Twins-Rangers: The Weather Forecasters Down Here Are Just As Bad
Posted on April 27th, 2008 – 12:30 PMBy La Velle
It was supposed to rain all morning today, with a threat of showers during the afternoon. The alarmists predicted that the game would be rained out But noooooooooooooooo. It barely rained this morning.
The tarp is coming off the field. So ignore the NFL draft and watch the Twins try to win what may be their most important series in years.
O.K., I laid it on a little thick there.
Carlos Gomez said he can play today, but the Twins decided to give him another day since it’s wet outside. Plus the off day on Monday would give him another day to fully heal.
In case anyone missed it, Glen Perkins found his groove last night - and Rochester hitters found their groove against J.D. Durbin.
Eddie Guardado, who made his 800th career appearance on Saturday, has told a couple coaches that he would like to pitch for the Twins again someday. Keep that in mind.
And I want all of you to understand something. This Rangers team is one of the worst I’ve ever seen. They are a horrible defensive team, they don’t do the little things and this pitching staff is awful. I thought the Orioles would be the worst team in the AL this year. I was wrong.
Lineups
Twins (11-13): 1. Matt Tolbert, SS. 2. Brendan Harris, 2B. 3. Joe Mauer, C. 4. Justin Morneau, 1B. 5. Michael Cuddyer, RF. 6. Jason Kubel, DH. 7. Delmon Young, LF. 8. Mike Lamb, 3B. 9. Craig Monroe, CF. Pitching: Livan Hernandez.
Rangers (8-17): 1. Ian Kinsler, 2B. 2. Michael Young, SS. 3. Josh Hamilton, RF. 4. Milton Bradley, DH. 5. David Murphy, CF. 6. Jason Botts, LF. 7. Gerald Laird, C. 8. Ben Broussard, 1B. 9. Ramon Vazquez, 3B. Pitching: Vincente Padilla.
138 Responses to "Twins-Rangers: The Weather Forecasters Down Here Are Just As Bad"
“their most important series in years”
That’s just good stuff right there!! 
Cuddy said on the radio that he was the DH. Did the weather change Gardenhire’s plan?
this is a very important game cause it says if we can catch up to soxs after the series against them or not….
hope tolbert can get back on track today…would like to see him run a bit…show us what he has
all these series are important - need to keep pace with everyone…no one is going to run totally away with this thing the way it looks now…
Take a large, almost round, rotating sphere 8000 miles in diameter, surround it with a murky, viscous atmosphere of gases mixed with water vapor, tilt its axis so it wobbles back and forth with respect to a source of heat and light, freeze it at both ends and roast it in the middle, cover most of its surface with liquid that constantly feeds vapor into the atmosphere as the sphere tosses billions of gallons up and down to the rhythmic pulling of a captive satellite and the sun. Then try to predict the conditions of that atmosphere over a small area within a 5 mile radius for a period of one to five days in advance!
Keith with the impassioned but unpersuasive defense of the weather guy!
Don’t give me excuses–get it right of get off my damn TV. If we can’t abuse the weatherman, who can we abuse?
Take it easy Keith.
I like it, march the same lineup out there as last night. If it worked once let’s hope it works again.
As far as this gem: Eddie Guardado, who made his 800th career appearance on Saturday, has told a couple coaches that he would like to pitch for the Twins again someday. Keep that in mind
Dully noted, but disregarded.
Boy, that is oen empty bal park.
Wow - Fox 9’s Mr. Marler is a little edgy today, eh?
so if texas is that bad, why did they over take the twins five run lead on friday
Ite, no team is ever going to go 0-162. Regardless of how bad they are.
They just announced in the pressbox that the lineup sheet was wrong. Cuddy is the DH and Kubel is in right.
Nice first, Livan. If this keeps up the game will last four hours.
Boy, this mirrors that of Ramon Ortiz a year ago.
Begin the season with 3 solid outings, get to 3-0, and then completely fall flat on your face.
LEN3, any word on Baker? I checked yesterday’s thread and didn’t see any updates.
