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ashbury

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Blog Entries posted by ashbury

  1. An Unexpected Night At Fenway

    · ashbury · 07/08/2015 02:43 PM

    My wife phoned to say someone at work was looking to sell a couple of bleacher tickets at Fenway. So, mere hours later (well, 30 is "mere", no?), I was on the Worcester commuter train, getting off at Yawkey Station.
     
    Fun game versus the Marlins. Tied 1-1 for a long while, then the Sox starter Miley tired at around the 100-pitch mark and the score became 3-1 at the seventh inning stretch. But the home team came right back and loaded the bases against Cishek in relief of Haren, with a single, walk, and infield error, and (after LOOGY Dunn got what seemed a key strikeout) with two outs Xander Bogaerts fouled off several pitches from Carter "Not Matt" Capps before coming through with a single on a full count that cleared the bases for the 4-3 lead that turned out to be the final score. The eighth inning stretch (Sweet Caroline) is always fun, and with the Sox in the lead the mood was bubbly.
     
    Sandoval facing Haren:
     

     
    Kazoo, the Fenway fan:
     

     
    Mary and me:
     

  2. Hammond Notes - March 27

    · ashbury · 03/28/2015 02:08 AM

    Vacation time in Ft Myers is coming to a close. We had a very fun day at the Twins spring complex today.
     
    We arrived at 10:30 unaware the minor league games had been moved up several hours, presumably in response to the forecast of rain. I started watching the Cedar Rapids game, and then a little bird told me, "you're missing Phil Hughes". I switched over to the Miracle game, in the fifth inning.
     

     
    Performing as the World's Most Expensive Bat Boy in this game was Kohl Stewart. (Lurking on the right has to be Aaron Slegers, who served later in the game as World's Tallest Bat Boy.)
     

     
    Hughes's breaking pitch was working beautifully here in the fifth inning, as an overmatched Rays youngster barely ducks out of the way of strike three:
     

     
    Twins manager Paul Molitor was on hand to watch his ace, as well as catcher Suzuki. (Not pictured, bench coach Joe Vavra was nearby as well.)
     

     
    After Hughes's stint, Ryan Eades came in for his turn. Is it just me, or does he resemble a young (and right-handed) Jim Kaat?
     

     
    Reluctantly, at last, we departed the minor league area to attend the major league ST game. Here is an old friend collecting his thoughts during the National Anthem, standing beside someone else. Guess which one staked the Pirates to an early lead with a long home run. Hint: it wasn't the Florimonster.
     

     
    Trevor May pitched today, and his fastball was humming along at about 94 MPH.
     

     
    Unfortunately, the wind was blowing straight out to right, and the Pirates batters had little trouble making solid contact all through May's 4 2/3 inning stint, leaving a somewhat ugly 8 hit and 4 run lump on his spring record. Gregory Polanco started the mayhem with a homer to right, as the second batter of the game, and catcher Tony Sanchez added a similar shot in the fourth inning. In the meantime, a triple followed by a double plated shortstop Jung-Ho Kang with a ribbie for CF Jaff Decker, and two consecutive doubles (Polanco, Marte) in the fifth accounted for the fourth and final Pirate run.
     
    It wasn't all May's or the wind's fault though. I'm officially off the Start Aaron Hicks In The Majors bandwagon now. He took a zigzag route on Kang's wind-aided triple and I'm certain that an above average CFer would have tracked this one down to save a run. Hicks also bobbled a ball that went for a double anyway, to no additional loss to the team but significantly to my confidence in him as a fielder. Let him add some polish in AAA, I now say.
     
    As mentioned, there were two no-doubt home runs hit to right by the Pirates. To my consternation, it appeared that Torii read neither one correctly, taking a long while to realize he needed to go way back. Because he did eventually race back, it can't be that he judged them out of the park. Due to the extra lift from the wind, it didn't end up mattering, but I don't really know what to make of it.
     
    To May's credit, he worked quickly on the mound. No fiddling around, staying near the rubber between pitches.
     
    The Twins offense didn't keep up, against junkball lefty Jeff Locke. A couple of runs came in the third, tying the game for the moment, when Dozier drove in Santana with a triple and Mauer drove in Dozier with a fielder's choice to... guess where... second.
     
    Incidentally, the Pirates used a pronounced shift against Mauer, a fairly extreme one in fact in the last of his three PA. Mauer could have bunted toward third and if it was past the pitcher he could have sauntered to first base. No. He walked his first time up, hit his next one to second, and the last was an unassisted grounder to first. I guess this is playing the game the right way. Or stubbornness. Or something. But it's not making adjustments, as far as I can see.
     
    In contrast to the defensive lapses I mentioned, Brian Dozier made a very fine snare of a liner off the bat of fellow second baseman Sean Rodriguez. Since I don't have a photo of that, here is one of Dozier grounding out to short in the first inning. Not very effective, but still pretty. (Did I mention, we had nice seats behind first base, six rows up?)
     

     
    Speaking of not effective, here is Hunter getting thrown out trying to steal second in the third inning. Since Arcia followed with a single to center, who knows whether the inning would have resulted in more scoring than it did.
     

     
    Jordan Schafer, DHing because Molitor presumably wants him to bat as often as possible this spring, laid down a very nice bunt past pitcher and first baseman that left them only to watch the ball and hope it would roll foul. Oh, that reminds me, the Pirates turned up their nose at using a DH and let their pitcher bat, at least to begin the game.
     
    By the seventh inning, Molitor had removed all his starters except Schafer and Hicks. Clint Hurdle only inserted a couple of bench players, Florimon (3B) and Lambo (RF). At the end we had Nunez at short, Rosario in left (nice play on a fly in the sixth by Kang), Bernier at third, Rohlfing to catch, Brock Peterson at first, and very young prospects Levi Michael at second and Adam Brett Walker in right.
     
    Brian Duensing pitched an effective 1 1/3 innings to end the fifth and cover the sixth. His fastball was around 89 MPH, about his par. JR Graham pitched effectively in the seventh and the start of the eighth too, with his 96 MPH heater.
     
    In the Twins' seventh, Michael hit a sharp single to left following a (guess what) pop out by Nunez to the catcher to begin. Peterson struck out after a lengthy battle against Antonio Bastardo, as the light sprinkle threatened to turn to a more substantial shower. I was more than eager to see ABW get his chance, but he struck out too. I'm a big ABW backer right now. Here he is pinch running for Hunter in the fifth, rather than show you the strikeout.
     

     
    The eighth inning began and a couple of Pirates were retired by JR Graham. I think the umpires wanted to give him a chance to complete the inning, but after a walk, they took stock of the weather situation and, after consulting the managers, called the game. A wise decision, as by 15 minutes later the light shower had turned into a soaking rain.
     
    And thus our two weeks in Fort Myers ended on a wet note.
     

     
     

     
    Even in the rain, it's a nice place to spend one's time.

  3. Hammond Notes - March 26

    · ashbury · 03/27/2015 01:31 AM

    Special jetBlue Edition!
     
    We took a break from Hammond Stadium for a day, and visited the Red Sox spring facilities for a game.
     

     
    Before we went inside, we wandered in their minor league area. I was initially annoyed, because we went in what I thought to be an obvious direction but were stopped by one of the senile highly experienced hard of hearing stadium personnel, and directed toward the other side of the complex. At first I was thinking it looked like a wild goose chase (or snipe hunt) and there was to be no access to minor leaguers at all. But it turned out to be just a long walk, and it's about as free (once you pay parking of course) and open as at the Twins facilities. Here is a typical view, with fields on either side.
     

     
    We walked further, essentially circling around almost to where we were denied entrance. This ended at a No Man's Land separating the major league practice field from the clubhouses. Well, "some" Men and their families were apparently allowed access, probably wealthy fans who had paid some kind of premium to rub elbows with luminaries like Brock Holt. Oh well, next lifetime. We contented ourselves watching pitchers take batting practice, specifically working on their bunting, specifically working on overcoming their instinct to flinch (as I interpreted some of their reactions to facing a pitching machine and having to expose fingers and thumbs). Turns out the BoSox open their season in a National League park, so it figures. Here are manager John Farrell and coach Torey Lovullo overseeing matters.
     

     
    Here we happened to meet up with John Bonnes, and TD member eLee612. We chatted a bit, as drills concluded, then headed toward the main ballpark entrance.
     
    When inside, you have your starting lineups.
     

     
    Someone in the Game Thread asked whether the park has a Green Monster. Here is their equivalent of it, but it has seating (within, and on top) for fans.
     

     
    We were seated in Reserved Lawn seating. Here is yours truly and Mrs Ashburyjohn in a typical tourist pose that dozens of other tourists replicated on their respective cameras.
     

     
    So. The game. John Bonnes wrote up a good summary here so there is little value in my repeating much the same.
     
    Escobar homered in the second, and in the fourth also drove in Plouffe on a sac fly after Arcia had driven in Hunter. Fryer drove in Arcia in the seventh with a single after the latter had tripled to right. I can't bring photos that illustrate any of this. Instead, I will offer you an unfair and cherry-picked reason why Shane Robinson would not be on the team if I had any say:
     

     
    I jotted down typical pitch speeds from the radar gun display. Here is Tommy Milone throwing either an 87 MPH changeup or his 81 MPH fastball - I can't tell the difference, and I'm not sure the batters really can either.
     

     
    Here is Tim Stauffer throwing something from his similar 88 MPH (or slower) arsenal:
     

     
     
    On the Twins, a really good fastball is the true change of pace. Here is Mark Hamburger throwing what might be his 85 MPH slider (guessing from his fingers) - big as a beachball don't you think? - to the Red Sox' on-deck hitter. No, not really that far off the plate, but Mark was pretty wild at times, but effective, with his mostly 95 MPH fastball.
     

     
     
    And finally, here is young prospect Jake Reed throwing a 95 MPH fastball to Allen Craig, the batter he did retire (on a popup). I put my camera away in time to not capture the pitch resulting in second batter Rusney Castillo's home run off the wall in left that ended the game in the 10th inning, 5-4.
     

  4. Hammond Notes - March 25

    · ashbury · 03/25/2015 09:53 PM

    Today we skipped the major league game and spent our morning and afternoon on the back fields. But only after watching some of the major leaguers doing drills on the front field. Looked like they were concentrating on the pitchers making their throws to bases - I wonder if the snafus in yesterday's game had anything to do with that.
     
    Had a nice chat there with TDers John Bonnes, Jim Crikket, Halsey Hall, and beckmt (I believe only one of these names appears on any of these gentlemen's birth certificates). Baseball on a warm southwest Florida day is even better with friends old and new.
     
    The two "A" games started at 1 pm, both against corresponding Rays affiliates. We mainly watched the nominal Cedar Rapids team managed by Jake Mauer, and I took one short peek at the Ft Myers team managed by Jeff Smith. I mention the teams this way, rather than a hard and fast A/A+ classification, because the players themselves were a mishmash from the rosters that were published only a few days earlier. Things change fast in spring training as the major league roster gets pared down and the ripple effect works its way down the organization. I'm sure what we saw today was a close approximation to the final assignments.
     
    I didn't keep a scoresheet, but I did jot down a few thoughts. (Oh, and you'll notice there are no photos; bummer, I forgot to reinsert the memory card into my camera after downloading last night.)
     
    Baby faced Stephen Gonsalves started for the Kernels. He proved to be a very tough draw for the Rays batters, just as a highly touted prospect should be. He notched two strikeouts to start the game, and then had a truly wicked liner come right back to him, one that somehow ended up in his mitt instead of somewhere less lucky. That was probably the hardest hit ball against him - I think he gave up one seeing-eye hit and altogether he had a sparkling day.
     
