84 thoughts on “November 13, 2014: Move the Thing”
Hmmm. For you old timers (Bootsy) Gang of Four coming to Varsity in March. Public sale Friday although I have an inkling on a 10:00a presale.
Andy Gill is only original member so not sure if this is worth it. I suppose I could do some googling and see how much of a cash grab this is.
I'm not an old timer but I do love me some Gang of Four. I would worry about it being a little cash grabby with only one original member, though.
I saw them twice back in the early eighties, the first show in particular one if my all time favorite shows. Hence, the reason I'll not attend this gig. Could never live up to the first time.
I assume this detail in the STrib's piece on Gene Glynn joining Molitor's staff is incorrect, right? It certainly doesn't fit with any of the information widely reported on the hiring process.
Glynn, 58, is from Waseca, Minn., and has been the Rochester manager for the last three seasons. He was one of three finalists for the Twins managing job.
For Glynn, 58, the promotion comes just 10 days after he was passed over for the team’s managerial job in favor of Molitor. Glynn was one of three finalists to interview with owner Jim Pohlad and General Manager Terry Ryan, a factor that Ryan said was discussed internally “to make sure there’s no situation where that would be a problem.”
But Glynn assured the Twins that he’s not disappointed to be a runner-up. “Not at all. I’ve always admired Mollie, and I’m really happy for him,” Glynn said. “I was honored they thought that much of me, but that’s over with. I’m not thinking about managing now; my focus now is on being a good third-base coach for Paul and the Twins.”
Was Torey Lovullo just window dressing for a search that was rigged to hire an internal candidate? Or was Mientkiewicz never the serious candidate we were made to believe was under consideration?
I'd certainly assume the former, given this team's long history of favoring Twins guys.
At this point, Drew Butera may have been closer to getting the job than Lovullo.
The last time they hired an outside guy, he lasted less than two years before being fired. The last two managers hired from within both stayed for over a decade and earned more than 1,000 victories. One won two World Series (the only two in franchise history) and the other won six division titles for a franchise that had five postseason appearances in its history before he became manager. What are they thinking? Those who don't learn from history ...
Give a manager long enough and a replacement level team will reach 1,000 victories (about 25 years).
The last outside guy was fired in 1986. He is completely irrelevant.
The last two internals both had several down years at the end and kind of overstayed their welcomes, though Kelly was going to have a long leash.
They didn't find success because they were internal - they found success because they could manage. Suggesting that we can judge our next hire on three men who are not involved in the current process is laughably dishonest.
Also, since we're quibbling, there have been three world titles in "franchise" history, not two. If you wanted to further your argument, the term was "Twins history."
I agree with all these points, but the tone seems a bit harsh.
I would say basing assumptions of trends on just two previous hires is completely irrelevant, or at least extremely SSS.
I don't know that "sample size" of manager searches has anything to do with anything at all.
The Twins have had only three GMs over the last thirty seasons, and the second two were internal candidates (or, if you want to break the Grover Cleveland Rule and count him as two GMs, TR was the internal candidate twice). They have had only two owners, both in the same family, over that same period. They just hired their third manager since the 1986 season, and each manager hired since 1986 has been an internal candidate. There has been so much stability (or so little change) in this franchise over the last thirty years that any change or deviation from the trend of stability at the top is significant. When you take a holistic view of the organiztion the trend is apparent: promote from within and avoid external influences.
The Twins front office flew to California on Monday to visit with Torey Lovullo at his home, but still no decision made.— Jason Mastrodonato (@JMastrodonato) October 30, 2014
That's really going out of your way for just a window dressing interview, especially since he'd already interviewed once.
I don't see the two as mutually exclusive, but it certainly doesn't scream of open search.
I was basing the two possibilities on the accuracy of reporting that there were three finalists: Molitor, Lovullo, and Mientkiewicz. Either there was an unreported fourth candidate – Glynn – or one of those other two weren't actually finalists. (Again, if the number of finalists mentioned in reports was accurate in the first place.)
The former would be disappointing if true. Mackey said Lovullo finished second and he was very confident in his source's accuracy. Both him and Mientkiewicz got similar levels of press so I'm not really sure which is true.
