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mikelink45

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  1. mikelink45

    Winter jobs

    By mikelink45,

    Boy were the times different. Isn’t that Lounge singer Denny McLain? Why is Bobby Veach mining for Coal between seasons.
    When comparing athletes from different generations there so many obstacles that statistics just cannot stand up. When someone quotes WAR for a player from the first half of the twentieth century to compare them with current players I have to believe that the person doing so knows it is a ridiculous exercise. It was not only how they were used in the games, the equipment, training, and philosophy of the day, it was where sports ranked in society.
    A recent conversation with Author/singer Douglas Wood had us both reminiscing about driving to International Falls and getting our gas tanks filled by Bronko Nagurski, the Canadian born young man grew up in the woods, lumber camps and hard work were common for him and his Ukrainian parents.
    He went on to be in the inaugural class of inductees in both the Professional and the College Football Hall of Fames and was a giant in professional wrestling, but he was always a small town guy running his own gas station and putting on the gas caps to tight that people had to come back to Bronko’s to buy more gas since no one else could loosen the cap. It is a good legend.
    But what Doug and I both remember is that parents would want to have their young sons shake hands with Bronko. His ring size of 19 ½ might help understand how you would see your hand literally disappear inside his big mitt.
    But he was not the only working man professional athlete.
     
    We know minor leaguers still get jobs that put them in mainstream society, but this article https://prestonjg.wordpress.com/2014/01/12/off-season-jobs-of-major-league-baseball-players-in-the-winter-of-1958-59/ gives a list of 1958 jobs including Hall of Famers like Eddie Mathews and Early Wynn running construction companies, and Nellie Fox running a bowling alley. What a time that was!
    No they were not just doing it for publicity. In those days salaries and revenues did not allow for 12 month athletes with personal trainers. Smoky Burgess drove a lumber truck and Stan Musial had a bowling alley and a number of businesses to manage, but during the 1940s he sold Christmas Trees from a lot with Red Schoendienst and other Cardinal stars. Roy Campenella ran a liquor store. Jim Palmer pitched a shut out in the World Series and then sold furniture for the winter.
    Try to imagine Yogi Berra selling you hardware in a Sears store or working as a head waiter in a restaurant you frequent. Or you could buy flowers at Lou Brock’s floral shop. Roger Bresnahan worked as a detective in the off season. When Waite Hoyt was a young player he worked in a mortuary In the winter and Eddie Plank gave tours of the Gettysburg battlefield. Jackie Robinson made his winter dollars selling appliances and doing barnstorming. And both Willie Mays and Willie McCovey sold cars!
    Our Minnesota Twins took work seriously too – Bob Allison sold cars and real estate and I would love to have some help filling out the resume’s of our early Twins players.
  2. mikelink45

    Radio matters

    By mikelink45,

    I read the announcement that the Twins were going back on to WCCO and I was delighted. It did not get as much attention now as it would have 30 years ago (of course they were on WCCO then) but that is because TV and all the cable networks have changed the way that we enjoy the game.
    ​Growing up in Minneapolis in the 1950's I would take my little transistor radio to bed with me and hide under the pillows to listen to Earl Gillespie and Blaine Walsh tell me about the Milwaukee Braves game. In the dark those voices brought the game to life and I felt like I knew the announcers and the team. I even rooted for them when a foul ball was hit and their fishing net would come out of the broadcast booth to try and catch it.
     
    They painted word pictures and made the game something that Television could not. Today we talk about pace of game and I, like so many others, really do mind that the games I listened to are so much longer - https://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2015/1/29/7921283/baseball-game-length-visual-analysis In those years of transistor radio enjoyment the game was done in less that 2 1/2 hours. I would not have made it through the 3+ hours that the same game takes today - I would have fallen asleep or I would have been busted. And of course TV is part of the problem. No forced radio time outs they could put their ads in during the lulls that are part of the game. The lulls in activity did not stand out like they do on TV where they have to run the replays 5 or 6 times. The conversation in the booth seemed to involve me and I was sometimes sorry when they got cut off by the play on the field.
    ​When the Twins came I heard Halsey Hall who was always good for mangling the narrative, the smooth Ray Scott and Bob Wolff for 1961; replaced by Herb Carneal which made the broadcast the best ever! So baseball remains a radio sport for me, the best of all sports on radio. The chaos of moving parts in Hockey, Soccer, and Basketball do not lend themselves to thoughtful listening for me and I drift away quickly. Football is the only other sport I can listen to because like baseball there are lots of open moments between plays when the announcer and the analyst can talk and fill in the blanks. They enrich while the three continuous action sports are a race for the announcer to keep up.
     
    I love the sound of a baseball game in the background whether driving or splitting wood. I enjoy it biking, hiking, sitting on the deck and watching the feeders. I can tune it out and still catch the sense of excitement when a play happens that I do not want to miss because the intensity of the voices. I know they will replay it in ways that make seem like I saw the play myself.
     
    But then the Twins went on a search for something better - KSTP, TWTN, and KGQO. Since I am very rural I have no idea where the last two stations are and they do not broadcast out into the woods where I live. It is true that many of us in the rural landscape have television (even though I do not) and they get cable, but when you are in the rural areas there are farm chores, woodland chores, repairs to be made, things to do, even travel to be done and those are not places where you can watch TV.
     
    When the Twins needed support in the past they had a ready support from the rural area, but then they built the new stadium and shut off the voice in the rural landscape. In recent years I was able to listen to an affiliate station in our area that carried the broadcast, but traveling further afield I do not have Sirius Radio so I searched, often in vain, for the Twins game. For a team that carries the State's name this is not acceptable.
     
    So WCCO I am pleased that your are back. Not only can I now find the Twins, but you might even catch me listening to something else on your station, something I have not done since the Twins left. Will you bring back Danny and Corey or will there be a new voice? If I might suggest - Corey is quite good, but I think I have heard all of Danny's stories.
  3. mikelink45

    Grandpa's hands

    By mikelink45,

    I remember my Grandpa's hands. They were so big that when we arm wrestled they would wrap around my hand and over lap and people thought I had big hands. He had hands from being a lumberjack, from working as a fireman on the Iron range railroad, but he might have had big hands because he played country ball. He pitched, he caught, he played what ever was needed. He was not great, my uncles moved into various paid ball clubs, but grandpa always played and I was young and he was old and still he was there. No glove, no glory, he just played.
     
    I read a passage from THE TURTLES BEATING HEART by Denise Low, an essay tracing her Delaware Indian heritage and she wrote, "The most substantial evidence of Grandfather's baseball career was his gnarled hands. Grandfather played the physically demanding position of catcher before padded mitts were standard equipment. Several times fastballs broke his fingers, which in old age were knotted with arthritis. The life of a professional baseball player was tough in the early 1900s. Grandfather told my brother about traveling with the Blues from one small town to the next by train. The Kansas City Public Library has records of the Blues, exactly as Grandfather remembered, but only with accounts of wins and losses, not rosters. Baseball was poorly documented during that era, and players were transient as the poorly organized teams."
     
    Each year I hear the debates about Hall of Fame and every year I hear that the athletes now are so much better than what they used to be. But of course that is just our need to make our own generation the best ever. The fact is, we are bigger, faster, more athletic than they were in the past, but our diet, our understanding of physiology, our training, our health and our opportunities are better too.
     
    The old athlete given everything we have today would be just as great. Jim Thorpe would rise to the medal stand today just as he did when he came off the reservation. The pitchers who tossed every game and won or loss 30 - 40 = 50 games years ago would be the studs today (of course we would only let them throw 5 innings every five or six days.
     
    I remember seeing a line drive to third base, the most dangerous position on the field, hit to my grandfather. I remember the speed of the ball and I remember him catching it without gloves. He didn't flinch, he didn't call for the trainer. My god those guys were tough.
     
    So, yes today's players are magnificent, but please - do not consider them to be better than the athletes of the past. Statistics do not measure diet, the need to work for the family to survive, the lack of equipment, or the desire of the player. Enjoy today's athlete and honor those who played for the simple love of the game.
  4. mikelink45

    Wins do count

    By mikelink45,

    https://www.si.com/more-sports/2011/07/01/kaplan-spahnmarichalToday I was motivated by reading an article on ESPN by Bradford Doolittle - hitting the reset on pitcher wins http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/21439977/hitting-reset-button-starting-pitcher-wins-baseball
     
    As a baseball fan who started out rooting for Warren Spahn, Lew Burdette, Hank Aaron, and Eddie Mathews of the Milwaukee Braves and then moving over to the new Twins as an usher for their first season my views are tainted by history and, while I like many new stats, I am bothered by the tendency to throw out the old stats with the recycling.
     
    Over and over I hear that wins don't count, then we drool over our greater win totals. True it is a team game and the wins by an individual pitcher have to be looked at under a new lens since the idea of a complete game where the pitcher really does control the outcome has changed and now we have shifted to the bullpen as masters of the mound, but the true aces rise above this.
     
    Sale and Kluber, Kershaw and Scherzer are not just great starters, they actually win games, even though they do not pitch very many complete games. To understand my love of the complete game and the true aces you should read about the Spahn/Marichal game in 1963 - https://www.si.com/more-sports/2011/07/01/kaplan-spahnmarichal
    How nostalgic this game is for me.
     
    Now admittedly in this era it is a thrill to see two starters go 7 innings against each other, but that does not diminish the win and loss records. It is true that the scorer never invokes his right to award the win to the most deserving so a relief pitcher can come in throw one ball and then get the win, but that is not all that common. The starter gets his record because he pitches long enough, often enough to get to the position to win.
    ​And I understand fielding and hitting are essential I remember when Ryan won the ERA title in 1987 came with an 8 - 16 record, hardly a great pct. Yet he overcame the poor teams he pitched for to surpass 300 wins just as Blyleven won 287 games pitching with some mediocre teams. I give him credit for this win total in addition to the new stats that pushed him in the Hall of Fame.
     
    I do not want to negate the new approach. In fact the bullpen era will create some interesting statistical aberrations that challenge our ability to compare pitchers from one era to another, but take nothing away from those winners of yesteryear.
     
    It is common place to always state today's athletes are the best ever. Kershaw is being anointed by ESPN weekly and he deserves his recognition, but necessarily his ranking. Give the same diet, training and opportunities, the greats of the past would be the greats of today and the greats of today put in another era would still rise to stardom.
     
