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Category Archives: MLB
2011 MLB Playoff Brackets
i was daydreaming and had a fun idea: MLB playoff brackets, anyone?
how about this: predict the winner of each series, and win the points. double points if you correctly guess the amount of wins for both winning and losing team.
ALDS/NLDS 1 pt. (best of 5)
ALCS/NLCS 3 pts.
world series 5 pts.
ALDS
DET v. NYY (1)
TB v. TEX (2)
NLDS
STL v. PHI (1)
ARI v. MIL (2)
whoever has the most points wins. pretty simple, huh?
if anyone has any suggestions to tweek the rules, let me know. otherwise, post your guesses below. i'll compile them on a spreadsheet and make it available to everyone.
copy and paste the below part:
ALDS(1):
ALDS(2):
NLDS(1):
NLDS(2):
ALCS:
NLCS:
World Series:
DEADLINE: friday, 30 september 2011 3:00PM CT
Game 159: Twins at Indians
Final road game on this long, weary journey. There's been injuries, disease and a bunch of headaches. Have we run out of Tylenol yet?
My California math says its Liam Hendriks' turn to pitch, but that's only if he didn't get moved up to pitch in the doubleheader. The Twins want to win this one to try to avoid 100 losses, but really, why have we gone through this if not to see history? If they go 63-99, it would just be a miserable season. At least if they lose 100, we could say we saw a historically bad team. This end of the season run has been historically bad, that's for sure.
At least the offense has picked up at the end. Seemed to happen about the time Chris Parmelee arrived. GO TWINS!!!
Games 157 & 158: Indians 8-7, Twins 2-6
Like you didn't see that coming.
The Twins officially have the second worst season in their history and still have to win one game to avoid tying for the worst record. The Twins need to go 3-1 to avoid 100 losses, which ain't happening.
It's sad when a pitcher has a 6-0 lead in the sixth inning and you're just waiting for him to fall apart. Of course, considering all the balls in the air in the first five innings, it wasn't difficult to realize Diamond was living dangerously. Of course, it sure would be nice to get your best reliever in the game before you blow a six-run lead. It also would help if the Twins would stop running themselves out of innings (or at least scoring position).
In the first game, the Twins ended a nine-game streak of scoring at least three runs after scoring two runs or fewer in seven of their previous nine games. Of course, a lot of good the extra offense did them as the Twins went 1-8 in each nine-game stretch. At least the most recent nine have been more entertaining (and more painful).
Stat of the day: Ben Revere had six doubles in 451 career at-bats before getting three doubles in the doubleheader.
2011 Game 156 Recap: Twins 5, Gentleman Masher 3, Other Indians 3
Weather: 61 degrees, drizzle
Wind: 12 mph, L to R
Time: 2:52 (:27 delay)
Attendance: 36,807
By the banks of the mighty Cuyahoga River (Non-flammable for Half a Century!™), the good people of Cleveland paid tribute tonight to Jim Thome. The Gentleman Masher rose to the occasion with a home run, a double, and an infield single, driving in half of the Tribe's runs for the night. I'm going to miss that guy. Oh, hell - I miss him already.
Like many games this season, the Twins could just as easily have won this one had they been able to coax a clutch hit with men in scoring position. The Twins left a team total of 11 runners on base, and left runners in scoring position in seven innings.
Despite that brain-rattling level of offensive impotence, the Twins managed to score five runs off Cleveland, four of them off starter Justin Masterson, who struggled with his command and didn't make it out of the fifth inning.
Chris Parmelee earned his coffee tonight by leading off the Twins' scoring in the top of the first, driving in Ben Revere and Trevor Plouffe! with a roller up the middle that made it to the grass just in time. In his next at bat leading off the third inning, Parmelee jacked one into the right field seats and took a 360-foot stroll. Joe Benson added to the Twins' tally with a productive out, scoring Dinkleman on what would have been a double play if not for a throwing error by pivot man Jason Kipnis.
With the game tied 5-5 going to the home half of the ninth inning, Twins skipper Ron Gardenhire sent seven-million dollar man Matthew Dicus Capps to the mound to extend the game. Instead, he extended an invitation to mash a tater to pinch hitter Carlos Santana, who deposited said tuber over the fence in right center. Meanwhile, in the District of Columbia, young Wilson "League Minimum" Ramos has played in 109 games and booked 420 plate appearances. He's batting .267 with a 112 OPS+. Drew Butera is not.
Game 151: Indians at Twins
Masterson vs. Pavano
Don't blink. This could go quick. Pavano has pitched well against his former team and Masterson is facing the Twins, so don't expect much offense.
The Twins need to go 4-8 to avoid 100 losses. I'm not sure it really matters, but maybe it could motivate the Twins to show a little more inspired play. They also need to go 2-10 to avoid the Twins' worst record. Fortunately, the franchise record of 113 losses (in 154 games!!) is safe. The Twins need to go winless and finish the season with 19 consecutive losses to have the Twins' worst record all to themselves. Doesn't seem all that unlikely at this point.
