73 thoughts on “August 26, 2011: Goodbye, Taters”

    1. Yeah, I'd love to not hate this season, but with the trade of Thome I feel like the positive reasons to watch are dwindling.

    2. There still have been some highlights: 15-2; No-hitter in Chicago; Juicy walk-offs; No. 600; Delmon traded.

  1. 'even the losers, get lucky sometime' - Tom Petty

    when is going to apply to the Twins this year?

    1. I just don't understand what is happening.
      -Justin Morneau played like garbage for a month in 2009 before admitting he was hurt and coming out of the lineup. Justin Morneau played like garbage for a month this year before admitting he was hurt and coming out of lineup.
      -the training staff completely screwed up the diagoses and rehab times of Kubel, Span, Nishioka, Morneau, and Mauer in the past two seasons (I may be forgetting another 10 players they have screwed up)
      -Joe Mauer has missed TWO games (including yesterday) since he was activated from the DL. He was on the DL in the first place because the doctors misdiagnosed the severity of his knee injury at the end of last season and he played like garbage while trying to ignore the pain. Even in his return, his play has been thoroughly mediocre. Joe Mauer has several season of showing that a healthy Joe Mauer does not play like garbage. Therefore, I'm pretty sure Joe is injured and playing through some serious pain. Yet, he's the pussy?
      -Michael Cuddyer missed a week's worth of games LAST WEEK because of a sore neck. Joe Mauer missed yesterday's game with a sore neck. Cuddyer is a gamer. Mauer is a pussy. WTF?!

      1. I was going to type exactly this. (er, at least the WTF? part.)

        I'm just proud of myself for not delving into the comments.

        1. I'm just proud of myself for not delving into the comments

          Well, I can sum up for you. Mauer is a puss who should be ashamed, and he should give back the money so the Twins can sign some real talent. Bill Smith and Gardy are idiots, and they should both be fired. My personal favorite, Gardy should resign if Mauer isn't traded. Mauer and Morneau aren't tough. Target field is going to be a ghost town next season. $20.50 for two soft drinks and peanuts is too much, but I spent the money anyway and that makes me feel bad because I supported a pansy like Joe Mauer.

      2. I remember Bill James writing many years ago about the tendency of disappointing teams to blame their star player for their problems. It doesn't make sense, but it's been happening for a long time.

      3. The Mauer is a puss meme is awesome (in the bad way). If Joe would have taken free agency Twins fans would have gnashed their teeth, and bitterly talked about how Mauer was a greedy son of so-and-so. Now, they can blame everything on Joe's contract. The sour part of the Twins fan base get to have their cake and eat it too.

    2. This article was spun by the writer (LEN3) to make it look like a criticism of Mauer. Cuddyer was probably just responding to a question as to why he was playing one day after being hit in the wrist for a team that was going nowhere when he is on the verge of free agency. Plus, if Cuddyer was criticizing anyone, it could have been Nishi, who's been out for nearly a week with a back strain. I don't think Cuddyer is stupid enough to criticize a teammate for missing one game at catcher for the same injury that kept him from playing right field for nine days.

      1. I'm with socal on this one. The actual quotes from Cuddyer don't necessarily imply criticism of anyone. To the extent the implication is there, it was put there by the writer.

            1. Well, in addition to the blinding pain I endured, I'd say that proves that anonymity in comments sections isn't the problem.

            1. clearly Hannahan, the former Cretin-Derham Hall and Gophers third baseman, would improve the Twins' infield significantly.
              ...
              He's hitting .232 with five home runs and 27 RBIs.

              mmm-hmm. 232/326/342, 1.4 fWAR predicated mostly on his fielding. Juicy is 248/295/400, +0.7 fWAR. How do we gain with this exchange? How is Hannahan a "bargain" compared to Juicy, other than perhaps he wouldn't be eating kibble out in Gardy's kennel?

              1. i was more referring to the opening:

                It's unknown whether the Minnesota Twins have asked for St. Paul native Jack Hannahan as the player to be named later in the trade Thursday that sent Jim Thome to the Cleveland Indians.

                But clearly Hannahan, the former Cretin-Derham Hall and Gophers third baseman, would improve the Twins' infield significantly.

                in other words: i'm gonna just pull something out of my ass and make a column of it.

                1. At least he didn't write "There is speculation ..." meaning I'm speculating and writing it right now to make a "news story" out of it.

