81 thoughts on “December 16, 2011: Home”

  3. I want to just briefly say thanks for the outpouring of concern, thoughts, and prayers for my family. I really appreciate the kind words and wishes, guys. I'll keep in touch when I can.

      1. I debated doing that, but I couldn't include just half the company name and I didn't want to include the full name.

    1. Buffalo Rubios:
      Round 1: Kevin Love
      Round 2: Ricky Rubio
      Round 3: Derek Williams
      Round 4: Beasley
      Round 5: Darko
      Round 6: Anthony Randolph
      Round 7: Auto-Draft.

    2. Well, I definitely can't make the draft time as scheduled. But then again, its entirely likely I'll be unable to make any scheduled draft time.

    3. I understand why the Twins wouldn't sign him for that, and I'm not upset with anyone. I'm just a little sad that he's gone. I wish him well.

      1. I agree, Parson. My wife and I actually saw Cuddy's first major league game. I don't remember it that well or what Cuddy did, but I do remember filling out my scorecard and trying to figure out how to pronounce his name (I think I called him "CUD-yer" until Mr. Casey read the lineups). We'll miss him, as much for what he did off the field as for what he did on it.

        1. The radio announcers pronounced it that way for years as he worked his way through the minors. As a result, it took me a while to get used to pronouncing it correctly.

          1. I may have told this story before, but in 2002 I went to one of the ALCS games against the Angels with some dudes from high school. One big, not the brightest, guy kept cheering for the right fielder by pronouncing his name as if it were French (I don't know if I can replicate this in type, but something like "Coo-dee-eh"). When we told him "Pat, it's Cuddyer", he retorted "I don't know how to pronounce all these Latino names!"

      3. He's the last Twin who played a game before our renaissance, so it saddens me a bit to see him go. Now all the pre-2002ers are gone.

        We really couldn't sign him for that money, though.

      4. I agree. No way is he worth 30 mil, but its kinda of sad seeing him go

        I hope the Twins make an effort to sign Jason Kubel (has any team talked to him yet? I havent seen to many Kubel rumors)

        1. An article I saw today sounded like it was quite unlikely that Kubel would return to the Twins. However, I don't know if the writer knew something or if it was just speculation.

    4. $25M was a fair offer. $31.5M was a better offer for Cuddyer, and the Rockies were in a better position to offer more money because they don't lose any picks (I think.) In the end, probably a good business decision for everyone involved. (Though Cuddyer could post some pretty bad defensive numbers at Coors, I'm thinking.)

      1. Correct. Cuddyer is a "modified" Type-A free agent, meaning the Twins will get a pick before the Rockies second round pick in addition to a pick in the supplemental round. Gleeman mentioned the picks would be worth ~$5 million, which means the Twins were offering very similar money, once you take into account the loss of the picks.

      2. Why is it a foregone conclusion that Willingham will be moved to right field? Who among last years crop of part-timers stood out as a starter in left?

        1. He's already said he's willing to move to RF and whoever is in the OF other than Span and Ham will be superior defensively to Ham. Right now, I assume it will be Revere in LF, which is where his arm hurts the Twins the least. That alignment might very well be the worst throwing OF in baseball since it has been said repeatedly that Cuddyer much better thrower than Ham.

        2. a lot of people like Tosoni (I dont see it, but then SSS applies), maybe Plouffe! goes out there. Maybe Kubel is resigned

          1. I think the people like Tosoni because he has decent minor league numbers. He posted a .807 OPS over two years in AA, so a serviceable fourth outfielder seems reasonable to expect.

            1. Without Cuddyer potentially taking up OF playing time, it makes sense that they'd try harder for Kubel. Seems like he could effectively be Thome Lite, for the right price.

    1. I had a demotion forced upon me when my company eliminated my position across the company in 2007, and that was degrading enough. BS was demoted for incompetence and now works with the same people? That's horrible.

      The only explanation is that the Twins still think this is the guy, but that he needs more time to develop. I've seen this at both of my jobs. Inevitably, the Chosen One fails miserably the second time, too.

      1. I think there are plenty of explanations if we're hypothesizing. For one, if BS has a family and doesn't want to move them, I doubt he can find another position in baseball in Minnesota which pays as well as what he wound up with. For another, he could have looked around baseball and found that demand for his services was lukewarm at best.

        1. And the possibility that Wild Bill realized he was out of his depth and decided that working for an organization that will let him define his role isn't that rough of a landing. Pride excepted, of course.

          1. And the possibility that Wild Bill realized he was out of his depth...

            He practically admitted as much on the day he was hired as TR's replacement.

