Happy Birthday–May 3

George Gore (1857)
Garry Herrmann (1859)
Eppa Rixey (1891)
Red Ruffing (1905)
Goose Tatum (1921)
Chuck Hinton (1934)
Chris Cannizzaro (1938)
Davey Lopes (1945)
Dan Iassogna (1969)
Darren Dreifort (1972)
Ryan Dempster (1977)
Ben Revere (1988)

Garry Herrmann was the president of the Cincinnati Reds from 1903-1920 and was chair of the National Commission from its creation in 1903 until the commissioner's office was created in 1920.  It is puzzling that he is not in the Hall of Fame.

Better known as a member of the Harlem Globetrotters, Goose Tatum played in the Negro Leagues for several years in the 1940s.

Dan Iassogna has been a major league umpire since 1999.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–May 3

What’s Your Pie Chart?

No, I’m not going to do the same pie chart survey that nibs did for FMD a bit ago, as enjoyable as it was. I’m thinking more about the range of books we each read as individuals.

For those who contribute to the First(ish) Monday Book Day discussions, I see what you’re reading at any given moment. But how would you characterize your reading? Mostly fiction? Split between fiction and nonfiction? What type of fiction? Do you gravitate toward classics or do you seek out what’s new? Now, “all of them” is of course an acceptable answer to this question.

I’m doing a bit of traveling this month, and the other day I was telling a coworker about what books I'm taking with me. In case I finish need a break from Infinite Jest, I picked up a couple of books from the library. One is a work of young adult nonfiction about Shostakovich and the other is a non-young adult nonfiction book about the origins of the Civil Rights movement in Minnesota (non-young is totally a term, right?). My coworker commented that I seem to read a lot of nonfiction.

The conversation got me thinking about what my own reading looks like from the outside. The current batch of books is perhaps not especially representative of how I see my own reading. I found nibs’s comment in the most recent FMD about not seeking out much new music interesting--I don’t recall seeking out much in the way of reading material after the jalapeño was born, excepting books about babies, breastfeeding, sleep, and all that good stuff. My brain was just so overloaded trying to make the transition to being a parent that I couldn’t take in anything else. Meanwhile, one of my great memories of my maternity leave with the peperoncino is tearing through book after book, many of them young adult fiction.

I’m an inconsistent reader. I get ambitious, I take breaks. I get books from the library only to end up returning them on their due date not having gotten through a single page. But I also adore the experience of reading, and I get nearly as excited about talking about books as I do about reading them. (Which you can probably tell right now, as you’re silently saying, “Pepper, just wrap this damn thing up already, would you?")

The featured image for this post is a pie chart of my current reading habits. Feel free to share a pie chart of your own along with whatever it is you've been reading lately.

Fun fact: my first attempt at the pie chart added up to a total of 130%. Perhaps I need to read more books about math?

2016 Series 9: Tigers 3, Twins 0

It's getting rather annoying to continue writing "Twins 0" for the series recaps.

The bad:
* Runs prevention. The Tigers averaged 6.3 runs/game.
* Run scoring. The Twins topped out at five runs. Five runs is good but not as a high-water mark. You don't win many games averaging 2.7 runs a game.
* The catchers. Suzuki had a hit and walk on Friday. That was it for both catchers.

The good:
* Duffey. After a short start that wasn't related to performance, Duffey did well enough in his start. Four runs is not good but the peripherals were all fine.
* May. His K/9 did drop over the weekend but it is at 13.8. The walk rate will keep him from being elite but no one can hit his pitches. *Checks his league leading 5 WP* Or know where they're going.

The very good:
* Mauer-Sano-Park. All three raised their OPS over the weekend. That stretch is turning into a solid middle of the order. Mauer leads the team, easily, with 1.1 rWAR. Park is next at 0.6.

Happy Birthday–May 2

Eddie Collins (1887)
Bing Crosby (1904)
Joe Falls (1928)
Eddie Bressoud (1932)
Gates Brown (1939)
Clay Carroll (1941)
Keith Moreland (1954)
Dr. A (1956)
Felix Jose (1965)
Paul Emmel (1968)
Jerrod Saltalamacchia (1986)
Neftali Feliz (1988)

Entertainer Bing Crosby was part-owner and a vice president of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1947 into the 1960s.

Joe Falls was a long-time sportswriter in Detroit and had a weekly column in The Sporting News for many years.

Paul Emmel has been a major league umpire since 1999.

It appears that no players with connections to the Minnesota Twins were born on this day.  However, it is the birthday of my brother, who in a couple of weeks will retire from teaching in the mining and minerals department at Virginia Tech.  Happy Birthday, Dr. A!

We would also like to wish a very happy anniversary to Mr. and Mrs. Butch.

May 2, 2016: Moving In

Okay, the family is here and I'm moving in. I would have done so yesterday, but the moving company we hired never booked the job. They have it confirmed, they have our money and they see when it was supposed to happen, but no actual movers were asked to actually move our stuff.

I'm sure it's a bit of an oversimplification, because computer systems can be a pain in the ass, but...YOU HAD ONE JOB

2016 Game 25: Tigers at Twins

http://cdn.aquila-style.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Capture1.jpg

First pitch 1:10 p.m.

Ricky Nolasco (1-0, 3.25 ERA, .904 WHIP, 24 K)
Mike Pelfrey (0-4, 4.64 ERA, 1.922 WHIP, 9 K)

I'll admit to inaugurating this season with a sense of irrational exuberance. The first few series knocked that out of me in pretty short order, though. And there's still plenty to be pessimistic about as we start the second month of the season today. After appearing to be righting the ship, the Twins have lost 7 of their last 10 games. They are 10 games below .500, 9 and 1/2 games behind division leading Chicago, and 6 and 1/2 games out of the wild card race. The starting rotation has been more than decimated by injury with Santana and Gibson on the DL, our regular closer is injured and ineffective when healthy, and his substitute isn't nearly as solid as he was last year. The bullpen has shown flashes of brilliance but an annoying inconsistency. The offense is improving but remains sub-par in many spots up and down the lineup. Jeebus, what I'd give to have a catcher who can hit again.

The odd thing is that I'm not terribly concerned. I never expected this team to do any more than than contend for a wildcard, and to be honest I'm enjoying watching this team, even with all of its flaws and miscues. There are bright spots here. We have pretty decent starting pitching with some depth in the organization, and now we finally get to see what Alex Meyer and Jose Berrios can do in the show. Duffy continues to impress. There are some good arms in the bullpen and some good hitters always worth watching. The return of very-high-BA/OBP Joe Mauer has been thoroughly satisfying to watch. Every time our Korean crusher comes to the plate, my wife starts chanting "Park bang, Park bang, Park bang..." After finding a regular spot in the lineup due to injuries, Nunez at first blazed and continues to burn brightly at the plate, hitting the ball like it sassed his mother. But we sucked in April. Nothing new there for this team, the Twins haven't finished the month above .500 since 2010. We've got a young team (average age just over 27) with too many infielders playing outfield, so there will be errors in the field and streaks at the plate. But there should also be some exciting baseball and in the end that's all I ask for, just make it interesting.

Today I'm feeling a little upside-down because I'm actually looking forward to watching both Mike Pelfrey and Ricky Nolasco pitch -- Pelfrey because I expect him to be the same pitcher we let go, and Nolasco because he doesn't appear to be the same pitcher we've had (off and on) for the last two years. That's all I got.

Play ball!

Remodeled basement. Same half-baked taste.