Monthly Archives: April 2011

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To Our Visitors from AG.com

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Hey there, friends of Gleeman.

Seven years ago, SBG (Stick and Ball Guy) started The WGOM, and in time, it became a thriving community of about 50-60 regulars who talk music, film, beer, the Timberwolves, the brewing of beer, literature, art, soccer and beer. First and foremost, however, it's about the love of the Twins.

Last week, SBG decided to stop wearing the hat of blog administrator for a number of reasons, but he didn't want to see the community go away. The site you see here is the culmination of a lot of us regulars creating a new home that runs a little faster and relieves SBG of his ludicrous workload.

Anyway, have a look around. The Cup of Coffee (right sidebar) is where we talk each day about whatever's on our minds. You can find a list of our features at the top of the site, and if you have any questions about anything, you can register here and ask away (registration is free and takes seconds). The main courses are our game logs, and you can find the running commentary on last night's win right here.

Have fun. We'll try to make ourselves presentable.

2011 Twins Game Recaps

Game 19 Recap: Twins 3, Orioles 1

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MINNESOTA 3, BALTIMORE 1
Record - 7-12 (Last in the Central)
Highest WPA - Baker (7.0 IP, 0 R, 9 SO) and Thome (2 for 4, HR, 2 RBI)
Lowest WPA - Hoey (0.0 IP, 2 H) and Valencia (1 for 4, SB)
Notable - Jim Thome has hit .455 (5 for 11) in the three Thursday games this season and has a positive WPA in all three.
Fangraphs
MLB Recap

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The story in this one was Scott Baker.  For the second consecutive outing, he looked really good.  Nine strikeouts (only one walk) in seven innings.  Only four hits allowed, and the O's went 0 for 5, with a walk, against him with runners in scoring position.  That was actually better than batters had done against Baker in that situation so far in 2011.  With this game added in, now opponents are hitting .000/.048/.000 (21 PAs) against him with runners in scoring position so far this season.  With that in mind it's probably unlikely that we'll continue to see Baker completely shut teams down as he has recently, but it's a good reminder that he's got the stuff to strike some people out when he's in a jam (24 K's in 25 IP in 2011) and if he keeps the ball in the park (6 of his 7 runs allowed courtesy of the longball - 14.3% HR/FB) he can be a real good pitcher.

Speaking of the longball, Jim Thome and Michael Cuddyer each poked one out, and Thome added an RBI single to supply the offense.  It seems like a fool's errand to attempt to draw any conclusions about this team offensively when so many parts are missing, so I'll just stick with the sentiment that I'm glad the offense scored enough runs to make the gem that Scottie pitched stand up.

First Thursday win of the season!

And the first Thursday that didn't end up with a regular on the DL!! (Mauer last week, Nishioka the week before)

Does it get any better?

 

2011 Twins Game Logs

2011 Game 19: Twins at Orioles

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Hey, it's game 19? That's the number I wore as a kid! Can we lose?! Well, I was a terrible hitter, so maybe.

Scott Baker faces a Jeremy tonight, but he's not really a Jeremy.

Jeremy Guthrie, at least, is right-handed, for all the good that does us what with Mauer and Morneau out. Guthrie consistently strikes out about five guys per nine innings and walks about two and a half. He's prone to giving up the long ball - more so than Baker - so if the wind is anything like last night, this could be a shootout (although, given the run scoring the Twins have done this year, I'm not holding my breath).

All in all, Baker generally out-FIPs and out-WARs Guthrie, but the offense will have to score some runs for that to matter.

I've gotten aggressively sick throughout the day, so I'm begging the Twins to prop me up with a win here. It would be nice to have a series that was a non-loss. Baby steps.

GO TWINS

Keeping Track

Snappers Snippets

Where they stand:  Beloit is 7-4, tied for second in the ML West, two games behind Burlington.

Who’s hot:  Daniel Ortiz is hitting .351/.419/.649 in 37 at-bats.  Oswaldo Arcia is hitting .342/.422/.605 in 38 at-bats.  Blayne Weller is 1-0, 0.00 in nine innings (four appearances).  He has allowed seven hits and four walks and struck out eight.  Manuel Soliman is 0-0, 1.80 in ten innings (three appearances, two starts).  He has given up six hits and five walks and struck out fifteen.

