The Covid sickness that hit coach Tommy Hottovy created a memorable video https://www.espn.com/mlb/ as he discussed his case - it is good to watch since so many act like the Covid-19 is just another flu. As the TD contributor Doctor Gast states - the video is mostly about the pain of separation. Should you want to know more about the survival from this virus you might want to read this San Francisco report - https://www.sfgate.com/news/editorspicks/article/What-they-don-t-tell-you-about-survivi
I could not resist putting up this Home Run Derby between Harmon Killebrew and Rocky Colavito. In this contest the two who had tied for the HR championship of the AL faced off.
It is preceded by Harmon taking the crown from Mickey Mantle -
And followed by a contest Harmon lost to Ken Boyer - a third baseman who belongs in the
Ken did not last long - his next challenge was Hank Aaron who took over the program. It is so amazing to see these greats playing for $2000 - chump change
Ah, New Years, time for resolutions that will last a week or two. Let’s lose all our extra pounds, work out more, be smarter, be more beautiful… Well it is a time of reflection which is good and it is a time for hope. And no sport is better situated to take advantage of hope than baseball. Hockey and basketball are in the middle of their never-ending seasons and football just eliminated hope for over half their teams with the playoffs about to begin. But baseball is in the smoky haze of the hot
The team that would become the Twins – the Washington Senators set the pace that the Twins would follow, with lots of mediocrity and last place teams with occasional flourishes of quality. “First in War, Last in the American League.” Since it is a new year, I thought it would be fun to look back at our legacy and see what happened in 1919 and each decade after: 1919 The team was 56 – 84 and seventh place out of eight teams. Walter Johnson had a 10.8 WAR for this collection and a record of 20 –
I remember my Grandpa's hands. They were so big that when we arm wrestled they would wrap around my hand and over lap and people thought I had big hands. He had hands from being a lumberjack, from working as a fireman on the Iron range railroad, but he might have had big hands because he played country ball. He pitched, he caught, he played what ever was needed. He was not great, my uncles moved into various paid ball clubs, but grandpa always played and I was young and he was old and still he w
Just read Bleacher reports grading for all the teams at this point in the year. Obviously after the trading period. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2789031-mlb-report-card-grades-for-all-30-teams-entering-august?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=mlb#slide4 "Minnesota Twins (49-57) If we pretended 2017 never happened, this season might feel like a moral victory for the Minnesota Twins. In 2016, Minnesota lost 103 games. In light of that, a sub-.500 second-pl
Forget the teams - who knows who wins or loses until after the year, or longer. Did the Twins win the Kurt Suzuki trade? The Aaron Hicks Trade? The John Ryan Murphy trade? The Wilson Ramos trade? The first year is not enough to judge (although potentially the Betts trade is for a one year player). Injuries, slumps, high expectations all play into the team win or loss, but the players factors are not the same as the team. As I look at benefits to individual players I see a different pattern
I join others with regret that we continue to move down the the next pitcher on the list essays. If I was more motivated I would go back and see how many "sign this pitcher" essays have been on the site since Thanksgiving. But the essence of so many comments is - why would they come here, not what they would sign for. I do not think that it is money that is winning. If you or your girlfriend are from Philadelphia you want to go home, if you have had your career in warm cities or are tired of
When the best is off the table, then the second best is swept up, do we get desperate and jump at the left overs? If we cannot get what we want is it reasonable to say we should get what is left? I cannot buy into that theory. If Bumgartner does not sign with us I can understand. Does that make Kuechel suddenly desirable? The real question is how does he compare with Dobnak, Graterol, Thorpe, Smeltzer. I hate buying out of desperation. The same with Ryu. Why would he sign with us.
Joe Mauer has been with us a long time and it shows – he is currently number 9 all time right behind Hrbek (16 games difference). Joe has 1731 and if he plays 125 games this year 74 games will tie him with Mickey Vernon for sixth place on the Franchise list and he needs 136 to tie Ozzie Bluege for 5th. In case you wonder – Harmon Killebrew is number one with 2329 ahead of Sam Rice. And if you wonder who is next on the list – Brian Dozier 851. Mauer has the most hits of any current Twin wit
Judging the fielders in the age of shifts is a difficult challenge. As I read about Sano – should he move to 1B I am constantly trying to evaluate what the qualities are for those two bases. 3B – quick reflexes (believe me the ball gets to 3B quick) and a strong arm. 1B – reflexes of a different type, not grabbing missiles, but rather erratic throws, short hops, flexibility to stretch and grab, and still a range for fielding the position. 1B have that strange responsibility for “covering the bas
As I read our reactions to each missed free agent and the excitement of the winter meetings I have come to the conclusion that the FO really is concerned about readership and postings on TD. I mean we have had a "why we should sign him" article about every FA that has been signed so far. Just to be clear - not signed by us. We went from everyone with an arm that has not fallen off to all the hitters who can add to Bomba mania. We debate, we anguish, and we hope. Well at least we read and post.
