OK, so it won't be a full year until
Saturday, but I figured today would be a good day to 'celebrate' my
one year anniversary. To clarify, it is the one year anniversary of
the beginning of this blog. May 29, 2003, was the first official
posting of SethSpeaks. (Check it out here.
It includes my first mention of Justin Morneau and my first
error, which involved my knowledge, or lack there of, about Lew
Ford) Actually, the day before, my first entry was what is now
my About Me entry. I like to
think that the site has gradually improved since then!!
When I started this site a year ago,
I wanted to write a web site that I would want to read. To me, that
meant it should be something a little different than a typical
baseball blog. I wanted to discuss the Minnesota Twins and Baseball.
However, I wanted to discuss other things, like the Timberwolves,
the NBA, the Vikings, TV and movies. I wanted to show that I can
have some knowledge and opinions on a number of different topics.
I know that I lose some die-hard
baseball blog readers because I branch into other topics. I would
love your input. If you read this site daily, or frequently, please
e-mail me and
let me know what you like to read here. If there is something that
you really don't care for or there is something about my writing
that keeps you from coming back, please let me know what it is.
Let's take a look back at what I have
written about in the past year. Feel free to stop by the
Archives Page for more:
Again, primarily this site is
dedicated to the
Minnesota Twins. Here are some postings about them:
Which Twins Coach was the Best Player?
Making a
Move - The White Sox make two trades, while the Twins do
nothing. I was WRONG!
Monday
Morning Rants - Morneau wasn't playing, Rumors about
Stewart begin
Thoughts on
Jim "Kitty" Kaat - thoughts on the lefty and his great
book!
Bye Bye
Bobby, Good Bye - Twins Trade Kielty for Stewart - I
wasn't happy... I was wrong... again!
Deep Dark
Secrets - I wasn't happy about the playing time of young
Twins players.
We Are the
Champions - Twins Clinch AL Central!
So... Now
What? - Twins eliminated, what do they do next?
The AJ
Trade - a little trade analysis
Dream a
Little Dream with Me - Vlad Guerrero Signs with Twins -
Dreaming is fun!
Can You
Say... Salary Dump?? - thoughts on the Eric Milton
trade - I know... I was wrong again!
Ode to the
2004 AL Central Winning Twins - a poem by Seth telling
Twins fans not to worry.
Twins Top
30 Prospects - I look at who I feel the Twins Top
prospects were after the season.
A Little
Perspective - A Jim Souhan article on Corey
Koskie reminds us of the human side of the game.
OUCH! That
Hurts! - It was just the second game of the season and
injuries were already piling up.
Where are
they Now? - How are Former Twins doing?
But I also discussed a number of
baseball related topics:
Greatest
Hitters of All-Time - some statistical analysis of top
hitters.
Enough
Already!! - My thoughts on the Sammy Sosa corked
bat incident.
We're in
the Money(ball) - my thoughts on Michael Lewis' book
Greatest
Minnesota-Born Hitters - statistical analysis of
Minnesotans
Baseball
Fan Etiquette - Frustrations with fans at ball games.
CHARGE!!
- My thoughts on Baseball Brawls
My All-Time
Favorite Player (Non-Kirby Puckett Division) -
Claudell Washington
Baseball
Movies - I rank my top 15 baseball movies
Negro
Leagues - I look at the careers of Negro League Hall of
Famers who never got to play in the big leagues.
And the MVP
Goes To... I like A-Rod, but not as MVP, not last year.
Beckett:
Focus on the Future Star - Before Josh Beckett
won Game 7, I wrote some thoughts.
Who's
Representing You? - Team USA's Olympic Qualifying
tournament roster
Oh Canada
- Team Canada's Roster, a team that will be going to the
Olympics this summer
Bang for
the Buck - My second attempt at finding baseball's most
productive players in 2003
Hall of
Fame Vote - a two-part evaluation of those on the
ballot.
SABRmetrics
vs Traditionalist - which side do you fall under?
Weighty
Topics - thoughts on the public's overreaction to all
the steroid and BALCO talk.
A Look
Back: The 2000 USA Olympic Team - the 5th of a 5 part
series on the USA's Olympic teams.
I have had some great conversations
with other bloggers and writers. I also have an exciting interview
which will be posted tomorrow!
