"Jade Wolf?" - nibbish
Monthly Archives: June 2019
Happy Birthday–June 28
Ken Williams (1890)
Haruyasu Nakajima (1910)
A. Ray Smith (1915)
Oscar Rodriguez (1931)
Fred Gladding (1936)
Ron Luciano (1937)
Al Downing (1941)
Fred Talbot (1941)
Don Baylor (1949)
Chris Speier (1950)
Joe Sambito (1952)
Clay Christiansen (1958)
John Elway (1960)
Jay Schroeder (1961)
Mark Grace (1964)
Ron Mahay (1971)
Corey Koskie (1973)
Richard Hidalgo (1975)
Brandon Phillips (1981)
Haruyasu Nakajima is in the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.
A. Ray Smith owned minor league baseball teams from 1961-1986.
Oscar Rodriguez is in the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame.
Ron Luciano was an American League umpire from 1969-1979.
NFL quarterbacks John Elway and Jay Schroeder each played minor league baseball. Elway hit .318 in 151 at-bats as an outfielder for Class A Oneonta in 1982. Schroeder was primarily an outfielder for four years in the Toronto system, never getting higher than Class A. He hit .213 with 36 homers in 1,304 minor league at-bats.
Mark Grace was drafted by Minnesota in the fifteenth round of the January draft in 1984, but did not sign.
We would also like to wish a happy birthday to Philosofer's youngest child.
June 28, 2019: Great Debate, Pt. 2
Okay, who is your LEAST favorite Twin right now. Has to be on the 25 man, and it doesn't have to be mean, petty, or vindictive. Just who are you least a fan of?
Game 79 – Tampa Bay at Minnesota
Weather permitting, today we’re looking forward to seeing Ryne Stanek (opener) v. Martín Pérez.
Stanek has started 22 of the 37 games he’s appeared in this season, with a total of 43.2 innings pitched.
Pérez, in his last 7 starts, is 2-2 with a 5.80 ERA, averaging ~5 innings per start with a WHIP of 1.65. His last start was Friday the 21st where he secured a ‘no decision’ in 5 innings of work, allowing Kansas City 4 earned runs on 5 hits and 3 BBs with only 2 strikeouts. To be fair, the offense only gave him 3 runs of support before tacking on 5 more during the 7th & 8th enroute to a come-from-behind win, 8-7 over the Royals.
Last night, Rosario sprained an ankle (no IL ... yet) and La Tortuga was placed on the IL with a left oblique strain (recalled OF LaMonte Wade Jr.) They did inserted Kepler as a late defensive replacement, but Buxton, Gonzalez & Adrianza are still on the IL. Their replacements have not embarrassed themselves, and the division lead being what it is, it’s nice to see them taking the recuperation time they need.
Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images
Minor Details: Games of June 26
The home runs were all with the Red Wings, as they got the only minor league win.
2019 Recap: Game Seventy-nine
MINNESOTA 6, TAMPA BAY 4 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Wednesday, June 26.
Batting stars: Nelson Cruz was 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs. Eddie Rosario was 2-for-2. Luis Arraez was 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs.
Pitching star: Taylor Rogers retired all four men he faced.
Opposition stars: Austin Meadows was 2-for-3 with a walk. Kevin Kiermaier was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his ninth. Tommy Pham was 1-for-4 with a home run, his twelfth. Willy Adames was 1-for-4 with a home run, his ninth.
The game: The Twins opened the scoring in the first inning. Arraez led off with a walk. With one out, the Twins got singles from Cruz, Rosario, and C. J. Cron, plus a wild pitch, to take a 3-0 lead. It didn't stay 3-0 long, as Meadows walked to start the second and Kiermaier hit a one-out two-run homer to cut the lead to 3-2.
It stayed 3-2, with neither team doing a lot on offense, until the sixth, when Pham homered with one out to tie the score 3-3. Adames hit a one-out homer in the seventh to give the Rays their first lead at 4-3.
Then came the bottom of the seventh. Jason Castro got an infield single and Jake Cave reached on an error, putting men on first and second with none out. Jonathan Schoop failed to get a bunt down and struck out, but Arraez singled to load the bases. Jorge Polanco popped up for the second out, but there's no need to fear, Nelson Cruz is here. Cruz hit a bases-clearing double to give the Twins the lead at 6-4. Tampa Bay could get only a one-out single in the eighth after that.
