35 thoughts on “September 24, 2017: Even Closer”

1. Fangraphs says 95% chance of making the postseason.

   1. Cards had a good chance to improve their odds, but they let the Bucs start the game with a Greekhouse inning -- that's not the way to get to the playoffs.

   2. Nice!

2. The Twins can do no worse than an 81-81 record.
   Just think what the Twins record would be if the team had a little better bullpen.

   1. Or a real third starter.

      1. "Deitrich Enns" doesn't do anything for you?

      2. To be fair, Gibson has been a "real" third starter in the second half at 7-3 with a 3.58 ERA. In fact, I think he's been the Twins' best starter in the second half. It would be more accurate to say what if Gibson pitched like this all season.

   2. Or they weren't saddled with that bum Mauer.

   3. Six months ago, if I was told the Twins finish 81-81 but miss the postseason, I'd be okay with it. That's a great rebound from 2016.

      One month ago, if I was told the Twins finish 81-81 but miss the postseason, I'd be upset about how they choked.

3. I feel as though I saw something about this story earlier. Good lord.

   1. It's guys like them that get you thinking natural selection could use a little boost.

   2. Yeah. It's been a big deal where I live (she was being held about a mile from my house). Not that the long term trauma is over, by any stretch, but everyone in the area was elated to have a happy ending to this one.

      That girl is her own damn hero.

      1. Yup, crazy to have this happen basically in our back yard. As a dad of a 16 year old daughter, it terrifies me.

4. Baseball brunch today. Perfectly fried eggs courtesy our new ceramic pannery, hash browns, bacon, toast, coffee.

   That may be the best CoC picture yet.

   1. Ooooh. Do tell more about this new pan. Pictures?

      1. Calphalon, says Mrs. Twayn.

5. Back to the People's Republic after a weekend in a house where our bedrooms were in the Eastern time zone and the rest of the house in the Central – or so our phones thought. I found this pretty strange, as we were in Michigan, which is entirely on Eastern time. Naturally, the wedding we were attending was in a Central time observing county in Indiana, which added another layer of feeling that we existed out of time, or in some kind of temporal vortex or wormhole. I kept asking my phone what time it was in Minneapolis.

   I don't think I've ever transited the Indiana-Illinois border without sitting in park on the freeway for a lengthy period of time. That remained the case on both border crossings this trip.

   "Indiana – you'll be glad you left!"

6. Cornelius McGillicuddy's white pachyderms come through again. 5.5 game lead on Texas.

7. I'm not going to get into a discussion about this but

   'Forbidden Zone'	SelectShow
   I feel like I'm the only person in the United States who really doesn't care whether football players stand for the National Anthem

   .

   1. There's at least 2.

      1. Three.

         FZ	SelectShow
         Is it something about concussions?

      2. Naw, you should have to sing (or lip sync it), even if en Español.

   2. 'FZ 2¢'	SelectShow
      I support the right to make polarizing public protests & have a strong dislike for reflexive displays of "patriotism." Reading that Goodell was grousing that the President's comments "demonstrate an unfortunate lack of respect for the NFL" made me want to spread chicken sh!t on his lawn, though.

      1. I liked Bob Costas' take on it (and on concussions)

   3. 'Spoiler'	SelectShow
      The Anthem doesn't have any particular reason to be played at sporting events, but nobody wants to be the politician or MLB official who suggests that it go away.

      1. How "The Star Spangled Banner" came to be associated with sports. [4ltr]

         'FZ x2'

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         I think playing the National Anthem at a baseball game is a good civics exercise when done the right way and without excessive "patriotic" genuflecting. I wouldn't say the same about the Pledge of Allegiance. I think playing "God Bless America" and asking people to stand for same at a baseball game is corrosive of the civic sphere, which should be open to all; belief in God shouldn't be a factor in the calculus of attending a ball game.

   4. Amen! I've always thought there are a lot more important things in life both on a personal level and national level to get your undies in a bunch about.

   5. My take I had on Twitter:

      'Spoiler'	SelectShow
      The NFL fully supports its players' rights to protest as long as it's approved by Nike.

   6. FZ

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      What I find interesting is that when people protest in the streets about police violence, they are told that this is too disruptive and not an appropriate way to protest. But when a football player takes a knee, a very silent and non-disruptive protest, that's not appropriate, either. It's almost as if certain folk think that it is inappropriate to ever protest the killing of unarmed, innocent civilians by actors of the state. Huh.

      1. 'FZ'

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         LaTroy Hawkins on the Book of Face made it very clear where he stands (or kneels) on the issue. I would love to hear him discuss it during a broadcast, but Dick, who is too uncomfortable to even say Big Sexy on the air, and who loves nothing more than strategy and players who will Make Baseball Great Again*, would surely be speechless and bothered having never considered how privileged his life is. *For example, he mentioned how he's a little bothered that Stanton might be breaking Maris's real homerun record. Were all those other homeruns Fake News?

         1. 'RE: Home Runs'	SelectShow
            Just think of how upset he'll be when Stanton starts threatening Babe Ruth's all time home run record!

            1. I'd hope Dick would recognize the legitimacy of Henry Aaron, Home Run King.

               1. Was joke.

                  1. NO LAUGHING MATTER. Home run records are teh Sacreds.

8. There is a pretty good match for this year's Tigers' RS / RA totals and last year's Twins' totals. I feel a bit sorry for the Tigers.

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