    So how do we judge players? Old stats, new stats, the eye test? Maybe all of them. If real baseball was just a statistical exercise we could dispense with the field and just play strato-matic, but the human element is what gives it greatness and is the reason we still talk about players like Cy Young and Honus Wagner even though they are simply grainy photographs and statistical lines in our life times.
  5. mikelink45
    https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/how-many-mlb-draftees-make-it-to-the-majors/ It would be nice to think that everyone signed to a baseball contract would see a day in the majors, but here is what this site has to say, "Over three days in early June, more than 1,200 players will have their long-time dreams come true. They will hear their names called as selections in the 2019 draft.
     
    Of those more than 1,200 draftees, more than 900 players will agree to terms and sign contracts to become professional baseball players. With one dream fulfilled, they will set their sights on a bigger dream—becoming a major league player.
     
    And for more than 700 of those 900 pro players, that dream will go unfulfilled.
     
    In studying every draft since Baseball America began covering the draft in 1981, we wanted to answer a very simple question: how many players drafted in June’s MLB draft will eventually make it?
     
    The answer is less than one in five. It’s too early to judge the 2011 to 2018 drafts, but from 1981-2010, 17.6 percent of players who were drafted and signed ended up making it to the majors.
     
    Those odds vary dramatically depending on where a player is drafted. First-round picks can expect to reach the major leagues. First-round picks who don’t make it are the exception. From 1981 to 2010, 73 percent of first-round picks reached the majors. In 2004, only two of the 29 first-round picks who signed failed to make the majors—a 93 percent success rate that will be hard to beat.
     
    But that success rate drops off quickly. By the second round, the rate of players who reach the majors dips to 51 percent. In the third round, 40 percent are eventually going to be major leaguers. From there it continues to steadily dip."
     
    There are four minor league affiliates plus two short season teams for each MLB team now. In 2007 the average lifetime of a MLB career was 5.6 years. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070709131254.htm
     
    "Early in the talks between MLB and MiLB, MLB discussed a roughly 150-player limit for teams’ domestic minor league rosters. Players playing in the Dominican Republic would not be subject to this limit. MLB teams are already limited to two clubs in the Dominican Summer League.
     
     
    A 150-domestic player limit would ensure each MLB team would be limited to one U.S. complex-based team in the Gulf Coast or Arizona leagues. When you include players on the injured list, restricted list and other non-active players, a 150-player limit would mean MLB teams have no choice other than to field only five domestic minor league teams—four full-season clubs plus one complex team. One size fits all." https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/mlb-expected-to-expand-milb-player-limit-for-full-season-clubs/#:~:text=When%20you%20include%20players%20on,clubs%20plus%20one%20complex%20team.
     
    Of course MLB has continuously underpaid the players in the minors and (I think) overpaid those in the majors.
     
    So who are those prospects at the bottom of the 150 player limit? And why do they hang on? Love of the game? No marketable skills? MLB needs them to fill the roster and they should pay them.
     
    Who are the ten players in Elizabethtown who played the fewest games and what do we expect from them? In AAA there were 7 position players over 30 years old, and seven pitchers in the same age range. What do we expect them to do? I do not mind that we have these older players still chasing their dream, in fact I like it, but MLB is cutting them out, cutting teams, cutting dreams.
     
    I enjoy the lists that TD writers put up, but I wonder about the bottom 20. Those who have no chance, but love the game and love the opportunity. They need to be recognized too. When MLB cut the minor league teams these underpaid, under appreciated ball players were the ones who suffered. One year of Trevor Bauer's salary would keep them employed for the rest of the century.
  6. mikelink45
    What does Bonds, McGwire, or Sosa's home run records mean in a game that is just another version of video game? Set their record up as per cent of HRs hit. Ruth hit 60 and the teams averaged 58, Bonds hit 73 and teams averaged 185. Time to get some real perspective. Bonds would have needed to hit 191.
     
    In an era where we seem to forget how great baseball has been and have instead focused on the "three true outcomes" we have also lost the three great values - excitement, speed, and drama. I do not want to watch 3 hour and 7 minute versions of HR derby where only three HRs are hit. No wonder BB is losing out on fan response. Put it next to Basketball and football on TV and there is no comparison.
     
    I have always preferred radio for my baseball fix, but if I went back to my childhood with my transistor under my pillow I could no longer stay awake long enough for the extra 45 minutes, nor would I be captivated by the potential to steal, to hit and run, to bunt.
     
    Strike outs are just a prolonged whack-a-mole game. In 2019 the best pitcher in baseball - Gerrit Cole struck out 326 hitters and there were 21,415 strike outs in the AL. In 1946, Bob Feller the best pitcher in baseball struck out 348 batters and the AL had 5225. Cole struck out 0.015% while Feller struck out struck out 0.06% of all the batters who had a K in the AL that year. https://www.baseball-almanac.com/hitting/histrk4.shtml
     
    Yes, I like the bunt, the stolen base, and the hit and run. I do not mind the shift because in the past the batters would have adjusted. I do like BA/RBI/OBP/Slugging but I hate to see a percentage like Miguel Sano with 90 Ks in 186 AB - .483 average versus his real BA of .204. Miguel is projected for 2021 to bat 227 with 185 Ks. Baseball Reference.
     
    Here is the list of top strikeout percentages (lowest) for 1000 batters in MLB history. https://www.baseball-almanac.com/hitting/histrkop1.shtml or https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/at_bats_per_strikeout_career.shtml
     
    MLB has now hired Theo Epstein to help make the game more marketable, more appealing. I know - the true BB fan loves the game and does not need change. If we are going to attract the best athletes, the most fans, the most income for the game then we need to address more than the hardline stathead.
     
    In honor of my favorite player of all time - Hank Aaron never had a season with 100 strikeouts! He came close with 97 and 96 in 1966 - 67, but never reached 90 in the other 21 years! In 1958 he hit 44 HRs and struck out 58 times!
    The Minneapolis Tribune had this note - 0 Times Aaron struck out 100 times in a season; in 23 seasons he struck out 1,383 times, an average of 60 per season.
     
    Jason Stark adds, "And as long as we’re talking active hitters, you know how many have already had more multi-strikeout games than Hank Aaron had in 23 seasons? How about 51! That group includes the likes of Miguel Sanó (70 more multi-K games in 2,759 fewer games than Aaron) … and Mike Zunino (246 multi-K games despite 647 fewer homers than Aaron). … And coming right up, it’s Joey Gallo (202 multi-K games in the first 473 games of his career)."
  7. mikelink45
    The baseball owners through their lackey – Rob Manfred – have declared that they lost substantial and unsubstantiated amounts of money in 2020. A May 2020 CNBC report said, “Under the MLB’s plan, the highest-paid players could lose about 80% of their salaries, while players making the least amount could keep up to 90% of their pay. The plan calls for players to retain their salary via a tier system. In short, the more a player is scheduled to earn for the 2020 season, the less he retains under the plan.” There were alterations to the initial plan, but executives were doing what they always do, reducing losses.
     
    In August 2020, FOX business reported, “Major League Baseball salaries plummeted to their lowest level since 1996 this year during a coronavirus pandemic that forced a shorter season and limited paychecks for players…”
     
    October 20 Bleacher Report said, “After the COVID-19 pandemic forced 898 regular-season games to go on without fans this summer, MLB's 30 teams dropped a combined total of $3 billion in operating losses.
    "The clubs have done a really good job locally and we tried to do a good job centrally," Manfred told Ronald Blum of the Associated Press. "The liquidity is sufficient to get us through 2020. I think if we’re faced with limited activity next year and the kind of losses that we suffered this year, again, it will become more of a problem."
    Every article on TD and other sites say that salaries are going way down, free agency will be highly impacted and there were a number of very good players – Wong, Hand among them that were released when in the past their options would have been picked up.
     
    Since the wealth of owners, the paycheck for Manfred and the pay to the players is in a stratosphere that I cannot imagine it is still fascinating to see the billionaires taking advantage of this Covid opportunity.
     
     
    We can look back to the great depression when the baseball player was in a similar situation and then the wages were really determined by attendance. In a fascinating Sabr article the author found that the actual cuts in players’ salaries were common but did not match the percent that the drop in attendance would have demanded. Instead, like we are seeing so far this offseason, “When an owner determined that a player was no longer performing at a level worthy of his salary, he was more likely to waive him than cut his salary. When he was waived, he was likely to be replaced by a lower cost player, and the lowest cost players were almost always rookies.”
     
    The essay also saw a change in long term contracts, “as the economy worsened, teams proved even less willing to make long term commitments to players.” http://research.sabr.org/business/download/BoB-2009-2.pdf
     
    In 1918 the Spanish Flu and WWI had taken a toll on baseball too and the season was reduced in length to 126 games. “In desperate need of hitters after losing some 13 players to the war, Red Sox manager Ed Barrow turned to his best pitcher, Ruth, who had won 24 games the year before (2.01 ERA), while hitting just two home runs.” In May: The Babe got the flu, and when the Red Sox physician treated him with silver nitrate, it only made things worse, causing him to choke and pass out. After being rushed to the hospital, there were rumors that Ruth was on his death bed. https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-spanish-flu-baseball-1918-f498f2d4-7726-4a02-a5f5-59c63d982764.html
     
    As a side note - Prince Fielder was owed $24million this year, despite the fact he was not playing. That is the beauty of guaranteed contracts and why owners are hesitant to give them. Ken Griffey gets #3.6 million through 2024, and Manny Ramirez gets $2 M per year through 2026. "Bobby Bonilla is a retired MLB player who last took the field in 2001, but, 20 years later, is still getting paid $1.2 million a year by the New York Mets. In fact, he'll get p/aid $1,193,248.20 a year every year until 2035, when Bonilla is 72 entire years old." https://www.sportscasting.com/retired-athletes-big-paydays-former-teams/
     
    During the World Series a crisis was averted as the two teams traveled by train together and talked about holding out for more money. The public was irate and soon Boston would be trading Ruth – retaliation? Who knows?
     
    Whether the reserve clause, the outlaw leagues, or the changes in media coverage the tussle between owner and player has never been smooth and no sport is immune to the economy, wars, or other factors. Now we have a CBA coming to an end, terrible player/owner/management relationships, players released, and no idea what the next season will be. How do those who are supposed to put together a roster manipulate through this haze? What will the Twins do? What do players do?
     
