Cup of Coffee

August 22, 2012: Background

123 Comments

Yesterday it dawned on me that although I keep turning the Twins games on, I really don't watch much of them these days. It's on, I'm in the room and I'm not really doing anything else, but I can't tell you just about anything that's happened in the game.

123 thoughts on “August 22, 2012: Background”

  1. aw, crap, that reminds me: i never did the monday recap.

    they won. and there was much rejoicing.

  2. Gardy on Maestro playing second base:

    He was an infielder and was moved to the outfield, and that’s because a lot of the balls ended up in the outfield anyway.

    1. That reminds me of a quote (can't remember who said it) that it's better to play the infield than the outfield because when you miss one in the infield, you don't have to go chase it.

    2. Gardy does end up with some good quotes. I'd like more like this one and fewer of the "battling his tail off" variety.

          1. No kidding, my old man texted me that line last night. I asked what to do about the spoon, he replied that I should take that too.

          1. heh, that was in the chinatown i apparently stumbled across. don't worry, montreal made up for it (see all the way below).

            also, schwartz's. OMFG...

    1. It drives Linds nuts when Provus gives out the details of the uniforms at the beginning of the game. I would think that since she herself has distinct preferences in the different alternates that the Twins wear that she'd find it interesting, but she nearly always comments that it's silly for the radio man to point this out.

      1. Huh...I like that he does it too (not that I've listened to a radio broadcast in ages). What's the downside of a radio announcer painting a picture of what's on the field?

        This is a good time to mention that the scene in Amelie where she explains the happenings on the street to the blind man may have made me happier than any scene in film history. It's only tangentially related, but it's been on my mind, so here we are.

        1. Yeah, many radio announcers in other sports tell you which way the team is going by his perspective ("The Timberwolves are going left to right to start the game.")

            1. dido. i haven't watched that movie in years because i watched it so much before that i want to wait until it's special again.

      2. Back when I paid for gameday audio, I listened to a few different broadcasts. The Rangers crew described the unis elegantly. I remember the mention of piping and pinstripes. I loved it.

  5. minor AP fial this morning in the Sac Bee: they reported that Revere advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Willingpig's single. Did their reporter watch the first inning??

    1. Yahoo's AP story still says the same thing even though the box score with the pbp shows correctly that he scored on a wild pitch. What's really sad is the Sac Bee uses the AP for A's home games. You'd think they could at least get a freelancer to cover the A's in Oakland for them.

      1. weekday game against the worst team in the league? Not worth it when there's NFL preseason practice to cover!!!1111one1111!!!

    1. for some reason, that reminds me of this scene:

      httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdLCHSh_yIE

      David: All she told the police is that he was boring.
      Nate: What, that's it? … Sick part is, I understand it. … Sometimes I'm boring.
      David: Me, too. [awkward silence]

    3. It seems like divorce is a better option if you're really fed up with your husband, but maybe that's just me.

  7. also, opportunity alert! The A's DFA'd AAA pitcher Graham Godfrey. What what?

    I'm not aware of any injuries that would justify this move. He's in his age-27 season and has had two (unsuccessful) cups of coffee. currently 9-2 with a 3.29 ERA and 60:26 K:BB in 104 innings this season. Last year with Sac he was 14-3 with a 2.68 ERA (3.19 FIP, 155 TRA+ according to Statcorner) and 89:30 in 107 1/3.

    sure sounds like he'd be worth a look. Not a power pitcher, to be sure. But a lot of success in a high-offense environment in the PCL.

    [it appears he was a casualty of the Stephen Drew trade and the return of Seth Smith to the A's; Jemile Weeks was demoted and Godfrey DFA'd to make room on the 40-man roster for Drew]

    2. Pretty successful overall, yeah, but probably a better candidate for Rochester than Minnesota. His strikeout rate has dropped pretty far this year (7.4+ K/9 to 5.2 K/9), and a 2.9 BB/9 rate isn't bad, but it's not all that good either, especially for a soft tosser. If he has one standout pitch, it might be worth checking him out in the bullpen, I suppose.

    3. Well, they are both Canadian, so it makes some sense.
      I hope that poutine is served at the reception.

    1. 13. I forgot how many of the classics hadn't come out by then.

      Spoiler SelectShow

    2. I got 15. Only a couple were of the "I really should've known that" variety. I'm with nibbish, I was hung up on a lot of games that hadn't made it out by then.

      Spoiler SelectShow

          1. Yeah, if I had one of those games eBay would be the last damn place I sold it. The most valuable things I have are probably things that are right around ~$100. Anything more expensive than that I'd probably need to score via a trade or a find of a lifetime. I really regret not buying Panzer Dragoon Saga when it was "only" around $125. Frown.

              1. Yeah I think a lot of them end up there, but I don't know. eBay's policies for sellers have gotten pretty bad. The auction fees + PayPal fees would take out a pretty big cut, and it'd be pretty easy for a buyer to file a claim and win with eBay even if you described the item exactly and it was delivered promptly. I assume when we're talking about the types of collectors that will drop ten plus grand on a game that's unlikely to happen, but you know.

                Mostly I was just commenting on how much I don't really like eBay. It's pretty much my only option to find a lot of games, though.

    5. 15 out of 30. Embarrassed by nearly every one I missed, especially since I had the copy of Nintendo Power and wore it out, and because a few of the ones I missed are in my top 100

    7. 14 here. There's one I play a couple times a year to this day and still managed to miss:

      Spoiler SelectShow

      I'll give myself a pass on about 8-10 that I missed. I knew of them, but didn't play them.

  12. File under an embarrassment of opportunities: Dr. Chop's new school just offered me unrestricted access to their shop and the title of artist in residence. This isn't making my decision any easier.

    2. can you do both? a hoidy-toidy L.A. affiliation just adds shine to their "Artist-in-residence" designation, dontit?

  15. Chelsea (Champions of Europe) v. Reading on ESPN3 you guys. Chelsea up 1-0 in first 20 minutes.

    EDIT: Guess I should have refreshed before posting. ESPN3.com for you computer users

  16. hey, you guys, chelsea v. reading up on ESPN3 right now. chelsea out to an early lead in about the 25th.

            1. I'm really interested in seeing Hazard and Oscar play together, could be a lot of fun.

      2. Omar is visiting (it's doggy swim day at the pool) and I took him out for a little constitutional and I missed Reading's second. This little guy always seems to do that to me. Remind me if the Twins get the bases loaded, he's gonna go for a wee.

        1. Flipped it on just in time to see Terry being a little bitch in the penalty area.

        1. Another non-call going in the favor of the big team.

          Really bad defending leading up to it though.

  18. Reading gave Chelsea fits when they were attacking. I would question their decision to "play prevent defense" when they had a goal lead.

    1. it used to do that all the time. then i think sean walked up to it, banged with his fist, turned around, and said, "eeeeeeeeyyyy!".

      true story.

    2. I'm surprised there was even one. I left it in "passive" mode while sitting in meetings all. freakin'. day. Thank God my flight was delayed an hour and a half. *bangs head on airport food court table*

          2. I'm glad you used that excellent descriptive term here instead of making the rest of us have to compete against it in "Play with the Prose".

  21. We just got back from taking Omar to the Doggy Dip at the local pool. Being the genius he is, he decided to try his hand at the deep end even though he can't swim. His big head and chest drug him down like an anchor. Luckily, he was equipped with his life vest and I was able to fish him out pretty quickly. He shook it off like it was nothing and went about his business in the shallow end.

    He had a great time and will probably sleep until Friday.

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