Some other races to look at: Can Benson set the Twins' rookie record for stolen bases? Can the Twins have a game with no players from the Opening Day lineup play in the game? Who will have the worst batting average: Butera, Rivera or Tosoni? Will any Twin get to 20 home runs (Cuddyer's at 18, Valencia 15)? Will anyone get to 70 RBIs (Valencia at 69, Cuddyer 65)?
GO TWINS!!!
Game 150: Indians 10, Cuddy & the Kids 4
Stop me if you've heard this before, but the Twins lost again to extend another losing streak. This one is at seven and it is the sixth losing streak of at least six games this season. The Twins are 0-40 in those losing streaks and 59-51 the rest of the time. I imagine that's not all that unusual for teams this bad, but the Twins have been real streaky this season. It's hard to remember that they actually won eight games in a row at one point. Then again, the Twins haven't won as much as three in a row since July 5, which happened to be the one game I attended.
But this time of year for a last-place team isn't about wins and losses, especially when you only have one member of your Opening Day lineup available to play and only one member of your original five-man rotation still pitching in the rotation. And let's face it. Any wins now only hurt the Twins' draft position and have no real tangible benefit. It's just about pride now.
This is about seeing the kids playing and seeing some hope for the future and the last two games have been good in that sense. On Friday, it was Joe Benson showing why he's considered by some to be the Twins' top prospect that could actually make the team next year when he went 4-for-4 with three extra-base hits against a very tough right-hander in Ubaldo Jiminez. In this game, it was Chris Parmelee showing why the Twins took him in the first round of the draft, going 3-for-3 with a walk and his first-career home run. Parmelee is now batting .357 in the bigs and more impressively has five walks and just four strikeouts.
2011 Game 149 Recap: Indians 7, Twins 6
Weather: 56 degrees, overcast
Wind: 14 mph, R to L
Time: 2:58
Attendance: 37,942
Yeah, it was just like old times. Jim Thome steps to the plate at Target Field and belts a solo shot, career home run #603. Only this time he was wearing an Indians uniform again, Joe Nathan was trying to keep the game even, and the home run made the difference between a potential come-from-behind Twins win and another Twins loss. So it goes.
Kevin Slowey had another poor outing for the Twins, going just four innings and giving up five runs on seven hits. But what the hell, this is the time of year when everything heads south, so we really shouldn't expect any different.
The one bright spot in the game for the Twins was Joe Benson, who damn near hit for the cycle and provided a good chunk of the team's offense, scoring three runs with a 4-for-4 night. Benson has doubled in four of his last five games, and six of his nine hits in the Majors have gone for extra bases. His four hits were the most for a Twins rookie since Danny Valencia did it last year.
Game 146: Twins at Tigers
Ten years ago last week, we moved into our current home. I know this because 10 years ago today I was waiting for my DirecTV to be installed when my wife called to tell me to turn on the radio. I may have been the last person in the country to know about the Twin Towers. Let's honor those who lost their lives and celebrate those who survived and helped others survive and maybe share a few of our own memories of that day. As for the game ...
Scott Diamond vs. Doug Fister
Maybe the Twins can fist it off Fister, but I won't be holding my breath.
Diamond had the benefit of unfamiliarity against the Tigers in his last start against them. I don't expect it to go so well the second time. Then again, he did better against the White Sox the second time around, so you never know.
Normally, this would be a great doubleheader day with the Twins scheduled to start about three hours before a certain other Minnesota team kicks off its season (literally). It's really sad that for decades the Twins have tried to surpass the Vikings in popularity and even with two world championships, they still haven't done it. However, they had a golden opportunity to get a leg up on the Vikes, who bumbled through a controversial and disappointing season while the Twins were coming off a wonderful 94-win debut season for spectacular Target Field. All the Twins did was puke all over that field and their fans while the Vikings traded for Donovan McNabb and signed their most popular player to a 7-year, $100 million contract, with only just over a third of it guaranteed.
Hey, Ziggy. You wouldn't want to buy a baseball team as well?
Game 145: Tigers 3, Twins 2
Such is the way of things for the Twins. They finally get some good pitching and they can't score enough to win. I would make a joke about the Gophers' abomination today, but it doesn't seem right after Coach Kill's seizure on the sidelines. I guess his honeymoon period will last at least another week.
At least Joe Benson finally got his first hit, but then promptly threw it away by getting picked off on the old fake-to-third and throw-to-first play to help turn a first-and-third and no outs into no runs. If the Twins get a run there, they probably have Joe Nathan on the ninth to protect a one-run lead. Of course, if they got the four runs they scored yesterday in today's game instead, they probably win and would be looking for a series win tomorrow.
Oh well. That is what the Twins have to deal with with so many injured or traded away. At least they're getting an idea of what the young players can do and what holes they need to fill in the future.
Great job by Swarzak, who gave up just two runs in six innings with six Ks and two walks. He could end up being pretty useful as a minimum-wage pitcher. The rookie callups, Benson and Parmelee, reached based four times in 8 PAs. The rest of the team reached base four times in 24 PAs and that includes Mauer reaching 3 times in 4 PAs, which means the other six guys were 1-for-20. Yikes!