The Texas Rangers have agreed to play the Minnesota Twins in a baseball exhibition today. It is my understanding that the Twins were once a major league team.
[edit by sean]:
Span will play __ before going on the DL
2 games (42%, 5 Votes)
1 game (33%, 4 Votes)
Rest of season (17%, 2 Votes)
3 games (8%, 1 Votes)
Total Voters: 12
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175 LTEs written in response to Game 124: Twins vs. Rangers
Maybe the reason they aren’t worrying about Diamond’s inning count is because he threw 162 innings last year with 158 innings the year before. Plus he isn’t coming off surgery.
ahh. I didn’t realize it was on a 3-0 count. Not cool, but then, we’ve joaked about encouraging Twins pitchers to do the same to Jeter, Doucheira, and Anthony John.
I’d be less critical of it if it hadn’t been on the 3-0 count. If you want to give him his base, fine. No reason to plant a 93 mph fastball in his back when one more ball off the plate would do the same thing.
Gardy has always gone nuts over this stuff and he has a point. If the umpire believes that a pitcher intentionally threw a pitch at a player, ejection is clearly warranted.
No way Oswalt should still be in there after what he did to Mauer.
So, I was at the baseball card shop this afternoon, and the owner was telling me that the Astros used their 14th different starter this year. I suggested he check the Twins, and they have had eleven. I was able to guess all eleven of them, having to think a moment for the last two.
Nick Blackburn / Sam Deduno / Cole De Vries / Scott Diamond / Brian Duensing / Liam Hendriks / Francisco Liriano / Jason Marquis / Carl Pavano / Anthony Swarzak / P.J. Walters
While on the topic of cards, I have gotten some doubles recently in the Allen and Ginter set this season. Are you collecting this set? If not I might could send some out to you.
Hmmm. Long and short of it he is giving up all of his Tour de France wins due to doping allegations. He is not admitting he cheated just saying he is tired of fighting the accusations and will have his wins revoked.
USADA reacted quickly and treated Armstrong’s decision as an admission of guilt, hanging the label of drug cheat on an athlete who was a hero to thousands for overcoming life-threatening testicular cancer and for his foundation’s support for cancer research.
Setting aside for a second questions as to “Did he?/Didn’t he?”, the two ideas -- he cheated & he raised a lot for Livestrong* -- are not mutually inclusive. We’ve dubbed this I believe either the Drogba or Swisher Paradox -- a complete knob on the field/diamond/pitch/bike, fantastic person off it. I understand he traded on his name that he built riding bikes, but to say that the cheating allegations (were they to be proven true) somehow invalidates any good work he may have done otherwise is far too reductive and lacking in nuance. It’s shoddy writing and the type of reporting that bothers the hell out of me and keeps me from reading a lot of media outlets.
*The effectiveness of Livestrong is an entirely different question
when was the last time a Twins pitcher intentionally threw at someone? Im trying to recall..was it the time in Detroit when Mijares threw at someone, then Delmon Young got plunked and got pissed at fat boy?
last night in canada quebec, so i came back early. could someone please give me a quick synopsis? i see the plunkwar, but what prompted oswalt to start it?
Evidently if your team can’t properly execute a rundown of a guy between third and home, you throw the next batter three balls and then plunk him in the back. Let me check my copy of the unwritten rules, I’m sure I saw it in there somewhere.
i didn’t know of any great recommendations (the internets was divided), and had never had it before, so i went with a place that a few sources agreed was “pretty good”. i’ll get jiggy wit it next time.
So Diamond apparently started pitching inside. It’s too bad you can’t option umpires to AAA, because I think Wally Bell has some things to learn in Rochester. At any rate, I guess we’ll just have to settle for 89-73!
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I assume the poll is with regards to his current shoulder injury and not twisting an ankle or some other new injury.
Either way, I went with 3.
That was the intention, but I’m not going to limit myself.
Willingham a late scratch with a stiff neck. He’s day-to-day. Hopefully, he’ll go see an expert for a second opinion before paralysis sets it.
I am happy the Twins are back in the Central time zone
I was just coming to post this.
Who’d have thought the Twins could be facing Roy Oswalt and I’d feel like the pitching matchup kind of favors the Twins?
Gameday thinks Mauer is a singles hitter as well; it still has him at first.
Gameday is secretly a Stribber
Hey, a lead! With Diamond pitching, no less.
Maybe the reason they aren’t worrying about Diamond’s inning count is because he threw 162 innings last year with 158 innings the year before. Plus he isn’t coming off surgery.
Howdy, y’all. Looks like the Twins have taken an early lead! But probably not for long.
Well, this isn’t exactly what I was hoping for.
that lead did not last long
This.
I blame Casilla.
Yes, it’s important to pitch inside sometimes, but I hate when “analysts” say it as if it was a magic formula for success.
That’s only half the equation. You also have to keep the ball down.
scout says that Scott Diamond showed faith in Joe Mauer by throwing a curveball in the dirt.
Where have you been all my life, scout??