    I have to add this addendum - the Twins just let go two of their long-term coaches from the Appalachian League - Smith and Reed had a long history with us, but that means nothing in the new cut throat MLB that is cutting teams, leagues, coaches, players. Is Covid a reason or an excuse? Stay tuned.
  8. mikelink45
    If you wonder if Nelson Cruz is one of a kind you have to go back to the Twins 1987 and a man named Don Baylor. Here is a video clip to remind you of his power and importance from that world series. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=3461288973914917
     
    At his death the Pioneer Press had this to say, "Don Baylor’s 27 games with the Minnesota Twins were by far his shortest stint with any team, but they were a big 20 games, for the Twins and for the longtime major league slugger.
    “It was the best time I ever had in the game, playing with these guys right here,” Baylor told the Pioneer Press during the 20th anniversary celebration of the Twins’ first world championship in 2007."
     
    Baseball Hot Corner wrote, "Baylor was clearly on the downside of his career, but was one of the more respected veterans in the game. In addition, he finished 13th in the American League MVP voting in 1986, so he still had some production left in his 38-year-old bat." And does this next quote sound familiar - no it is not Nelson, but Don, "Nolan Ryan spoke about Baylor being like a manager when he was a player and was someone everyone knew would be a manager when his career was over. The importance of his presence in the locker room for Kelly and the players in 1987 could not be overstated."
     
    The next year he left for the Oakland A's and ended his career batting 220. Yes aging happens fast.
     
    He had an OPS of only 703 in those 20 games and no HR - that is until the WS! His WS OPS was 1.082.
     
    Nelson has had a longer and more productive stint with the Twins and showed the same ability to step up in the post season (perhaps the only batter that really did) and now he is also at a potential turning point as the Twins look at this contract and his age. No I would not give him two years. But it is worth another season - even though it really is costly at this point in MLB finances. Nelson has an OPS of 1.020 over two seasons and that is amazing.


     
    Baylor went on to manage - I suspect Nelson could do that too - if he wants to. Of courses stars make enough today that very few want the headaches and the reduction in pay that managing comes with. I might add that the Twins might have lost out on the best of Ortiz, but we have a rich history of aging stars being our DH - Molitor and Winfield are additional examples. With DH in both leagues maybe it will be more difficult in the future.
  9. mikelink45
    I am still watching the playoffs and with the Twins out of it I picked two more teams to root for - Miami and Oakland and - well - they are not doing to well so far. But still this is some exciting baseball.
     
    The Yankees bats remind us why we did not want to play them, but their 18 strikeouts remind me of why the HR or nothing is either lethal or a bomb (a negative bomba). So Tampa Bay is 1 - 1 and of course I am cheering for Tampa Bay. And Nick Anderson (we traded him for Brian Schales in one of the teams great moves in 2018) looks amazing, he was part of the group that struck out 18 Yankees. Jason Stark wrote, "There’s Giancarlo’s 118-mph rocket Tuesday and, well, that’s it. In fact, there have only been four postseason shots at even 116 mph or harder:" Rays 7 - 5. Series tied at 1 - 1 Which points out my reaction to all this statcast nonsense - who cares - it is still one run and the Yankees lost. A little perspective from Jason Stark, "“I know they just swept Cleveland, but half of those games were started by Gerrit Cole,” the exec said, on the eve of this Division Series. “But now, with no more off days, in a five-game series, the most he can start is 40 percent of the games if it even goes five. And in a seven-game series, he can only start 28 percent. So you don’t judge that team by how they look when he starts. It’s the risk of being forced to expose the depth of their rotation in those other games that’s a better way to measure them.”"
     
    From Jason Stark:
    COLE’S LAST 3 STARTS*
    Yankees record: 3-0, outscoring opponents, 33-7
    Cole’s record: 3-0, 2.70 ERA and a bunch of other awesome numbers
    LAST 10 EVERYONE ELSE STARTS GAMES*
    Yankees record: 2-8, outscored by opponents, 76-42
    Yankees pitching in those games: 86 IP, 106 H, 76 R, 71 ER, 7.43 ERA, 1.65 WHIP
    Miami had HRs but no one on and that cost them as they lost to the Braves. I must admit my prejudice - I hate the Braves ever since they left Milwaukee for Atlanta- some things never go away. But the Braves came back and Ozzie Albies made two spectacular defensive plays at 2B reminding me of how important defense is. Braves 9 - 5.
     
    The Oakland A's are down 2 - 0. One more game and they are eliminated. Who are they playing - the ASTROS! If the ASTROS win they will be one series from the WS. All season the league had their collective foot on their throat until the playoffs. George Springer is looking amazing and so is their SP. Imagine if we had gone into the post season without Maeda and Berrios? That would have been equivalent to the ASTROS lost pitching, but they haven't cared. They have a mission. Can they be stopped? ASTROS 5 - 2.
     
    Dodgers whipped the Padres. I would like to root for the Padres, but LA just looks too strong. The lesson in this one is how much small ball is needed. Without HRs LA came up with a big 4 run inning on the strength of good hitting and baserunners. I loved it. Clutch hitting, not swinging for the fences, not Ks, just station to station, good baserunning, good bats. By the way, like Houston, the Padres lost their top two pitchers - Clevinger and Dinelson for the previous series and now this one. To win without your best pitchers seems almost impossible. The Dodgers used their third game projected starter in relief of Buehler like Houston did against the Twins and got an amazing performance. I know that people say the Twins could not win no matter who pitched when the batters only scored one run, but we did not use Odorizzi and who knows we might still be playing those 1 - 1 games. The winning teams show no hesitation to do anything they deem essential to winning. Dodgers won 5 - 1 and lead the series 1 - 0.
     
    So my lessons (yes good pitching is essential, but not on my list):
    Big Ks kill the innings
    Small ball still wins games
    Fielding is essential and can make the difference.
    Use everyone - including your extra starters to keep your team in the game.
    It does not matter how hard a ball is hit, a HR is still one run, and if it is caught it only stings a little while.

    Nothing Earth shaking here, just a reminder of fundamental baseball.
     
    The games continued - The Braves (I Still hate them) won game two and lead 2 - 0. Two things came out of this game - great pitchers do count. Miami 3 hits and Atlanta 4. And this is where HRs do count. If two of your four hits are HRs you win even though they are solo HRs. ESPN says, "The Braves have won this postseason when they've hit, just as they did during the regular season. They've also won when they haven't, and that's a scary proposition for any team that looms in the Braves' path." Braves 2 - 0
     
    Oakland came alive thanks to our old MN Twin - Liam Hendriks who pitched 3 innings to close out a 9 - 7 win. The series is still going - tied 1 - 1. Can we count this as a Twins victory? ESPN said, "An A's team that entered Wednesday 1-29 when trailing by at least three runs after the sixth inning in postseason games came back to beat the Astros and save their season under that very scenario -- and now is when things get interesting. The A's used their closer, Liam Hendriks, to record the final nine outs of Game 3 and lost second baseman Tommy La Stella after he took a fastball near his right elbow." Ramon "Laureano assembled the entire squad after returning to the dugout at the conclusion of the sixth inning and delivered a fiery speech. The message clearly lit something inside of the players." Liam Hendriks said afterward that he felt the energy so emotions do count something the Twins seemed to lack this year. Still ASTROS 2 - 1 lead. Jason Stark adds, "Astros’ fearsome fivesome of Carlos Correa, George Springer, José Altuve, Alex Bregman and Yuli Gurriel." "These five men have now played 50 postseason games together — yes, 50!"
     
    Thank you Tampa Bay - the Yankees lost again 8 - 4. Ancient old Charlie Morton took the mound, three Tampa Bay players hit HRs and the Yankees Stanton continues to impress with distance, power and HRs - five games in a row, but it takes more than one player to succeed. Now Tampa Bay 2 - Yankees 1. Kevin Kiermaier, “We sit here and talk about never depending on one person each and every night. We have our guys, don’t get me wrong, but you just never know who’s going to be the hero and who’s going to step up with the big strikeout, the big hit, the big defensive play, and we showed that tonight.” The Rays now have eight different players with a home run. Tampa Bay now 2 - 1
     
    The Dodgers beat the Padres again. One of their stars came through with bat and glove. MLB network said, "Cody Bellinger, after slugging a home run in the fourth inning, robbed Fernando Tatis Jr. of a two-run go-ahead homer in the seventh inning." By the way the pitcher on the mound who had a hit batsman, and a balk was Brusdar Graterol who was saved by Bellinger's hit. He threw both his hat and glove in the air in celebration. And just when the Twins thought that a SB was old school and not worth doing "The Dodgers added a critical pair of runs in the seventh around a double steal by Betts and Corey Seager" Dodgers 2 - 0 One tidbit from the losing team in this game which was, perhaps, the best game in the Post Season, Rosenthal reports, "Tommy Pham told his new Padres teammates in spring training that his previous club, the Rays, knew exactly how to pitch them when the teams met last season – throw strike one, then expand the zone and watch the San Diego hitters chase." Plate discipline is always important.
     
    Braves 2 Marlins 0. Pitching is still key - especially starters. The Marlins may see their Cinderella season ending but they can be proud. The Braves won on two solo HRs because their rookie Ian Anderson was sensational. How do the Braves and Indians keep producing these pitching phenoms? "The Braves have allowed a run in just three of the 40 innings they played this postseason." mlb.com The series is now 2 - 0 Atlanta.
     
    6. Another lesson - a SB or two can make a difference.
    7. Tampa Bay is teaching that it takes an entire team, not just an individual to win.
    8. Emotions do count. They do not win the game, but they put energy back into it.
    9. Plate discipline is essential when you are facing the best teams and pitchers it is even more important.
     
    ASTROS win. Can this be true. Is this Karma. Were the Twins caught in a cosmic vortex that they had no chance to defeat? "The Astros bashed four more homers into the Dodger Stadium jet stream on Thursday afternoon, including two by Michael Brantley, and stunned the A’s in an 11-6 victory to advance to the AL Championship Series for the fourth year in a row." mlb.com I would say the take away from this for the Twins is that it is okay to score in October or the end of September. If you are going to be a bomba squad during the year, hit bombas in the playoffs. ASTROS 3 - A's 1. Does this make the Twins feel better? I hope not, at least the A's won one and scored runs.
     