It's pretty odd to have it be public knowledge who "finished second," as if that's a thing when there's only one job to hand out. For what purpose would the Twins brass even talk about that?
They all finished second! Except Molly.
And the non-finalists.
Miller did call Glynn "a runner-up" not "the runner-up."
That it's public knowledge might be silly, but unless there was an easy choice they would have crossed off candidates until down to one. How about, it sounded like Lovullo was in the last group cut.
The odd part to me is that when you publicly start telling people who was second or third in line, you're also telling them who wasn't, which seems against the rosy Minnesota Nice picture the Twins like to project. Then again, I suppose they do constantly call out players in the media, so I retract my surprise.
I retract my surprise.
This concept amuses me.
One way to retract surprise is by repeating it.
"I'm shocked!" = surprise
"I'm shocked, shocked!" = no surprise
How long before the Red Wings announce Dougie Baseball as their new manager? Let's get the pool started now.
Glynn was one of the first to be interviewed. He didn't get a second, I don't believe. The three finalists that got more than one interview were Molitor, Mientkiewicz and Lovullo.
Looks like it's Molitor, Mientkiewicz and Lovullo left for the Twins job— LaVelle E. Neal III (@LaVelleNeal) October 22, 2014
Rhett Bollinger had this on Nov. 4:
The Twins interviewed several candidates throughout the process, including Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo, Class A Advanced Fort Myers manager Doug Mientkiewicz and Triple-A Rochester manager Gene Glynn.
All three of those candidates had at least two interviews and were considered finalists for the position along with Molitor.
So I think it is safe to say that there were four finalists, not three. Bollinger took his info from St. Peter and was quoting him in the story about the managerial search process.
Oh man, it's been rough here today. Many jobs were slashed in the name of profitability with no obvious rhyme or reason for who was being cut. I'm safe for the time being, but I'm finding it really hard to concentrate and be productive. I hate shit like this.
Hang in there, man.
That sucks. I've been there.
Ugh. Sorry, man.
brotherS went through something similar for a number of years after Burroughs and Sperry merged, avoiding the axe man over and over (until it got him).
Me, I am the secure-gumint job type.
Been there, on both ends of those kind of deals, no less. In my experience, the rhyme and reason is pretty much always based on a person's total cost of employment to the company, no matter the contribution they make. Until you get to the VP level, that is, when the parachutes start to kick in. Sorry you have to go through it, cheaptoy.
Thanks guys. I have been through this before. Last time I was able to find something else before my day came. I don't know if my day will come this time or not, but I don't think I'm going to wait around and see.
It's not all that bad to be there to get laid off rather than leave of your own accord. There doesn't seem to be any stigma for job seekers who were laid off, and the severance can be great. The trade off is peace of mind, and I can definitely understand playing it safe.
Speaking of which, I'm New Jersey training for a new job. I'll get to work remotely from Minneapolis, so everything seems to have worked out well! Thanks for all the well-wishes and house selling advice.
If by "severance" you mean "unemployment" then I disagree.
I think by severance, he means the former employer will offer full pay to employees laid off for a predetermined amount of time. For me, it was a week for every year I had worked there, which meant nine weeks of pay, plus they cut me a check to pay off what vacation time I had left. I think that was another two or three weeks.
I presume those let go for something similar, but I didn't ask. I certainly hope they did. One guy's wife is pregnant with their first kid...
I knew what he meant, but don't assume something like severance, let alone a good severance.
I'm not sure what's worse, the soul-crushing moment of being laid off and having your illusions of security shattered, or the daily anxiety of Damocles' sword over your head and the general workplace gloom while waiting for the next round of layoffs.
The mood was definitely, ugh, dour today. The entire process felt so cold and secretive, to, that made it even harder to stay positive.
But the Super Bowl and Final Four games will definitely match projections I'm sure.
Heck, the checks are already in the mail.
To make up for if, the twin cities really needs to lure the world cup in.
