118 thoughts on “June 10, 2013: Let’s Lose Two”

  2. Today marks the start of my summer vacation. One item on my to do list is to stop lurking here and participate more. Check.

      1. I did. DMB is also on the to do list. I have slowly been working my way through 1965 with the Twins. Having Killebrew everyday (injuries are off) has made that AL race a little less interesting.

        1. I turn injuries on for those older seasons just to up the challenge a bit (and he may not get injured anyway)

  3. Bill Simmons said right at the end of the halftime break last night that you just can't go on a run against these Spurs.

    1. Simmons is really useless on the halftime/pregame/postgame/studio shows. As is ESPN in general. The mrs and I don't even bother to watch those segments, whereas we make a point of watching the TNT guys, who are entertaining AND informative yuck-it-ups.

      1. I like Magic and Jalen. Simmons has nothing to offer in that setting, but that doesn't stop him from talking over Magic Johnson.

        1. Jalen is ok. Magic is acceptable. Neither is in the same orbit as Shaq, Kenny, Charles and EJ for entertainment value.

          I suppose I will tire of their schtick eventually, and Shaq is the weakest of the bunch analytically (JUMP HOOK HIM TO DEATH, BIG GUY!! BARBECUED CHICKEN!! and all his noise about want-itude and how great players will do this or that). But they have great rapport with one another, give enough analysis to be informative, and focus on being entertaining.

          1. Wait...sports are supposed to be entertaining? Why make sports fun when we can make them into Serious Business?

          2. Magic was on TNT and didn't really click with Chas et al., but he's better'n Shaq. If you listened last night, he was not buying what Simmons was selling. Simmons was talking about Miami having an on/off switch and Magic was like, hey, the Spurs are pretty good. He was measured on LBJ, he wasn't buying the on/off switch, he was right on with his analysis at halftime. He's not as fun as Chuck, but he does a good job of communicating what he sees on the floor and he doesn't get all !!!!!!!!! about things.

    2. What I've loved, all through the NBA playoffs, is hearing the "experts" tell me that whoever won the last game is a super team and can't possibly be beaten.

  4. I had a weird dream where Kit Harrington worked at my local Auto Zone, but I was the only person who recognized him as Jon Snow. Also, I was giving my family a tour of what I think was a mashup of Prague and Dublin, ostensibly on family vacation, but really I was there as part of an Oceans Eleven-eqsue bank heist. I don't remember enough of the dream to know if they were related or two separate dreams.

  6. From the Strib:

     New Britain righthander Alex Meyer has a sore shoulder and will be given some extra time to rest before starting again. Meyer, acquired in the offseason for Denard Span, will see a doctor this week, Steil said, just to be safe.

  7. I have to admit some excitement. With his promotion to AA, we are now only about four years away (or maybe less!) from the locals picking apart Sano's game.

        1. Ortiz complained that the staff kept telling him to hit to the opposite field rather than try to hit homers. Did he have to listen to them? Was he going to get benched for Brian Buchanan against righties if he decided to do it his way?

          1. I mean, Punto was told numerous times to stop sliding into first. He did it anyway, and still was put out there every day.

          2. Quite possibly he would have. The Twins never seemed very high on Ortiz when they had him. To be fair, though, even Boston, when they signed him, never thought he'd become what he has.

            1. if I remember right, Ortiz basically sat on the bench for the first couple of months then the BoSox realized Jeremy Giambi was not taking as many 'roids as his brother and put Ortiz in the the lineup

              1. In 2003, Ortiz had only 61 PAs in March/April and 56 in May. In 2004, he had 83 and 120 PAs respectively. It wasn't until August of 2003 that Ortiz topped 100 PAs, though July was close.

      1. I think it will. I figured euphoria in 2014, great 2015 rookie season and about a year or so later, we (we being the guys that harped on every last problem with KG's sublime game or ranted about Mauer because he isn't Johnny Bench or somesuch) won't be able to tolerate his imperfections.

    1. If only the other fair move they now have attempted to make twice (allowing pocket knives) would pass.

        1. yea, this.

          I've seen the Bourne films, so I know that a ballpoint pen is a deadly weapon, yet they let those by with impunity. nail clippers are a lesser threat.

      1. Sure, they harass the wookiee, but the droids they were looking for passed by without incident.

  9. I caught a little of the FSN broadcast of the Cedar Rapids game over the noon hour. That's the closest I've ever heard Tom Kelly come to sounding enthusiastic.

  10. So, last night's game. LeBron has somewhat of a clunker, at least scoring wise and the Heat run the Spurs right off the floor. LBJ was instrumental in that huge run and he seemed determined to get the ball to his teammates in primo scoring opportunities in the second half. He was, in fact, their point guard for most of that time. Not his best game, but it was indicative of just how versatile he is. He can do so many things to beat a team. This wasn't the Bobcats out there, this was a very worthy opponent in the Spurs, who might yet win the title, he couldn't put the ball in the hole, Wade took a doughnut in the second half, and he still propelled this team to an easy victory, at least easy in the sense that it was over well before the final horn.

    If Miami wins this series, I think this will be the pivotal game. The Spurs couldn't beat Miami when LeBron basically couldn't score.

    1. I didn't watch all the way to the end (turned away late in the 3rd when the Heat looked to have things in the bag and the Spurs seemed to be getting frustrated), but I really got the impression that LBJ was biding his time, almost pacing himself, in case he needed to find another gear at the end of the game.

