Category Archives: MLB

MLB, WGOM

2012 MLB Playoff Brackets

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okay, bracket time again (here's a link to last year's game). i'm not married to the scoring, so if anyone has any strong ideas about it, let me know.

Wild Card Game 1 pt.
ALDS/NLDS 2 pts. (best of 5)
ALCS/NLCS 4 pts.
World series 6 pts.

AL Wild Card Game (One game playoff)
BAL v. TEX

NL Wild Card Game (One game playoff)
STL v. ATL

ALDS (1) (Best of 5)
___ v. NYY

ALDS (2) (Best of 5)
DET v. OAK

NLDS (1) (Best of 5)
___ v. WAS

NLDS (2) (Best of 5)
SF v. CIN

so, reply to this post with your picks, all spoilered like, please. be sure to include the score to the wild card games (5 points instead of 1 if you guess right), and the number of games played for each series (x2 points of you guess right)

AL Wild Card Game:
NL Wild Card Game:
ALDS (1):
ALDS (2):
NLDS (1):
NLDS(2):
ALCS:
NLCS:
World Series:

DEADLINE: Friday, 5 October 2012, 3:30pm CT

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History, Minnesota Twins

September 25, 2007: Random Day in Twins History

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I used a random number generator to pick a season from the past with the idea that I would quickly highlight the Twins history that occurred today in that year.  The generator sent me to the year 2007.

Detroit 8, Twins 0 - BR Boxscore

Somebody named Yorman Bazardo pitched seven shutout innings against the Twins in his second major league start.  The Twins were punchless behind Matt Garza.  The Tigers led 1-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning but a hit batter, an error, a double, an intentional walk, and two singles chased Garza from the game.  Julio (Chuck James before there was Chuck James) DePaula allowed two runs in mop-up work as the game got out of hand.  Magglio Ordonez homered and doubled pushing his batting average to .359 while Curtis Granderson hit his major-league leading twenty-third triple.

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History, Minnesota Twins

September 24, 2008: Random Day in Twins History

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I used a random number generator to pick a season from the past with the idea that I would quickly highlight the Twins history that occurred today in that year.  The generator sent me to the year 2008.

Twins 3, White Sox 2 - BR Boxscore

The Twins pieced together four shutout innings of relief to win their second straight game against the White Sox while pulling within a half game of first place in the AL Central.  Nick Blackburn allowed two runs in five innings despite pitching around ten baserunners (sound familiar?).  Craig Breslow, Boof Bonser (?!), and Jose Mijares each pitched a scoreless inning before Joe Nathan's 1-2-obligatory-4 ninth inning save, the 200th of his career.  “You couldn’t ask for anything better than that,” Blackburn said of the bullpen.  “They came in, did their job and got those guys out.  No drama.  It was great.”  In Mijares's eighth inning, he retired JI JIM, Paul Konerko, and Ken Griffey, Jr. in order. Continue reading September 24, 2008: Random Day in Twins History →

Minnesota Twins, MLB

Hope for the Hopeless

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After consecutive disastrous seasons for the Twins, it will be difficult for most to find hope for 2013; 2014 is another matter, what with the All-Star Game and the Twins' top prospects finally knocking on the door. Oswaldo Arcia, Aaron Hicks and B.J. Hermsen will start in Rochester next year barring a flurry of trades from the Twins clearing room for them (or Hermsen just winning a starting job) and Miguel Sano, Eddie Rosario, Jose Barrios and Byron Buxton could be in New Britain or even Rochester in 2014, meaning a midseason callup in 2014 wouldn't be out of the question. I think the Twins will be looking to load up for a legitimate run at the postseason in 2014 to help generate excitement for the All-Star Game, but I think next season can still be a successful one for the Twins, maybe not a postseason appearance, but maybe a flirtation with contention that leads to multiple division titles in following years, such as 2001 and 2008.

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Miscellaneous, MLB

Messing Around with the 1987 Bill James Abstract

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Last November, Sheenie and I were in Duluth for a wedding and wandered around town.  We stumbled upon an antique store that had a massive collection of books on the second floor.  Eventually, we ended up leaving with about $40 in books (which mean about fifteen books).  Among the ones I snagged was The Bill James Baseball Abstract 1987.  I slowly flipped through it in recent months and found a few items particularly interesting.

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2012 Twins Game Recaps, History, Minnesota Twins, MLB

Game 95: Twins 7, Royals 5

Doumit hit homeruns from both sides of the plate, went 3-4 and drove in 4 runs. Deduno earned his first major league "W" going 6.1 innings and allowing only 1 earned run. Swarzak and Perkins both gave up homeruns. The Twins beat the original Jeremy, recently acquired by the Royals from Colorado for Jonathon Sanchez.

The Twins take the series 2-1 and are now 40-55, a half-game back of the Royals.

Congratulations to:

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