Seth Stohs Speaks on Sports, The Minnesota Twins, and more!

I haven't been writing up American Idol Thoughts much this year, at least not on a weekly basis. Time just has not permitted. I haven't watched every performance of every show this season, but still most of them. But after watching last night's performances and specifically a few things, I felt compelled to write something. I know there are still a few of you who want this kind of information. I will keep it short, and if you don't want to read it, just skip to all the baseball stuff below. Here are a few thoughts:

It is pretty clear who the judges and the Idol producers want to win this contest, young David Archuletta. Even when he doesn't do well, the judges find a way to spin it positively. I didn't think he did great last night. He didn't pick particularly great songs. When he tried to act young and sing a Chris Brown song, it showed me one thing. He will not be a huge star. He will have his one big selling album based on the popularity of the show, and then he will go the way of Josh Groban. Believe me, that is not a negative in any way. Groban is an amazing singer, with an amazing voice, but he has a niche that will never be a Top 20 type of music.
The other one that they want in the finale is David Cook, and I don't know why. He showed last night what I have been saying for a few weeks, he is not much of a singer. He's an ok performer. He is the season's rocker. He is a good singer, but nothing special. Nothing compared to the likes of Chris Doughtry, or even Bo Bice. Last night, I actually asked myself if he wasn't better than Constantine Maroulis. But again, the judges played him up like he had done something special. I have never heard a worst version of that Aerosmith song. He sang it so bad that I can't even think of the title right now (oh yeah, Don't Wanna Miss a Thing). Seriously, he would go slow... then fast, then slow... then fast and it was just horrific. He should have been gone a couple of weeks ago.
Finally, I happen to think that Syesha Mercado is the best singer of the group. She has been absolutely incredible the last three or four weeks. Vocally, she has been nearly flawless. She has not picked easy songs either. She has the personality and she is a performer on the stage. Of the three remaining, I think that she has the best chance of becoming a star. Last night, I thought she was remarkable again... and the judges basically made it clear that they think she should be done. Is it the producers telling them what to say? I mean, even Paula was negative, and she was very good. What bugs me even more is that they questioned her song selection on the third and final song, they wanted a song that would be memorable... Well, that was the PRODUCER'S CHOICE. She didn't pick it!

Anyway, I could go on and on. Judges tell them to make songs their own, and then if they do, they frequently say that sometimes a song doesn't need to be altered much. It is a frustrating show. It's great TV, and I still encourage everyone to watch it, particularly kids. But it's like the World Series champion... the winner isn't always the best!

Any thoughts?

Tuesday Night, May 13, 2008

Tuesday Game Notes

Quick notes on the Twins loss to the Blue Jays and all of the Twins minor league games. Enjoy. Comment.

