164 thoughts on “2011 Game 124: Yankees at Twins”

  1. If Perkins wasn't traded away, I don't see why Slowey will necessarily be traded away.

      1. Apparently it's "Social Media Night" at Tarzhay. They'll be posting tweets with the "#TFans" hash tag on the ribbon board at the field, and some will be on TV.

  4. Yanks broadcast crew were almost foaming at the mouth over K-slow's strike throwing ability and low BB rate. Maybe wild bill can package k-slow and baker for joba and ______ .

    1. Can you imagine being told in 2000 or 2001 that the Yankmes would have Chavez, Andruw Jones, Cap'n Dreamboat, Posada, and the Centaur all on the same roster? And that 4 out of 5 of them would be zombies?

    2. I'd like him to join G.B. Leighton and the 2011 Twins in the pile of things that I didn't like having to see during games.

      2. I hate to say it, but I'm pretty okay with Robby these days. At least he's not bland and uneducated about the Twins like Telly Hughes. Why doesn't Marney do that job full-time anymore, though?

  20. It made me happy when I saw that Jetes only has 4 homeruns this season- how much is that new contract for?

    1. From Cot's:

      3 years/$51M (2011-13), plus 2014 player option
      • re-signed by NY Yankees as a free agent 12/6/10
      • 11:$15M, 12:$16M, 13:$17M, 14:$8M player option ($3M buyout)
      • $2M annually deferred without interest, payable each 3/15, 2015-17 (present-day AAV about $16M)
      • 2014 option may increase to $17M based on awards earned in 2011-13: $4M for AL MVP; $2M for 2nd-6th in MVP vote; • • • $1.5M for Silver Slugger; $0.5M each for Gold Glove, ALCS MVP, WS MVP
      • if 2014 option is exercised at less than $17M, Jeter may earn same bonuses in 2014, up to $17M

      1. I really like those options based on awards- Cashman knew what he was doing putting those in, anyhow.

    1. 'Cause Gameday sez it was hit to Revere- Raging Tonsils will not get in Sweet Ben's way!

    1. I think you should go back to furshuggliner, or whatever it was. Much more eloquent than pish.

  26. Was that even close to a double-play? Should I just expect the Twins to never turn double-plays anymore?

  29. that hit by Granderson just about sums up the Twins playing the Yankees. they get all the breaks. now they are probably going to hit a 3 run donger

    1. probably. I think Twitter bought The Weather Channel too. Everytime I flip to that channel they are talking about whats weather trending on Twitter

    2. A couple of years ago, Bert mentioned baseball-reference.com about six times a game for a few months, and then he rarely if ever brought it up again. It annoys me when there's a sponsor they don't admit is a sponsor.

  33. Zack
    August 19, 2011 at 7:41 pm · Reply
    Apparently it's "Social Media Night" at Tarzhay. They'll be posting tweets with the "#TFans" hash tag on the ribbon board at the field, and some will be on TV.

    Yup, pretty much.

  35. I saw a 'bring back Nick Punto #wewerebetterwithhim' tweet. was that from one of you guys?

    1. I don't think I could even joke about wanting Punto back, even though he's better all-around than about ten position players we've used this year.

  39. I know Martin is good, but it always bugs me when the non-huge-superstars for the Yankees hit homers. I'm like, dude, they're going to do that a few batters from now anyway.

  40. I sent my tweet:

    @MinnesotaTwins & @TwinsPrez: True fans watch the game despite the futility of Bill Smith's roster. Quit chatting up Tweeters. #tfans

    1. Yeah, at this point, if an opposing starter doesn't retire ten Twins in a row at least once per start, he should be mocked relentlessly.

    1. Good, I was waiting for Bert to let us know what the problem was with Slowey this outing.

    2. He also just implied that if Slowey had just accepted his role in the bullpen he wouldn't have gotten injured.

      1. I agree, but I think he could possibly pay for Smith's ineptitude. Still, no Twins manager has been fired since Ray Miller, so assuming one will be fired is a huge leap.

