Category Archives: MLB

History, Minnesota Twins

May 9, 1972: 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 1972.

Twins 4, Yankees 2 - BR Boxscore

The Twins improved to 13-4 on the young season (only seventeen games played at this point because it was the first year ever with games missed due to a work stoppage).  Jim Kaat kept the Yankees at bay for more than eight innings relying primarily on his fastball (he did not have the feel for a screwball he had developed during the offseason) while Phil Roof scored and drove in a run during a spot start (and was replaced by a pinch-runner who scored an additional run).  Those two, combined with some Yankee frustration, pushed the Twins to victory.
Besides Roof, Bobby Darwin was the other offensive star for the Twins with both a double and a triple hit to the opposite field.  Darwin had entered the game in a 1-for-15 slump after hitting 432/500/864 through the team's first twelve games.  Darwin told Sid Hartman, "In the past I've hit a lot of balls to right field but this spring I only hit one before tonight.  I came out early, took some extra batting practice, and I got myself straightened out."  It is unclear whether sixteen year-old Dick Bremer, sitting somewhere in Central Minnesota, took note of Darwin's approach and determined that it was the solution to every hitting slump a Twin would ever face.
Thurman Munson had a rough day for the Yankees.  In the second inning, he was picked off by Kaat while Felipe Alou was at bat.  After Munson's blunder, Alou homered.  The bottom of the seventh proved to be even more frustrating for the future Yankee captain.  With a runner on third, Munson was crossed-up on a pitch out as the Yankees thought Cesar ovar might be asked to squeeze.  Munson was able to block the pitch.  Tovar ultimately drew a walk.  On ball four, the pitch eluded Munson allowing Nettles to score and Tovar ran all the way to third base.  After the game, manager Ralph Houk attempted to cover for Munson by explaining that the catcher simply had lost track of the count and did not realize the pitch was ball four.
Veteran Yankee Horace Clarke provided a scouting report on Kaat: "His fastball velocity probably hasn't the velocity it had [in 1966], but he moves it so well that makes up for it."  Kaat, rather than crediting his fastball or screwball for the win, said, "My best pitch was the at-'em ball."  Kaat ended up pitching very effectively for the 1972 Twins with a 10-2 record and 2.06 ERA, but he broke his hand sliding into second base on July 2 and missed the remainder of the season.
On example of his at-'em ball working well occurred during the top of the eighth inning when Rusty Torres hit a ball sharply up the middle until it ricocheted off Kaat's leg to first baseman Rich Reese for the out.  The following inning, Kaat walked Munson with one out promptly manager Bill Rigney to call on Wayne Granger.  After the game, Houk was second-guessed for not pinch-hitting for Alou with Ron Blomberg, but he defended himself by explaining, "If I sent in Blomberg, Rigney would have brought in [left-handed reliever Dave] LaRoche."  Of course, Rigney could not have removed Granger until after he pitched to at least one batter, so Houk's explanation made no sense.  Granger ended up retiring both batters he faced for his fourth save (LaRoche already had five saves as Rigney mixed and matched the end of games).
Something I never knew: Granger got off to a ridiculously strong start that season.  Through June 25, Granger pitched 36.2 innings with a 0.49 ERA and a opposing slash line of 168/216/184.

Other Twins notes: Just 6,446 fans - the smallest ever to see the Yankees play in Minnesota - attended the game.  Bill Hengen of the Minneapolis Star lamented that there simply was no longer a thrill having the Yankees in town because the team was no longer "menacing or arrogant" like in the 1960s.

Kaat and Roof roomed together on the road (along with Bert Blyleven).  Kaat and Roof were such good bridge players that teammates Eric Soderholm and LaRoche never allowed the two to be partners.

Other history notes: Without venturing too much into the forbidden zone, the news on this day forty years ago was full of interesting stories for a history nerd.  For example, seventeen people were arrested during a protest in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood against both Vietnam and "urban renewal."  Also, the Duluth Board of Education announced it was dropping its plans to desegregate the school district that fall because of public pressure.  Five different schools in Duluth failed to comply with state guidelines for integration, and the abandoned plan would have required busing 900 more children than the status quo.  Sometimes it is hard to believe that school desegregation was an issue a) in Minnesota, and b) eighteen years after Brown v. Board of Education.

Along the same lines, reigning NFL MVP Alan Page was frustrated that he had not received a single endorsement offer during the offseason.  Quarterback Fran Tarkenton, on the other hand, received an offer "just seven minutes after the season" (whatever that means).  The Minneapolis Star worried that Page was being harmed because of his race.

