Cup of Coffee

May 10, 2017: Reminder

65 Comments

Mother's Day is coming up, so be sure to thank the lovely ladies in your life that didn't let you grow up to be cowboys.

(If anything else is going on, I sure don't know about it. Uh huh, no way)

65 thoughts on “May 10, 2017: Reminder”

  1. I hope it clears up in Chicago. My daughter and her class are supposed to go to the game tonight.

  2. I listen to the Twins on radio far more than I watch them on television, so I don't hear Dick Bremer much other than on highlight clips. But on those highlight clips, he never seems to get very excited, even at times like Vargas' home run last night. It kind of seems like he's getting bored with it or tired of it or something. Those of you who watch on TV, is there anything to that or not?

    1. He does seem a little less enthusiastic than he did between 2001-2010 when the Twins were consistently good.

      1. I guess I can't blame him for that--there's been a lot losing since then. But in the late '90s, when the Twins were terrible, he'd still get excited when they did something right or actually had a chance to win a game. Maybe it's just that he's getting older, I don't know. Or, maybe it's a small sample size fluke--as I said, I just see him on highlight clips. But it just seems to me like he's lost some of his enthusiasm for broadcasting baseball.

        1. I think it has to do with the fact that the game has passed him way by. There is a noticeable difference in his voice between a rally killing home run and a key to the inning bunt.

          1. I thought the same thing re: game has passed him by, but my example was the noticeable way he perks up when he's interviewing someone from the good old days.

          1. They both could be replaced by a recording at this point. It is the same every time.

          2. It could be that both have been criticized from fans on being too enthusiastic about a team that has been terrible. It could be also they realize that you don't want to get too excited for a home run in the third inning of a game in May because it doesn't leave you anywhere to go on a walk-off home run in September of a pennant race.

                  1. I meant Dick & Bert. Just because it's the early in the season, they can be ho-hum in their day-to-day? They get a pass to be lazy just cause it's May? I'd want more out of my employees.

                    1. Oh, I agree, but I believe Beau was joking they won't have to phone it in once Shannon Stewart joins because the team will be good again. I'm full on board with the replacement of dick'nbert for someone who cares.

            2. The home run put the Twins in the lead after they'd just fallen behind 2-0. Why shouldn't Dick be excited about that? Cory Provus was excited about it. Yes, radio is different from TV, but if, by some miracle, the Twins find themselves getting a walkoff home run in September of a pennant race, I'm sure Provus will find a way to get excited about that, too.

                    1. I'm not a fan, though I appreciate how he makes the call then shuts up and lets the natural sound pot up for a bit. Last week when Dazzle was gone for a few days and it was Provus and Atteberry on air, now that's a broadcast team. Some former players make great announcers, Joe Nuxhall and Jim Kaat come right to mind, but I liked Gladden a whole lot more on the field than I do in the booth.

      1. I don't think that's unique to Bremer though. Broadcasters in all sports have their go-to (/rut) wording.

      2. On the other hand, I never get tired of hearing TK call balls in play diamond splitters and ugly finders, but admittedly he's not a regular.

  3. The Twins have claimed Adam Wilk off waivers from the Mets and he may start Saturday. Remember when I said the Twins would use some random guy off the street rather than bring up Jose Berrios? I say this proves I was right.

    1. Wait- didn't the Mets just claim Tommy Milone off waivers and start him? I'm falling into a hole of circular logic here about who is better than who...

    2. I think he was cut by the Mets to make room for Tommy Milone. So the Twins have that going for them. Which is nice.

    4. I think we should wait to get all up in arms about this until they actually announce that Wilks will start Saturday. They may have just decided that Wilks is better than Nick Tepesch or Drew Rucinski. I think the Twins originally wanted to call up lefty Boshers for the bullpen and he wasn't allowed due to a 10-day waiting period since he was last sent down.

      1. If I'm Berrios, I file that grievance when Tepesch or Rucinski gets called up, so this doesn't help.

        1. Tepesch, I understand where you're coming from. Rucinski was called up as an emergency long reliever, which I think the Twins don't want Berrios to do, and I don't want him to do either, especially with how the bullpen has been used of late.

          2. If Molitor actually knew how to use a long reliever, I wouldn't have a problem with putting Berrios in that role initially. Earl Weaver used to say long relief was the best place for a young pitcher--he can get innings and experience in what usually is a low-pressure situation. It certainly didn't seem to hurt Johan Santana any.