One of the worst teams LENIII’s ever seen, and they’re going to win 2 of 3 against our pathetic chumps. What does that make the Twins?
One of the worst teams LENIII’s ever seen, and they’re going to win 2 of 3 against our pathetic chumps. What does that make the Twins?
The worst team?
What a joke.
The rotation picked a bad time to decide it wanted to suck. Please tell me the Twins have a day off tomorrow…
Forget to mention in the pre-game post that Reyes, Neshek, Crain and Guerrier are pretty much unavailable today - maybe Reyes in a pinch.
If Livan can throw 300 pitches today, the inning-eater can eat up four innings.
I dont know if I can take it anymore
It is going to be such a long season…
Forget to mention in the pre-game post that Reyes, Neshek, Crain and Guerrier are pretty much unavailable today - maybe Reyes in a pinch.
So that leaves Korecky, Nathan, and Bass.
Heck, Boof will probably be needed today as well.
Nice second, Livan. If this keeps up, you won’t last for three.
I would leave Livan in the game regardless of how hard he was getting hit.
He was signed to eat innings, not the clubhouse buffet.
Tough crowd….how about the Vikes getting Booty? Couldn’t resist….
Tough crowd….how about the Vikes getting Booty? Couldn’t resist….
Like it matters.
The Super Bowl is waiting in the wings for the Vikings. I am shocked they are even drafting anyone else. They have everything they need after getting Jared Allen.
Do the Twins have an ACTUAL innings eater? - that is a position player who can take a whupping for the team by pitching an inning or two?
Like Jose Canseco did the day his arm exploded.
Erik,
I hope you are right, because Booty and Guion are dogs…… who have already been fixed.
and boom goes the dynamite
Ption Buscher to AAA and call up a pitcher ASAP.
The plane from Rochester will probably get to Texas before this game ends.
Make that:
Option Buscher to AAA and call up a pitcher ASAP.
The plane from Rochester will probably get to Texas before this game ends.
“This Rangers team is one of the worst I’ve ever seen. They are a horrible defensive team, they don’t do the little things and this pitching staff is awful. I thought the Orioles would be the worst team in the AL this year. I was wrong.”
La Velle,
Your quote must be posted in the Rangers dugout. Not to worry.
You can still talk sh-t to them after the game.
Oh yeah, this is all my fault
Wait, which team is supposed to be the terrible one?
I’m pretty sure the headline that LEN meant to write is:
Gomez gets another day off for the terrible twins
Is it a coincidence that other teams bats get hot when they just happen to be playing the Twins or is it a sign of weak MN pitching?
It it a coincidence that otherwise mediocre pitchers suddenly turn in Cy Young performances when they play the Twins or is it a sign of weak MN hitting?
I can already see the quotes coming, “We just played a team that was coming off a losing strike and ready to get hot.” Really? Or maybe it’s the fact that your team let an underperforming team knock the crap out of you.
hey c’mon now, I’m sure Padilla is mixing his pitches well
“First time we’ve ever faced that pitcher”
“TX is a lot better than their record indicates”
“We just ran into a buzz saw on offense here”
Face it, signing old guys who throw in the 70’s just doesn’t cut it in the long run. Nor does signing 2 starting fielders from one of the worst teams in baseball. Of course, those options were better than what Terry Ryan left Smith with….
ya his balls are movin all over the place….go get em gardy
Pitching has its ups and downs and the Twins are going through a down cycle right now.
how we can take the worst pitchers a turn them into cy young is just criminal, joe vavra
even the announcers are depressed today…is there something in the air in texas…
brendan harris is the only guy on this team that can hit anymore
thats the worst 10 game hitting streak ive ever seen….
Face it. Pohlad is once again running a budget team while fooling politicians into building him a stadium. Shame on the idiot Hennepin county commissioners, and kudos to Pohlad for running a shrewd campaign. If Pohlad’s objective is to make money, he is the master. However we know his priority is NOT to win a championship. Pohlad fooled everyone into thinking a new stadium meant he would spend more money. It really meant he was going to MAKE more money. Foolish commissioners.
