How can you not love Manny Ramirez? I realize it’s not exactly breaking news but Manny’s catch/high five/double play is pure Manny. Who else would have dished out a high-five in the middle of executing a double play?
Manny will hit is 500th home run in the coming weeks. He’s one of the most remarkable hitters I’ve ever seen and it will be interesting to see where he’s placed in the pantheon of great hitters when he hangs it up. As far as plate discipline and consistency he’s remarkable. The guy never swings at a bad pitch, hits to all fields an is absolutely clutch. What else do you need? When he does get his pitch he usually hammers it.
Manny’s one of those guys who you know has put up crazy numbers but you’re still surprised when you actually look at his numbers.
- 11 one-hundred RBI seasons
- 1631 Career RBI
- 498 Home Runs
- .409 career on base percentage
- .592 career slugging percentage
- 154 career OPS+
- .313 Career Average
Pretty Good. Pretty pretty good.
Here’s the piece of George Bush’s speech in Israel that has set off a firestorm with reaction from Pelosi, Biden and Obama:
Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: “Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided.” We have an obligation to call this what it is — the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.
I think it’s safe to say that historians and those who study foreign policy agree with the example of British PM Neville Chamberlain and the idea that you can’t negotiate with despots. In the speech he may allude to Obama but never actually mentions him. The reactionary ways of the Democrats is a bit puzzling here. They’re so quick to condemn the President when the logical response would be to simply say very broadly that “we agree, you should never negotiate with terrorists and radicals.” Who can disagree with that statement? Rather than simply putting the question to bed, Obama has raised another issue that will be an issue in the fall.
Here’s a sample debate question:
“Senator Obama, you’ve stated in the past that you’d be open to negotiating with Syria, Iran and Hamas. You’ve also stated that you condemn with President Bush’s comments in regards to negotiating with terrorists. Will you have a policy of negotiating with terrorists groups like Hamas?”
The easy answer is, “no”. Unfortunately he can’t answer the questions quite so simply.
Who’s running this party? Jimmy Carter?
Thought provoking article from the London Times Online regarding the perceived idolatry by many in the media towards Barack Obama. The article takes particular offense with the recent Newsweek “O-team” lovefest.
Mr Obama is portrayed throughout as an immanently benevolent figure. Not human really, more a comforting presence, a light source. He is always eager to listen to all aides of an argument, always instilling confidence in the weak-willed, resolutely sticking to his high principles and tirelessly spurning the low road of electoral politics. I stopped reading after a while but I’m sure by the end he was healing the sick, comforting the dying, restoring sight to the blind and setting prisoners free.
Mr. Baker also takes on an increasingly common theme, the media’s turn in the portrayal of John McCain— the long time darling of many of the same media outlets, but now unfortunately running as the GOP nomination for president.
There’s a special irony here. Senator McCain is the Republican who has received probably the single most favourable treatment from the media in the past 40 years. He has been a favourite because he conformed to the first law of contemporary political journalism: the only good conservative is a bad conservative. His willingness to defy his party on everything from taxes to global warming, to take on George Bush, has earned him at least an honourable mention in the martyrology of American politics of the past 40 years. But now that he’s up against Oh! Bama! he will have to be recast in the more familiar Republican mould of villain and scaremonger-in-chief.
It really is a shame that someone of John McCain’s stature, character, and history of working across party lines will now be cast as the ultimate villain.
The latest news from the economic downturn– people are turning towards more “economic” beers, according to Miller Brewing Company.
The Milwaukee-based brewer saw some shift between higher-priced, premium beers and economy beers such as Miller High Life and Milwaukee’s Best starting in January, Tom Long told reporters on a conference call.
Time to stock up on Milwaukee’s Beast.
What exactly are those Miller “premium” beers? I hope they’re not referring to Genuine Draft.
Mickey’s?
From the London Telegraph, on the amazing story of Irena Sendler who displayed incredible courage during her actions in helping Jewish children escape the Warsaw ghetto. Her incredible story could very well be made into a motion picture. The amazing thing? She lost the Nobel Prize to Al Gore last year. From the article:
Here, though, is the sentence that leapt off the page at me: “Last year she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, eventually won by Al Gore.” Al Gore! I mean, nothing against the old lardbutt – it’s nice to see ex-politicians doing something they believe in rather than giving themselves over wholly to the getting of personal wealth – but making a film is not the same thing as donning a yellow star and smuggling babies past enemy soldiers.
