Tuesday, March 15, 2005
No new entry today. I would encourage everyone to check out the other Twins blogs on the left of this screen today. Tomorrow, I will be back with a vengeance. We'll cover the NL Central pitchers, some American Idol thoughts, get you caught up on the Twins and former Twins in spring training. Have a great day!
Monday, March 14, 2005
WHAT DO YOU WANT?
Good Monday morning everyone!! What is going on in your world? Mine is, well, a mess, but that is ok. It was busy weekend for me. The big thing is that I finished my taxes. I procrastinated a long time on those, so it feels good to have them done! And, getting money back is a good thing! I like money!
Best news of the weekend, NIKKO SMITH is back on American Idol less than a week after being eliminated. He will now be in the final 12 because Mario Vazquez is leaving the show for "personal reasons." Smith, of course, is the son of Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith.
So, I went out one of the two nights this weekend. I was talking to a woman and she asked me this question, "What do you want? Seriously, what do you really want?" How do you answer a question that pointed and that direct yet that important in a moment's notice, on the spot? I mean, if you put real thought into it, you could talk for a very extended period of time to answer it. So, I stared into her eyes and said, "You are so pretty!" See, the key was changing the subject with a compliment. It worked. She smiled, and then I excused myself to 'go to the restroom.' And yeah, then I just left the place and haven't talked to her since. However, now I have written her an e-mail asking her to check out today's entry here. Hopefully in it, I will sufficiently answer her question, "What do you want?"
What Does Seth Want?
I want:
I guess that World Peace thing would be good.
To get an e-mail from any Twins players, minor league players, coaches, family members, friends. I'd love to hear from you.
The Twins everyday infield to consist of Justin Morneau, Michael Cuddyer, Jason Bartlett and Terry Tiffee.
Lew Ford to play every day in the outfield, in place of Shannon Stewart. Stewart can DH.
Johan Santana to win another American League Cy Young Award... the next four years... and then re-sign with the Twins again!
the Twins to trade Michael Restovich. He says he is happy to be the Twins 5th outfielder. I would love him to get a real shot with the Twins, but that won't happen. I think he could put up some great power numbers if he could find a team needing an outfielder, and I want him to get that opportunity.
Grant Balfour's forearm to be alright.
Joe Mauer to catch 120 games and DH 35 more!
Justin Morneau to not have any injuries after a rough offseason of illnesses, and to hit 35 home runs!
Torii Hunter to lay off that slider, low-and-away, and continue to patrol centerfield with the same reckless abandon.
Jacque Jones to have a huge season playing for a free agent contract in 2006.
Mauer and Morneau to play more than 300 games combined.
Juan Castro and Luis Rivas to play less than 100 games combined.
Brad Radke to be even close to as effective as he was in 2004.
Joe Nathan to be even close to as effective as he was in 2004.
Joe Mays be healthy and be even close to as effective as he was in 2001.
JD Durbin and Scott Baker to be ready when called up.
Juan Rincon, Grant Balfour and Jesse Crain stay healthy and dominate all year.
JC Romero to find whatever-it-is that he lost the last two years.
The Twins to be able to work out a trade with Seattle so they can keep Ryan Rowland-Smith and play him at New Britain.
Kyle Lohse to 'find it'
Ron Gardenhire to finally win the Manager of the Year
Jason Bartlett to win AL Rookie of the Year.
Jason Kubel to recover 100% from his knee injuries and be the 2006 AL Rookie of the Year.
Big minor league offensive output from Garrett Jones, Kevin West, Luis Rodriguez, Alex Romero, Trevor Plouffe, Matt Moses, Denard Span and Trevor Plouffe.
Big minor league pitching performances from Francisco Liriano, Adam Harben, Boof Bonser, Errol Simonitsch, Glen Perkins, Jay Rainville, Scott Tyler, Kyle Waldrop, Matt Fox, Anthony Swarzak, Alexander Smit and Pat Neshek.
Bert Blyleven in the Hall of Fame.
Bert Blyleven to start pronouncing names and cities correctly, like Chicago (She-cago), Mabry (May-berry).
