Minnesota Twins

Congratulations to the San Francisco Giants, who are World Champions for the first time since moving to the west coast more than 50 years ago.  Their last title in New York came in 1954, when Willie Mays made “the catch” that will be played on highlight reels forever.  The Giants came unbelievably close to not even making the playoffs this year, but the fans who claimed that watching their team was “torture” are now the happiest fans in baseball.

Continue reading "A new champion is crowned"

Postseason sweeps are great if your team comes out victorious, but for the fan who just wants to see a good series because his team is already done for the year, sweeps make October less exciting.  The Phillies and Yankees outplayed their first-round opponents so it was no surprise that the Reds and Twins failed to win a single game, but the other two division series were more fun to watch.  Additionally, the League Championship Series in both the AL and NL will last a minimum of six games, which is how it should be.  A postseason series that features one team in complete control over the other is like a boxing match in which one fighter KO’s the other in the first round, but then fights him again the next night and does it all over again.  A series that goes the distance (or a game shy of it), on the other hand, is good for ball.

Continue reading "Longer series are good for ball"

While the fans in Cincinnati, Atlanta, and St. Petersburg may not have appreciated it, nearly every game played so far this postseason has featured a dominant pitching performance.  Roy Halladay no-hit the Reds, Tim Lincecum shut out the Braves on just two hits while striking out 14, and C.J. Wilson and Cliff Lee combined to hold the Rays to one run in 13.1 innings.  Lee displayed his talents during last year’s World Series, earning both of the Phillies’ wins over the Yankees, but Halladay, Lincecum and Wilson were all making their postseason debuts, and not one of them showed any sign of butterflies.

Continue reading "Playoff newcomers show the baseball ..."

Albert Pujols and Joey Votto are having monster seasons.  Not only are the sluggers leading their teams in the playoff hunt – the Cardinals are 1.5 games back in the Wild Card race while the Reds lead the NL Central – but Pujols (.321, 34 HR, 93 RBI) and Votto (.326, 31 HR, 90 RBI) are the top two National Leaguers in each of the Triple Crown categories.  Both have strong cases for the MVP award, but if either one wins the first Triple Crown since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967, it would be awfully hard for the voters not to choose him as the league’s Most Valuable Player.

Continue reading "Pair of Triple Crown candidates duel it out"

With All-Star rosters set to be announced this weekend, I’m hoping that fans made good decisions in for whom to cast their final ballots.  While voting began not long after spring training ended, the true All-Stars have revealed themselves over the entire first half of the season.

Continue reading "Who's on first at the Midsummer Classic?"

Though it was overshadowed by Armando Galarraga’s nearly perfect game, Ken Griffey Jr. announced his retirement on Wednesday, marking the end of a historic career.  Griffey’s various injuries over the last 10 years prevented him from breaking the all-time home run record, but The Kid will still go down as one of the very best of his era.  He was a 13-time All-Star (including 11 in a row) and totaled 2,781 career hits, 630 homers (good for 5th all-time) and 1836 Runs Batted In.  He won 7 Silver Sluggers and an MVP Award, and his 10 Gold Gloves tie him for third-most among outfielders; he won them in consecutive years.  Known for his sweet swing, tremendous defense in center field, and contagious smile, Griffey will take his place in Cooperstown before we know it.

Continue reading "Junior hangs 'em up"

Today’s post is brought to you from Toledo, Ohio.  With Spring Training wrapping up in just over a week, every team has reason to be hopeful that this will be their year.  Though it is widely accepted that exhibition games are meaningless, the Giants should feel good about their 18-7 record this spring, and the Indians are certainly pleased that they have won 13 of their first 19 games.  The reigning World Series champion Yankees, meanwhile, can shake off their 9-12 record as rustiness.  It may not have the excitement of October, but April is when everyone’s glass is half full; no one has ground to make up or nagging injuries to play through.  Every team has a share of first place, and that’s what makes it the most promising time of the year.

Continue reading "The most promising time of the year"

1) The opening of Target Field, the first outdoor park since 1981 that the Minnesota Twins will call home.  Thankfully, it will be used exclusively for baseball.  The real grass will be a welcome change for Joe Mauer’s knees, and a nice attraction for free agents who had been weary of the Metrodome’s artificial turf.

Continue reading "Next stop in my baseball career – ..."

After their playing careers are over, Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera will undoubtedly be elected to the Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility, but will teammate Jorge Posada join them in Cooperstown?  Yankee fans may feel differently, but the truth is that if Posada retired from baseball today, he would not belong in The Hall.  His credentials include five trips to the All-Star Game, five Silver Slugger awards, 243 home runs, and five seasons with 90+ RBI’s, as well as having caught the perfect game thrown by David Wells in 1998.  Arguments against Posada’s candidacy are that he is not a strong defensive catcher, has only once batted over .300 (.277 career average) and his 1,488 career hits do not make him stand out among his catching peers.  Despite 11 career playoff home runs, his postseason line (.239/.351/.384) is sub-par for a catcher known primarily for his hitting.