    My one look at the other field was in what I assume to be starter Chih-Wei Hu's final inning of work. When I strolled over, it was first and third with nobody out. I don't know for sure how he got into the jam - a Rays coach briefed me as maybe a hit and an error - but he worked his way out nicely, with the batters having difficulty dealing with the movement on the ball. Hu doesn't have the fastball that evaluators like, but so far he has had nothing but success in his two years in the low minors, and like a fool I am thinking his ceiling could be front of the rotation. No one else on the planet has expressed such optimism - so I'll be gloating when he starts Game One of a World Series - one of these days Real Soon Now.
     
    Catcher Brian Navarreto nailed a runner trying to steal second, to end one inning, and I'm not sure I ever saw a bigger grin on a player's face when he headed back to his dugout. And he had a right to be pleased, I thought - a really good throw.
     
    Jorge Fernandez contributed a no-doubter home run to left.
     
    Late in the game Brandon Poulson came in to pitch for one inning. His reputation for wildness appeared deserved - and while sometimes you hear "effectively wild" he wasn't very effective either. Jose Velez preceded Poulson and seemed to have good velocity (AshburySteven groaned when I attempted "Velezity") but he was pretty hittable, yet he escaped without too much damage. Kuo Hua Lo pitched a couple of innings and gave up some solid shots that I think plated a run. I haven't given you a very good idea of the scoring, because I fail to keep track in games like this, but I think the final score was about 4-2 in our favor.
     
    Tanner English legged out a single, hit to short, that many other players would not have.
     
    And speaking of short players, Rays 2B prospect Oscar Sanay is listed on b-r.com as 5'7" but at the plate he looked not much taller than substitute catcher Brett Doe crouching. The above-mentioned Tanner, listed at a generous 5'10", no doubt towers over him. I don't remember much about what he did, he just caught my eye.
     
    Much more the prototypical looking player is first baseman Tyler Kuresa. His fiancee sat near us, and we chatted pleasantly about him and random other topics, as the game went along. Hint to Seth - he might be a good one to interview in depth - I know now for instance he takes pride in his defense at 1B. (Another of those Spring Training pleasures is watching Tom Kelly proceed onto the field in foul territory and coach his defense, in-game. Kuresa got a tip or two that way today.) The lefty looked good at the plate today, hitting an at'em ball to CF for an out and getting a nice sharp single to RF, suggesting that his good showing in Elizabethton was no fluke last year. A Rays lefty with a vicious sidearm delivery did strike him out on what appeared to be a low offspeed pitch on 3-2 after an otherwise good battle. So he's someone I'll add to my Players I'll Be Watching list this year.

  5. Hammond Notes - March 24

    · ashbury · 03/25/2015 01:40 AM

    We allowed ourselves the luxury of arriving sometime after 11, and learned that the minor leaguers would not play at noon but at 1. Since we had cheap-seat tickets for the big league game, we chatted outside the park with Thrylos then went on in. Tomorrow we'll stay outside and watch the prospects again.
     
    Warm day, starting out overcast but changing to partly sunny. Sunscreen advised.
     

     
    Ricky Nolasco had a very nice outing, particularly in the early going when I noted three backward-K strikeouts in the first two innings. In each of the next two innings he was aided by Mauer with a 3-6-3 double play (I'm remembering one now as 3-4-3 but I'll go with what I scribbled). He gave up a solo homer to Donaldson in his fifth and final inning. I didn't keep a pitch count but it had to be decently low. Ricky's a good bounceback candidate for 2015 and this was an extremely encouraging outing. This photo may or may not be of Donaldson, connecting or not connecting on that homer; I didn't take good notes when I was snapping action shots but I think it was just a foul prior to the homer.
     

     
    Meanwhile, as probably every Twins blogger on the planet has already noted, "Dozier celebrated his new contract extension with a first inning home run" to left. Here he is during warmups before the next inning. Doesn't he look elated?
     

     
    Schafer later hit a solo shot to right; maybe he wants some dough too. Plouffe finished out of the running with only a double. Hunter hit a deep homer to left, but he already owes us, amiright? My son AshburySteven pleased me with the observation that Hunter isn't actually costing anything meaningful because the marginal cost of his contract is zero in the absence of being close to any practical budgetary limit; that collitch edjamacation we paid for (at nonzero marginal cost, amiright?) is actually working out for him.
     
    Speaking of sunk costs, Mauer didn't have much to show in the box score, but he had two warning track shots to left. That's in keeping with what I saw in BP the day before. Here's a routine but classic pose by the man:
     

     
    Perkins had a clean enough looking pitching line in the box score, but he was bouncing several in the dirt. So he clearly is still working on a few things. Duensing came in next, for the seventh, and did not have good results, retiring no one and leaving with the bases loaded after he took a shot off of his leg. Molitor evidently wanted to see how he'd do against righties because he fed him to two very dangerous ones, Joey Bats and Donaldson. The outing didn't aid Duensing's ambition to be more than a LOOGY, I'm afeared. Here he is a few pitches before getting dinged, also bouncing one in there:
     

     
    (If that's any of you sitting behind home plate in the expensive seats, let me know when I should stop by for my free beer.)
     
    But JR Graham came in to the rescue, and got a strikeout, and then a DP, to escape with no scoring that inning. We haven't had many bullpen arms lately where you could base strategy on trying to get a strikeout in a key situation; I could get used to that, if we end up with such a pen soon.
     
    Graham got into trouble, himself, in the eighth, and Hamburger went on to give up the lead (and probably punched his ticket to Rochester) but wound up vulturing the win when Rosario drove in Nunez after a nice Fryer bunt. Ha ha, I said to Toronto fans (not really), your team lost to Mark Hamburger. Ha ha, AshburySteven said to me (really), you pay attention to pitcher wins.

  6. Hammond Notes - March 23

    · ashbury · 03/23/2015 08:42 PM

    Here is a photo of Stephen Wickens warming up this morning. Are you sad to see this? I'm not, and you shouldn't be either:
     

     
    Why? Because: No One Mourns The Wickens.
     
    Hey, we went to Miami the other night to see Wicked, and I had to get this groaner out of my system once and for all.
    (Really??? He leads off with THIS?)
    So. After missing a couple of days of spring training Friday and Saturday, and then Sunday's minor league activities cancelled for a well earned day off, I was back at the fields at last today. Had nice chats with fellow TDers Halsey Hall, Thrylos, and Stringer Bell. Our youngest son AshburySteven is now with us for the remainder of the trip, and that added to the atmosphere for me.
     
