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big dog

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Everything posted by big dog

  1. big dog
    I got a huge smile and a warm feeling from this- before I even saw the money. What great news.
  2. big dog
    "Plus, maybe Hicks goes on a nice roll, regains confidence in swinging from both sides and turns into an everyday player. With his patience and defensive prowess, he only needs to hit a little bit to be a valuable starter. I haven't given up on him by any means." I really hope this is true, and I believe it could happen. However, reading it reminded me of the Calvin and Hobbes strip where Suzie Derkins is sitting alone, sad, saying she wished Calvin wasn't so mean to here and she wished he would play with her. Then she made a face and said "while I'm at it, I might as well wish for a pony". Here's hoping there's a pony under the Twins' tree.
  3. big dog
    I'm personally not attacking the Sox (though the best days of summer are the days the Twins beat them). I just think that whatever they do isn't likely to work out, partly because they will probably do the opposite thing at the worst possible time. All these moves make some sense to me, more or less, and I'm impressed by what they've gotten, but I just feel confident that they will still find a way to screw it up before the season is over. It's funny, as a Twins fan living in the area for 25 years, I just don't know many people who care about the Sox. Even going to a game there I'm more likely to run into the young professionals there to drink than people who actually care about the team. The TV ratings are completely in the toilet, and this probably won't help. Despite winning the Series in the very recent past, there's just no passion. Maybe there is on the south side, but I don't get that sense. Even Chris Sale doesn't draw a big crowd. Still...Brad Penney??
  4. big dog
    Whoa! The Sox just signed Brad Penney!!! Start printing playoff tickets! As a long-time Chicago-area resident, I just don't understand them. They always seem to be fine-tuning to make sure they end up in second or third place, except when everything broke right and they won the Series. They hang on to players for puzzling reasons, they'll empty their farm system at the drop of a hat, they are always kind of old...I never feel like they know what they are doing, they just cast about for ideas. I don't think Ventura's much of a manager, but he's a Reinsdorf favorite so he's probably here for life, just like their goofball broadcasters. It feels kind of pleasantly dysfunctional, sort of like the Cubs were but without the lovable loser stuff. Perhaps their goal was to always have a better record than the Cubs. Now it might not happen, so the new plan is Buy Everyone. Including Brad Penney.
  5. big dog
    Whoever signs Liriano will spend the year saying wow, if he hadn't gotten hurt he would have had a great season. Career high in innings was 191, back in 2010. Next highest was 162. Tantalizing but unreliable. I say spend big or stay home. We have enough 3/4/5s to sort through.
  6. big dog
    So I just talked to my 80-year-old mother on the phone. I said "Did you hear who the Twins signed?" And before I could say who, she said "Oh no, not him again!" I laughed pretty hard. OK, I've told everyone how my mother and daughter responded. I won't share any more family stories tonight. My wife doesn't care anyway.
  7. big dog
    My 20-yr-old daughter, who has been to more games than I have over the last 3 years, is shrieking with excitement. So if that was their plan, it worked. I hope to be won over, eventually.
  8. big dog
    I'm in on Milone. It's just not that much money for someone who still has potential. Let's see what Allen can do with him.
  9. big dog
    I was never a fan of Rios when he played here with the White Sox- inconsistent is a generous term for his performance. He did have some tools, if any are left. Hunter creates too many distractions for my taste. Too many hey-don't-you-want-to-know-what-I-think interviews. I always thought he confused leadership with talking a lot (and throwing a punch).
  10. big dog
    Toward the end of Ripken's career people were calling him selfish for insisting he be in the lineup when he was clearly not helping the team. Tough,maybe, but that isn't always best.
  11. big dog
    I don't necessarily blame the team for players who play hurt. If I were in Cola's situation, I would feel like I was fighting for my career with every at-bat. If I say I'm hurt, it gives the team a reason to look elsewhere. My daughter is a college varsity soccer player who got relatively little playing time last year as a freshman. She was competing for a starting spot this fall, and was given a chance in the first game of the season. The day before she had taken a pretty bad fall due to a collision in practice and hurt her neck. She warmed up for the game, and didn't feel ready to play. The coach told her to talk to the trainer, the trainer told her she should sit out, and the coach has held it against her all fall, reminding her that when she did get a chance to start, she wasn't "mentally ready". Because I guess having an injury means you aren't mentally ready. This is of course one of 36 million similar stories from athletes. Why would I risk that with a major league career? I would do what I did in my college career- suck it up, rub a little dirt on it, get on the field, and let the coach tell me if I'm too injured to play. Dumb idea, but it's a natural way to do it.
