37 thoughts on “October 9, 2014: No Commission”

  1. Between the salacious nature of these stories and the omnipresence of news media (likely a combination of those), it seems I can't go a day without hearing about some teacher having inappropriate relations with their teen-aged student.
    For maybe the first time in months, I read past the byline because of where it happened. My mother and her 7 siblings attended Pacelli.

    1. Wow.

      Also, have we discussed the Spamtown connection about a dozen times before, Corny? I forget.

      1. Not nearly a dozen times, but we have, though mostly within the restrictions of our self-imposed interwebz anonymity. Dad was the youngest in his family and graduated from Austin High in '69 (I believe). Mother was 5th of 8 to attend Pacelli, graduating that same year. Her three younger siblings would have been something like Class of '71, '73 & '75 - not sure though. Some or all of them spent some time at Austin CC, but I don't think anyone mentioned having your pops for an instructor at that fine institution. I know that neither of my parent recognized the family name anyway.

        1. ah, right. My (older) brother was AHS '77, so there probably wasn't any meaningful overlap unless they had the Old Man at ACC.

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  2. Ken Rosenthal ‏@Ken_Rosenthal
    Sources: #Twins to interview Sandy Alomar Jr. for managerial vacancy.

    can he still catch?

  3. For years it was, "Move him to 3rd base!" Now, apparently, it's, "We'd consider moving him to the outfield."
    Another interesting quote,

    “We’re not broke here, we’re bent. We’ve got some issues, and we need to make better decisions. But I feel a heck of a lot better about this club and moving forward than I did a year ago,” Ryan said. “I don’t think we’re all that far away [from contention]. I don’t want to punt on 2015, but it’s still going to be a struggle.”

    I don't have the energy (nor the interest really) to look at his closing remarks from 2013, but my guess is that he told us he felt pretty good about 2014 too. Le sigh.

    1. Here is what had me rolling me eyes last night as Howard Sinker (@afansview) was live tweeting this event

      this was in regards to a question about "The Twins Way"

      Howard Sinker @afansview
      St.Peter: Feels better about minor league system. "Relastive to twins way, we have never used that as a marketing slogan.

      ...

      St. Peter says "Twins way" is something promoted by the media. Ryan: "Next manager is gonna ... set the culture in the clubhouse"

      How many times over the last whatever years did the broadcast crew talk about the Twins way or the Twins brand of baseball? They were not running away from it when Ozzie Guiilen was praising the organization at every opportunity.

      1. For the last 4 years the Twins Way has been getting thrown out on the basepaths, missing the cutoff man, failing to advance the runner... You know, the little things.

        1. you forgot that losing 90+ the last four seasons is a hallmark of twins way (circle r) baseball

      2. Stuff spouted by the broadcast crew is not part of the marketing. I doubt anyone was prompting them to talk about the Twins Way. That was mostly said by Gardy and players like the FotF, for instance. And Ozzie.

        The Twins Way died when Kelly quit managing, and has been atrophying ever since.

        1. Right. I get that.
          But what Im saying is that until the 4th straight 90+ loss season, the FO is saying "there was never a Twins Way. Its just a figment of the media's imagination" but all the while they have been collecting players that certain point philosophy, or "way".
          Maybe Im over reacting and being stupid about it. I havent been highly critical of the Twins , but that exchange struck something with me.

        2. Wow! Atrophy typically precedes death.
          I think you're suggesting that the Twins Way is undead. Like a zombie or vampire or something.

        3. Stuff spouted by the broadcast crew is not part of the marketing.

          Really? Isn't the broadcast crew subject to club approval, and aren't they pretty deeply imbedded in the organization?

          1. I agree with bS here. There's plenty of evidence that the broadcast team takes its cues from the ballclub. (e.g. pissing all over Kevin Slowey). I am sure if DicknBert had talked about the Twins Way(tm) and management didn't like, we would not have heard that term any longer.

        4. Please. There is no "way" under a manager when you finish at least 13 games back 11 times in 15 seasons. A "way" is consistently contending while developing and mixing in new players of a certain kind. Baltimore's "way" in the 70s and early 80s was strike-throwing pitchers with great defenders and power hitters. If there was such a thing as the "Twins way" it was done with Gardy as manager, not TK, because Gardy's teams finished first or second seven times in nine seasons despite some pretty heavy turnover. TK had a philosophy of how to win consistently, but it wasn't executed. A "way" is not done by a manager but by an entire organization.

