Thursday, April 27, 2006
Quick Notes
Good morning to everyone! Today, I will be rather brief. I do want to remind people that I have another Q&A set for tomorrow that I am excited about. I think you will enjoy it. I also have two or three ready for next week. I've got some thoughts on the Twins loss to the Royals. I have the minor league updates, and I have some thoughts on the American Idol elimination last night. I also have a couple of other baseball notes that I will start out with:
Barry Bonds
is good. He's old, and he has pretty much nothing left in his knees, but the
man is incredible. If the Giants can find a way to keep him healthy
in the lineup most games, they will always have a chance to win. The odds
are better if Moises Alou can stay healthy bat
behind Bonds in most games as well.
Delmon Young is an idiot! OK, maybe he isn't an idiot, but so far in his brief pro baseball career, he has given credence to any baseball antagonist's thoughts on the spoiled, pampered athletes. Doesn't get what he wants. Make sure everyone knows. Remember that last year, the then 19 year old felt that the Rays were in the wrong and being cheap for not bringing him up to the big club in September. OK, that is one thing. Last night in a AAA game, Young disagreed with the umpire's call and threw his bat into the chest of the umpire. I would guess that he is about to be suspended for a long time. I hope he is. I hope that the Devil Rays make a statement as well about his actions. I don't think it would be bad if they kept him in the minors the rest of the season rather than bring him up. Hey, send him back down to AA. The kid has so much talent, but stories like these make it really hard to get excited about him. What are your thoughts?
The really big news that came out of Minnesota yesterday had to do with the fact that the stadium bill passed in the State House by a clear-cut majority. Of course, that means very little yet, but it is further along in the process than they had been in previous attempts. Today, the issue will be presented in a Senate Tax Committee, and then will be voted on in the Senate. We can all hope now. The hope is still there. I hope that the voters do realize how big this is. The Twins do need a new stadium. The state would lose out on a lot of tax money and more if they lose the Twins. A new stadium would be nothing but good for the state! Any thoughts?
Let's get to some thoughts on the Twins 3-1 loss to the Royals last night. It was another very non-exciting game to watch. Here are some thoughts.
Scott Baker deserved better. He did quite well, giving the team another Quality Start. In seven innings, he gave up three runs. He gave up seven hits, but he walked none!
The "team leader" Torii Hunter helped contribute to at least two of the Royals runs. In the 4th inning, Mark Grudzielanek hit a liner to Hunter's left. He took a very bad angle at the ball and did not make the catch. That is one thing, but if you saw the play, Hunter then loafed after the ball. Right fielder Lew Ford actually got to the ball and threw it in to the cutoff man. The play became a triple and a groundout gave the Royals the 1-0 lead. Then, in the sixth inning, Matt Stairs hit a liner to center over Hunter's head for a run-scoring, two out double. Now, this was a more difficult play, but it is one that most centerfielders make. I know that some question some of my "Hunter-bashing", but after a game out in the field like last night, I think Hunter deserves to be called out.
And, if I'm going to call out Hunter, I have to call out Justin Morneau too. On a pop up just out of play, Morneau went to the wall and made no effort to catch the ball. All it would have taken for him to make that catch was a little lunge. He gave no effort, and that was incredibly disappointing to see!
I was impressed with Morneau's home run in the 5th inning though. Why? Well, because there were two or three balls hit earlier in the game that I thought were hit very well and came nowhere near the fence. The ball just must not have been carrying at all, so for Morneau to get one out of there was impressive.
Speaking of lack of hustle, how about watching Luis Castillo running down the first base line on a ground ball. I realize that in most of these cases, they are easy plays, but you just never know. What happened to Gardy saying that the Twins would play like Kirby Puckett played?!
I was happy to see Jesse Crain have a shutout inning. Impressive was the two strikeouts in that inning. He did give up a line drive to start the inning, but came back very well.
How about the Doug Mientkiewicz catch on the Torii Hunter line drive in the 4th inning? The gold-glove first sacker took a step to his right and sprawled out for the catch. It was something Twins fans were accustomed to seeing. It was fun to see Torii smiling and pointing at Doug. That was a great play.
Summary of the offense... four hits. FOUR hits of a RUNELVYS HERNANDEZ, ELMER DESSENS and AMBIORIX BURGOS! Enough said!