Hey La Velle, isn’t it kind of funny that the worst team in the AL is beating us 9-0 in the 5th?
What does it say of the Twins if they can’t capitalize against a team that is “a horrible defensive team, they don’t do the little things and this pitching staff is awful.”
Time to start panicking or are the Rangers not as bad as you have painted them to be?
maybe we can trade for ponson….
Nate- i’m guessing a little from column A and little from column B
If there is one player who won’t get a fair shake according to statistics, it is Bass. He gets extended almost every time he’s out there. I like his stuff. It looks like he will be a good major league pitcher in either middle relief or maybe as a starter.
This is brutal. I’m keeping my good eye the draft and my bad eye on this game..
LaVelle wrote: “I want all of you to understand something. This Rangers team is one of the worst I’ve ever seen. They are a horrible defensive team, they don’t do the little things and this pitching staff is awful. I thought the Orioles would be the worst team in the AL this year. I was wrong.”
I’d say based on losing two of three against Texas that the Twins are in contention for that label, LaVelle…at least when it comes to the manager leaving in pitchers way too long, an owner proudly giving us Budget Ball, and batters phoning it in.
Terrible Twins! I don’t know why the offense continues to struggle, but if this team can’t score off of Texas pitching we’re in for a long season. The hitting coach should be fired just for the lack of offensive performance in this game.
LOL…Gardenhire puts in Nathan, and Nathan gives up a dinger on the first pitch. Priceless.
Clearly the Rangers have no sense of good-sportsmanship. You’re already winning 10-0, do you really have to pad your stats by giving your starter a complete game and a shutout to boot? Play fair!
lol…I read the blog that says this is a horrible Rangers team, can’t hit, can’t play defense, can’t pitch, then I scroll down to the box score and they are leading the Twins 10-0…now THAT’S priceless.
lavelle this is effn embarrassing….i cant believe what im seeing …this team just doesnt care or something..theres a big disconnect somewhere in the organization that is usually so solid…something has come unhinged in that twins dugout and i wish i knew what it was…what can you find out…something has to change….
Where are all the whoopdedo’ers posting now that Twins suck as bad as many of us predicted? All the guy’s who said “hey they are going to be fine”, “Their offense will carry them”, “we won’t miss Torii or Johan” blah blah blah. All the jackasses are pretty quiet now huh? This team sucks and don’t kid yourself about the future. An article appeared yesterday in which a Twin’s official stated that with a new stadium, the Twin’s payroll will be close to $100,000,000.00. Well in 2 years that is going to be like 80 million today. They still are not going to be able to compete. Baseball’s lack of a salary cap makes it the least compelling sport to follow. The majority of teams in the playoffs are always among the top spenders. The Marlins have twice proven that you can buy a World Series championship. You can’t do that in any other sport. No way a team in Green Bay or San Antonio could ever compete in baseball, but they sure can in football and basketball. Baseball sucks.
thank god the draft was on to take away from some of this action…whoa..cant imagine what gardy will say today…sooner or later you have to stop tipping your hat to the other teams and start looking at this teams offense..i never would have dreamt it to be this inept…i can see livan getting lit up like that and thats going to happen i guess,although i dont think the twins can let this happen to livan too many more times or its just another r. ortiz showing and hes gone, and i wouldnt be surprised if hes not on the ropes now…maybe one more start??? and start going with the mulveys, and perkins….
The Twins need a real cleanup hitter. Josh Hamilton is the kind of guy they should be looking for. The kid is going to have an All Star year (not that I’m going out on a limb there; he already is so far).
Way to run the Rangers under the bus today LEN3. That worked out well.
4th shutout this season, 13th in runs scored, 13th in home runs, 14th in OBP and Livan is starting to look like Ramon Ortiz-2007. The Cuban got smoked today and has given up 14 runs in his last 15 innings. After a nice offensive night last night we allowed a Texas pitcher to throw a shutout for the first time since 2005 and the Rangers first complete game since 2006.