    The Braves beat the Miami Marlins in three straight and they did it by not allowing any runs, in any game, in the entire series! "Atlanta joined the 1905 New York Giants as just the second team to shut out the opposition in four of its first five games of a single postseason." mlb.com Now I am really in a bind. I hate Atlanta and I do not like the Dodgers so please Padres - help me out. By the way Jason Stark says, "19 is how many years it’s been since the Atlanta Braves last played in an NLCS"
     
    Well the Dodgers did it. They beat the most exciting team in the playoffs 3 - 0 with a 12 - 3 thrashing in the final game of the sweep. This series had game two excitement and even saw the playoff flop - Kershaw win a game. “We did what we wanted to do, we did what we were supposed to do,” said outfielder AJ Pollock. “We’re going to celebrate that, but we expect." MLB.com wrote, "The Dodgers reminded the Padres in three victories that they can play long ball and small ball and pass the baton while exploiting matchups." And Twins take note - 8 Dodgers reached base. Seven of those runners scored and six players drove in runs. The Dodgers have pitching and power, everyone knows that. They can also field well and they run the bases with an abandon that shakes up the other team fielders and pitchers - another note for the Twins.
     
    Then there is the one series that is still in play. The Tampa Bay Rays took their foot off the Yankee throat and now the Yankees have their swagger back with one last game for the series. Winning 5 - 1 the Yankees looked like their old selves - scary. Voit and Torres homered, DJ LeMahieu did what he always seems to do - get on base, and catcher Higashioka is hitting 364 for the series and I never heard of him before. Wow does he look good. And Gardner is the hard nosed competitor that always rises in the playoffs. He had two hits. Montgomery who has not looked good to end the season did four innings with only one run and then the BP reminded us of why they have been so fearsome in the past. Series tied 2 - 2. Come on Rays!
     
    Way to go Rays. 2 - 1 win and a 3 - 2 series. The Yankees are gone - so long NY. At least the Twins can appreciate this.
     
    I will add to this with todays games - so check in again if you are interested.
  10. mikelink45
    Wow – the combined AL/NL Central division had 7 teams in the 16 team post season mix. That must be a great division so we can take great pride in all our wins, right? Maybe not. Let us look at the division record for the first round.
     
    This is for those of you who have decided not to watch any more baseball until spring. The game does go on even if the Twins do not. And if you did see other series you would see something that we missed in the Twins series, besides relief pitching, batting, and fielding. We missed fire - the Kirby Puckett type of jump on my back fire or the Jack Morris I am not coming out of the game fire.
     
     
    Central division seven teams:
     
    Chicago Cubs 0 - 2
    Chicago White Sox 1 - 2
    Minnesota Twins 0 - 2 The bombas scored 2 runs in two games
    Cincinnati Reds 0 – 2 - They did not score once in 22 innings and had 28 Ks
    Cleveland Indians 0 – 2
    St Louis 1 – 2
    Milwaukee 0 – 2
     
    Total 2 - 14
     
    Derrick Falvey - “When you get to the playoffs, every inning matters in a different way. It’s so much more stressful in those moments, because you’re worried inning to inning about what’s going to happen next … You get a little more fixated on the detail of it.”
     
    The Eastern Division has five teams
     
    Tampa Bay 2 – 0
    New York Yankees 2 – 0
    Toronto Blue Jays 0 – 2 (and they played Tampa Bay in their own division)
    Atlanta 2 – 0
    Marlins 2 – 0 Yes that was Brandon Kintzler closing out for the Marlins
     
    Total 8 - 2
     
    "THEY’D LOST SEVEN STRAIGHT POTENTIAL CLINCHERS! The hardest part of going all those years without winning a series is that the Braves could have won so many of them. They played seven postseason games in that time that could have clinched five different series — and lost all seven. That’s the longest losing streak in potential clinchers by any NL team in history — and the second-longest in baseball history." Jason Stark.
     
    Western Division has only 4 teams - must be the weak division (right?)
     
    Oakland A’s 2 - 1 Liam Hendriks threw 49 pitches on Wednesday, then saved their clincher Thursday.https://www.mlb.com/video/liam-hendriks-k-s-mazara?t=clinches-and-celebrations
    San Diego 2 – 1
    Los Angeles 2 – 0 Brusdar Graterol gets Ben Gamel to fly out to secure the 3-0 victory https://www.mlb.com/video/brusdar-graterol-earns-the-save?t=clinches-and-celebrations
    Houston 2 – 0
     
    Total 8 - 2
     
    The Central has had 4 two and out, the East has one (because that team had to play within its own division and the West has zero.
     
    "As the sixth inning arrived Thursday in Petco Park, the Padres were four innings away from getting swept by the Cardinals in the wild-card series. Then those same Padres apparently decided that getting swept was not an option. Nope. Not happening. What happened instead was incredible:" Jason Stark. Reminds me of Puckett and Morris. Sometimes you just have to say no - we are not going to lose.
     
    Of course Don Mattingly without knowing it said what Rocco needs to hear - our starters are better than anything we have in the pen. You got to trust them. https://www.mlb.com/video/don-mattingly-on-the-win?t=clinches-and-celebrations
     
    "Meanwhile in Oakland … the A’s were in the midst of one of the most mind-boggling October funks of all time. Until they outlasted the White Sox on Thursday, they’d somehow lost nine winner-take-all postseason games in a row.
    "They’d lost three of those games to the Yankees … and two to the Tigers … and one each to the Red Sox, Twins, Royals and Rays. It was the longest streak in baseball history." Jason Stark
     
    And despite the fact that the Twins starters are limited to five innings, Clayton Kershaw proved that is not a new league rule - "The Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw. Eight dominant innings, giving up only three hits while recording 13 strikeouts, all on breaking pitches." ESPN
     
    Wild Card Round
    Central - zero
    East - Four
    West - Four
  11. mikelink45
    Not sure why, but Randy Dobnak got me thinking about the odds of ever being a major league player. According to MLB stats there have been 18, 918 to play in the majors since 1871. I do not know if that is accurate – who does? Does it include the Negro leagues? Does it include the female league? No those last two are not included. It does not include the independent or the minor leagues, but even if it did it still represents such a small percentage of the population. There are 328.2 million people in the US according to the census. If all of the players who ever played in MLB were playing now they would still be just 5.7% of the population and we have a game that draws from all over the world. Out of this group 333 are in the hall of fame – 1.8%. It is a demanding game.
     
    Only 21 players have gone from drafted to the majors with no stop in the minors. When MLB heartlessly cancelled the minor league season there were 160 teams and towns impacted and about 8000 players. In the majors there are 30 teams and 60 players on their lists 1800 total. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/30/sports/baseball/minor-league-baseball-season-canceled.html
     
    I try to imagine how many players are let go or retire and how many are signed each year. Baseball America https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/how-many-mlb-draftees-make-it-to-the-majors/ says that about 900 players are signed each year. Since they do not create new leagues for them we must also lose 900 a year. Wow – talk about crashed dreams. The same article said, “from 1981-2010, 17.6 percent of players who were drafted and signed ended up making it to the majors.” And “Only 9.8 percent of draftees who signed have managed to register 0.1 career WAR, which is roughly 83 players per season.”
     
    What about undrafted players? There will be many more this year with the aborted draft that was held. I cannot find a number for all the undrafted players – of course before the draft everyone was in that category. But I did find this list that includes our own Dan Gladden and HOF pitcher Bruce Sutter and HOF outfielder Larry Walker - https://www.mlb.com/cut4/best-undrafted-players-in-mlb-history-c278967168 plus some more really good players.
     
    Which brings me to my final stat – there are 750,000 Uber drivers in the US and we have only one former driver in the big leagues – Randy Dobnak. Think of those odds – 1/750,000 and then 5.7% of the current US population having ever made the majors.
     
    Hat’s off to Randy. Enjoy every pitch. The ride might turn into pumpkins eventually, but he is already among the luckiest and most achieving.
  12. mikelink45
    With minimum games and the potential that not all the teams will play 60 games the playoffs get quite interesting
     
    With the 16 game playoffs who is in and who is out?
     
    Based on percentage:
     
    American League
     
    Yankees, Twins, Athletics are the division leaders
     
    Second place teams:
    Baltimore (really), White Sox, Astros
     
    Next two – wild cards – best percentages
    Cleveland and Detroit (yes Gardy’s gang)
     
     
    National League
    First seeds: Atlanta, Cubs, Rockies (really)
     
    Second group: Miami (yes only three games), Milwaukee, Dodgers
     
    Wild Cards: San Diego, San Francisco
     
    Wouldn't that be fun?
  13. mikelink45
    In 1918 Spanish Flu became the last act in the horrible loss of life that had been WWI, "By the time it had spread across the United States, the deadly event had killed an estimated 675,000 Americans."
     
    If you wonder why the world is reacting so vigorously to Corona think about this from MLB.Com history - "In just 15 months Spanish flu killed, according to best estimates today, between 50 million and 100 million worldwide. It infected an estimated 500 million people around the world, about a third of the planet’s total population."
     
    United States Surgeon General Rupert Blue in September 1918. “People are stricken on the streets or while at work. First there is a chill, then fever with temperatures from 101 to 103, headache, backache, reddening and running of the eyes, pains and aches all over the body, and general prostration. Persons so attacked should go to their homes at once, get into bed without delay and immediately call a physician.”
     
    MLB.com reports, "the flu took: Cy Swain, a minor leaguer from 1904 to 1914 who slugged 39 home runs in 1913; Larry Chappell, a big league outfielder for the White Sox, Indians and Boston Braves between 1913 and 1917; catcher Leo McGraw, a minor leaguer between 1910 and 1916; catcher Harry Glenn, a minor leaguer from 1910 to 1918 who spent time with the 1915 Cardinals; minor league pitcher Dave Roth, who played between 1912 and 1916; and minor league pitcher Harry Acton, who played in 1917." The death of umpire Silk O'Loughlin shocked everyone. He was the name most people recognized.
     
    "O’Loughlin umpired in the American League from 1902 to 1918 while working the World Series in 1906, 1909, 1912, 1915 and 1917."
     
    The Philadelphia Inquirer reported - "Officials responded by banning most public gatherings. Impacted sporting events included high school and college football games, amateur soccer matches, and a fight between Jack Dempsey and Battling Levinsky."
     
    The Inquirer added - "Penn’s game against Georgia Tech was canceled. The Quakers postponed a contest with the Navy Yard’s Marines, and when it took place on Oct. 26, it was played at an empty Franklin Field.
    A campus rally for a much-anticipated game against eventual national champion Pitt was called off, as was a war-bond fund-raiser featuring movie star William S. Hart.
     
    "Penn wasn’t alone. Most college football teams, including an unbeaten Michigan squad, had to shorten their schedules because of the epidemic."
     
    "Major League Baseball got lucky. Because of World War I, its season had ended a month early, on Sept. 2, before the worst of the outbreak. Still, throughout organized baseball, at least seven players, including Negro League star Ted Kimbro, eventually died from the flu."
     