Continue reading "Third member of Yankee trio not a lock for Hall"

While researching ballplayers of the nineties, I discovered that in 1993, Jeff King of the Pirates drove in 98 runs while hitting only nine home runs and slugging just .406.  I then wondered if any player has ever driven in 100 runs with fewer than 10 homers or with a slugging percentage under .400.  Upon further investigation, I found that in 1996 – the year he turned 40 during the Dog Days of August – Paul Molitor hit just nine homers but accumulated 113 RBI’s while playing for the Twins.  Thanks to his American League-leading 225 hits and batting two hitters behind leadoff man Chuck Knoblauch in the midst of his best season (.448 OBP), Molitor led the Twins in both hitting (.341) and Runs Batted In.  I have yet to find a player with a season of 100+ RBI’s despite a slugging percentage under .400 (Molitor’s was a healthy .468), but I will continue searching.

Continue reading "Run production and slugging: not ..."

The 12-inning thriller that was the last regular season game ever played at the Metrodome was exactly what I wanted to see.  When the Twins and Tigers played a four-game series in Detroit last week, I found myself rooting for the Twins to close the gap in order to create an exciting finish to the regular season – ideally a one-game playoff.  When that happened, I decided it would be great for the city of Detroit to send their team to the playoffs, but what I wanted most was to see a great game.  My wish came true when the two teams played a nail-biter that could have gone either way, but eventually sent Minnesota to the postseason.  Props to both teams for giving the fans what they deserved.

Continue reading "Twins-Tigers game was exactly what I wanted"

How about the Minnesota Twins?  With nine wins in their last 10 games, the Twins have crept within three games of the Tigers for the A.L. Central lead, an impressive feat considering they lost cleanup man Justin Morneau – the team leader in home runs (30) and runs batted in (100) – to injury just before their hot streak.  The battle between Minnesota and Detroit is the only close race in the American League.

Continue reading "Bobby Cox has one more season in him"

With the MLB playoffs set to begin, there is a subtle difference in the air compared to start of any other postseason. In the NHL, fans can potentially look forward to a great Canadians/Bruins series that is not only exciting, but has a historical kick to it. Likewise basketball fans always have the chance to see if the Suns can finally get past the Spurs and football fans love seeing the rivalry of the Eagles Vs the City of Philadelphia when the Eagles so much as get tackled for a loss.

Continue reading "The Ups and Downs of the MLB Playoffs"

AL Central 2008

Most Encouraging Team: Minnesota Twins

White Sox fans will want me drawn and quartered for this, but really, you can't pick against the Twins. The White Sox had a ton of money invested in this season and a lot of proven guys on their team. They had Dye, Konerko, Thome, Cabrera, Buehrle, Vasquez etc, etc coming into the season, and that was before guys like Carlos Quentin and Alexei Ramirez had big years, and Jon Danks and Gavin Floyd steadied the pitching staff. So, yes, the White Sox have had a great year, but they're only 2.5 games ahead of Minnesota as we speak. This is the same Twins team that people thought were throwing in the towel on 2008 when they traded Johan Santana to the Mets in the offseason. When you take into account Francisco Liriano started the year still recovering from his injury, there was nobody outside of the Twin Cities that thought this team had a shot at the playoffs. Now, thanks to solid work from young starters Scott Baker, Kevin Slowey, and Nick Blackburn, plus Liriano's stellar return late in the season, the Twins have kept their noses right in the thick of the AL Central race. They've got what you expected out of Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, and have gotten good contributions from Denard Span, Carlos Gomez, Alexei Casilla and Delmon Young, who has really turned it on in the second half. Not to mention, they have the closer who has been the most dominant in the league. When you take into account all the young, cheap assests the Twins have, I think you have to look at them as the most encouraging team in the division.

Continue reading "It's AL Central Time"

To add to yesterday's post, neither Ibanez nor Washburn was dealt after they were claimed on waivers. According to the Post-Intelligencer, the Twins put in claims on both, and their waiver number was higher for Jarrod, while the Tigers claim was highest for Ibanez.

Continue reading "Waiver Update"

The Mariners announced today that Jarrod Washburn has cleared waivers, meaning he can now be freely traded to whatever team wants to take on his massive salary. There's no real surprise here, as it's doubtful any other team would want to take on his bloated $9.85M salary. So the failure of Seattle to deal him before the deadline isn't so awful, except that his value seemed to have peaked at that point for a couple of reasons: (1) he'd pitched really well to that point (4 ER in 19.2 IP in the three starts before the deadline, (2) his value diminishes with each day that passes, since that means less time he can spend with a contending team (e.g., the Yanks) starved for starters, which leads to (3) the team in question being more likely to go in another direction.

Continue reading "Washburn is ready to move"

Continue reading "Raul and the Blowout"

For the first time since May 13, the Minnesota Twins--the team that stood pat during the recent Trade Deadline Sweepstakes--assume first place in the NL Central today.

Chicago had been waiting for its bats to heat up all season, and both Swisher and Konerko have had a few streaks of hot hitting, but they couldn't get the whole team hitting at the same time. So they grabbed Ken Griffey, Jr., a move that was part consummation of a long-time love affair with Junior by GM Kenny Williams and part best-choice trade.

Continue reading "Twins in First"

One of the All-Star Break traditions: Reassessing our predictions from the first half of the season. Some of mine have changed, some have stayed the same—and some were just damn wrong. Living in the West, I will take the contrarian position and roll from west to east in my choices.

Continue reading "Second Half Predictions"

Minnesota Twins

Can Francisco Liriano step up and replace Johan Santana as the ace of the staff?

Continue reading "MLB 2008 Season Preview: AL Central"