child, and probably most of the adults. Ironically, most religions agree that we should treat others as we would like to be treated. It seems to me that the key to making the world better will be educating people to accept their differences and work together. If aliens invaded tomorrow, I think that the nations of the world could unite, like the U.S. was able to unite with the USSR against Germany. Short of that, I think that we need to better educate people as to where the wealth is flowing and what the world could be like if we could work together to address the real problems, starting with starving children. I wish that the leaders of the major powers would declare war against starvation and poverty, and agree to devote increasing parts of their military budgets to "bombing" poor countries with food, water projects and schools. Bark, I do see progress over long periods of time. Slavery (in the classic sense) has been eliminated in most places, women have gained a greater measure of equality in most places and some historic enemies have become friends (such as Britain and France and the U.S. and Japan). Obviously we have a long way to go and the path will not be easy, but I am hopeful that over the next hundred years or so we might be able to accelerate the pace of positive change. 500 years ago, most people were slaves, serfs or the like and most countries were ruled by kings/queens/emperors and the like. In most places, women's rights were very limited, gay people were subject to execution and only the wealthiest people could read and write. I think that we have come a long way and we still have a long way to go. People who care about others need to overcome the politicians and the entrenched powers. Martin Luther King overcame the racist bastions of the South -- nonviolent resistance and peaceful activism can be effective strategies over the long run.

Lots of great questions here. I am wondering who is most likely to be the next Twins pitcher to take the mound in a World Series.