ewen21

You don't even need to much about baseball. Just watch the man. He is totally divested

I get the Facebook game? This is like finding coal in your stocking on Christmas morning Pfft.

One of the reasons I wanted to do the gameday thread TODAY was to play this song. This song has given me goosebumps since I was a child. Listen to this classic from the Moody Blues and please read my (I am hoping) non-controversial comments and impressions; along various quotes, ruminations and contemplations. Please remember no animals were harmed in the process ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I would like to begin with historical (non-hysterical) happenings in Twins history on this date: July 3rd 2000- Topsy-turvy game at Fenway as the Twins come up on the short end in an 11-8 loss. Koskie and Canizaro each get 3 hits, but can’t make up a 10-3 deficit. Mike Lincoln gets crushed and David Ortiz gets 3 RBI without having an official at bat. 1980—Ken Landreaux ties a modern day record with three triples in a single game against the Texas Rangers and Metropolitan Stadium. Roger Erickson gets the win in this 10-3 rout. 1973—Tony Oliva hits three solo home runs in a 7-6 loss to Kansas City at Royals Stadium. Oliva’s 3rd big fly tied the game in the top of the 9th, but Ken Sanders would spit the bit in the bottom of the 9th as Royals third baseman Paul Shaal (I remember his baseball card) hit his second of the game, a walk off. Boring me to tears Somehow this team has to rise above the ennui. There is a very palpable vibe emanating from this club like they have shrugged their collective shoulders and moved on from the season already. I was told that *bleep* flows downhill by a sage WWII veteran while working as a teenage custodian’s helper back in the summer 1981 or 1982. That reference was allusion to the head custodian who liked to drink a pint of vodka most days while at work and be as unproductive as possible. In the case of this ball club, I think they have become a reflection of the manager. Molitor seems to have mentally checked out, although it looked like he was having fun for a hot minute last night when he came out to devise an unconventional defensive arrangement in the 9th. I am not sure about the rest of you, but once that happened, it was almost a foregone conclusion that Littell would walk in the run—rendering that strategy useless. It just felt like the distraction would be too much the kid. I think this Paul quote says it all: “You imagine the frustration of fighting, playing a good game for the most part and having a chance there,” manager Paul Molitor said. “You put a young kid in a tough spot bringing him in there in his second appearance, out of his routine of starting. There’s not a lot of margin of error there. It is what it is.” “No bad student, only bad teacher(s)” --Mr. Miyagi For whatever reason, we don’t develop young players. Buxton and Sano have been hot topics, but what about Max? He has hit below .230 for the last calendar year and just seems to be floundering. Polanco finally is back, but between the foursome of him, Sano, Buxton and Kepler there is virtually no production. This should be a matter of great concern for our two headed team of young upstart GMs. HOW and WHY does this happen with four young players? Furthermore, and more importantly, HOW do they recover from this? These wunderkind GMs came in and didn’t do an overhaul. Many people saw that as a mistake, but they wanted a period of evaluation. I found that to be odd considering they were advertised of being very data driven. Hadn’t enough data been compiled to support a massive overhaul of the Twins minor league system? They needed to bear witness to it themselves? I didn't get it and this isn’t hindsight. A lot of people were wondering what the deal was and we still are. From my perspective, it feels like things are percolating right now and at some point there needs to be action, because…. The downward spiral is intensifying After winning the first two games in Boston a couple of weeks ago we have gone 2-9, but at least we have lost some games with style. That odyssey of pain in Chicago Saturday afternoon was actually entertaining. The desperation wafted through my 75” 4K Samsung. Our National League retreads, Reed and Duke, dutifully flopped as if on cue. It was.... single single single single and for some odd reason it left me saying "MORE PELASE!!" This was just another instance where a lot of us just felt this matchup in that situation would yield disastrous results. I am not a genius, but Molitor seems not to see these things out of stubbornness. I know it is crazy to say this, but I am still finding enjoyment out of watching Twins baseball in spite it all. I have embraced the weirdness. I guess because I try to laugh at the absurdities in life and in the grand scheme of things this is supposed to be fun. I will admit this team made me crazy to the point of where my teeth hurt, but..to quote Paul “it is what it is”. As of now, this team has become some sort of slapstick routine and I am starting to follow the punchline. I have a text group of friends who text me during games and there is some pretty darn good material I could share from it, but I won’t because it wouldn’t beat the censor. With the state of things and the fact that we are at the midpoint of the season, It feels like this team is going to be blown up very soon. Whatever angst I might have felt a couple of months ago has melted away. Instead of caring about wins and losses I am going to watch 4 players the rest of the season. They would be Sano, Buxton, Kepler and Polanco. If they do better these next few months then it at least gives us some hope to hit the reset button next year. I will also give Falvey and Levine some credit for TRYING this winter. I was very satisfied with their effort, but they pulled the crank and it came up lemons. Morrison is a disaster. Lord knows I loved the acquisition and I am a Lomo fan, but he’s gone. They tried to improve the pen and it got a little better. Getting Odorizzi and Lynn were smart acquisitions to me and they have been kind of a sketchy puzzle. Neither guy seems to be able to get through six innings without throwing over a 100 pitches. That is a killer. In other news, we have Gabriel Moya up for today's game and young Mr. Littell down. Try shaving the beard, Zach. Maybe that will help OK, that's all I got for now folks. Peace and please be well. Here is the "Tuesday Afternoon" lineup for our Minnesota Twins: 1. Joe Mauer (L) 1B 2. Jorge Polanco (S) SS 3. Eddie Rosario (L) LF 4. Eduardo Escobar (S) 3B 5. Max Kepler (L) RF 6. Willians Astudillo ® 2B 7. Jake Cave (L) CF 8. Bobby Wilson ® C 9. Jake Odorizzi ® P And for the Brewers: 1. Brad Miller (L) SS 2. Eric Thames (L) RF 3. Jesus Aguilar ® 1B 4. Travis Shaw (L) 3B 5. Ryan Braun ® LF 6. Jonathan Villar (S) 2B 7. Erik Kratz ® C 8. Keon Broxton ® CF 9. Junior Guerra ® P