  12. big dog
    Yeah, except all the guys in the first group have rings and the guys in the second group don't...
  13. big dog
    I don't have any strong feelings about Viola, but he would certainly count as outside personnel. He hasn't done anything with the Twins in what, 25 years? He's been with several other organizations. Plenty of outside perspective there. Pitching coaches are a mystery to me. A few always seem to have really good pitchers, a few have a mystique that doesn't seem deserved (Don Cooper, maybe), and I'm sure they are important but as with anything, different coaches seem to relate better or worse to different pitchers. I just hope whoever they get can offer suggestions to pitchers with different styles and not try to make everyone into the same mold.
  14. big dog
    The tampering issue isn't that Maddon opted out, then signed a contract with the Cubs. The Rays' issue is that Maddon might have opted out only after being asked by the Cubs about replacing Renteria. MLB doesn't allow teams to contact people under contract about new positions, unless the contract club gives permission. If the Cubs didn't talk with Maddon before he opted out, it's not tampering. Even if they did, it's only a problem for them if it can be proven.
  15. big dog
    I don't think it's collusion, which we usually think of as among owners/people with similar positions. This is more like tampering. I'll be surprised if the Rays don't file a complaint with the Ghost of Bud Selig.
  16. big dog
    Yeah, my guess is he might like to try on some large-market challenges for a change. I used to enjoy buying used cars because they were a good deal. Now I sometimes buy new cars. I like them better. If it weren't my money, I'd always buy new cars. And it's not his money. He's 60 years old, he's gonna get paid. Why should he take the most money? I think he's going to take the best opportunity.
  17. big dog
    Nolasco definitely showed signs of being a serviceable AL pitcher after he got off the DL. Not what I hoped for, but still an upgrade. I expect he will be a solid 3-4 for a while. I'm not in a rush to trade him.
  18. big dog
    They have certainly managed to take all the air out of their opponents. Hosmer and Cain are hot right now, and Moustakas has a half-season of HRs in 8 games. It's fun to see what momentum can do.
  19. big dog
    Looking at those rosters, it seems like most years the group turns into 1-3 at least somewhat productive major leaguers. By somewhat productive I'm just thinking of more than a few brief appearances (my definition: Matthew Lecroy, yes, Tyler Robertson, no). The high is 5 in 1998 including Mike Lincoln (263 appearances in MLB). 2004 was a good year as well, or at least it was until Kubel tore up his knee (Baker, Crain, Bartlett, Kubel). Let's hope for at least 5 out of this group. It looks a lot stronger than the the others, especially recent years. 2008-2010 didn't work out too well compared to average.
  20. big dog
    Hey SD, I like your vision. It makes more sense as a whole than any of the individual parts do.
  21. big dog
    Please stop, you're scaring the children.
  22. big dog
    Contraction threats are similar to blackmail/kidnapping. Drug testing was too little, too late, too tentative. Do it or don't do it, don't make it look like you are doing it when you effectively aren't. Does it work now? I doubt it, despite what they say. I don't like interleague play but I'm sure many fans do, so that's a positive. The wild card made sense, but the season going into November doesn't make sense. Putting Milwaukee back in the NL only made sense if you felt you owed something to Milwaukee...such as if you were a former owner and a resident of the city. Late-night World Series games benefit TV, as does everything else Selig did, and the owners and players, but not the fans. Selig is a former owner, employed by the owners, and he made the owners rich. Job well done, I guess. I'm sure the players are thrilled they have a chance to play for $20 million contracts instead of those piddly $5 million contracts. As a fan, his overall performance has reduced my enjoyment of the game.
  23. big dog
    I completely agree- not Schafer's fault, but the result was the same. And it goes beyond bad throws- bad baserunning is another example. The team needs better fundamentals. Arcia did make a really nice throw toward third last night, hitting the cutoff man perfectly and keeping the runner at second. I haven't given up hope, but you are right- it is embarrassing.
  24. big dog
    I agree, it's embarrassing, and it isn't just the pitching. If I hear Gardy talk one more time about how the team plays the game the right way, I will smash something expensive. These teams are not fundamentally sound- they give away runs. It isn't being inexperienced, it's throwing to the wrong base, not hitting the cutoff man (Arcia, game after game), not being in position to take the throw, etc. The other day Shafer threw to second base, and no one was there. The runner, obviously, took second (and then third). This has to stop.
  25. big dog
    Ooh, and we can have them throw disco records in a pile in the outfield, and we could blow them up with real dynamite!!! Ah, those were the good old days. Dime beers and dynamite- that could work.
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