All posts by brianS

2011 Twins Game Logs

2011 Game 121: Marisa Monday, Post _elm_n Edition

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I just got this message from "ThaReal_elm_n":
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryAeNSzanKY

some rights reserved by GranniesKitchenThome Watch continues. Younger and wussier players around him continue to wilt in the August heat, but the Masher keeps on keeping on. The Tiggers have pretty much pwned the Twins for the last year, having won 12 out of their last 13 against our boys.

pitching matchup:
F-Bomb (tRA+: 92, FIP: 4.53, xFIP: 4.41, fWAR: 0.8, 97:66 K:BB in 117 innings)
Rick Porcello (tRA+: 108, FIP: 3.92, xFIP: 4.00, fWAR: 1.9, 76:30 K:BB in 126 innings)

The 22-year old Porcello is having a solid season. Amongst the mortal starters on the Tiger staff, he leads the way in pRAA at +4.8 (Verlander is at +33.0, tied for 7th in the Majors; he's third in pitching rWAR). But the real strength of this club is the offense, which weighs in at +43.2 bRAA and is 5th in the A.L. in runs per game at 4.44 (Twins are 12th at 3.87 -- behind Oakland, for goodness sake). So, tell me again why they wanted _elm_n???

Porcello is a ground-ball inducing righty. The Twins have a lefty-heavy lineup, with no _elm_n and a questionable Cuddy.

2011 Twins Game Logs

2011 Game 115: Red Sawks!!!! on ESPN!!!!

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Tonight on the 4ltr, the Red Sawks play*, and the Yankmees don't!!!!111one111!!! How did that happen?

Anyway, there is some sort of milestone at stake (Tim Wakefield seeks career win 200, including many games NOT against the Yankmees).

In order to provide context for the milestone, there may or may not be another team on the field. However, it is rumored that two non-Sawks players that 4ltr viewers may have heard of, Joe Mauer and Jim Thome, may be mentioned. Mauer, because his iconic sideburns are two of the most notable features of flyover America, and Thome because he too is within striking distance of a milestone of sorts, even though it is likely to happen in obscurity unless it happens tonight.

Bring the snark, kids. That's what we are playing for.

*some guy named Booker or Barker or something is starting for the other team, in case anyone cares.

2011 Twins Game Recaps

Game 112 recap: Burlys 5, Washington Generals 3

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Twayn's not here, so you guys are stuck reading some bS about last night's game.

I am still without a home computer, so this will be a minimalist post.

The toilet has been flushed and the water continues to run on this season. All that really remains is to beat up on the South Siders. So last night's loss, predictable as it was, hurts.

After an ugly top of the first for Not Kevin Slowey (roughly a dozen walks and 18 Nishi errors that somehow led to only one run), our boys gave us some false hope in the bottom half. Ben Revere knocked a croquet ball through the hoop called Adam Done. After Tolbot did something useless, Joe said "this game is easy," and blooped a single. Then the Dude said "screw platoon splits" and dongered.

The Nation rejoiced.

It was not to be. After the Dude, Burly dominated, retiring 22 of the next 24. And, well, Kevin Slowey was still in AAA.

Carlos Quentin did his best Jose Bautista. The Twins offense was helpless. Boo.

2011 Twins Game Logs

2011 Game 94: Indigenous Persons at Gardy’s Guys

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According to the Yahoo preview, the Twins have now attained "surging" status, having won 12 of 16 to threaten to be a factor in the AL Central race.

This game matches up a guy who has a mug shot, but has yet to appear in a Major League game this year, vs. a guy who has no mugshot but has been the darling of the local media for being Not Kevin Slowey.

Huff has thrown 100 1/3 innings in 17 starts at AAA in 2011, with underimpressive peripherals (63:28 K:BB) but impressive outcomes (3.86 ERA, 4.01 FIP). He's a big-ish (6'2", 215 lbs) lefty with a mediocre fastball and a mix of other pitches. In 2009-10 with the Indians, he went 13-19 over 208 innings, with a 5.84 ERA, 5.12 FIP and 5.19 xFIP. Chosen in the supplemental round in 2006 out of UCLA, he doesn't quite qualify as a Jeremy, but he's close.

Stompsnake has bounced back and forth between the big club and Rochester this year, putting up good results despite missing few bats (19:11 K:BB in 40 innings with the Twins, 25:7 in 32 1/3 in Rochester). Hopefully he brought his smoke and his mirrors in his suitcase from upstate New York. In his last appearance for the Twins, on July 10, he held the White Sox to one run on four hits and two walks over six innings, striking out five.

It's a great day to play two, but it would be really nice if Songsack managed to go the distance in this one. How 'bout we get him some runs, boys?

Fun fact: Cleveland is 7-2 against the Royals, 6-10 against the rest of the division, including 1-4 against the Twins.

Miscellaneous

Pint-Sized Reviews: Not all Canadian beer is Blue

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[note: I'd started this post yesterday, not anticipating that meat would bring the pork again today. Awesome. So go read or re-read that recipe, then come back here and fantasize with me about eating it while drinking this beer]

The family is scattering to the winds this week, with the Boy off to the Carleton Summer Writing Program, the Mrs. and the Girl heading to Nuevo Mexico, and li'l old me staying here to work my fingers to the bone for Gov'nor Brown. So saturday night I was treated to an early birthday dinner. And what a treat it was:
*the Boy grilled a tri-tip to perfection
*the Girl made a delicious pot of pinto beans
*the Mrs. made sauteed spinach and, for dessert, a fantastic blueberry-peach crisp.

and for double-dessert, I treated myself to a bomber of the Unibroue Quatre-Centième Brassin Commémoratif belgian-style strong pale ale. So sue me for using the wrong glass.