I don't believe we have the "horsepower" I think we were mistaken to overrate a lot of players on this team

This reflects on the attitude of Molior as a manager. He's got a way about him which dictates to his players..."Don't get too high or too low. Don't try to do too much...etc..etc just bland and stoic This organization seems content with excuses. It is almost like a lot of players have written off this season already

An update: http://www.1500espn.com/twins-2/2018/06/derek-falvey-progress-byron-buxton-miguel-sano-jorge-polanco/ In five games with the Miracle, Sano’s hitting .250/.400/.300 with seven strikeouts and five walks in 25 plate appearances. The slugger was sent to the Twins’ complex in Florida to work on both his conditioning and pitch recognition. In a small sample size, the strikeouts are still high, but Falvey said his conditioning has improved since arriving two weeks ago. “We talked about the holistic plan around Miguel,” he said. “The conditioning has gotten better and better. He’s lost weight, done a good job. It’s not just the weight number, we want to make sure he’s strong. We’ve seen some things from an offensive standpoint in terms of adjustments. He’s progressing.” In two weeks his conditioning improved. As I said yesterday, he could have done nothing until New Year's Day and still come into camp in shape. If committed, given all the resources and time he had, it should have been a slam dunk. Even if he did nothing until New Year's Day!

Let's call a circle a circle and a square a square. He messed up this off season and there is no way around it. Doesn't make him a bad person. When I was his age I was a college dropout. Dropped out after my Junior year and damn near lost my mind for about six months. It took me almost a full year for me to get past whatever it was that caused me to struggle, but it was ALL ON ME and I pulled it together. Far be it from me to turn on this kid. I am not saying he is a terrible person or saying anything controversial by questioning his work ethic. It needs to be questioned because of where he is at. If there is some kind of compelling issue that impeded him from preparing for a season post microfracture surgery, I haven't heard of it. I have to simply take it on its face, and again....this is fixable. If he can push through this year and show some life, then come into camp next year refreshed and in good condition a lot of people will give him a mulligan.

