My friend Andrew, who was given a very grim diagnosis last week, has woken up. He's very forgetful so far (and extremely hungry) but otherwise seems to be himself. Win one for the good guys.
Monthly Archives: May 2013
Game 40: The Beast(s) 5, Play(ed) Baseball Like [a] Girl(s) 1
Joe Mauer did not continue his hit streak and struck out 3 times, the last one coming in the 8th with the bases full of Twins.
Petunia homered with a little help from Consensual Pork...I'm not in the mood to look, but hasn't this happened to Josh before?
Our boys are now on a five-game skid with a record of 18-22, good for last in the AL Central, though still only 6 games behind first place Cleveland.
Next up, the Twins head to Atlanta for some interleague play. Lucky for them, the front office brought in some NL pitchers during the offseason for just such an occasion. Hey, at least the #9 hitter sporting a .119 average isn't named Butters!
2013 Game 40: Red Sox at Twins
After a few annoying games in a row, the Twins are three games under .500 but only five games out of first in a predictably mediocre (but surprisingly well-balanced, through a quarter of the season) division. John Lackey, who still looks like trailer trash to me despite years of proof that he's a reasonably decent major league starter, faces Pedro Hernandez, who looks more like a major league starter, but often proves otherwise. Oh well.
Wilkin Ramirez starts today as Willingham sits, and Carroll leads off again. The Twins season has probably hit its zenith and won't be going back, but I'm cool with a quarter-season-long mirage while I wait for the big boys to hit the major league club in the next couple of years.
SSS – Final Day of the EPL Season Edition
I am really getting a lot of mileage out of the "sporadic" part of my feature's title. Anyway, it's the last day of the season, and that means 10 games all at once, specifically 11 AM Eastern/10 Central on Sunday (So pretty much if you can see this post, get the TV/laptop ready). There's not a whole lot to be played for today. United won the title going away, City is firmly in 2nd, and all three relegation spots (Wigan, Reading, and QPR) are finalized. The battle for 3rd and 4th (and thus the Champions League) is heating up, with Chelsea, Arsenal, and Spurs (currently in that order) all still able to qualify. Will Spurs be the odd one out, or will one of the teams above them stumble? Lower in the table, spots 10-17 are only separated by 4 points, so lots of shuffling could be seen by day's end. How will that affect our prediction contest? Some numbers after the jump. Continue reading SSS – Final Day of the EPL Season Edition
May 19, 2013: Pacers!
...defeat Knicks!
Minor Details: Games of 5/18
Some good pitching gets wasted. New Britain and Cedar Rapids get shut out. The bats come alive for Fort Myers.
Happy Birthday–May 19
Goose Curry (1905)
Gil McDougald (1928)
Curt Simmons (1929)
Larry McCoy (1941)
Dan Ford (1952)
Rick Cerone (1954)
Ed Whitson (1955)
Luis Salazar (1956)
Eric Show (1956)
Turk Wendell (1967)
Brandon Inge (1977)
Outfielder Goose Curry was a star in the Negro Leagues, batting over .300 several times.
This author's first baseball glove was a Gil McDougald model.
Larry McCoy was an American League umpire from 1971-1999.
Eric Show was drafted by Minnesota in the 36th round in 1974, but did not sign.
Vampire Weekend – Diane Young
And we'll end the week looking forward, with the song that I think will be one of the anthems of the summer.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX46e4GtlXM
I've liked Vampire Weekend just fine before, but wasn't all that impressed. They may have turned a corner here.
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Loading... Game 39: Red Sox @ Twins
Well, they're back in last place again (then again, in the rough and tumble AL Central, that's not as bad a thing as it might otherwise appear).
After golf on Thursday, a group of people were sitting around talking about baseball, when the subject of Joe Mauer came up. I was expecting the worst, but the near universal consensus was that we're watching a Hall of Famer do Hall of Fame-y things. The couple dissenters were looked upon with a sort of cocked eyebrow pity. I got the sense that maybe all isn't lost. There are people - even those who aren't so statistically inclined - who can see that Minnesota's in the midst of watching one of the very best to ever play his position.
Those that can't see that? Well, they can choke on their own tongues when Joe is inducted into the Hall of Fame as they lie and say they were with him every step of the way.
Diamond vs. Dempster today (I didn't realize Dempster has been around as long as he has). Hopefully, Diamond bounces back from his last start (5 2/3 innings, 6 runs on 3 home runs), while Dempster expands upon his (5 innings, 6 runs on 3 home runs).
Twins on Leaderboards
rWAR (position players) - Mauer, 5th (2.0)
Batting Average - Mauer, 3rd (.349)
OBP - Mauer, 3rd (.431)
OPS - Mauer, 7th (.931)
Hits - Mauer, t-7th (51)
Doubles - Mauer, 3rd (16)
Triples - Dozier, t-5th (2)
RBIs - Morneau t-10th (28)
Bases on Balls - Willingham, t-3rd (25)
Bases on Balls - Mauer t-10th (21)
OPS+ - Mauer, 6th (157)
Runs Created - Mauer, t-4th (33)
Times on Base - Mauer, 4th (72)
Hit By Pitch - Willingham, 1st (6)
Hit By Pitch - Plouffe, t-4th (4)
Sacrifice Hits - Dozier, t-9th (2)
Sac Flies - Morneau, t-1st (4)
Sac Flies - Doumit, t-4th (3)
Intentional Walks - Mauer, t-4th (3)
GIDP - Dozier, t-9th (6)
Caught Stealing - Dozier, t-3rd (3)
Joe Mauer. Good at baseball? You decide.
BB/9 - Correia, 4th (1.342)
Games Pitched - Fien, t-3rd (20)*
Games Pitched - Burton, t-9th (19)
Saves - Perkins, 7th (8)
Games Started - Worley, t-1st (9)
Hits Allowed - Worley, 2nd (72)
Hits Allowed - Correia, t-10th (58)
Losses - Worley & Pelfrey, t-7th (4)
Earned Runs - Worley, 8th (31)
Games Finished - Perkins, 7th (14)
* I would expect (injury excepted of course) Fien to be high on this list at season's end.
This Week in Twins Transactions
Cole DeVries continues his rehab and the rest is minor league stuff.