Cup of Coffee

29 September 2014: It’s Over (Burnt Coffee)

170 Comments

For the last several years I have been much more interested in the Twins' offseason than their regular season. I expect that trend to continue this year. Time to start filling out and itemizing that wish list, folks.

170 thoughts on “29 September 2014: It’s Over (Burnt Coffee)”

    1. - 2008 Game 163 do-over
      - drug-free Rosario
      - favorable Spring Training schedule when we're there
      - several umpire retirements (Angel, Cowboy Joe, Phil...I'm looking at you)
      - another ex-Twin winning the NL batting title
      - Joe thumbing his nose at the naysayers and putting up Maueresque stats
      - a Game of Thrones-worthy move by Molitor

    2. - Healthy Meyer
      - Good movement through the system for Berrios and Stewart
      - Not having to suffer through watching Pelfrey pitch

        1. I didn't realize I could submit like that. Thought maybe I had to log in or something.
          Question mark more reflecting my thought process.

  3. 'I suspect Rhu_Ru will get my reference:' SelectShow
    1. 'Well okay, back at you' SelectShow

  4. Getting back to beer, I bought a case of this over the weekend.

    I agree with the Bros. It's outstanding. I've been on a low-hop kick lately. This is easy drinking with a lot of flavor and great balance. Enough hops so that you know they are there, but not hop-forward, allowing other flavors to meld into a high-class session beer flavor profile.

    2. I found a 12-pack Fall sampler of Sierra Nevada with 3 each of Pale Ale, Oktoberfest, Vienna Lager, and Tumbler.
      I really, really liked the Vienna Lager, a bit punchier than Schell's Firebrick, and the Oktoberfest is good, reminding me of the New Glarus Octoberfest. I've never seen either of these in sixers. The Tumblers and Pale Ales are going to be disappointments.

      Boss bought me an FSA gift today. Four 750ml bottles of beer:
      Ommegang Abbey Ale, Ommegang Hennepin, Ommmegang Three Philosophers, and Ovalde Ode to a Russian Shipwright.
      Either my boss is lucky or he pays really good attention to what I drink at the bar. I'm psyched.

      1. The Tumblers and Pale Ales are going to be disappointments.

        Because Merely Outstanding?

        Oh, mama. Your boss must like you.

        1. I'm growing a bit bored of the IPAs and hops, looking for more malt and unique flavors.
          SN's Pale Ale has never been among my favorite takes on the style (though it's good), and Brown Ales don't excite.
          I won't mind drinking them, but I would have rather had those bottles be the Oktoberfest and Vienna.

            1. Normally I would say that, but its been 80 frickin degrees here the past few weekends (convenient for deck building!), so I'm still craving hops.

          2. AMR: you might enjoy Lost Coast's Great White then. It is a wit. BA readers rank it only as "okay," but I think it is an excellent every-day beer for warm temperature days.

            And definitely look for the Deschutes River Ale.

            1. I'm not very fond of coriander/orange peel beers.
              Unless you say it's better than those.
              I was afraid of Schell's Goosetown gose because it advertised the coriander, but the salt is more noticeable.

      2. Philosophy, Abbeys, and unabashed local Minnesotanism. That's a big 3-for-4 right up my alley on topical beer naming. I don't know much of Russian seagoing, though.
        That's a heckuva gift.

        1. The Ode to a Russian Shipwright is an Imperial Porter flavored with spruce tips, brewed in Rollingstone, MN.
          Hennepin is named after the priest, not the county, as it's brewed in Cooperstown, MN.

              1. get r dun billy smith! hit me up at zero zero 2 shores at g-mizzile if you're actually interested in trading several brews for the big un.

        1. I had looked longingly at some of them on the shelf on Saturday night.
          I bought an 8-pack sampler of (16 oz?) bottles from Ommegang last Christmas "to share with family". It contained all three of these and one other. I think once I had one, I hid the rest because I didn't think any of my in-laws would appreciate them. My boss seriously hit a stoppage time touchdown here.

      4. My wife was close to the border last week so she drive into Stillwater and got us a couple of New Glarus six-packs. In general I tend to prefer lagers to ales, but in this case I'm forced to say that I'd rather have a Spotted Cow than Two Women.

        1. I love me some Two Women.

          Also of note, at last year's Halloween spiel, one team came dressed as representations of various New Glarus beers, complete with giant four pack holder. Two of them dressed as the two women. It was, uhhh, quite pleasant.

    5. dude, I tried to provoke you last week with a Mike Penberthy reference. So, so disappointing. Not the hire, your equanimity.

    7. Just wanted to add my "welcome back" to the list. Hope you'll be around more often. There'll always be a chair in the basement for you.

  6. Was kind of disappointed to not see a game 163 at all. I was really pumped to watch the Seattle game while the A's were losing…but none of that happened.

    (Good news…I've yet to watch a down of football this fall.)

    2. After the 94-95 strike, I didn't watch a game nor spend a single penny on anything related to MLB until sometime in 1997. And honestly, as a Browns and Vikings fan, not watching the NFL is probably better for my blood pressure and sanity.

    1. I felt like it was coming, but its still a bit shocking.

      Welp, I suppose now we at least get to enjoy coaching roulette while the team doesn't win.

