112 thoughts on “Game 7: Chicago White Sox at Minnesota Twins – Home Opener Edition”

1. One half inning down. We officially have a 55% chance of winning this!

2. "...like Joe Mauer's beard."

   Sorry, gonna have to update that radio ad, guys.

3. Just in case, I flagged this post as NSFW, so if this thing goes south, feel free to cuss like a Mormon.

   1. way to be prescient, #&%*&#

   2. I think "swearing/cussing like a Mormon" is one of my favorite inside jokes around here.

      1. I just wished Geoff a happy @#%#&*ing birthday recently on Bookface. He laughed.

4. Rosario WALKING has to be a positive omen for today, right?

5. Sano/Plouffe/Park/Rosario (our 3,4,5 and 6 hitters) 37 strikeouts and 5 walks in 77 at bats coming into today.

   That's pretty danged problematic.

   1. So is Cowboy Joe umpiring.

      1. Hirschbeck and West on consecutive days? Ouch

         1. Sick and wrong.

            1. So, C.B. Bucknor is going to be part of the next ump crew that comes to town, right?

6. Kyle! Stop that.

7. A strikeout would be good, but Gibson can't pitch against the Twins too.

8. Well, Mr. Gibson, now you've gone and done it. You're allowed two runs. A third will not be granted.

9. This season f-ing sucks.

   1. So far.

      There are still a bunch of games to be played.

      1. Yeah, they aren't going to lose the first 22 games.

         1. Probably!

         2. You know something we don't?

      2. This seems like the start of a "Fortunately, Unfortunately."

10. Time to go find that snakebit jpg.

11. Sano walk and a Plouffe! double? Sweet.

12. Now it would be really cool for Park to tie the game.

    Or get a base hit.

    Or drive in a run through any means possible.

    1. Dazzle praising Rosario for putting the ball in play after fouling off ball 3 and ball 4 is a pretty effective illustration of lowered expectations.

       1. certainly more than Park & Escobar accomplished

          1. It's going to be a long summer.

             1. I'm not gonna lie, I'm not feeling super positive about this season.

                1. I'm feeling pretty chicken little-y, but uh, this start is far from ideal.

                2. you just gotta stay positive. We're going to build something this summer.

                   1. [Onewgom]

13. White Sox have had the bases loaded more often today than the Twins have in their first seven games.

14. Rally time.

15. Hi everybody!

    1. Hey Meat!

16. Uh, dick, the twins don't need to score a couple to go to extras if they just score several to win the game....

17. For mormon's sake.

    1. Never bunt. Ever.

18. Suzuki needs to learn the ancient art of slug bunt.

19. The older I get, the more I dislike sacrifice bunting.

    1. That was in no way a sacrifice bunt. That was attempting to bunt for a hit with a fat pitcher on the mound.

       1. I'll assume you're right, since I was on radio at that point, but I still don't think it's a good play unless you assume Suzuki isn't going to be able to hit Albers, in which case they probably should've used a pinch-hitter.

20. To me, bunting there is what happens when you're going as badly as the Twins are. You start making moves out of desperation, almost at random, just hoping to stumble onto something that works.

    1. I realize that they're tilting a bit here, but that bunt was particularly stupid.

       1. I half-jokingly texted a friend earlier that when Suzuki was up with two runners on that they should probably have pinch hit for him. I wish they had.

    2. If it works, it's a heads-up play. If it doesn't, it looks bad. Of course, the idea was not to bunt it in the air. The execution was what was really bad, not so much the idea. It's not like anyone was expecting him to bunt right there.

       1. There's a reason no one was expecting him to bunt.

          1. And when's the last time we've had one work?

             1. Last game. Buxton bunted for a hit.

                1. Which... advanced no baserunners

          2. That's the point, right. You surprise them and get on base. It wasn't like he was going to hit his way on and the odds were a lot better that he was going to just hit into a traditional double play. The idea wasn't bad, it was execution of both the bunt and Escobar getting doubled off that was terrible. I don't like sacrifice bunting but why not bunt for a hit to get on base. I don't think players do that nearly enough, especially when teams are shifting all over the place and leaving it wide open. Getting on base and not making an out is the best thing you can do. And when you're not swinging well is the best time to do it. I hate it when a player is swinging well and he tries to bunt for a hit. I also like trying to bunt for a hit with a runner on first that has good speed and no outs. If you get it down and they throw you out, then at least you advanced the runner and avoided a double play.

