Satchel Paige once posed a ponderous question I'd like all of us to consider: "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?" That is to say, if you throw chronological time out the window, how old would your body be? How old are you in biological time?
Continue reading WGOM Fitness: Sept. 5, 2012 – Mind Over Matter
Television - FSN
First Pitch - 6:10pm CDT
Happy Labor Day, citizens. I hope you've been enjoying your day of leisure; it was hard earned by those who came before us. I hope you're having a cold beer with friends or spending some quality time with family or both. Maybe taking in a ball game. And somewhere along the way, if you haven't done so already, perhaps pausing for just a moment to think about the rivers of sweat and the the mountains of toil and the generational expanses of endeavor and industry as wide as the prairies that it took to build this nation. And maybe, if you are so inclined, hoping for better days to come for everyone looking to earn an honest day's pay for an honest day's work but finding the doors of opportunity thrown shut in their faces.
Today the Twins start a three-game set against the team we love to hate. Sam Deduno is on the mound for the good guys, Hector Santiago takes the hill for the White Sox. The Sox are battling the Detroit Tigers for the AL Central title. The Twins are struggling to climb out of the division cellar. What the heck, there's just a month left of Twins baseball this year. We might as well stock up on what's left. Winter comes early in these parts and hangs on like a fat and stubborn tick. Best to enjoy every day of baseball summer has left to offer, there will be precious little autumn ball for the Twins this year.
I find myself feeling a bit poetic for some reason, but in the spirit of the holiday I'm just going to take it easy and toast the work of others who have better saluted in verse the homes of today's natively eponymous contestants:
Continue reading 2012 Game 135: Land of Sky-Blue Water at City of Native Garlic
When I was twelve years old we lived on a farm about four miles from town, and I wanted a new bicycle more than anything (except maybe Maureen McCormick, and I'll admit to having only a vague idea about what I wanted with her). Not another hand-me-down bike, mind you, but a brand new bike of my very own like I hadn't had since I was five and got one for Christmas and my grandpa taught me to ride it that very day. So I started saving my nickels and dimes and dreaming of a new bike. On our weekend stops at the sporting goods store I picked out the one I wanted, a white Columbia 10-speed road bike with black handlebar tape, saddle and trim, center-pull caliper brakes and Shimano derailleurs. I even remember exactly how much it cost - $179.99. After months of saving and scrounging and coming up short I began to despair that it would ever be mine.
Continue reading WGOM Fitness: 8/28/2012 – I Want to Ride My Bicycle
First Pitch - 7:10 p.m. CDT
Television - FSN
Poor Liam Hendriks. Just his second game back in the show after spending most of the summer in Rochester and he's pitted against King Felix, who rolled a perfect game just a couple of weeks ago. Twelve strikes in a row, a Thanksgiving turkey. But Felix wasn't just the king for that one game this season, he's been pretty awesome throughout. In just his last 13 outings he's won eight and lost none while holding hitters to a .184 batting average. Yeah, the dude has the unique abilitiy to turn everyone he faces into something worse than Drew Butera or Danny Valencia with a bat in their hands. Hernandez has led something of a second half surge for the Mariners with team going 25-16 since the All-Star break. Hendriks is also going into tonight's game without much in the way of backup. The bullpen is pretty gassed after throwing a ton of innings in the Texas series. So I wouldn't expect much from the Twins' pitching staff tonight, and not much from the offense, either. If you need a reason to watch, we might see Joe Mauer break the franchise records for games caught if he crouches behind the plate tonight. I used to know who holds the record, but I Earl Battey'd the guy. That's got to be worth tuning in for one inning, anyway. Is it football season yet? Basketball? Hockey? Bueller? Anybody? Bueller?
Play ball!
First Pitch - 9:05 p.m. CDT
Television - FSN
Lineups
Oooooow, look at all that foul territory. The Twins will feel right at home there, they've been playing pretty foul ball lately, winning just one game in their last ten and riding a five game losing streak. It's so bad I wandered over to Cot's today to see what our payroll situation looks like for next year. The good news is a lot of money is coming off the books, about $35 million, give or take a nickel. So Terry Ryan should have some money with which to play ball this winter. Let's hope he doesn't decide to bunt.
On The Hill:
Brian Duensing vs. Brandon McCarthy.
I'm not going to bother with their stats at this point. I'll just say advantage Oakland and leave it there. With this late start, I'll be down for the count after three innings. It won't surprise me if The Dunce is, too.
Play ball!
First Pitch - 7:10 p.m.
Television - FSN
Lineups
No, we don't really have the Tigers by the tail, we're 11.5 games behind them in the standings and from here you can't even see their tail, although you can catch a faint whiff of what's directly beneath it. The Detroit Tigers have been disappointing their fans lately by struggling to gain ground on the division leader, losing four of their last ten games. The Twins, on other hand, have been adding glory to their franchise history by proving triumphant in five of their most recent ten contests and remain poised to surpass both the Kansas City Royals and the Cleveland Indians before the season draws to a close.