    In the World Series that was played in September the paper reported, "Boston’s Babe Ruth, then a robust 23-year-old, was stricken twice but fought it off sufficiently to pitch and win a pair of games for the victorious Red Sox."
     
    Baseball is a wonderful sport, but health is first and should always be first in our nation, politics, and decisions.
  14. mikelink45
    After the deflating 49ers game I thought it was time to reflect on the two major sports teams (sorry Timberwolves – you do not have a story to tell and Los Angeles stole the Lakers. Wild you too lack a story to tell and Dallas stole the North Stars). The tale has some high points, but a lot of really low ones too. I will try to avoid 41 donut, taking a knee, and other embarrassments that have plagued the Vikings. At the same time I will try to avoid the improbable playoff losing streak of the Twins against the Yankees. This is just a summary and you can cry or dwell on the bright spots.
     
    Twins 3 world series 2 victories 1 loss games 11 - 10
    Twins Wild Card game 0 – 1 (2017)
    Six League division series 1 – 5 games 5 – 17
    League Championship series 2 – 3 games 9 – 12
    The Twins played in 65 post season games 25 - 40
    The Senators went to three world series and won one.
     
    The Vikings have been to the playoffs 31 times in their history
    Should you want to relive all the endings you can go to
    https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/min/playoffs.htm
     
    They have played in 51 post season games 21 – 30
    Wild Card games 7 – 7
    Divisional round 10 – 13
    Conference Championships 4 – 6
    Superbowls 0 - 4
     
     
    Since 1961 we have seen these two teams get into 116 post season games. Collectively we are 46 – 70. But that does not cover our anguish. Let’s get the Twins to another World Series and start a new narrative.
  15. mikelink45
    I have been inspired by the many postings about the year and the decade, the optimism for signings like Hill and Bailey, the continuing hope for signing Donaldson, and the general sense that we will be better this year despite having lost some good players and signing some possible good players. But that is what New Years are about - out with the old resolutions and in with the new. So I will let the TD experts look at this coming decade, I want to look at the past ones.
     
    1960 we were still the Washington Senators with Cookie Lavagetto as manager and the top WAR belonging to Pedro Ramos (4.2). The team finished 75 - 79 and 5th out of an 8 team league. Lemon hit 38 HRs and Killebrew hit 31. Pascual was 12 - 8, while the WAR leader, Ramos, was 11 - 18 and Jack Kralick was 8 - 6. And by the way the 21 year old Jim Kaat was 1 - 5. It would be the last year in Washington DC and the team would be the TWINS in 1961.
     
    1970 98 - 64. Bill Rigney was the manager. Harmon Killebrew had 41 HRs and Tony Oliva had 23 plus he hit 325. Cesar Tovar was the second player to hit 300 on the team. Jim Perry was 24 - 12, Kaat was 14 - 10, and Blyleven was 10 - 9. I always hear that Blyleven would have had 300 wins if he was on more winning teams - I guess he missed out this year. Perranoski had 34 saves. The headlines were not about the Twins but rather Kent State and the Manson murders in 1970.

     
     
    1980 Doug Corbett - the closer had the highest WAR 5.7. The team went 77 - 84 and Gene Mauch was replaced in the season by Johnny Goryl as the manager. John Castino at 4.5 had the highest WAR among the hitters. The non-Bombas were led by Castino's 13 HRs followed by Roy Smalley's 12. Castino's 302 led the batting average with Kenny Landreaux's 278 second. Koosman was 16 - 13, Geoff Zahn was 14 - 18 and Roger Erickson was 7 - 13. They were not the Bombas, but they did have Bombo Rivera. And it was the year of the 31 game hitting streak - the Twins Record - https://twinstrivia.com/2018/01/28/the-twins-longest-hitting-streak-goes-back-to-1980/
    https://twinstrivia.com/2018/01/28/the-twins-longest-hitting-streak-goes-back-to-1980/ - Ken Landreaux had the streak.
     

     
    1990 - Tom Kelly led the team to a record of 74 - 88 with Greg Garne's 3.2 the highest WAR on the team. Hrbek's 22 Home Runs led the team, Gaeti's 16 and Puckett's 12 were the only other double digit HR hitters. Shane Mack hit 326 and was the only 300 hitter. Mack also had an OPS + of 133, and Hrbek was 131. Puckett was 121 and Harper was fourth at 107. Kevin Tapani was 12 - 8, Allan Anderson was 7 - 18, Roy Smith was 5 - 10 and Scott Erickson was 8 - 4. Aguilera saved 32 games!
     
    They did turn two triple plays in one game in 1990:

     
     
    2000 How did Y2K affect the Twins? No well, Tom Kelly the legendary manager was still here and the Twins had a record of 69 - 93 despite Brad Radtke having 6.2 WAR. Jacques Jones led the team with 19 HRs followed by that renowned slugger - Ron Coomer with 16 and Matt Lawton with 13. Eric Milton was 13 - 10, Radtke was 12 - 16 and Mark Redman was 12 - 9. The top closer was LaTroy Hawkins with 14.
     
    The biggest sports news of 2000 was John Rocker being off his rocker as told by Fox sports - "John Rocker didn’t exactly embrace the diversity that exists in New York City. Asked if he’d ever consider playing for the Yankees or Mets, Rocker replied, "I’d retire first. It’s the most hectic, nerve-racking city. Imagine having to take the 7 Train to the ballpark looking like you’re riding through Beirut next to some kid with purple hair, next to some queer with AIDS, right next to some dude who just got out of jail for the fourth time, right next to some 20-year-old mom with four kids." For his enlightened comments, Rocker received a 28-game suspension (later reduced to 14) and the everlasting hatred of most New York fans. Oh, yeah. He also received a 700-policeman strong security detail and a snazzy protective covering over the bullpen on his first business trip back to Queens."
     
    2010 - Ron Gardenhire got the decade records rolling with a 94 - 68 record (followed by a sweep of three games by the Yankees). Mauer led in WAR with 5.9 and with average 327 (Morneau batted 345 but only played half the season). Thome his 25 HRs and Delmon Young and Jason Kubel each hit 21. Six Twin pitchers had double digit wins lead by Carl Pavano's 17. Liriano 14, Slowey 13, Baker 12, Blackburn and Duensing each had 10 and Rauch has 21 saves followed by the famous Matt Capps with 16.
     

     

     
    So what happens in 2010 - you have to turn to the regular Twins writers or just wait and see. Happy New Years.
  16. mikelink45

    Free Agents

    By mikelink45,

    When the best is off the table, then the second best is swept up, do we get desperate and jump at the left overs? If we cannot get what we want is it reasonable to say we should get what is left?
     
    I cannot buy into that theory. If Bumgartner does not sign with us I can understand. Does that make Kuechel suddenly desirable? The real question is how does he compare with Dobnak, Graterol, Thorpe, Smeltzer.
     
    I hate buying out of desperation.
     
    The same with Ryu. Why would he sign with us. We are the proverbial bargaining chip. It is the way the Vikings coerced a stadium because the could more to LA.
     
    The only question worth asking is whether the free agent we have available has more upside than the players already on the roster. Is the expenditure worthwhile?
     
    Dream big, but the train already left the station and we were not on it. So don't pursue free agents just to say we got one.
  17. mikelink45
    I join others with regret that we continue to move down the the next pitcher on the list essays. If I was more motivated I would go back and see how many "sign this pitcher" essays have been on the site since Thanksgiving.
     
    But the essence of so many comments is - why would they come here, not what they would sign for. I do not think that it is money that is winning. If you or your girlfriend are from Philadelphia you want to go home, if you have had your career in warm cities or are tired of being in cold and windy Chicago then you look to places like Atlanta and LA.
     
     
    It is unfortunate that we do not have a WAR for location - where would we rank? Yankees have bad weather, but they have mystique and money. So how can we evaluate our location - situation?
     
    What are the qualities that players want?
     
    History
    Yes it matters if you are the Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox. Our Minnesota history is now 59 years - not quite the Cincinnati Reds (1869) or Atlanta dating to 1876 with stops in Boston and Milwaukee, or the Cubs who started out as the White Stockings (that's true) in 1870. But if we accept the Senators (Nationals) as our historic heritage goes back to the 1872 Olympics so we are in the discussion, however, even Twins Daily finds it hard to talk about the Senators/Nationals/Olympics/Blue Legs/Statesmen.
     
     
    Winning records and legends
    New York Yankees (40 appearances in WS) wins this, but the Dodgers (20) aren't far behind. They may be lacking a classic win like they had with Kirk Gibson in the last couple decades, but they are still always in the battle. The Giants (20) have classic history from both NY and SF in World Series lore. The Cardinals are often considered to be the Yankees of the west and NL and they have 19 appearances. The Twins have 6 with their Washington DC history doubling the appearances. We rank number 14 there.
     
     
    Climate
    Yes it is nice to pitch those April and May games in above zero temps with no snow on the ground. Unfortunately we have only the Brewers and Detroit to compare with Minneapolis/St Paul in this category and they are both south of us. Only Seattle is further north and they have an ocean to warm them.
     
     
    Club House Culture
    It is nice to play with your buddies even though the Sal Bando, Reggie Jackson, Vida Blue A's showed that championships aren't always for the most compatible troops and Leo Durocher said - Nice Guys finish Last. But in today's game the Twins are putting together a really nice atmosphere that should build up its WAR and the millennials should love it.
     
     
    A really nice place to live
    In my mind there is no place better to live than Minnesota, Lakes, Rivers, Parks, shopping, sports, education. Not everyone will see that - some care about income tax despite their fortunes and we cannot compete with a state that has no tax - seven US states don't impose state income tax — Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. Now I would not trade because I like what our tax buys us, but I am not an agent.
     
     
    So where does that leave us? Our location/team WAR has to be in the 40 percentile by this list so then it is MONEY. Can we buy loyalty?
  18. mikelink45
    Judging the fielders in the age of shifts is a difficult challenge. As I read about Sano – should he move to 1B I am constantly trying to evaluate what the qualities are for those two bases. 3B – quick reflexes (believe me the ball gets to 3B quick) and a strong arm. 1B – reflexes of a different type, not grabbing missiles, but rather erratic throws, short hops, flexibility to stretch and grab, and still a range for fielding the position. 1B have that strange responsibility for “covering the base” when a runner is on, anticipating throws from C and P. It is a very challenging and underestimated fielding position.
     