             1. Again, if the assumption is that Suzuki is going to hit into a double play, they should've pinch-hit for him. Suzuki is a) slow and b) not a very good bunter. The odds of him getting a bunt single are not very good.

                1. Amen.

                   1. I should be clear that I'm not suggesting this cost the Twins the game or anything. The most you can say is that we'll never know what might have happened if Suzuki had swung away. I think it was a bad play, but I suspect the Twins would've lost regardless.

21. Good D. Elvii.

22. Well the good news is that the pork I put in the crock pot this morning is delicious.

    1. Meatless Monday here in H'istan.

       Stracciatella:
       2 c. chix stock
       2 lg. eggs
       1/6 c. grated Parm-Reg cheese
       chopped parsley
       some salt
       1 c. chopped spinach

       In a cup stir the eggs, cheese, parsley and salt. Add to the heated chixbroth till the eggs are done, continuously swirling. Then add the spinach at the end and huzzah!

       1. do you beat the eggs before, or are you looking for intact yokes?

          1. Mix them up with the cheese/parsley. What a lite and satisfying soup/broth.

             I think the Chinese egg drop soup and the greek lemon/egg soup leave them intact/goopy.

    2. More good news: There should be good seats readily available this summer!

23. 

24. It's not the losses, it's losing to the Sox.

    1. and the losses

       1. Right, and the losses

          1. Oh cripes you guys, you've gone and done it again. You made me enjoy even the darkest baseball times.

25. Oh no, we suck again!

    1. It's Mauer's fault. That, and they miss Torii Hunter.

       1. Oh man, that is a storyline that is really going to annoy me this year.

          1. I was wondering how long it would take until we heard the first "boy they miss Torii's leadership!" of the year, and I heard one from Dazzle on the post game tonight. While saying that Joe "needed" to tag up on that potential sac fly. So, all according to keikaku.

             1. Dazzle was already saying it yesterday. And as I said below, even if Mauer had scored (and I don't think he would have), there's no real reason to think it would've changed the outcome of the game.

             2. Joe did tag up. They held him.

                1. But if he was really a gamer, he'd have run through the stop sign and scored anyway.

                   1. Thanks, guys, I'm probably gonna have nightmares tonight that involve strip comment sections.

                      1. Nice autocorrect

                         1. *ahem*the Strib comments section, that is. *ahem*

26. No team has gone 0-7 and made the playoffs in MLB history. 38 have started 0-7, and 2 have finished with winning records, per @baseball_ref.

    — Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) April 11, 2016

    1. There's a first for everything, and all that.

       1. 1. Right. We'll just have to settle for 155-7!

       2. Who is this ray of sunshine, and what did they do with ct? Or did sean switch all the names again?

          1. If it helps, I'm on my way to the hospital to have my tongue surgically removed from my cheek.

27. On the radio postgame they're making a big deal out of Mauer not tagging up on Park's short fly ball in the sixth for some reason. I thought it was a good decision, that he would've been out unless the outfielder made a poor throw, but even if he'd scored, there's no reason to think it would've changed the outcome of the game.

    1. It would have been a 4-2 loss - you can't tell me that isn't a different outcome!

28. 38 teams in major league history have started 0-7, 24 in the modern era. They have a combined record of 1466-2303 for a "winning" percentage of .389. That puts the Twins on pace for a 0-162 63-99 season.

    1. It's silly to look at losing streaks at the start of the season because it doesn't matter when it happens except that at the start of the season allows you the best opportunity to recover from it. The 1991 Twins started out 2-2 and then lost 7 straight and were 2-9. the 2006 Twins were 8 games under .500 before turning their season around and winning 96 games.