Q & A with
Seth - I got 21 Questions from readers and answered
them.
Conversation With: David Bergner -
The Baseball
Savant
Conversation With: JD Arney -
Reds Daily
Conversation With: Eric-Justman Reichart -
Baseball Boys
Conversation With: Scott and Vinny -
Yankees,
Mets and the Rest
Conversation With: Al Bethke -
Al's Ramblings
Q & A with
Kevin Cattoor - Victory Sports
Q & A with
Jim Souhan -
Minneapolis
Star-Tribune Twins Baseball Writer
Chatting
With The Baseball Savant - just a fun conversation
between a couple of guys.
Conversation With: John Strubel -
Baseball
Interactive
It has been fun to make this site
interactive. From time to time, I have asked a Discussion Question
of the Week. Readers then have the opportunity to write their
thoughts on the topic and I post them. Here are some of the topics:
Would the
Greatest be So Great? - Would Babe Ruth and
others from his generation be able to pay today?
Who Do You
Want to Talk To? - Which ball players would you like to
have a conversation with?
All Time
Best Lineups - If you could have a dream team of players
from any generation, what would yours be?
Your
Thoughts on the Twins - the Twins were struggling and
fans were not happy!!
Is Terry
Ryan "The Man" or "The Goat"? - Again, things were not
going well, and opinions were made known.
What is an
MVP? - is it numbers, or is it more?
Twins Turn
Around and Why We Hate the White Sox? - 2 part question.
Your
Thoughts on the 2004 Twins Roster - following the Twins
playoff elimination.
What is
Your Favorite Sport? - Baseball? Basketball? Others?
Baseball's
Economics - We asked what could or should be done to
level the playing field.
2004
Baseball Predictions -
2004 Twins
Predictions -
I'm also a big basketball fan,
particularly the Minnesota Timberwolves. It has been a great year
for them. Here are some of the postings I have written on them and
the NBA Season:
NBA Draft
Thoughts - I wasn't happy with the Wolves selections
Here We Go
Again - The Kobe Bryant situation
Wolves
Acquire Sam Cassell - my thoughts on the trade that
brought Cassell and Ervin Johnson from the Bucks
Now THAT'S
a Trade - Wolves acquire Latrell Sprewell in big,
four team deal.
Wolves Sign
Madsen and Hoiberg -
Signed,
Sealed, Now It's Time to Deliver - Wolves sign Kevin
Garnett to extension
Timberwolves Preview - my thoughts heading into this
season
NBA
Predictions - My predictions weren't too bad!
Gophers
Beat Duke, Advance to Final Four - I hopped on the
Gophers Women's Basketball Bandwagon!
Best in the
West - Wolves Claim the #1 seed in the Western
Conference
Wolves
Advance - The Wolves beat the Sacramento Kings in an
incredible Game 7
I also love Fantasy Sports and have
discussed my teams and drafts on here:
Fantasy
Football Drafts - the results of my two fantasy football
drafts, with round-by-round analysis.
Fantasy
Perspectives - I wrote a 13 part look at each team's
lineups and staffs in terms of fantasy value.
Fantasy
Team #1 - results of my first fantasy baseball draft, it
was followed by:
Fantasy Team #2
-
Fantasy Team #3
-
Fantasy
Team #4 -
Here are just some final, random topics
that I have written:
The Best
I've Ever Played Ball With -
Vikings
Preview -
NFL
"Expert' Picks - Baseball Bloggers pick football games.
See how that went!
Minnesota
Wild Preview - Kirk Beller wrote up a preview of
Minnesota's NHL team.
My First
Crushes - a fun look at some of my favorite actresses
when I was younger.
So there you have it. A bunch of my
postings from Year One of the SethSpeaks Experiment. If
you're new to the site, be sure to check some of them out. Those of
you who have been reading all along, be sure to check some of them
out again.
If you have any thoughts on anything, I
would love to hear that. As always, I am looking for topics to
discuss. What would you like to read on this site? Any comments,
please feel feel to
e-mail me. Thanks for reading, and I hope you'll continue to
stop by for the next year as well. And, if you'd like to tell more
people about this site, that would be great too!
What is the job of a leadoff hitter? To get on-base,
right? Well, Lew Ford certainly fulfilled his job last night.