    After watching the stretching and the drills at the back fields, we came back front and saw batting practice in the major league cages - mainly Hunter, Rosario, Schafer and Mauer.
     

     
    Tony O was around the cages but I didn't get a good picture of him except his back. Kneeling and resting against a bat, almost as though he knows he'll get photographed.
     

     
    Then the hitters went to the adjacent field for a bit of fresh air and some swings against a live backdrop. Vargas put on his usual show with several very loud flies beyond the fences in all directions. I'm hoping to see him nick the top of the nearby cellphone tower one of these days - that would probably be only about 1400 feet total, seemingly within his reach.
     
    Meanwhile, May and Milone were getting their throwing sessions in. I snapped this shot just after they were finished and were chatting with their coach:
     

     
    Then it was back to the back fields: games against Baltimore's young'uns commenced at noon, and a pickup game between what I took to be divided between low-A and high-A Twins prospects was on the remaining field began at one pm.
     
    In the AA game there were early homers by Gonzalez, AB Walker and Kanzler, interrupted only by a loud out by Paulino. The wind wasn't yet as much of a factor as it later became, and I think all these were probably legitimate.
     
    Goodrum booted a routine grounder that should have been a DP. Not good.
     
    Meanwhile on the AAA field, Ervin Santana was getting some innings in. This is him warming up to start the first:
     

     
    He wasn't especially sharp in the first couple of innings, but after a while I saw that the batters were having a difficult time and getting fooled frequently.
     
    Back on the AA field, Baxendale proved to be little mystery to the Baltimores and I didn't keep track of the actual score to know if he gave back all the runs he'd been provided. Here he is during his warmup tosses:
     

     
    And later ABW hit another home run for the good guys. I don't think anyone doubts his power, and his success will hinge ultimately on not striking out so much, but watching this was pretty cool.
     
    Levi Michael reached first base, and then a pitch or three later he headed for second base a little too soon and looked like a dead duck. But the Orioles' pitcher, Bobby Bundy I think, inexplicably threw to first base; by the time his fielders had it all sorted out Michael was in at second safely. I guess the official scorer calls it a SB - the runner never deviated from going to second - but geez.
     
    PA of the day for me was a humble walk by Sano. It started with a called strike and then a foul down the third base line for 0-2, and I decided at that point it was worth watching even more closely. Sano showed remarkable pitch recognition, I thought, and took four presentable pitches calmly and without drama, yet without leaving me in doubt that he would have tried to smack one in the strike zone. A very professional appearance at the plate.
     
    Later in the AA game Meijia was in for Goodrum at SS, and I thought he also acquitted himself poorly on one play, a deep grounder where a good arm would have gotten the runner but he arced it.
     
    There was a long HR, possibly wind-aided by this point, by a Webb (Brenden?) for Baltimore. I made a note to myself to look him up, but I see now that he spent his age-24 season in high-A and combines decent power with a low BA. Not a prospect to watch, after all.
     
    And back again to the AAA game, I note sadly that Buxton still hasn't done anything at the plate my entire time in Florida so far. On the plus side, I believe Meneses made a very fine catch (racing over from second base) in foul territory.
     
    Rain clouds had been building this entire time, with the wind picking up, and by the time I noticed that the other (intrasquad) game was going, we had just walked over to see a couple of pitches from Jorge Felix (or is it Felix Jorge?) when the rain started in earnest. All three games were summarily halted, and within three minutes had been called. The Orioles players trotted toward their buses, and I headed for my car. We thus missed an hour or so of more baseball, but it was a very fine time nonetheless.

  7. Hammond Notes - March 19

    · ashbury · 03/19/2015 09:53 PM

    A much abbreviated version of my notes today. Arrived after lunch and watched the two games offered. Perkins was the "starter" in the AAA game versus the Bostons, and seemed to do well in his one inning. Here is a photo of him warming up.
     

     
    Tyler Duffey started in the AA game. Warmup photo alongside pitching coach Stu Cliburn:
     

     
    I forgot to mention that I caught a glimpse of Gardy when he attended the UW Stout game Tuesday against our younger players - son Toby coaches Stout. So here's a belated photo that I took from a distance once I got over my assumption I was merely seeing the imposter ChiTown previously reported. (I don't know who the others are.)
     

     
    Photos aside, I can't say I paid close attention to giving a good report on how the games went. A throw from LF that missed a cutoff man allowed a runner to advance. Polanco did well at short but allowed one bad hop to eat him up enough that his throw was wide. Buxton did not have a good day at the plate. I believe Sano got another HR in the other game but I totally missed it. I think the AAA team won, I think the AA team lost. Nice day at the park, good chat again with Stringer, nobody's paying me to report, ergo... this is what you get.

  8. Hammond Notes - March 18

    · ashbury · 03/19/2015 02:13 PM

    I meant to write up these notes last night and forgot. No deep insights here, just my jottings from a day under the sun at Hammond Field.
     
    I arrived at 9:10, too late to get free parking on a game day. Cheapskate fans of minor league spring ball, take note!
     
    I was approached by a reporter from a Naples newspaper, who was looking to interview average fans. I had initially mentioned my tenuous "affiliation" with TD (thinking he might be Nick Nelson), and apparently that made me way too official sounding for him, so he moved on. LOL.
     
    The players were only just starting their warmups, and I saw maybe one other "civilian" like myself checking things out, to begin with. More started showing up soon, of course.
     
    This just in: Aaron Slegers is tall. He looks like a weed that the lawn mower missed, when standing amongst his fellow pitchers listening to a coach.
     
    Met up with fellow TDer Stringer Bell, and his brother. Great guys. We hung out together, off and on, most of the rest of the day.
     
    I watched the first hour of the two minor league games versus the Rays, back and forth between the adjacent fields. In the nominal AAA game, "A Rodriguez" (I didn't know A-Rod had joined the Twins organization!) scored a hit to right, and the players who had the game off behind the screen near me were hooting that this was his first time to hit to the opposite field, ever.
     