And in other global warming news, also from the Telegraph, we have the story of Sir Paul McCartney and his hyprid-Lexus limousine. To reward him for his work to help the environment Lexus created a special hybrid vehicle for McCartney. The only problem is they flew it to London– from Japan.
Carbon offsetting firm CO2balance.com said the plane journey would have caused a carbon footprint of 38,050kg, compared to 397kg for a three-week boat journey… Co2balance.com Director Mike Rigby said: “That is the equivalent of driving the car around the world six times.”
Hey may have to leave it in the garage for a while.
Roger Goodell clearly just wants the whole Spygate thing to go away. The NFL is just too much of a gravy train with biscuit wheels. Any controversy isn’t good for the league and thus the league will slowly but definitively sweep the whole Spygate issue under the rug. Here are some thoughts:
1. This thing has come a long way from simple spying on divisional opponents for use in future games. If this is the case why spy on the Chargers in 2002 when you don’t play them again for three years? Why spy on the Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFC championship game? The fact that they spied on Pittsburgh during the championship game, both offensively and defensively, could only be to use that information later in the game. What would be the point?
2. If we accept the fact that they spied on the Steelers in the NFC championship game are we to believe they didn’t use the cameras to spy on teams during the Super Bowl victories? The Super Bowl, more than any game, is perfect for spying and deciphering signals. The TV timeouts are longer than usual and halftime is thirty minutes long. The team that is known for making all the right adjustments could have very well made those adjustments in less than honorable circumstances. Keep in mind that all three Super Bowls were won by three points margins. Also keep in mind the numerous late game defensive plays where they always seemed to be in the right place at the right time.
3. Why go through the whole production of filming signals, then down and distance, then signals? Matt Walsh himself indicated that he would hand off the taps to the mysterious Ernie Adams, the Patriot assistant legendary for the supposed “photographic” memory. If anyone doubts the ability of people to pick up signals you only have to look at the great baseball signal stealers over the years. Major League baseball has long been known to have coaches who’s only job is to decipher and steal signs. Why would Ernie Adams and the Patriots be any different? Here’s an interesting and detailed article on Adams.
4. The whole hullabaloo over the Rams “walkthrough” is a convenient diversion. Common sense would tell me the actual filming and deciphering of signals during a game is more important than a walkthrough with no access to play calls or signals.
The whole thing stinks and the whole NFL power establishment just wants it to go away. Belicheck’s legacy is clearly tarnished, as it should be. He’s been less than truthful in the whole process and not until finally confronted with evidence did he fess up. When he finally did fess up he divulged a filming system that is a lot less widespread than what Walsh has brought up. The bottom line is Goodell just wants this all to go away so the NFL can go back to being the most dominant sport in the history of mankind.
Arlen Specter may be a grandstander but in this situation I hope he grandstands to the fullest. The Patriots got away with this and a measly fine and loss of a draft pick is a pittance.
I’m in Chicago on business and have to travel frequently for work. Upon arriving I was shocked to see the hotel actually carries the Versus network. Since there’s no real time to watch anything beyond the Minnesota Twins at home, with family obligations etc, the only chance I really have to watch the NHL is when I’m traveling. Unfortunately its rare to find a hotel that carries Versus. Which brings us to our biggest problem— the fact that Comcast owns Versus. I can’t see the network ever reaching the saturation it needs when it has to rely on competitive cable and satellite companies for channel space.
It’s too bad because I really like the coverage they provide. The announcers are first class and the studio show is entertaining. In a sports landscape where people have written off hockey Versus is trying to resurrect the sport. How much have people written off hockey? I was getting my hair cut at 11:30 this morning at SportsClips. If anyone hasn’t been to a SportsClips you can watch flat screen TV’s playing sports while you get your hair cut. They had the NHL network playing with the entertaining NHL Live from New York show with EJ Hradek. Two of the other patrons had such loathing for the sport that they insisted the gals turn the TV to “baseball”. Where they were going to find a baseball game at 11:30 is beyond me. So we ended up watching professional bowling on ESPN. That’s where hockey rates with the average American. During the Stanley Cup finals people would rather tune into bowling than the mere thought of watching the NHL network.
Me? I’ll be happily tuning in to parts of the Flyers/Penguins tonight. In Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin the Penguins have two potential all-timers– it’s too bad the American public either can’t see them or doesn’t care.
