33 thoughts on “July 10, 2017: Gee Whiz”

1. Also, Justin Haley has been on rehab for about two weeks, so the time is getting close when the Twins will need to make a decision on him as well.

2. It looks like I will be at the gae on the 18th with my dad and FiL. Definitely looking forward to it.

   1. I'm skipping out of work on the 19th to take the jalapeno to the game. He is currently saying he's going to cheer for the Yankees. Where did I go wrong as a parent???

      1. Intervention time

   2. I'll be there with my marketing and sales teams for a company event. Free baseball!

3. Has anyone here ever attended a Minnesota Millers beep ball game? I'm quite intrigued, though I don't how often they even play in Minnesota. It doesn't look like they will this year.

   1. They hold one here every year and I know someone involved in it; it gets local TV time on the newscasts each year.

4. The Red Wings have announced that Bartolo Colon will start for them Thursday. That would set him up for a start for the Twins next Tuesday, their fifth game after the all-star break, if the Twins choose to do that.

   1. ohpleaseohpleaseohplease

      1. You apparently have a lot more faith in Colon than I do. Or else are at the point where you just want the Twins start anyone who's not named Kyle Gibson.

         1. He just wants to buy a game-used Colon Twins Jersey.
            Cheaper than buying a Twins-themed tent.

         2. I just think it'd be fun to see Colon

         3. Bonus: if he starts 7/18, his next start would probably be 7/24 at Dodgers: he'd get to bat!

            1. Actually, I was thinking about that exact possibility when we signed him.

         4. I have no illusions about the Twins playoff prospects. However I want to watch compelling, fun baseball, which for the most part we've seen this year (as opposed to most of that last 6 years). Adding Colon definitely adds to the compelling and fun part.

            1. My feelings about the Twins playoff chances are more like delusions than illusions.

            2. It might if he can get past the fifth inning. Which he did exactly once in his last nine starts for the Braves.

         5. When you have no back end of the rotation, I see someone like Bartolo Colon as an amusing way to embrace the futility. And FWIW, Colon's FIP and xFIP are better than every Twins starter except Berrios and Santana.

            I hadn't actually looked at it seriously, but his ERA is actually really hard to explain except for being pretty unlucky. His K/BB/HR rates are not awful (walks up a bit) and his LD% is in line with the last few seasons, so hitters haven't been making especially good contact. His fastball velocity isn't good, but it's also not any worse than it was last year.

            For the most part, he looks like a 5.00 ERA pitcher that had an awful run of luck in the BABIP and LOB% department.

            Personally, I love cheering for the older players that refuse to hang it up. One of my favorite memories was being able to see Rickey Henderson play against the Twins at age 43.

            1. There's only about 30 players left older than me. I root for every single one of them.

            2. I believe Falvey's take was pretty much the same, that's Colon's fundamentally the same as the last few years, but pretty unlucky this year. When asked if this makes the Twins buyers at the trade deadline, his response was "We're buyers of Bartolo Colon."

               1. That last quote is great. I love a guy who isn't willing to put himself in a binary buyer/seller box when there's a whole spectrum in between.

            3. The three major defensive metrics have the Braves average to below average with the Twins above to well above average, so it should be an upgrade in defense for Colon.

5. My super-helpful advice for grilling pizza: (1) don't make a really wet dough (like an even wetter version of this no-knead recipe) and (2) if you are using a wet dough (go back to my first point), at least don't try rolling it out before the coals are ready.

   I had four portions, rolled out and stacked on wax paper sheets. Every last one of them was stuck to the wax paper and had to be re-rolled. Meanwhile, my grill heat was escaping and I was stressing out in 104-degree outside heat. So I didn't get the char I wanted on the first side (boo!). Not relaxing for a sunday evening.

   1. The other day I just used english muffins instead of making a pizza dough, and then grilled those. It worked far better than I was hoping.

      1. English muffin pizzas in the toaster oven are always a quick go-to option for the boy. No fuss, no muss.

   2. This is the first summer in our new place, and I am experimenting with charcoal (haven't really had the opportunity in the past.) Results so far are promising, even having cooked just about everything indirect, partially because the grill grate on my second-hand Weber is partly rusted. The chicken I made had a nice smoky flavor to it that I never got with gas. Sausages and hot dogs have been a success. Glad to hear I'm not the only one who gets a little uptight when things aren't going well on the grill, though.

      1. I bought an enameled cast iron grill grate thingy (round, 10 or 12 inch diameter) that I put on top of my stainless grate. Awesome for getting nice grill marks and heat transfer when preheated for a good 10 minutes or so on top before adding the food. I used it as the grate for the pizzas last night.

6. I believe I've found a Berman-less way to watch the derby. For those with the option, ESPN2 is airing the Spanish broadcast.

   1. My TeeVee has a mute button

   2. Nice showing by Sano. Judge is sick.

7. Dinner tonight: Cashew tofu stir fry, featuring zucchini, pea pods, and basil picked from our garden early this evening. Red peppers, onion, and mushrooms rounded out the veggies, and garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, and honey made the heart of the liquid/seasoning stuff. The kids and Philosofette helped with cooking and clean-up, and the soundtrack was Bobby Darrin.

   Wild raspberries picked from the grove along the driveway for dessert.

   Farm living is nice sometimes.

8. I watched highlights of the 1993 All-Star Game in Baltimore. It would be of interest to Twins fans because Kirby Puckett started (I think in LF) and hit a home run and was named the MVP. Also, current Twins manager Paul Molitor was the starting DH. I also found it interesting that there was a pretty considerable "flap" over Mike Mussina not being used in the game. Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston was the AL manager and chose to use his own closer Duane Ward in the ninth of a blowout game instead. Once Mussina realized he wasn't going into the game, he got up and started throwing anyways. He told the media afterwards that he was just getting throwing in because he hadn't started in a while, but it was pretty obvious he wanted to get his own fans riled up in Baltimore. I really have no recollection of this, but at the end of the program, the narrator/host of the show mentioned that Bud Selig blamed this on the tie in Milwaukee since managers were concerned about being criticized for not using players in the game.

   1. Yea, I remember that. Moose was definitely being a bit aggressive-aggressive. But, geez. It's an exhibition game, folks. Chill.

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