    For generations we have put the big lunking Ted Klusewski or Dick Stuart at the base and just said throw at the body and he will be okay. Keith Hernandez and Joe Mauer were fielding examples at 1B, but Brooks Robinson, Nolen Arenando would not be mistaken for those 1B rolemodels because they are the gold standard for 3B.
    Sano is not quick but seems to have the reflexes for third and the arm to respond when balls bounce off his body. What now we shift and suddenly he is a SS – does anyone see him as a SS? He moves towards the “hole” and he has more area to cover. Now we need foot speed as well as reflex.
     
    The SS and 2B positions have now overlapped and the challenge for the players today is to make the turn at second base coming from so many new angles. Of course, in the launch angle age there is a major decrease in DPs.
     
    We used to judge these positions by range and athleticism – thing Ozzie and the 2B/SS was a tandem – Groat and Mazeroski, Fox and Aparicio, Grich and Belanger, Whitaker and Trammell (why is Trammel in the HOF and not Whitaker?), Robinson and Reese, and Morgan and Concepcion are examples. We had Versalles and Bernie Allen…
     
    In 2015 Dave Schoenfield wrote – “In 2015, the MLB average was 7.8 strikeouts per nine innings and 2.9 walks; in 1955, it was 4.4 and 3.7. That means more balls in play and more baserunners in 1955, although even with fewer home runs per team in 1955, the overall number of double plays has remained steady: 121 per team in 1955, 125 per team in 2015.” Fascinating stats show that the GDP leader stats do not really change from year to year. Ernie Lombardi (Mr Slow feet) 26 in 1933, Manny Machado 24 - 2019. https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/GIDP_leagues.shtml
     
    What has changed is the fact that 2B now a hybrid SS. Is Polanco a good SS in the old system? How does he and Arraez fit the new paradigm.
     
    Do we need to consider changing the names of the positions? Are players really interchangeable at these positions?
  19. mikelink45
    Michael Powell wrote - "There was a mellow quality to conversations with the Twins after their postseason finale with the Yankees on Monday night, a wistful pride at what they had accomplished before that 18-wheeler from New York City flattened them." Wow I can feel that!
     
     
    "Rocco Baldelli, the Twins’ young manager, slid into his seat Monday night, having come out on the wrong side of a 5-1 score in the deciding game of an American League division series. He shrugged. His team had just lost its 13th consecutive playoff game to the Yankees, a record of futility that extends to the early days of this century.
    “To be very blunt about it, they probably pitched a little better than us,” Baldelli said. “They probably swung the bats a little better than us and defended better than us. We’re not going to run away from what just happened."
     
     
    "The Yankees dispatched the Twins as a farmer puts down an old cow, clinically and with minimal fuss."
     
     
    "When the end came near midnight, many fans had long ago streamed through the exits, and the Yankees celebration, the usual waste of industrial strength Champagne, had a perfunctory quality.
    “This was our absolute best effort,” Baldelli insisted before departing into the night. “Nothing got in the way of it.”
    Nothing except that Yankee eighteen-wheeler."
     
     
    If you want to read more from Michael Powell - https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/08/sports/yankees-twins-michael-powell.html
     
     
    Or there is the game summary article -
     
     
    “We’ve got a really good team,” said Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres. “We don’t feel any pressure.”
     
     
    Compare that to our listless Twin quotes.
     
     
    "The Twins became the first 100-win team to be swept in the first round of the playoffs since the 1980 Yankees were knocked out by the Kansas City Royals." Doesn't that make us feel good, we are the books with the Yankees.
     
     
    "In a series that was expected to produce seesawing action between the two best home run-hitting teams of all time, the outcome was decidedly lopsided. The Yankees, who didn’t add major-league pitchers at the July 31 trade deadline, held the Twins to seven runs in the series." Yes we expected something too, like the series we had during the season.
     
     
    "When the bases were loaded with no outs in the second inning, he got Miguel Sano to pop out on a 98-mile-per-hour fastball, and then struck out Marwin Gonzalez and Jake Cave on diving sliders."
    “That situation right there set the tone for the rest of the game,” Severino said. That situation also summed up the Twins approach - stikeouts do nothing, put the bat on the ball.
     
     
    "“Today we played the best defensive game of all season,” said Carlos Mendoza, the Yankee’s infield instructor." And how was the Twins defense for this series?
     
     
    "Three more outs were not nearly enough for the Twins to erase a four-run deficit with Aroldis Chapman on the mound. The Yankees’ closer allowed a two-strike leadoff single to Marwin Gonzalez and walked C.J. Cron, but that was all Minnesota could muster. Chapman struck out Max Kepler on four pitches — getting three consecutive sliders past Minnesota’s leadoff batter — got some serious help on a diving catch by Gregorius on a liner by Jorge Polanco and finishing things off by freezing Nelson Cruz with a 99.4 mile-per-hour fastball for a called strike three, and the ballgame, and the series."
     
     
    Here is the full game summary it you want to suffer through it https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/07/sports/baseball/twins-yankees.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_191008?campaign_id=2&instance_id=12775&segment_id=17677&user_id=df677009e65a80ff046d9aedfdc120f5&regi_id=275511921008
  20. mikelink45
    I wondered how the New York Press would describe game 2 - here are some key quotes - and I cannot disagree with any of them:
     
    "Dobnak’s short outing was fairly predictable. A recent Uber driver against this lineup? Rather optimistic of the Twins. The last Twins rookie to start a game in the postseason was Brian Duensing at Yankee Stadium in 2009. Duensing gave up five runs in four and two-thirds innings and his father was hit by a car outside the stadium (he was O.K.)."
     
    "The Yankees did not homer off Dobnak, but they wore him down with hard-hit singles and doubles. Twins Manager Rocco Baldelli hooked Dobnak after the Yankees loaded the bases with no outs in the third inning and turned to Tyler Duffey, a reliable reliever during the regular season. But Duffey was no better against the Yankees’ buzz-saw of a lineup, which began to pile on the runs."
     
    "The best-of-five series will shift to Minneapolis on Monday, with the Yankees one win away from clinching a berth in the A.L. Championship Series. And if the Twins cannot neutralize even the Yankees’ struggling hitters, they have little hope of extending their postseason."
     
    If you wonder what they wrote after game one - "Yankees fans, spoiled by 27 World Series trophies, might be frustrated by their team’s decade-long drought without adding another title. But consider the plight of Minnesota Twins fans when they learned of their team’s first-round postseason opponent.
    The Twins, who last won a World Series in 1991, have been eliminated in five of their six previous recent playoff appearances — in 2003, ’04, ’09, ’10 and ’17 — by the Yankees. In 15 postseason games between the two teams before this year, the Twins had won only twice — the first games of the American League division series in 2003 and 2004."
     
    "Interspersed between the blasts and runs, the dawdling game, which lasted 4 hours 15 minutes, featured 11 total relievers as both managers tried to navigate through the other’s potent lineup."
     
    I have nothing to add - let's just start by ending this losing streak! A moral victory is at least a victory.
  21. mikelink45
    Today they announced that David Ortiz was shot in the back in the Dominican Republican. Not lethal, but lower back and there is no good gunshot. He was in the Dial Bar and Lounge and two other people were wounded. It sounds like the way that Wild Bill Hickok was killed.
    The shooter, a motorcyclist, was beaten by the crowd and has to recover from his injuries before he can be questioned.
    https://www.huffpost.com/entry/david-ortiz-shot-dominican-republic_n_5cfdbf29e4b0aab91c083ba5?ncid=newsltushpmgnews__TheMorningEmail__061019
     
    or
     
    https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/09/americas/mlb-david-ortiz-shot-dominican-republic/index.html?utm_source=CNN+Five+Things&utm_campaign=6dbb0347ae-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_06_10_07_50&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6da287d761-6dbb0347ae-98628329
     
    First photos
     
    https://nypost.com/2019/06/10/first-photo-emerges-of-david-ortiz-after-dominican-republic-shooting/
  22. mikelink45
    I started out to explore Spring Training stories, but soon got caught up in a lot of the strange stories of baseball and had to share some of them. The stories are part of what makes baseball fun.
     
    Spring Training is about getting ready for the season, but that does not mean this collection of athletes can’t generate some stories that might cause you to scratch your head from Ryan Klesko straining his back picking up a lunch tray – what was he eating? To Wade Boggs getting hurt pulling up his boots. Nolan Ryan was bitten by a Coyote, and George Brett broke a toe watching baseball on TV! Baseball is filled with weird injuries and not all in the spring, but this is when is starts and we better hope for health both on and off the field.
     
    Former Twins have not been immune. Does anyone remember rookie of the year Marty Cordova who was traded after his Twins season and then was fried in a tanning bed in Baltimore in 2002!
     
    Strange accidents can happen anytime, yet spring is different. Jose Cardenal asked out of a game because crickets kept him awake all night. Steve Kent injured himself with falling off his motorcycle and then came up with the really goofy excuse that he got hurt washing his truck – that alone disqualifies him for the HOF.
     
    I know there have been some real tragedies – boating accidents, fans and players killed in vehicle accidents, but I would rather look at baseball’s lesser incidents – still accidents and injuries but not tragedies like the spring deaths in the 1800s when three died of consumption (TB).
     
    Somethings are just weird, like Phil Hughes keeping the rib removed for Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. Brian Flynn, then a Royals reliever was on the roof placing some roof panels on to protect his roof and then fell through – causing many injuries. And A J Burnett broke the orbital bone in his eye while bunting. Cecil Upshaw got stuck in an awning, after catching his ring in the fabric when he was dared to jump up and touch it.
     
    Former Texas Ranger Jeff Baker sprained his thumb in 2013 doing a High Five! Jerry Hairston got a good quote out of his goof up – "I wish I had a really good story," he told Ken Gurnick of MLB.com. "I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, tripped on a bag and hit my head on a desk. I was hoping I was dreaming; I found out I wasn't. A lot of guys gave me grief. I guess my face has character. In the past month I wanted to pick a fight [suspended one game for his part in a brawl] and a desk finally beat me up."
     
    Marc Rzepczynski was injured in a Golf game when a ball ricocheted and hit him in the eye and Elvis Andrus had to sit out because of reactions he got from a tattoo! Our old friend Francisco Liriano lost his $13 million contract when he “broke his right humerus slamming his arm into a door on Christmas Day in an attempt to scare his children, who were in the next room.” He got a one million dollar contract with lots of incentives instead.
     
    Another former Twin Pitcher – Carl Pavano suffered a ruptured spleen from shoveling snow in Vermont in 2013. Also in 2013, current Twin – Lucas Duda broke his wrist in the off season moving furniture.
     
    This spring the Mets Brandon Nimmo was sidelined after eating under-cooked chicken!
     