As somebody who followed the Wolves in their early days it’s nice to be able to hear Kevin Harlan on a regular basis on the TNT telecasts. He’s always been a personal favorite of mine.
He brought out one of his best catch-phrases as Lebron posterized KG last night.
With no regard for human life…
Lebron still can’t hit a jumper in the Celtics series but the C’s can’t win on the road. And KG still can’t deliver in the fourth quarter. At this point it’s clear KG is destined to follow in the Charles Barkley/Karl Malone footsteps, a great player who never won a championship. I know he provides the “intangibles” but the NBA is different. If you’re making 23 million a year you can’t go scoreless in the 4th quarter in a key playoff game. He may not be the “go to guy” during the regular season but in the playoffs the great ones step up. It’s what will separate Tim Duncan from KG twenty years from now.
From Dan Bareirro who’s been on top of KG fourth quarter disappearances from the beginning:
The Celtics have yet to win a road game in the playoffs. A Cavs fan bearing this sign might have noticed Monday night: “Where 0-5 Happens.” Another one waiting to be made: “Anybody seen (Big) Ticket Lately?” Late Monday night, the TNT crew had a brain cramp of a moment when Barkley suggested rightly that with Paul Pierce a little busy with LeBron James, it will be tougher to expect him to be the go-to guy in the fourth quarter on the road. So that go-to guy has to be…Ray Allen? That’s what Barkley said in a stupefying moment. Shouldn’t KG be that guy? Especially since he has no such matchup that should be occupying him to the same degree. At least not as much as Anderson Varejao did last night.
Good analysis over at Aaron Gleeman’s site on the average fastball velocity of the Twin’s starters. With the 12th highest average fastball in the AL Jesse Crain looks to be fully back and may not make the club miss Pat Neshek as much. As I wrote a couple days ago I was also impressed with the velocity Glen Perkins showed on Saturday. The lovable Livan is topping out at 84 MPH.
One thing that caught my eye, and I can’t be alone, was Juan Rincon. Rincon’s fastball has consistently lost velocity since 2005. We all know what happened to Juan in 2005. Since then his average fastball has dropped from 94 MPH to 91.5 MPH.
I’m not saying, I’m just saying…
The OJ Mayo story is the logical result of the NCAA one-year rule. After giving the Lebron and Kobe and the likes the ability to go straight to the NBA and all the instant endorsements and celebrity that came with it it’s no shock what’s alleged to have happened in the Mayo situation. Mayo is a player that never would have set foot on a college basketball court if not for the one-year rule. He’s been a celebrity since the ninth grade and has clearly embraced the Lebronish spotlight since then. No one in their right mind can be surprised that he may have taken gifts before and while at USC.
Unless the NCAA and the NBA cleans up the AAU/Agent circuit and severely punishes agents that start courting players as early as the ninth grade these problems are going to continue. There’s going to be a lot of criticism of Bill Duffy but he’s just another cog in a corrupt system. With the one-year rule college basketball now has to deal with the whole mess. Clearly I can’t name names but it’s impossible to believe that Mayo is alone in receiving such benefits over the past few years since this one-year rule has been in effect.
The criticism of USC is a bit over the top but is also warranted. Tim Floyd clearly should have questioned a player who had his representative “recruit” USC instead of vice versa, especially when that player is one of the top-five in the country. As we’ve seen with the USC football team the lure of LA is strong for young players. These kids are celebrities in the ultimate city of celebrity. At the same time you have to understand Floyd’s predicament. He’s coaching in the highly competitive PAC 10 and trying to resurrect a program— who’s going to turn down a player like Mayo?
Then we have ESPN and another “gotcha” moment with the Kelly Naqi interview of Mayo, ala Miquel Tejada. The Dateline/Chris Hansen fad has moved into sports journalism, putting Mayo “on the spot” after his press conference to answer the allegations. Let’s remember the kid is still nineteen-years-old and is just one element of a system that enables him to receive alleged illegal gifts. What nineteen-year-old is going to turn down cash and electronics?
An Australian man has been fined after buckling in a case of beer with a seat belt but leaving a 5-year-old child to sit on the car’s floor, police said Tuesday.
It’s still early but this guy’s out of the running for father of the year. I will admit that I have restrained my beer before– but my child typically isn’t in the car when the beer run is made. Child car seats actually give your case of Mich Golden a nice snug fit.
