Friday, June 10, 2005
Twins Discussion Question
Twins Thoughts
What to do? What to do?
Good morning to everyone! Thank you very much for making SethSpeaks a part of your daily reading. It does mean a lot to me. This week, I have been one pathetic poster. I have been incredibly busy in my life the last few weeks and clearly it has had an affect on this site. I do sincerely apologize for that and hope you understand and will continue to check this site out daily as I do hope to get back into a flow. If you are new to the site, I would encourage you to check out my Archives and read some previous entries to see that there has been occasional quality output here! Any input, suggestions, etc would be greatly appreciated. Please feel free to e-mail me your thoughts. I would love to hear them!
But, to help me out a little bit and regenerate my enthusiasm, I think that it is time for a new Discussion Question.
It is time for a new Discussion Question. Again, if you check out the Archives, you will find a number of such questions. From who would make your All-Time Lineup, or which greats you would like to talk to, and more. But this week, the topic turns back to the Minnesota Twins. Here is the first question:
Right now, the Twins are 35-23, 4.5 games behind the Chicago White Sox in the American League Central.
a.) What moves do the Twins need to make to win the division? Trades?
(my current opinion really is that the Twins don't need to do anything. Their record is not only second in the division, but it is second in the American League. They are one of just three teams in all of baseball with a Winning Percentage over .600. But there are places and positions where the Twins can improve. What are those positions, and who are some players that the Twins should be targeting? Feel free to propose a few trades for our readership to think about.b.) Finally, and maybe most importantly, which Twins minor leaguers would you classify as "Untouchable" ?
PROCESS - OK, the process remains the same for the Discussion Questions. This question is posted today and will be kept up all weekend. I will also post it on Monday. I will then take all of the responses to these questions that I receive and post them on this website on Monday night at 11:30 p.m. So, read and re-read the questions, consider your response, and then be sure to e-mail me before Monday night.
The Twins won the first two games of the Diamondbacks series, but they were unable to complete the sweep as Arizona recorded a 4-3 win last night. There were a couple of positives. Luis Rodriguez again had two hits. Jacque Jones hit another opposite field homer. And Justin Morneau finally hit another homer. Both Jones and Morneau now have eight homers on the season.
Tonight, the Twins will begin a series in Los Angeles against the Dodgers. It would be a fun series to be at as the teams are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the 1965 World Series when the Dodgers beat the Twins four games to three. Here are some of the names who played in that World Series. Twins players included Harmon Killebrew, Tony Olivo, Zoilo Versailles, Bob Allison, Earl Battey, Jim Kaat, Mudcat Grant, Camilo Pascual, Jim Perry and Al Worthington. The Dodgers had little offensive fire power and were led by Maury Wills. The story for the Dodgers was an incredible pitching staff which included Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Johnny Podres, Claude Osteen and Ron Perranoski. Here are the pitching matchups:
Tonight - 9:40 pm - Joe Mays (3-2, 3.59, 1.23, .264) vs Brad Penny (3-2, 3.67, 1.21, .274)
Saturday - 9:10 pm - Carlos Silva (4-3, 3.04, 1.18, .294) vs Derek Lowe (5-5, 3.35, 1.23, .261)
Sunday - 3:10 - Brad Radke (5-4, 4.03, 1.16, .281) vs ??? I will update when I find out.
If you have any questions or comments about the Twins, Dodgers or anything baseball, please feel free to e-mail me. Thanks!
ROCHESTER REDWINGS
Thursday - REDWINGS 6, Richmond 1- Jason Bartlett led the Redwing's offense with a 3-5 day. Jason Tyner went 2-4 with a walk. Corky Miller actually did something other than homer. He was 2-3 with a walk and two doubles. (before last night, four of his six hits were home runs). Kevin West hit his 6th home run. JD Durbin picked up his second win of the year. He lasted just 5.2 innings and only gave up a run on five hits. However, he also walked five batters and struck out just two. Henry Bonilla recorded his first save by pitching the final 3.1 innings. He didn't give up a run or a hit!
NEW BRITAIN ROCKCATS
Thursday - ROCKCATS 11, Norwich 8 - After having just five hits on Wednesday, the Rockcat bats came to play last night. James Tomlin led the way. He went 4-5 with his 11th double, first homer and two RBI. Gil Velazquez went 3-4 with a walk and a double. Alex Romero went 3-5 with his fifth homer and three RBI. Doug Deeds went 2-4 with a walk and his 19th double. Bryan Kennedy went 2-4 with a walk and his 5th double. On the mound, John Thomas started and lasted just four innings. He gave up five runs on six hits (including 3 HR) and two walks. Justin Olson improves to 3-0 since being moved back to the bullpen (6-6 overall). He gave up a run in 2.1 innings. Pat Neshek recorded his 9th save by pitching 2.2 innings. He gave up two runs on three hits and two walks.
FT MYERS MIRACLE
Thursday - MIRACLE, Tampa - Rained Out.
BELOIT SNAPPERS
Yesterday, we found out that five Snappers players were selected to play in the Midwest League's All-Star game later this month. Deacon Burns will be a starting outfielder. Javier Sanchez is a backup catcher. Pitchers Anthony Swarzak, Jay Rainville and Steven Duguay were also chosen. Duguay will not play in the game because he is on the disabled list.
Thursday - SNAPPERS 6, Peoria 7 (11) - It was a long game for the Snappers last night and it didn't end the right way. It didn't exactly start the right way either. Kyle Waldrop started and gave up four runs on seven hits and two walks in just 4.1 innings. John Williams went the next 2.2 innings and gave up a run. Kevin Culpepper gave up a run in his inning. Jonathon Martinez pitched two scoreless innings. Finally, Alexander Smit came in for the 11th and gave up a run with two outs to end the game. Luke Hughes went 2-3 with a stolen base. Javier Sanchez was 2-4 with his 8th double. Trevor Plouffe went 1-4, but he hit his third homer of the season.
On that note, I am going to call it a day and a week! I hope everyone has a great weekend! As always, please feel free to e-mail me your thoughts on the Twins, the minor leagues, or anything you would like to discuss.