        1. And no Twins general manager has been fired, ever, so don't get your hopes up about Billy Smith being tossed overboard, either.

          (Which is not to say I wouldn't do it. If it were up to me, I'd clean the whole house.)

        2. If the Twins fire a manager who won six division titles in nine years I will quit watching the team and follow the Rockies exclusively.

          ETA: I know that sounds really Stribbie, but Gardenhire's not the one who put this roster together. If the GM can't stand up to the field manager, then he doesn't rate the position. Gardy certainly has his issues, but I'd say he's still one of the better managers in the game. If Matt Capps is Bill Smith's idea of what a young catcher is worth, I'd hate to see what he thinks a good field manager looks like.

          2. And yet, if Smith hadn't let Punto go, for example, Gardy would have kept putting him out there. The sad thing is that this year that would have made sense. We need a GM and a manager that keep each other honest.

            Still, good as Tom Kelly was, he had his doghouse, too. At least he knew what "fundamentals" meant.

            1. Yep, TK did have his doghouse. I remember being pretty miffed about the Todd Walker situation at the time. I think TK had a harder time letting go of "his guys" than most folks care to remember.

    2. I'd like Gardnehire to stick around. I'd like a new GM, and I'd like someone who won't make trades based on Gardenhire's whims.

      1. In my hypothetical house-cleaning situation, I'd let Gardenhire go if he wouldn't follow the direction of a new front office regime. I don't believe on-field management matters that much, so what's most important to me is the continuity of the chain of command. If Gardenhire can implement the vision of my hypothetical new front office, then great, but if he won't, or continues insist on the personnel being shaped to fit his biases, then I'd find someone else.

        1. That begs the question of who you'd find to manage the team, DK. I'm actually curious, not just yanking your chain. And does Rick Anderson really deserve to get canned?

          1. Well, I don't have an answer to that question in terms of specific people. Since this is all under the conceit that I'm hiring a new front office, I'd direct them to determine a candidate that could follow their direction and not try to make it the other way around. If that candidate is Ron Gardenhire, I'd have no problem keeping him. Everything I know about the Rays organization between Friedman's office and Maddon (or even the Epstein/Francona regime) indicates to me that those field management teams do a generally solid job of implementing on-field strategies and personnel that their bosses direct them to. I'd like to see that kind of reshaping of the Twins organization, but in terms of naming someone specific to do that, I don't know who I'd name right now. I'm sorry that my saying so appears equivocal.

            EDIT: As I think about it, I can give some general ideas of the kind of candidate I'd probably look for, if not Gardenhire. I would probably want someone with major league coaching experience, but not someone who had been a major league manager already. I think the best way to ensure a smooth transition of power is having someone in the job who has instant credibility with the players, and I think there's a greater risk of losing some of that if the guy hasn't coached at this level before. However, I think guys with prior managing experience at this level are more likely to be set in their own ways and less likely to be flexible with following the directions that the front office gives, so I think there's more propensity for dissonance in that case.

            As far as Rick Anderson goes, I don't know that his position should be any more secure than any one else's. I think, personally, there's been some evidence recently that the pitching philosophy of this team (which I would attribute to coming from his primary direction) has been too inflexibly applied to every single pitcher coming up through the system. I think Scott Baker is one example of someone who has demonstrably pitched better when he doesn't follow the exact Anderson method than when he does. But, again, I wouldn't phrase this in terms of "deserving" to be fired, but rather if Anderson, like Gardenhire, can loosen his philosophy to work with multiple types of pitchers, then I'd have no problem with him staying on either.

            This is all my personal opinion, and I wouldn't really expect anyone to agree with it, so I'm going to try not to argue it too forcefully (and again, it doesn't really matter because none of it's going to happen any time soon).

            1. That wasn't an equivocal answer. I just assumed that you had a direction for your new FO in mind, and from there figured there was somebody who looked appealing to lead the team on the field.