To make a bad day worse, I'm getting the run around from both my insurance company and the clinic my kids had their last check up at. My wife initially tried to make an appointment with a certain doctor, but was told she was not available but that her PA was. They told her it would be fine with regards to insurance. I got billed as if it was out of network because the PA is not on the list and both the insurance company and the clinic are blaming each other. Seems to me the clinic is the one at fault here, but they won't re-bill it under the doctor the appointment was supposed to be with. I'm just really f***ing angry right now.
A PA has to be supervised by an MD. How the hell is a PA supervised by the desired doctor NOT on "the list"? That's effing stupid.
That's pretty much what I thought. I also the visit would be billed to the insurance company under the MD's name and not their PA. apparently I am $700 incorrect.
Keep fighting this.
I plan to. It'll suck when it goes to collections before anything gets resolved though.
Yeah. We had the same thing. All 4-5 doctors we had been to in our clinic had been covered fine. Then the next one was "out of network." It was a mistake somewhere along the line. We never had to pay and just had to wait out the communication thing. Fortunately both sides of the equation were polite and understanding about it. Even then it was still annoying and a waste of time for us.
I may have been less than polite on the phone with the billing department at the clinic. But she did basically completely refuse to see what could be done about it and told me to "go ahead and not pay, that is your right. It will go to collections." Maddening.
That's terrible.
I read about this stuff every day for work. Medical billing is a rigorously Byzantine system.
And any attempt to bring together a national single payer system is shot down because. . . never mind.
I had a similar problem with a Nurse Anesthetist. At an in-network hospital with an in-network surgeon. Although you cannot choose your Anesthesiologist, he was in-network, too.
I fought and fought (an hour here, an hour there over months). Eventually, my employer's HR department needed to intercede because my employer was the one actually paying the bill. (A benefit of self-funded employer health plans, at least in my mind.)
I'm on that sort of plan and engaged the hr department today, so we'll see if it has similar results.
(Of course, the drawback is my large deductible and lack of co-pays)
And your employer shedding employees may not be in a state where they're interested in retaining talent.
The City of Minneapolis is renaming Carew Drive and Kirby Puckett Place. The current Carew Drive will likely be renamed Bud Grant Drive. A stretch of Second Ave N near Target Field will be redesignated Carew Drive. Kirby Puckett Place will be moved from Chicago Ave near the former site of the Metrodome to a stretch of Seventh St N near Target Field.
Meanwhile, Killebrew Drive is still down in Bloomington at the former site of Metropolitian Stadium, a planning decision that continues to make sense since Killebrew never played at the Metrodome or Target Field.
Killebrew Drive was deep over the LF fence.
Very appropriate!
No, I mean that's his drive -- Killebrew Drive looks to be a foul into the first base side stands
Mumps vaccine is the best way to prevent mumps. This vaccine is included in the combination measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) and measles-mumps-rubella-varicella (MMRV) vaccines. Two doses of mumps vaccine are 88% (range: 66-95%) effective at preventing the disease; one dose is 78% (range: 49%−92%) effective. The first vaccine against mumps was licensed in the United States in 1967, and by 2005, high two-dose childhood vaccination coverage reduced disease rates by 99%.
so, uh, if you had the two-dose course as a kid, you probably have about a one in ten chance of still getting it if exposed. Through Aug. 15, 965 people in the U.S. have been reported with mumps cases, up from 438 cases (in 39 states) in 2013.
I think 965 STL Blues have reported mumps cases since Aug. 15. Such a bizarre story.
Ballard told Russo that he had the vaccine.
like I said, with two doses of vaccine as a kid, you have about a one in ten chance of getting the disease when exposed; with the one dose, about a one in five chance of catching it when exposed. It happens. But clusters usually mean clusters of unvaccinated people too.
Totally a guess on my part, but I'd say it has less to do with unvaccinated people and more to do with a play-through-it culture. Russo wrote about Scandella showing symptoms in Montreal. The Wild played Montreal on November 8.
Right. I'm just saying that if one player on the roster got it and then exposed the rest of his teammates, even if ALL had been vaccinated as children, one or two more would be expected to get it too.
Right. I'm saying that Russo said on KFAN that 15 or 16 Blues had it.
