Thursday, May 19, 2005
Thursday Thinking
Good morning and welcome to SethSpeaks.net! Well, the Twins worked a perfect equation toward a 3-2 win over the Blue Jays last night. That is great, but it was a rough night for the Twins minor league affiliates. Also, last night the American Idol competition was narrowed down to just two competitors. See my thoughts below. Other than that, today I will primarily just link to a few things that I found very interesting, and I hope you do as well. Again, if you're at the Twins game this afternoon, be sure to pick up a copy of Gameday magazine. In it, it will have an article on the Twins Blogosphere. It was written by Kyle Eliason and I would certainly like to thank him for including me in that article.
I haven't linked to Brent Net for awhile, but he has continued to do some great work! Check out his archives of late, but specifically be sure to read his review of Hoop Dreams. It is one of the greatest movies I have ever seen, even with the fact that it is a nearly three hour documentary. It is the story of two inner-city kids that play basketball, and we watch them grow up, and go through high school. It is partially a basketball movie, but it is a very interesting commentary on some social situations as well. Now, I haven't yet seen the DVD, but Brent writes that Arthur Agee and William Gates (the two subjects of the film) have some very interesting commentary in the Special Features.
Also, be sure to check out the BrentNet Forums. There have continued to be some great discussions. I would like to point out one very specifically. Brent mentions that The Discovery Channel is looking at the Top 100 Americans in history. I find the list very interesting, if not very controversial. I commented on how current most of the names are and that what some have done can not even be compared to many of the others. Al lthat said, the information is still fun to discuss. So head to the forum and sign up to post your thoughts. For Twins Discussion, click here.
The Baseball Savant is starting a series where he is looking at the 2004 First-Round picks.
There are a couple of theatres in Kentucky that refuse to show Jane Fonda's new movie, Monster in Law, because of her anti-war stance during Vietnam. Strange stance to take, but the owners have their reasons, since they were Vietnam vets.
If you're a TV junkie and want updates, reviews and commentary on your favorite TV shows or reality shows, be sure to check out TV Without Pity.
John Sickels takes a look at the top hitters in college baseball.
Another person posed the question, "Who is the best overall player in the major leagues?" Now that is a fun discussion question, huh? Here are the responses.
The story/site of a Marine who was killed last November in Iraq. It is worth reading through it! His wife just had a baby. There is video and a place to leave comments. It is a very touching site.
On that note, I think it is time to call it a day. I hope you enjoy or are interested in the rest of today's thoughts. As always, if you have any questions, comments, concerns or ideas for future entries, please e-mail me.
Last night, the Twins finally grabbed a lead and maintained it. They really did work the perfect equation for a 3-2 victory, a plan that the team should continue to use. Below are a few notes about the teams and the game:
The Perfect Equation - Kyle Lohse has finally been moved to the 5th starter spot. That simply means that when there are off days and the team really only needs four starters, Lohse is left out of the rotation. Well, as he has had a tendency to do, Lohse pitched six quality innings. He gave up just two runs despite giving up seven hits and two walks. But he left after the sixth inning with a lead. At that point, Jesse Crain came in and pitched a perfect 7th inning. And then Juan Rincon pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning. Finally, Joe Nathan came in to pitch a perfect ninth for the save. In the end, Lohse feels good about a Win. The talented bullpen came through for three innings. And, most importantly, the Twins got a win.
Remember before the April 27th Twins game, Michael Cuddyer was hitting just .194. So many Twins fans were worried about him, thinking that maybe Terry Tiffee should be starting at 3B while Cuddyer should be bench, or even sent to the minors (And lost because he is out of options). With his 3-3 game last night, Michael Cuddyer is hitting .275! In May, Cuddyer is now batting .383. Actually, on May 7th, Cuddyer went 0-4 and then did not play the next day. Since then, Cuddyer has played in seven games and has hit .478 (11-23). That shouldn't be surprising. For his career, Cuddyer's April numbers are .210/.269/.360. His career number in May? .263/.364/.484. Benching Cuddyer at his low point would have been almost as ridiculous as benching Jason Bartlett for committing and error and struggling a little at the plate.
Oh, did I mention that Juan Castro got his fourth straight start last night? He actually has a single on a hit and run which was very nice. I do have to concede that Castro is, in fact, really good defensively. He made another really great play last night. Corey Koskie hit a grounder up the middle that Castro ran and stretched out for. He caught the ball on the tip of his glove and in one motion exchanged the ball to his throwing hand. He set himself and made a strong throw to a stretching Justin Morneau to barely get Koskie out. So, I do have to make some positive comments on Castro.
