Otto von Ballpark

The last major broadcast radio innovation was the widely ignored HD Radio, which suggests that the public doesn't care too much about broadcast radio anymore in general. FWIW, the last couple of cars I've owned haven't had very good AM reception anyway. Unless I'm willing to tolerate a lot of hiss and interference, it's typically a much better experience to scan the FM dial for the closest affiliate while I am driving. But I'm guessing most fans would just open an app instead.

Unless there is some plan to replace AM radio itself, or repurpose its broadcast frequencies, I suspect it would still hang around for awhile, even if it's not supported in new electric cars.

True. A lot of people seem surprised to learn that you can still get TV broadcasts over an antenna too.

This is triple insanity. A team backing out of a $350 mil contract agreement? Another team signing the player for over $300 mil, at a position where they've already signed another player for over $300 mil just last year? That team also spiking to ~$380 mil in annual payroll?

Checking Gallo’s leverage splits, he has a 77 tOPS+ in high leverage (meaning his OPS in high leverage is 23% worse than his overall stats). It is normal for a player’s performance to be worse in higher leverage, but that seems a bit worse than expected. Kepler is only 3% worse in high leverage, Sano 8%.

Pete Rose gets the first base hit in the Metrodome, but the Twins secure the first victory, a 5-0 win over Philadelphia in an exhibition game. The baggie is noticeably absent in KSTP's footage as rookie Kent Hrbek homers twice to tie Harmon Killebrew's spring training club record of 9. Hrbek and fellow Twins players Gary Gaetti, Butch Wynegar, and Dave Engle comment on the stadium. View full video

This debate is now concluded and open for public comment. There is also a poll at the top of the thread to vote on which side you found more persuasive. Thanks to both of our participants, @mikelink45 (A) and @stringer bell (B)! If you have any ideas for topics or would like to participate in future debates, please message @Otto von Ballpark or @Squirrel

The weary Twins stumbled across the finish line, as did their equally weary fans in the TD forums. What's next for the team and for us? Image courtesy of Twins Daily Target Field is getting winterized; TC Bear is ready to hibernate; the Twins Daily community is reviewing 2022, previewing 2023, and looking for sources of non-Twins baseball discussion to fill the void. @wsnydes asks, How did your preseason win prediction go? Were you one of the "lucky" folks who predicted 78 wins? If so, are you satisfied with yourself now? Next season, please try to use your prognostication powers for good, not evil mediocrity! Don't care to look back? You're not alone. @Danchat is ready to look ahead at 40 Man Roster Management For 2023. Woods Richardson was already the "big name" addition, in more ways than one, but there are likely to be more. Also looking ahead, @mikelink45 shares My questions for next season. Do you have any answers? The Twins front office may randomly select one answer to try. If your answer is selected, you could win a Drew Maggi MLB game-used bat! In the minor league forum, @DJL44 shares the story of Doug Deeds, a former Twins farmhand reflecting on the difficult decision of When to hang it up. If only Deeds could have once played in an injury-ravaged organization like the 2022 Twins, he may have made a MLB appearance. Finally, for those Twins fans not ready to hang it up for 2022, you can discuss all of the playoff action with fellow bitter, jaded fans in The 2022 MLB Postseason Thread from @cHawk. What storyline are you following in the postseason, or in the Twins hot stove offseason? Share it in the forums! View full article

The Twins Daily forums received an unwelcome math lesson this week, on the topic of elimination numbers rather than magic numbers. Image courtesy of Twins Daily As the season winds down, the community is looking beyond math, at storylines around the league, gearing up for the hot stove and 2023, and creating and sharing art inspired by happier times for the Twins. Last week, this humble correspondent invoked the phrase "it's over" (or "it's Ober") to describe the 2022 Twins playoff chances, but that wasn't technically true: as late as Wednesday this week, we were Still not eliminated from postseason contention yet according to resident mathematician @kydoty. Alas, even that faint glimpse of possibility is gone now too: it is finally, and officially, Ober. If you are wondering how the Twins can improve next year, @Nine of twelve brings good news: "Rebranding" underway: New scoreboards and new uniforms. There's nothing wrong with the 2022 Twins that a new coat of paint can't fix! Speaking of paint, @Snarkier Than Reusse objects to whitewashing in What I Wish the Twin’s Front Office Would Say About 2022 (Part 1) (as well as Part 2). Would you like to see them handling the Twins P.R.? If you want to take a break from the Twins, head over to the Other Baseball forum to follow some other teams and players for a change. @mikelink45 has some recommendations in Keep watching - baseball keeps going. What will you be watching during the last week of the season and into the playoffs? @Trov tries to take their mind off the Twins by asking, Do we want parity in baseball? If so, how do we get it? Although a side benefit of parity is that the Twins don't need to get any better if all of the good teams just get worse. Finally, baseball inspires art as our very own @alexlegge has a gift for any Twins fans who are also fans of drum-and-bass, jungle, or electronica music genres... (isn't that all of us?). Be sure to see them perform at the (Jake) Cavern Club before they get famous! Do you have a fave Twins song right now? Share your jam or dirge in the forums. View full article