          1. It might night be done by the manager, but in any case defense and baserunning, for example, trended downhill in my eyes about the time TK left, whether it was his doing or not.

            1. Defense and base running trended down when players got old, injured or replaced with players that weren't as good defensively. Shannon Stewart replaced Dusty Kielmohr, Torii tore up his ankle, Koskie wasn't re-signed, Guzman hurt his shoulder, Cuddyer went to third and then to RF when Jacque Jones left, Morneau took over for Mienkiewicz, Jason Kubel tore up his knee, Garza and Bartlett were traded for Delmon and Harris, Go-Go was traded for Hardy (who had his worst season defensively before being traded), Nishioka signing, Span & Revere traded for pitching. The Twins tried to improve defense with Adam Everett and Florimon, but when both predictably didn't hit, were replaced by utility players who weren't considered as good defensively (although Nick Punto played better defensively than Everett did for the Twins, but Everett had been much better defensively with the Astros). Also, the Twins started 2014 with Hicks in CF but when he couldn't hit for average (but was still avoiding outs at a league-average rate), he was replaced by Santana. Gardy decided when players got benched and/or switched positions and had a lot of input when players were demoted, but I would say that the GMs had a lot more say in why the Twins' defense deteriorated.

          2. Baltimore's "way" in the 70s and early 80s was strike-throwing pitchers with great defenders and power hitters

            An idea!

    2. I get that Plouffe has finally settled in at a position and started to deliver on some of the potential he showed as a prospect, but the idea that Sano should handled differently because of that is just silly. If Sano is as bad as Ryan Braun at third, then be honest about it and by all means move him where he'll retain the most value. If Sano can play third well enough to stick there, that's where he should play. Don't force a top prospect to learn another position because a so-so player who is about to start getting more expensive is in his way on the major league roster.

      Moving Sano to the outfield has other implications, too. Since Dozier is likely set at 2b for the near future and the organization is hesitant to do anything with Plouffe, how do you find playing time for all these young guys in the outfield & DH?:

      Sano
      Arcia
      Santana
      Pinto
      Vargas
      Buxton
      Rosario
      Hicks

      1. Well, I know how to find playing time for at least one guy. To protect his identity, I'll call him D. Santana.

        1. Switch: Santana, Vargas, Hicks
          Right: Sano, Pinto, Buxton
          Left: Arcia, Rosario

          No point in platooning the switch-hitters, unless one of them decides to convert to one side (again). Platooning righties is less common and two of the options seems highly unlikely to be platooned with Pinto also unlikely. That leaves the two lefties and I'm not sure who they would platoon with. Hicks could be a possibility as he's much better against lefties, but playing him for defensive purposes alone makes sense.

          1. Until Arcia shows he's the new Jacque Jones I'm okay with him getting a shot at lefties. He seems to have improved against them on the whole compared to last season.

            1. Unfortunately the data does not agree.

              Period Split PA BA OBP SLG OPS tOPS+
              Career vs RHP 529 .249 .319 .490 .809 117
              Career vs LHP 259 .224 .266 .347 .613 67
              2013 vs LHP 117 .254 .274 .386 .659 85
              2014 vs LHP 142 .198 .261 .313 .574 63
              1. for completeness

                Period SPLIT PA BA OBP SLG
                2013 vs RHP 261 .249 .318 .451
                2014 vs RHP 268 .249 .321 .527
              2. I was looking at his combined splits at both Rochester and Minnesota. Looked like he had improved somewhat over last season.

      2. Yeah, I think there's serious potential for a log jam as long as people pan out. I guess I'd always hoped that Plouffe could end up in a role similar to the one that Ben Zobrist had with the Rays where he was a close-to everyday player as a super sub. But if they don't think they can get playing time, I'd see what he could fetch in a trade. But hey I'd probably try to trade Dozier, too.

      1. I thought the Avs would struggle to repeat the magic they had last season. They give up too many shots. However, I did not expect this domination by the Wild right out of the gate.

    1. Kind of funny: I spoke at the parent meeting for our youth hockey association tonight and thought "boy, I am ready for hockey" and the Wild reward me with a game like this. 🙂

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