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)
Better known as a member of the Harlem Globetrotters, Goose Tatum played in the Negro Leagues for several years in the 1940s.
Twins record: bad
I don't really know what to say about this. The Twins are just a very bad team right now. I don't think I'm going to do Players of the Week this time, either.
Let's talk about food instead. What's everyone eating this weekend? I think I'm going to have some chili tonight. What are everyone's thoughts on chili? Best kind of meat to use, and best way to cut that meat up? Lots of chunky tomatoes, or just a rich broth? Beans or no beans (and what kinds)? What's your optimal combination of seasonings to use? Should it be really spicy, or really really spicy? Am I forgetting some crucial aspect of chili for which I should be harshly disciplined? Let's talk about that.
and so closes april 2011 for the twins. there's been precious little of the first, a whole lot of the middle, and way too much of the latter. but, this is where the protagonist stands up, brushes himself off, and turns it all around, right? right?!?!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZVBzQh1K7E
(6 votes, average: 8.83 out of 10)
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Weather: 73 degrees, partly cloudy
Wind: 17 mph, right to left
Time: 2:53
Attendance: 31,407
The Crisis
These are the times that try men's souls. The summer and the sunshine will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their team. The Royals are not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as winning should not be highly rated.
Okay, so I took a little liberty with the words of Thomas Paine. And I'm not sure you can call this a crisis just yet. It probably is too early to panic. The sky probably isn't falling. Being eight games under .500 is worrisome in August, sure, but not so much to spark heartburn about at the end of April. Did I mention that it's probably too early to panic?
Well that sucked. It does amuse me that the team most often picked to win the division is doing just as well as the Twins. I think only Detroit is doing roughly as expected, though the Royals are very quickly returning to their expected level.
This is an awful streak and it's magnified by starting the season with it. If only there was some way to look at streaks within previous, full seasons...
First, some notes about this season's streak to compare to previous miserable streaks. The Twins have scored 77 runs and given up 124 runs, which comes out to 3.2 scored versus 5.2 against.
In 2010, there was a period when the Twins didn't play particularly well in the middle of the season. Concerning, yes, but no hysterics about it. Taking a look at 2010, I note that from games 85 to 94, seven times were the Twins 9-15 over the previously played 24 games (e.g. games 62-85 the first time). They also were 8-16 once and 10-14 twice. During the 8-16 stretch, they scored 109 runs and gave up 131 runs. That's 4.5 runs/game and 5.5 runs/game respectively. In terms of wins it was worse, but the run differential is just shy of one run a game instead of two runs per games.
Let's try another year that also started poorly but ended up okay. Like 2006. Oh look! They also started 9-15 and hovered around 10-14 for quite a few consecutive 24 game stretches. That was a frustrating early 46 games. Anyway, they scored 96 runs and gave up 148 runs to start the season. And that's with a True Ace anchoring the staff. That's an even 4 runs/game scored and 6.2 runs/game given up. And it got worse! From games 3-26, those figures were 3.7 and 6.1 respectively.
Going earlier, I see in 2003, the Twins were as bad as 6-18 with similar run differentials to this season's differential. Games 72-95 for instance they were 7-17, scored 79 runs and gave up 137.
Now, I am not saying things are going to go just like 2006 and the Twins will have a historically great second half of the season or they finally put some pitcher into the rotation and he pitches quite all right. Instead, awful stretches happen during seasons that otherwise end well. Truthfully, I do not foresee any big changes like in 2003 or 2006 that will dramatically alter the team's true talent level. They could continue to suffer from injuries and finish worst in the division, it happens, but that's a worst case scenario even now and acting like it's fated to be is, well, stupid.
TAMPA BAY 15, MINNESOTA 3
Record - 9-14 (Tied for last in the Central)
Highest WPA - HA!
Lowest WPA - Blackburn (3.1 IP, 7 R, 8 H, 4 BB)
Notable - Judging by the fact that there were no LTEs in the game log concerning the game from 1:39-2:04, not much.
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Rene Tosoni got 2 hits in his debut.
The Rays didn't score any runs in the fifth inning.
That's all I got. Beatings will continue (7:10 tonight!) until morale improves.
Twins Record: 9-12
Fangraphs
MLB Game Wrap
If the Twins had somehow lost this one, I was seriously considering whipping up a Downfall parody video in which ol' Adolph would have cursed the days of birth of Alexi Casilla, Steve Liddle, and whichever pitcher ended up coughing up the lead. Thankfully I can save that one in the DK Box of Tricks for some later date.
Things are starting to look up (he says, hopefully). First series win of the season; first series sweep (basically) of the season. The offense is starting to pick up; Thome made contact today that sounded like it deserved eight total bases, but only got three. Meanwhile, Pavano keeps on Pavanoing. Next stop: .500 (he says, again, hopefully).
Hitter of the Week: Jason Kubel
Pitcher of the Week: You think, when a guy gives up zero runs, only one walk, and strikes out nine, I'm going to give it to anyone else? It's again yours, Scott Baker.
It's been a busy week. I think I have the core features in place now, so it's on to other things. Like how the site looks. That will have to come from someone else.
In the meantime, time for the best team in the AL to take on the near worst team in the league. Unfortunately, they aren't in the order I wanted at the beginning of the season.
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?
twins record: 6-12
time of game: 2:18
attendance: 13,824
yickits: 1
fangraphs
mlb wraps
well, sir, not a whole lot to write about this game. some positives, some negatives.
Continue reading Game #18: Orioles 5, Twins 4