52 thoughts on “May 28, 2011: I Don’t Like Baseball”

  1. I'll be wearing a cup when listening to future Twins games, so the inevitable late inning kick to the groin from the bullpen isn't as debilitating.

  2. It used to be that no matter how far the Twins were down, I had confidence they could come back and win. Now, the opposite.

    1. I said something very similar a few logs ago, but yeah, it's amazing how that's just totally turned. I haven't gotten comfortable with more than a couple leads all season.

      1. Last night was particularly frustrating because I absolutely knew the Twins were losing that game as soon as Burnett came in.

  3. is Dennys Reyes still a free agent? Can we sign him and dump Hughes?

    Alexi Casilla's slash line jumped from .215/.274/.280/.554 to .234/.295/.333/.628 last night

    2. Don't even need to go to Reyes (who must be in the waning crescent of his career). If GMBS is going to clear a spot on the 40-man, Chuck James looks like he could be the best member of the 'pen.

      I'm intrigued enough where I'd like the team to see if they've got someone who could be with the team for a while. I don't know how contracts work for formerly released players on minor-league contracts. I assume that means it's just a one-year contract. Does the team have any control over his future? If he's as good as I imagine, could they call him up and give him an extension shortly thereafter? Not even for a lot, but as a way to make him a re-prospect in his post-injury career? If he keeps it up in Rochester, I assume he'll have Major-League offers in the offseason if he's automatically a free agent.

  4. When I went to the movie last night at 9 the Twins were up 4-1. I went to bed assuming (I know, my bad) they kept the lead. Now I get to the conference center and find out, nope, they screwed it up again.

    1. Would it make it worse if I told you the Twins were never up 4-1 in the game and it was, instead, 5-0?

      1. I was guessing at the score since I couldn't quite remember. And yes that does make it worse.

        On the bright side, Kung Fu Panda 2 was pretty good and the bartender here just gave me a complimentary beer.

    2. I was planning a trip to austin this weekend to check out flatbed press and slugfest, but the impending doom move has forced me to change plans. Hope you enjoy Austin and be sure to check out the lunch trucks on south congress.

    1. As soon as I got up this morning, I went to the Twins' website expecting to see that they made a bullpen move. Yeah, there were some baserunning screw ups last night, but that's not what's costing us games. I have no idea why Gardy wants to avoid the real issue here. Maybe it's because he's in denial or something.

      1. I also don't see what purpose it serves for Gardy to be talking to the press about this. I understand that he's frustrated--everyone involved with the team is probably frustrated. But I don't see how it makes the Twins better for Gardy to sit there and point fingers at people.

        1. It's not so much that he's point fingers, but he's pointing fingers at the wrong people in order to avoid what is the obvious problem with this team. Not that it would do any good to go to the media and start blaming Hoey either, but I feel like he's just trying to blame people in order to avoid what is truly wrong with our team.

          Even with an average bullpen, I feel that this would be a very good team (especially as they're getting healthy). Now, they might not be good enough to make the playoffs, given the start they've had, but they would at least be in a place where they're not suffering devastating losses several times per week. This will be an issue they'll need to address for next year anyway, so I'm not sure why they don't give some of our young guys in AAA that are doing well a chance to come up here or trying bringing in someone else that will be with us for at least another year after this.

          1. i wouldn't be surprised if they're waiting until after june whatever to get the extra year of servitude out of them.

            1. They already get an extra year by keeping them down until mid-April. Keeping a player down into June makes that extra year cheaper. However, there's no guarantee the current rules will be maintained in the next CBA. In fact, it's assumed that there will be changes.

          2. I don't have a problem with what Gardy did. Yeah, he was pointing fingers and calling out mistakes, but it's not like the average fan didn't notice when they happened. Those things NEEDED to be called out, and fixed.

            Now, when it comes to the bullpen, that's more of Smith's problem than Gardy's.

            1. I agree that they need to be fixed. What I don't see is how talking to the media about them fixes them.

              1. I can understand that sentiment, but like I said, the average fan noticed all those screw-ups, and I think it does more damage for the perception that Gardy is doing nothing about it than it does for Gardy to call them out publicly when the mistakes were pretty public already. I know that I feel better that Gardy doesn't want to put up with it. And I'd feel even better if he could somehow get through to his players.

                1. I don't mean to make a bigger deal out of this than it is, but I still don't see how that helps. If Gardy wants to let the public know they're working to correct baserunning errors, he can do that without naming names publicly. If he's naming names publicly because the players won't listen to him privately, we've got bigger problems than baserunning.

      2. He's basically saying that the Twins' bullpen can't be expected to hold on to a five run lead over two innings. The whole team knows that, so it was the position players' fault that they didn't give the bullpen a bigger lead. At least he stopped short of blaming Baker for not going deeper in the game.