Twins 3, Blue Jays 5

Kevin Slowey gave up three earned runs on five hits in 5.2 innings. He walked two and struck out five. I actually thought he looked really good in the game for the most part. Of course, he falls to 0-3 on the season, but the W-L record says nothing about how a guy pitches. I thought it looked like he threw hard, threw his fastball at a couple of different speeds and then mixed in a change up with curveballs that came in at various speeds. You can see how that could keep an offense off balance. But the two out walk to Matt Stairs in the fourth inning hurt him when Lyle Overbay and Shannon Stewart hit back to back doubles that gave the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead. Many talk about how Slowey doesn't have an out pitch, to which I completely disagree (primarily because of his strikeout rate). Well, those people probably loved the 15 pitch at bat with Scott Rolen that ended with a ground out to SS. That also put Slowey up to 105 pitches. So, the next batter, Matt Stairs, hit a home run and Slowey's night was over.
I try not to question Gardy too much here. People do way too much of that elsewhere and it's really just annoying. Managers make decisions based on several reasons, and everyone thinks a little bit differently. So, all decisions throughout a game can be second guessed whether they work or not, so I try not to do it. Anyway this isn't a big deal, but if Gardy was going to take Slowey out after Stairs batted anyway, why not have a lefty ready to pitch to him there? There are two answers to that, potentially. First, maybe Gardy and Rick Anderson decided that having Slowey pitch to Stairs was a better option than Dennys Reyes batting against Kevin Mench in that situation. The second, and most likely, reason for letting Slowey bat to Matt Stairs... the glorified Win stat. Had Slowey been able to get Stairs out, he would have completed six innings. Then had the Twins been able to grab the lead in the bottom of the 6th, Slowey could have had a Win.
Delmon Young has actually been hitting fairly well of late. Before tonight's 0-4, Young had gone 7-19 over his past five games, a .368 batting average. I know that they spent too much time in the pre-game show talking about how Young wants to play every inning of every game, and that is commendable. But with how much it has been brought up, you have to wonder what is really up with it? He's 22! Getting a day off is not a bad thing. It isn't a negative thing. It can be a good thing, especially one day after rolling your ankle. I just don't understand the thinking sometimes.
You can't help but wonder how the game might have turned out had Justin Morneau's triple been hit a foot or so more toward CF and been a home run. The game would have been tied and the whole scenario may end up playing out differently.
I wanted to watch Jesse Litsch pitch for the Blue Jays last night! Why? Because he's a quality young pitcher? In part, but primarily because of Patrick Reusse. What, you ask? Well, as I was driving in to the office this morning, I was listening to KSTP. Reusse appears at about 7:45 most mornings, I guess. Anyway, he was talking about how people really needed to watch Litsch pitch. It surprised me that he knew who he was. Well, I am paraphrasing, but Reusse went on to basically say something like --- Litsch looks like the offspring from Deliverance... he looks like he should be driving in NASCAR instead of being a big league pitcher. I actually laughed out loud!
It was nice to see Jason Kubel unload on a pitch as a pinch hitter in the 8th inning. He hit a home run into the upper deck in right field. It was hit fifth of the year.
It was good to see Carlos Gomez jump all over a hanger in the 3rd inning and hit his third homer of the year. Later, he drilled a single down the left field line. I don't know if he reads scouting reports, but I can't imagine I was the only Twins fan wondering why he didn't go to second off of the arm of Shannon Stewart!
Have I mentioned that I am excited that former Twins minor leaguer Luis Maza was called up to the Los Angeles Dodgers? I always thought he should have been given a shot by the Twins, at least in place of Luis Rivas.

Any other thoughts on the Twins? Tonight Boof Bonser will take on Roy Halladay. Commendable that he's pitched so much and thrown those complete games, but let's not be surprised again in June or July when he goes on the Disabled List with a "Tired Arm" again. Also, I will be at the Twins game at noon on Thursday and get to see Dustin McGowan and his 98 mph fastball.

Twins Minor League Updates

Tuesday SethSpeaks Player of the Day – Brian Buscher, Rochester Red Wings
Tuesday SethSpeaks Pitcher of the Day – Zach Ward, New Britain Rockcats

Be sure to head over to Stick & Ball Guy's site and read ubelman's Minor League Bonanza. Some interesting thoughts... a bit negative though!

ROCHESTER REPORT
Tuesday - Red Wings 5, Columbus 7 – The bats could not bail out the defense and a bunch of unearned runs in this one. Kevin Mulvey started and falls to 2-5. He gave up five runs (1 earned) on six hits and two walks in just 3.2 innings. Heath Totten came in and got four outs. Ricky Barrett gave up a run on three hits and a walk in two innings. Casey Daigle gave up a run on one hit and a walk in two innings. Brian Buscher led the offense. He went 4-5 with his fifth homer. Chris Basak was 3-4 with his fifth double. Denard Span went 2-3 with a walk and his second homer of the year. He also stole his 12th base. Darnell McDonald and Howie Clark were both 2-4. McDonald notched his 11th double. Clark hit his third triple.

NEW BRITAIN NEWS
Tuesday - Rockcats 2, Binghamtom 4 – Jay Rainville needed a good start, and for the most part, he did well. He gave up four runs (3 earned) on seven hits and a walk in 6.1 innings. The offense managed just six hits. Steve Tolleson and Dustin Martin each hit a double. Martin had an RBI.

By the way, Zach Ward has been terrific this season pitching out of the Rockcats bullpen. In this game, he went 1.2 perfect innings, striking out one. He is now 2-0 with a miniscule 0.36 ERA. In 14 games, he has thrown 23.1 innings. He has given up 16 hits. He has walked 12, the lone negative in his pitching line. He has struck out 21. He has given up just two runs, and only one of them was earned.