          1. I soft-pedaled it

            So, Sansavere's a piano player?

            His hackles were up, even with the soft-pedal approach.

            Jiminy Effin' Christmas, I'm ok with someone using a confusing phrase that doesn't really fit, but reusing it the very next sentence? I miss tough editors and competence in the media.

          2. A new writer joins the mix and writes the exact same crap!!! Cuddyer steps up when it matters. Except a week ago!!!! When we had to put MAUER in right field because CUDDYER couldn't go because of a SORE NECK!!!! We had NO BENCH AT ALL. How was this game a week later in a lost season more important than the one the Twins played a week ago. Why is Cuddyer the iron man after being unable to play RF for nine days while Mauer is a big wuss for being unable to play catcher for one day? You see what you want to see. Cuddyer is Mr. Media, so he's the iron man and the FOTF. Torii Hunter was Mr. Media, so he was the previous iron man and FOTF. Mauer doesn't go out of his way to be every writer's friend and easy quote, so he must be soft and hiding stuff.

            1. Maybe covering the Vikings has a degenerative effect on one's reasoning capabilities.

              This is just stupid:

              The problem with Mauer's latest malaise is the timing of it. The walls are crumbling around the Twins, their season officially a complete disaster. They hit rock bottom Thursday.
              That's exactly the time when team leaders need to step forward no matter what. Just like Cuddyer did.

              Wouldn't a time when the season is totally lost be the perfect time to not try to play through injuries and get healthy? It may not be popular with the common fan, but it seems to me anyone paying attention would rather not have the team's best players take long term risks in a season going nowhere so they can be ready to go right away for a new year.

          3. To be fair to Sansever, and I say this very grudgingly because he really, really sucks, at least he came right out and made the comparison directly. Still stupid though.

    3. Tim Kurkjian said last night that Mauer can't play more than two games in a row at catcher without being too sore to play. He at least said that something must be wrong with Mauer but they can't figure it out, but geez it takes two seconds to look at his game log to realize that wasn't true. It looks a little worse because Mauer played RF when Kubel had the family emergency and Cuddyer was hurt after Delmon was traded, and Mauer played first base a few days in a row when Morneau fouled a ball off his foot and Cuddyer was still out.

  2. You weren't really one of us?????

    How about we say that we never owned him, just borrowed him for a time.

      1. Blaming rum always seems like a good idea. It usually puts me in a rough mood. Now the bourbon old fashioned I had last night put a smile on my face. (so did the IPA and red ale before that.)

  3. What has happened to the Twins beat writers. I can't even read their articles anymore. Is it just me; or has the quality tone really taken a nose dive?

    1. I don't think it's any worse, just not any better. Writers have always had their favorite players and spun their stories that way, it's just that now we have high-quality bloggers and better statistical analysis to give us better insight into the truth.

    1. Congrats to that certain citizen. Matter of fact, my wife was just wondering recently how that was going.

    1. Buster_ESPN Buster Olney
      Source: White Sox did not, in fact, place a claim on Jason Kubel. Which makes more sense on the part of CWS, who didn't block Thome,either

  4. so, I guess I am going to Target Field Sunday. I guess I need to hit up Kramarczuk's and get a sausage or something. Anyone got a suggestion for a good non-alcoholic drink stand? (slushes, or that sort of thing)

  5. Mauer sitting again. I'm assuming he's available off the bench, since the Twins called up Repko instead of Rivera.

    1. He swung the bat today, so hopefully it will be just a few days. Available in an emergency.

  6. "Have fun" seems redundant when talking about going to a Hold Steady show, but have fun.

    Edit: Obviously meant to be a reply to MagUidhir.

  7. Who will end the year with the most HRs in the Twins' system? Plouffe leads with 21; Rosario is at 19; Cuddy 18; Sano 17. Bunch of guys @15.

    1. Rosario is the hottest right now, but Plouffe has more games left and will probably play most days, so he has a big advantage. I'm guessing Cuddy's not going to have much power the rest of the year with his rest banged up.

    1. "For conduct detrimental to the team." These idiots who use Twitter to badmouth people who will obviously see their posts are complete morons, but these schools have to grow a spine.

  8. From Joe C:

    Francisco Liriano's MRI exam showed inflammation in the back of his left shoulder but nothing more serious, the Twins said.

          1. It is a joke. The surgery will be in May after two bad starts and a 15 day DL stint.

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