Looks like the voters made the right choice overall tho'.
????
I thought this was one of the Arod years. What was I reading?
Hey! Doug Mientkiewicz finished 14th the year before!
/Flees while everyone's looking at that
Buffalo has 2 goals on 5 shots, Minnesota has 3 in 8. crazy.
And now 4. Sheesh.
It took a spectacular save by the goalie to prevent a 1st period hat trick by Nino.
Tonight, the Sixers have scored fewer points in the first half than the Mavericks have scored in either of the first two quarters. Apparently, MCW's return hasn't helped much. The winless start won't be ended tonight.
in the second quarter, the 76ers almost doubled up their first quarter score.
Hmmm. For you old timers (Bootsy) Gang of Four coming to Varsity in March. Public sale Friday although I have an inkling on a 10:00a presale.
Andy Gill is only original member so not sure if this is worth it. I suppose I could do some googling and see how much of a cash grab this is.
I'm not an old timer but I do love me some Gang of Four. I would worry about it being a little cash grabby with only one original member, though.
I saw them twice back in the early eighties, the first show in particular one if my all time favorite shows. Hence, the reason I'll not attend this gig. Could never live up to the first time.
(Andy Gill was a monster. )
Do you think he's using the same wind as us?
I assume this detail in the STrib's piece on Gene Glynn joining Molitor's staff is incorrect, right? It certainly doesn't fit with any of the information widely reported on the hiring process.
More corroboration in today's longer STrib piece on Glynn:
Was Torey Lovullo just window dressing for a search that was rigged to hire an internal candidate? Or was Mientkiewicz never the serious candidate we were made to believe was under consideration?
I'd certainly assume the former, given this team's long history of favoring Twins guys.
At this point, Drew Butera may have been closer to getting the job than Lovullo.
The last time they hired an outside guy, he lasted less than two years before being fired. The last two managers hired from within both stayed for over a decade and earned more than 1,000 victories. One won two World Series (the only two in franchise history) and the other won six division titles for a franchise that had five postseason appearances in its history before he became manager. What are they thinking? Those who don't learn from history ...
Give a manager long enough and a replacement level team will reach 1,000 victories (about 25 years).
The last outside guy was fired in 1986. He is completely irrelevant.
The last two internals both had several down years at the end and kind of overstayed their welcomes, though Kelly was going to have a long leash.
They didn't find success because they were internal - they found success because they could manage. Suggesting that we can judge our next hire on three men who are not involved in the current process is laughably dishonest.
Also, since we're quibbling, there have been three world titles in "franchise" history, not two. If you wanted to further your argument, the term was "Twins history."
I agree with all these points, but the tone seems a bit harsh.
I would say basing assumptions of trends on just two previous hires is completely irrelevant, or at least extremely SSS.
I don't know that "sample size" of manager searches has anything to do with anything at all.
The Twins have had only three GMs over the last thirty seasons, and the second two were internal candidates (or, if you want to break the Grover Cleveland Rule and count him as two GMs, TR was the internal candidate twice). They have had only two owners, both in the same family, over that same period. They just hired their third manager since the 1986 season, and each manager hired since 1986 has been an internal candidate. There has been so much stability (or so little change) in this franchise over the last thirty years that any change or deviation from the trend of stability at the top is significant. When you take a holistic view of the organiztion the trend is apparent: promote from within and avoid external influences.
That's really going out of your way for just a window dressing interview, especially since he'd already interviewed once.
I don't see the two as mutually exclusive, but it certainly doesn't scream of open search.
I was basing the two possibilities on the accuracy of reporting that there were three finalists: Molitor, Lovullo, and Mientkiewicz. Either there was an unreported fourth candidate – Glynn – or one of those other two weren't actually finalists. (Again, if the number of finalists mentioned in reports was accurate in the first place.)
The former would be disappointing if true. Mackey said Lovullo finished second and he was very confident in his source's accuracy. Both him and Mientkiewicz got similar levels of press so I'm not really sure which is true.
It's pretty odd to have it be public knowledge who "finished second," as if that's a thing when there's only one job to hand out. For what purpose would the Twins brass even talk about that?