This is an interesting hybrid brew. It pours a beautiful golden straw color with an effervescent white head that settles down quickly, leaving little lacing. The mouthfeel is soft and light, beginning with a champagne-like bubbliness that slowly dissipates in the glass. The aroma is firmly Belgian -- like a dubbel, but with a heady (yet still light) undertone of bready, biscuity malt. One reviewer nailed the taste -- reminiscent of their world-class La Fin Du Monde, but toned down. You never notice its weighty 7.5 pct ABV.

The Quatre-Centieme, brewed originally to celebrate the 400th Anniversary of Quebec City, is the beer that proves that Unibroue is a truly great brewery, not by its greatness, but by its seeming ordinariness. To make my case is the Alström Bros themselves:

While Quatre is certainly not a bad beer, it simply smacks of past Unibroue beers and doesn't offer us anything unique--like the city it's supposed to be honoring. Fairly middle of the road, but Unibroue fans will no doubt want to give this one a try.

In other words, it's not world-class great like many of Unibroue's other products, so it is consigned to "meh". Seriously? No, this is a really, really good beer. It doesn't overwhelm the palate on any one dimension, it isn't way over the top, but instead is a delicious, drinkable, well-balanced Belgian ale. Most breweries would kill just to make a beer this good, but this one is snubbed as merely quaffable. Oy.

If you are curious about but unseasoned in Belgian ales, this would be a great place to start.

First Monday Book Day

First Monday Book Day: A Song of Blood and Betrayal

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Happy Independence Day, Citizens. In celebration of a holiday born of revolt, I bring you Book Two of George R.R. Martin's magnificent A Song of Ice and Fire series, A Clash of Kings

Martin paints on a grand canvas, maintaining threads for each of the Starks as well as a small handful of others. Don't be fooled. I'm most of the way through the third volume Everybody Dies. Martin has no compunction whatsoever about sucking the reader in to a character and storyline, only to snuff it out.

Joseph Campbell, in his The Hero with a Thousand Faces, describes the classic "hero's journey" thusly:

A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.

This volume gets the "fabulous forces" and "mysterious adventures" in gear, larding on layers of myth, macabre and magic only hinted at in the first book. But who the hell are the heroes in this series? I've identified several potentials, only to see them offed. Other characters who, to all appearances seemed to be cast as villains, he rehabilitates with a change of perspective and/or circumstances.

I'm smitten at the same time. Martin is a brave and compelling writer. The stories twist and turn in unexpected ways, while maintaining a dramatic tension often lacking in Robert Jordan's more ponderous Wheel of Time series. The characters are more real, more engaging and more bloody too. Just what a day of ice (in the drinks), fire (on the grill) and fireworks needs!

What have you been reading?

2011 Twins Game Logs

2011 Game 77: McCourtsMLBs at Pohlads

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Finally, we get to go home and take on somebody our own size. The Dodgers (35-44) are the epitome of a small-market club, struggling to make payroll, playing their games in an old, rundown stadium with trough urinals.

They do have some Midwestern charm, however:

The Dodgers owe everybody and their mother money:

The team owes a total of $74,121,433 to their players, food and travel vendors, and even the city of Los Angeles.

The team owes Los Angeles $240,563 in taxes. It also owes Levy Restaurants $588,322 for running the concession stands at the stadium, as well as $339,403 to Continental Airlines for team travel.

Some of the Dodgers' major payroll creditors include former players Manny Ramirez ($20.9 million), Andruw Jones ($11.1 million, currently with the NY Yankees), and Juan Pierre ($3.05 million, currently with the Chicago White Sox, who is also owed $3.5 million for his trade). Other players on the list include the current roster, and the LA Times points out that two of the players owed money (Zach Lee and Alexander Santana) haven't even begun playing yet. Also on the list: longtime sportscaster Vin Scully ($152,778).

That would be the best-PBP-voice-in-baseball Vin Scully. Unfortunately, Scully, 82, rarely does away games east of Denver these days. So scratch that from the list of attributes for this series.

Instead, let's just hope Our Boys can get some Mojo back in order to make a run at respectability. They still have a shot at the International League playoffs!!!11one111!!!!

Pitching matchup:
Chad Billingsley (Righty, 4.48 ERA, 3.35 FIP, 3.56 xFIP, 86:40 K:BB in 94 1/3)
Nick Blackburn (3.15 ERA, 4.43 FIP, 3.89 xFIP, 51:27 K:BB in 97 innings)

Billingsley is right at league averages for GB%, FB% and LD%. His 5 1/3 innings against Detroit last Tuesday (6 hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks, one run) was his longest outing in a month. He has given up four or more runs in four of his last six starts. Even better, the Dodgers' bullpen has been awful -- minus 20.7 pRAA on the season (the Twins' pen is only -12.5 pRAA).

Offensively, the Dodgers have been mediocre, with the glaring exceptions of Matt Kemp (327/416/619) and Andre Ethier (317/389/461). If we can avoid Neck Fat giving those guys hanging sliders, we might actually win this series.

The Nation Has An Appetite

Beaneater Bonanza: Dal Makhani

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Now that the Bruins have brought championship pride back to Boston at long last, it seems fitting that we all celebrate. My notion is to fuel Vancouver's fires with some additional methane.

So, today's legume recipe is for a version of dal makhani. Traditionally, this is made with black urad dal (Vigna mungo), but, in a slight nod to the admittedly delicious Madras Lentils from Tasty Bite (which I've bought numerous times at Costco), I use plain ol' brown lentils.

My recipe goes a step further in that it is vegan, in recognition of my daughter's continued culinary crusade. The dish is better with the addition of some dairy (butter and/or cream), but is pretty good as-is too.
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