That said, what the Twins are doing with Bartlett is ridiculous! I do understand that being strong defensively up the middle is important. But Bartlett had just four errors in 150 innings. That isn't bad. Now I do understand that there is more to judging defense than simply number of errors. But he has not been horrible. No, he's not Guzman and he's not Castro, but defensively, he's not hurting anything. Yes, his error Friday night led to three Rangers runs. But, Torii Hunter has a couple of bad errors this year too that have cost the team a couple of runs, and arguably one game. So, what do you do?
For what it is worth, Justin Morneau is an average AT WORST defensive first baseman. Again, it is vital for Twins fans to realize that there aren't many Doug Mientkiewicz's gloves out there. But Morneau is very solid at 1B.
Back to Tiffee, again, remember when so many of us thought that he warranted a roster spot with the Twins? First, I have to completely agree with that still. But, he went 0-4 as the team's DH last night. He is 0 for his last 13 at bats. Not good, and really he simply has not looked good at the plate. So, we're happy that Cuddyer is still playing every day. We're happy that Terry Tiffee is on the roster in place of Corky Miller.
Luis Rivas made his second straight start at 2B last night. The main reason for that is, unfortunately, another minor Nick Punto injury. Hopefully Punto will be back at 100% in a day or so. Rivas did have an RBI single.
Do you have any thoughts on the Twins win, or anything Twins? What are your concerns, or don't you have any yet? E-mail me.
ROCHESTER REDWINGS
Wednesday - REDWINGS 1, Columbus 4 - JD Durbin made another start. Although he took the loss, it is good to see that some of his numbers are looking better. He went six innings and gave up just four hits and two walks. He also struck out eight batters. Now that is the Durbin we have come to expect. Unfortunately, he still gave up four earned runs. Daylon Childress pitched the final two innings. He gave up an unearned run on one walk. Michael Ryan went 2-3. Garrett Jones knocked his 9th homer.
NEW BRITAIN ROCKCATS
Wednesday - ROCKCATS 0, Harrisburg 6 - Colby Miller has now had a few off-starts, at least in comparison to the start of his season. He gave up six runs (5 earned) on 10 hits. He didn't walk any, and struck out four. Jason Miller struck out three in his two scoreless innings. Pat Neshek then struck out two in his perfect inning. The Rockcats had just seven hits. Ricky Bell had two hits, and Luis Jimenez had a double.
FT MYERS MIRACLE
Wednesday - MIRACLE 2, Daytona 9 - It wasn't a good game for the Miracle. The worst part may have been the defense which committed four errors. That showed in Scott Tyler's performance. In 4.1 innings, he gave up nine runs (just 5 earned) on 8 hits and two walks. Julio DePaula then struck out four in his 2.1 innings. Chris Schutt struck out two in a scoreless frame. JR Taylor went 3-5, and Ron Perodin was 3-4, but that was about it for the offense. Of course, Denard Span and Matt Moses both did not play.
BELOIT SNAPPERS
Wednesday - SNAPPERS - No Game Scheduled.
Last night was another night of American Idol elimination show. I hate to say "I told you so" too often... but I told you so! Again, I think that all three of the remaining contestants are terrific. To me, they each have a chance to be very successful because they each reach a different genre. Vonzell Solomon can sing the Mariah Carey/Whitney Houston type songs. Carrie Underwood will be incredible singing country, but has proven to be great with the '80s music/sound as well. Bo Bice has moved through some genres very successfully and give a rocker-like style to any music. Here were my thoughts:
So, last night, they started by showing each of the three contestants on their trips to their hometowns. It was fun to see. Then each sang one of their songs. Vonzell and Bo each sang the song that they chose while Carrie sang the song that Clive Davis selected for her. And then it was 8:26 (central time), and the three lined up and Ryan Seacrest announced that Vonzell had been eliminated. There wasn't much drama and again, it happened quick ,but that is probably the best, most fair way to do that.
So, that leaves Carrie Underwood and Bo Bice to compete next week for the title of American Idol. I really have been a huge fan of the lovely Carrie the entire show. But I even have to admit that I have been continually impressed by Bo as well. So, I would have to say that I want Carrie to win, but when/if Bo wins, I will not be either surprised or disappointed. And yes, I will likely buy both of their albums! (yes, I will even buy a Carrie-Country album. Hey, I have Josh Gracin's album!)
Do you have any thoughts on last night's, or this week's American Idol shows? E-mail me.