glunn

Welcome, new blood. We all started as lurkers then rookies, and the primary goal is to have fun talking about baseball.

Good first post. I think that you will find your topic of interest in multiple threads. Please feel free to join in.

Moderator note -- it is a violation of TD policy to label another person as "garbage." This is disrespectful. Furthermore, any of the players who have been called garbage on these forums are ten times better ballplayers than any of us, so if they are garbage then what are we? They may not be good MLB players, but insults like "garbage" are not acceptable. What if the player were to read this thread? Let's show respect for our fellow human beings. There are thousands of ways to state an opinion that someone is not a good player without referring to him as "garbage."

This article suggests that Joe Mauer's 2009 season was the best ever for an AL catcher. If Joe could get back to anything resembling his 2009 stats, this could be a very fun season. Other players on the list include Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle and Frank Robinson.

I am glad to see the support for Terry Ryan's recovery, and share in the hope for his speedy recovery.

Some of the moderators would like to see Ryan gone. Other moderators would like to see him stay. Some days I have wanted Ryan to be fired like a dog. Other days I have completely agreed with the arguments for keeping him. We moderators are a members only club, but it's simply not true to say that we have any party line as to the issues that are debated on the forums. Our only party line is on enforcing TD policy. If we infract a pro-Ryan poster for insulting an anti-Ryan poster then we seem anti-Ryan. If we infract an anti-Ryan poster for trolling then we seem pro-Ryan. If people who are not moderators could read the posts that we have deleted, you would know that we have enforced TD policy against both groups. I would estimate that about 60% of the time I get complaints about us being "homers" who are intolerant of criticism of Ryan and the FO, and about 40% of the time the complaint is that we are biased against supporters of Ryan and the FO. Personally, I have deleted more posts where in general I agreed with the poster than posts where I disagreed, and I think that most or all of the other moderators have done the same. Bottom line -- if you are respectful of other members and refrain from trolling, then you can say anything you want. You can post 100 reasons why Ryan should be fired or 100 reasons why the critics of Ryan are incorrect. This is all laid out very clearly and in detail (with examples) in the official policy thread. What you cannot do is call another poster stupid or refer to Ryan as "baldy" or keep posting the same thing in multiple threads to the level that it constitutes trolling. This is all spelled out very clearly in the policy thread, and I have very little sympathy for posters who obviously have ignored us when we begged them to just read and follow the TD policy.

Clearly, some people here have much higher standards and/or much different standards than other people. What I don't understand is the level of hostility contained in some of the posts. It's OK to have a high standard. Other people may think that you are unrealistic or too demanding, but you are entitled to your own viewpoint. It's OK to have a low standard. Other people may think that you are a naive "homer", but you are entitled to your own viewpoint. Nothing we say here is going to affect the team's performance on the field in 2014, and we all hope that the Twins can win as many games as possible. And if the Twins fall far short of your personal expectations for 2014 but some other fan is satisfied, why rain on their parade?

The moderators have worked hard to develop a policy that focuses on respect for other members. The goal is to promote discussion that is robust without insulting other members. Personal attacks on another member are almost always going to result in a deletion of the post, and the issuance of a warning or infraction. Trolling, which takes many forms, is disrespectful to the community as a whole, and we are not going to allow that. Our core mission is clear. As for bad grammar and spelling, we ask that people make an effort, but I cannot recall any post that has been deleted for bad grammar and spelling. As has been noted, there are unmoderated forums where people can call each other stupid, and troll without restriction. The TD forums were created to provide a place for Twins fans to talk (and respectfully debate) about baseball, and not to watch fellow fans try to tear each other apart. Moderating a site like this is not easy, because the debates are often very passionate -- the current thread about expectations for 2014 is a good example. Some people have standards for measuring success that are vastly different than other people's standards, and it's not easy for us to walk the line there between allowing robust debate while preventing a flame war. A good umpire ignores the crowd and makes the best calls that he can make. We are not here to be popular and some calls may, in hindsight, not be the calls that we should have made. So long as we do our best, I will be satisfied. Also, the mere existence of this thread shows that we are open to constructive criticism.

Anything worthwhile takes work, but if you post in a game thread you will be welcomed.

Nothing would please me more than to have Crarko, Levi and everyone else participate in game threads. This is a place where we can simulate watching a game together in the outfield bleachers, and a good way to get through a losing season. Hopefully it will eventually become a place where we can get more enjoyment from a winning season. Believe it or not, we love you guys, even when you sometimes test the gray areas of TD policy. If there is a clique, then we want you to be part of it.