With this season well on the downhill side, the non-waiver trade deadline in the rearview and a few weeks to go before September call-ups, there's not much for Twins fans to get excited about except playing spoiler, the face-crushing demotion of Nishi, and the glorious return to the lineup of Trevor Plouffe!. Even the chance to play spoiler to the contending Tigers is tempered by the realization that beating them does nothing except improve the chances of the White Sox winning the division. Boo dat.
On The Hill:
Anibal Sanchez - Who cares about his stats, he's named Anibal. This guy is one vowel substitution away from losing a testicle.
Samuel Deduno - His middle name is Lake. I got nothing.
Neither of these pitchers has a record against their opponent, so who knows what to expect. But I would be pretty surprised to see an old-fashioned pitchers' duel tonight.
Play ball!
First Pitch - 6:05 pm CDT
Television - FSN
Lineups - TBD
I don't have a lot of time for today's game log since I spent most of the day yesterday walking (3.25 miles on the Coon Rapids dam trails), shopping (Trader Joe's) and eating (chicken, black bean and corn quesadillas with guacamole) instead of working on the work work I probably should have been working on. What can I say, the doctors told me I have to be a little more selfish about taking time for my health from now on.
The Twins have been playing pretty good baseball lately. They've won seven of their last ten games and sit in fourth place, 12.5 games off the division lead and 3 games behind the third-place Indians. Cleveland, on the other hand, is in total collapse mode, riding a nine-game losing streak that started with a series sweep by the Twins at the end of July. We'd all like to see the Twins continue Cleveland's losing streak by sweeping this series, too. After all, now that the Cuyahoga Rivers doesn't start on fire when you toss a cigarette butt into it, we have to give the Indians something else to cry about. Extending their losing streak to an even dozen games and moving into a tie for third place ought to do it.
The Twins made an unexpected move over the weekend, trading Danny Valencia to the Red Sox for minor league outfielder Jeremias Pineda after a waiver claim. This looks like a move that will improve the Minnesota team immediately by subtraction and could pay off several years down the road by addition or ancillary transaction. Some four-cylinder import named Nishioka has been called up from Rochester to fill Juicy's roster spot, which was temporary anyway, but I expect Nishi will take a turn at shortstop and/or second as a September audition. Or maybe he'll just ride the pine for a week. It's not like the team is concerned about getting him regular at-bats like they are with Parmelee. Jamey Carroll will likely get all the duty at the hot corner until Babe Plouffe! returns from the 15-day disabled list, possibly by Friday.
On The Hill:
Tonight the Twins send ace-apparent Diamond out to face something called a McAllister. Diamond has a record of 9 wins and 3 losses, while McAllister has notched 4 wins and 3 losses. Diamond has an equal rights amendment of 2.93 and McAllister has an equal rights amendment of 3.42. All other pitching stats are made up and/or meaningless.
Play ball!
First Pitch - 7:10 p.m. CDT
Television - FSN
Lineups
So the Pale Hosers are leading the AL Central and the Twins are, mercifully, out of the cellar at last (thank you very much Kansas City, Cleveland with the assist). We'd all like that situation to be reversed, of course. After all, the White Sox are to the Twins as Jesus Quintana is to The Dude -- a perverse, repugnant arch-nemesis with nary a redeeming quality who nevertheless demands a miniscule measure of grudging respect. I'd like nothing better than to have the kind of starting pitching that the Sox have enjoyed this year. But sometimes you just have to roll the balls that life gives you and hope it's enough to give the pins a good stir.
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Continue reading 2012 Game 102: Chicago Quintanas at Minnesota Dudes
First Pitch - 6:10 p.m. CDT
Television: FSN
Lineups
Gentlemen, tonight we hit the century mark for the 2012 season. If you adhere to the aged adage that every team wins 50 games and loses 50 games (a truism that is paradoxically a fallacy) and it's what you do with the other 62 games that matters, the Twins have 63 games left to start mattering and they're several games in the hole. I for one am not optimistic of much more than a fourth place finish, but teams as far back as the Twins at this point have gone on to contend in the closing days (this may or may not be a true statement, but it feels comforting to say it). Continue reading 2012 Game 100: Pre-Columbian Americans @ Twins
First Pitch - 7:10 p.m. CDT
Television - FSN
Game Notes
When you search the internet for images, you get a lot different results with "white socks" than you do with "white sox". But you might want to set your search engine filters accordingly if you search on "white stockings".
If there's a better way to wrap up this round of interleague play than by taking on our most universally despised divisional rival, the Chicago White Sox, I don't know what it is. Oh, wait. Yes I do. Sweeping a series against said Sox would be better. Much better.
The Pale Hose are coming off a weekend that saw them move into first place in the division and acquire Kevin Youkilis from Boston for Brent Lillibridge, Zach Stewart and some cash. Youkilis is expected to be starting at third base tonight, where he will be frequently mistaken for Yukon Cornelius.
ON THE HILL
Francisco Liriano: 1-7, 5.74 ERA, 69 ERA+, 4.36 FIP, 4.18 xFIP, 0.5 WAR
Jake Peavy: 6-3, 2.74 ERA, 155 ERA+, 3.25 FIP, 4.07 xFIP, 2.5 WAR
Play ball!