Monthly Archives: June 2011

History, Minnesota Twins

June 27, 1988: Random Day in Twins History

5 Comments

I used a random number generator to pick a season from the past with the idea that I would quickly highlight the Twins history that occurred today in that year.  The generator sent me to the year 1988.

Angels 16, Twins 7 - BR boxscore

In a game with an odd 5:10pm start time, the Angels hitters teed off against Minnesota pitchers.  The Twins pitchers combined to allow 24 baserunners in 7 innings.  A performance made all the more shameful when Dan Gladden pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning.  In fact, the Twins ended the game with the following defensive lineup:

P-Gladden; C-Brian Harper; 1B-Kelvin Torve; 2B-Steve Lombardozzi; 3B-Al Newman; SS-Greg Gagne; LF-Mark Davidson; CF-John Moses; RF-Randy Bush

Tony Armas managed to go 0-for-5 for the Angels even though the other eight players in their starting lineup all had scored at least one run and had at least one hit by the fourth inning.  Bob Boone had four hits while batting ninth for the Angels.  It was his first four-hit game in more than four years.  He may have been exacting revenge against the Twins for not signing his son, Bret, after they had drafted him in the 27th round the previous year.  Bret would ultimately get the last laugh with his comically inept cameo in a Twins uniform at the end of his career.

Kirk McCaskill "earned" the win by throwing 102 pitches while staggering through 5 innings and allowing 10 hits and 4 runs.  When asked after the game, McCaskill told reporters, "[T]oday I was pretty sorry."

The Angels 5-run third inning featured two walks and three different hits that made contact with Twins in the infield (Johnnie Ray singled off Torve's glove, Jack Howell singled off Lombardozzi's glove and Devon White singled off starter Fred Toliver's leg).

Torve hit his only Major League homerun in the seventh inning off future-Twins minor league coach Stew Cliburn.  Randy Bush reached base four times (including getting hit by his fifth pitch of the season) and the most important man in America had three hits, including a double.

Finally, reliever Jim Winn made his Twins debut allowing six hits in one inning of relief work after entering after Devon White's abovementioned third inning single with the game tied 3-3 and runners on the corner.  Winn had been a first round pick for the Pirates in 1981 (four spots after the Twins drafted Mike Sodders) and had been signed as AAA filler after getting cut at the end of Spring Training by the White Sox.  He stuck around with the Twins for a month, and then got another cup of coffee in September to end his Major League career.  Tom Kelly managed to use Winn nine times that season in relief and never brought him into another game UNLESS the Twins were already losing.  TK knew how to use a groundskeeper.

Randon Thing I Noticed While Researching This Date: In 1988, Tom Nieto had four singles and a walk in 62 plate appearances as a backup catcher.  If only the Twins could have someone of Brian Harper's ability to come up and replace Butters...

Miscellaneous

AMR’s Graphs: 6/25/2011

4 Comments

I was putting some things off during the Twins game yesterday and the game wasn't enticing any more, I played with Excel and baseball-reference's CSV data table option. As I did this all during the game, it does not reflect the results of the games of that day. So, although it looks like the Twins are a game out of last place, they are now in last place, again (by percentage points behind the Royals).

I like to "look" at data, so this is my looking at it. I think of this stuff like I'm taking the progression of the season -- distilled into statistics -- and converting it into a graph that then informs my narrative.

———————————————

The style of the first table may be memorable from the WGOM 1.X: games above (below) .500 in the division, showing the development of the race over the season. The ordering of the teams, however, is not familiar.
AL Central 2011: Games Above .500 through 6-25
Continue reading AMR’s Graphs: 6/25/2011 →

2011 Twins Game Recaps

Game #76: Brewers 6, Twins 2

3 Comments

Fangraphs
MLB Game Wrap

I was going to write up a semi-long (for me) recap of the Rockies-Yankees game on TBS, which was actually pretty interesting. But then I saw that wonderful post by meat and decided I don't want to take up too much space with either sincere Twins talk (in brief: we suck) or sarcastic real-baseball-teams talk. Go read that recipe just below here and commence salivating instead.

Hitter and Pitcher of the Week: Sesame Pork Roast

The Nation Has An Appetite

I love pork. You should too. Sesame Pork Roast

11 Comments

Pork and Cider Sauce

This sesame pork roast is a family favorite at Casa de Carne for the left overs more than for the actual meal. I've made this so many times that I have lost the original recipe, but here is the most recent version:

Ingredients for the marinade

2 1 cups soy sauce (I use low sodium, I've found over the years that using low sodium soy sauce for marinades helps cut down on the salty bite, leaving all the other flavors to do their work_
3/4 to 1 tbsp dark sesame oil (or the hot pepper version if spice is your thing) (this is also a to taste kind of ingredient, more can sometimes equal too much of a good thing)
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 inch piece of fresh ginger root grated finely (ginger powder in a pinch, to taste)
dash of red chili powder
dash of red chili flakes
splash of lime or lemon juice
pinch of brown sugar (up to 2 tsp if you're using full strength soy sauce, helps cut down on the bite)

Combine all ingredients in a gallon zip lock bag and slosh them around to mix

I usually go for a center cut of pork tenderloin, but any meaty tenderloin cut will do here. Trim most the fat from the meat, but leave a little on for self basting purposes. Toss the meat into the marinade and let it soak overnight.

While the oven is heating remove the meat from the marinade and discard the liquid. Pat the roast dry with a couple paper towels and toss it into the oven. I keep a digital meat thermometer in the roast, and when the temperature hits about 135 I take the roast out of the oven and glaze it with a mixture of equal parts honey and brown sugar. I've found that coating the whole roast in sesame seeds after glazing helps keep the honey stuck to the outside of the meat, and not burning to the bottom of your roasting pan. Throw the whole works back into the oven 'til the thermometer reads 160 (or your preferred doneness level), remove the roast and let rest under a foil tent for at least 5 minutes, 10 if you can be patient, and then carve it up in thin slices. The preparation method is almost fool proof, but be warned, the glaze can burn pretty quickly and can be a bear to clean off your pan. As an alternate cooking method, I've had great success with this roast on the grill (with some apple wood chips added, the smoke marries perfectly with the salty and spicy marinade.... stoopid burn ban).

After eating this meal I dream about the roast pork sandwiches, spicy goat cheese and pork pizza with grilled onions and roasted poblano, and stir fry with a hoisin / chili sauce that will be made the next day or so.

 

2011 Twins Game Logs, Minnesota Twins, MLB

Game 76: Red Wings at Brewers

78 Comments

Carl Pavano vs. Chris Narveson

Remember when the Twins thrived in Interleague? Yeah, me neither. The Twins are looking to avoid their second Interleague road sweep this season. At least there's only one more game until Thome can DH.

I'm guessing Drew Butera will start today. Day game after a night game, Pavano starting and the opposing pitcher is a lefty. If Butera doesn't start, I think it's pretty clear who goes if the Twins ever decide to go with two catchers. I think that's why Gardy wants Mauer to play first or third, so he can easily have Mauer catch the last inning or two when he needs to pinch hit for Rivera or Butera without losing the DH.

This will be one ugly looking lineup. Narveson has allowed at least four runs in five of his last six starts, so I'm sure he's looking forward to this start.

Right now, the Twins need to find a way to scratch out a win and find a way to keep from losing much ground in the division for when Kubel and Span return. Otherwise, the Twins might be throwing up the white flag pretty soon. It may not matter since most of their veteran players will be too hurt to trade away anyways.

GO TWINS!!