We had better hope the Dome helps us this week with the White Sox and Tigers coming in.
Fire. Joe. Vavra. Now! Next on the block, Gardy, pending performance of future hitting coach.
MJ1, they know it is going to be a long season with no chance of winning many games. The M & M boys are not team leaders. The team lost it’s leaders in the offseason in Santana, Silva and Hunter. Lamb, Everett, Gomez, Hernandez, Bonser are all not ready or were never ready, or won’t be ready again. There is a lot of cheap dead weight on this team. Pohlad will want to pocket the profits from new stadium until he feels that he has recouped the money he lost in the 90’s. Baseball’s economics make sure that mid market teams like us will only compete once every decade and a half, that is if other teams in our way suffer significant injuries. The team was run much better in the early Pohlad years under McPhail. Baseball sucks, the player’s union is the greediest in all of sports.
The Sky Is Falling!
The sky isn’t falling. The Twins just don’t have a good team.
i said that yesterday…the m&m boys dont seem to be the leaders they should be …cuddy seems to be the only real leader on this team, but still they should be able to go out a play a good game and hit the ball…they havent hit a damn thing all year…the most pathetic offensive output since i dont know when and i cant blame that on torri hunter being gone…we dont miss him that much…but i do know they paid out alot of bucks to two guys who seem to mirror each other too much…both have hoo hum attitudes, kinda just come to work and see what happens and go home again….no leadership at all that i can see and no fire in their bellys…this team needs to develop some charachter now before its too late- they cant afford to have too many more games like this one-to this team of all teams….go home and regroup twins and come out swingin on tuesday……
All the jackasses are pretty quiet now huh?
I never said they’d be “fine”. I sad they’re rebuilding. They’re going to struggle this year…duh.
Meanwhile, there are people such as yourself that wait until something goes wrong for the team and then vists with an “I told you so.”
Which is equally annoying as the people you’re currently complaing about.
The Twins pitching (mostly Livan) got shelled today. Offense stunk it up, but they could’ve hit two grans slams and still lost by 2.
Way to run the Rangers under the bus today LEN3.
Yeah, I saw LEN3’s post today and was like “Well now the jinx is on.”
gardy seemed to blame it all on pitching…wow…no mention of the lack of hitting except to say when were down like that ya cant run or anything…wait…how about getting on base to begin with…c’mon gards, get real…just six singles…thats not your pitchers fault..i think hes confused too
The Rangers may not do some of the little things, but the Twins don’t do the BIG things…like scoring runs, and keeping the other team from scoring runs.
gardy seemed to blame it all on pitching…wow…
They gave up ten runs.
They win big yesterday, lose big today and are three and a half out.
How much worse are they than were last year?
About what I expected.
Yesterday we were the dog.
Today we’re the hydrant.
This club is going to have some rough spots, especially the first half of the season. I really don’t think they will contend, but no one else is jumping out, either. The STrangers have some bats and will score some runs, but if you can’t put pressure on their pitching and fielding, I don’t think you want to get in a slugging match with them.
mj1 - according to Forbes, the Twins were the 9th most profitable team based on 2007 revenues(not even looking at the growth in value of the franchise). They can compete now and in the future. They have chosen not to.
JoeC said that Gomez was dangerously overmatched.
LaVelle said that the Rangers were one of the worst teams he has ever seen.
Props to both of them.
When they temporarily look silly, they have to go right back out in public and continue working.
The commenters (including myself) can just disappear for a few days until one of the future games helps prove a point we were trying to make.
Then we can reappear, crow “I told you so”, and conveniently forget all our past screw-ups.
sane,
There’s no need to wait for any particular game. To date, the twins have scored 95 runs, or second to last in the American League. They also have the worst OBP in the American League, are one percentage point from being second to worst in SLG in the American League, and are 1 HR from being tied for the worst in HRs in the American League.
There’s no need to wait for any one game to start talking about points people want to make; no reason at all.
M,
“To date” is also temporary.
I’ll absorb or hand out my shots in September when something has been decided.