        1. I know, right? If only the Twins were nearly twice as good offensively as the next best team in baseball and could average 8-9 runs per game, that would solve a lot of problems.

          1. And last night Gardy only asked the team to score 7. Pfft, if they can't even do that how can he expect 8-9 per game?

        2. I think that's a bit of a stretch. I think he's saying that the Twins could have had an 8-9-run lead if they'd kept their wits and even combined with a bad bullpen, the Twins could have held that. It looks bad when the bullpen sucks, but it's embarrassing when players forget the number of outs, and I think it's natural to focus a bit on the latter since it's easier to keep track of the number of outs than it is to get major league hitters out. The way Joe C sets up one of the quotes, it appears to be alluding to Burnett's failing to cover first base quickly enough. It's nearly a back-handed compliment of a sort acknowledging that he thought the hitters hit well enough to score 8-9 runs if they'd done the simple things well.

          1. I understand the frustration that in this single game, these things could have been done to get a bigger lead, but in the end, if a five-run eighth-inning lead is not big enough, you've got a lot bigger problems than base running. The Twins could have scored seven or eight runs, but Scott Baker could have just been solid and not great and give up two or three runs in seven innings and you're still trying to protect a five-run lead. This team is averaging less than four runs per game on the season. How many times do you have the luxury of a five-run lead? I really think Gardy is deflecting criticism because telling the relievers they suck isn't going to make them better pitchers and could only cause finger pointing in the clubhouse. Telling the position players what they did wrong keeps them from finding fault with the bullpen and dividing the clubhouse. At least I think that is Gardy's purpose behind it, if any.

            1. Like I said above, I don't think Gardy or anyone is trying not to find fault with the bullpen, I think it's not Gardy's problem to solve at this point. At least I don't hear anyone here telling Gardy or Anderson to fix the bullpen, they're calling for different pitchers to be brought up or picked up from other teams.

            2. I really don't think there's much to read into it. Gardy saw some guys lose focus and that bothers him. It should bother him, frankly. Had the bullpen held the lead, he could just as well made the same criticisms, saying that even though the team won, they need to be more focused. At this point, the team is so far down in the standings, it's probably more about the attitude of the team than it is about whether or not they lost one particular game.

    2. Also isn't some of these issues with not knowing the outs on the coaching staff. I'd say the baserunner is owns 70 percent of the issue but I'd attribute 30 percent to the coaching staff. What's Jerry White doing out there? Is he telling the baserunner how many outs there are? Shouldn't the coaching staff be fostering an attitude in the dugout and locker room so that players heads are in the game?

      1. Totally agree here. In Little League, the coaches were always yelling how many outs there were. "Two outs!" "Groundball goes to first!" etc. etc. Sometimes it seemed superfluous, but I can't remember one time in seven years ever making a mental mistake with regards to the number of outs.

          1. granted, my Dad was often my coach, and if I didn't pay attention to him, I knew what I had coming

    3. I wonder if the Cardinals would trade the Twins Punto and Theroit for Valencia?

    1. The Cavs getting the top two picks in the draft would be a stunning turnaround for that franchise. I'd be in favor of the deal just to have that happen. The Wolves were just going to screw up the No. 2 pick anyways.

      1. I think so. I'd prefer they just take Biyombo than another f'in power forward and I'd just assume it was at a spot in the draft where i won't have to read awfulness on Canis Hoopus.

        And reading that article, it would be stupid of them to not be part of that trade if they aren't giving anyone up.

  8. Nathan to the DL. No word on who is coming up. Please let it be Slama or Chuck James. Probably Slama since he already is on the 40-man. Gardy has been begging for Carlos Gutierrez, but his results haven't been great and he isn't on the 40-man.

    1. Either way, they won't be available for tonight's game, I'm assuming.

      1. Burnett only threw 8 pitches, Doo MAH tré 7, and Dusty only four. Those three plus Capps should be ready to go tonight.
        Better try to get a 12-run lead for Swarkovskiswingset tonight.

        With Weaver pitching, the line should be +500 or so.
        (Looks it up...)
        +150 to +155? -165 to -170 on LAA looks like easy money tonight. (I'm not a gambler, but if I was...)

    2. I'd been impressed with the poise Kyle Waldrop had while watching him in Spring Training games the last couple years; too bad it hasn't exactly panned out in minor league play.

      1. Seth said he had made a mechanical adjustment and was pitching well of late, but then he got hammered yesterday. Definitely bad timing on his part.

  10. I had to buy a nice fancy suit today. My bank account took a beating today 🙁

    1. No need for the sad face, dw, every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man.

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