51 thoughts on “April 10, 2017: Happy Siblings Day”


  1. - Twins have won every game Joe Mauer has appeared in
    - Twins have lost every game Michael Tonkin has appeared in
    - the Twins are 5-1 on the season; last season there was never a six-game stretch better than 2-4 (this is what my people tell me)
    - Nine out of every ten Twins fans have forgotten who last year's catcher was
    - Ervin Santana's two-game win streak is the longest for the Twins since forever

    1. Have won ever game of TLO's life that her Dad hasn't listened to on the radio

      Seriously, the one game I get to listen to was Saturday's loss

      1. The first game I got to listen to was Saturday's loss, too!

        But I managed to catch the final inning yesterday, at least.

    2. --Matt Strahm has a WHIP of 7.5 in 1.1 innings. 7 earned runs. Last year he gave up just 3 ER in 22 innings. I'm going to go out on a limb and predict his rate stats end up being worse this year.

    1. Greater empathy for folks who (have) struggle(d) with addiction is one of the areas of social progress I think goes underappreciated relative to other matters. My opinion of Nixon when he was a Twin was much different that it is today. I really hope there is a non-tragic resolution to this situation & wish comfort for those who are worried for Nixon.

  3. In response to today's prompt: none of my siblings have played for the Twins. But some of them are young enough that it is technically a possibility.

  5. Well, it's been a crazy week. We listed our house on Thursday, got two offers and accepted one on Friday, and made an offer on another house yesterday. Today, we're expecting to hear back on the offer we made and get an idea of what our buyer's found on the inspection.

    1. This sounds like what's been going on in my neighborhood. Our next-door neighbor sold his house about a month ago and is moving out today. The house directly behind us sold a week or two after that, so new neighbors will be moving in there shortly. And the next-door neighbors on the other side listed their house on Saturday.

      1. Yeah, the shortage of houses is really driving a ton of activity, which in turn makes more people want to sell...

        We had 7 showings the night we listed and 15 the next day.

        2. While walking downtown this afternoon, I heard a woman say into her cell phone, "We got seven offers, all of them above the asking price."

      1. Outdoor space, or lack thereof. We're located quite close to a busy stretch of Central in NE, and it's crazy to go anywhere. With the wife and kids at home, we wanted to have room to have the girls to explore outside without needing to be fenced in to our yard or closely monitored.

        That, alongside the insanity that is the NE market, made it a natural time to list.

    3. Shit is going soooooo quick. We're searching in a relatively smaller area, but seriously, we call to set something up the moment we see a new listing, and we're informed the owners have already accepted an offer.

      1. Most listings in Seattle usually allow 7 days for offers to come in and unless the property has been grossly mispriced, that usually results in a multiple-offer situation. I like that scenario for giving the buyers at least some chance to think over if they want to make an offer.

        1. I wish that was the norm around here. When we bought our previous house, we put down our offer before my wife had seen the place in person; most everything would be gone if we waited until both of us had time to visit each place.

          1. Houses were moving at such a fast clip that I thought we'd never be able to find an acceptable house at a price we could afford. I was also nervous about making a rash decision to buy a place because feeling the pressure to commit before being really sure that the place suited our needs. When we bought our place last summer it was never listed because we knew the seller. We also didn't employ a realtor which was a bit of a gamble, but saved us 15K. Things have certainly slowed down in New Orleans since this summer, but we're both still thrilled with our little shotgun house.

            1. And you may find yourself
              Living in a shotgun shack
              And you may find yourself
              In another part of the world
              And you may find yourself
              Behind the wheel of a large automobile
              And you may find yourself in a beautiful house
              With a beautiful wife
              And you may ask yourself, well
              How did I get here?

  6. Twins lead the AL in fewest runs allowed (by a wide margin) and are tied for second in runs scored. They are fourth in the AL in FIP and fifth in the AL in OPS+. The Twins also lead the AL in defensive efficiency and Total Zone defensive runs above average as well as Wins Above Average (according to B-Ref). They also have the youngest average age for their batters by a full year over No. 2 Texas.

    1. Nice to know about the good FIP. I wonder what their RWSIP is (Royals, White Sox Independent Pitching)

      2. The Royals went to Houston and won 2 out of 3, scoring 16 runs. Their only loss was in 12 innings after a bases loaded walk by Strahm (yeah, go figure).

  8. There's been a shooting at an elementary school less than 4 miles from my house. 2 adults dead, 2 students wounded. It's believed to be a murder-suicide that happened in the classroom. Both of my boys have had their Little League teams practice at that campus. The team I managed practiced at that campus.

    1. My wife was locked down at Cal State San Bernardino for a bit this morning. Horrifying for all involved.

      1. Sounds like all the uninjured students are being taken to Cal State, but the parents were told to go to Cajon High School, which is just down the street from Northpark Elementary where the shooting took place. I guess, the students will eventually be taken to Cajon to meet up with parents. I couldn't imagine the fear if my boys were going to Northpark.

      2. Horrifying is the right word for it. I can hardly believe that I'm saying thanks that it (apparently) was "only" a murder-suicide with a small amount of collateral damage, rather than a larger-scale terrorist attack.

                1. Oh, I assumed as much. If anyone took my comment as in any way knocking on anyone else, I apologize, that certainly was not my intent. Just more trying to express where my thoughts have been heading today after hearing about this.

                  I've been doing a lot of reading and thinking lately about children who have experienced terrible traumas in their young lives, so those kids who were witnesses or even adjacent to the event have stuck in my mind today.

                  1. That's a very understandable connection to make. No need to apologize, Mike. I was just thinking this is a particularly sensitive topic and that proceeding with caution is prudent for all of us.

                    1. Yea, I didn't take offense (in part because I just saw this, in part because, well, I wasn't looking to be offended) and certainly didn't mean to make light of anything associated with this tragedy.

                      I made my original comment earlier in the day, at a time when the only news about the two children who were shot was that they were "injured". The only contrast I had in mind was the mass-murder terrorist attack in San Bernardino recently.

  9. Next year, in Jerusalem (or, at least, somewhere where it doesn't snow several inches during Seder)!

  10. Just watched Wil Myers hit a stand-up triple to complete the second cycle in Padres history.

    'The first Friars cycle was hit by' SelectShow

        1. That's certainly the received wisdom, and it's what I thought until I read "The Mystery of the Vanishing Screwball," a NYT Mag piece from a few years back that features none other than (as wattsy points out below) then-Angel Hector Santiago. I don't want to spoil the piece, because the whole thing is interesting. But here's a pull quote that gives a taste:

          "Major League Baseball is a funny little club,” says Bob Sorrentino, a pitching guru who served as a personal coach for Craig Breslow of the Red Sox, among others. “There are people who absolutely won’t do things, no matter how much they might make sense.”

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