Where’s Aaron Gleeman and his “Free Jason Kubel” campaign now…
A month in and we have the same Jason Kubel we had last year… a .247 hitter who’s on pace for 18 HR…
Whew, it’s a good thing we didn’t pursue Frank Thomas, he might have taken at-bats away from this guy…
M,
If you compare their recent season batting records to the following:
Cuddyer .258
Kubel .247
Delmon .258
Lamb .219
Redmond .154
Everett .185
If you think they will finish the season with those BA’s instead of their career norms, then you have reason to cry. In my experience, good hitters usually rise to their level unless they have reached the end of their career.
IMO .300 hitters will usually bat .300 and .200 hitters will usually bat .200.
sane,
Sure. Although I would compare OBP as it’s a more meaningful statistic. And if you compare this year/last year, you have…
Cuddyer: .286 / .356
Kubel: .280 / .335
DY: .289 / .316
Lamb: .240 / .367
Redmond: who cares. he has 13 AB’s.
Everett: .214 / .281
Also…
Morneau: .358 / .345
Mauer: .361 / .382
A couple of points to make about these numbers, though. First, Everett and Lamb could very well be on a decline given their age. Second, early cold weather is more favorable to pitchers (slightly). If you look at the OBP for the MLB as a whole, it’s about 5 points lower right now than it was for full year last year. So the league as a whole should come up some, although obviously not as much as the Twins lineup.
Also, as I pointed out a few days ago, the Twins were abysmal in batting last year, 10th in the AL in OBP and second-to-last in the majors in SLG and HRs. And that was with Hunter. So even if the Twins play up to their production last year, they still have a weak offense.
Obviously, it’s still early… no hitting statistic becomes really meaningful until you get around 150ABs… but I don’t see any real cause to think that the Twins are going to all of a sudden have a great, or even a mediocre, offense. And you don’t need to point to any particular game to have that information borne out.
Whew, it’s a good thing we didn’t pursue Frank Thomas, he might have taken at-bats away from this guy…
Oh yes, he’s certainly kicking butt and taking names with his .157 average and 3 HR.
Boy, Oakland definately stole that away from Toronto.
Those are around career norms for Kubel and Cuddyer, and Redmond just looks OLD this year to me.
Jason, I’m still firmly in the free Kubel camp still. While Gardy has said all the right things to/about Kubel this year, I doubt that Kubel has appreciated the way he has been treated the last few years. That’s just my opinion. I think Kubel would benefit from a change in scenery, which I’m certain he’ll get eventually.
Comparing 2007 Twins to 2008 Twins, you must also (roughly) add career norms for Harris, Young, Lamb, Monroe, Gomez, Everett and subtract the 2007 finals for Hunter, Bartlett, Castillo, Rondell, Ford, Punto2007 and Tyner
I am not sure where that puts the team OBP at the end of 2008, but I think it would be higher than it was at the end of 2007.
Well, I missed all the excitement these blogs bring over the last 2 games. Reading through them now… didn’t miss much.
Looks to me like La Velle put a jinx on the Twins today and gave the Rangers some bulletin board material.
I give LEN III the first star of the game.
2nd star goes to Vavra. He got us 17 runs in the previous 2 games and then we get shutout today. Obviously he has no consistency. Fire him now.
3rd star goes to Rick Anderson. He got Baker a bad groin yesterday and today he didn’t teach Livan how to pitch well enough.
Clearly this team needs to be blown up. I think rebuilding around Nickie is the only answer. Every one else is expendable.
This was sarcastic, for those who are sarcasm-challenged and couldn’t figure that out.
It’s still April folks. lol
No one can shut down an offense like Vavra.
And I could care less what T and some of the other Management lovers think on the matter.
A major league team should not be shut out this many times in an era of the DH, and an era of weak pitching.
