Skim, the only female invitee, was praised for giving the best gift (a Clone Wars version of Obi-Wan Kenobi) at a boy's birthday party yesterday. Atta girl.
Game 64: Red Wings 8, Rangers 1
Something amazing has been going on in the Upper Midwest.
The Minnesota Red Wings are starting to makes some noise. They were originally the Rochester Red Wings, the AAA affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, until they were promoted en masse earlier this season to replace the original big leaguers due to injuries, bad attitudes and general suckitude.
"We just figured we would give some other guys an opportunity and see what happens. It's not like they could be much worse," said Wings manager Ron Gardenhire, who's team at one point had dropped to 20 games below .500 and had allowed the most runs and scored the fewest in the American league.
The Wings have cut a 16 1/2-game deficit down to 10 games in a little over a week as they have won eight of 10 games just as the red-hot Cleveland Indians finally started to cool off. The Wings are surprising many with their surge in the mediocre AL Central, but Jim Mandelaro, a baseball writer and blogger for the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, is not one of them.
"We joke in the press box about how players do BETTER in Minnesota than Rochester, but it’s true. I’ll never know why, but it’s true," Mandelero wrote in his blog.
The Wings still have a long ways to go to give their fans real hope of pulling off a comeback to trump all the comebacks of recent years that their parent club has pulled off, but they at least are showing that they are capable of playing a much better brand of baseball, the kind of play that might just allow them to earn their Twins name back.
Game 64: Rangers at Twins
I had a post where I went over the team's possible All-Star representatives. That proved to be somewhat ridiculous. I mean, I suppose Span has a case - 3rd in the AL in bWAR, after all, but almost all of it is tied up in his defensive ability, and it seems kind of unlikely that that will sway anyone. Blackburn has been doing pretty well, he could be our own slightly more deserving Mark Redman.
Cuddy or Kubel will probably get it, though. Kubel's probably a bit more deserving, but Cuddy's got the rep and the 8HR. Who knows?
Today's pitcher probably doesn't really factor in the conversation, but he's been a kind of bright spot in an otherwise dour season.
My little netbook is having a hell of a time keeping up with any research I'm trying to do right now, and since my main computer's motherboard is fried, I'm out of time.
Colby Lewis vs. Scott Baker - I don't like this matchup for Baker, but I'd still rather see him on the mound than anyone else.
2011 Game 63 Recap: Lone Star Rovers 9, North Star Dopplegangers 3
Weather: 60 degrees, overcast
Wind: 10 mph, in from LF
Time: 3:07
Attendance: 38,907
Box Score
Fangraphs
It was a cool and cloudy night in the Twins Cities, the kind of night when the impending rain is a foregone conclusion and a shot of rotgut whiskey is the best way to warm up fast. The name's Twayn. I'm a shamus.
I was halfway through a pint of Kentucky's Apologies with my feet propped on the desk when I heard the knock on the door. I was in no mood for company after a day of hound dogging a cheating husband, trying to get the pictures his wife needed to squeeze a nice fat divorce settlement done with the help of Richland child custody lawyers, out of the louse, so I ignored the knock, hoping whoever it was would make like the wind and blow. When the doorknob started to turn I reached into my jacket, wrapped my fingers around the butt of my Colt .45, and pulled it from the shoulder holster. The dame walked in, took a look down the business end of my gat, and gave a little wide-eyed gasp.
Continue reading 2011 Game 63 Recap: Lone Star Rovers 9, North Star Dopplegangers 3
Minor Details: Games of 6/10
Columbus 5, Rochester 1 in Columbus (third inning—suspended game). The Clippers scored five in the first, all off Andrew Baldwin. The Red Wings have only one more series against Columbus, in August; presumably the game will be completed then.
New Britain 4, Erie 3 in New Britain. The Rock Cats scored all their runs in the fourth. Yangervis Solarte had two hits to raise his average to .332. Chris Herrmann, Evan Bigley, Mark Dolenc, and Nick Romero each had two hits. Bobby Lanigan gave up two runs on seven hits and a walk in six innings to get the win. Bruce Pugh gave up a hit and a walk in two shutout innings for the save.
Ft. Myers 7, Palm Beach 0 in Ft. Myers. The Miracle scored three in the first and never looked back. Tsuyoshi Nishioka had two hits. Joe Mauer was 1-for-2 with a three-run homer and two walks, driving in four. Tom Stuifbergen gave up five hits and no walks in six innings. Matthew Tone pitched two perfect innings and Andrew Albers pitched one.
Beloit 3, Lake County 2 in Beloit (10 innings). Michael Gonzales’ RBI single drove in Wang-wei Lin with the winning run with two out. Lance Ray had two hits. Adrian Salcedo struck out seven in eight innings, giving up two runs on five hits and two walks. Blayne Weller struck out three in two shutout innings, allowing two walks but no hits to get the win.
DSL Twins 6, Reds 5 at Twins (Game 1—8 innings—Scheduled 7 innings). The Reds scored two in the top of the eighth, but the Twins won it with three in the bottom half. The game winning rally had only one ball leave the infield—there was a hit batsman, a walk, an infield single, and two errors. Jose Ramirez had three hits and Jonatan Ynojoso had two. Starter Melciades De La Cruz gave up three runs (two earned) on three hits and a walk in four innings. Elias Villasana pitched two shutout innings, allowing just a walk. Jose Vasquez surrendered the two eighth inning runs in his second inning of work, but struck out five and got the win.
