Friday Music Day

Good Friday Music Day, 2011

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I would have also accepted "Earth Day Music Day, 2011."

When I was twelve, there was a big hullaballo about the 20th Earth Day, so I ended up with some other teens and pre-teens pulling junk out of the Minnesota River down at Minnecon Park in New Ulm.  It actually wasn't in that bad of shape, although I do remember tires.  But, it's the Minnesota River, it wasn't gonna polish up like some beach or something.  It was still just a muddy river bottom, annually inundated, only now with less garbage in it.  Still smelled like river mud and cottonwoods.

You got any songs about removing litter from public areas?  Or whale watching?
(I was going to ask if anyone had songs topical to Good Friday -- I've probably got one or two -- but then I remembered P&W music and "Contemporary Christian" so it's possible some folk have hundreds of topical songs.)

Share your lists of randomness.  I'll be in transit to the in-laws (Glenwood MN), so I might not have much to say until later.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–April 22

20 Comments

Bob Smith (1895)
Taylor Douthit (1901)
Ray Benge (1902)
Lew Riggs (1910)
Mickey Vernon (1918)
John Orsino (1938)
Steve Jones (1941)
David Clyde (1955)
Moose Haas (1956)
Dave Schmidt (1957)
Terry Francona (1959)
Jimmy Key (1961)
Jack Savage (1964)
Mickey Morandini (1966)
George Williams (1969)

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to rowsdower.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 22 →

Uncategorized

To Our Visitors from AG.com

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Hey there, friends of Gleeman.

Seven years ago, SBG (Stick and Ball Guy) started The WGOM, and in time, it became a thriving community of about 50-60 regulars who talk music, film, beer, the Timberwolves, the brewing of beer, literature, art, soccer and beer. First and foremost, however, it's about the love of the Twins.

Last week, SBG decided to stop wearing the hat of blog administrator for a number of reasons, but he didn't want to see the community go away. The site you see here is the culmination of a lot of us regulars creating a new home that runs a little faster and relieves SBG of his ludicrous workload.

Anyway, have a look around. The Cup of Coffee (right sidebar) is where we talk each day about whatever's on our minds. You can find a list of our features at the top of the site, and if you have any questions about anything, you can register here and ask away (registration is free and takes seconds). The main courses are our game logs, and you can find the running commentary on last night's win right here.

Have fun. We'll try to make ourselves presentable.

2011 Twins Game Recaps

Game 19 Recap: Twins 3, Orioles 1

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MINNESOTA 3, BALTIMORE 1
Record - 7-12 (Last in the Central)
Highest WPA - Baker (7.0 IP, 0 R, 9 SO) and Thome (2 for 4, HR, 2 RBI)
Lowest WPA - Hoey (0.0 IP, 2 H) and Valencia (1 for 4, SB)
Notable - Jim Thome has hit .455 (5 for 11) in the three Thursday games this season and has a positive WPA in all three.
Fangraphs
MLB Recap

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The story in this one was Scott Baker.  For the second consecutive outing, he looked really good.  Nine strikeouts (only one walk) in seven innings.  Only four hits allowed, and the O's went 0 for 5, with a walk, against him with runners in scoring position.  That was actually better than batters had done against Baker in that situation so far in 2011.  With this game added in, now opponents are hitting .000/.048/.000 (21 PAs) against him with runners in scoring position so far this season.  With that in mind it's probably unlikely that we'll continue to see Baker completely shut teams down as he has recently, but it's a good reminder that he's got the stuff to strike some people out when he's in a jam (24 K's in 25 IP in 2011) and if he keeps the ball in the park (6 of his 7 runs allowed courtesy of the longball - 14.3% HR/FB) he can be a real good pitcher.

Speaking of the longball, Jim Thome and Michael Cuddyer each poked one out, and Thome added an RBI single to supply the offense.  It seems like a fool's errand to attempt to draw any conclusions about this team offensively when so many parts are missing, so I'll just stick with the sentiment that I'm glad the offense scored enough runs to make the gem that Scottie pitched stand up.

First Thursday win of the season!

And the first Thursday that didn't end up with a regular on the DL!! (Mauer last week, Nishioka the week before)

Does it get any better?