Ford went 3-3 with two singles and his 9th double of the year. He
also walked twice. So, he was on base five times in five plate
appearances. He also scored two runs and his average went back up to
.344 on the season. In the first inning, he scored on a single by
Matthew Lecroy. In the fifth, he scored on a two-run double by
Jacque Jones that gave the Twins a 3-2 lead. In the 9th
inning, a Cristian Guzman single scored Justin Morneau
for an insurance run in their 4-2 win. LeCroy went 2-4 on the game.
LeCroy is the subject of
Jim
Souhan's Baseball Insider from yesterday. It is just a great
article on LeCroy and his wife. They are in the process of adopting
two children.
Seth Greisinger got another start for the
Twins. He lasted five innings and really worked himself out of a
number of jams. He gave up 6 hits and 2 walks, but only gave up two
runs, on a Jose Cruz triple. Terry Mulholland, Juan Rincon
and JC Romero pitched three scoreless relief innings
before Joe Nathan came in and picked up his 14th save on the
year.
Just a very good game for the Twins. They needed a
win, and they won a low-scoring, Twins style of game. Now they can
go for the series win tomorrow afternoon. Here are the projected starters for the
final game of the
of the series:
Thursday - 1:15 - Carlos Silva
(5-2, 4.39, 1.50, .316) vs Jason Standridge (0-0 0.00, 0.60,
.083) - 1 game
Corey Koskie is expected to be activated
today. It should be interesting to see who the Twins send back to
Rochester. I would assume that Michael Restovich would be the
odd man out. Even if Michael Cuddyer moves to 2B now, I would
think the Twins would want to keep Alex Prieto around for
infield depth. He also made a couple of very nice plays last night.
Be sure also to check down in the Minor League reports, specifically
to the Ft. Myers Miracle update to see how Joe Mauer did in
his first official rehab game.
Any thoughts on the Twins? What do they need to do?
E-mail me.
Last night, Fox
made the American Idol finale into a two-hour showcase. The first
forty minutes was kind of like a red-carpet show. Christina
Christian was interviewing some celebrities and Jennifer Love
Hewitt (I heart her!) was introducing outdoor performances.
LaToya London, George Huff and Jasmine Trias each
performed out there. And then they went inside the building. They
caught up with Diana Degarmo and Fantasia Barrino as
they were getting ready for the show. They showed each footage of
the people of their hometowns supporting them. Clay Aiken was
in Greensboro, NC, with Fantasia's fans. The lovely Kimberly
Caldwell was in the Georgia Dome with Diana's fans.
As always, I really
enjoyed the performance by the 12 finalists. It was just a reminder
of each of them and their individual talents. I also like that they
bring in the former Idol winners, Kelly Clarkson (she was
looking quite lovely, huh?) and Ruben Studdard, to sing a
song with the two finalists. It is almost like the passing of the
torch, or at least a way to remember the past.
Then both Diana and
Fantasia sang one more song. I should have figured it out right
then. Diana Degarmo chose to sing "I Believe", the song which
will shortly become a single for the winner. Well, they wouldn't
have her sing the song twice now, would they? So, when the time came
for them to announce the winner, Fantasia Barrino became the
newest American Idol. Then she took the stage and sang "I Believe".
It was really pretty touching because can you even imagine your
dreams coming true, your eyes sweating and then singing a song that
was written about finally achieving your goals?
I am OK with
Fantasia winning the competition. I think that both Fantasia and
Diana will be successful. Their albums will both have high sales
numbers. I also believe that LaToya London will be the
finalist who has the most staying power.
So what do you
think? It was another great season of American Idol (although
I disagree with the judges who say this was the best season as far
as talent) Who should have won?
E-mail me.
Glen
Perkins will be on the mound when the
Minnesota Gophers try to win the Big 10 baseball tournament.
The sophomore lefty is the team's best pitcher and a likely first
round pick in the June baseball draft which is in about two weeks.
Going into the season, it was believed that he could be a 3rd or 4th
round pick, but now he is being discussed as a first round pick.
Because the Twins have the 20th, 22nd and 25th overall picks, it is
very possible that they would use one of those picks on Perkins.
Will Kimmey is an excellent writer for
Baseball America
magazine who writes a lot about college baseball. I asked him about
Glen Perkins. Here is what he said: