Minnesota Wild, NHL

Weekly Wild Whangdoodle: The Quarter Post

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A Monday night game threw off my schedule. Here's a whangdoodle.

14 games represents 25% of the scheduled season, so we're now into the second half of the first half. Other than Eriksson Ek still leading the team in goals scored, I think this team has been pretty much as expected.

This week's schedule:

We have to be almost done with the Kings at this point, right?

LA won three in a row last week to vault to the top of the bottom of the West standings - Minnesota's sweep of Anaheim puts them with the best points percentage, but the fewest games played.  Separation remains difficult for this group.

LA - 17 points in 16 games
Arizona - 17 points in 17 games
Minnesota - 16 points in 14 games
San Jose - 16 points in 16 games
Anaheim - 15 points in 18 games

===================================================

The Kirill Kaprizov Corner

Kaprizov continues to lead all NHL rookies in assists and is tied for first in total points. (3G - 8A - 11Pts)

He is indeed - fun.

Players not Named Kirill

  • Eriksson Ek continues to have a spectacular year.  I'm not even questioning it any more.
  • Fiala is scoring. This is a very good thing.
  • Rask continues to score when Kaprizov feeds him the puck. I guess we let it ride?  (special shout out to Rask winning 12 of 13 faceoffs against the Ducks on Saturday - I'm as confused as any of you)
  • The Wild continue to be saturated with good defensemen. Dakota Mermis and Calen Addison sound like they acquitted themselves well in short stints on the COVID-decimated roster.
  • Zuccarello is back! (three points in three games? Yeah, he gets an exclamation point for that)

Leaderboards

PlayerGPlayerAPlayerPts
Eriksson Ek6Greenway9Kaprizov11
Fiala6Kaprizov8Greenway11
Rask4Suter6Eriksson Ek10
Dumba3Brodin / Parise4Fiala7
Kaprizov3Eriksson Ek4Brodin / Parise / Suter6
Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Forty-Four

CHICAGO 8, MINNESOTA 6 IN CHICAGO

Date:  Tuesday, September 9.

Batting stars:  Corey Koskie was 3-for-3 with a double, two walks, and two runs.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Jesse Orosco pitched a scoreless inning despite giving up a hit and two walks.  He struck out one.

Opposition stars:  Carlos Lee was 3-for-4 with a home run (his twenty-eighth), a double, a stolen base (his seventeenth), two runs, and two RBIs.  Joe Crede was 2-for-4 with a double.  Magglio Ordonez was 2-for-5 with a home run (his twenty-seventh), two runs, and two RBIs.  Roberto Alomar was 1-for-4 with a home run (his fifth) and a walk.  Mark Buehrle pitched six innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and three walks and striking out two.

The game:  The White Sox opened the scoring in the second inning.  Lee singled and Paul Konerko walked, putting two men on with one out.  Crede doubled home a run, a sacrifice fly brought in another, and Tony Graffanino singled in a third to make it 3-0 Chicago.

The Twins got back into it in the fourth.  Mientkiewicz and Koskie singled, Torii Hunter had an RBI double, and a ground out cut the lead to 3-2.  It went to 4-2 in the fifth when Ordonez homered.  The Twins had three baserunners in the sixth, but did not score because they lost two runners on the bases.

The White Sox took control in the seventh.  The first two batters went out, but then Alomar homered, Frank Thomas doubled, Ordonez had an RBI single, and Lee hit a two-run homer to give Chicago an 8-2 lead.

The Twins loaded the bases in the eighth but didn't score.  It cost them, because they did get back into the game in the ninth.  Lew Ford led off with a double, Denny Hocking had an RBI triple, and Justin Morneau drove in a run with a single.  With one out, walks to Koskie and Hunter loaded the bases.  A sacrifice fly made it 8-5 and Jacque Jones singled.  It was 8-6 with the tying run on base and the winning run at bat in Michael Cuddyer.  He struck out, however, and the game was over.

WP:  Buehrle (12-13).  LP:  Carlos Pulido (0-1).  S:  Tom Gordon (11).

Notes:  Chris Gomez was at second base in the continuing absence of Luis Rivas.  Shannon Stewart was in left with Dustan Mohr in right.

The Twins used five pinch-hitters.  Michael Ryan pinch-hit for Gomez in the seventh, with Hocking going in to play second base.  Cuddyer pinch-hit for Cristian Guzman in the eighth and stayed in the game at second base, with Hocking moving to short.  Ford pinch-hit for Stewart in the ninth.  Morneau pinch-hit for Mientkiewicz in the ninth.  Jones pinch-hit for Mohr in the ninth.

Ryan was 0-for-1 and was batting .375.  Ford was 1-for-1 and was batting .333.  Stewart was 0-for-3 and was batting .311.  Mientkiewicz was batting .305.  Jones was 1-for-1 and was batting .305.  A. J. Pierzynski was 1-for-3 and was batting .302.

With various Twins starters either injured or ineffective, the Twins turned to Pulido for the start in this game.  He pitched three innings, allowing three runs on four hits and two walks and striking out one.  His ERA was 2.38.  Rick Reed came in and pitched three solid innings but fell apart in his fourth inning, so his line is 3.2 innings, three runs, four hits, and a walk.  His ERA was 5.08.  Orosco's scoreless inning lowered his ERA to 7.47.

The Twins scored their runs in the ninth off Jose Paniagua.  This was his only major league appearance in 2003 and the last of his career.  A sad way to end:  one-third of an inning, four runs, three hits, one walk.  He continued to pitch for several more years--in the minors, in winter ball, in independent ball, in foreign countries--not ending his playing career until 2008.  In his major league career, he went 18-21, 4.49, 1.52 WHIP.  He pitched 357 innings in 270 games (14 starts).

It came as a surprise to me that Carlos Lee had 125 stolen bases in his career.  He had 18 in 2003, one shy of his career mark of 19 in 2006.  He had double-digit stolen bases in seven seasons.

The Twins had dropped two in a row to the division leaders.  Kansas City lost again, so the Twins had no worries about dropping to third.

Record:  The Twins were 76-68, in second place in the American League Central, two games behind Chicago.  They were 2.5 games ahead of third-place Kansas City.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–February 22

Bill Klem (1874)
Clarence Mitchell (1891)
Roy Spencer (1900)
Charles O. Finley (1918)
Stubby Greer (1920)
Ryne Duren (1929)
Sparky Anderson (1934)
Steve Barber (1938)
Tom Griffin (1948)
Gerry Davis (1953)
John Halama (1972)
J. J. Putz (1977)
Kelly Johnson (1982)
Brian Duensing (1983)
Casey Kotchman (1983)

Bill Klem was a National League umpire from 1905-1941.  He was the first umpire to indicate his calls with arm signals, and was also the first umpire to wear an inside chest protector.  He umpired in eighteen World Series and also umpired the first all-star game.

Charles O. Finley was the owner of the Kansas City and Oakland Athletics from 1960-81.

Stubby Greer played in the minors from 1940-1958 with a career batting average of .330.  He never played in the major leagues.

Sparky Anderson was born in Bridgewater, South Dakota.

Gerry Davis has been a major league umpire since 1982.

J. J. Putz was drafted by Minnesota in the seventeenth round in 1998, but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–February 22 →

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Forty-three

CHICAGO 5, MINNESOTA 2 IN CHICAGO

Date:  Monday, September 8.

Batting stars:  Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-4.  Corey Koskie was 2-for-4.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  J. C. Romero pitched 1.2 perfect innings.

Opposition stars:  Bartolo Colon pitched a complete game, giving up two runs on ten hits and one walk and striking out four.  Carlos Lee was 2-for-4 with a double.  Magglio Ordonez was 2-for-4 with a stolen base, his ninth.

The game:  The White Sox ambushed Twins starter Kyle Lohse, scoring all five of their runs in the first inning.  With one out Lee doubled and Frank Thomas walked.  A line out made for two down, but Carl Everett singled home a run, Paul Konerko walked to load the bases, Jose Valentin hit a two-run single, Joe Crede singled to re-load the bases, and Miguel Olivo hit a two-run double.

Lohse did not allow a run after that, but the Twins were left playing catch-up the rest of the day and could not do it.  They scored twice in the second on a walk to Matthew LeCroy, a double by Torii Hunter (on which LeCroy somehow scored from first), a single by Koskie, and an RBI ground out.

But after that, it was a game of missed opportunities.  The Twins left men on second and third in the third, left a man on second in the fourth and fifth, and left a man on third in the seventh.  They would not score again, and lost the battle of co-division leaders 5-2.

WP:  Colon (13-12).  LP:  Loshe (12-11).  S:  None.

Notes:  Denny Hocking was again at second in the continued absence of Luis Rivas.  Shannon Stewart was in left and Jacque Jones in right.  The Twins made no in-game substitutions.

Stewart was 1-for-5 and was batting .313.  Jones was 0-for-4 and was batting .304.  Mientkiewicz raised his average to .303.  A. J. Pierzynski was 1-for-4 and was batting .301.