According to the local constable, Wayne Burnett:
“I haven’t ever seen something like this before,” he said. “This is the first time that the beer has taken priority over a child.”
If anyone has read In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson or watched Crocodile Dundee you’ve heard about Alice Springs, aka, the “Capital of the Outback”.
From Crocodile Dundee…
“That’s not a Knife…THAT’s a Knife”
Here’s another sign that gas prices are too high. Many old gas pumps can’t go higher than $3.99 a gallon. The same pumps can only go as high as $99.99 on the total sale. From the article:
To deal with the problem, some state regulators are allowing half-pricing _ displaying the price for a half-gallon of gas, then doubling the price shown on the meter.
In North Dakota, regulators recently told service stations their mechanical pumps could use half-pricing, provided they use signs to alert costumers and find a permanent solution by April 2009.“
Who would have thought of this back when gas was ten cents a gallon?
On a side note I work with one of those people who’s of the opinion that gas prices aren’t high enough, that the higher they go the less people will drive and save the environment, etc. It may make sense in theory but the fact is without reasonable public transportation we have to drive. It’s the middle class people that use their car for work that will suffer. I’m in sales and drive about 35,000 miles a year. Am I going to stop driving?
Earlier this year I faulted the Twins for getting dominated by the trio of Cliff Lee, Joe Saunders and Ervin Santana, calling them to “middle of the road” MLB starters. Some other pundits made the same comparison while the Twins offense was struggling. Well, the offense has warmed up in May (over six runs a game), but the three starters haven’t cooled off. In fact, they’ve been nothing sort of remarkable.
Remarkable may not be strong enough to describe what Cliff Lee has done this year. Stupendous, ridiculous, insane, and amazing may not even be strong enough. Tonight against Toronto Lee pitched nine shutout innings and got a no decision due to zero run support. This start followed up seven shutout innings against the Yankees last week. In fact Lee has only given up an earned run in two of his seven starts this season. He’s 6-0 on the season with an absurd ERA of 0.67. He has 44 strike outs and has yielded only 4 walks for an Eckersley like K to walk ration of 11-1. In 53 innings Lee has given up only 32 hits. To say the man is on fire would be an understatement. The Twins may be in first place but the Cleveland rotation has the potential to be downright nightmarish. With CC Sabathia getting back to normal and Fausto Carmona unhittable (if he can throw strike) the Indians have the potential to go deep in the playoffs.
Not as dominant as Lee but stellar nonetheless has been the Angels combo of Ervin Santana and Joe Saunders who are a combined 12-1. I faulted the Twins early for struggling against these two, but the rest of the league has followed suit. They sport ERA’s of2.63 and 2.48 respectively. What shocked me about Santana is the fact he’s only 25. He’s like the Mateen Cleeves of baseball— it seems like he’s been around forever.
Other Pitching News: Livan Hernandez keeps on keepin’ on. With all the dominant young arms out there it’s a joy to watch wily old Livan pitch. I eagerly watch every Livan start— kind of like how I used to eagerly anticipate each Johan start, for completely different reasons. Reusse wrote a solid column on the contrast between Buchholz and Livan this evening. Livan struggled early but true to this season’s form finished with yet another quality start and his third consecutive victory.
The Blue Jays and their vaunted pitching staff is up next. Stay hot Minnesota (bats).
A couple of interesting tidbits on two of the more maligned Twins players over the past couple of years, the lovable Lew Ford and the scrappy Jason Tyner. It seems as if Lew’s career in Japan hasn’t taken off like his first season in Minnesota. He was demoted to the Japanese minor leagues on May 2nd. The Ford signing kind of struck me as odd for a Japanese club anyway. I had the perception that when Japanese clubs signed American players they looked for guys that could swing the bat and preferably hit home runs. Since Lew isn’t much of a power hitter his signing did seem a bit unusual. According to the Joe Christensen article Lew was “dropped for readjustment”. There’s humor in that statement somewhere.
I know the Ford demotion has nothing to do with the below quote, but thinking of Lew Ford playing in Japan reminds me of the Tom Selleck movie Mr. Baseball and my favorite quote from the movie.
Jack Eliot: I’m a World Series MVP!
Skip: That was four years ago, Jack. Last season, you hit .235.
Jack Eliot: LAST SEASON, I led this team in ninth-inning doubles in the month of August!
