Cup of Coffee

October 7, 2019: Pressure Gauge

44 Comments

I'm wondering the level of optimism vs. pessimism of the nation.

In today's game...

  • The Twins will win (53%, 10 Votes)
  • The Twins will lose (32%, 6 Votes)
  • The Twins will lose mightily (11%, 2 Votes)
  • The Twins will win handily (5%, 1 Votes)

Total Voters: 19

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44 thoughts on “October 7, 2019: Pressure Gauge”

  1. I began the service yesterday with, "We worship a God who can work miracles! There is nothing beyond God's power! [pause] So the Twins still have a chance!"

  2. I was in a foul mood Saturday night. I didn't watch the game but I did listen to it. After the Didi grand slam I was really done. I love this team. I love to see them succeed and I love great regular seasons like this one where the team just gels and does great things. But I'm really done watching them lose in the playoffs. I'm still debating whether I'm going to sit and actually watch tonight's game, or if I'll just passively listen. My daughter has swim practice, during the start of the game, so I may be preoccupied with that. I'm just to the point that if all they're going to do is lose when the playoffs come around, I'm just not going to watch. I don't enjoy it. It just angers me, and I hate that it has that much control over my life.

    If they win tonight, I'll be thrilled to the gills, and I'll probably make time to watch tomorrow. If they pull off a Boston miracle and come back to win the series, I'll be on cloud nine, and I'll be sure to catch the entirety of the next series. But I'm not holding my breath.

    1. The root of "fan" is, of course, "fanatic."

      I will record the game. If things go south, I likely will look up the score and decide whether to stop watching.

      I am trying hard to hold on to the joy the Bomba Squad delivered this season.

    2. Rooting for a zero sum game is madness. Only one fan base can be ecstatic. I just want one title before I die that I can share with my kids (if they end up caring). Frankly since 2004 I've expected to lose every playoff series so I haven't been too let down during the games and can continue to watch them, but I get it. After Didi's homer I didn't pay quite so close attention.

        1. In 2006 I got my wish and then I couldn't watch any of the games because they didn't get the primetime slot. And lost anyway.

      2. Frankly since 2004 I've expected to lose every playoff series so I haven't been too let down during the games and can continue to watch them, but I get it.

        The Vikings' Fan Defense. Clever.

    3. I'll be in bed long before the game's over, but I'll be paying attention to the early innings. And if it's still close at that point, I'll check the score when I wake up in the night. I'll also record it, which I may or may not watch depending on how it goes.

    4. For me, thankfully, it's just part of the ride. Friday night was my reunion, so when they started losing it was really easy to tune it out. Saturday I was watching with my parents, aunt and uncle, brother, and lots of little kids. It was crazy, and fun, and the final score really didn't have too much impact on us. The 9th inning run was still a lot of fun to cheer for. I've also been able to separate out this team from the teams of the early 2000's. Those playoff loses started to add up, but for me, this is a different team entirely. It's much more of an 0-3 playoff run than an 0-15 or whatever. Having not really paid much attention to the Twins in the middle of this decade helped establish that break, I think.

      I'll try to watch tonight, but I won't make it all consuming.

      Much like Beau, I'd love for them to have one championship for me to share with my kids. I was 10 when they won in '91. My son is 10 this year. It'd be a nice symmetry. But that's all it'd be.

  4. I'm going to the game tonight. I'm more concerned with the hitting than the pitching. As long as the Twins are making the Yankees throw strikes, I'll be ok with it.

  5. Salt River lost to Peoria 9-7 on Saturday and defeated Surprise 6-4 on Sunday. The Rafters are 10-5 and lead both Mesa and Scottsdale by two games.

    Royce Lewis was 3-for-8 with a double and three runs. He is batting .364/.396/.682 in 44 at-bats.
    Luke Raley was 2-for-3 with a double, a run, and an RBI. He is batting .175/.222/.275 in 50 at-bats.
    Jovani Moran pitched two-thirds of an inning, giving up three unearned runs on two his and two walks and striking out one. His ERA is 3.60 with 9 strikeouts in 5 innings.
    Zach Neff retired all four men he faced and struck out one. His ERA is 2.35 with 7 strikeouts in 7.2 innings.