Who cares? That is what you think and feel. That is what I am saying. If anyone thinks it is an assumption that he didn't work hard enough because he didn't care enough they are going to have to give me something concrete as to what else could have impeded him, otherwise they are making assumptions themselves. This is simple stuff. People don't fall into a situation like Miguel is in without being neglectful, irresponsible and far to sedentary. This idea that "you really don't know what he was doing" is ridiculous to me. I know when he came into camp the Twins and the media remarked immediately on his appearance. I know I reserved judgment until I saw him because there have been criticisms about his weight before and I did not think it was a big problem. That changed when I saw him this year for the first time. This is a guy that had microfracture surgery and for him to gain weight rather than rip down (not asking much, 10 or 15 pounds) is a terrible job by him.

"Matt Belisle is the man. When I saw that, I was pumped. I even texted Hildy. I was like, 'Dude, give Matty B a big old hug for me.' I was happy to see that. I love Matty B" Sorry, but Booze sounds like a dimwit here smh

Maybe you need to consider that the answer is actually more obvious than you want to think. It gets silly when people try to over complicate something simple. You want me to be more sensitive? I am quite aware of the circumstances Sano has encountered over his career and it all started with Pelotero Ballplayer (which I have seen about ten times). I don't think I could be more sympathetic to toward this player than I have already been dating back to the day he was drafted. I think the Twins were doing a terrible job with Latin players during the Gardy and Ryan years and when Sano got suspended in New Britain for that home run trot I was furious. I defended him like a pit bull and slammed the Twins for their insane overreaction. Before the year started there was plenty of discussion about Sano and I defended him again. I even expressed a lack of concern about his weight because I though he was strong enough. I no longer feel this way because we have hit a tipping point. I can no longer defend him. Seems as though you are accusing me of not thinking this through and you couldn't be further from the truth. I have explored a variety excuses in my mind trying to give him the benefit of the doubt for quite some time now and I cannot do that in this scenario because it is as simple as 1-2-3. Make whatever excuse you want to make for him, but in the five months of off season that he had he went significantly backward and the excuses are just not good enough, sorry. I understand his daughter died, but that was four years ago. He played through that back in AA with aplomb, but that was then and this is now. Are we to assume that there was some exceptional event that prevented him from eating properly and working out to a level that would achieve a reasonable level of fitness? Seems as though you want me to operate under that assumption. Sorry, not gonna operate under an assumption Everyone goes through times in their life where they need to do some soul searching and Miguel is there on his own volition. For a professional athlete to let themselves go the way he has is unacceptable. I defended him when a teammate made comments about him being a "ticking time bomb". I went off on Plouffe and May for weighing in on the #metoo incident. This is different. This is simple and cut and dried. Over the off season he let himself go and it isn't up to me to come up with the WHY. I have read people insist that it is genetic or his real problem has to do with mechanics (while the connection to his physical state and its affect on them gets treated like an afterthought). All of these excuses attempt to take the emphasis away from the fact that he was irresponsible and he let his team down (and himself down). Time for him to act like an adult. Have fun on the ballfield and style all you want when you hit a HR. Wear the dreads long and the doo-rag. Wear war paint if you want, I honestly don't care. But when it comes to doing your job and personal responsibility cut it out with the excuses. I don't want to hear the excuses anymore. This isn't rocket science. He has five months every off season to work on his body. If he had a reasonable diet plan (not that hard!) and worked out an hour and a half a day six days a week (also not hard given that is his only baseball responsibility) he would be a lot better off. Don't give me excuses because you weren't there either. It isn't like you know exactly what impeded him from doing what he needed to do. He has more control of this situation than what you suggest. I have been in his corner until now. Not this time. This is one area where a player can put his stamp on his career. He has all the talent in the world and what is he doing with it? Not much by the looks. The great thing is that this is fixable. If he comes back next year in excellent shape and a renewed spirit people will get in his corner again.

