2012 Twins Game Recaps

Game 81 Recap: The half way point, or how I learned to stop worrying and love the Twins.

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Twins 1, Detroit 5

WP: Verlander (9-5), LP: The Dunce(1-5)
Save? No.
Twins record 35-46

Fangraphs wasn't surprised the Twins lost this one, either.

That was a stinker of a game. Let's not spend too much time talking about how bad the starting pitching has been, or how the Twins really can't afford to have another pitcher on the DL. Let's look on the bright side of life.

Joe Mauer went o-fer last night. Big surprise there. At the half way point Mau-Mau is "hitting' 3.27 with 5 home runs, a nearly perfect 1:1 K:BB ratio, 4 stolen bases, and a .872 OPS. Yeah, I'm done (D-U-N!) booing Joe Mauer for comic effect.

The Willinghammer has been one of the Twins greatest off season signings evah. The dude has played in 78 games, hit .269 with 18 home runs, 21 doubles, a triple, with 59 ribeyes. I don't miss Henry Blanco, er, Cuddii.

I don't care what Philo says about him, Plouffe! is my new man crush. After cutting his hair he discovered how to use his boom stick. Some folks say that he's selfish because 16 of his 19 home runs are just solo shots. Others say that he's just a flash in the pan. Philo thinks he's a dork. I don't give a rip. I'm enjoyed the ride he's having, and if it ends tomorrow so be it. Plouffe! is giving me a reason to watch this team on a near-ish nightly basis.

Span accounted for half the hits last night. He's hitting .273 with 20 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs, 9 stolen bases, and a .341 OBP while deftly handling center field. I don't miss Torii. Not one bit. I'll miss D-span 2 when he's traded for middle relief later this month.

Sweet Ben Revere is another reason that the Twins are exciting this season. While his arm leaves something to be desired, his speed in the field, and on the bases, make him an exciting player to watch. He's hitting .321 with 6 doubles, 2 triples, and 16 stolen bases.

Yes, there are disappointments, but let's just be happy that there are positives.

Culture club: Detroit is becoming a mecca for artists due to it's low cost of living, vacant warehouses, and a strong tradition of fine art collection. The Detroit Institute of Art houses a world class collection, and offers courses to the general public in printmaking, painting, sculpture, clay, and crayons for adults and children, amateurs and professionals. The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit holds solo and group shows of some of the best contemporary art happening in the states right now. There are a pile of new galleries featuring work from around the states from both emerging and established artist. Detroit has had a rough past, but if this art trend continues the city will have brighter future.

35 thoughts on “Game 81 Recap: The half way point, or how I learned to stop worrying and love the Twins.”

  2. Well done, meat.

    this year seems different from last year's Suck, when the Nation grew restless. We seem to have accepted that we have a second-division club, and are looking for entertainment value where we can find it. That's good. But stopping boooing Mauer? That's bad.

    1. I know that 'booing' joe is making fun of the chaunces that choose to boo one of the greatest players in Twins history, but I'm over it. They're idiots, and picking on the low hanging fruit is just too easy. Boo.

      1. That's why I never got into it. Eventually, if we lampoon something for long enough, I'm still crushed by the weight of how much it annoys me, even though we're joking.

        1. This.

          It never really grated on me and occasionally, when meat got into it and added dozens of O's, I laughed. In the end, though, it just was a sad reminder that there are people that I talk to on a weekly basis that think that Mauer is an overrated singles hitter that has no place being mentioned amongst today's greats.

  3. I'd probably include Mountie in that "Positive" column. His offensive numbers are waaaay down from the first half of 2010 (.345/.437/.618) and, in particular, he's been pretty terrible against lefties. That being said, considering expectations (or lack thereof) going into spring training - the fact that he's played in 61 games (.238/.307/.434) and has the 5th most PA's on the team while playing 40 games at 1st base has been a positive. For reference, he played in 69 games all of last year (288 PA's - .227/.285/.333) and only 81 the year before.

    1. Right, I ran out of time writing this recap to get to the Mountie (and bullpen), but I'm happy that Justin is still able to play ball at all. I hope that he figures out left handed pitchers during the second half.

      1. Nah, I'm a fan of Babe Plouffe. He's going to hit for 30+ home runs this year and become a halfway decent third baseman.

        Bootsy has it right, as usual.

        1. And then next year the league will figure him out and he'll become Valencia 2.0?

              1. I know you have to stick to your guns on the Plouffe issue, but this seems dangerously close to wishing for a spectacular fall. I know that's not what you're saying, but dude, in a sunk season we've got to have hope in something.

                1. Wishing for a fall? No.
                  Bracing for one? Yes.

                  My approach to Ploufffe is the same as my approach to the Vikings: I'll hope, but I'll never believe.

                    1. Yeah, it's getting extremely tired. "Believe" is a pretty pointless term to use, since what's happening is happening. We know that. If you see someone having this kind of season and can't talk about anything but how far above his head he's playing and how he'll never reach these heights again, what the hell is the point of cheering for this team?

                      If Plouffe goes 0-for-the-rest-of-his-career, will it make this stretch any less awesome?

                    2. With the Vikings? Probably at the point immediately before the next heartbreak.

                      With Plouffe? Yeah, setting aside the gag, I kind of started to believe a couple weeks ago (he had 2 or 3 bad games, then bounced back... that was huge). I don't think he's Jose Bautista (who had a similar revelatory development), but I'm hopeful he's a mini-Bautista.

                  2. Bracing for him to fizzle removes any of the joy in watching him play right now. Is he going to be a hall of famer? Probably not. Is he going to hit 35 home runs next season? Who knows. But at the moment he's playing decently in the field, hitting the ball hard, and he doesn't have the horrible Chris Cornell hair impersonation anymore. As Martha says, that's a good thing.

                    1. I disagree. I'm having a ton of fun watching him play. I know what he's doing is a good thing. There's a ton of joy to be had in saying "ahh, Ploufffe is going to choke!" and then having him prove me wrong. I've had a lot of good laughs about it (as I've taken it beyond the site too), and I'll take it every single time. It's really not much different than ironically booing Mauer.

                    2. I just think it's great to have a couple legitimate (sorry Cuddy) RH hitters with power to offset the M&M boys. We're a lot better balanced this year. I can live with Doumit & Carroll, just wish Dozier (or someone else) could pick it up a notch.

                    3. I'm sticking by my Plouffe as Cuddyer assessment. Plouffe has more value in the field, and in the long run he probably won't hit as much for average as Cuddyer but will otherwise be similar in his offensive profile, so overall he'll be about as valuable as Cuddyer was. If only he could do magic tricks.

                    8. I'm reasonably confident that I altered the image enough to overcome his copyright.

        2. Babe Plouffe is an awesome nickname. Goes well with the Baby Ploof Bootsy original.

  5. It's funny... for as bad a team as they've been, I really do love them this year. They're fun to watch.

    Also, I will admit that, for as much as I still don't like Ploufffe, the reverse-Samsoning was a good thing. That hair was anger inducing.

    1. That's what I've been thinking this year. As thoroughly mediocre as the team on whole is, they're fun, which the 2011 version most decidedly was not. All it took was jettisoning 4 of the 5 starting pitchers.

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