              1. I certainly would try to institute a FO that is more balanced in its methods of player valuation and evaluation.

            2. I've begun to wonder if it doesn't make sense to have multiple (two-three) hitting and pitching coaches. Ideally you would find the perfect coach that could properly mold each pitcher to use their abilities to the best. However, I think it might be easier/cheaper to have a few coaches with different specialties.

    3. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the coaching staff might be shuffled or let go, however. Hopefully not Rick Anderson, but I'm not sure anyone else has convinced me they need to stay.

    1. Dick, nobody is in the mood to hear you talk about the integrity of the game.

      Well, not me, anyhow.

    3. Wattsy, my wife was wondering what your avatar is, and I have to say I've always wondered too.

      Also, I typed "my wife." That's weird. The Milkmaid, I mean.

      1. he is Trent Lane from the show 'Daria'
        'Hi, We're Mystik Spiral, but we're thinking about changing our name'

      1. I'm a fan. It's way, way tougher than this. One year? Hell, I did the first awful T-Wolves year standing on my head.

        At this point, I wonder what it's like being a huge Pirates fan.

          2. Not big picture. Just against NY. As in I have no expectation the Twins will win against the Yankees.

      1. I was given second-row tickets to a game a couple of years ago through my company. They'd been putrid for four or five years and they had nobody. My ticket normally cost $600.

  48. Thanks to Rhu_Ru, I was inspired to tweet once more:

    @Twins & @TwinsPrez Are there actually MDs on the team's medical staff, or do you have a sweetheart deal with Holiday Inn Express? #tfans

    1. Either that pimple is gigantic or the UncleWalt flatscreen takes up the whole wall of your living room.

      1. There are times when I think I dislike the Red Sox more, due in large part to their fans. Then, inevitably, the Twins play the Yankees again and I remember how much the Yankees piss me off.

        Red Sox fans are worse, no question, but man, the Yankees, ugh.

    3. The Twins are the only baseball team I could root for

      edit: 'rooting' and 'cheering' are two different thing..right? because I can cheer for other teams, like now when the Twins are out of the playoff race. But I dont ever see myself switching allegiances and rooting for another team

    2. I try because of his uniform, but then I think of the rotten Yankee fans who hated him his first year and said "Maybe other teams are fine with a CF with 105 OPS+, but we're not," and I just hate the fans instead.

    3. I am pretty good at separating the player and the person. Curtis Granderson the baseball player is a butt head.

  54. This season pretty much all I have left to root for is this:

    02/22 09:45 AM 157046255- 3 Future/Prop $25.00 $1,000.00 Baseball Futures - Regular Season Home Runs Mike Stanton +4000 for Player to record more Home Runs

      1. When I was putting out resumes for a new job a couple of months ago I tried to wipe my name from the internet in any easily searchable way. I suppose I hadn't gotten around to changing that back now that I am employed.

          1. Negative. Years ago I had a friend who thought my name had only one vowel and it was repeated throughout. So I was called Tadd Gattman, Tidd Gitmin, etc. The Todd Gotmon kind of stuck.

    2. as soon as the game got out of hand, the tweets on the bottom of the screen disappeared

  57. I flipped over to the football game on Fox for a sec. Tony Saragusa is probably the most terrible person on sports tv. The guy adds absolutely nothing to the presentation.

    1. I actually never disliked him particularly, but if I knew the ins and outs of football a lot better, I think he'd bug me. I guess it's the same reason casual fans like Joe Morgan and his calm voice on a TV broadcast, but baseball minds tire of him quickly.

    2. I flipped over to the football game on Fox for a sec. Tony Saragusa is probably the most terrible person on sports tv. The guy adds absolutely nothing to the presentation.

      FTFY

    1. Is Wilkinson still around? I remember he had the Expos' last cycle, and the Nationals' first.

      Livan, of course.

      Razor Shines was a first-base coach for the Mets but Mookie Wilson replaced him. They love their ridiculous names over there in Citi Field, apparently.

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