C’mon Diamond, you’re the only
goodpitcher.Vote for Pedro!
that was nifty!
Vote for Pedro!
--><--
this much, bhigs
I typed it without “for” the first time, and it didn’t look right so I googled it quick. Not quick enough, obviously.
yea, “Vote Pedro” would be a werewolf thing, right?
Yup, it’s kinda automatic for me to type it that way now. Damn you, Greekhouse and Spooky!
I like this Florist kid.
That could have been a lot worse. Maybe Diamond can regroup and get on track while the Twins bat around.
Hopefully he doesn’t get too cold sitting on the bench which the Twins put up an 8 spot.
or maybe give up a leadoff double. who knows?
Every time somebody says “Matt Carson” I could swear they’re saying “Matt Garza”.
oh great. Another Saturday FOX ‘national’ game with Mitch Williams.
I’m already regretting turning this game on.
That’s a little better.
oh noes! Soto started out of the box “a little too pretty” according to Dazz. Must be selfish.
sweet!
Matt Carson is the greatest OFer in franchise history!!
Another of our patented double plays!
Can we make Carson into a pitcher? I think he’d be more valuable for us there.
I predict he’d be our best pitcher since Liam Hendriks.
or Drew Butera
Make all my dreams come true, Pedro.
He’s listening to his supporters!
“productive out”?
No, it was just an out.
Yeah, Dazzle pulled out the old “Span does his job and moves the runner over”. Sigh.
Span does his job and moves the runner from third to home!
OFFS! Twins baseball?? Talk about ridiculous.
Florimon is a sneaky b@st@rd!!
HOW?
I’m going to assume that the Rangers have been taking fielding practice with the Astros.
a-hahahaaha!
Twins baseball????
Huh. How about that.
Productive non-out.
oooh, that hit Mauer in a weird spot.
Somebody else is gonna get drilled before this game is over.
Why the hell would Oswalt throw at Joe there? That makes no sense.
My feelings exactly.
ahh. I didn’t realize it was on a 3-0 count. Not cool, but then, we’ve joaked about encouraging Twins pitchers to do the same to Jeter, Doucheira, and Anthony John.
We have? I wouldn’t waste three pitches first.
I’d be less critical of it if it hadn’t been on the 3-0 count. If you want to give him his base, fine. No reason to plant a 93 mph fastball in his back when one more ball off the plate would do the same thing.
New proposed rule- if a pitcher hits an opposing batter, the pitcher has to bat the next half-inning.
Wow, Doumit, wow.
That graphic really makes it look intentional.
It also makes Joe look like a stud for standing in there and taking it.
In the wrist no less!
Indeed. Is it possible all of our booing has been premature?
oh, geez Gardy, did we really need to have our best pitcher tossed?!?
OMFG
Yeah, that wasn’t subtle.
How about that.
I am actually shocked a Twins pitcher threw at someone
Minnesota Not Nice.
Wow. So he doesn’t even hit him with the pitch and still gets ejected?
yeah, its kinda bull, but that pitch was high and behind the shoulder/head
I guess we’re limiting Diamond’s innings now, huh?
Diamond may have thrown it in the exact same spot as Oswalt.
Gameday says knuckles instead of wrist.
Now Swiftsniff needs to actually hit Hamilton.
Well that was all kinds of terrible. I think we’d all be a lot happier if that had at least gotten Hamilton in the ribs.
Also, we all now know that intentionally hitting batters is not one of Diamond’s strong suits.
Not a veteran pitcher.
He needs to get some cardboard cutouts of Teixeira and do some bullpen work before his next start.
He threw only 54 pitches, so he could start right now!
do you think Swarzak was limbering up during the half inning knowing that Diamond was going to get ejected?
Yes.
Gardy has always gone nuts over this stuff and he has a point. If the umpire believes that a pitcher intentionally threw a pitch at a player, ejection is clearly warranted.
No way Oswalt should still be in there after what he did to Mauer.
oooh. Wally Bell has warned both benches.
You have to, right?
yah, I was just thinking Hans Blix/Team America.
first the ejection, then the warning.
makes perfect sense
ok, keep the fireworks going, kids. I’m out.
Alright, I’ll watch one more half inning--just to see what Little Roy does. Then it’s bedtime.
Plouffe sucks again.
That was lame. Night, all!
DSPAN2(bagger)
I’m still here, mostly because there’s nothing else on.
And because the latest writers challenge sucks, am I right?
Hey, nobody said they’d all be easy.
well, this one’s chapping my hide, for some reason
I have the meat of that one done, just need to trim the fat now, which I’ll do tomorrow.
Crap, I trimmed the meat out of mine. I always do that backwards.
*grasps for something to talk about*
So, I was at the baseball card shop this afternoon, and the owner was telling me that the Astros used their 14th different starter this year. I suggested he check the Twins, and they have had eleven. I was able to guess all eleven of them, having to think a moment for the last two.
What was the over/under earlier? I think the Twins are going to finish with this set.