In other former Twins banjo-type hitter news the Indians have called up Jason Tyner. Tyner has been on a tear of late, hitting .370 in May. He’s also continued his slugging ways hitting his first career minor league home run this year, to go along with his first big league HR last year. His one home run would be kind of funny if its wasn’t more home runs than Joe Mauer, Mike Lamb and Delmon Young have hit this year in well over 300 at bats– combined.
Tyner hit his only MLB homer against the Tribe last year, so they’ve seen how he can utterly destroy a baseball. If you’re interested in walking down memory lane, here’s a link to his home run.
Editors Note: Back in early April I penned an entry called “Four Reasons the Detroit Tigers will continue to struggle.” The entry was posted after the Tigers winless six game homes stand to start the season. Just over a month later they’re still struggling. To continue the theme I’ve decided to revisit my four points. My original post is in italics, my current comments follow in regular text.
1. Career Years: It’s unlikely Magglio Ordonez will repeat his numbers of last season. He’s a great hitter, but not a .363 hitter. He’s also 34 years old. Ditto for Curtis Granderson. Granderson will likely not challenge the 20/20/20/20 he put up last year. Nor is he likely to match the .302 batting average that was forty points higher than he hit the previous season. Yet another ditto for Placido Polanco who hit forty-six points higher than his previous season (.295 in 2006 versus .345 in 2007). In all the Tigers have three regulars who hit more than forty points higher than the previous season— all significant increases over their career averages. They will be hard pressed to repeat these numbers. As a result it’s possible that three of the top five hitters in the Tigers lineup are due for large decreases in average over the previous season.
Although he’s picked up his numbers of late Polanco is only hitting .277, sixty-eight points lower than his average a season ago. I didn’t put Verlander in the mix here but he’s gone from a Cy Young contender to one of the worst starters in the game thus far. His numbers aren’t quite Zito-like, but they’re not far off. Curtis Granderson has struggled with his batting average since his return but his extra-base hit and OPS numbers are solid. Magglio Ordonez is putting up good numbers but nothing like last year. He’s projecting for just over 100 RBI, well short of his near 140 from last year. His average is also down about fifty-five points from last year.
2. Age: The Tigers are OLD. Gary Sheffield is 39 and Ivan Rodriquez is 36. It’s possible one of the two will begin to finally show his age this season. Pudge is in his 18th season as a major league catcher, which is amazing. Sooner or later the physical toll is going to catch up with him. The same goes for Todd Jones who is also 39. These guys are spring chickens compared to Kenny Rogers who is 43. To recap, two of the teams top hitters, a top starter and the Tigers closer are all over 36 with most of them near forty. They are closer in age to AARP than Carlos Gomez.
Gary Sheffield may be reaching the end. The Tigers would be better off going out and signing Barry Bonds and parting ways with Sheffield. Sheff is hitting .208 with a measly 2 HR’s and 8 RBI in just under one-hundred at bats. Pudge has decent numbers, but no where near his typical statistics. He’s hitting thirty points below his career average (.270 vs .302) with only one HR in 122 at-bats. Kenny Rogers has been largely dreadful with a 5.82 ERA and only 43 innings pitched in 8 starts (taxing the bullpen as predicted). Todd Jones has been decent, but hasn’t really had an opportunity to save many games, with only five saves this season. The Tigers average age is 31.4 years, which is a nearly five years older than the Twins average age.
3. The Pen: The Tigers bullpen is a train wreck. Fernando Rodney is on the DL. Joel Zumaya could be out half the season and very well may never recapture the velocity he had in the past. Todd Jones has been a threat to implode for several years and may finally do so this season. Jason Grilli is being used in key setup situations— and getting lit up in said situations. The Tigers bullpen is mediocre at best. It pales in comparison to Boston, New York, Cleveland and Anaheim. For this reason alone the Tigers are probably not legitimate contenders.
It’s been an up and down year for the pen with several injuries to contend with. Jason Grilli was brutal early but has settled down as of late. It’s still an adventure with Jones and the gang closing out games but the pen has been the least of their worries— the Tigers starting rotation has been brutal.
4. The Rotation: Justin Verlander is a proven commodity, but once you get past Verlander Detroit’s rotation is not that of a legit World Series contender. Dontrelle Willis is much too inconsistent, as his seven walks from this weekend demonstrated yet again. It may be time to fold em’ for Kenny Rogers. Jeremy Bonderman has shown an inability to develop a third pitch and has never had an ERA in a season under 4.00 as a result. Nate Robertson is a decent fourth or fifth starter but not somebody the team can rely on to be a stopper.