    One of these players was eating some berries, and another piped up with a crack about Hingle McCringleberry. A Key and Peele fan, apparently. No "Berrios" joke, considering he was sitting right there with us, so I guess it's too far from his actual pronunciation which I haven't completely mastered yet. "Bay-REE-ose"? Either that or for some reason they don't want to kid him that way, or Jose had duties charting pitches and maybe shouldn't have been disturbed.
     
    I already mentioned in a forum thread last night that AA pitching coach R. C. Lichtenstein asked the Rays kid who was holding the radar gun behind the plate, "was that a changeup?", while prospect Dylan Floro was on the mound. "No, fastball," was the reply. Hope Floro didn't overhear. Ouch. Very ouch.
     
    In the other game, Sano hit a very long homer on the first pitch he saw. It drew appropriate oohs and aahs from the spectating players. His ability is certainly respected. The players know who's who - see my above comment about A-Rod, and when Max Murphy hit a homer the previous day I watched, one of the guys confirmed his identity for me and added "he can hit".
     
    Stuart Turner threw out a would-be base stealer by about two miles. I know there's a lot more to catching than that, things I can't begin to judge on my own, but it confirms for me the good things I've read about his D.
     
    I finally walked over to the big leaguers' game and made use of my cheap seat ticket. Watched the middle part of the game with Stringer and his brother, and got to witness an error by Dozier and later a bobble by Nunez that he still converted to an out. Guess which infielder I gave a pass on that to, and which one I griped about. It wasn't a very compelling game in the late stages, so after my companions left I watched an inning more, then left with the score 3-2 going into the bottom of the ninth. Apparently I didn't miss much.
     
    That's it for now. Off to the park now for another go-round.

  10. The Game

    · ashbury · 08/11/2014 07:03 PM

    (This is an entry in the Blogging For Pizza contest.)
     
     
    April, 2010...
     
     
    "I don't want to be the catcher on the Twins anymore," Joe Mauer said. He looked around the table at the others inquiringly. "Like that?"
     
    Gardy beamed. "Exactly like that." The manager picked up his glass and made a vague toasting motion with it, in acknowledgement of the catcher's quick comprehension.
     
    Morneau's eyebrow inched up. "And the purpose of this rather esoteric activity is...?"
     
    Gardy sighed. "It's a game," he informed Morneau with exaggerated patience. "And a sort of a psychological exercise, too." He scowled slightly at the Canadian, who still looked unconvinced. "Look, we four think we know each other pretty well, right?"
     
    Morneau regarded Ryan, Mauer and Gardy gravely before he answered. "Yes," he said cautiously.
     
    "Well, this'll show how well we know each other. You and Terry and Joe, for instance, will all come up with a sentence that you think is exactly the opposite of what I would normally say. And then, I'll try to top it with something even more opposite."
     
    Morneau tilted his head and regarded the manager solemnly. "It is not possible," he told Gardy pedantically, "to be 'more opposite.' It is like saying that a thing is 'very unique.' It is either unique or it is not: there is no matter of degree in an absolute."
     
    Gardy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever. All right, then, let me put it this way: I'll try to come up with something even more outrageous than the three of you have said. It'll show whether I know myself the best, or whether one of you does." He shot a challenging look at Morneau. "So what do you think?"
     
    "I think," Morneau replied slowly, "that if the object of the game is to generate an outrageous statement, you will most likely be declared the winner almost instantly."
     
    Ryan snickered and Mauer threw his head back and gave a hoot of laughter. "He got you again, Skip," Joe told the manager.
     
    Gardy shot a disgusted look at the Canadian, but decided not to waste time with a response. "O.K.," he said to Ryan, in a businesslike tone. "Let's start with you. We'll all come up with something Terry Ryan would never say. And then Terry will try to top it. Let's see..." He thought for a moment, shrewd eyes narrowed, and then suddenly brightened. "I've got one. Ryan would never in a million years say, 'I've been kidding you all this time--I've really got a full head of hair.'"
     
    Morneau's eyebrow shot up, but he remained silent.
     
    Mauer chuckled appreciatively. "Not bad, but I think I can top it." He leaned back in his chair and studied the general manager with a playful smile. "You can have all the ace caliber pitching you want, Catcher," Mauer said, in a fair imitation of the general manager’s earnest demeanor. "Don't worry about there being any baserunners to throw out, one wee bit."
     
    Ryan looked a bit abashed, but had to laugh.
     
    There was an expectant silence as the three Americans turned to look at Morneau.
     
    "Well?" Gardy finally demanded.
     
    "This is most illogical."
     
    "C'mon, give it a try," Gardy goaded. "What are you afraid of?"
     
    Morneau regarded the manager with thinly disguised exasperation. "Very well," he conceded reluctantly. He turned to Ryan. "The farm system of the Brewers," he intoned, "is vastly superior to that of the Twins."
     
    "What?" demanded Ryan, instantly incensed, and then settled back in his chair with a somewhat stunned expression. "There’s no doubt," he growled finally, and lifted his nearly empty glass to take a sip. "That was a good one," he admitted to the Canadian, "a very good one."
     
    Mauer chuckled and laid his hand on Morneau's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Good job," he murmured to his first baseman. "You've got him pegged, all right." Morneau looked away, both embarrassed and pleased by the catcher's praise.
     
    "I don't think I'll have another drink tonight," Ryan said slowly.
     
    "Really?" Gardy asked, surprised. "Why not? It's still early."
     
    Ryan flashed a triumphant grin. "It's what I'd never say." He picked up his glass, displaying its emptiness to the manager.
     
    "Ohhhh," the skipper said, light dawning. He craned around and hailed the clubhouse guy. "Another round," he told the lowly employee.
     
    "None for me," Mauer said quickly. "I've got batting practice."
     
    "I too must decline," Morneau said.
     