A week ago, TD member @CRF said "It ain't Ober...till it's Ober." Well, now it's Ober, and the only pun left is Sugar Ray's breakup song. Image courtesy of Twins Daily Re-live the last moments of optimism from a week ago, lovingly preserved in Hanging by a thread. @Number3 captured a moment in time when it was still possible for the Twins to get back in the race, just before Cleveland cut our last thread of hope. But they can never cut our forum threads! Like how @PopRiveter wants to witness the battle of Arraez vs Evil -my last remaining reason to care. The whole world is watching Aaron Judge but can our own La Regadera ("The Sprinker") spoil his triple crown? The Twins and Yankees not only share batting title competitors, they also share starting pitcher trade deadline disasters, as chronicled by @Brandon in Montas or Mahle, Which pitcher helped his new team the least? Unfortunately, that may be where the Twins and Yankees similarities end, as New York has been preparing for the postseason, while the well-seasoned Twins have been cooking on a post over a Cuyahoga River fire. If you don't care to look backward or suffer the present, look to the future with @cHawk at the 2023 Rotation. There are plenty of arms to consider -- two arms per pitcher, in fact. Over in the Other Baseball forum, @Vanimal46 is still thinking about baseball while watching football in Take Notes, MLB. What would you like to see MLB adopt from NFL broadcasts? If you said "illegal formation penalties," I've got good news for you! Finally, the ballclub may be struggling, but the Minnesota Twins have finally become masters of their own domain. @Rosterman reports how a pair of real-life twins are likely celebrating a financial windfall as Twins.com finds a new home. Would you have sold Twins.com? Or would you have dedicated it to Taylor and Tyler Rogers? Share your ideas in the forums. View full article

The seasons are rapidly changing, both on the calendar and in the TD forums, unless the Twins can find a way back into the division race, and fast. Image courtesy of Twins Daily Firings, fantasies, fu-machus, futures, and football were just a few of the alliterative topics of discussion in the community this week, in the twilight of a Twins season perhaps best described by the letter "F". Is it time for Twins fans to heed the advice of Meredith Brooks, in the bridge of her profanely-titled hit 1997 single? Just when you think you've got me figured out The season's already changin' I think it's cool you do what you do And don't try to save me @RickOShea felt that Rocco Baldelli should have been fired on Monday Afternoon, after getting swept at home by division rival Cleveland. But according to consultant Bob Slydell, "Studies have statistically shown that there's less chance of an incident if you do it at the end of the week." Even if Baldelli sticks around, we may have a pitching coach vacancy. @darin617 wants to know if any big-name options might be available to turn things around in Pitching coaches contracts? With apologies to Pete Maki, eight letters combined is presumably not a big enough name. (Fortunately, that also disqualifies a reunion with Dick Such.) In player news, Randy Dobnak put on waivers was brought to our attention by @Rosterman. At first glance, this seems like a fall from grace for the mustachioed hurler, but maybe this is just what Dobnak needs to restore the underdog status that fueled his ascent back in 2019. In the minor league forum, not content to simply look ahead to next year, @Fighting4par asks What will the twins pitching staff look like in 2025. Lots of young arms to think about, but I'd still wager on Andrew Albers making an appearance that year too. Finally, for those ready to completely check out of baseball this year, there's still room on the bandwagon in @Vanimal46's 2022 Vikings Regular Season Thread. The TD Vikings Talk forum features football topics from the perspective of a baseball fan: why 11 players rather than 9? Why are they always colliding instead of providing sliding lanes to each other? At least both sports now share common ground in inexplicable replay decisions. Are you ready to fold on 2022, or are you fighting to the last game? Share your perspective in the forums. View full article