54 thoughts on “September 27, 2012: So Close”

      1. I was at least hoping the scabs would work tonight with the rest of the league getting the real refs this weekend. That's at least still funny.

  3. This is really sad. Last year, Sheenie's grandfather, who was in the Navy in the Pacific from 1943-45, passed away (just outside DC). At his funeral, two soldiers in the Honor Guard draped his coffin with the flag and folded it perfectly while another played taps on the bugle.

    This isn't quite going to cut it:

    The state's lone bugler even has been told his services will no longer be needed. He'll be replaced in some ceremonies by a digital version of taps from a device inserted into a bugle to make it look and sound like the real thing.

    2. This makes me sad. When I was in high school, I played taps for Memorial Day and Veterans' Day (with a trumpet, not a bugle). I don't understand why anyone would think a recording would be an acceptable substitute.

      1. Yeah, we always had a HS'er play at Memorial Day services. I've heard of those playback devices, and it's one thing when they don't have an alternative, but when they HAVE a bugler to do it, why accept a substitute? Shoot, the trumpet player in our brass ensemble even plays for the Confederate service, for crying out loud.

  4. Dick Bremer was on Fargo radio late yesterday afternoon talking Twins. He said that fans need to understand who Mauer is and that he will probably end up with close to 3,000 hits and will be the next Twin in the Hall of Fame. He also said that if the Twins don't fix their pitching staff, we'll see a repeat of the last two seasons next year, and that he fully expects that Denard Span will be traded. Nothing ground breaking there, of course, but it was interesting to hear him say that if they don't do something next year will, to paraphrase, suck, too.

    1. Dick's not a moron, he's just a company man. It is interesting when he says something like this though.

  6. I think I mentioned that one of my best friends from college suffered what appeared to be a ruptured brain aneurysm over a week ago. He had been in a coma since underging brain surgery, but they were unable to control the bleeding and he passed away. He and I and four other friends together founded the chapter of our fraternity on campus. His funeral will be on Saturday, which is also my 22nd wedding anniversary. I'm thinking I might end up a little drunk that night.

    1. sorry, Twayn. I've never had a friend die before, or even get really sick for that matter, so I don't know what you're going through.

      as an aside, I don't think I've ever gotten drunk while in a somber mood. Drinking has never appealed to me unless I'm already in a good mood.

    4. best wishes, Twayn.

      I've been really lucky, in that nobody in my immediate h.s. or college circles has yet passed away. But it comes for all of us.

    5. I've been through a lot of deaths, because I've generally befriended the "live fast" type over the course of my life. In recent years, though, I've lost a couple to sicknesses that take hold quickly and I know how it weighs on a person. This probably isn't new to you, Twayn, but I know it sucks all the same. All my best.

    1. I'll give you a teaser quote to help you decide if it can:

      The Yankees sent up Andruw Jones to pinch-hit. Perkins’ reaction? “I forgot that Andruw Jones was on their team.”

        1. Yep. I can't recall ever hearing/reading a pitcher give a pitch-by-pitch assessment of an outing like that, basically right after it happened. Might give away too much strategy in some situations, but Perk's not going to be too busy this October.

  9. So, the #NBARank continues:

    #5: Derrick Rose <== I had him ninth of the top ten. What, a major knee injury and you move up? #4: Chris Paul <== Had him fifth (with Wade fourth). Of the four remaining, I agree. #3: Dwight Howard <== He's an A$$, but he's also the third best player in the league, I agree. #2: Kevin Durant <== There are still some holes in his game, but watching him play is an absolute thing of beauty. He's unbelievably graceful. #1: LeBron James <== Still the King. I think he's the best by a long ways. I love Durant, but in my opinion, there's a pretty large distance between these two.

  10. He is not the former Twins pitcher I expected to win 20 games for the Mets. And how's this for a fun fact:

    The Mets’ bullpen survived a two-run ninth inning and eventually saved R. A. Dickey’s win, making him the first Mets pitcher since Frank Viola in 1990 to win 20 games.

    Story here.
    Edit: Even Neck Tat played a role...nearly the goat.

    1. ok. weird. I submitted that one, and now (after ~45 minutes), the sidebar suddenly updates. And yes, I'd reloaded the page several times.

    2. If two LTEs are submitted (somewhat) close together, it can miss one. I've seen it happen a lot; it happened to my LTE earlier today actually. The fix is to either post another LTE while avoiding yet another collision, clearing the cache, or waiting for the cache to naturally clear. The plugin is rather old and there's a fork out there, but it's missing a feature* we use so I'm waiting until a released version has that feature.

      * I believe the feature missing is the ability to segregate comments by post. Supposedly it's in a development version, but I want to wait until it's released before trying it.

      Edit: And it happened again to me for this LTE. That did remind me there's an easier way to fix: edit an LTE. That causes a refresh of the cache.

  13. Real refs are back and it didn't even take a quarter for a player to almost be decapitated.

      1. Hence why, if players are gonna get killed, they may as well do it with inept rule understanding and enforcement. Otherwise, I see no reason to watch.

          1. I saw a video of the hit on deadspin. Pretty shameful to see a guy launch himself with a forearm shiver while the ball carrier is already engaged by other defenders. You can't tell me there was any intent there other than to injure.

            1. That was not a defenseless player! (as he's being pulled to the ground and has his arms wrapped around him.)

    1. It'll be interesting to see what happens. On the one hand, making big changes is not the Twins Way, and I don't know that changes to the coaching staff will solve anything. On the other hand, sometimes people can become less effective when they stay in the same job too long. I don't really expect the Twins to make big changes, but you never know.

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