People to stop saying that Roger Maris and Tony Oliva should be in the Hall of Fame.
Trade Mike Ryan for anything.
Ken Griffey Jr to be able to play in 155 games!
Chris Coste to finally get a chance. On Saturday, he started at 3B against the Yankees and was 2-4 with a home run. Yesterday, he had a single in his lone at bat.
the Yankees and Red Sox to be left out of the playoffs by the Orioles and for the Wild Card to come out of the AL Central.
Jason Giambi to hit 50 home runs. I don't care what anyone else says, I like Jason Giambi. He has always been great with the media and fun to listen to. He has admitted a 'mistake' and is taking the brunt of the heat, but he is taking it.
Barry Bonds to also hit 50 home runs! Can you tell that I am sick of the steroid talk? I want the players to go out and prove that they do not have as big of an affect on the results of games and statistics as most want to assume they do.
money, lots and lots of money. I want the pie in the sky. I want money, lots and lots of money. So don't be asking me why. I wanna be rich!
to vacation in Ft. Myers for four to six weeks every spring (paid, of course) so that I can watch the Twins training camp and the minor league camp too.
the kind of love shared between Noah and Ali on The Notebook.
Corey Koskie to finally be an All-Star.
Greg Maddux win another 15 games this year. that would be 17 straight years with at least that many wins.
Cristian Guzman to have a bust-out season.
my fantasy teams to actually play well. You would think I would do better at it, but I have never finished well.
an SUV.
the Minnesota Gophers to beat Iowa State in their first NCAA tournament game in a long time. I would be thrilled if they could find a way to beat North Carolina, the #1 seed, in the 2nd round!
the Timberwolves to not make the playoffs and somehow win the lottery.
This blog to average 1,000 hits a day during the season (so be sure to share this link with everyone who might enjoy it).
just to find happiness.
That's it. That isn't asking so much, is it? So let me ask you... what do you want? E-mail me.
Friday afternoon, the Twins fell to the Devil Rays 3-2. In the game, Joe Mauer DHd and went 2-3. Matthew LeCroy drove in the two runs with a single. Johan Santana made the start and went 3 innings. He gave up one hit, didn't walk one and struck out two. Matt Guerrier and CJ Nitkowski each pitched a scoreless inning. Jesse Crain gave up another home run in his lone inning.
Saturday afternoon, the Twins beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-1. Jacque Jones, Justin Morneau and Josh Rabe each had doubles. Michael Cuddyer knocked his first home of the spring. But the pitching is where the team continues to do well. Carlos Silva was only scheduled to go three innings but because his pitch count was so low, he went four. He gave up a run on four hits and no walks. Joe Nathan and Juan Rincon each pitched a scoreless inning after that. Scott Baker came in in relief and pitched a scoreless inning with two strikeouts. David Gassner and Francisco Liriano each pitched a scoreless inning as well.
Sunday afternoon, I was actually able to watch the game on Fox Sports Net. The Twins beat the Red Sox 4-2. Joe Mauer caught for the first time since experiencing some swelling in his knee. He went 2-2 with an RBI. He also did a great job of blocking pitches in the dirt. Good to know that he feels good! Jason Bartlett hit a long home run in his first at bat. Kyle Lohse went 3 innings. He gave up four hits and walked one on the way to allowing just one run. JC Romero came in and gave up the other run on 2 hits and a walk in his inning. JD Durbin, Willie Eyre, CJ Nitkowski, Travis Bowyer and Ryan Rowland-Smith each pitched a scoreless inning as well.
Durbin has been struggling. The team has him pitching from the stretch regardless of the situation. He still looks a little rushed, but he was throwing some good stuff. Fastballs between 93 and 96. The curveball was sharp and near the plate. I was very impressed with his changeup. He made Edgar Renterria look bad. Control of the fastball seems to be where he is struggling right now.
I was very impressed with Travis Bowyer. He throws hard. When the bases got loaded with one out, he struck out the next hitter on nothing but heat, and then got an easy third out. I have to give some credit to Rob Bowen too though. When the bases got loaded, he went and said something to Bowyer. Likely, he told him that no one that was coming up could touch his fastball, and that was true.