    "Yeah," Gardy said dryly. "Wouldn't want to get too much of that tea, would you? Next thing you know, you'd be swinging from the chandelier nude while belting out a couple of choruses of 'Sweet Adeline.'" He turned back to the clubbie. "Just him and me, then," he said, and laid a couple of bucks upon the desk as a tip.
     
    Morneau stiffened. "As you are well aware," he informed the manager coldly, "the tea of which I have partaken tonight is completely devoid of intoxicating ingredients. Therefore, the chances of my, as you say, swinging unclothed from the chandelier are..."
     
    "...Slim to none," Gardy interrupted him. "I know, I know. And let me just tell you that I think it's a goddamn shame."
     
    Morneau opened his mouth to reply, but Mauer broke in. "Gentlemen," he chided. "Aren't we forgetting our game?"
     
    "Yeah," Gardy said, willingly dropping an argument for once. He studied Mauer. "I've gotta admit, I think you've won your part of it already. I honestly can't think of anything you'd be less likely to say than that you didn't want to be catcher for the Twins anymore." He raised his eyebrows. "Terry?"
     
    The general manager shook his head. "There’s no doubt. The day I heard that from our pretty darn good catcher, I'd know the whole universe had been turned inside out."
     
    "Indeed," Morneau acknowledged hastily, privately relieved that he would not have to come up with an outrageous statement for Mauer.
     
    "Well, why don't we do mine, then?" Gardy said. "Terry--you know me pretty well. You go first."
     
    "There’s no doubt," the general manager said speculatively, and studied his friend for a moment. "Hey, let's give the rookies a chance," he finally offered, "and don’t worry about how many games might be lost."
     
    Mauer nodded. "Well done," he told the general manager. "I can't imagine Skip ever saying that, under any circumstances." He thought for a moment. "How about this one?" He grinned at the manager mischievously. "I don't really have an opinion either way about college types."
     
    Ryan snorted, and even Morneau gave a tiny almost-smile. "Highly unlikely," the Canadian said dryly.
     
    Gardy shook his head ruefully. "And I just can't wait to hear what you have to offer," he told Morneau, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I've got the feeling, though, I'm gonna be sorry I ever started this thing." He picked up his fresh drink and took a slug of it in an effort to brace himself. "Well, go ahead—might as well get it over with."
     
    Morneau regarded him impassively. "Bill Smith is always correct," he said blandly.
     
    All three Americans hooted and pounded the table, even Gardy, who was hard pressed not to spew his mouthful of drink.
     
    "Morneau wins again," Mauer told the others, when he could finally talk.
     
    "There is no doubt," Ryan agreed.
     
    "Hmmph," Gardy said gruffly.
     
    Mauer smiled at him. "Admit it," he coaxed. "Even you can't come up with anything less likely than that."
     
    Gardy bit his lip and stared down at the table, torn between laughter and a scowl. Finally, he looked up, with a dangerous glint in his eye. "You know," he said slowly, "I can't. I honestly can't think of anything more outrageous than saying that Bill Smith is always right."
     
    Morneau's left eyebrow disappeared beneath his cap; Ryan and Mauer dissolved into laughter again. After the chaos subsided, Ryan asked, "And what about Mr. Morneau? What would he never say?"
     
    The three Americans turned to regard the Canadian speculatively. Morneau found that he suddenly had to fight an illogical urge to squirm; he stared back at them stonily in an effort to hide his discomfiture.
    "That's easy enough," the manager said. "Gardy is always right."
     
    Mauer laughed softly. "Copycat," he gently accused. "How about you, Ryan?"
     
    Terry Ryan regarded the Canadian with a twinkle in his eye. "This is too easy," he boasted. "It'd have to be something like, 'I don’t give a rat's ass about hockey--let's just watch some porn.’"
     
    Mauer burst out in laughter, and instantly fell under the quietly reproachful gaze of Morneau. "Sorry," he murmured, shrugging apologetically. "There's just something about the idea of you using the term 'rat's ass' that I find a little hard to take." He smiled at the Canadian fondly, his eyes still twinkling in amusement.
     
    "What do you think, Joe?" Gardy asked. "What would Morneau never say?"
     
    Mauer studied the manager for a moment, and then looked at Morneau, who sat as still as if carved out of marble. "There are lots of things Morneau would never say," he told the others quietly, while staring at the Canadian intently. "He'd never say anything vindictive or dishonest, for instance." He pursed his lips thoughtfully. "It's funny," he finally told Morneau slowly. "I think I know you very well. But it's hard to nail down just one sentence I'd never expect to hear from you."
     
    Mauer lowered his gaze to the table and fiddled idly with his empty glass. "I guess," he said slowly, not looking at Morneau again, "it would be something like, 'I refuse to give you my all.'" He studied his glass as if looking for an answer at the bottom of it, and then finally nodded. "Yeah. That I think I'd never hear from you." He looked up and smiled a little sheepishly at the others. "That's my entry in the Morneau category."
     
    There was a long silence, during which Gardy and Ryan, abashed at the suddenly serious tone the conversation had taken, found renewed interest in staring at their drinks. Mauer and Morneau, meanwhile, subsided into conducting a thorough study of the top of the table.
     
    Gardy finally broke the silence by clearing his throat. "What about you, Morneau?" he asked. "Tell us what you'd never say."
     
    Morneau hesitated, his brow slightly furrowed. He still appeared to be unduly fascinated by the pitted surface of the table; he traced his slender fingers over it for a few seconds before he replied. At last, he lifted his dark gaze to the manager's face. "I would never say," he told Gardy, "that this activity serves any useful purpose, or that it should be prolonged any further." He rose from his chair decisively. "If you will excuse me, I have several scouting reports to review tonight."
     
    "What?" Gardy sputtered. "You can't leave now! You haven't held up your end of the deal."
     
    Morneau regarded him calmly. "But I have," he said stubbornly.
     
    The manager glared, ready to erupt in indignant protest, but Mauer broke in. "You know," he said easily, "he's right. We shouldn't prolong this any longer--not if Morneau's going to get his game prep done, and not if I'm going to get my beauty sleep before BP." He stood up and stretched elaborately, and then smiled down at Gardy and Ryan. "It's been fun," he told them. "I needed to unwind a little." He clapped Morneau on the back. "C'mon--let's head on home."
     