I don't see it that way at all. Not at all. He came into camp and there were rumblings from the Twins in the media right away before most of us even saw him. When most saw him it caused a reaction. No one had seen the guy for almost five months and he put on bad weight after having microfracture surgery on his shin. He had nothing else to do over a five month period but to eat properly and train effectively. He failed miserably in that department because whatever he did he didn't do nearly enough. YOu want to talk about maturity? I don't want to hear it. Take a look at other young star players in the game, guys even younger than Miguel, and you will see a great many of them commit themselves to being in the best possible condition they can be. Sano isn't an EMT, a police officer, a school teacher or whatever. He is a professional athlete and it is HIS JOB to be sure stuff like this doesn't happen. He didn't do what his employer needed him to do. SImple as that. The sad part is he could have done virtually nothing for three months and then whipped himself into shape over the last six weeks of the off season. I have done body transformations while I working a full time job, I have seen others with all sorts of physical limitations do the same. THis guy has five months of free time and he comes back needing time to condition himself? That was the Twins judgment and they are much closer to the situation than anyone else. I keep reading people are drawing conclusions they cannot draw due to lack of information. Well, apparently the Twins are concerned about his conditioning to where he is in A ball to get his body conditioned. If that doesn't tell us all something I don't know what will.

I defended Sano long enough. He is the one responsible for where he is right now with regard to conditioning. He was irresponsible in that area this winter. I don't where anyone can dispute that. If people want to call that lazy I don't understand what the problem is. I fell out of shape in my life and it was because I got lazy. He is a professional athlete and has all the resources you and I could ever want at his fingertips for months on end. He also had microfracture surgery on his shin.

My problem with this whole debate is the constant berating people get from those who believe nothing can be discerned about one's physical fitness through observation. This refrain I keep seeing.... "you don't know because you weren't there watching him" or "you can't say things about his character" is getting very annoying. I am saying nothing about his character unless you assume that anyone who is 30 to 40 pounds overweight has character issues. I do not make that assumption and I am not making an assumption or going after his character if I say he is out of shape and should have done a better job. People who noticed this early shouldn't be on the defensive and I feel anyone who has been critical of his conditioning HAS BEEN put on the defensive for a perception that his "character" is being attacked. With that I am walking away from this unless someone wants to quote me or PM me.

Holy overreaction. To say we know nothing about them, what they care about and how they work doesn't compute with me. HE didn't care enough to rip down in an offseason where he needed to because of the microfracture surgery. This is idea that we "know nothing" about what he did, cares about or how he works makes zero sense. It is pretty simple to draw conclusions about people if we are talking about fitness. If he were working hard and doing what he was supposed to do he would not be down in Florida conditioning his body DURING the season. He allowed this to get this way all by himself. That doesn't happen unless you go completely off the reservation for five months. Period. End of story. You and others seem to think people can discern nothing from hours, days, weeks, months and years of observation. You will remember right away there were questions about his weight and physical condition once he arrived in camp by the Twins and the media. Then we saw him and it was pretty clear he put on some weight after microfracture surgery on his shin. What does that say about his preparation? If ever there was a season for him to rip down and ease the load on those legs it was this season and he was ill prepared (to say the least) People want to say it is "mechanics" yet don't realize/accept/fathom that his physical conditioning (or lack of it) affects execution. It is so simple it is silly. 5 X 5 = 25 and that will always be, just as out of shape athletes are going to have a variety of problems 10 times out 10. At 25 years old he has a lot to learn with what it takes during the five or six months of off season that he has.

When it comes to weight some people are blunt about it with themselves. I know that I am when I am carrying like 10 or 15 pounds and I know other people who are the same way. The comments some people directed at Sano are things I heard many people (myself included) say about themselves. I don't see that as assailing one's character. Good people can have bad habits. Lord knows I have a few and I am VERY honest about them with myself and I will rip myself about these things to make sure I'm on the straight and narrow. I don't have coaches, five months and change of free time and an endless amount of resources like Sano does. He did a horrible job this offseason and you would hope he learns something from this

I would not trade him. I see him as an important player and one of the few this year who has played with passion. The rest of the team should follow his lead, in my opinion.