Who’s cold:  Derek McCallum is batting .148/.242/.148 in 27 at-bats.  Lance Ray is batting .194/.275/.333 in 36 at-bats.  Daniel Santana is batting .220/.273/.366 in 41 at-bats.  Michael Tonkin is 1-0, 5.06 in 5.2 innings (four appearances).  He has allowed seven hits and three walks.

Transactions:  Reggie Williams was promoted from Beloit to Ft. Myers.  Jamaal Hawkins was promoted from Elizabethton to Beloit.

What’s next:  The Snappers will play in Peoria for their next three games.  They then come home to host Burlington for three and Peoria for three.

Keeping Track

Minor Details: Games of 4/20

Rochester at Buffalo.  Postponed.  Will be made up as part of a doubleheader this afternoon.

New Hampshire 6, New Britain 2 in New Britain.  All the runs were scored in the first three innings, with the Fisher Cats getting a four-run fourth.  Ray Chang’s two-run single produced both Rock Cats runs.  Joe Benson and Evan Bigley each had two hits.  Deolis Guerra surrendered six runs on nine hits in just three innings to take the loss.  He did not walk anyone.  Cole DeVries, Jake Stevens, and Tyler Robertson each threw two shutout innings of relief.

Ft. Myers 9, Bradenton 5 in Ft. Myers.  Nate Hanson hit a walk-off grand slam to break a 5-5 tie.  Brian Dozier had three hits and scored three times.  Danny Rams singled and tripled, with his triple coming with the bases loaded in the fifth to give the Miracle a 5-4 lead.  Hanson also singled.  Brad Stillings lasted 4.2 innings, allowing four runs (two earned) on three hits and four walks.  Andrew Albers pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up only one hit and one walk.  Bruce Pugh got the win despite giving up a run on five hits in two innings.

Beloit at Wisconsin.  Postponed.  Will be made up as part of a doubleheader May 19.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–April 21

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Hardy Richardson (1855)
Germany Smith (1863)
Ken Strong (1906)
Gary Peters (1937)
Dick Green (1941)
Al Bumbry (1947)
Jesse Orosco (1957)
Les Lancaster (1962)
Ken Caminiti (1963)
Kip Wells (1977)
Terry Tiffee (1979)

A member of the pro football Hall of Fame, Ken Strong played minor league baseball from 1929-1931 and played very well.  He hit 41 home runs and had 130 RBIs in 1930 in what is now the Eastern League and hit .340 in 1931 in the International League.

Today is also the birthday of Twins’ farmhand Justin Parker (1990). 

In addition, we would like to wish a very happy birthday to twayn.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 21 →

2011 Twins Game Logs

2011 Game 18: twins at ORIOLES

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image

According to mlb.com Blac_burn "is 1-2 with a 5.79 ERA in four career appearances against the Orioles."  Change the ERA to 3.06 and you have pitching joe's numbers for this season. I refuse to look up any more stats for Nick, as with the way this week has gone ignorance is bliss.

But I do think he's been pitching well this season. Hail Blackbeard the Pirate Ace who loves hitting the plank.
Continue reading 2011 Game 18: twins at ORIOLES →

Keeping Track

Miracle Moments

Where they stand:  Ft. Myers is 7-6, second in the FSL South, four games behind St. Lucie.

Who’s hot:  Chris Herrmann is hitting .370/.423/.565 in 46 at-bats.  Nate Hanson is at .333/.352/.510 in 51 at-bats.  Bruce Pugh is 0-0, 0.00 with three saves in 5.1 innings (four appearances).  He has allowed six hits and a walk and struck out eight.  Miguel Munoz is 1-0, 1.59 in 5.2 innings, allowing two hits and four walks.

Who’s cold:  Steven Liddle is batting .121/.211/.152 in 33 at-bats.  Tom Stuifbergen is 0-2, 10.00, 2.00 WHIP in two starts (nine innings).  He does have eight strikeouts.  Edgar Ibarra is 0-0, 6.14, 2.18 WHIP in 7.1 innings (four appearances).  Ryan Mullins is 0-1, 6.00 in six innings.

Transactions:  Ryan Mullins was sent from Rochester to Ft. Myers.  Daniel Rohlfing was promoted from Ft. Myers to New Britain.  Reggie Williams was promoted from Beloit to Ft. Myers.

What’s next:  The Miracle starts a six-game homestand, hosting Bradenton for three and Charlotte for three.