stringer bell

Great managin' by Gardy. Doumit will probably get another swing. I'm only being somewhat sarcastic.

You're not talking about 99 anymore are you?

What! No pinch runner for Plouffe? Carroll is available and he's still 39.

Oh yeah, 99! I was about 14 and I thought she was.....hot!

Swarzie stops the string of single runs scored by the Sox. This game might end by midnight Eastern Time.

Ahhh, I need a telephone booth and a shoe phone.

He was out, just like Drew was out at the plate.

Now, Bremer doesn't recognize a RH hitter is up vs. Swarzak. Dick needed the vacation, not Bert.

Bremer and Coom didn't realize that Gardy wouldn't burn his backup catcher. No surprise to me.

Missed it by that much!

Bremer really, really wants the Twins to run on Salty. I would much rather see Morneau hit it about 400 feet.

Nice point Jorgen. I was a kid when Allison played, but he was pretty doggone good. It was a pitcher's era and Allison was a power hitter, not a percentage hitter, but he drew a lot of walks and hit a lot of balls over the fence. He was big and strong and fast, with a really good arm. Allison won the Rookie of the Year award in '59 and was an All-Star three times. IMHO, Allison is a more powerful but less versatile Cuddyer.

Bert--"balance point" Coom--"tilt"

Wood was the LP for Rochester tonight--6.75 ERA (really only one bad outing). Fien has an option.

Didn't even get it posted.

Chances Ortiz gets a hit--90%?

I guess there is a reason why Casey didn't get much chance in his previous organizations. I know he is an extreme fly ball pitcher who hadn't allowed homers until tonight.

I like Fien, but he needs to pitch better in these high-leverage situations or he's going to be in Rochester.

Not Bremer's best game: he called Pedroia Ellsbury twice. He got Andrew Baily and Andrew Miller mixed up, didn't know where Breslow played last year and (I think) misremembered Breslow's stint with the Twins. He was with the Twins for most of one season and then lost on waivers the next season.

Breslow didn't get shelled very often. He did walk way too many batters for a Yalie.

Baxendale with another very good outing. How good a big league prospect is he?

Probably the thinking in Boston is the ump is out to screw them. I just think he's an erratic young umpire. 3-0 zones are notoriously wide. Duensing took advantage.

You listed a lot of good players, but they weren't all in the Twins' minor league system at once. Harmon and Allison were in the majors for good in '59, Kaat in '61. Tovar was acquired from the Reds for Jerry Arrigo in '64 or '65. Tony's first year in the minors was '61 IIRC, and Zoilo was already the starting SS for the Twins by then.

Regarding Allison's fielding, he was a really good outfielder and if he committed a lot of errors, it probably was from making throws and having them get by or hit a runner. Then, as now, judging an OF because they did or did not commit errors is ridiculous.

If anyone has read Sid's biography, Sid remarked that he didn't like Allison. It seems that Allison had the "big league" attitude when he came to Minnesota. He was a fine player, a three-time All-Star, with a lifetime OPS+ of 127. He was big, but pretty fast and a good outfielder with a great arm. I recall that for some reason Harmon and Allison switched positions for a season and that Allison was a pretty good 1B as well. Lots of walks and a lot of homers for #4 and he was as good at breaking up a double play as anyone I ever saw.