The King's Speech is released today.
Monthly Archives: April 2011
Happy Birthday–April 19
Bucky Walters (1909)
Hector Maestri (1935)
Rick Miller (1948)
Ed Hodge (1958)
R. J. Reynolds (1959)
Frank Viola (1960)
Spike Owen (1961)
Scott Kamieniecki (1964)
Brent Mayne (1968)
Jose Cruz (1974)
Joe Beimel (1977)
George Sherrill (1977)
Dennys Reyes (1977)
Joe Mauer (1983)
Right-hander Hector Maestri was with the Washington franchise in 1960, making one appearance in the majors. Before the 1961 season started, however, he was selected in the expansion draft by the new Washington franchise, for whom he made one more appearance in 1961.
2011 Game 16: Twins at Orioles
6:05 Central Time start. Why is this night different from all others?
Happy Passover. Orioles are indeed kosher.
I for one have had about enough of bitter herbs this spring. Time to make some Hillel Sandwiches out of the opposition. Pass the matzot. And don't ask me what I am drinking in the third inning.
Continue reading 2011 Game 16: Twins at Orioles
Red Wings Report
Where they stand: Rochester is 4-6, fifth in the IL North, two and a half games behind Lehigh Valley.
Who’s hot: Trevor Plouffe is hitting .321/.374/.714 with three home runs in 28 at-bats. Rene Tosoni is hitting .324/.381/.676 with three home runs in 37 at-bats. Eric Hacker is 1-0, 0.00 in 11 innings. He has given up four hits and no walks and struck out ten. Jim Hoey is 1-0, 2.70 in 6.2 innings. He has given up two runs on five hits and a walk with eight strikeouts.
Who’s cold: Brandon Roberts is batting .071/.133/.071 in 28 at-bats. Matthew Brown is batting .194/.324/.226 in 31 at-bats. Andrew Baldwin is 1-1, 10.13 in 10.2 innings. Kyle Waldrop is 0-2, 6.35 with a 2.47 WHIP in 5.2 innings (four appearances).
Transactions: Anthony Slama was activated from the seven day disabled list. Steve Holm was promoted to Minnesota. Danny Lehmann was promoted from New Britain to Rochester. Jim Hoey was promoted to Minnesota. Jeff Manship was optioned from Minnesota to Rochester.
What’s next: The Red Wings travel to Buffalo for four games, then come home for four against Pawtucket and four against Buffalo.
Episodic EPL Exposition & Monday MLS Mayhem – The Re-soccering
Relevant EPL Results
- Villa 2 - 1 West Ham
- Chelsea 3 - 1 West Brom
- Everton 2 - 0 Blackburn Rovers
- Sunderland 0 - 2 Birmingham
In the spirit of new starts, Chelsea will now be referred to as such.
EPL News
- Fulham may qualify for the Europa League via Fair Play rules.
- Spurs' Gareth Bale named PFA Player of the Year
- Liverpool's Jamie Carragher got KTFO, but recovered in time to see the exciting/insane finish to the Arsenal-Liverpool game.
Continue reading Episodic EPL Exposition & Monday MLS Mayhem – The Re-soccering
Minor Details: Games of 4/17
Rochester 6, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 3 in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Doubles by Rene Tosoni and Chase Lambin keyed a four-run first. Brian Dinkelman had three hits. Tosoni also homered, driving in three for the game. Lambin also singled, and Danny Lehmann had two hits. Andrew Baldwin went seven innings to get the win, striking out eight while giving up three runs on four hits and no walks. Phil Dumatrait pitched a perfect ninth for the save.
Portland 11, New Britain 6 in New Britain. The SeaDogs did all there scoring in three innings, getting five in the third, three in the sixth, and three in the ninth. Chris Parmelee had two singles and a home run. Yangervis Solarte hit two doubles. Joe Benson singled and tripled, Steve Singleton singled and doubled, and Mark Dolenc had two hits. Liam Hendriks took the loss, allowing five runs on five hits in five innings. He walked none and struck out four. Brett Jacobson allowed the three-run sixth and Santos Arias allowed the three-run ninth.