    2. I thought LeBron seemed mighty passive early in the game, but, yea.

      Other than Danny Green, the Spurs couldn't throw it in the ocean.

  11. This has been quite the (long) weekend for soccer in Seattle. First, last Friday saw Seattle Sounder Brad Evans clinch 3 points for the US Men's National Team in Jamaica. Then on Saturday, the Sounders beat Vancouver 3-2 in a really entertaining back and forth game. (I think I'm really going to love watching Obafemi Martins play.) Tomorrow, I'll be at the US-Panama game. I wish ticket prices were lower and the game was sold out, but it's looking like Seattle's more of a club over country town than I'd thought.

    And hey, Chicago managed to come back to draw Portland 2-2 after falling behind 0-2, which was nice to see, too.

  12. Byron Buxton just flicked a ball to the gap in RCF... outfielder cuts it off and Buxton STILL gets a triple... Wow...— Phil Mackey (@PMac21) June 10, 2013

    I'm glad this is on my DVR for when I get home.

    1. You'll have some fun tonight. Based on my Twitter Feed, Buxton is a HR short of the Cycle, has at least 3 rbi's and had an amazing diving catch in the outfield. No word on whether he met his quota of between-inning popcorn and hotdog sales.

      1. Just saw that Aaron Hicks is on 15-day DL for hamstring strain. Call up Buxton!!!!!!!

          1. Oh, good. Another left-handed corner outfielder. That's just what the Twins need. I don't get this. The Twins need a third baseman or a center fielder, instead we got someone who'll either sit the bench or make sure one of our better bats is benched.

      2. If they moved him to AA with Sano and Rosario, then started showing Rock Cats games instead of Twins games for the rest of the year I don't think I'd have a problem with that.

      3. This is the first time I have felt any regret about getting rid of cable in March.

        1. Whoops! Didn't intend to misinform. I used the TV Listings on the FSN site, which sounds like it should be official. But that is one dumb web page, so I wouldn't be surprised if it is wrong.

  14. I'm banging my head on the desk over a DB work problem, and when I powered up Pandora, it decided I needed to hear "Super Freak". Yeah, that hits the spot

    2. Computer-Liebe
      Computer-Liebe

      Ich bin allein, mal wieder ganz allein
      Starr auf den Fernsehschirm, starr auf den Fernsehschirm
      Hab heut Nacht nichts zu tun, hab heut Nacht nichts zu tun
      Ich brauch ein Rendez-vous, ich brauch ein Rendez-vous

      1. I'm the operator with my pocket calculator
        I'm the operator with my pocket calculator
        I am adding
        And subtracting
        I'm controlling
        And composing

        1. I've been listening to those since the early '80s, what of 'em?

          Watched a documentary on Orchestral Manoeuvers in the Dark and found they were influenced by Kraftwerk

      2. It isn't my fault that no one else in this town wears a tie to work!

          1. Heh. It was raining. Just a regular denim jacket. Cut like any other denim jacket.

    4. The next two frames feature y'all individually. I have a feeling it was a good show.

    1. The burning question is how much Joe Mauer will charge for the number 7. Maybe they'll make an exception and allow Buxton to wear an ampersand.

      1. I doubt anyone else will have taken 77 by then.
        Because he's like two Joe Mauers. (Not because he's like Tony Batista.)

  18. For the last 3 weeks, I've been saving all the beer cans and bottles from the rink locker room trashes. Our local beer store has a coupon out for an extra 20% on your redeemables. I had $14.25 + the coupon tonight. I got a growler, two bottles of Pilsner from the 50 cent bin and came home with $7.00 and change. A little extra effort at work and I've just been paid to go to the beer store.

    1. Ah, I miss WNY. We would throw a house party and take the returns back to restock the house. Also, I'm drinking on your dime tonight. I liked it, but it's not 90+ degree weather beer. Thanks for the buzz.

      1. When I got it, the weather here was perfect for it. But enough time passed before I could send it, and I didn't take into account the climate difference. Either way, I'm glad it arrived safely and you enjoyed it.

        1. I enjoyed it tremendously. I did see oyster and wrastlers at my local whole foods, just a heads up.

        2. Hey mags, I would like to trade you a couple two three stouts for some Oyster. I just got stout bottled up, so it'll be ready in a couple weeks. (should be good, because I'm awesome.)

            1. I know the place and do plan to pass by next week. I think I'll shoot you and FTLT some stout anyway, because its been a really long time since I've bottled anything.

  19. FSN should have a show about twice a year where its Tom Kelly and a few others knowledgeable baseball folk just talking baseball. No commercials, no studio audience, just TK and a couple others shooting the breeze

    1. Actually, all they need is TK, along with some professional broadcaster to shoot him questions and keep the show moving. I could listen to TK talk baseball for hours.

  20. I'm at Petco taking in a Padres game tonight. You know who's pitching for the home team? Jason Marquis, of course.

    1. Please boo him heartily. (No hard feelings, but I consider him an enemy to the Twins for much the same reason I consider Pavano a hero for his stint with the Yankees.)

        1. More than most. Signs, stinks, gets released, signs with another team, doesn't stink anymore.
          (Not great anymore despite the ERA halving, but
          49 ERA+, -1.1 bWAR with Twins in 7 games averaging less than 5IP per, vs
          90 ERA+, -0.3 bWAR with Padres in 15 games averaging nearly 6 1/3 IP per.
          The Padres got the kind of mid-to-back-of-rotation veteran I was expecting.)

    2. ooooh. Never been to Petco. More down-townish, isn't it? Have a fish taco for me.

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