This area is the biggest surprise of all. The Tigers have had only nine quality starts in 38 games this season. In contrast, the Twins have had 18 quality starts. The Tigers ace Justin Verlander (6.43) and Nate Robertson (6.64) both have ERA’s over six. Kenny Rogers (5.82) isn’t much better with an ERA near six. With an ERA near five (4.82) Jeremy Bonderman has been their most solid starter. All of this adds up to a team ERA of 5.15. If the rotation doesn’t right the ship this team isn’t going to finish anywhere near .500.
If I were Jim Leyland and Dave Dombrowski I’d be real concerned. The acquisition of Miguel Cabrera doesn’t offset the weaknesses listed above. Even with the pickup of Cabrera there is no guarantee the Tigers will score as many runs as last year— with the career years Granderson, Ordonez and Polanco and the age of Pudge and Sheffield. To compound things the bullpen is weak and the rotation is at best middle of the pack.
This team is going to get awful old awful fast. Mortgaging the future by trading Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller may not have been the best idea. It seems hard to believe but when the Twins open their new park in 2010 the Tigers may be back in the middle of the pack.
The Tigers question marks still outweigh their phenomenal offensive potential. Their pitching has simply been atrocious and its been backed by an often brutal defense. Having Miquel Cabrera learn on the job at first base and moving Carlos Guillen all over the infield over the past couple of years is not good for continuity. The decision to make Gary Sheffield and everyday outfielder is even more confusing.
It’s going to be a long year in Detroit. This team is not a championship contender.
As we were watching the evening news last night my wife looked at me in disbelief that the NHL playoffs were still going on. Neatly sequestered away on Versus you don’t see a whole lot of coverage of the Stanley Cup Tournament. Yes, the playoffs are still going on and they’re as exciting as ever. A potential Pittsburgh/Detroit final could be one of the most exciting in years, if anyone was watching. To their credit ESPN has stepped up the coverage, even bringing in the one and only Don Cherry to provide analysis. I have fond memories of watching Cherry as a child on Hockey Night in Canada at my grandma’s house in Michigan— truly one of a kind.
Since it’s impossible to describe Don Cherry to anyone that hasn’t watched him, here’s a YouTube video:
Two out of three versus the Sox thus far. Last night was a rollercoaster but they did lead the entire game. A few thoughts— been busy of late!
Glen Perkins: I’m not going to say much about Saturday’s game other than I was impressed with Glen Perkins. Yes he did give up three solo shots, but showed command and good stuff on the mound. The rotation is badly in need of a lefthander with Liriano in the minors and Perkins fits the bill. I’m not sure how accurate the FSN radar readings arebut he did display more velocity than I anticipated. The Youkilis and Crisp shots were clear bombs, I thought the Lowrie homer was a good pitch. He should get another start or two with Baker on the DL— maybe he’ll be a fixture for a while.
On to Sunday’s game…
The Monroe Doctrine: I haven’t been kind to Monroe, preferring Jason Kubel like many others. At this point Monroe clearly deserves the time at DH. Kubel has been a mess of late and beyond some early power numbers hasn’t given the team much. The potential power that Monroe provides the team is valued even more due to their inability to hit the long ball. Last night’s game is the perfect example— stringing a few hits here and there wouldn’t have been enough to beat the Sox like the three run homer was.
Monroe
AB- 67
HR- 4
RBI- 13
AVG- .284
SLG- .537
OPS+ - 136
AB- 117
HR- 4
RBI- 18
AVG- .222
SLG- .359
OPS+ 66
There’s no way around it, Kubel has been brutal. He has a .238 On Base Percentage with only three walks to go along with 24 strike outs. In half as many at bats Monroe has clearly out performed him. Part of the attraction of Kubel was the idea that Monroe is a free-swinger with little plate discipline or propensity to take a walk. That last statement is true in that Monroe has only three walks himself. The problem with the criticism of Monroe is that Kubel has been much worse. There’s no guarantee that Monroe’s production will continue but at this point he has to be the preferred choice at DH for a while.
Red Sox Nation: The crowd has been marked by a high percentage of Red Sox fans. Some estimates put it as much as 25% of the crowd, a very boisterous lot. According to many this is Red Sox Nation. I’ve been to Twins/Red Sox games for years at the Dome. There were always a decent number of Sox fans there but nothing like now. Yes, the bandwagon is in full force this weekend—- the Bosox bandwagon. It would be interesting to quiz some of these Johnny Come Lately’s on Red Sox history. I’d be willing to guess not many would be familiar with the likes of Bob Stanley or Jody Reed or even Mike Greenwell.