FT MYERS MEMOS
Tuesday - Miracle 10, Sarasota 6 – Deolis Guerra improved to 4-1 with a lot of help from the bats. Guerra gave up five earned runs on six hits and a walk in just five innings. Danny Vais came in and reduced his season ERA to 0.75 with two shutout innings. Anthony Slama gave up an unearned run in his two innings. He struck out four. Rene Tosoni went 2-4 with two walks and his first homer of the year. Danny Valencia went 2-4 with a walk, his second triple and fourth home run. Edward Ovalle went 2-4 with his third homer and three RBI. Yancarlos Ortiz was 2-4 with a walk. Wilson Ramos went 2-5 with his sixth double.

BELOIT BITS
Tuesday - Snappers 7, Clinton 5 – David Bromberg continues to be a strikeout machine. In six innings, he gave up three earned runs on seven hits and two walks. He struck out nine. Brad Tippett then gave up two runs on two hits and a walk in 1.1 innings. Spencer Steedley got his second win by striking out two in 1.2 perfect innings. Garrett Olson was 2-4 with his fourth double. Ben Revere was 2-4 with three RBI. Chris Parmelee, Dan Lehman and Joe Benson each got on base twice.

Have a great Wednesday!

Tuesday Night, May 13, 2008

Out of Order

From time to time, I get fairly busy and ask readers of the site to consider writing guest columns for the site. Here is an article written by Greg Gilstad regarding the Cincinnati Reds batting out of order over the weekend. Be sure to leave your thoughts or comments below. And again, if others want to ever write something for the site, please let me know.

There was a story in the Star-Tribune about David Ross of the Reds batting out of order, an oddity in the Majors.. After the Mets’ manager Willie Randolph appealed (and after about 10 minutes of discussion), the umpires got the call right – the Ross at-bat (a fly-out) was nullified, the #8 hitter (Patterson) was declared out for failing to bat in his turn, and Ross was sent up to bat again with one out, this time in the proper 9^th spot, and singled. (Patterson and Ross had both entered the game as parts of double-switches, so they didn’t realize they were batting in the wrong spots.)

This one could have been even more fun if Randolph had waited. Batting out of order is an appeal play – the umpires or scorekeepers aren’t permitted to do anything about it until the opposing team says something. If the opposing team doesn’t call it to the attention of the umpire and throws a pitch to the next hitter, the batter who had batted out of order is considered legal and the new legal batter is now the person who follows him in the line-up (and the person who was skipped is now legally skipped). Here is how this could have become really fun:

1. According to the story in the New York Daily News, the next person walking up to the plate was Patterson. If Randolph allows the Mets to pitch to him, Ross’ at-bat (the fly-out) becomes legal and Patterson is batting out of order. (The legal hitter is the person who follows Ross in the line-up card – the leadoff hitter.)

2. If Patterson get a hit, the Mets appeal and the legal batter (#1) is out. (The down side is the #2 hitter now become the next legal batter.) But if Patterson makes an out (which is more likely), Randolph should again hold his tongue because the legal batter becomes the person who follows Patterson in the book...

3. ...Ross again! Chances are the Reds are sending up their leadoff hitter now. (There's no way they are sending Ross up - he just hit.) If the leadoff hitter then gets a hit, Randolph could appeal. Ross is called out for failing to bat in his spot and (since it was the 9^th inning) the ballgame is over.

That would have been a LOT more fun (and made for an even better story) (and required even more than 10 minutes to sort out.) And Ross would have made 2 of the 3 outs in a 1-2-3 inning.

Unfortunately, Randolph apparently still doesn’t understand the rule well enough to implement this plan. He was quoted in the Daily news saying “we could have gotten two outs if Patterson had actually seen a pitch." But that’s not exactly true - if a mistake is noticed during the AB, then the legal batter is sent up to the plate to assume the existing count and there is no penalty. If Randolph had appealed after one pitch, the umpires would have had the Reds replace Patterson with their leadoff hitter, and there would still be one out. But that argument would probably have been worth the price of admission.

