If you want to get in on the 2015 postseason prediction contest, email me or spoiler it here.
Guessing the WC winner is worth 1. DS winners are worth two, CS winners are worth four and the WS winner is worth 8.
Copy and paste this:
AMERICAN
WC: HOU at NYY
DS: HOU or NYY at KC
DS: TEX at TOR
CS WINNER:
NATIONAL
WC: CHC at PIT
DS: CHC or PIT at STL
DS: NYM at LAD
CS WINNER:
WORLD SERIES WINNER:
Tomorrow we will start a new feature, "1965 Rewind". The plan is to take the Twins' first pennant-winning season and go through it game by game, giving a "Minor Details" style recap of each game.
I know there are folks around here who are better Twins historians than I am. If any of you want to contribute to this, adding context, interesting sidelights, or anything else, you are more than welcome to do so.
awesome. I read The Cool Of The Evening a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to your posts.
Scot would do this sort of thing over at Coffeyville Whirlwind, but I'm not sure he ever did 1965. Looking forward to it!
Not really a reply, just trying to group these nicely together.
Hey Northeasterners (NEers?) with young'uns, if you haven't checked out the new equipment at Windom Northeast Park yet, I highly recommend it. It's not like any other playground I've seen nearby, and while everything is safe and all that, I actually think it's more designed to promote kids taking some risks and trying some new things.
I'm on my own with the peperoncino for a few days later this month, so if anyone is interested in a WGOM: TNG caucus at that playground, I'd be up for it the morning of Saturday, October 17.
We were just there yesterday! That park is actually one of the closest ones to our house. The kids definitely enjoy it, though since it just opened, it's pretty busy.
I may be able to make it there on the 17th for another kiddie caucus. I'll check in with the wife and let you know.
Cool--let me know! I have my fingers crossed that the weather will still be decent by then.
Ichiro could throw a perfect game of he wanted to.
Ichiro almost had a chance last year.
I don't really feel like picking predictions, but here is my loose rankings of my rooting interests:
HOU - Altuve, sweet jerseys
PIT - Cutch
KC - AL Central
LAD - Vin Scully, Puig
TOR - Screw it, why not?
TEX - Beltre/Andrus is about the funniest running gag in MLB
CHC - I guess so?
STL - Tired of them, want new blood
NYM - Don't like NY media coverage
NYY - Needs no explaination. Also, FW and FFiL's team.
HOU - Altuve, sweet jerseys, Go-Go
Linds is torn for that wild card matchup, because on the one hand, she has never forgiven Gomez for bunting constantly when he was with the Twins (I...don't get it), on the other hand, the Yankees need to be removed from the playoffs as quickly as possible.
You need to tell he to take 10 minutes alone to reflect because, even if you hated bunting more than anything, this should not be a hard decision.
Her hate is as powerful as it is inexplicable. When she heard he'd been traded to the Astros, her reactions, in order, were:
1. Ha! They're not very good
2. Wait, are they good? They are, aren't they.
3. Do the Twins play the Astros?
4. Dammit.
New plan: during her 10 minute period of self reflection she should also be staring at this image.
you forgot the #winning.
I guess if I had to rank my interests:
LAD - Sweet unis, Kershaw, Puig, Greinke
PIT - McCutchen
TOR - I'm basically half Canadian
NYM - Cool pitching staff
CHC - End the stupid curse talk
HOU - Gomez, lots of bat flipping
TEX - Hamilton winning a ring after the LAAAAAAs pushed him out the door so publicly would be tremendous
KC - I was all in on them last year, but their Unwritten Rules garbage at the beginning of the year soured me
STL - Boring
NYY - Hate
I don't know, I feel like the potential for Cubs fans to become like Red Sox fans is too high. I think I'd rather just put up with curse talk.
I find it hard to believe that FIBs could be insufferable.
I... yeah, okay.
I'm assuming we're using the Urban Dictionary definition here . . .
Heh, I've never read that entry. I never use it for #3 but I use it constantly in situations 1 and 2 (of definition 2). Probably doesn't help working in Illinois.
The only thing sweeter than ending curse talk is tasting Cubs' fans sweet, sweet tears.
.... okay novak, you got me with this one. I loled.
I always find the LAD love ironic (hey, I like them too) when compared to utter despise of NYY. They're outspending the Yankees by, what, $50 million? $75?
Yankees owners: sons of insufferable jerk. Dodgers owners fronted by Magic Johnson.
Yankees players: a bunch of insufferable jerks. Dodgers roster fronted by Kershaw and Puig!
Also, they haven't beat the Twins a hundred bajillion times.
Some photos of my match over the weekend. I'm #12 in the darker blue jerseys with the hideous flames.
And so it begins: Nationals fire Matt Williams.
Captain Cheeseburger entered alcohol rehab center, will miss playoffs.
