I'm in a bit of a musical funk right now, between enthusiasms. Maybe some randomness will get me going agin.
May 20, 2011: Four
Today the Twins have another chance for their first four-game winning streak of the season. The Diamondbacks seem as good an opponent as any.
Happy Birthday–May 20
Walt Burnham (1860)
Joe Harris (1891)
George Grantham (1900)
Pete Appleton (1904)
Hal Newhouser (1921)
Herman Wedemeyer (1924)
Tom Morgan (1930)
Ken Boyer (1931)
Sadaharu Oh (1940)
Bobby Murcer (1946)
Ralph Bryant (1961)
David Wells (1963)
Todd Stottlemyre (1965)
Ramon Hernandez (1976)
Jayson Werth (1979)
Austin Kearns (1980)
Outfielder Herman Wedemeyer played for Class C Salt Lake City in 1950. He was a star running back in the All-America Football Conference, and later appeared in over 300 episodes of Hawaii Five-O, playing Sergeant Edward "Duke" Lukela.
Right-hander Tom Morgan was with Washington at the end of 1960, appearing in fourteen games with them. On January 31, 1961, before the franchise played a game in Minnesota, he was sold to the Los Angeles Angels.
Outfielder Ralph Bryant was drafted by Minnesota in the thirteenth round of the January draft in 1981, but he did not sign.
There do not appear to be any other major league players with connections to the Minnesota Twins born on this day.
We would like to wish a very happy birthday to hungryjoe.
Embrace – 3 Is The Magic Number
Jeff Buckley, De La Soul, and Blind Melon, have all taken turns with this School House Rock title before. Here is an English group, Embrace. I chose them because the video was live and of the highest quality.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL659ziEyT8
I wonder if Jobu is going to play Marvelous 3 or 3 Days Grace tomorrow.
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Loading... Game 42 Recap: Twins 11, A’s 1
MINNESOTA 11, OAKLAND 1
Record - 15-27 (Last in the Central)
Highest WPA - Blackburn (7.0 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 1 SO) and Morneau (3 for 5, HR, 2 RBI)
Lowest WPA - Plouffe (1 for 5, HR, 3 RBI) - seriously, the guy who hit a 3-R HR ended up with the lowest WPA.
Fangraphs
MLB Recap
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I did not have a chance to see this game as it happened. Work required my attention this afternoon, but I managed to avoid hearing anything about it and once I got home I turned on the replay. Unfortunately, I can't recap the actual game, because someone edited in some obviously fake footage right over the top of what I assume to be the standard 2011 Twins effort.
Instead, I got to see Nick Blackburn pitch an effective seven innings, alternatively aided and hindered by his defense. Meanwhile, the Twins offense put up double digit runs (I know, I know. This was one of the clues that something was up). All those runs were the result of multiple extra base hits (strike two) including a home-run by Rene Rivera (Oh, come on!).
Prior to this "game" the Twins had won two straight, but this is the first time in a long time that Minnesota won a game that was never really in doubt.
Feels good. Too bad it was a fabrication. Anyone care to fill me in on what actually happened?
Winner, Winner, Chickpea Dinner
Afternoon baseball has a way of building an appetite while simultaneously sapping the will to invest the time and effort to make a complex meal. This dish tastes complex, but it's pretty simple to make, and takes only one pot (plus a pot for rice). The inspiration for this dish comes from here, here and here. It can be made with dried chana dal, but my kids actually prefer the quick version with canned chick peas (garbanzo beans).
Continue reading Winner, Winner, Chickpea Dinner
2011 Game 42: Twins at A’s
A day game? Well, I'm at work and didn't realize that last night would have been the time to do this. Whoops.
Tyson Ross vs. Nick Blackburn. Blackburn has been saving his spot in the rotation over the past few starts, and Ross has been a revelation in what should still qualify as his rookie year, thus far going ERA 2.50/FIP 3.03 /xFIP 3.69. He does have an unsustainably low HR/FB rate, and if anyone's going to fix that, it's this Twins lineup!!11!11
Seriously, though, let's add to this little winning streak.
Game 41 recap: Twins at Elephants
Twins 4, A's 3 (10)
Fangraphs thought we'd lost this one, too.
MLB recap
Twins record 14-27, 12.5 games out of first place
Save: Shortening bakes up a batch of outs for the Twins (7)
Time to check in on the king of the savers leader board. MoRo's corpse continues to dominate the league that counts, but two other dudes in the family friendly league race ahead of him.
The twins got off to an early start last night by scoring a run in the first inning. I know, I know. I couldn't believe it either. plouffe (!)'s error cost the Twins two runs in the second, but the hometown nine roared back with two more runs in the third. Carl (no stache) Pavano tossed seven excellent innings giving up 3 runs, 1 earned, and kept the Twins in the ballgame. Pavano pitched well giving up 6 hits, striking out 2, and he issued no free passes. Glen Perkins continued his dominance out of the pen, pitching one and a third allowing a hit and striking out 2. Joe Nathan came into the ball game grooved a pitch the Kurt Motorbike smashed for a double. But not to worry murry, he struck out Mark Ellis on two pitches out of the zone, and induced a ground out to end the inning. Shortening came on in the tenth to close the game out after plouffe (!) knocked in Del on a sacrifice fly. All told, plouffe was responsible for five of the seven runs scored last night. I'm glad he provided 3 of them for the good guys. That's two in a row. We're going streaking!
Minor Details: Games of 5/18
Gwinnett 4, Rochester 0 in Gwinnett. Kyle Gibson allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits and a walk in 5.1 innings. Chuck James struck out three in a scoreless inning. The Red Wings got only three hits, all singles.
New Britain at Harrisburg. Postponed. Game will be made up as part of a doubleheader this evening.
Ft. Myers 6, Brevard County 5 in Ft. Myers. The Miracle took a 3-0 lead after one, fell behind 5-3 after three, tied it in the sixth, and won it in the bottom of the eighth. Brian Dozier had three hits, two of them doubles. Steve Liddle had three hits. Aaron Hicks singled and doubled. Tom Stuifbergen lasted only three innings, surrendering five runs on eight hits and a walk. Andrew Albers threw three shutout innings. Blake Martin got the win with 2.2 scoreless innings, striking out four. Dakota Watts came in with the tying run on second and struck out the only man he faced to get the save.
Wisconsin 1, Beloit 0 in Wisconsin (Game 1—Scheduled 7 innings). The Timber Rattlers had only two hits, but one of them was a home run. B. J. Hermsen pitched a complete game, walking two and striking out one. The Snappers had five hits.
Beloit 4, Wisconsin 2 in Wisconsin (Game 2—8 innings—scheduled 7 innings). The winning rally came on two hit batsmen, a walk, and two singles. Jamaal Hawkins singled and doubled. Michael Gonzales had two hits. Starter Ryan O’Rourke pitched three innings, giving up a run on four hits and a walk. Matt Hauser got the win with 1.1 scoreless innings of relief. Jose Gonzalez struck out the side in the eighth to get the save.
May 19, 2011 – We’ve Replaced This Morning’s Coffee With…
sorry, i was up late placating attending to a pregnant member of our household (and keeping one eye on the game). not sure what kept scarydairy. anyway, in relation to our discussions of the new parenthood column (you're up next week, rob), i hear there's a great new children's book coming out sooon.