If you say we faced a good pitcher today after getting our asses kicked by the Rangers who are the worst team in major league baseball year in and year out for the last 30 years or so now…
This is Vavra’s job to avoid a team being shut out. There is nothing more disgusting to me as a fan than to see those millions of dollars not performing. It’s frustrating watching Rincon blow a game every 3rd appearance, but nothing is worse to me as a fan than being shutout by a terrible team…
Only injury is worse than shutouts, and no hitters.
How many shutouts T before you drop the Vavra Protection and let us burn the witch at the stake?
What’s the deal with the lineup the last two days? Our best hitters are 3-9? Mauer/Morneau back to back? Our DH/CF hitting 9th? Does this make any sense? Did Gardy throw them out there like that again because we got lucky and won with several unearned runs on Saturday? Is he just going with a “gut feeling” again?
forget blaming varva and gardy and punto the fact is that this team doesn’t have a leader in the locker room to light a fire the way hunter used to……SOS
the ship is sinking
should have paid santana
Abandon ship!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Everyone into the water!!!!!!
Great,
More room in the luxury suites.
More food at the buffets.
No more waiting in line.
Outstanding!
So, LEN3 says the 2008 Rangers are one of the worst teams he’s seen. Well, they just took 2 out of 3 from the Twins and scored 22 runs in the process. It’s only one weekend, but it doesn’t say much about our team this year does it?
Completely off the subject.
Free Agent USC Offensive Lineman Drew Radovich will play more and better for the Vikings than will USC QB John David Booty.
JMHO but I’ve seen both play nearly every USC game in their careers, plus I’ve seen Radovich since HS.
Sane,
I think both will come in quite useful for the Vikings, but they screwed up last year by not putting that QB on the roster and losing him to the Chiefs.
And to the other guy…
I’m not pannicking at all. I said this was a 72 win team at the beginning of the season, and while I hope I’m wrong, I never bet against my initial gut reaction.
I don’t know Joe Vavra personally, and he might be a great guy, but because I don’t know him personally I can evaluate the job he does, and it is freaking terrible. 17 shutouts last year, 4-5 so far already this year… he’s not helped Mauer develop power, not helped Kubel much if anything. I’ve not seen a single hitter under his leadership improve. They had the initial magical run where everything clicked… and to blame it on Hunter not being here, then explain the 17 shutous last season.
Joe Vavra is a cancer to the bats… he is dutch elm disease. The man doesn’t do his job, and you cannot blame all the players… it can never be all 12 ofensive players that are bad when you have a former batting champ, and MVP…
If for no other reason than symbolic to show the team that a move needed to be made, and a shake up has to be done, the hitting coach is the easiest person in the world to fire.
It needs to be done… end of conversation.
Hey BC, just out of curiosity…when you watch the games, do you just go ahead and cover up the other team’s score?
I mean, that’s the only way you can look at a 10-0 loss and place sole blame entirely on the offense.
That’s what one would call a complete failure on all sides.
But if you want to remain blissfully unaware of the rotation’s struggles this past weekend (not to mention the Oakland series) go right ahead. The rest of us who are paying attention will continue to wonder if Liriano can ever get back to 100%, or if Baker’s going to have to go to the DL.
If you really want though, I suppose you can push blame for that onto Vavra as well.
As much as the hitting sucks, the starting staff’s gotten knocked around pretty badly over this road trip.
See, I’ve accepted the hitting sucks this year…but unlike you I haven’t let myself get stuck whining about that. I’ve been paying attention to things on the other side of the ball.
PS: Liriano got hammered in 2/3 of an inning. Blackburn got rocked in the 2nd or 3rd, Baker had to come out earlier, and now Livan got absolutely rocked.
FIRE RICK ANDERSON!
Weeeeee! Scapegoats are fun!
Mauer - can’t pull the ball!
Has anyone ever seen Joe Mauer pull the ball with authority to right field? Ok, I exagerate a little, but why(other than Vavra) can’t a .300, batting champ, pro hitter ever pull the ball to right field other than to ground out into doubleplays?
sane,
People aren’t as worried about pitching for a few reasons.
1) The Twins traditionally have a very good pitching staff. The organization has shown it can select and develop young pitching.