Just saw that. I wonder what brought it to a head right now. Obviously, getting himself right is more important than even pitching in the playoffs, but I figure this has most likely been going on for months if not years, so it makes me curious if there was an arrest or a health crisis that prompted this to happen now.
He had an ERA of 2.17 in September/October, so I don't think it was performance related.
I claim no expertise, but it seems like there often is some sort of event or crisis that brings matters to a head. Whatever it was, I'm glad he's getting it taken care of rather than trying to put it off until after the season.
So, who do you have for different awards (MVP, CY, ROY, MGR, etc)?
NL Cy, in particular, seems to be an interesting discussion. If I need a single pitcher to win me a single game, I'm going with Kershaw, and Kershaw seems most likely to bring his success over to next year, that said...
Not spoilered, because discussion is the fun part of this.
AL MVP: Mike Trout (he's still the best player in baseball, and he's still playing like he's the best player in baseball)
NL MVP: Bryce Harper
AL Cy Young: Dallas Keuchel
NL Cy Young: Clayton Kershaw (yes, I know Arrieta had maybe the best second half ever, and Grienke was absurd, but Kershaw is playing under the Trout rule right now)
AL ROY: Carlos Correa (I'd love to say Sano, but I'll let some of you do that, Correa was ridiculous at a premier defensive position)
NL ROY: Kris Bryant (I wanted to put Matt Duffy in here, mostly because he's one of two rookie third basemen named Matt Duffy this year)
I agree with all of this.
So do I, but that AL ROY could go another direction and I'd be fine with it.
The fade pretty much destroyed his chances, but with Lindor and Correa having the seasons that they did, he wasn't the best choice in the first place.
I'd give AL Cy to Price (Keuchel will probably win since he hit 20 wins, though) and AL ROY to Lindor (better defender than Correa, similar offensive numbers), but otherwise I agree. It will be interesting to see what shakes out in the NL Cy and AL MVP. I still can't believe the A's traded Donaldson. Good lord.
I think Beane was going for "one year too early rather than one year too late" but that could be five years later for Josh.
Well, he did get four players for him. Lawrie's no Donaldson (but he's competent and four years younger) a couple of pitchers and a pretty highly-regarded young shortstop...
Lindor's a good pick, and after watching him dismantle the Twins, I have a hard time disagreeing.
I don't think seasonal awards should have anything to do with what players have done or will do before of after the season or about any hypothetical situations. It should also be about the whole season, not just the second half, although if full seasons are pretty much equal, then a better second half could tip the balance.
Just going off rWAR, Greinke wins pretty easily. His 9.3 is ridiculously good and he's the only active pitcher with a better season. He had a 10.4 in 2009. I would go with Greinke and Keuchel for Cy Young since they both lead in rWAR and pretty much all the cumulative metrics, plus they lead their leagues in ERA+.
Harper is a no-doubt MVP. I would give Trout a slight edge over Donaldson in NL MVP, although I wouldn't be surprised if Donaldson wins just because writers have a hard time giving multiple MVPs to a player unless he's a clear choice.
ROY in the AL I would give to Lindor just based on rWAR. Correa is a better hitter, but Lindor is a better fielder and base runner and is a really good switch hitter. Sano didn't play as long and rarely played the field but was the best hitter of the three. Bryant for NL ROY is a pretty clear choice.
I know that what a player has done before and what they will do in the future should have nothing to do with seasonal awards.
I went between Greinke, Kershaw, and Arrieta the most, obviously. Kershaw's fWAR handily wins, but beyond that, I simply think that he was the best pitcher in baseball this season, as he has been in the four (!!) before this one.
When do the Wolves start? Twins have got me excited about another youth movement.
Soon.
This is good
Clayton Kershaw struck out 300 batters and should win the Cy Young
Twins end of season article from AP.
Molitor said he doesn't want Sano to be a full-time DH, so the articulate speculates that Plouffe will be on the trading blocks. Why? Plouffe led the team in rWAR. Why does Plouffe have to leave when we have an open position at DH? You don't want a full-time DH? Fine. Rotate it. Give Plouffe a DH day, then Sano, then Mauer. Have Plouffe play the position of whoever is DHing. Now you have all three playing a position 2/3 of the time. This should allow players to stay in the lineup more and prevent them from having extended time at DH. I don't know why that is such a difficult concept.
I disagree. Sometimes you need to trade a decent player to make room for a better player. The Twins did that when they traded A. J. Pierzynski to make room for Joe Mauer. They did it when they traded Doug Mientkiewicz to make room for Justin Morneau.
Now, understand, I don't want to just dump him for a used bag of baseballs. But trading him could strengthen the team at a position of weakness, enable Sano to move to third, and allow Vargas (whom I still believe in) to DH. To me, assuming they get something decent in return, it seems like an extremely logical move.
The Twins trading from a position of strength? Perish the thought!
If they get the equivalent of Joe Nathan and Francisco Liriano in return, I'll have no problem trading Plouffe.
derp
whoops