As I said in my previous blog posting I am watching to see where the current Twins rank in ratings outside the Twin Cities. It is always suggestive to read a less biased - less connected view of our own team. So here is the ESPN Roto rankings for 2021 - https://www.espn.com/fantasy/baseball/story/_/id/28285423/fantasy-baseball-2021-rankings-roto-rotisserie Catcher Garver is rated #7 (between Will Smith and Gary Sanchez) Jeffers 34 (between Romine and Torrens Avila is 47 between Trevino and Kna
With minimum games and the potential that not all the teams will play 60 games the playoffs get quite interesting With the 16 game playoffs who is in and who is out? Based on percentage: American League Yankees, Twins, Athletics are the division leaders Second place teams: Baltimore (really), White Sox, Astros Next two – wild cards – best percentages Cleveland and Detroit (yes Gardy’s gang) National League First seeds: Atlanta, Cubs, Rockies (really) Second group: Miami (yes on
Since the main TD articles keep talking about Eddie Rosario being traded, cut, cursed or whatever you want to call it I thought it might be instructive to do a comparison of all the six year players on the roster. In a move that we all thought would make the future of the Twins we had Eddie, Byron, Miguel, and Max arrive the same year and it did not take long before they were part of a home run hitting behemoth and twice got to the playoffs where they, like their predecessors failed. (I chose no
In the midst of all the talk about Sano and his weight, I got to thinking about the judgments that people make about other people – baseball players and their size – think Altuve or Randy Johnson, their weight, their various physical attributes – like my essay on Pete Gray who over came the fact that he lacked an arm or Jim Abbot and others judged to be handicapped. Perhaps it is the fact that my daughter is deaf that made me think about Dummy Hoy. “Dummy” Hoy – William Ellsworth Hoy – was know
Don Larsen, age 90, passed away and with him goes the honor of being the only man to toss a no-hit perfect game in a World Series (1956). Pitching to Yogi Berra in that classic Larsen rose to heights that exceed his career 81 - 91 record. His last out was a strikeout of Dale Mitchell. In Casey Stengel's unorthodox method of random pitcher selection, Don was shocked that he was called on after a poor game two. “I must admit I was shocked,” Larsen wrote in his autobiography. “I knew I had to do be
I thought I would expand on my comment about the team and the fact that a team that gets along, is filled with nice guys, and causes no issues does not necessarily mean that they are winners. Does anyone remember the A's when they dominated the game?Rudi, Henderson, Bando, Catfish Hunter, Rollie Fingers, Gene Tenace, Bert Campaneris, Blue Moon Odom, Vida Blue, Dick Williams and Charlie Finley?They hated each other and especially their owner. "The stories have the feel of something ripped off
Bear with me now - I am about to go off the baseball rails here. I read all the speculation, all the projections of player salaries and all the moaning from our team and fans and the rest of the teams and their fans so I am going to say something no one wants to hear. We do not need an Ace, we do not need a superstar! There it has been said. The follow up to that is - and I want us to win the series! Okay, now for my reasons. Lets start with the easiest - the Ace. The Ace in the 1800s pi
A lot of us were shocked by the Buxton treatment this year, from playing him with an injury to denying him his September call up. We were almost equally shocked to see Sano sent to A ball and when he returned people talked about him looking a little thinner, but then the season played on and before ending with another injury he resorted to the same 200 hitting occasional Home Run hitter. September call ups included Matt Belisle and a trade for Gimenez, more time for Johnny Field and not mu
Today they announced that David Ortiz was shot in the back in the Dominican Republican. Not lethal, but lower back and there is no good gunshot. He was in the Dial Bar and Lounge and two other people were wounded. It sounds like the way that Wild Bill Hickok was killed. The shooter, a motorcyclist, was beaten by the crowd and has to recover from his injuries before he can be questioned. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/david-ortiz-shot-dominican-republic_n_5cfdbf29e4b0aab91c083ba5?ncid=newsltushpm
Since baseball is such a numbers sport I am always curious where our current players are on the list and what might happen during this next season that we can anticipate and root for. When it comes to all time batting averages I once anticipated that Joe Mauer would get onto the big list, but in the top 50 we have Carew at 30 and Kirby Puckett (318) tied for 48 with two others. No Mauer, he has dropped out of the top 100. I know it’s the concussion, but that is still too bad. Miguel Cabrera i
Today we have turned to the Dominican Republic like we used to look to Cuba. Nelson Cruz, Miguel Sano, Alaberto Mejia, Michael Pineda, Jorge Polanco, Fernando Romero, and Ervin Santana. We also have three from Venezuela. Perhaps the best way to get past the border wall is to hit a ball over it. In the past it was Cuba that was the birthplace of ballplayers. In the 1930s, Cuba like the rest of the world was trying to fight the depression and Cuban baseball, a main stay of their nation and a fee
Here are a couple quotes from ESPN - "The Minnesota Vikings announced Monday that head trainer Eric Sugarman and members of his family have tested positive for the coronavirus. "Sugarman also is the Vikings' infection control officer. He said in a statement that he and his family immediately quarantined and "are all doing fine and experiencing only mild symptoms." "The Vikings said they are sanitizing their facility and contacted anyone who was in close contact with Sugarman. The team said t
Jim Bowden is releasing his top 200 on the Athletic. I am comparing where he ranks our players in order, since he has the entire MLB our numbers will not conform to his ranks, but will the sequence of ranking conform to our numbers? In the second 200 he has our number seven Jhoan Duran ranked 181. #11 Nick Gordon - Bowden has at 177. At 170, obviously above the last two is Jordan Balazovic. Why isn't he on our list? Bowden has Lewis Thorpe at 162 we have him at #8. Bowden had none of the Twins i
I really hold back what I would like to say about then payroll arguments here. The fact that people don't accept the amount taken in dictates the amount going out requires one of two things. Extreme financial ignorance or fanatical bias that prevents the acceptance of something some basic. I did not change the argument. It's the same idiocy over and over. Do you really want to be on the side that suggests revenues does not determine spending capacity?
At this point in the pre-season, I’m just so happy to be seeing games again, I don’t care about the Twins record in 2023. I think they’ll win it all, unrealistically speaking 🙂
I really hold back what I would like to say about then payroll arguments here. The fact that people don't accept the amount taken in dictates the amount going out requires one of two things. Extreme financial ignorance or fanatical bias that prevents the acceptance of something some basic. I did not change the argument. It's the same idiocy over and over. Do you really want to be on the side that suggests revenues does not determine spending capacity?· 0 replies