That’s not really a knock on Randolph – according to one of Ron Luciano’s old but still funny books (I think it was Strike Two, but it may have been The Umpire Strikes Back) he and many umpires he worked with didn’t know the rule either. Based on the 10-minute discussion they had yesterday, there may have been some uncertainty with these umpires, too. Retrosheet has a list of instances of batting out of order, and in the last example on the list (9/1/2007) the umpires blew the call.

There was also a game involving the Twins where it happened, and my memory of the game is a bit more dramatic than the Retrosheet write-up. I will grant that my memory may have been at fault – it was 1975 (June 9^th to be exact), I was 10 years old. I grew up as a Twins fan in Connecticut, and I was normally limited to listening to Red Sox, Mets, and Yankees games on the radio. But I could occasionally pick up the games from Baltimore or Cleveland later in the evening, and I remember listening to the end of this crazy Twins game against the Indians.

All I really remember is Danny Walton hitting a home run to cap off a big rally, the announcers being certain he had batted out of order, and then the umpires ruling his home run legal because the line-up the Twins followed in the 9^th inning matched the one the umpires had (but not the one the press box had, the Indians had, and not the one the Twins had followed for the previous 8 innings.)

With help from the box score / play-by-play, this is what I think happened (my notes in red):
Indians 10, Twins 6
Oliva singled to center; GOMEZ RAN FOR OLIVA; 
Beene threw a wild pitch [Gomez to second]; 
Soderholm walked; BUSKEY REPLACED BEENE (PITCHING); 
Kelly reached on an error by Carty [Gomez scored (unearned), Soderholm to 
third, Kelly to second]; 
(10-7)
Ford grounded out (second to first) [Soderholm scored, Kelly to third]; 
According to every line-up card but the umpire’s, this was the first “out of 
order.”  No appeal. (10-8)
Thompson grounded out (shortstop to first) [Kelly scored (unearned)]; 
(Second “out of order” – should have been Roof after Ford according to the 
Press/Indians’ card.)  No appeal. (10-9) 
WALTON BATTED FOR ROOF; Walton homered (unearned);  
(Third “out of order” – should have been Ford after Thompson according to the 
Press/Indians’ card.  Robinson appeals. Umpire’s line-up matches the order the 
Twins just used, so the HR is allowed (10-10).  Robinson goes ballistic about 
receiving the wrong line-up.  I believe he played the game under protest.   
The Twins won 11-10 in 11.  The protest (if it occurred) was denied – I guess 
he should have compared his line-up card to the umpire’s at the start of the game.)

Any thoughts, please share... and thanks again Greg!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Q&A with Tyler Robertson

Twins Minor League Pitching Prospect

Good morning everyone! I do have thoughts on the Twins series win over the Red Sox and highlights from last night's Twins minor league affiliate's games. Be sure to scroll down the page to see those.

I am really happy to present another Q&A with a Twins minor league prospect. This one is pretty exciting because it is with Tyler Robertson, a left-handed pitcher currently working with the Ft. Myers Miracle. It is exciting because after the 2007 season, I rank Robertson as the #1 prospect in my Top 50 Twins Prospects list. He dropped to #2 when the Twins acquired Deolis Guerra in the Johan Santana trade, but he is still just 20 years old and doing fairly well in the Florida State League.

The Twins drafted Robertson in the 3rd round of the 2006 draft out of his California High School. Check out these numbers. In his senior year, he was the California State Player of the Year as a Utility player. For the season, he went 9-1 with a 0.74 ERA, and he struck out 143 hitters in just 74 innings. He also hit .434 for the season.

To check out the career stats of Tyler Robertson, click here. I think you will enjoy Tyler's responses. (Click here to see previous Q&As)

Let the Questions Begin!

SethSpeaks: Growing up in California, who was your favorite team to follow? Who were some of your favorite players?

Tyler Robertson: Randy Johnson

SethSpeaks: Tell us a little bit about your high school career. Did you play other positions when you didn’t pitch?

Tyler Robertson: 4 years varsity, 4 times all-league, senior year high school All-American utility player.

SethSpeaks: Did you play other sports or participate in other extracurricular activities?

Tyler Robertson: Baseball, Football and Basketball. Football Quarterback.