            1. Again, he was pretty well respected when he was an assistant. He may just be one of those people who can be good in a secondary role but just can't handle the top job.

      2. I think it's pretty well known that Terry Ryan valued what Billy did in his previous role and wanted him back in that role. He's said as much publicly. Billy also feels a sense of loyalty to Terry, obviously, and the organization and wanted to continue to contribute. I think it makes perfect sense and is a long, long way from degrading. Kudos to Terry Ryan and Billy Smith for being able to put things together and best wishes to them both.

    3. Would they continue from the movie? Or treat that as a fork in the 'verse and continue from the series? (Please, please the latter.) As much as I would like this to happen, I just don't see it. Maybe if Arrested Development makes oodles of money, Netflix will consider it.

      1. Aye. Fillion has a good gig with his current show, and it ain't happening without him. I suppose they could get him to do shorts (a la Dr. Horrible)....

        the fork approach would be much preferred here too. I'd miss not having Wash at the controls and Shepherd Book kneecapping guys. Alan Tudyk hasn't exactly picked winners lately (Suburgatory???)

        Adam Baldwin should be available, with Chuck on its last legs.
        Gina Torres, Morena Baccarin, Jewell Staite, Summer Glau, Sean Maher all seem gettable.

        1. I seem to remember reading something last week that Chuck's last episode was filmed last Thursday. Adam Baldwin would be ready tomorrow.

          1. Plus, we've seen her naked on Homeland. Consider that a gauntlet dropped, Netflix. Or, better yet, a towel.

            Glad to see someone else is watching that show.

            Spoiler SelectShow

  12. Joe Simon dead at 98.

    Best known for creating Captain America, but it was another job that puts him into the pantheon.

    He eventually moved to New York, where his first job was for Paramount Pictures, retouching still photographs of movie stars. “I retouched some of the most famous bosoms in motion pictures — Gloria Swanson, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Carole Lombard and Dorothy Lamour,” he wrote. “Good bosom men were considered experts and got lots of work. I could hold up a sagging bust line with the best of them.”

    1. I went to Top Jimmy's wiki page to see how long he's been covering the Twins. No such luck there, but it was pretty hilarious:

      In 2010, Souhan called out the Xavier men's basketball team for having a mid-major basketball team, favoring the No. 11 Minnesota Gophers over the No. 6 seeded Xavier Musketeers.[3] Xavier won the game,[4] and in the post game press conference, Xavier Coach Chris Mack called out Souhan for his favoring of Minnesota."Jim Souhan, however you pronounce his name, from the Star-Tribube, thanks for the motivation to tell our kids that we should be fodder against Minnesota." [5]

      That's about 3/4ths of his wiki entry. Apparently the Xavier Musketeers are a wee bit sensitive.

      1. And a lotta bit thuggish. Still, I was gloating all about the A10 that day to my brother who kept assuring me that no one from GW's conference could beat the Goophers in the tourney.

      2. During my summer daily this date in TJ history (you may have missed all those ubes), it seemed that he's been covering the Twins since about '95 or '96. I really should get back on that, but it was a little time-consuming.

        1. Taking a look at the Twins from '96 to present, games played:

          1226 - Hunter
          1138 - Cuddyer
          1017 - Morneau
          963 - Jacque Jones
          918 - Joe Mauer
          837 - Cristian Guzman
          816 - Koskie
          766 - Hocking
          753 - Kubel
          747 - Punto

  14. I've been away for a while, but I wanted to express my condolences to Wyl. I am sorry to hear about your loss.

  18. I will be coming back to this list on Jan. 2, but I can't quite wait. I'm 9 for the top 10, 18 for 20, 37 for 50, 56 for 100. I'm missing a lot of the fantasy stuff on the list, apparently.

    1. I didn't go through the list with a fine-tooth comb, but I'm 19-20 and 27-30 to start, then I start seeing a bunch of books and series that I have decided not to read in the past. I am going to look for a few of the listed ones, though.

    2. I don't remember, but was the graph version posted? If not, I'll send you the link to include in the Jan 2 post.

  19. Oh good lord. Paterno testified he knew about "inappropriate" Sandusky behavior.

    In the testimony, Paterno said he "knew inappropriate action was taken by Jerry Sandusky with a youngster" after a meeting with then-graduate assistant Mike McQueary, who allegedly saw Sandusky sexually abusing a boy in a locker room shower the previous night, but did not inform police and waited several days to meet with his boss, athletic director Tim Curley, because he "didn't want to interfere with their weekends."

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