  6. I cant help but watch the game tonight. I greatly suffer from "fear of missing out" I look back at the miracle in Minneapolis. I was at that game and watched hundreds of Vikes fans leave early while Saints fans celebrated. Diggs scored in my corner of the endzone. I have never heard a louder roar of celebration than what occurred after the 3 seconds of stunned silence. Yes, the odds are super long, but these situations create the very best moments.

    Second best moment? Alex Hockey playing Hermantown in state semifinal hockey tourney 2 years ago. Everyone was predicting Hermantown by 3 or 4 goals. Alex won 6 to 1. The joint, and our town went insane.

    Point is, if I turned away from either of those long odds moments I would have missed a euphoria only eclipsed by the birth of my 2 children. Watch the game if u are able people. The pain of watching failure is less than the remorse of missing out. IMHO

    1. Reminds me of that game in 2015 just before the all-star break against Detroit in which Verlander started. I went up to meet Spooky in the middle innings because they were getting their butts kicked and couldn't do a damn thing against Verlander. A lot of people left before the eighth, which is when the magic started. Of course, the ninth was one of the most incredible things I've ever seen watching a game.

      I'll watch tonight as well, but I'm primed to abandon ship as soon as anything particularly bad happens. I'm at a point where I'd rather miss out on something crazy than stick around only to be unhappy.

    2. My response to that is "Highlight reels"

      But I get what you're saying. I nearly checked out of the White Sox game where we kept coughing up the lead in the top of the inning, only to come back in the bottom, capped off with a HBP to win the game. I was glad I kept listening to that one.

    3. To clarify...not judging anyone else's take. Just putting out the bane of my existence. 🙂

    4. My dad and I left this game when I was 10 years old. We literally got into the car to turn on the radio and hear "Hot Rod" Hundley yell "the Jazz win the game, the Jazz win the game".

      I have not left a meaningful sporting event early since that game over 30 years ago.

    5. my best friends favorite player going back to 1995 was Jim Thome, so when the Twins signed him he was ecstatic. He was the game where Thome hit the walk-off homer against the White Sox. Except he was with friends who were bored and wanted to go home. He heard the roar of the crowd from outside the stadium.

        1. Only one time did I leave a game early where the score was in doubt, and that was in 2015 in September when they lost a game in extras while fighting for a wildcard. It was a weeknight, and we had a babysitter, and we were exhausted, and it was raining. And the Twins lost, so no regrets!

          1. Just two months prior to that game i was screaming "that's why you don't leave early!" over and over.

    2. I had a losing Sunday overall (never saw Oakland doing that to the Bears and thought Dallas would handle Green Bay) but I was confident the Vikings would win in NY.

  9. Rosario still in the cleanup spot. Not that batting order makes a huge difference, but ugh. He needs to be seventh.

    1. Assuming Kepler is going to lead off, Rosario is the best left-handed option to slot in between the right-handed power. He batted cleanup all year pretty much and the team scored over 900 runs. No point in changing it now.

      1. Yeah, it's probably not worth it if it would shake up morale or anything. But I don't necessarily agree he's the best option there, since Arraez could lead off and Kepler could be fourth. Also, I'm not convinced breaking up the righties is that important since our righties still hit well against righties.

        1. I agree that Arraez leading off and Kepler batting fourth would be a better lineup with Rosario 6th between Garver and Sano. I just don't see the Twins moving Kepler from leadoff after he's done it all year against righties. I think Arraez will be leading off next year.

      2. I agree. We shouldn't change anything based on circumstances. That's why we should have Buxton in center field tonight.

  10. MNUFC Loons Update. So the Loons lost yesterday and ended up seeded 4th in the Western Division.

    Despite the loss, they get to host a home playoff game against the LA Galaxy and their star Zlatan Ibrahimovic. If the Loons win that game, they unfortunately head out to west to take on LAFC, which has been by far the best team in the league all year (although MNUFC served up LAFC's only home loss all year).

    Due to the International soccer Break, playoffs don't start until October 20th. Oh, and Alliance Field is hosting a football game between St. Thomas and St. Johns the day before! Who knows what shape the field will be in. #cashgrab

    Anyway, it's been a great season, and should be an electric playoff atmosphere in two weeks.

  11. Vintage Reusse:

    The mismatch that occurred in the first two games of the American League Division Series in New York exposed so many Twins flaws that it left this impression of manager Rocco Baldelli and his coaching staff:

    They did better work than had been imagined in getting all that was available from this ever-changing roster.

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