SethSpeaks: If you weren’t playing baseball, what would you be doing?

Tyler Robertson: College Football

SethSpeaks: The Twins took you with their 3^rd round pick in 2006. Is that about where you were expecting to be drafted.

Tyler Robertson: Yes, I heard I was probably going to go between the 2nd and 4th round.

SethSpeaks: With your dad being a former Twins scout, did you ever get to go to games with him, and what were the dinner table discussions like?

Tyler Robertson: I used to go to games with him every chance I could. We talked about a lot of baseball, pitching mostly.

SethSpeaks: You signed pretty quickly with the Twins and spent the summer with the GCL Twins. How did you feel about that season, and what was the adjustment to playing baseball professionally?

Tyler Robertson: I signed the day after the draft and then took a week at home before I came out to start the GCL. I really enjoyed it. I kind of had an idea of what to expect from talking to people. I loved it. It was even better than I pictured.

SethSpeaks: Who were/are some of the people who are most instrumental in helping you get to this point in your career?

Tyler Robertson: Mom and Dad (family), myself, and my high school baseball coach.

SethSpeaks: How would you describe yourself as a pitcher. What would you say are your strengths, and what areas do you feel you need to most improve on as you advance?

Tyler Robertson: I throw four different pitches. Have an idea of when to throw them. Need to work on command and control, keeping a consistent delivery and arm action.

SethSpeaks: When spring training was complete last year, you were to go to Extended Spring Training. So when you were quickly summoned to Beloit, what were you hoping to accomplish last season?

Tyler Robertson: I thought I was going to be in Beloit out of spring training. When I stayed in Extended, I learned a lot and worked hard. My goal when I got to Beloit was to throw like I knew I could and show everyone that's where I belonged in the first place.

SethSpeaks: How much fun was it to play on the Snappers team as it went through the season and into the playoffs and coming up just shy of winning the title?

Tyler Robertson: It was a fun time and great experience.

SethSpeaks: What were some of your goals coming into the 2008 spring training, and what did you do over the offseason to prepare?

Tyler Robertson: Trained real hard in the offseason. My goal is to get better every day and throw the ball like I know I can.

SethSpeaks: What are your goals for the rest of this season?

Tyler Robertson: Keep getting better everyday. Have fun.

SethSpeaks: The Miracle’s starting rotation is pretty impressive with yourself, Manship, Guerra, Burnett and DeVries. Is there good competition between the five of you, or do you push each other and feed off of each other?

Tyler Robertson: It's good competition. We all pull for each other but feed off one another too. If one guy throws good, you always want to one up it your next chance. It's good fun competition.

SethSpeaks: What are your hobbies away from the baseball field?

Tyler Robertson: Fishing, Shooting guns, working out.

SethSpeaks: Favorite Baseball Movie?

Tyler Robertson: For Love of the Game

SethSpeaks: Favorite Baseball Book?

Tyler Robertson: Three Nights in August

SethSpeaks: What will it be like to put on a Twins uniform for the first time in a regular season game?

Tyler Robertson: The best feeling in the world. A dream come true.

A huge thank you to Tyler Robertson for taking the time to answer all of these questions. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to put them in the comments below, or e-mail me and I will try to get a response. Have a great day!

Monday Night, May 12, 2008

Monday Game Notes

I do have a Q&A with a Twins minor leaguer which I will post a little bit later. But I wanted to get some thoughts on the Twins game as well as their minor league affiliates posted separately and ahead of time. So, be sure to check back later this evening.

TWINS/RED SOX SERIES

Going into the series, I have to think that most Twins fans would have been thrilled if the Twins would have split the four game series, won two games. So when they won last night and won three out of four, it was a great series win for the Twins. In my mind, the Red Sox are the best team in baseball, so this was a good barometer for where the Twins are right now. And, hopefully it is a good barometer of how good this Twins team can be. Maybe this team is entirely better than we gave them credit for... I have to believe that, as will all teams, the Twins will go through a rough patch at some point. The true test of how good this team is will be at that time. How quickly can they turn things around? How will they handle the struggles? How will the young guys handle it? I personally think they will handle it fine, but it is worth watching. Here are a couple of thoughts on Monday night's game:

Livan Hernandez is what he