DSL Twins 3, Reds 2 at Reds (Game 2—Scheduled 7 innings). The Twins had only three hits, but the Reds made three errors and walked six. The Reds scored both of their runs in the seventh and had two on with one out. Starter Yorman Landa gave up two hits and a walk in four shutout innings. Francisco Nunez struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up just a walk. Edgar Martinez came in with two on and none out in the ninth, allowing both inherited runners to score but getting charged with none himself to get the save.
June 11, 2011: Totally Checked Out
I have some contractual obligations at work today, so I'll be there for five hours. The problem is, I have no real function there anymore, so I try to look busy while doing nothing, which is much more work than actual work would be. I will not miss this corporation, or corporations in general.
Happy Birthday–June 11
Roger Bresnahan (1879)
Ernie Nevers (1902)
Dan Topping (1912)
Frank Thomas (1929)
Jimmy Stewart (1939)
Danny Morris (1946)
Dave Cash (1948)
Brian Gorman (1959)
Mike Davis (1959)
Odalis Perez (1978)
Bobby Keppel (1982)
Jose Reyes (1983)
Football great Ernie Nevers, born in Willow River, Minnesota, pitched for the St. Louis Browns for parts of three seasons (1926-1928).
We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to UncleWalt.
Lou Reed – Foot Of Pride
Velvet Undergroud founding member Lou Reed covers the man my father in law calls Billy Dylan.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovDZ-g0CjHo
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Loading... 2011 Game 63: Texas Rangers at Minnesota Twins
Things are looking brighter. The Twins swept a mediocre team, won their first three game series against a better team, and did well against Texas.
Texas sends another lefty to the mound tonight, since it worked so well last night. Let's just not give up the game-tying homer this time, okay?
This Week in Twins Transactions
It's actually two weeks, but this still seems like an awfully long list:
Brian Dinkelman was promoted from Rochester to Minnesota.
Dusty Hughes was optioned from Minnesota to Rochester.
Luke Hughes was promoted from Rochester to Minnesota.
Chuck James was promoted from Rochester to Minnesota.
Jason Kubel was placed on the fifteen day disabled list.
Francisco Liriano was placed on the fifteen day disabled list, then came back off the disabled list.
Jose Mijares was activated from the disabled list.
Joe Nathan was placed on the fifteen day disabled list.
Trevor Plouffe was optioned from Minnesota to Rochester.
Ben Revere was promoted from Rochester to Minnesota.
Anthony Slama was promoted from Rochester to the major leagues, then was optioned to Rochester.
Jim Thome was placed on the fifteen day disabled list.
Rene Tosoni was promoted from Rochester.
Matthew Brown was released by Rochester.
Ray Chang was placed on the seven day disabled list by Rochester with a broken fibula.
Cole DeVries was promoted from New Britain to Rochester.
Mike Hollimon was promoted from New Britain to Rochester.
Jeremy Reed was traded to Rochester from Nashville.
Steve Singleton was promoted from New Britain to Rochester.
Michael Tarsi was promoted from New Britain to Rochester.
Joe Benson was placed on the seven day disabled list by New Britain with a sore left knee.
Brian Dozier was promoted from Ft. Myers to New Britain.
Jair Fernandez was activated from the disabled list by New Britain.
Blake Martin was promoted from Ft. Myers to New Britain.
Bruce Pugh was promoted from Ft. Myers to New Britain.
Spencer Steedley was placed on the seven day disabled list by New Britain.
Dennis Suarez was assigned to New Britain by Minnesota.
Ricky Bowen was assigned to Ft. Myers from extended spring training.
Matthew Hauser was promoted from Beloit to Ft. Myers.
Aaron Hicks was activated from the disables list by Ft. Myers.
Kane Holbrooks was activated from the disabled list by Ft. Myers.
Joe Mauer was assigned to Ft. Myers by Minnesota.
Tsuyoshi Nishioka was assigned to Ft. Myers by Minnesota.
Brad Tippett was released by Ft. Myers.
Dakota Watts was activated from the disabled list by Ft. Myers.
Hyeong-rok Choi was promoted from Elizabethton to Beloit.
Nelvin Fuentes was activated from the disabled list by Beloit.
Gunner Glad was released by Beloit.
Jairo Perez was promoted from the GCL Twins to Beloit.
Alexandre De Oliveira was placed on the restricted list by the DSL Twins.
Carlos Martinez was assigned to the DSL Twins by Minnesota.
Angel Mata was placed on the reserve list by the DSL Twins.
Aderlin Mejia was placed on the reserve list by the DSL Twins.
Joel Polanco was assigned to the DSL Twins by Minnesota.
Brayan Rivera was assigned to the DSL Twins by Minnesota.
Emilio Sepulveda was placed on the seven day disabled list by the DSL Twins.
Reyson Zoquiel was assigned to the DSL Twins by Minnesota.