Come on Livan: Let’s all channel our inner Livan and will him to another solid start tonight. He’s given up only one earned run in each of his last two starts with impressive victories over Detroit and Chicago. The Twins get to face Clay Buchholz who’s been up and down this season. A victory would be a clear sign that this team has the potential to truly contend this season due to their strong play at the Dome. The home field advantage is back in full force.
Saturday AM Note #1: The Srib must be reading the STHH. They have the same headline that I wrote last night. I actually met a guy at a bar once who insisted he wrote headlines for the Strib. He said they have a whole bunch of them ready to go and just scroll through the list and find one that works. This was during a Wild playoff game. The funny thing is right when the game ended he literally ran out of the bar— as if he had to go and write that headline!
I have to admit I didn’t watch the game, only heard Papelbon blow it in the ninth on the radio driving home from the movies. I took my son to see Speed Racer (don’t trust the reviews— your five-year-old will love it It was quite entertaining). There’s something about this year’s Twins club. I think we may have a real live contender on our hands. They’ve been unbeatable at home of late, a formula used to perfection by a couple of World Champions. They’re now 12-6 at home and on a eight game home unbeaten streak. Nice to see Mike Lamb get a clutch hit. Hopefully he’ll be able to keep the momentum going. Matt Tolbert is a decent utility guy but shouldn’t be playing third base on a regular basis. A tough outing by Boof. With Liriano in the minors and Baker on the DL Bonser really needs to step up and show consistency and an ability to avoid disastrous innings. With Perkins on the mound tomorrow this win is a big one.
Saturday AM Note #2: I was a bit tough on Boof. In reading Reusse’s column in the Strib this morning it sounds like defensive misadventures contributed mightily to his six runs given up.
A couple of more points…
1. Big hit by Delmon to start the ninth. Maybe, finally, he’s breaking out of his funk. Sooner or later he’s going to jack a ball out of the park and maybe his first home run will start a solid groove.
2. Kubel is struggling right now. Gardy has freed him, now its time to reward the manager’s faith in playing him full time.
3. What can you say about Carlos Gomez? He’s on base for almost 80 steals, 180+ hits and still learning at the major league level. You can see his improvement daily. I was skeptical like just about everybody when the trade went down. I think we’re looking at a future all-star. It’s amazing how quickly he’s become the fan favorite.
Good luck Mr. Perkins tomorrow.
It’s a beautiful Friday and contrary to the local weather intelligentsia the sun is out. The fishing opener is upon us— its safe to say the summer has officially started. Here’s some Richie Havens for your sunny Friday (unless you’re on the east coast).
“Here Comes the Sun”
If you feel like kicking it up a notch, The Violent Femmes. The video is worth checking out for the mullet alone.
“A Blister in the Sun”
I’m not close to as big a fan of pro basketball as I used to be. Growing up I was a big Celtic and Larry Legend fan. I followed the league through the 80’s and 90’s. The last couple of years my interest has waned. I’m not one of those guys who blames my decreasing interest on high school players going straight to the league or the “hip hop” culture. I simply have too much going on in my life now with work, kids, etc. It would make sense some of my sports interest would fall off. With the Twins and Favre and the Pack dominating my fandom, the NBA didn’t make the cut.
After not watching any NBA playoff action this year I watched most of the Hornets/Spurs game two while I was out of town on business on Monday night. I immediately became enthralled with how extraordinary a player Chris Paul has become. He’s the closest thing to Isiah Thomas since the man himself. I’m going to say it right now— he’s the perfect point guard. The man is about to dominate the position for the next decade. Since I have no other loyalty, I’m making the immediate decision to join the Chris Paul/New Orleans Hornets bandwagon. They’re a fun club to watch. It’s almost halftime in tonight’s game an Paul is putting on another clinic against Tony Parker.
Point Guard Play 101 with your instructor, Chris Paul. .
Oh, and by the way, what’s the deal with Rick Bucher? When he started with ESPN he had this bookish writer look. Now the guy looks like the second coming of Gordon Gekko.