While on the topic of cards, I have gotten some doubles recently in the Allen and Ginter set this season. Are you collecting this set? If not I might could send some out to you.
Thanks, but I should be able to finish off the Twins easily enough, eventually.
I have gotten 4 Revere’s already!
I was ready to SEND HIM!!
+some large letters
Hmmm, I’ll have a go
There’s 8, I’ll think of the other 3.
I’m surprised you’re missing
I cheated and looked at yours. I shoulda known
but I would have probably never come up with
My troublesome two were
The Astros record is 17 starters in one year.
Should have thrown at Beltre.
Is there a wildfire at the ballpark?
freakin’ bunts
Hi, everybody. Did I miss anything?
Scott Diamond stood up for Joe Mauer.
but Diamond hits like a Twin.
need a hit here.
Seems like Span isn’t going to be going on the DL tomorrow.
battery on this laptop is fading fast; don’t have long for this game…
I would say that’s punishment for tossing Diamond, but the wrong team hit Wally Bell.
Karma doesn’t play on a team.
Awwwwww, Wally Bell got hit.
So not really related to the Twins game but how about Lance Armstrong?
I get a “file not found” message. What’s up with the biker dude?
Hmmm. Long and short of it he is giving up all of his Tour de France wins due to doping allegations. He is not admitting he cheated just saying he is tired of fighting the accusations and will have his wins revoked.
Seems like a reasonable thing for him to do. What does he have to gain by fighting it? It can’t be proven one way or the other.
Still, I bet we get a “my website was hacked” disclaimer tomorrow.
It wasn’t just Lance reporting it.
That does look legitimate (thanks for the link fix, sean).
Again, I don’t have a problem with this. Why should he waste any more time on the past?
If it makes him happy…
Edited the link. Apparently the web master can’t spell “Armstrong” since the link URL has “armstong” in it.
I didn’t even notice that at first. That is pretty ridiculous. The editor is clearly off his PED’s.
Just saw this from an AP article
Setting aside for a second questions as to “Did he?/Didn’t he?”, the two ideas -- he cheated & he raised a lot for Livestrong* -- are not mutually inclusive. We’ve dubbed this I believe either the Drogba or Swisher Paradox -- a complete knob on the field/diamond/pitch/bike, fantastic person off it. I understand he traded on his name that he built riding bikes, but to say that the cheating allegations (were they to be proven true) somehow invalidates any good work he may have done otherwise is far too reductive and lacking in nuance. It’s shoddy writing and the type of reporting that bothers the hell out of me and keeps me from reading a lot of media outlets.
*The effectiveness of Livestrong is an entirely different question
when was the last time a Twins pitcher intentionally threw at someone? Im trying to recall..was it the time in Detroit when Mijares threw at someone, then Delmon Young got plunked and got pissed at fat boy?
That’s the last one I can remember.
I’m pretty sure Pavano plunked someone in retaliation more recently than that, but it’s definitely been a while.
When’s the last time a Twins player was intentionally hit in an obvious manner?
Torii on Morneau.
I thought that was ii on Punto?
A lot to chew on here.
and the daily something links back to the old basement on that.
Hostmonster is throttling me.
Doumit is having a terrible night at the plate.
Clutch hitting is cyclical?
Dick Bremer has run out of things to say
Does Jeff Gray still just win baseball games?
last night in
canadaquebec, so i came back early. could someone please give me a quick synopsis? i see the plunkwar, but what prompted oswalt to start it?Joe Mauer kick puppies..or something.
it came out of nowhere
jealousy.
Evidently if your team can’t properly execute a rundown of a guy between third and home, you throw the next batter three balls and then plunk him in the back. Let me check my copy of the unwritten rules, I’m sure I saw it in there somewhere.
I swear Dick just said “f*$k sports north” there instead of Fox.
strikes out on three pitches? Against a righty? When did Butters body-snatch Joe?
oh, by the way, here’s my “what are you eating/drinking” for tonight:
yea, poutine!!!!
burrito with leftover green chile chicken and rosemary goat cheese; Kirkland IPA.
Saltines and this.
i didn’t know of any great recommendations (the internets was divided), and had never had it before, so i went with a place that a few sources agreed was “pretty good”. i’ll get jiggy wit it next time.
in the science of baseball, you learn about all the science that, uh, is in baseball.
Dazz: Plouffe! doesn’t have a “dive” after a ball “in him”. Whatever that means.
[joeschmidt]
alright. Just have Burton drill somebody now.
Who stuck Valencia and Dozier back in the infield?
Ok, I’ve had enough of this crap.
But there was so much crap yet to come after that, bS!
How did I make it this far into the season without noticing Valerie Smock?
Don’t call it a comeback!
At least they have to run out Twitchy.
Well got the tying run out to the on-deck circle and burned Twitchy at least.
So Diamond apparently started pitching inside. It’s too bad you can’t option umpires to AAA, because I think Wally Bell has some things to learn in Rochester. At any rate, I guess we’ll just have to settle for 89-73!