i was considering playing a band from boston called "the sprained ankles" that are about as awful as the route _elm_n took on that ball. instead, lets go with a song that sums up what it feels like to be a twins fan sometimes.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inc3d2LudEA
yup, that's keith richards making norah jones horribly uncomfortable at a gram parsons tribute concert.
(5 votes, average: 6.60 out of 10)
Loading... Bandage [ban-dij]
The Get Up Kids are not from Milwaukee. However the Promise Ring are. When looking at Promise Ring videos I thought about how they were a crappier version on the Get Up Kids.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYm1PDwLrQM
I know it is cool to say the Get Up Kids suck but the Something to Write Home About album most definitely did not suck, at least in 2000.
(2 votes, average: 7.50 out of 10)Loading... 
Weather: 67 degrees, cloudy
Wind: 12 mph, out to center
Time: 2:28
Attendance: 39,819
The Case of the Missing Mojo - Part II
The doll had no idea what she was getting into when she poured herself into my office on a dreary summer night a couple of weeks ago. Then again, I had no idea myself that the hunt for the Twins' mojo would take me from the Twin Cities to the sunny California coast and all the way back east to Brewtown. The name's Twayn. I'm a shamus.
I'd been on the case for two weeks, trying to find out who had the mojo, but this puzzler had more twists and turns than a barber pole. It seemed clear as gin at first - the starting rotation had to have it. Pavano, Baker, Liriano, Blackburn, they were pitching like a carnival barker - hard, fast, crooked and all night long. How else could you explain the way they've been dominating on the mound? Then in San Fran the offense took off like a Chinatown rocket, at least for an inning, so maybe they had the mojo. One thing was sure, there was no shortage of guys suddenly playing better than they were before the start of June.
One thing that jumped out at me as I perused Light Rail's B-R page was his strikeout rate: 8.6 K/9. What? It did increase from 7.3 in 2009 to 7.8 in 2010, but I wasn't expecting another 0.8 jump. However, the season is just shy of 50% complete and so, how much of the increase is real? Fortunately, that was recently answered.
What we want is the K/(PA-IBB-HBP)* line, and that says at 126 denominator units, 50% is the player's ability and 50% is the mean. Baker has 369 PAs, which means 74.5% of the 8.6 K/9 is him while the other 25.5% would be regression to the mean. The mean we want would be Baker's historical performance with however much regression is needed.
Taking the last three years, Baker has 2240 PAs, which means we need 94.7% of those three years and 5.3% league average. Baker's three year average for those three years is 7.5 K/9, which is reasonably close to the league average of 6.8. Let's just use 100% Baker. More rounding error.
Putting it all together means the best estimate for his talent right now is 8.3 K/9. Combined with the miniscule (0.09) increase in his BB/9 rate equals good things for his results. His xFIP so far is easily his best yet and his FIP is slightly better than from 2008. Finally, an ace!
* I'm calling these PAs from now on, despite it actually not being a plate appearance. He has one intentional walk and four hit batters, so it's basically rounding error anyway.
SAN FRANSISCO 2, MINNESOTA 1
Record - 32-41 (4th in Central, 3.5 games out of 3rd)
Highest WPA - Duensing (6.2 IP, 1 R, 5 SO), Cuddyer (3 for 4, 2 2B, RBI)
Lowest WPA - Delmon and Danny V. (both 0-4)
NOTES - Non-Cuddly Twins went 1 for 26 in this one.
Fangraphs
MLB Recap
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Looks like a pitcher's duel, and, perhaps as expected, Lincecum was just a bit better than Duensing in this one. Twins hitters (Cuddyer excepted) never figured anything out against the Freak, striking out 12 times, and failing to get the ball past the pitcher's mound a bunch of times as well. The Twins won't be the last team that Lincecum dominates, so I guess we can all take comfort in that? At least Duensing held his own, keeping the Twins within striking distance throughout.
When Cuddyer doubled in Casilla in the ninth with no one out, it seemed there might be an outside chance that Minnesota could steal the rubber game of this series. Instead Delmon, Danny, and Luke failed to advance him even a single base, and the Twins were handed their first series loss in quite a while.
not a whole lot of superchunk covers out there. i am not playing "the milwaukee song" by jewel. so, here's some advice for the twins from some wis-connie boys on what to do with the scoreboard while they're in town. you know, cause they seem to have forgotten while they were in san fran...