    They made for the the clubhouse door and waved good night to their companions.
     
    "You were a good sport tonight," Mauer told his first baseman as they made their way through the tunnels en route toward the parking lot. He cast a sidelong glance at the Canadian, who matched his catcher stride for stride with a contemplative look upon his chiseled features. "And you really skewered Gardy. What you came up with for his outrageous statement was absolutely inspired." He chuckled a little at the memory.
     
    "Indeed," Morneau replied quietly.
     
    They walked the rest of the way in silence until they came to the catcher's car. Mauer hesitated at the door, and then flashed a somewhat wistful smile at his first baseman. "You know," he said impulsively over his shoulder as the door opened and he sat down. "Someday I wish you'd tell me."
     
    Morneau regarded him gravely, his hands clasped behind his back. "Tell you, Joe?"
     
    "What you'd really never say." The catcher opened his mouth as if intending to speak more, and then shrugged, dismissing the thought. "Well... Good night, Justin."
     
    The door shut before the Canadian had a chance to reply. He stood alone in the deserted parking lot. For a few seconds he contemplated the car solemnly, thinking about the man who was inside. Finally, he reached out and touched the shut door lightly with his fingertips, just before the car began to move.
     
    "I do not love you," he whispered.
     
     
    Stolen shamelessly from this Kirk/Spock fan-fiction story, and edited only a little:
    http://www.thyla.com/jes-game.html
    "The Game", K/S by Jesmihr, theargentian @ mfire.com
  11. After watching the Twins today in Cleveland, several impressions come to the forefront.
     
    First, the pitching seems to be no better than last year, and quite possibly even worse. The starter, Nolasco, stunk it up with 5 runs in only 4 innings, and could not seem to locate his pitches to save his life. The bullpen quickly coughed up two more runs, a performance that could put a game essentially out of reach by the halfway mark.
     
    The defense was also laughable, with somebody inexperienced manning left field, after Willingham departed the game with an injury (thankfully the diagnosis was no broken bone, just day-to-day), unable to make the simplest plays. The team was fortunate to have no unearned runs to tack onto the tally against them.
     
    And the hitting? Florimon, the afore-mentioned Bartlett, Hicks and Escobar combined for 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position through the game. Factor that in with an aggregate o-fer by the 2B, LF, CF, and SS positions, and you would hardly be surprised to be told that the Twins were shut out again.
     
    I believe it was the Orioles in 1988 who established a major league record by losing their first 21 games to start the season. Though it's early, are the Twins in danger of eclipsing that mark in 2014? Based on this account of this game one would be hard pressed to say no.
     
    It would be easy to assume that this debacle in Cleveland was the nadir of the Twins 2014 season, but with 156 games to go I am not confident in predicting that this will even be their worst game this year.
     
    Yes, I am giving fair warning: IT COULD BE WORSE.
     
    Go Twins.

  12. Jimmy Rollins being shopped

    · ashbury · 12/16/2013 05:25 PM

    MLBTR has an item stating that the Phillies would be willing to trade Jimmy Rollins. In the article, it's stated:
     
    "Rollins, 35, struggled at the plate in 2013, batting .252/.318/.348..."
     
    Meanwhile our resident starter pleased some fans with his progress, posting .221/.281/.330.
     
    I don't particularly advocate trading for Rollins, as I assume the Phils want prospects the Twins won't want to part with and the Twins won't want to invest $11M a year in an aging player. I'm just mindful that one team's "struggled" can be better on offense than another team's "incumbent shortstop".
  14. Folks,
     
    When the Twins announced their players being sent to the Arizona Fall League (AFL), John Bonnes made an off-hand comment about a Twins Daily road trip. Something of that magnitude might be a little fanciful, but I'm thinking about going and he and I agreed maybe a clearinghouse would be useful for those who plan to go, or are considering it.
     
    The Twins players will be on the Glendale Desert Dogs. All the AFL games are in the Phoenix area. Our guys have games from October 8 to November 14; here is a link to the full schedule:
     
    http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=t_sch&sid=l119&cid=454&y=2013
     
    Team roster is here:
     
    Major League Baseball | Winter Leagues | Arizona Fall League | MLB.com: Events
     
    USAFChief lives somewhere in or around Tucson, a two-hour car ride away, and has offered a bit of interaction with anyone who makes the trip, but no rights or privileges for his barcalounger (ahem, "Ekornes Stressless, full leather", per Chief). I think one or two others spoke up expressing interest too.
     
    Anybody with ideas about going, feel free to post a response here, and if some sort of critical mass begins to develop we can take it from there. At this point, I think any vague but possible idea of going is worth mentioning, without it being a commitment for now.
     
    I am considering a trip there during the week of October 14, regardless of whether anyone else goes.
  15. In response to a forum reply that I felt crossed a boundary, where the writer questioned the courage of Andrew Albers, instead of just deleting the post I decided to try a bit of "see how you like it". Since it stirred up some controversy, I am posting here the private message I later sent:
     
     
    Brock and I were both basically reacting to one sentence:
     
    Albers could have at least had the balls to fight for it if he really wanted it.
     
    Nothing else in your several posts was an issue for me at least.
     
    And your choice of the word "balls", while also off-color and thus a mild problem, isn't the issue either; you could have said
     
    Albers could have at least had the courage to fight for it if he really wanted it.
     
    and it would still have been a problem.
     
    Please review the Updated Comment Policy if you are unclear. Rule #1 is
     
    1. Personal attacks or insults towards other commenters, the post author, journalists, teams, players, members of baseball organizations or agents. (You can be critical, but not personal.)
     
    There is just no place in the forums at TD for a comment like yours about a player's courage.
     
    Your reaction to my questionable choice of a "see how you like it when it is directed at you" response demonstrates that the advice I was given to just delete comments that harm the tone of any given thread may work best in the long run; it's not some omniscient power but simply a way to keep threads from degenerating. Maybe your response was in that same vein but I don't think so; you just seemed to not like it to have your own courage questioned or to have someone presume to know what goes on inside your head. Yet that's what you wanted to do regarding Albers' ninth inning.
     