 

2011 Twins Game Logs

2011 Game 19: Twins at Orioles

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Hey, it's game 19? That's the number I wore as a kid! Can we lose?! Well, I was a terrible hitter, so maybe.

Scott Baker faces a Jeremy tonight, but he's not really a Jeremy.

Jeremy Guthrie, at least, is right-handed, for all the good that does us what with Mauer and Morneau out. Guthrie consistently strikes out about five guys per nine innings and walks about two and a half. He's prone to giving up the long ball - more so than Baker - so if the wind is anything like last night, this could be a shootout (although, given the run scoring the Twins have done this year, I'm not holding my breath).

All in all, Baker generally out-FIPs and out-WARs Guthrie, but the offense will have to score some runs for that to matter.

I've gotten aggressively sick throughout the day, so I'm begging the Twins to prop me up with a win here. It would be nice to have a series that was a non-loss. Baby steps.

GO TWINS

Keeping Track

Snappers Snippets

Where they stand:  Beloit is 7-4, tied for second in the ML West, two games behind Burlington.

Who’s hot:  Daniel Ortiz is hitting .351/.419/.649 in 37 at-bats.  Oswaldo Arcia is hitting .342/.422/.605 in 38 at-bats.  Blayne Weller is 1-0, 0.00 in nine innings (four appearances).  He has allowed seven hits and four walks and struck out eight.  Manuel Soliman is 0-0, 1.80 in ten innings (three appearances, two starts).  He has given up six hits and five walks and struck out fifteen.

Who’s cold:  Derek McCallum is batting .148/.242/.148 in 27 at-bats.  Lance Ray is batting .194/.275/.333 in 36 at-bats.  Daniel Santana is batting .220/.273/.366 in 41 at-bats.  Michael Tonkin is 1-0, 5.06 in 5.2 innings (four appearances).  He has allowed seven hits and three walks.

Transactions:  Reggie Williams was promoted from Beloit to Ft. Myers.  Jamaal Hawkins was promoted from Elizabethton to Beloit.

What’s next:  The Snappers will play in Peoria for their next three games.  They then come home to host Burlington for three and Peoria for three.

Keeping Track

Minor Details: Games of 4/20

Rochester at Buffalo.  Postponed.  Will be made up as part of a doubleheader this afternoon.

New Hampshire 6, New Britain 2 in New Britain.  All the runs were scored in the first three innings, with the Fisher Cats getting a four-run fourth.  Ray Chang’s two-run single produced both Rock Cats runs.  Joe Benson and Evan Bigley each had two hits.  Deolis Guerra surrendered six runs on nine hits in just three innings to take the loss.  He did not walk anyone.  Cole DeVries, Jake Stevens, and Tyler Robertson each threw two shutout innings of relief.

Ft. Myers 9, Bradenton 5 in Ft. Myers.  Nate Hanson hit a walk-off grand slam to break a 5-5 tie.  Brian Dozier had three hits and scored three times.  Danny Rams singled and tripled, with his triple coming with the bases loaded in the fifth to give the Miracle a 5-4 lead.  Hanson also singled.  Brad Stillings lasted 4.2 innings, allowing four runs (two earned) on three hits and four walks.  Andrew Albers pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up only one hit and one walk.  Bruce Pugh got the win despite giving up a run on five hits in two innings.

Beloit at Wisconsin.  Postponed.  Will be made up as part of a doubleheader May 19.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–April 21

15 Comments

Hardy Richardson (1855)
Germany Smith (1863)
Ken Strong (1906)
Gary Peters (1937)
Dick Green (1941)
Al Bumbry (1947)
Jesse Orosco (1957)
Les Lancaster (1962)
Ken Caminiti (1963)
Kip Wells (1977)
Terry Tiffee (1979)

A member of the pro football Hall of Fame, Ken Strong played minor league baseball from 1929-1931 and played very well.  He hit 41 home runs and had 130 RBIs in 1930 in what is now the Eastern League and hit .340 in 1931 in the International League.

Today is also the birthday of Twins’ farmhand Justin Parker (1990). 

In addition, we would like to wish a very happy birthday to twayn.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 21 →

Remodeled basement. Same half-baked taste.