Stick and Ball Guy expanded on his Team Chemistry article and posted it on Twins Territory. He received some interesting comments.
Twins minor league camp has started and Pat Neshek has made a couple of entries already. This is going to quickly become my favorite in-season site.
An article on Armando Rios and his attempt to make the Twins roster.
Lavelle Neal article on Shannon Stewart's health.
Peter Gammons discusses the players that fans should be focusing on, instead of all this steroids talk. He includes Joe Mauer, but also talks about Scott Baker and Travis Bowyer in his rookies section.
Any thoughts on the Twins? Please e-mail me.
Busy weekend of games. Here are how former Twins did.:
Friday
Denny Hocking, KC, SS, 0-1
Quinton McCracken, ARI, CF, 1-4, R
Chad Moeller, MIL, C, 1-3, 2B
Jose Morban, CLE, 2B, 1-2, K
Casey Blake, CLE, RF, 2-3, HR, BB, 2 R, 3 RBI
David Ortiz, BOS, 1B, 1-3, 2B, R, K, E
Greg Myers, TOR, C, 0-2
Brandon Marsters, BAL, C, 0-1
Midre Cummings, BAL, LF, 0-2, 2 R, HP, 2 K, BB, E
Chris Gomez, BAL, 2B/SS, 2-3, R, BB 2 RBI
Doug Mientkiewicz, NYM, 1B, 1-3, 2B, R, RBI, E
Saturday
AJ Pierzynski, CHW, C, 1-3, HR, R, RBI
Chad Allen, TEX, LF, 0-1
Greg Colbrunn, TEX, DH, 1-3, 2B
Todd Walker, CHC, 2B, 0-3
Henry Blanco, CHC, C, 2-3, E
LaTroy Hawkins, CHC, RP, 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 K
Damien Miller, MIL, C, 1-2, R, 2 RBI
Pat Borders, MIL, C, 2-2, 2 R
Dustan Mohr, COL, RF, 0-3
Chris Gomez, BAL, SS, 0-1
Midre Cummings, BAL, PH, 1-1, 2B
James Baldwin, BAL, P, 2 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 0 R, 0 K
David Ortiz, BOS, 1B, 1-2, HR (3), R, 3 RBI
David McCarty, BOS, 1B, 0-3, 2 K
Jack Cressand, BOS, RP, IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
Jose Morban, CLE, 2B, 3B, 0-1, K
Casey Blake, CLE, RF, 0-2, HP, K
Javier Valentin, CIN, PH/C, 0-2
Mark Redman, PIT, SP, 4 IP, 4 H, 0 R
Matt Lawton, PIT, RF, 2-4, R, RBI
Todd Ritchie, PIT, SP, 2 1/3 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
Seth Griesinger, WAS, P, 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER
Doug Mientkiewicz, NYM, 1B, 2-3, R
Greg Myers, TOR, DH, 0-3, BB, K
Sunday
Henry Blanco, CHC, C, 1-2
Dustan Mohr, COL, PH/DH, 3-3, RBI
Danny Ardoin, COL, C, 0-2
Chad Moeller, MIL, C, 1-2, 2B
Rick Helling, MIL, P, 2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 K
Quinton McCracken, ARI, LF, 2-2, E
Chad Allen, TEX, LF, 0-1, E
Denny Hocking, KC, 2B, 0-2, E, K
Matt Kinney, SFG, P, 1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 3 HR allowed
Midre Cummings, BAL, LF, 2-3, 2B, RBI
Jose Morban, CLE, 2B, 1-4, HR(2), R, RBI
Todd Jones, FLO, RP, 2 IP, 2 H, 1 K
Chris Gomez, BAL, SS/2B, 1-4
Cristian Guzman, WAS, SS, 1-2, BB, SB
Matt Lawton, PIT, RF, 1-3, 2B, K
Joe Roa, PIT, RP, 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER
Jose Offerman, PHI, PH, 0-1
And after all that, thank you again very much for stopping by my site. I hope you enjoy what you read, but if you have any questions or comments on anything, please feel free to e-mail me. Have a great week!