2011 Twins Game Logs, Minnesota Twins, MLB

Game 101: Tigers at Twins, Happy Bert Day!

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I figured this will work for a game log and a Blyleven Hall of Fame speech log. The game was moved back to 3:10 CDT so fans could watch both, and I plan on doing just that.

Blyleven has always been one of my favorite pitchers for the Twins. I didn't know him in his first stint with the Twins, when he was more cantankerous than a character. I became a Twins fan after he rejoined the Twins. I really didn't start following the Twins on an everyday basis until 1986 when a sparkplug of a centerfielder had a breakout year and captured the attention of the nation, at least for the first half of the season. Before that, we moved to Maple Grove in 1984 and we went to a game or two each season, but I really didn't know baseball that well. Blyleven was traded to the Twins in 1985, but I seem to recall there being some buzz about such a good pitcher being acquired by the Twins.

My love affair with the Twins started in 1987. Most Twins fans seem to remember the 1991 team more fondly, but for me, 1987 will always be the best season. 1991 was more about the World Series, but 1987 was about the whole season. There was something magical about that team right from the beginning, especially at the Metrodome. And that team was full of characters, led by Blyleven. He was the biggest character and was terrific most of the season, especially in the big games. Most people forget that he was warming up early in Game 7 after pitching Game 5 three days' prior. If Tom Kelly had had a quicker hook for Frank Viola, who had been hammered in Game 4, Blyleven might have won Game 7 on two days rest and probably would have been the WS MVP. If that had happened, it might not have taken so long for him to get to this day. Look how much mileage Jack Morris has gotten out of his Game 7 moment.

This day for Bert has been a long time coming and I am very happy for him. In fact, I feel like I may have played a very tiny part in this. While I was a sports copy editor for a newspaper, I had a short-lived column about baseball stats, and in one of those columns I discussed the Hall of Fame case of Blyleven. I was surprised when I received a request from the administrator of bertbelongs.com asking if the website could link to my column. I of course said yes and it still is there today. Actually, my discussions about the hall of fame with the columnist at the newspaper may have had more of an effect, since I know he eventually went from a "no" to a "yes" on Blyleven, although I don't know if he was able to vote this year, since he was layed off from the newspaper the same time I was.

But this isn't about me, this is about Bert and I am thrilled for him. I just hope they don't broadcast his speech live. We know how dangerous that can be.

As for the game, the Twins need this one to finish with a winning homestand and to keep it just disappointing instead of a bad homestand. It's Liriano vs. Rick Porcello, who's had a lot of success against the Twins despite Kubel being 11-for-22 against him. It will be interesting to see if Mauer is behind the plate once again. Joe Nathan also could tie Rick Aguilera for the Twins' all-time record for saves. Let's get it done. GO TWINS!!

126 thoughts on “Game 101: Tigers at Twins, Happy Bert Day!”

  3. If the Hall is determined to show Bert in an Indians cap on the banners and Carew as an Angel in the on-screen graphic during his introduction, I demand they show Steve Carlton as a Twin.

  7. A video of tribute, followed by a moment of silence for Harmon, Sparky, Bob Feller, Duke, and Dick Williams. MLB Network immediately cuts to commercial during the moment of silence. Stay classy.

    1. I appreciate it, I can't watch and am minimizing marital friction and not even looking to see if I can listen.

  17. Bert says he started playing baseball at 9. Within ten years he was at the major league level.

  19. For AMR: Bert's dad wanted Frank Howard, his favorite player, to take Bert deep in Bert's first game. After the game, when Bert told him Howard went 0-3 with a strikeout, his dad hung up on him.

  20. Calling for Tony O, Kaat, and Tommy John to join him in the HOF.
    I've never studied Oliva or Kaat, but I support Tommy John for the HOF.

    1. Bert's been pretty good to Lederer since the election. I'm guessing he refrained from discussing the years he spent on the ballot for decorum's sake.

        1. I think a quick thank you would be appropriate. Lederer was in attendance after all.

          1. Interesting: post-speech discussion mentioned that Bert didn't even thank the BWAA. They didn't think it was a snub, but he was going off script and just forgot.

    2. Just mentioning his name would have been nice, but anything more might have sounded like bitterness over not being voted in earlier.

  24. I might tire of listening to the same hobby horses about pitch counts and keeping the ball down that he spouts during game broadcasts, but I could listen to him tell stories for hours.

  26. Just realized how appropriate it is that Liriano is pitching today, considering both gave up home runs to the first batters they faced. Hopefully, Liriano ends up at that podium as a Twin as well.

    1. Liriano, in the middle of his age 27 season has 8.1 rWAR. Bert had 47.5 before his age 27 season. As much as I would like any Twin to join the Hall of Fame, Liriano has extremely long odds.

        1. Really too bad. I imagine he has one or two more decent seasons left, but it's not looking good.

          For comparison, Randy Johnson had 4.5 rWAR through his age 27 season. It wasn't until 29 he topped 4 rWAR in a season. He finished with 91.8.

            1. And yet he only finished 1.8 rWAR ahead of Blyleven. Its dumbfounding how long it took Bert to get into the HOF. I really think his poor relations with the media and his run-ins with his own management was the biggest obstacles for him to overcome.

              1. Another big problem was playing for bad teams. He was great for the Twins in the 70s, but no one cared at all because of those pesky wins.

  31. I'm reworking my article to try to resubmit it to a different journal. It's not exactly how I wanted to spend a Sunday but I can't let this work come to nothing.

  35. Ugh, missed the speech with all the driving and whatnot I had to do today. I'm sure I'll be able to find it later, but...dumb.

  37. I bet if Drew Butera was behind the plate, Lirano would not have those wild pitches #movemauertofirstpermanently

  44. we may see a lot of Alex Burnett and Chuck James this game because Liriano's pitch count is way up there

  53. Two and a third for Frankie today. He should be good to go again Tuesday, right?

  61. Glad this is the game I could finally see after three(?) straight that I had to miss. I hope Bert isn't watching this debacle...

        1. I found that to be truer yet of the standard Schell's offerings.
          (Deer-Brand Quarter Taps at the Schnitzelbank on Minnesota Street in NU, Summer of '99.)

  72. There is someone, a child I assume, yelling everytime a pitch is thrown. This is driving me nuts.

      1. I've grown to dislike that child. Plus, you know that he's occupying an expensive seat next to customers who've paid handsomely to listen to him yell swing at every pitch.

    1. Yeah, this game sux. Thinking about taking the kids to the pool instead of suffering through two more innings of crap-bats.

  77. If I had a malt cup to eat I'd be eating that now. Instead, I'll have another grainbelt.

  78. Shit sucks is an appropriate description of this game, home stand, season, offseason leading up to this season, and the playoffs last year. Basically, everything that happened since the twins clinched the division last year.

  84. You didn't think the Twins were going to make this easy, did you? Bad homestand. Hopefully, they'll have a better road trip. Tigers are a .500 team against all non-Twins teams. And they've traditionally been worse in the second half under Leyland. Twins also .500 against all non-Tigers teams. And that includes a bad first two months and numerous devastating injuries.

  85. From the AP:

    It was the fourth time in five starts against the Tigers that Liriano has failed to pitch beyond the third inning.

    Maybe we should make sure Frankie skips the next series with the Tigers.

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