    Please instead accept the criticism in the spirit it was intended, to recognize when a comment you're about to post approaches an area where a moderator will need to step in. Most people manage to steer far clear, and mostly you do too I think.
  19. This is a repeat of a forum post I made in December 2012. I'm blogging it now mostly for my own convenience; I took the time to look up several pitchers and I don't want to have to search again when I try to remember what I learned. The question was, if you were GM would you have matched the 5/$80M deal for Detroit's Anibal Sanchez? The context now is, when if ever would you sign a pitcher to a long term deal, given that there is room in the budget until the rookies start to earn big dough ...
     
     
    My snap reaction was yes I would sign Sanchez. Then I tried to think about how Terry Ryan sees it, in terms of risk. Sign him to 5 years, then the last year of the contract you'll be paying him (say) $15M or $16M in 2017. This is right in the heart of the new window of competitiveness, right? Will that $16M be part of the winning formula? Or will it be a boat-anchor preventing you from making a deal to push this juggernaut team to a second straight title?
     
    Well, roll the clock back 5 years to 2007. Not that all of these pitchers were available to sign at the time, but let's focus on who was completing his 28-year-old season, just as Sanchez is now. Limit it to guys who clearly were established starters. These 28-year-olds were:
     
    Carlos Silva
    Johan Santana
    Gil Meche
    John Lackey
    Jeremy Guthrie
    Mark Buehrle
    Erik Bedard
     
    Isn't this kind of a Murderer's Row of pitchers who teams actually *did* make an investment in? And with the exception of Buehrle, aren't they the ones that, 5 years later, fans of their current teams wail and gnash their teeth over?
     
    Now put yourself in Ryan's shoes. Are you really going to pull the trigger on Sanchez for 5 years?
     
    As I said above, I would. And this quick little bit of research reaffirms my reminder to myself, that when Terry Ryan and I disagree about something, take another good hard look.

  20. Anagram update

    · ashbury · 04/28/2013 09:28 PM

    http://media.cmgdigital.com/shared/img/photos/2012/01/26/19/ca/original_shcool_photo.jpg
    Previously I posted anagrams of the 2013 Twins active roster. Here are permutations on some recent additions:
     
    Oswaldo Arcia
    Iowa Carloads
    I Also A Coward
    A Cow Loads Air
     
    Scott Diamond
    Candid Mottos
    Misadd Cotton
    Condom Tit Ads
     
    Pedro Hernandez
    Preharden Dozen
    Pardoned Her Zen
    End Red Porn Haze
     
    Anthony Swarzak
    What's Zany? Akron!
    Hawk Annoys Tzar
    Who Yanks Tarzan?
  23. I'll try this as a blog entry instead of a forum post. 
    The Tigers continue to shop Rick Porcello to no avail. MLB Trade Rumors states that the Padres turned down a chance to trade either Huston Street or Luke Gregerson to get him. Other deals have failed to materialize. I suppose the equivalent from the Twins standpoint would be Glen Perkins, factoring in the NL and the Padres home park. Would you make that deal, if the Tigers also saw it that way (and were willing to trade intra-division)?
     
    Porcello was a hotshot coming out of HS who had a very promising major league season as a 20 year old, but has failed to progress (or regressed, actually), sporting an ultra-Twins-like K/9 in the 5's the last two years which actually lifts his lifetime average a bit. Few walks but very hittable (Pitch To Contact?), with not overly many HR. He's in his arbitration years but can't be a free agent until 2016, according to baseball-reference.com. Based on his track record he'd not be much of an improvement over what the Twins rotation already consists of, but at age 24 there is still seems the chance of a breakout, in which case you have him for three years, at increasing cost of course.
     
    My own take is that I'd be on the fence and would want my scouts to have a consensus that Porcello can still improve before I'd go for such a trade. (Which is hardly different from any proposed trade, but even more so than usual.) It's tempting, but you'd want to have a clear idea what it is you think you can fix, which is always a risky proposition when other people have already tried.
  24. Originally posted in reply to thread These Call-Ups Are a Downer
     
    The Twins' 40-man roster is apparently at 39 right now, and the desire for waiver-wire flexibility is a reason given not to bring up one or two other players for September, such as Anthony Slama.
     
    How can a last-place team have any issues at all managing their 40-man roster? Just sooooo many talented players, the other teams will scoop an All-Star-in-the-making right up, if the Twins aren't careful?
     
    Indecisiveness, maybe that's the reason. Morneau, will he or won't he return to previous levels? Span, can we squeeze just a bit more out of a trade? Middle infielders, so many flashy-glove no-stick players to choose from, better hang onto a bunch and see if one steps forward.
     
    Meanwhile, at least, the scouts and front-office can make up their minds about Slama not being able to translate AAA success to the majors. So I guess indecision can't be the culprit after all.
     
    Without going through the 40-man, spot by spot, doesn't it break down roughly like this?

    your 25 best guys for the major league roster
    5 AAAA guys to cover the inevitable injuries
    5 young guys who are too old to be left off but on whom the jury is still out (a little indecisiveness is necessary and good)
    5 contingency spots because what I just laid out here is too simple

    What additional needs and purposes are clogging up the Twins' 40-man roster? With 21 pitchers and 18 position players currently listed, I guess the area of concern is clear. I'm not in the mood to discuss spots #39, #38, ... .
     
    A forty-man roster is intended to be a bit of a headache for the "have" teams. Not the have-nots.
  25. The transactions of the last few days boil down to Blackburn being replaced by Deduno, and Parmelee being replaced by... Fien? So, we're back to a roster of 13 pitchers and 3 catchers. Very little scope for pinch-hitting and pinch-running. I guess this has been hashed to death, but it still seems weird to me. Wasn't so long ago that 11 pitchers were enough for a staff. And I think it detracts from the enjoyment of the tactical game - instead of managers having to anticipate opposing moves and countering them, it's just a matter of running wave after wave of fresh arms out there to throw heat for an inning.

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