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CPIJONNkNg
1984
(some NSFWish lines towards the beginning)
(4 votes, average: 8.75 out of 10)Loading... 2:45 Central? What kind of goofy game time is that? Programming Note: This is the MLB.tv free game of the day.
The Dunce 4-6, 74.2 IP, 4.82 ERA, 3.59 FIP, 3.96 xFIP, 1.3 WAR
The Freak 5-6, 98.1 IP, 3.39 ERA, 3.02 FIP, 3.07 xFIP, 2.2 WAR
You know, I saw some mainstream junk asking what Lincecum(5-6)'s problem was this year, and I gotta tell ya: looks like the answer is "nothing." Score some runs for him, and he'll beat the other team every time. He's again on pace to throw a total buttload of innings; how long is that arm going to hold out? Is he that once-in-a-generation guy who can do that? I hope so, 'cause I always liked him.
Meanwhile, Duensing also has been better than his mainstream numbers suggest, though certainly nowhere near as good as Lincecum. This isn't a game to be betting on the Twins, though it would be nice to steal a win before the Wolves amuse and depress us all at another draft tonight.
Two more days until Thome and Twitchy are back, right? I've been trying not to say "When the Twins are all healthy" because I'm not convinced it's ever going to happen, but wouldn't it be awesome?
LP: Nick BlacKburn. WP: Voglesong
Save? Nope, but a closer did pitch in the game !ONE!O!N!O!N!O!N!Nnnnn
Over the last one game the Twins are 0-1. While that may be upsetting to some, if we back up a bit you'll see that over our last two games we're 1-1. That's right fellas, the Twins have been playing .500 baseball for 2 days. Awesome.
We all knew that the Twins win streak would have to come to a close sometime. Unfortunately, that time was wednesday night. Blackburn didn't pitch awfully, allowing 4 hits over 6 innings, but he did walk 3 and the hits he allowed were loud. 3/4 of our infield committed an error last night, so, yeah, the defense was sloppy to say the least. The offense was worse, mustering only 4 hits off Voglesong. But, don't let this get you down. The local nine have played exceptional baseball of the last month. I haven't had this much fun watching baseball since the race down the stretch in '06. So, for today, I'm going to stay positive.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyMal2onfuM
Art: I love hanging out in San Francisco, there are a ton of galleries and museums showing excellent work. The SFMOMA holds a world class collection of modern and contemporary art. Just across the street from the SFMOMA lies the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts where they focus on big ideas, long contemplative conversations, and community interaction through art. I love the YBCA. Down in Golden Gate Park you have the de Young Museum which was recently renovated, and has a stunning observatory. If you happen to be in the bay area before July 17th, I would recommend you stop by the de Young and view Rupert Garcia: The Magnolia Editions Projects 1991–2011. Magnolia Editions, a fine art printmaking workshop, has been around a long time producing extremely good art that is extraordinarily well crafted. Speaking of printmaking, Crown Point Press is also located in San Francisco. Almost single handedly, they raised the bar for fine art etching and intaglio in America. Considered the leader in the etching revival, they published early print works by Chuck Close, Richard Diebenkorn, Wayne Thiebaud, and later threw their support behind the conceptual artists of the late 1970s. After stopping by these printshops you find yourself with a hankering to pull a few prints of your own you can stop by Griffin Press Co. in Oaktown and pick up one of the more beautiful and indestructible presses ever built. Oh, yeah, they're really, really heavy. And after you've made your first print you'll want to have a beer, why not stop in to the Magnolia Pub? Yeah, it's in the haight, you'll never get the smell of patchouli out of your clothes, but the beer is definitely worth the risk.
Jobu, I am not attempting to play another barrel full of monkeys covers game. I am just ripping off your idea of songs including the citiy the Twins are playing in.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gm_6tNpUk-Q
After today the Twins come back from San Francisco. Well, back to Milwaukee.
(2 votes, average: 7.50 out of 10)Loading...