Aerodeliria

I was watching the Twins vs Tigers--the first game of the 1987 playoffs at a low-key sports bar near the San Diego Airport (before my flight). There were only a few people in the place and only four Detroit fans and I were interested in the game. As the game started turning bad for the Tigers, they became increasingly obnoxious as well as angry and started loudly voicing threats towards any Twins fans. I'm sure if I had let out a cheer for the hometown boys that I would have ended up in the hospital (if I was lucky) and not on an airplane.

The Twins were also not 19 times worse than Cleveland even with the injuries. The Guardians just knew how to win every game that mattered down the stretch. I think they'll even be tougher this year, so the Twins will have to up their game.

Polanco is a bit of an enigma. When healthy, his calm demeanor at the plate means that he has been as good as almost anyone at crunch time. In the field is where the flaws appear and oddly at crunch time. I hope his defense has improved, but I have serious doubts about it. Who can fill his slot if he can't play? It could be a merry-go-round again... but let's hope not.

This is the elephant in the room. Bad defensive teams lose tight games by failing in critical situations. You can't outhit bad defending. Polanco is a negative defender and always will be. His ankle might improve, but his footwork never will. We hope Miranda improves but he is not a lockdown defender. Correa is the player I worry about the least. I believe he'll play better. Kirilloff at 1st is a mystery.

I guess it comes down to trust. They trusted Berrios even when he was getting hit hard. Do they trust who they have now?

Are they banking on this? I think we have had ad nauseum discussions ending up with a general concensus that they won't likely change the way they deal with starting pitching (i.e., twice through and then go to the bullpen...) regardless of who is in charge.

Yes! Thanks. There are two nostalgic Twins memories about Dave Goltz that are tucked away in the old gray matter. The first is the near no-hitter. I was listening on my transistor radio as I was prone to do. That was a great hitting Boston team that featured the dynamic duo of Jim Rice and Freddie Lynn. I was so disappointed when Rice got that single to left. The second is the knuckle curve. I had never heard of a knuckle curve before Dave Goltz, so I thought it was so cool that we had a pitcher that threw an 'interesting' pitch. (I suppose I thought it was more like a real knuckle ball, which I was quite familiar with as the Twins faced a few knuckle ballers in those days and usually fared poorly, especially against Wilbur Wood.)

I will remain highly critical of the Arraez trade. I think it is one of the riskiest trades the Twins have--maybe the worst since the Pressley debacle. Of course, I could be wrong, but there are gambles that are far less risky than trading away probably the hitter with the best eye in baseball, who led the league in BA and was an all-star to boot. I'm always skeptical of trading away proven talent for pitching...the Twins have a very bad record in this regard. (I'm always thinking, "What does Miami believe about upside and durability of Lopez that the Twins don't?") I hope I'm wrong, but I think it is a bad trade.

The old saying, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," should be made into a monument and put up in centerfield. (They used have the monuments in Yankee Stadium. Although I am sure in the first game of the season, Buxton would collide with the monument and be out for 6-8 weeks.). We have a batting champion. His knees are not great, but he spent most of the season in the line-up. How long will it be before we learn the lesson that the pitcher we are putting all of our hopes in turns out be not quite the same as the promotional catalogue claims? The other thing is that teams with high OBPs tend to make the playoffs. Teams with poor OBPs tend not to. Just glancing at the numbers would suggest that there is a high liklihood that the there is a positive correlation between high OBP and making the playoffs. Certainly no team with OBP of below .300 made the playoffs in 2022. You can't score runs if you can't put runners on base, so if anything, we need more Arraez-like players not fewer. I imagine this trend will be exacerbated once we get the robo-umps. Also, saying Arraez's knees are 'ready to explode' is a bit hyperbolic. I hear very few people saying let's trade Buxton away because his entire body is about ready to explode. One player has a far worse track-record than the other regarding playing. Sure, Arraez's knees have not been great, but he has been able to play the field--especially at 1B--and has been more than serviceable in the field. Let's not trade away one of our few proven hitting assets. There are plenty of other bats/arms that should be in line for the auction before the name of Arraez appears.

Personally, I think there are three glaring problems with Baldelli's approach: 1) The numbers are not a sufficient substitute for preparation and being ready to play--focus supercedes all other psychological constructs; 2) the numbers do not necessarily reflect what is happening on the field; for example, a pitcher is at 75 pitches and facing a hitter for the third time, but the pitcher in that particular game has a better than his usual slider on that night; everyone knows it, but the numbers don't (it slices both ways; the next time out, he is getting hard right from the start; the numbers say leave him in, but everyone knows his breaking balls aren't breaking and his fastball has almost no movement), and 3) the numbers indicate typical trends for the situation at hand, but looking at the data is no substitute for assessing the intensity of the moment and reacting to it--call it 'instinct' as one Daily member did. Perhaps, I could sum it up in this way: Baseball cannot be reduced to a board game (even though I think I may have a version of APBA hidden somewhere among my unused treasures). Trends and data only get the manager to the 90th percentile so to speak, but it is at that point where good managing really begins IMHO.

WAR HOO, What is it good for? Absolutely nothing. Well maybe not but winning in playoff games supercedes wins against replacement IMHO. Gagne was a very slick fielder and very durable. He has a ring for the Twins. You gotta get a ring here to be the best.

"...And I think with the core group that we have, the right guidance, the right work ethic, and the right just atmosphere in the clubhouse, we can we can accomplish those things.” As the team is basically the same as last year, this statement seems far weightier than it might appear at first glance (i.e., we didn't have the 'right' guidance, work ethic or atmosphere last year...)

There is one spot on this vinyl record that keeps skipping..."but the Twins see something they like in him" "but the Twins see something they like in him" "but the Twins see something they like in him" ”but the Twins see something they like in him..."

I was thinking the same thing. Megill can touch 100 mph as well, but if the Angels are letting Oliver loose, it makes me worry that his fastball is Megill-like.

Senga has very good stuff and he is tough. He never gets rattled!! He is one of the reasons that when it comes to playoff time, everyone fears the Fukuoka Hawks....the other being their manager Kudoh, who seems to be able to elevate his teams in the playoffs even when they get into the playoffs by the skin of their teeth (too bad that he retired--for Hawks fans). PS-I wouldn't want Thor. Sure the reward potential is high, but the risk potential seems even higher. It would be nice to have a couple of starters who weren't injured or half-injured for 3/4 of the season.