Obie

All three Twins runners in the 9th screwed up. Why was Larnach standing on 2nd on a liner over the right fielder's head? If had been halfway, he would have scored easily, but he ended up held at third. Sano then forced the issue by heading toward an occupied 2nd base. He could have retreated because no fielder was at first. Instead, Urshela headed toward occupied third. Of course a horrific lob from the catcher allowed the baserunners off the hook.

Agreed. He is a professional. Some of his jokes are stale, but I like him much better than Gladden or John Gordon. I loved the guys in the early days--Ray Scott, Herb Carneal, and Halsey Hall.

The second out at the plate on the "contact" play did not cost the Twins a run. Three straight hits to follow meant that the runner who reached first during the play at the plate came around to score.

The above comments suggest Kepler as Larnach's competition for playing time. I think it is Sano. If Sano doesn't hit, Kiriloff moves to first and Larnach to left field. Or, if Sanchez doesn't hit, Sano becomes DH and the Kiriloff and Larnach moves occur. These scenarios also improve the right-handed imbalance in the lineup.

FWIW, ESPN+ gives the Yankees a B on this trade and a B+ to the Twins. Their rationale assumes further moves based upon freeing up significant salary space this year and into the future.

FWIW, ESPN+ gives the Yankees a B on this trade and a B+ to the Twins. Their rationale assumes further moves based upon freeing up significant salary space this year and into the future.

I was there at the '65 game. No, I didn't catch the home run, but I was in the left field stands near where it landed. I was in town because we had tickets to the all star game two days later. The Mpls paper headline the next day was "Forever Harmon," and we prepared a banner that said the same thing. We waved it from our right field seats after he hit a homer in the all star game also. I don't remember that the Yankees were that far back in the standings. I thought they were in second place, and the win meant the Twins went into the all star break with a five game lead rather than a three game lead. There was a collective exhale in Twins land in recognition that the Twins might actually win the pennant.

Tony O and Joe Mauer introduced themselves by hitting .400 in the Appy League. Kirilliloff is approaching select territory. I just checked to make sure my memory was correct, and I was surprised to see that Tony was 22 years old at the time, and he was 25 during his MLB rookie season.

One more stat from a slightly different vantage. Twins overall #3 hole in the batting order OPS .683 29th out of 30 teams.

The following list shows Twins' hitter's OPS rank per position. Minimum 300 PA. All MLB. Suzuki C .610 OPS 25th out of 28. Mauer 1B .718 OPS 31st out of 35 Dozier 2B .751 OPS 14th out of 38 Escobar SS .754 OPS 7th out of 32 Plouffe 3B .742 OPS 20th out of 30 Rosario LF .748 OPS 14th out of 30 Hicks CF .721 OPS 17th out of 30 Hunter RF .702 OPS 29th out of 34 Sano DH .916 OPS 2nd out of 11 Overall team .704 OPS 13th out 15 AL, 23rd out of 30 MLB.

Biggest criticism is that it is only one game for the wild card playoff. Two out of three would be better and wouldn't push the playoffs back that far.

I was there in the left field bleachers not far from where the Killer's line drive landed. It was more a psychological thing than anything. The Yanks had won the pennant nine out of the previous ten years, and the Twins had been frustratingly close. The game was kind of a "king is dead, long live the king" moment that made the team and the upper midwest believe it was actually possible to overcome the Yankee mystique. There was also a sense that we were a big league team in a big league city--a coming of age moment in the grand scheme of things. Two days later, we hosted the All Star game, and it was all of a piece.

In related news, Yankee first baseman Wally Pipp reports a headache today, and he will be replaced in the starting lineup by rookie Lou Gehrig.

This is outstanding news because Twins Daily is the best thing that's happened to the Minnesota online sports scene in a long time. I appreciate the content and the moderation. Kudos to all responsible.

Excellent article. Really points out the glaring holes in the lineup--the four power positions: two corner outfield spots, first base, and DH. Hopefully, Mauer and Arcia can show significant improvement next year and perhaps Vargas.

Mindful of Tim Tuefel's homer in the early days of the Dome. Was it a grand slam? Pop fly to short right field that bounced in front of right fielder, over his head, and all the way to the wall.

Michael Rand today quotes extensively from an article by Washington Post writer Thomas Boswell. The gist of Boswell's article is to criticize the high wall in right center that makes home runs to that part of the ballpark much too difficult. Target Field is a lovely downtown home for the Twins, classy and comfortable if not breathtaking. But until that right field wall becomes remotely fair to hitters, especially in the 120-foot-long power-alley expanse from the 385-to-403 signs, this is a badly flawed design. I agree.

Where was Buxton?

I can't help but remember the posters here this spring who suggested we needed the edge in the locker room AJ would bring. It seems the edge may actually have turned out to be poison, according to this report from a Boston radio station: http://www.weei.com/sports/boston/baseball/red-sox/rob-bradford/2014/07/10/aj-pierzynski-problem-was-worse-anybody-could

His decision, not Twins, claiming he had no confidence batting left-handed. Shane Victorino? http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/blogs/260669531.html

Why was Buxton out of the FM lineup? Any background info about Arcia's return to the lineup in Rochester?

With favorite cousins living in Lakeville, we spent a lot of time at the park in the sixties. We'd come early enough to chase batting practice home runs. In the down times of the early '70s, we'd drive into the parking lot five minutes before game time, park in the first row, buy a $2 bleacher ticket, and go and sit in the boxes behind home plate.

Anthony was asked whether the Twins would see this as reason to move to 1B, and the response was 3B only. DH was not mentioned in that context. DH was mentioned in the context of getting him some ABs later this year before returning to 3B. Anthony indicated that was a possibility for minor leagues but would be decided later.

Let me speak for the over 60 crowd. I don't think the two oldest entries ('65 catch and '67 520 ft homer) equal Killebrew's '65 bottom of the ninth, two out home run in the last game before the all star game. That homer that beat the Yankees, perennial league champions, signaled that the Twins just might be for real. In an earlier day, that homer was voted the greatest moment in Twins history (25 year celebration?). I also have a personal attachment as I was in the left field bleachers near where the line drive homer landed. I also think Carew's 4 hit June 26 game that left him with an avg over .400 during his 1977 MVP year should have been on the list.

Sano's left-right splits at New Britain are backwards. His OPS against righties is .965, but against lefties, it is only .714 (overall .899). This would appear to be a positive stat in that his performance against lefties is likely to catch up and pass what he is already doing against righties. Anyone have access to his splits for earlier teams? Has this been a persistent pattern?