St. Lucie 4, Ft. Myers 1 in St. Lucie. A three-run third provided the margin of victory. The Miracle had only four hits, all singles, and no player had more than one. Their lone run scored on a passed ball. Kane Holbrooks took the loss, giving up three runs (two earned) on seven hits and no walks in seven innings.
Cedar Rapids 5, Beloit 3 in Beloit (Game 1—scheduled seven innings). The Kernels led all the way, although never by more than three runs. Daniel Ortiz had two doubles. Oswaldo Arcia homered and singled. Michael Gonzales homered. Adrian Salcedo took the loss, allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits and four walks in 4.2 innings.
Beloit 9, Cedar Rapids 1 in Beloit (Game 2—scheduled seven innings). The Snappers scored five in the third and were never threatened. Josmil Pinto and Derek McCallum each had two hits. Michael Gonzales hit a three-run homer in the big third inning. Oswaldo Arcia walked twice and scored three times. Starter Andrei Lobanov pitched four innings, giving up one run on six hits and a walk while striking out five. Martire Garcia struck out three in two innings while allowing a hit and a walk to get the win.
April 18, 2011: The Twins are 1-0
The coffee's a little bitter, but we seem to be adjusting.
Third Monday Movie Day
Movie of the Month: Coraline (Henry Selick, 2009)
Coraline is Skim's favorite movie, and of the past few years, it's one of mine. Selick wrote the screenplay based loyally on Neil Gaiman's book, and Gaiman has described it as a "Fairy tale for young girls of all ages and genders." Well, apparently, I'm one of those young girls.
Coraline Jones, an only child, and her parents move to a new town into an old mansion with secrets. A snooping Coraline finds a portal into a second world where her parents are much more attentive and vibrant, but what's behind the facade? It's all about greed, in the end, although it's told in such a colorful, exciting manner that you never get the idea you're learning anything from it.
Skim did Halloween as Coraline last year and has expressed interest in doing so again. Coraline is a strong, smart, realistic female role model for Skim and Sour Cream, and any daughter's father can see that they're in short supply. I love Neil Gaiman's writing in general, but I love him most of all for this character.
Worst Movie I Saw this Month: Die-ner (Get it?) (Patrick Horvath, 2010)
This is a putrid little indie flick. I got on a zombie kick in the past month, and watching this movie killed that entirely. What starts with an interesting premise - a serial killer's last two victims come after him and his next intended targets - devolves into a hastily-written orgy of horrible acting. The serial killer is the lead, and he never shows a single redeeming quality, partially because of his inability to act. The young couple, his next intended targets, have multiple chances to leave but for some reason, they never do. With one or two rewrites and a better cast, this has potential. Instead, it's probably the worst movie I've seen all year. Sigh.
What have you seen?
Happy Birthday–April 18
Frank Navin (1871)
Sam Crawford (1880)
Duffy Lewis (1888)
Jack Scott (1892)
Steve Blass (1942)
Mike Paul (1945)
Doug Flynn (1951)
Bobby Castillo (1955)
Rich Bordi (1959)
Jim Eisenreich (1959)
Dennis Rasmussen (1959)
Steve Dunn (1970)
Rico Brogna (1970)
Brian Buscher (1981)
Miguel Cabrera (1983)
Billy Butler (1986)
Rich Bordi was drafted by Minnesota in the fifth round in 1977, but did not sign.
Game #15: Twins 4, Rays 2
Twins record: 5-10
Fangraphs
MLB Game Wrap
After I read the news yesterday (oh, boy), I was pretty bummed. I went through most of the stages - I couldn't believe it at first. I felt a little angry - how could SBG take that place away, just like that? I felt a small piece of ownership; and really, I'm at best on the outer periphery of people who deserve to feel ownership of the place. I thought about doing some bargaining - trying to explain that it was all of ours, that it belonged to the community at this point. I then was depressed most of the rest of the day (the ballgame yesterday didn't help much there).
Continue reading Game #15: Twins 4, Rays 2