2012 Twins Game Recaps, Minnesota Twins, MLB

Game 27: Minnesota 2, Seattle 5

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Blackburn is 0-4.

Ryan Doumit hit 2 home runs. They accounted for the only 2 runs and, with his 4th inning single, he accounted for 60% of the Twins' hits in the game. EDIT - He also walked.

Mountie to the DL.

Dozier & Diamond up from Rochester tomorrow.

Butters on a major league club is beyond ssstupid.

That is all.

I lied, that is not all. I don't like having to work at watching baseball...but I'm almost there and we're only 27 games in.

Minnesota Twins

The Defense After A Month

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Dude TZ DRS UZR
Mauer (C) -2 -1 N/A
Doumit (C) 1 -1 N/A
Parmelee (1B) 1 -1 0
Mauer (1B) -1 1 0
Morneau (1B) -1 0 -1
Casilla 1 6 3
Valencia 3 -2 0
Carroll -1 3 2
Willingham 2 -3 -5
Span 0 7 2
Plouffe -1 2 0
Doumit (RF) -2 -1 -1
Total 0 10 0

Overall, I would say most have been roughly average. Casilla, Carroll, and Span have all been good at their respective positions. Willingham has been not so good in left and Doumit questionable in right. This is all what we expected though.

Valencia I think needs more time before we determine if last year's -18/-13/-6 is his talent level or if it was an off year. All three liked him in 2010 (+3/+5/+6), so there's some hope there.

Mauer's numbers at catcher are almost entirely because of stolen bases. If one or two runners were instead thrown out, I think he would be rated as average.

Finally, I think it bears mentioning that all three divorce position from how good the player is at the position. Mostly, this is okay. However, it is an issue with B-R's 'dWAR' rating, which I do not like. It makes it easy to forget that a -10 shortstop (say, Plouffe) is equivalent to a +5 corner outfielder. Not exactly equal, but pretty close in fielding value.

2012 Twins Game Recaps, Minnesota Twins, MLB

Game 21: Kansas City 4, Minnesota 7

Finally, I get to write a recap about a TWINS WIN! Willingham was a homerun short of the cycle with 2 RBI and Danny V was 3 for 4 with a triple, 2 singles and 2 RBI. Doumit added 2 RBI of his own and the Twins had 5 extra base hits altogether. Jason Marquis had a "quality start" going 6 innings and giving up 3 runs on 6 hits. Burton and Perkins each pitched a scoreless (though nail-biting) inning and Dicus gave up 1 run on 2 hits and a walk before securing the win.

Continue reading Game 21: Kansas City 4, Minnesota 7 →

2012 Twins Game Recaps, Minnesota Twins, MLB

Game 17 Recap: Boston Red Sox 6, Minnesota Twins 5

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fangraphs (roller coaster of suck)
mlb recap

yet another game i was unable to watch or hear. this made me particularly upset as i've been able to hear about 2% of TK's broadcasts, and i already love them. i was able to "follow" along on gameday, and was able to "watch" in "real time" as capps does what he does. i'm not going to say it, so you guys can. also, while you're saying stuff, please think up some arguments for me to take to the boss on how getting mlb.tv is essential towards our quality of life.

i wanted to embed the JC/plouffe! play to give us some measure of happiness, but i came up short. sounds about right.

2012 Twins Game Recaps, Minnesota Twins, MLB

Game 16 Recap: Minnesota 2, Tampa Bay 6

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I had a full day planned so I recorded todays tilt on the old DVR. Maybe my technology has a heart because when I went to review the game this evening, it hadn’t been recorded after all. At first I was annoyed, but then I checked out the box score… yuck. After committing 3 errors in last night’s ballgame, the Twins cleaned it up today and didn’t commit a single one. That’s about the only positive thing I saw. Continue reading Game 16 Recap: Minnesota 2, Tampa Bay 6 →

History, Minnesota Twins

April 11, 2004: 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 2004.

Detroit 6, Twins 5 (10 innings) - BR boxscore

The Tigers won the rubber-match of a three game series to improve to 5-1 on the early season defeating the Twins in 10 innings (after ending the previous season with just 43 wins).  The Twins rallied from an early 3-0 deficit to tie the game 5-5 before losing.  The Twins stranded at least two runners in the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth innings.  Henry Blanco tied the game in the eighth inning with an RBI double, but he was thrown out easily trying to reach third base.  Gleeman wrote, "The throw beat Blanco to the bag by about 10 feet and Blanco went 'sliding' into third with some sort of belly flow/somersault combination." The following batter, Cristian Guzman, doubled but was stranded when Nick Punto struck out to end the inning.