2) Really, you shouldn’t expect anything out of Livan Hernandez. He’s bad. That’s no secret. Liriano isn’t as bad as his last outing but he hadn’t healed up yet.
So what is there to get upset about?
If you’re just worrying about results and doing knee-jerk reactions, then sure, blast off on the pitching. But if you’re doing anything more, it’s the hitting.
M.,
Was your 8:17AM post for me?
If so, to which of my posts were you responding?
I think you were responding to T.
No problem either way.
I wonder what the fan boards for other team’s are like after the Twins beat them.
Like, were LAA fans ready to fire Mike Scosia after Livan held them to two runs. Or was there hand wrining about the offense after they only scored one run against Nick Blackburn?
How about Chicago when the Twins tatooed them for 12 runs? Or Saturday when the Twins did it to Texas?
It seems that Twins fans always always blame poor offense on the Twins offense, and never even tries to give the other team’s pitcher any credit.
Ever.
So that’s why I’m curious, when a Twins pitcher beats the opposing team (or just gives ups 2-3 runs or something like that) do they just sit back and go “Well I guess Nick Blackburn is just that good!”
Because I could see something like Nick Blackburn’s 1-0 game against LAA turning into something where both team’s fans refuse to acknowledge that either pitcher was any good…and it was entirely the blame of both offenses.
I know it sounds weird…but seriously…do you ever wonder?
Whoops, sorry. Forgot to close my italics after “both”.
M.,
“If you’re just worrying about results and doing knee-jerk reactions, then sure, blast off on the pitching”
I don’t recall blasting off on the pitching or hitting. I think both will be fine.
If that is my “knee-jerk reaction”, it has been a very slow “knee-jerk reaction” and I am not upset at all about the Twins start.
‘“To date” is also temporary.
I’ll absorb or hand out my shots in September when something has been decided.’
I thought that in that post I was relatively calm. I think this may be a case of mistaken identity.
Yeah, my Fire Rick Anderson post shouldn’t be taken with any more seriousness than with which it was posted.
I’m just disappointed that the mood around here is that people feel they need to voice their complaint everytime, as though the rest of us will somehow forget.
Like how BC has to complain about Vavra, or Kevin has to remind us that the stadium is publically funded.
Or myself, making sure I add “Yes the offense has stunk” as a preface to every comment, even when I’m voicing a concern about the over extended bullpen the past few days…or Baker’s injury.
And heaven forbid somebody suggests the piching didn’t do anybody favors in a 11-9 or 12-0 loss…
ElyPat,
“Mauer - can’t pull the ball!”
When a LH hitter tries to pull the ball, and the pitch fades or breaks away from him, ground balls to the 2B result.
He hit.347 in 2006 by NOT trying to pull the ball.
If thats not good enough for you, then Mauer’s hitting will never be good enough for you.
Harris, Hunter, Morneau, Mauer, Gomez and Tolbert have all hit better under Vavra than under their previous hitting coaches. Many others have hit worse. There is no unanimity in the results as you have suggested.
Total results looked good in 2006 - bad in 2007 and bad so far in 2008.
If the trend continues, he probably will be replaced in 2009 by another guy who will be skewered when it’s his turn.
Can we package Kubel, Boof And Vavra and get anything in a trade for them
we should be happy with the status quo and hope for a turn around some time in the next 4-5 years. making a change would be knee jerk and over reacting. lets just watch the season not complain and accept this team for what it is, not very good.
Does anyone know if I want to order a game through comcast what a single game would cost $$$
You suck T
Does anyone know if I want to order a game through comcast what a single game would cost $$$
Is that option available? When I see those “Extra Innings” channels on my listings they don’t provide any sort of “purchase” option like a PPV would. I just say “Channel unavailable” and that’s the end of it.
That would be a nice option though. Sometimes there are other games I want to watch…but I don’t want to spend the money on the full package.
we should be happy with the status quo and hope for a turn around some time in the next 4-5 years.
No. Sane is right. The offense had a great year under Vavra and a bad year.