    5. Looks like this FO prefers to bring in virtual unknown castoff scrubs instead of past-prime veteran castoff scrubs, so at least it's not business as usual. #TheMoreThingsChangeTheMoreThingsStayTheSame

    6. "Adam is someone we feel can provide length for us in the bullpen," Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey said. "We're glad to get him. He's a guy who has started a lot in the Minor Leagues, but for us, we see him as a guy who can help us in the bullpen."
      With Wilk out of the rotation mix, the Twins still need a starter for Saturday's game against the Indians. Candidates include right-hander Nick Tepesch and Minor Leaguers Jose Berrios and Adalberto Mejia, but Tepesch appears to have the upper hand because he's on the 25-man roster. Tepesch was scheduled to start Thursday against the White Sox, but with the rainout, Phil Hughes will start then and Ervin Santana will start on Friday.
      "We're working through that right now," Falvey said. "You don't anticipate the rain. This isn't the one you sketched out. So we'll go over our options, but we'll stick with Phil Hughes and line up Ervin, but we still have a few things to work out for Saturday."

      I saw this after the rainout, so take that for what it's worth, so the rain might have delayed Berrios' return to the majors.

      1. Maybe, but I think it's just the latest excuse. First it was that he needed to be stretched out. Then it was that they were going with a four-man rotation. Now it's the rainout. You can think what you want--I obviously can't prove my opinion--but I think if it hadn't been the rainout it would've been something else. If they actually wanted to bring Berrios up, he'd have been here by now. For some reason, they don't. And to me, it's starting to become irrational.

      1. More excuses. Of course Berrios has things to work on-- everybodyhas things to work on. The reason this bothers me so much is that you actually hurt a player's development by leaving him in the minors too long. You don't get better by dominating inferior competition. You get better by playing against people who are as good as or better than you. In fact, playing against inferior competition can make you go backward. You develop bad habits, because you can get away with stuff at that level that you can't get away with against people who are better. By holding Berrios down unnecessarily, the Twins are actually making it less likely that he'll succeed. Don't get me wrong, I think he'll eventually succeed anyway. But they're not helping him by doing this.

        1. So, the Twins give him 14 starts last year (as a 22 year old) and he proved that he was not ready for the big show. Does this qualify as leaving him in the minors too long? I mean seriously, 14 starts is almost half a season. They gave him plenty of opportunity.

          Surprised me that he was that bad last year, but he made his own bed. He has 6 good starts in AAA to start this season. Maybe the are waiting until they know he will stick. I say let him dominate for half a season so that his failures last season get further in the rear view window. What we don't want is him on the MLB/MiLB yo yo.

          1. All of that sounds like a great reason to bring him up as a long reliever.

          2. You never "know" a player will stick. Everybody doesn't come up as a fully-formed major league player. In fact, most people don't. The Mike Trouts and Bryce Harpers and Stephen Strasburgs are rare. You have to have patience with young players and stick with them. Frank Viola came up to the Twins at twenty-two, the age Berrios is now. Check out his first two years. He was terrible. But the Twins didn't put him on "the MLB/MiLB yo yo". They stuck with him and let him learn.

            My point is not that Berrios is going to come up and immediately dominate. My point is that he's not learning anything by playing against inferior competition. You don't learn how to get major league batters out by dominating AAA batters. You do it by facing major league batters.

            2. I agree with you on much of this. All I am trying to say is it is not completely unreasonable for the Twins to be a bit cautious with him, especially with how last summer went. I am confident he will be called up this season and when he is, will probably stick. It just may not be until June or July.

              1. I'm surprised you've all so graciously avoided the

                cynical view SelectShow

                ...unless that was implicit in zooomx.2's observation that "It may not be until June or July."

                2. That's the only explanation that even sort of makes any sense to me. I'm still not happy about it, though, and I still think it's slowing his development.

                3. Can of Corn... you are a mind reader. Or, just very good at reading the thoughts behind the words.

  4. From LEN3:

    It's raining here in Chi-Town, and the radar suggests more is coming. There's a 90 percent chance of rain at 7 p.m., then it's 100 percent at 8 p.m. as well as 9 p.m. It's going to be a long night here.

    2. Day off Monday, game, rain out today.
      Sigh. I miss baseball being on everyday.

  7. Buxton year to date: .188/.274/.282/.556
    Buxton since my birthday: .333/.442/.500/.942

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