Lohse ended up pitching six innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and four walks and striking out none.  If he could've taken a mulligan for the first inning he'd have had a fine game, but of course the rules don't allow you to do that.

The Twins were 1-for-9 with men in scoring position.

This was Colon's seventh complete game.  He would lead the league in 2003 with nine.  He threw 117 pitches.  His high for a game that season was 132 in a game against Toronto in May.

This was the first of a four-game series between two teams who were tied for first in the division going into this game.  The loss obviously dropped the Twins into second.  Kansas City was idle.

Record:  The Twins were 76-67, in second place in the American League Central, one game behind Chicago.  They were 2.5 games ahead of third-place Kansas City.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–February 21

Jouett Meekin (1867)
Dummy Taylor (1875)
John Titus (1876)
Tom Yawkey (1903)
Mark Scott (1915)
Joe Foy (1943)
Jack Billingham (1943)
Tom Shopay (1945)
Charley Walters (1947)
Rick Lysander (1953)
Alan Trammell (1958)
Franklin Gutierrez (1983)
Sam Hilliard (1994)
The birthday list (2009)

Tom Yawkey was the owner of the Boston Red Sox from 1933 until his death in 1978.

Mark Scott was the host of “Home Run Derby”.

Sam Hilliard was drafted by the Twins in the 31st round in 2014 but did not sign.

I've been doing this for twelve years now.  How time flies.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–February 21 →

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Forty-two

MINNESOTA 5, TEXAS 4 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Sunday, September 7.

Batting stars:  Michael Ryan was 2-for-3 with a home run (his third), a double, a walk, and two runs.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-4 with a walk and two RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Grant Balfour pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one.  Rick Reed pitched two shutout innings, giving up a hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Gerald Laird was 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs.  Michael Young was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.  Alex Rodriguez was 1-for-4 with a home run (his forty-second) and two walks.

The game:  Rodriguez homered with two out in the first to put the Rangers up 1-0.  Ryan countered with a home run leading off the bottom of the first to tie it 1-1.  In the third, Texas opened the inning with three singles, loading the bases with none out.  A home-and-first double play gave the Twins hope of getting out of the inning, but an intentional walk to Rodriguez was followed by an accidental walk to Rafael Palmeiro, putting the Rangers back up 2-1.

The Twins tied it in the fourth when Torii Hunter hit a two-out double and scored from second on a wild pitch (Twins Baseball!).  They went ahead 3-2 in the fifth when Denny Hocking hit a two-out double and scored on Mientkiewicz' single.  Texas went back in front in the sixth when Mark Teixeira was hit by a pitch, Hank Blalock reached on an error, and Laird delivered a two-run triple to give the Rangers a 4-3 lead.

The Twins tied it in the seventh when Ryan doubled and scored on a Mientkiewicz single.  It stayed tied through nine.  In the tenth Mientkiewicz walked, Matthew LeCroy singled, and Jacque Jones reached on an error, loading the bases with none out.  Hunter then hit a sacrifice fly to win the game for the Twins.

WP:  Reed (6-12).  LP:  Francisco Cordero (4-7).  S:  None.

Notes:  Hocking was at second base in place of Luis Rivas.  Ryan was in left with Jones in right.

Lew Ford pinch-hit for Cristian Guzman in the seventh.  Chris Gomez came in to play short in the eighth.  Michael Cuddyer pinch-hit for Ryan in the ninth and stayed in the game in left field.  Justin Morneau pinch-hit for Hocking in the ninth.  Alex Prieto came i to play second in the tenth.  Michael Restovich pinch-ran for LeCroy in the tenth.

Ryan raised his average to .391.  Ford was 0-for-1 and was batting .321.  Jones was 1-for-5 and was batting .306.  Pierzynski was 0-for-3 and was batting .302.  Mientkiewicz raised his average to .301.

This was Prieto's first appearance for the Twins since August 2.  It was Restovich's first appearance since August 17.

Kenny Rogers started and pitched 5.2 innings, giving up four runs (two earned) on seven hits and three walks and striking out four.  J. C. Romero retired both men he faced to lower his ERA to 5.10.  LaTroy Hawkins struck out the only man he faced to lower his ERA to 1.97.  Reed lowered his ERA to 5.02.  This was his first appearance since August 17.

This was Laird's first career triple, and it came in his ninth major league game.  He would play 790 more games and hit eight more triples.  His season high was three, in 2007.

The Twins had won five in a row, eight of ten, and ten of thirteen.  Chicago and Kansas City both won, so there was no change in the standings.

Record:  The Twins were 76-66, tied with Chicago for first place in the American League Central, three games ahead of Kansas City.

Remodeled basement. Same half-baked taste.