They all finished second! Except Molly.
And the non-finalists.
Miller did call Glynn "a runner-up" not "the runner-up."
That it's public knowledge might be silly, but unless there was an easy choice they would have crossed off candidates until down to one. How about, it sounded like Lovullo was in the last group cut.
The odd part to me is that when you publicly start telling people who was second or third in line, you're also telling them who wasn't, which seems against the rosy Minnesota Nice picture the Twins like to project. Then again, I suppose they do constantly call out players in the media, so I retract my surprise.
This concept amuses me.
One way to retract surprise is by repeating it.
"I'm shocked!" = surprise
"I'm shocked, shocked!" = no surprise
How long before the Red Wings announce Dougie Baseball as their new manager? Let's get the pool started now.
Glynn was one of the first to be interviewed. He didn't get a second, I don't believe. The three finalists that got more than one interview were Molitor, Mientkiewicz and Lovullo.
Rhett Bollinger had this on Nov. 4:
So I think it is safe to say that there were four finalists, not three. Bollinger took his info from St. Peter and was quoting him in the story about the managerial search process.
Oh man, it's been rough here today. Many jobs were slashed in the name of profitability with no obvious rhyme or reason for who was being cut. I'm safe for the time being, but I'm finding it really hard to concentrate and be productive. I hate shit like this.
Hang in there, man.
That sucks. I've been there.
Ugh. Sorry, man.
brotherS went through something similar for a number of years after Burroughs and Sperry merged, avoiding the axe man over and over (until it got him).
Me, I am the secure-gumint job type.
Been there, on both ends of those kind of deals, no less. In my experience, the rhyme and reason is pretty much always based on a person's total cost of employment to the company, no matter the contribution they make. Until you get to the VP level, that is, when the parachutes start to kick in. Sorry you have to go through it, cheaptoy.
Thanks guys. I have been through this before. Last time I was able to find something else before my day came. I don't know if my day will come this time or not, but I don't think I'm going to wait around and see.
It's not all that bad to be there to get laid off rather than leave of your own accord. There doesn't seem to be any stigma for job seekers who were laid off, and the severance can be great. The trade off is peace of mind, and I can definitely understand playing it safe.
Speaking of which, I'm New Jersey training for a new job. I'll get to work remotely from Minneapolis, so everything seems to have worked out well! Thanks for all the well-wishes and house selling advice.
If by "severance" you mean "unemployment" then I disagree.
I think by severance, he means the former employer will offer full pay to employees laid off for a predetermined amount of time. For me, it was a week for every year I had worked there, which meant nine weeks of pay, plus they cut me a check to pay off what vacation time I had left. I think that was another two or three weeks.
I presume those let go for something similar, but I didn't ask. I certainly hope they did. One guy's wife is pregnant with their first kid...
I knew what he meant, but don't assume something like severance, let alone a good severance.
I'm not sure what's worse, the soul-crushing moment of being laid off and having your illusions of security shattered, or the daily anxiety of Damocles' sword over your head and the general workplace gloom while waiting for the next round of layoffs.
The mood was definitely, ugh, dour today. The entire process felt so cold and secretive, to, that made it even harder to stay positive.
The 2014 All-Star Game was anywhere from $20-54 million less profitable for Minneapolis than originally predicted.
Shocking, I know.
I blame Jeter.
But the Super Bowl and Final Four games will definitely match projections I'm sure.
Heck, the checks are already in the mail.
To make up for if, the twin cities really needs to lure the world cup in.
To make a bad day worse, I'm getting the run around from both my insurance company and the clinic my kids had their last check up at. My wife initially tried to make an appointment with a certain doctor, but was told she was not available but that her PA was. They told her it would be fine with regards to insurance. I got billed as if it was out of network because the PA is not on the list and both the insurance company and the clinic are blaming each other. Seems to me the clinic is the one at fault here, but they won't re-bill it under the doctor the appointment was supposed to be with. I'm just really f***ing angry right now.
A PA has to be supervised by an MD. How the hell is a PA supervised by the desired doctor NOT on "the list"? That's effing stupid.