     
    Did you know our own Martin Perez when he was with the Texans had his non-throwing elbow fractured when he was startled by a bull in Venezuela? He later said he killed and ate the bull.
     
    But spring has many surprises like Kevin Millar straining his nose in a particularly strong sneezing fit and Sammy Sosa in 2004 injuring his back from sneezing? If that sounds bad what about Joel Peralta injuring himself getting out of his Camaro to pick up sandwiches? Pittsburgh’s Corey Hart needed stitches from cutting his toe in a hot tub in spring training.
     
    Another former Twin in the weird injury category, Brian Duensing underwent surgery for an injured elbow when he was moving a bullpen chair that he was sitting on. HOF Rickey Henderson suffered frostbite after falling asleep with an icepack. And finally former Twins pitcher Joel Zumaya got an inflammation of the elbow in 2006 from playing the video game – Guitar Hero.
     
     
    We can add Sano to this list with his cut from celebrating his teams championship. And now he misses both the ST and the opening month.
     
     
    ""Yeah, it's a little frustrating, I would say," Sano said Thursday, via the Twins. "Because I worked really hard in the offseason to get to Spring Training in shape and ready to go, and now this happened. But it's just a setback and we'll get it going next week."
     
     
    Sano suffered a laceration on the back of his foot during a championship parade with his winter ball team in the Dominican Republic. One of his teammates slipped on a stage and bumped into Sano, who fell into metal stairs and suffered a cut that required 12 stitches." https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-sports/miguel-sano-frustrated-by-injury-keeping-him-out-of-spring-training-action 2019
     
    "Twins third baseman Miguel Sanó will undergo surgery on Nov. 13 after suffering a stress reaction in his left shin in mid-August that never fully healed. He is expected to have a permanent titanium rod inserted into his left shin, and the surgery generally carries a six-to-eight week recovery period before a return to baseball activities" https://www.mlb.com/twins/news/miguel-sano-to-have-surgery-on-injured-shin-c260512716 2017
     
     
    2013 - "The Minnesota Twins and their fans got they some bad early news in spring training.
    They were looking forward to top prospect Miguel Sano as he prepared for what might have been his rookie season in the majors. Instead of becoming the team's top story for his performance, Sano became the top story of the spring because of an elbow injury that will require season-ending Tommy John surgery.
     
     
    On Feb. 27, Sano felt some pain in his right elbow after making a throw across his body in the Twins' intrasquad game. The following day, he had an MRI that showed damage to the elbow. The result is Tommy John surgery for Sano and one of the biggest attractions at spring training shelved for the season."
    https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/ct-xpm-2014-03-07-sns-rt-bbo-news-20130630-story.html
     
     
    "Minnesota Twins slugging prospect Miguel Sano will have Tommy John surgery on his throwing arm and miss the 2014 season.
     
     
    The 20-year-old third baseman had been trying to rehabilitate a strained ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. He was hurt in October while playing winter ball in his native Dominican Republic."
     
    Why do we let him play winter ball?
     
    2016 - ""Unless something happens where either we made a huge mistake in judgment, which I don't think is going to happen, or injuries hit us hard and we have to do some shuffling. But I would hope to avoid that," Molitor said. "Sometimes you've got to make changes according to how things go. Molitor said he's most concerned with Sano staying healthy, as there aren't many players with similar body types who have made the transition from infielder to outfielder."
     
    Of course not all spring training stories end up in the training room. Souhan recounts, “Paul Molitor arrived in the spring of 1996, listened to Puckett in the clubhouse for a day, then said: “I appreciated the quality of what Kirby has to say. I underestimated the quantity.”
     
    And finally you might enjoy Bill Becker’s memories of Tinker Field - https://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/baseball/os-ghosts-of-spring-tinker-0307-20100306-story.html
  23. mikelink45
    The DH began in AL only in 1973 and Tony Oliva with terrible knees was the first to take advantage of the new position. He was DH in 142 games, Mike Adams 16, Danny Walton 13 and 10 others appeared in various games. 1974 had Oliva 112, Killebrew 57, Terrell 20 and 5 others. Oliva continued with 120 games in 1975, Darwin 19, Hisle 15, Luis Gomez 10 and 15 others got appearances. In `976 Tony O got just 32 appearances, Steve Braun 71, Craig Kusick 79, Butch Wynegar 15 and 8 others.
     
    Tony Oliva 15 seasons, 4 seasons DH .304/.353/.476/.830 43.1 WAR, 0.6 WAR for DH
     
    Kusick had 85 games in 1977 Chiles 62, Adams 46 and 14 others. In 1978 Glenn Adams had 100 games, Jose Morales 77, Craig Kusick 34 and seven others. 1979 Jose Morales 77 games, Danny Goodwin 51, Mike Cubbage 22, Willie Norwood 17 NS 10 more players. This same crew had Morales 85 games, Glen Adams 81, Danny Goodwin 38, and 12 others.
     
    Craig Kusick 7 years, .235/.342/.392/.733. 3.6 WAR 214 of 250 games at DH
     
    Glenn Adams 5 years, .281/.325/.399/.725. minus -0.1 370/661 games at DH
     
    In 1981 Adams had 62 games, Roy Smally 15 and 16 more. Then in 1982 Randy Johnson 66, Jesus Vega 39, Mickey Hatcher 29, Randy Bush 26, Dave Engle 20 and six more. Other than Tony Oliva there was no real DH at this point.
     
    Randy Bush whose only real position was batter was DH in 1983 104 games, Hatcher 39, Engle 29, and 11 others. 1984 Bush 88, Hatcher 37, Engle 22, Darrell Brown 15 and nine more.
     
    Roy Smalley was at DH 56 games in 1985, Engle 38, Randy Bush 28, Mike Stenhouse 27, Mark Funderburk 15, and eight more. In 1986 Smalley was DH 114 games, Hatcher 28, Ron Washington 15 and nine more. In 1987 Smalley was at DH 73 times, Larkin 40, Brunansky 17, Don Baylor 17 and 11 more.
     
    Roy Smalley 10 years, .262/.350/.401/.750 20.9 WAR, 2.1 as a DH, 272/1653 games at DH.
     
    Randy Bush 251/.334/.413/.747 1.4 WAR 349/1219 games at DH
     
    Larkin had 86 games in 1988 and Hrbek 37, Bush 17 and 11 more players. 1989 it is hard to say anyone is the DH. John Moses 33 games, Carmelo Castillo 31, Jim Dwyer 27, Randy Bush 25, and 16 more. Same kind of scrum in 1990 – Larkin 43, Carmelo Castillo 35, Randy Bush 27, Sorrento 23, Dwyer 22, Hrbek 20 and 10 more.
    Gene Larkin 7 years, 266/.348/.374/.723. 1.6 WAR 221 games DH out of 468.
     
    In 1991 we had a real DH – Chili Davis 150 games and 10 others. 1992 Chili had 125, Bush 24 and 14 more. 1993 DH was turned over to Winfield and 9 others.
     
    Chili Davis .282/ .385/.476/.862. 5.2 WAR 1160/2436 games at DH
     
    Winfield had 76 games in 1994, Puckett 13 and 9 others. In 1995 Pedro Munoz, 77, then Puckett and Hale and 11 others.
     
    Dave Winfield 2 years, .264/.324/.436/.760. 0.3 WAR. 419/2973 DH, 181 DH for MN
     
    Paul Molitor took over for the ST Paul native in 1996 with 143 games at DH and 10 others have games there. Molitor held the position in 1997 too with Roberto Kelley 12, and Greg Myers 10 and 11 more. In 1998 Molitor held DH with Coomer and Ortiz next and 9 others.
     
     
    Paul Molitor 3 years .312/.362/.432/.794. 5.2 WAR as DH, 1174/2683 games at DH, all DH for MN.
     
    Hard to believe, but David Ortiz was our primary DH in 2000 with 88 games, Butch Huskey 39, Midre Cummings 15 and 12 more. Ortiz 80, Allen 23, Buchanan 19 and 13 more. Ortiz 95, LeCroy 41 and 11 more in 2002.
    David Ortiz 6 years, .266/.348/.461/.809 . 2.6 WAR 2029/2408 DH games. 279 DH MN..
     
    From Ortiz to LeCroy 63 games DH, Kielty 32, Jones 29, Morneau 23, and 13 more in 2003. 2004 was a year without a main DH – Jose Offerman got 39, LeCroy 30, Lew Ford 26, Shannon Steward 21 and 14 more. LeCroy got the most DH games again in 2005 and Lew Ford 44, Joe Mauer and Mike Ryan 13 each and 12 more.
    Matt LeCroy 7 years - .261/.324/.444/.768. 0.4 WAR for 7 years. DH 212/476 games.
     
    In 2007 Kubel was the leader with only 36 games, Jason Tyner 27, Jeff Cirillo 24, Mauer 19 and 11 others. Kubel got 85 in 2008, Craig Monroe 36, Randy Ruiz 17 and 15 others in 2008. 2009 had Kubel with 82, Mauer 28, Morneau 12 and 10 others. Kubel had 42 games in 2010, but Jim Thome was the DH – 79 games with Mauer at 23 and 13 others.
     
    Jason Kubel 8 years .269/.334/.449/.783. 3.7 WAR. 333/1036 games at DH for MN.
     
     
    Thome 59 games in 2011 and Kubel 37 in 2011. Jim Thome 2 years with MN. .265/.391/.542/.933. 4.5 WAR
    818/2543 games at DH. 138 DH for MN
     
    In 2012 DH was a free for all – Doumit 48, Mauer 42, Morneau 34, Willingham 25, Mastroianni 10 and 7 more. The same mess in 2013. Then in 2014 look at this list – Vargas, Morales, Pinto, Mauer, Colabello, Willingham, Plouffe, Nunez, Suzuki, Fryaer, Santant, Arcia, Florimon (really?) Hicks, Barlett, Bernier, Escobar, Kubel 1, and Parmelee! Sano was the leader with 69 in 2015, Vargas 29, Mauer 20 and then six more. In 2016 ByungHo Park and Sano and Mauer split DH – enough said.
     
    That is a difficult group to sort out since their time at DH is usually fairly short. We all remember Thome, but he was in 138 games in two years. Not even a full season worth of games. Tony Oliva was our first and one of the best, but he is also our Right fielder in the lists of Bests.
     