       1. I am pretty sure the Twins and Braves will be meeting in this year's World Series.

       2. Okaaaaay, cheaptoy, we get it. You can turn it turn it down now.

       3. I will say this: if the Twins believed in these guys a week ago, they shouldn't panic and start blowing things up just because of what's happened since. The worst thing they could do is start making moves just because, well, we have to do something. That's the attitude that leads you to trade Tom Brunansky for Tom Herr.

       4. I can't do searches for all teams with a seven-game losing streak anywhere in the season, only at the beginning or end. The Twins conveniently have their streak at the beginning so I'm going compare it to the rest of major league history.

       5. How many wins gets the Twins in the playoffs? 88? If so, the Twins have to go 88-67 to make the playoffs. The problem with starting the season 0-fer is that there is no cushion they've built up to absorb the losses. Sure they have 155 games left but I just don't see this team playing at a .568 clip over that time.

29. Was there an explanation for why the Twins used their utility infielder to bat for their DH?

    And why is Arcia on the roster?

    1. I was actually okay with that. In that situation, you're not looking for a home run. You just want someone to get on base, and Nunez arguably has a better chance to do that than Park or Arcia.

       1. If Arcia isn't your PH against a right-handed pitcher, why is he on the roster? I am guessing his career OBP against righties is better than Nunez's. Plus, Nunez is your only backup infielder and is then at DH.

          This is obviously a minor problem compared to the 7 guys batting under .200.

          1. I'm guessing they were saving Arcia to bat for Suzuki or Buxton depending on the situation. Arcia is the power bat, so you want him to hit with a chance to tie or win the game. Nunez led off the inning then Rosario and Escobar, both batting left-handed, made outs to end it so never got the chance to use Arcia.

          2. Arcia's career OBP v. righties: .321. Nunez: .325. So, essentially no difference there. And as socal says, they were hoping they'd get a chance to use Arcia with men on base.

             1. My overall point is that if Arcia is not your #1 pinch hitter against a RHP, he is a wasted roster spot.

             2. Their OBPs are similar, but that's it. Nunez has the higher average (.278 vs .248) while Arcia has the higher SLG (.483 vs .383) and OPS. In this case, leading off, it might make more sense to have Nunez bat. If he gets on and then Arcia bats, Arcia's OPS advantage would increase, making it more likely he's able to get an extra base hit.

             3. I responded with OBP because that was what Algonad specifically referenced.

                1. Down by 3, I think OBP does trump everything else, although a leadoff home run would be alright.

                   How many teams would pinch hit for their #5 hitter in that situation? I'm not saying it was necessarily wrong but it doesn't show a lot of confidence in Park.

                   1. OBP doesn't take into account the ability to reach on errors, though it's a small ability. Another thing is that clutch-ness is positively correlated with batting average. OBP is the most important things to consider but if they're close, someone with a lower OBP could be a better choice because of the small-tangibles.

                      1. "Ability to reach on error" is a skill?

                         1. I would say so. I may be wrong, but perhaps it could be phrased "ability to cause an error".

                            1. So, anyone who hits a lot of sharp ground balls?

                            2. http://Www.retrosheet.org/research/ruanet/error_art.htm

                            3. Plus fast and bats left-handed.

                            4. Right. I'm guessing infielders feel a different level of urgency when trying to throw Billy Hamilton out over, say, Kurt Suzuki.

                            5. the retrosheet piece actually says right-handed not left, because pull-hitting grounders.

                            6. Did it? Hmm, somehow I missed that. 😉

                   2. That strikes me as a good point. Within the immediate context of the game, I think you can argue that pinch-hitting Nunez for Park was the right decision. Within the context of the season, I think you can argue that it might be better to let Park hit in that situation.

                      As you said earlier, though, this is a pretty minor point compared to the lack of hitting generally. But, making big things out of minor points is kind of what I do around here.

                      1. Yes. It is much more fun to seond guess than to just say, "Hit better."

    2. I look forward to getting off the schneid and we can start asking the more important questions instead, like where Joe should bat in the order.

       1. He should be on the bench! They should release him! The 0-7 record is all his fault! Mauer stinks!

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