Today, at 1:10, Johan Santana (0-3, 4.81, 1.48, .278) will face off against former Twins top pick Mark Redman (0-0, 4.91, 1.55, .308) in the series finale against the Royals. With a lefty on the mound, it should be an interesting lineup for the Twins. My assumption is that Michael Cuddyer will play 1B and Mike Redmond will likely catch.
Do you have any thoughts on the stadium, the Twins, the Royals, this series or anything else? If so, send me an e-mail, or post some Comments below.
SethSpeaks Player of the Day - Eli Tintor, Beloit Snappers
SethSpeaks Pitcher of the Day - Kevin Cameron, Rochester Red Wings
Here are the updates from last night's Twins minor league games. If you have any thoughts on the Twins system, please e-mail me.
ROCHESTER REPORT
Wednesday - Red Wings 7, Richmond 6 (10 innings) – Josh Rabe led off the top of the 10th inning with his first homer of the season. It gave the Red Wings the lead, and eventually the win. Peter Munro got the start for the Red Wings last night. It wasn't a good one. In 4.1 innings, he gave up five earned runs on 12 hits and a walk. Beau Kemp pitched an inning and gave up a run. Jason Miller got two outs to drop his ERA to 0.77. Ricky Barrett pitched 2.1 shutout innings and walked two. Kevin Cameron improved to 3-0 as he pitched the final 1.2 innings without allowing a run. Rabe led the offense with a 2-4 day. Along with his homer, he also walked once. Luis Maza went 2-3 with a walk. Chris Heintz is now batting .324 after his 2-5 night. Andres Torres led off and was 1-3 with three walks, a double and two runs scored.
NEW BRITAIN NEWS
Wednesday - Rockcats 2, Trenton 9 – It has been a rough start to the season for Nick Blackburn. He was as good as any pitcher in the Twins minor league system (not named Francisco) in 2005. Last night, he went just 4.1 innings and gave up six earned runs on seven hits and four walks. He is now 0-4 with a 7.71 ERA right now. Justin Olson came in and gave up two runs in 1.1 innings. He did strike out three. Jay Sawatski gave up a run in his 1.1 innings, and he also struck out three. Adam Harben got in some work on the game mound and pitched another scoreless inning, dropping his season ERA to 0.65. Bobby Korecky then pitched a scoreless inning. There was not much offense for the Twins. Matt Tolbert's double was the only extra base hit.
FT MYERS MEMOS
Wednesday - Miracle 6, Clearwater 5 – It wasn't a pretty game, but the Miracle got the win! They scored six runs on just three hits, and five walks. Alexi Casilla had a two run triple. Kyle Aselton got his first win (although his ERA is a nice 3.05). He gave up four runs on five hits and three walks. Angel Garcia came in and threw two shutout innings with three punch outs. JP Martinez got the save, allowing a run in his two innings of work.
BELOIT BITS
Wednesday - Snappers 7, Quad Cities 3 – Eli Tintor had a very productive game again. He went 2-5 with a double and four RBI to lead the Snappers to another win. Paul Kelly and Caleb Moore were both 2-5 as well. Oswaldo Sosa started and gave up two runs on five hits and three walks in four innings. Jose Lugo got the win by pitching three innings and just allowing one run. He struck out four. Danny Powers picked up his 2nd save with two shutout innings.
Do you have any further thoughts on any Twins prospects, minor leaguers, or these summaries? I would love any input, or ideas to make it better. Thanks! E-mail me, or also feel free to leave comments below.
Well, I was right. Last night, it was Kellie Pickler that was eliminated from the American Idol competition. It was really not a surprise, and the fans got it right. I should point out that Simon Cowell and the other judges apologized to Katharine McPhee as well for their harsh criticism. When they listened back ot the show, they realized that she was actually very, very good. The apologies were nice, however, they came long after the voting period. I was glad to hear that voters did not listen too much to the judges because it would have been unfortunate if she would have been eliminated.
We're not down to the final five. It is Katharine McPhee, Chris Daughtry, Elliot Yamin, Paris Bennett and Taylor Hicks. Who will win? Who will be the next to go? It will certainly start getting really interesting now!
Again, for further American Idol thoughts, be sure to check out the fine folks of curlio.com because I know we don't always see or hear things the same way. I think that they would agree on this week's elimination though. Any thoughts on my American Idol Thoughts? This is where it gets fun, so if you would like, be sure to debate the merits of your favorite contestants below. Or, if you're shy, send me an e-mail.
Let me know what you think. Send me an e-mail, or let's talk about it in the Comments here. That is it for today! Have a great day!
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