    1. Paul Molitor 3 years .312/.362/.432/.794. 5.2 WAR as DH, 1174/2683 games at DH, all DH for MN.
    2. Jim Thome 2 years with MN. .265/.391/.542/.933. 4.5 WAR 818/2543 games at DH. 138 DH for MN
    3. Jason Kubel 8 years .269/.334/.449/.783. 3.7 WAR. 333/1036 games at DH for MN.
    4. Craig Kusick 7 years, .235/.342/.392/.733. 3.6 WAR 214 of 250 games at DH
    5. David Ortiz 6 years, .266/.348/.461/.809 . 2.6 WAR 2029/2408 DH games. 279 DH MN..
    6. Roy Smalley 10 years, .262/.350/.401/.750 20.9 WAR, 2.1 as a DH, 272/1653 games at DH.
    7. Gene Larkin 7 years, 266/.348/.374/.723. 1.6 WAR 221 games DH out of 468.
    8. Randy Bush 251/.334/.413/.747 1.4 WAR 349/1219 games at DH
    9. Tony Oliva 15 seasons, 4 seasons DH .304/.353/.476/.830 43.1 WAR, 0.6 WAR for DH
    10. Dave Winfield 2 years, .264/.324/.436/.760. 0.3 WAR. 419/2973 DH, 181 DH for MN
    11. Matt LeCroy 7 years - .261/.324/.444/.768. 0.4 WAR for 7 years. DH 212/476 games.
    12. Chili Davis .282/ .385/.476/.862. 5.2 WAR 1160/2436 games at DH
    13. Glenn Adams 5 years, .281/.325/.399/.725. minus -0.1 370/661 games at DH
     
    The other posts in this series:

    https://twinsdaily.com/blogs/entry/11390-%7B%3F%7D/

    https://twinsdaily.com/blogs/entry/11388-%7B%3F%7D/

    https://twinsdaily.com/blogs/entry/11386-the-twins-best-left-fielder-in-history/

    https://twinsdaily.com/blogs/entry/11380-the-best-third-baseman-in-minnesota-twins-history/

    https://twinsdaily.com/blogs/entry/11367-the-best-first-baseman-in-twins-history/

    https://twinsdaily.com/blogs/entry/11377-the-best-ss-in-twins-history/

    https://twinsdaily.com/blogs/entry/11365-the-best-catcher-in-twins-history/

    https://twinsdaily.com/blogs/entry/11371-%7B%3F%7D/
  24. mikelink45

    Our fantasy rotation

    By mikelink45,

    Eno Sarris’ top 175 pitchers for the 2019 fantasy baseball season
    The Twins top five according to Sarris all make it in the top 175!
     
     
    Berrios 18
    Above Strasburg, Corbin, Price, Wheeler, Morton and Greinke
     
    Kyle Gibson 60
    Above Matz, Woodruff, Lucchesi, Quintana
     
    Odorizzi 69
    Above Jimmy Nelson
     
    Pineda 71
    Above Stroman, Gonzales, Smith and Gray
     
    Fernando Romero 135
    Above Valdez, Cease, Gohara, Williams, Lynn
     
     
    Take all those positions and average them out and our rotation comes out in with an average of 70. It is interesting to see how Gibson/Odorizzi/Pineda are all bunched and that they project Romero.
     
    Based on 32 teams that is pretty average - a 500 team. 32 teams would have five rotation places or 160 spots. At least Romero keeps us above the 160 mark.
  25. mikelink45
    Memories of an old usher with a few tears in my eyes.
     
     
    1961 was my first and only year as an usher at Metropolitan Stadium, but what a year it was. We were not dreaming of World Series and Superbowls – in fact there was no Superbowl in 1961! The old Washington Senators and their slogan of First in War Last in the American League did not count any more. These were the Twins – a new creation out of an old organization. We did not finish last! We finished 7th out of 10 ! But that is something, isn’t it?
     
     
    There was something special about that team. Camilo Pascual on the mound with Pedro Ramos, Kralick, and Kaat made a good rotation and we even had the token Gopher – Paul Giel on the squad. At bat all the sluggers were there – Lemon, Killebrew, Allison, Battey, Versalles, and the sparkplug, Billy Martin. Our new team enthusiasm seemed to have some real validity. And it did. In 1965 we went to the World Series and I spent hours in the Dayton’s break room on fifth floor watching the old black and white TV and wishing Sandy Koufax had more than one religious day that week. We battled and lost 2 – 0 on the final and seventh game – to Koufax, of course. But we were there in the big show and, of course, we knew we would be back the next year and for many years from then on.
     
    The Minnesota spots fan needed this. I had been to the Minneapolis Lakers games at the armory and the Auditorium and watched players like Elgin Baylor before they moved to the lakeless Los Angeles [Yes I am bitter and will never route for them, just like the Atlanta version of my old Milwaukee Braves.] The Lakers had won SIX NBA championships during their time in the City of Lakes, but enough of that because we had something even better, the Number one football team in the country.
     
    In the Fall of 1961 we had gridiron heroes at the University of Minnesota and in the NFL. In those days the Gophers were a powerhouse and the number one team in the nation (1960). We had multiple Rosebowl appearances because of Carl Eller and Bobby Bell – two NFL Hall of Famers and Sandy Stephens at QB. In 1961 we were ranked 6th with a record of 10 – 2. We knew that Murray Warmath would be keeping us on top of the rankings for decades ahead!
     
    The new show in town was the Minnesota Vikings, not a transfer team, but brand new and not too sparkling. In fact, they were expected to go 0 – 14, but this team drew the love of the Minnesota fans and shocked the football world by winning three games. They shocked the football world in the very first game against the old established Bears (who, along with the Packers, were one of the original professional teams). Maybe it was the ghosts of the Duluth Eskimos that were on the field that first game when old reliable and not that good quarterback George Shaw came off the field and unheralded draft choice Fran Tarkington came on. He threw three touchdown passes and ran for a fourth! We were undefeated. Well we did not end up undefeated, but what a memory and what a quarterback!
     
    In 1964 Carl Eller came from the winning Gophers to the Vikings and life was looking up. In 1964 the Vikings were tied for second! Jim Marshall and Carl Eller – half the Purple People Eaters were on the team.
     
    In 1965 the Twins were in the Series and no one knew it would take 22 years to get back there or that we would have only 3 world series appearances in 54 years. But this is a Twins site, so you all know that. It is Superbowl time and it is the Vikings that we need to explore.
     
    In 1967 the first Superbowl was played. It was called the AFL/NFL championship and the Packers took on the Kansas City Chiefs. In those days the Packers were a mismatch for every team – NFL or AFL. Lombardi was so unbeatable they had to name the eventual Superbowl trophy after him. And the Packers put Jim Hornung, Jim Taylor, Bart Starr in the backfield behind an all-star line with future HOFs and a defense which also featured future HOF stars and the game started out slow – only 14 – 10 at half time. Then the Packers took over for a 35 – 10 victory. In January 1968 the game was called Superbowl II and the Packers were back and beat Oakland 33 – 14.
    By the third game the upstart AFL or AFC now had enough and a brash QB from NY promised a victory over the old established Colts and delivered; making Joe Namath a household word and an over rated star who followed up
     


     
    We knew who could get the glory back for the NFC/NFL – those mighty Norsemen from Minnesota. They did not even were cloaks or use heaters in the frigid winters of Minnesota. In Superbowl 4 the Purple People Eaters were taking center stage with stoic old Bud Grant at the helm and Hank Stram, with memories of his debacle with Green Bay, enthusiastically leading the Kansas City Chiefs back to the big game. The Vikings were ready after a challenging playoff set.
     
    I was at the game with the Rams in a very cold Metropolitan Stadium. No one could measure wind child because the wind swirled around the bowl of the stadium like a wind-chill tornado. We were all trying to stay warm by clapping with our choppers (mittens) and creating a dull roar. But the Vikings were cold and listless and at half time they looked like a team ready for the showers. Yet the fans who had endured more than the players would not let it happen. As the team left the field the roar started, and it continued beyond the last Viking to leave the field and could be heard in the locker room. We did not come to suffer frost bite for a loss. The players heads went up and there was a noticeable change. We won 23 – 20.
     
    Then on an even colder day we beat the Browns 27 – 7. There was nothing better than being in the bleachers where the wind could blow through our legs while the upper body was frozen from the stadium wind. In the Superbowl, we knew we could take the Chiefs, but something went wrong, either they had too much fun on Bourbon Street the night before or they had taken a Bud Grant pill and did not know it was okay to be excited and emotional in the big game. Most Minnesota fans were at home where it was still cold. We were frustrated because we could not clap our choppers together enough to send a shock wave to New Orleans and the team stunk and lost 23 – 7.
     


    We swallowed out disappointment because there is always next year, or rather there is four years in the future when this great team and great coach got to go to Houston to play in Superbowl VIII.
     
    We got to play the Miami Dolphins one year after their perfect season which was too bad. We lost 24 – 7 and once again our HOF coach did not have any emotions and neither did his team. If we had lost the year before at least we could have been part of a really historic undefeated year for the Dolphins. Instead we just stunk!
     
    Then came the next year – when we lost to Pittsburgh 16 – 6 back in New Orleans. This was getting beyond embarrassing. We were never in these games.
     


     
    Much as we feared, we still had another Superbowl in us and two years later in Superbowl XI we got whacked by Oakland 32 – 14. At least we scored in double figures.
     


     
    That was Superbowl XI and now it is LIII - 42 or XLII years later and we have not been back. We have memories like the Dallas push-off touchdown, the Knee, 41 – 0, Minnesota Miracle followed by a Philadelphia thumping, the famous Farve interception and Peterson fumbles… The Vikings are O-4 and I do not want to comment too much on our playoffs and league championship games.
     
     


     
     
    In the meantime, the Twins have been in two World Series in 1987 and 1991 and we won them both of them. Better to be a Twin than a Viking, I guess. Of course, I could end with stats, since they are so dominating in our world of sports right now. It is 67 years since the Twins and Vikings started. Collectively that is 134 sport years. We have been in 7 WS and SBs - .05% of the games. But to feel better there were not 67 Superbowls – this is LIII not LXVII – so we will change our statistical role to 7 out of 130 chances – we have been in .053% of the championships. Just to take the subject a little further – since two teams must be in each of these championships there are 16 teams that we compete with in the NFL and 15 in the AL. Our two teams are 2 out of 31 and if all things were equal we are .064% of the league possibilities and if we apply that to the 120 WS/Superbowls that have been played since 1961 debuts our fair share would be 7.68 and 4 wins – we are where we should be! But it would be nice if we won one of the Superbowls. Watch the game, relax and have a microbrew - SKOL
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