That's pretty much what I thought. I also the visit would be billed to the insurance company under the MD's name and not their PA. apparently I am $700 incorrect.
Keep fighting this.
I plan to. It'll suck when it goes to collections before anything gets resolved though.
Yeah. We had the same thing. All 4-5 doctors we had been to in our clinic had been covered fine. Then the next one was "out of network." It was a mistake somewhere along the line. We never had to pay and just had to wait out the communication thing. Fortunately both sides of the equation were polite and understanding about it. Even then it was still annoying and a waste of time for us.
I may have been less than polite on the phone with the billing department at the clinic. But she did basically completely refuse to see what could be done about it and told me to "go ahead and not pay, that is your right. It will go to collections." Maddening.
That's terrible.
I read about this stuff every day for work. Medical billing is a rigorously Byzantine system.
And any attempt to bring together a national single payer system is shot down because. . . never mind.
I had a similar problem with a Nurse Anesthetist. At an in-network hospital with an in-network surgeon. Although you cannot choose your Anesthesiologist, he was in-network, too.
I fought and fought (an hour here, an hour there over months). Eventually, my employer's HR department needed to intercede because my employer was the one actually paying the bill. (A benefit of self-funded employer health plans, at least in my mind.)
I'm on that sort of plan and engaged the hr department today, so we'll see if it has similar results.
(Of course, the drawback is my large deductible and lack of co-pays)
And your employer shedding employees may not be in a state where they're interested in retaining talent.
The City of Minneapolis is renaming Carew Drive and Kirby Puckett Place. The current Carew Drive will likely be renamed Bud Grant Drive. A stretch of Second Ave N near Target Field will be redesignated Carew Drive. Kirby Puckett Place will be moved from Chicago Ave near the former site of the Metrodome to a stretch of Seventh St N near Target Field.
Meanwhile, Killebrew Drive is still down in Bloomington at the former site of Metropolitian Stadium, a planning decision that continues to make sense since Killebrew never played at the Metrodome or Target Field.
Killebrew Drive was deep over the LF fence.
Very appropriate!
No, I mean that's his drive -- Killebrew Drive looks to be a foul into the first base side stands
More Wild players down in the mumps.
from the CDC:
so, uh, if you had the two-dose course as a kid, you probably have about a one in ten chance of still getting it if exposed. Through Aug. 15, 965 people in the U.S. have been reported with mumps cases, up from 438 cases (in 39 states) in 2013.
I think 965 STL Blues have reported mumps cases since Aug. 15. Such a bizarre story.
Ballard told Russo that he had the vaccine.
like I said, with two doses of vaccine as a kid, you have about a one in ten chance of getting the disease when exposed; with the one dose, about a one in five chance of catching it when exposed. It happens. But clusters usually mean clusters of unvaccinated people too.
Totally a guess on my part, but I'd say it has less to do with unvaccinated people and more to do with a play-through-it culture. Russo wrote about Scandella showing symptoms in Montreal. The Wild played Montreal on November 8.
Right. I'm just saying that if one player on the roster got it and then exposed the rest of his teammates, even if ALL had been vaccinated as children, one or two more would be expected to get it too.
Right. I'm saying that Russo said on KFAN that 15 or 16 Blues had it.
The mumps. Crazy.
The year Eddie Guaradado finished 15th in the AL MVP vote
Looks like the voters made the right choice overall tho'.
????
I thought this was one of the Arod years. What was I reading?
Hey! Doug Mientkiewicz finished 14th the year before!
/Flees while everyone's looking at that
Buffalo has 2 goals on 5 shots, Minnesota has 3 in 8. crazy.
And now 4. Sheesh.
It took a spectacular save by the goalie to prevent a 1st period hat trick by Nino.
Tonight, the Sixers have scored fewer points in the first half than the Mavericks have scored in either of the first two quarters. Apparently, MCW's return hasn't helped much. The winless start won't be ended tonight.
in the second quarter, the 76ers almost doubled up their first quarter score.
JJ Barea was +32 in less than 20 mins.