I am sorry that you have the perception that there is a members only mentality. With all due respect, I believe that this is an exaggeration. That said, if you see a post that you believe violates TD policy, please click on the triangle icon below the post and we will all take a close look at it. I am not insulted by you saying that there may be bias. It's almost impossible to eliminate all bias. All we can do is our best, and that will never result in perfection, because we are not perfect. Before we had any moderators, I would sometimes jump into the middle of a heated discussion in an attempt to get my fellow fans to be more respectful of each other. I see no reason why you or any other member cannot do the same, so long as you follow TD policy. In my view, blessed are the peacemakers, because they allow us to focus on baseball instead of needless quarreling. Also, I think that we should all have the humility to always keep in mind that it may be the other guy who is correct. Before last season began, I was pretty sure that Correia was going to be a disaster. As it turned out, I was wrong. We are all going to be wrong sometimes, and it seems to me that we should all keep this in mind when we perceive that someone else is wrong.

As head moderator, I want to make a few points here: 1. There has never been any bias against BYTO alumni. I was never on BYTO and have never given this any weight. Some of my fellow moderators were on BYTO, but I have never seen this influence any of their decisions. 2. Echoing Brock, people should know that we discuss virtually every warning and infraction that is issued by any of the eight moderators, and we all work hard to try to get people to follow TD policy. We are happy when violators start following the TD policy and we are sad when we finally decide that warnings are not working and we have to ban someone. More than 90% of what we do happens behind the scenes, but I can assure you that there is tremendous due process before anyone is banned. 3. As head moderator, I have chosen to not get involved in the heated debates. When Gardy's contract was extended, I vomited quietly in my mouth, and I issued warnings and infractions to people who I agreed with when they went too far and violated TD policy. I will continue to avoid getting entangled in such debates, so that any member has at least one person who they can come to who is not taking any substantive position. That said, the other seven moderators are volunteers who all work hard to promote our shared goal of fostering debate that is BOTH vigorous/spirited AND respectful, and I see no reason why they should not be able to participate in such debates so long as they follow TD policy. Also, in those rare instances where a moderator approaches the gray area, they get a message from me. 4. We are ALL Twins fans, and that is a special bond. Because we care so much about the Twins doing well, we may vigorously disagree. I believe with all of my mind, heart and soul that Gardy should have been let go last year, and that anyone who disagrees is grievously mistaken. However, although we may disagree, we all share an obsession with the Twins getting back to being competitive, and our love for each other as fellow Twins fans should be thousands times stronger than our frustration at what we perceive to be the occasional ignorance of our fellow fans. 5. As I have said before, I think that it helps to remember that in the deepest sense, we are all brothers and sisters due to our common obsession with the Twins. We should be able to fight without acrimony and disagree without being disagreeable. We are better than White Sox fans and Yankees fans. 6. TD is a special place and I am grateful to the founders for providing a site where there are so many great articles and where people can debate without flame wars and disrespect. As moderators, we feel that we have a sacred trust to foster the goal of debate that is both vigorous and respectful. We are not perfect. We make mistakes then try to learn from our mistakes. But I can say without reservation that we care about every member (even those with whom we disagree) and we spend tens of hours every month doing our best.

After lots of recent reading, I am coming to the conclusion that opiates (including heroin) should be decriminalized, because people can use them and still function. However, it seems to me that meth may be just too dangerous and destructive to allow. As for cutting, I would like to know more about whether this somehow satisfies the same cravings that lead to drug use.

Interesting article, ChiTown. This echoes the concern that Oxy users are converting to heroin in order to get the same high at a lower cost. Last night I watched a National Geographic documentary about meth. I came away with the impression that meth is perhaps the most destructive drug ever invented, because meth addicts cannot resist the impulse to use more and more and because it is extremely destructive to their health. I am saddened by all of the lives ruined by these drugs and find it asinine that states still put people in jail for marijuana, which is far less destructive. If we really care about our fellow human beings, then maybe we should divert more resources to education about the perils of meth, and focus more on treatment than on incarceration?

Thanks for joining in, and I hope that now that the ice has been broken you will post in other threads.

Welcome Zak. I hope to see more from you!

This article suggests that the increase in heroin use is largely the result of the fact that it is cheaper than the synthetic opiates that people get addicted to. This suggests to me that high taxes might not be such a good idea, because there would still be a market for the cheap (and unregulated) version.

It is being reported that Philip Seymour Hoffman has died from an apparent heroin overdose. I somehow thought thought that heroin use had become fairly rare, but based on the article linked above, it seems to be somewhat prevalent. I favor legalization of marijuana, but wonder about how best to reduce heroin usage.

This has been a total slaughter beginning with the safety on the first play from scrimmage. Great defense generally beats great offence?

Moderator note -- let's be careful here. It's getting a little too personal.

I wonder how the average 21 year old male would behave if granted unlimited cash and free time.

Great article. Maybe Willingham should be told to not attempt any more steals.

I am reminded of the concept that he who is without sin should throw the first stone. Under TD's no insult policy, it is important to be factual. Whatever past problems Knoblauch may have had, there is no evidence that such problems still exist. And after the dome dog incident, I would hope that people can be as classy as possible in this thread.

Great article. Thanks for posting this.