      1. Will that be Molitor or, uh, Molitor?

        They should make Joe player/manager. Then the strib-base can really hate him.

        1. I really want Molitor and Bruno back as hitting coach. Team really showed improvement in hitting and seemed like a lot of anecdotal evidence that Bruno had a lot to do with it. Wouldn't mind seeing Steinbach return either. What about Bert as pitching coach? Would get him out of the booth at least.

      3. They will be searching inside and outside of the organization for the replacement. The entire coaching staff is axed.

        I am fully on board with Joe as player manager.

        1. On one hand, I still like Rick Anderson and I think there has been pitchers he's helped thrive. One could argue there are pitchers that thrived more without him. That's probably going to happen with all coaches. But I don't much see the point in just cutting one guy when these coaches have worked together forever. If you're going to go in a different direction, an overhaul makes the most sense.

      4. The Twins announced Monday that they will replace Ron Gardenhire as manager. The entire coaching staff has been let go, and the team will conduct both an internal and external search for a new manager.

        The ENTIRE coaching staff? Wowza.

        2. LEN:

          It will be up to the new manager to name his staff, so some of the coaches could land on the next staff

          That makes some sense.
          Could still be Steinbach or Bruno or Molly.

        3. This is standard. A new manager would want to hire his own coaches. Since the search will be internal and external, I'm sure that means Molitor and even Ullger will be considered.

    3. What about Gardenhire?

      “Same stuff. He is signed for next year, so you don’t have to worry about him.”

      He’ll be back?

      “Yeah, yeah, I would say he’ll be back,” Ryan said.

      This had to come from Pohlads and/or TR wanted to replace Anderson and Gardy refused to stay without him. Gardy had already indicated he wanted to be back so I don't think it was a straight resignation.

      1. I agree with the idea of the higher ups wanting Anderson and or Ullger gone and Gardy is sticking by his guys.

    4. Oh please not Wedge.
      I don't have someone I want as Tito and Showalter have jobs.
      I would be several degrees of magnitude more welcoming of Ozzie than the regular Twins fan, but I don't have to worry about having to back that up because it won't ever happen.

      1. I'm thinking "bring in a successful pitching coach from another organization to be a first-time manager."

        Because that worked really well the last time. 😉

      3. Here's my Gardy Replacement Power Rankings as of 9/29/14:

        1. An unfeeling computer that makes every decision based on statistical analysis
        2. Paul Molitor
        3. Jake Mauer
        4. Ozzie Guillen
        5. T.C.
        ...
        9998. One of the rats who used to inhabit the Metrodome
        9999. Ron Washington
        10000. Mike Scoscia

                    1. Thanks. I'll say more when I get the chance, but right now there are pretty much equal parts panic and relief.

  9. This is a sad day. R-Gar was diagnosed with Scrubini Fixation way back in 2006. It is a progressive disease. You start with a fixation on Juan Castro's leadership and in the beginning, the effects are almost imperceptible. Gradually, though, it infects your entire being and soon enough, you are playing seven or eight scrubs a night. Eventually, you are playing Chris Herrmann in your outfield. It leads to 383 losses in four seasons in a new ballpark.

    If only someone had sat down with R-Gar back in the spring of 2006 and said, "Juan Castro over Jason Bartlett? Are you out of your effing mind?" this day may have never come.

    1. I had seen TK on FSN recently. I want to say he was on there just Wednesday. It might have been a day or two earlier. Hopefully, the fact he's back home means he hasn't had a lot of lasting effects from it and will be recovering quickly.

  11. Why do players support former managers or coaches by saying how hard they worked at the job? How many of them have been fired because they didn't work hard enough?

    1. in particular, this passage. Notice anything in particular?

      Smith says he can usually tell when he has a particularly special player.

      “Occasionally a guy will come through who exhibits that little extra – tremendous ability with tremendous work habits and make-up,” he says. “[Outfielder Miguel] Sano is the latest. There’s a different sound of the ball coming off of his bat. Joe Mauer had it too. Sano still has a long way to go, but the early impressions were very positive.”

  14. Some of the fans of managerless teams in the baseball subreddit are salivating over the fact that Gardy is on the market. I'd peg him as a league-average manager.

        1. If only there was a team with rising young talent that's had a terrible record the last few years and is desperate just to be a winner. If only that job were available, Gardy would be right for it. Oh, wait...

  15. Back at my old site, I remember a really long research project I did the last time the Twins fired a manager. The final choices besides Kelly were Joe Torre and Jim Frey (who was also demanding the GM position like Whitey Herzog).

    Sid, of course, was screaming into the wilderness about how they had to bring back Billy Martin.

    Anybody have one of those internet retrievers to go find my stuff?

      1. I was nearly killed by someone who ran a red light. Going to watch you boss get fired is not an excuse.

  18. You had a nice run, Gardy, but a change was overdue. Reusse recently wrote about the Twins needing to get themselves a Latino manager or coach to help in relating to all the young Hispanic talent on hand here (and soon to arrive.) I think that's an excellent idea.

    1. A reporter ask Terry Ryan today if he planned to go in that direction. He said it was likely they'd have at minimum a latino coach

        2. Yeah, but Cuellar was born in Texas. Went to UT Austin. Not even close to the same background as these kids who come from Venezuela and the DR.

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