So now let’s see what happens with a few of the young hitters (new guys Gomez and Young). If they fail to produce or show progress by the end of the year then the team needs to make a change.
T There are a few teams on off nights or at the same time I would like to watch and don’t want the whole season of games. Last year I could just order the GB vs Dallas middle of the week game for only 5 dollars. You would think this would be an option. I would watch Torii some nights and today Santana pitches or even the A’s. If you come up with anything just yell down on the blog
I hope you losers are happy with Gomez’s 1 HR, and sub .250 BA!!!!!! Im glad you morons didn’t take Ellsbury, he was yours for the taking and you didn’t take him?!?!?!?! … Only in Minnesota I guess. BoSox repat domination baby!!!
Ellsbury blows. gomez will be better.
Ellsbury blows. gomez will be better
Bosox- were you actually born in Mass or just a band wagon hopper. It’s almost like a North Dakota Yankee fan.
Cause there is nothing I hate worse than someone that hops on the back of a winning team. Next year will you be a Tiger fan. When College football is on do you like USC. Oh well to each there own
Im glad you morons didn’t take Ellsbury, he was yours for the taking and you didn’t take him?!?!?!?! …
There’s more and more evidence piling up that the Sox were only throwing an offer in the pot to try and force the Yankees hand.
And consideirng that by the end of it all…the offer seemed to stick on Lester rather than Ellsbury, I have a feeling he was anything BUT up for grabs.
I will give credit where credit is due though… you got two good players in the trade. Guerra looks incredible, and Mulvey looks like he good be a strong #3 pitcher.
Gomez though… HAHAHAHAHAHA
Humber though…. HAHAHAHAHA
LaVelle,
Am I going to have to go through another entire season watching Rincon in a Twins uniform?
I don’t think I can take it anymore.
What do Gardy and Anderson see in this guy?
Does Rincon have naked pictures of them or something?
Razor, they were almost able to get rid of him when they brought in Young…but the guy had some elbow THING that caused the deal to almost fall through.
Hence why he’s still here.
Rincon is only good with steriods.
Didn’t the Twins sign Rincon to a new contract this past offseason? They had their chance to get rid of him.
Watching Reyes and Guardado pitch back to back innings brought me back to the good old days of watching Fernando Valenzuela with the Dodgers
“I’m just disappointed that the mood around here is that people feel they need to voice their complaint everytime, as though the rest of us will somehow forget.” T
Or that T will make sure to comment on everything that is said pick it apart with a fine toothed comb and tell everyone how useless their comments are compared to his!
Hey the worst team in the AL according to you just beat the heck out of the Twins.
What does that make the Twins?
Iron Man,
It makes the Twins a team who had a bad day, a good day, and another bad day last weekend.
Didn’t the Twins sign Rincon to a new contract this past offseason? They had their chance to get rid of him.
I think they renewed him for a year and avoided arbitration.
But the fact they were about ready to trade him away pretty much tells me that he’s not in their plans much longer.
Too bad they took the tarp off the field. And I am soooooooooo glad Gardy kept Rincon in the other night and “saved” Nathan … for a time we would REALLY need him.
What the hell were we thinking?
What is absolutely crucial and irreplacable for a kick-ASS offense?
BOOTY!!!!!
You can’t do without it.
How could we not see this coming?
Speaking of Booty:
How long until the Strib editors let a headline slip by that makes good use of “Booty”?
bc-Been gone for a week,i see on your Vavra kick! He can,t swing the bats for these guys,for heaven sakes!
Go Twins!
Mark Salinas, MN
Did anyone catch the answer to the question the other night? Who holds the longest hitting streak for catcher I think it was. I didn’t see the answer, and can’t find it. Thanks.
Lavelle-
What do you do when you’re not blogging for five days? Why do I still see an email previewing the Rangers series on the Twins home page?
Totally embarrassing.
TK(2),
Who holds the longest hitting streak for catcher?
Benito Santiago, Padres, 1987, 34 games
I didn’t see the answer, but I hope I looked it up correctly.