WP: Trevor May (3-1). LP: Charlie Morton (8-2). S: Taylor Rogers (10).
Notes: Arraez started the game at third base in place of Miguel Sano. The starting outfield, from left to right, was Willians Astudillo-Rosario-Cave. Then, of course, Rosario was injured running the bases in the third inning. Sano came into the game at third base, with Arraez going to left field, Cave moving to center, and Astudillo moving to right. In the eighth, Max Kepler came into the game in center field, with Cave going to right, Astudillo moving back to left, and Arraez going to third base, with Sano coming out of the game.
Arraez was put into the leadoff spot, and apparently the pressure did not bother him. He is now batting .452. Polanco was 0-for-4 and is batting .321. Jake Odorizzi allowed three runs in 5.1 innings and has an ERA of 2.73. Ryne Harper retired both men he faced and has an ERA of 2.23. Rogers now has an ERA of 2.04.
Every member of the Twins starting outfield is now dealing with an injury. Kepler came in for defense--maybe he'll be well enough to play today. Maybe Byron Buxton can come off the disabled list. Maybe, against all odds, Rosario's injury isn't that bad and he can play. If not, though, they'd better have made a call to Rochester last night. An Astudillo-Rosario-Cave outfield was shaky enough. An Arraez-Cave-Astudillo outfield is simply untenable. The Twins were lucky that it didn't particularly hurt them last night, but that kind of luck is not going to hold.
Schoop tried to bunt in the seventh inning with men on first and second with the Twins down a run. I don't think a bunt is an obviously bad play there, but it is if you don't have a batter at the plate who can get the bunt down. Bunting, for a big league ballplayer, should not be that hard of a thing to do, but you need to learn how to do it properly. So, if you're going to ask players to bunt, you need to take the time to teach them to do it correctly and take the time to have them practice it regularly. Is bunting worth the time it takes to learn to do it right? That's a good question. But either have players who can bunt well or don't do it. Giving up an out to gain a base may be a questionable strategy, but giving up an out and not gaining anything is a strategy that has nothing going for it.
The Twins did not hit any home runs last night, a rare thing for this season but especially rare in a game that they won. In a way, though, it's a good thing. I have nothing against home runs, but it's good for a team to have more than one way it can win. My theory for some time has been that the more ways you have that you can win, the more likely it is that you will win. A team that can win in several ways has an advantage over a team that can only win one way. It's good to know the Twins can beat a good team without hitting home runs.
Record: The Twins are 52-27, first in the American League Central, 8.5 games ahead of Cleveland.
Projected record: We're still on track for 135-27!
June 27, 2019: Great Debate
Who would you say has been your favorite Twin this year. You can only pick one.
Lizzo – Truth Hurts
Sorry, I can't not play this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcVOMUrBpF4
Happy Birthday–June 27
Rube Benton (1890)
Fred Saigh (1905)
Dick Terwilliger (1906)
Wendell Smith (1914)
Lou Kretlow (1921)
Gus Zernial (1923)
Wayne Terwilliger (1925)
Charles Bronfman (1931)
Chuck Coles (1931)
Eddie Kasko (1931)
Rico Petrocelli (1943)
Takashi Nishimoto (1956)
Jeff Conine (1966)
Jim Edmonds (1970)
Daryle Ward (1975)
Chris Woodward (1976)
Luis Rodriguez (1980)
Jim Johnson (1983)
Fred Saigh was the owner of the St. Louis Cardinals from 1947-1953, selling to Anheuser-Busch.
Wendell Smith was an African-American sportswriter who was influential in the choice of Jackie Robinson as the first African-American major league player.
Charles Bronfman was the owner of the Montreal Expos from 1969-1991.
Takashi Nishimoto was a star pitcher in Japan from 1977-1993.
Daryle Ward is the son of ex-Twin Gary Ward.
We would also like to wish a happy anniversary to MagUidhir's brother.
2019 Game 79: Tampa Bay Rays vs Minnesota Twins
Charlie Morton
vs
Jake Odorizzi
Former league ERA leader faces current league ERA leader. Odorizzi had two bad starts against against the Royals but he's done with them until at least August. His last start against the Rays went well, his last scoreless start. Magill tried to blow it after but didn't fully succeed.
Morton meanwhile was the starter in the blowout loss to the Rays. The Twins have gone 14-9 since then, an only 90-win pace.