Anyone with two eyes and one serving of experience in life could have discerned this problem. The idea that this issue had nothing to do with his hitting was a big time assumption. There was an assumption that his conditioning was not the issue, but rather it was mechanics. Well let me tell you, conditioning effects one's attitude and ability to execute the hitting mechanics necessary to be successful. When we are talking about the hardest thing to do in sports it could mean only two clicks on the dial off kilter. To shut down conditioning as a possible root cause would be ignorant. The Twins commented on this right away and they are belatedly doing something about it. Oh well

I would be down with that if Wade actually deserved a shot. He isn't remotely in that area as of today

In my 52 years on this Earth I have been in and out of shape. When I was in shape I looked like I was in shape. Why? Because I put in the work with diet and exercise. When I was out of shape I looked like I was out of shape. Why? Because I got lazy in the area of diet and exercise and I in every case I readily admitted it to anyone when I got on the topic. I am sure there are a lot of people like me here who have been through this and understand that forgetting about conditioning and diet affects how we feel, our appearance and what we are capable of doing physically (in Sano's case it probably affects his swing mechanics, attitude and overall ability). If this calls into question his character then so be it. He has five to six months of offseason and he is a 25 year old professional athlete. IN this day and age you have to keep up with your peers, many of whom work out and get in amazing shape during the offseason. This is a fixable thing. He can change.,

THere was a lot of blowback about "questioning his character" when people made the observation that Sano was out of shape a few months ago. Can that please stop? YOu don't get out of shape working hard and being a go-getter. I wasn't watching him this winter, but I will bet he lived a little too high on the hog this past winter and who can blame him? He grew up with nothing and now he's enjoying the spoils of a life in the major leagues. At least half of this is on the Twins. Remember when he got suspended for the home run trot back when he was in New Britain? I always thought it was more about other things than him taking his time rounding the bases after a home run. The Twins went out of their way to make a point to him for "not respecting the game" as an indirect way to send a message to him about other areas of his game. Heaven forbid they call him out for his work ethic, or lack of a decent one. What is wrong with saying the kid needs to refocus and work harder? What is wrong with telling the kid that he lost his way? I was in my early 20s once and I needed some people to get in my face in order to keep me on the path. No shame in that.

I read several articles on the matter in both the Dallas and MSP media. Didn't link all of them, but I read everything there was to read on it. That is usually what I like to do before I start a thread. I don't start many of them and I want to be sure of my opinion before I offer one. Especially on Molitor because I really liked him as a player and do not feel comfortable bashing him. That said, Molitor is dead wrong if he expresses any sort of surprise or disgust toward an opposing player hustling in the fourth inning of a game. We all know how the game ended and even after that Paul felt the need to mention that he was surprised Profar would do that considering the score. That is enough for me.

Thank you for that. Honestly. If you are up by a lot and you act a fool celebrating and carrying on, that is one thing. The idea that the Rangers needed to pump the brakes in the 4th inning because Molitor thought the lead was insurmountable really REALLY bothers me. This is the mindset? Roll over and give up when you are down 7 after you have been up just three times? Wrong on so many levels. I am actually sorry I started this thread, but I have a couple of text groups and it was blowing up today over this. NO ONE felt the Rangers were wrong, NO ONE. There is a real disconnect between the fanbase of this team and the team. This is such a loyal fan base, too. Very forgiving and very supportive. Twins fans almost never boo even though they could have. But this stuff right here just doesn't wash away. It is sad that Paul Molitor is the one making these complaints. It wasn't anything like he was as a player. He sounds like a guy who knows he can't get 100% out of his players. Sad

We are coming from the same place, but you nailed it. No wonder this team is bland and lifeless. It flows down from the manager who doesn't expect his players to show passion, energy and play with 110% Instead we have players who are "not trying to do too much"

What is Bannister supposed to say? His player was hit three times. Whether or not the first two were intentional doesn't matter to him. So from his perspective, as a manager, I don't mind what he said. I have problem with what Molitor is insinuating. Does he really expect players to dial down the effort in the fourth inning of a baseball game? The guy was hit for a second time and he stole a base. This is bad baseball? Don't miss the forest for the trees. We are watching a bland team (with the exception of Rosario and Escobar) and Molitor's reaction to what Profar did sums this version of our Twins up perfectly.

Molitor's comments reflect poorly on the Twins. Very VERY disappointed to read these articles this morning. Molitor should be more concerned with his own team. He should be twice as hard on his players hustling and playing aggressive baseball than whining about other teams doing so at "inappropriate times"