Interesting article from the Strib. At first glance it would seem hard to believe but these guys actually visited all 48 states in just over four days. There’s a map that lays out the journey in the article. They traveled just over 7,000 miles total. The amazing thing to me is the fact that they averaged a speed of 66 miles per hour during the trip so they must have avoided rush hour traffic along the way as well. I regularly drive to Iowa for work and only average about a speed of 69 MPH on the way home (with stops for gas, etc).
This guy would be proud:
East Bound and Down
I’ve gone on record on a couple of occasions scoffing at the notion of Hillary Clinton as Barack Obama’s running mate. In the last couple of days it now seems highly possible with both Obama and some of Hillary’s advisers hinting at it. If Hillary goes for it I’ll be as shocked as anybody. You’d think she’d rather be Senator from New York than Vice President. I realize Dick Cheney has changed the role and scope of the job but I’d highly doubt she’d have a similar role in Obama’s presidency. George Bush gave Cheney such a role because he didn’t see him as a threat. Hillary would clearly be a threat to Obama. Even if she does become VP she’ll be 70 years old in eight years after Obama’s potential term would end.
Bill Clinton as “Second Man” of the United States?
An up and down series for the Twins. Tough to see them struggle against Danks and the White Sox after they lit up Danks the last time they faced him and lit up the Sox the day before. The club scored sixteen runs in the three game series, only problem was thirteen were scored in one game. As far as Kevin Slowey, tremendous through four innings and then the long ball got to him. He’s very Radke-like so we’re going to have to expect that.
With the Bosox coming to down it’ll be trial by fire for Glen Perkins on Saturday. The four game series against the defending champs will be a great litmus test for the club. They avoid Josh Beckett in the series. Tomorrow we get to see what all the hype is about with Jon Lester. It would be nice to see Gomez have some success against him.
I think the club will at least manage a split. It will be some nice national TV exposure as both the Sunday night game and the Monday game will be on ESPN. This will continue the streak of having the Red Sox and Yankees on every single ESPN baseball broadcast (or so it seems). This time I can’t complain. Let’s hope Nick Blackburn does well in front of the Sunday Night audience.
Let’s score some runs.
P.S. Fingers crossed for Pat Neshek.
It’s nice to crush the White Sox. Ozzie and his crew aren’t the most likable club. After nearly getting no-hit last evening the Twins bounced back with authority. Some thoughts…
Mr. Gomez has talent: It’s been a fun ride thus far with Carlos Gomez. He’s followed up occasional brilliance with occasional bumps in the road. Lately he’s been showing the skills that made him such a highly rated prospect. Last night he took it to the next level hitting for the cycle. He’s raised is average to .284 and has started to display his power potential. You have to admire his resiliency. Since his four strikeout game in Oakland, where many people called for him to be sent down, Gomez is hitting nearly .500 (14 for 30). In eight starts he has five multi-hit games. He may alone make the Santana trade worthwhile in the end. With his 6′4″ frame and bat speed I think we’re looking at a future middle of the order player— with power potential to go along with his freakish speed.
He shall be Livan; and he shall be a good man: What can you say about Livan? Just when it seemed he was going to pull a Ramon Ortiz he’s bounced back with two outstanding starts. First he gave up one measly run against the vaunted Tigers, now he nearly shuts out the White Sox, other than a late and insignificant rally by the Sox. Livan is now 5-1 on the season and has been the rock of the starting rotation. He’s been exactly what the club was looking for, a reliable veteran innings eater. Hernandez now has the ERA back under 4.00.
I know Livan is not Johan—- but here’s a stat comparison anyway.
W L IP H WHIP ERA SO
Livan 5 1 51.7 62 1.394 3.83 20
Johan 3 2 46.3 35 1.014 2.91 47
One player is making 20 million a year the other is making five million. Will Livan continue his form? That’s the big question. So far he’s filled a large gap admirably.
LNP: I announced a few weeks back that I was now pro-Nick Punto. Since that point Punto hadn’t done a whole lot so my support started to waver. I’m back on the bandwagon! Punto drove in five today. I think its safe to say that any time you get 5 RBI out of Punto it’s a good day and probably a victory.
Slowey: The Twins have a big game tomorrow with Kevin Slowey on the mound. A win is crucial to take the series and keep their momentum with Boston coming to town this weekend. The Twins will be throwing a couple of rookies, Glen Perkins and Nick Blackburn against the Red Sox, so a win tomorrow versus the Sox is key.
Let’s not follow a thirteen run outing with a shutout.