Asked about his aggressive baserunning after the game, Blanco explained, "I was out of gas. . . . I was trying to see what could happen.  Nothing happened."  He added, "Seems like every time you make a mistake on the bases, the next guy gets a hit and you pay for it."  Ron Gardenhire did not criticize Blanco's decision.  "The play's in front of him, and he's trying to play the game," Gardenhire said.  "We don't knock guys for trying to be aggressive."

In perhaps the least surprising quote in the history of quotes, Ron Gardenhire lamented, "We didn't get it done.  We were battling.  We were getting after it.  They were getting after it."  [ed. note: I swear on my life this is a verbatim quote from the Strib.]

The Tigers scored their first run when Craig Monroe scored all the way from first base when Lew Ford misplayed a Carlos Pena single.  Later, they scored the winning run when Joe Roa issued a one-out walk to Rondell White (aka The Insanity).  White was removed for pinch-runner Andres Torres who stole second base and then scored on Monroe's game-winning single.  "A game-winning single like that -- I can't describe how good it felt," Monroe said. "I'd never done anything like that before up here."

Joe Nathan did not pitch in the game, but he had pitched in four of the first five games of the season.  In fact, through the sixth game, Nathan, Roa, J.C. Romero, and Carlos Pulido had each appeared four times and Juan Rincon and Aaron Fultz had made five appearances.

Johan Santana lasted just five innings (and had thrown only nine innings in his first two starts).  He allowed a homerun to Pena in the fourth inning - his first homerun allowed to a left-handed batter in 70.1 innings dating back to the previous season.  Santana struggled to retire hitters once he reached two strikes.  In fact, Gleeman documented that Santana threw 32 pitches in his five innings after already having two strikes on the opposing batter.

Other Twins notes: The Twins signed Joe Beimel to a minor-league contract that day and assigned him to Rochester.  Beimel had a pathetic cup-of-coffee with the Twins in September, but then put together some pretty decent years after leaving the organization.  The loss was the team's third of the season.  In all three games, they had scored at least four runs.

A front-page story focused on the likely inability of the Twins and Vikings to contribute more than 25% to the cost of their new stadiums.  The Twins explained that paying for a large-chunk of the cost "could impair the club's ability to field a competitive team."  A stadium bill working its way through the legislature at the time would require the Twins to contribute one-third of the cost - an estimated $150 million - to the final stadium.

GM Terry Ryan expressed some concern that Joe Mays, after undergoing Tommy John surgery in September, was trying to rush his rehab.  "We've got to slow him down some," Ryan said.

Blanco was playing because Mauer had been attacked by the warning track behind the plate in the Metrodome and Matthew LeCroy strained his oblique.  Through his first fifteen plate appearances, Blanco somehow had hit 267/467/733.

2012 Twins Game Recaps, Minnesota Twins

Game 3 Recap: Baltimore 3, Minnesota 1

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Boy…I’m glad I didn’t get to catch much of this game live. Even in fast-forward, I caught myself grimacing with each passing inning. Hardy led off the scoring for Baltimore by belting a solo home run to left-center (while playing solid defense throughout the series. I know it's stupid, but I still can't figure out what they were thinking when they traded him).  For a while, it looked like that single run might be all the O’s would need. Something called Jason Hammel no-hit the Twins through 7 innings. Even where they picked up a base runner via walks, Doumit and Willingham graciously helped him out of the jam by hitting into double plays. Jason Hammel came to Baltimore in a deal that sent Jeremy Guthrie to Colorado. The Twins hitters seemed to sense the connection. Continue reading Game 3 Recap: Baltimore 3, Minnesota 1 →

MLB

Here’s a Place to Put your 2012 MLB Predictions

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SBG talked about a contest, but really I just want to BS about expectations. This in no way should replace any contest, but games are starting soon (four teams already have finished games), and we should do this before we know more.

Typical things to venture:
Division Champs: ALC, ALW, ALE, NLC, NLW, NLE
Two wild cards per league (feel free to rank them, I won't)
World Series winner and loser.

Also postseason awards, one each per league:
Most Valuable Players
Cy Young Awardees
Managers of the Year
Rookies of the Year
Comeback Players of the Year

If you feel like making further-out guesses, there are Golden Gloves, Silver Sluggers, All-Star starters, All-Star reserves, and MVPs for each of the following: ASG, ALCS, NLCS, and World Series.

Go at it.