Friday, July 6, 2007
Discussion Questions
Good morning again! Discussion Questions yesterday... Discussion Questions today... Here are the topics:
All Star Game and Festivities
What are your thoughts on the All-Star game? Will you watch the game? Will you watch Justin Morneau and the Home Run Derby? Is it all dumb? There are plenty of directions this conversation can go, so please feel free to get a good, respectful, heated discussion going. Talk about all teams being represented, snubs, and more.
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First Ballot Hall of Famers
Last August, I wrote an article saying that I thought there were no fewer than 25 current big leaguers that were Hall of Famers. With Craig Biggio (3,000 hits) and Frank Thomas (500 HR) reaching milestone numbers recently, I thought it would be interesting to think about Hall of Famers playing now, but also, who would you consider first-ballot Hall of Famers? I would encourage everyone to review my HOF article and then discuss it here.
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The Ugly Topic
Steroids. I would like to get a quality, educated, respectful discussion going on the situation regarding Performance Enhancing Drugs. I would like to touch on a couple of topics to get the discussion going, and hope that you will participate even if you disagree with me. One thing that really bothers me is that the focus of the angst is almost solely thrown at Barry Bonds. The reason? Because he isn't a nice guy and he is about to break one of the most glamorous records in baseball. His name is definitely in the mix. Why aren't the Texas Rangers of the early and mid-'90s mentioned? Why aren't the 2002 Braves mentioned? Why isn't every Oakland A's player or San Francisco Giants' player mentioned? With the exception of Rafael Palmiero, those who have failed tests have been little guys and relievers. I think that HGH needs to be tested for. My main point is that until we know the full story, I am under the impression that, even if Bonds used, he was not playing on an unfair field. I'm sure not "everyone was doing it" but I bet it was more than just Barry Bonds. Some want Bonds to just admit it. Well, Jason Giambi pretty much just admitted it a month ago, and what did it do for him? There is a starting point... Debate... and be nice!
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Twins Starting Lineup in their First Game in the new ball park in 2010
After the serious discussion above, let's have a fun discussion. Sure, it is unlikely that all of the players will be current Twins or within the organization, so feel free to be creative. My lineup:
Alexi Casilla 2B
Trevor Plouffe SS
Joe Mauer C
Michael Cuddyer RF
Justin Morneau 1B
David Winfree DH
Jason Kubel LF
Danny Valencia 3B
Denard Span CF
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TWINS MINOR LEAGUE NOTES
Happy Friday to the millions and millions of Sethspeaks readers! This is mini_tb pinch hitting for Seth again.
The Twins lost a tough one yesterday. Pat Neshek allowed the game winner to Hideki Matsui. Hours later, we found out Pat would not be making the trip to San Francisco as a member of the All Star team. Pat definitely has nothing to hang his head about in either situation. Matsui is a professional hitter, and Neshek just can’t win all the battles all of the time. What an honor for Pat to even be listed in the final 5! He and his great blog certainly got some much deserved recognition. So what I am trying to say is… CONGRATULATIONS ON THE GREAT FIRST HALF, PAT!!!
As I am sure most everyone has heard by now, the Twins optioned Kevin Slowey to AAA after the game and recalled Carmen Cali. There are 2 ways to look at this. One way is that, of course, Kevin has struggled in his brief stint in the majors. This doesn’t make him less of a prospect. It will be good for him to a get a start or 2 in to get some confidence and to work on stuff. The other thing to look at is Kevin had a really short start yesterday, and the Twins have a double header with the White Sox today, and the All Star break is coming up. Kevin would obviously be unavailable for today’s game, so why not call up Cali? What does everyone think of this move? What does Kevin need to work on most?
By the way, Matt Garza is starting today, as is Scott Baker. It seems most of the trade talk in comments sections regarding Scott Baker has slowed down. That is definitely a good thing! Remember this is the same prospect who skyrocketed through the minors a few years ago. He obviously has some potential. Let’s hope we have seen a glimpse of the future of Scott over his last few starts.
Where’s the Boof? Just to get the ball rolling… how many more starts does one Mr. Boof Bonser get before he becomes a whipping boy? Yes, he had a strong stretch run last year. His starts before that were not so good, and the bulk of his starts this year have been not so good. Which is the real Boof? I would guess that, if Baker struggles today, the comment sections will be full of people calling him a no good bum. If Scott Baker performs well again today, maybe, just maybe, we should start focusing on Boof.
Ok… End rant. Let’s get some discussion going. Why does Boof get a free pass while Cousin Scott seems to be on a start by start microscopic analysis basis?
mini_tb’s player of the day Garrett Jones
mini_tb’s pitcher of the day David Gassner
The Red Wings has a nice come from behind victory on the 4th over the Lynx Wednesday night.
Tommy Watkins and Garrett Jones paced the Red Wings’ balanced offensive attack with 2 hits apiece. Watkins had 2 doubles. Darnell McDonald was 1 for 2 with a double, a walk, and 2 RBI.
Ricky Barrett actually started the game and threw the first 3.2 innings. He gave up 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4. He threw 58 pitches. I am sure he was on a pretty strict pitch count. Julio DePaula picked up the win by striking out 6 in his 4.1 innings of work. He allowed only 1 run on 3 hits and a walk. Bobby Korecky picked up the save.
Ottawa 2 @ Rochester 4 (July 5th)
The Red Wings held on for the win Thursday night.
Garrett Jones collected 3 hits in 4 at bats. 2 of the hits were doubles (25) and the third was a triple (3). He had 2 RBI. Glenn Williams, who will be 30 in a couple weeks, was 2 for 4 with a double (13) and an RBI. Darnell McDonald had a triple (5) in 4 trips to the plate.
David Gassner was great. He went the first 8 1/3 innings. He allowed 2 runs on only 6 hits and 1 walk to go along with 3 strikeouts. Bobby Korecky notched his 20th save.
The game was postponed Thursday because of rain.
The Miracle lost a tough one. They scored the first run of the game in the top of the 8th only to give up 2 in the bottom of the 8th. Zach Ward had a good start and got a no decision for his effort. 6 innings pitched, 6 hits, 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts and 0 runs is certainly a good enough start for a win. He is now 2-11 on the season with a 3.08 ERA. He’s going to develop some kind of complex pretty soon. Armando Gabino surprisingly surrendered the 2 runs to take the loss. Josh Kruezer hit a 2 run homer, his 13th off of him in his second inning of relief.
Every Miracle position player had a hit in the game except for Erik Lis. Steven Tolleson was the lone player with 2 hits. He had 2 doubles for the day.
Beloit 8 @ Burlington 4
Garrett Olson was the offensive star of this game. He was 3 for 5 with his 4th home run, a 2 run shot. He had 3 RBI total. Wilson Ramos had 3 hits in 5 at bats on the day, including his 9th double. Chris Parmalee went 2 for 4 with his 14th double and a walk.
The Snappers got a nice start out of Cole Devries. The Eden Prairie righty picked up his 7th win of the year by going 7 innings with 6 strike outs. He allowed 7 hits and 2 walks and only gave up an unearned run. Robert Delaney went the final 1 1/3 innings to pick up his 27th save. Let’s see here… 45.2 innings pitched, 23 hits, 6 walks, 55 Ks!! Soon to be 23 years old and pitching in low A… You think he might be ready for a promotion?
E-Town 6 @ Bluefield 1
The Twins scored 5 in the first and 1 in the second to cruise to a 6-1 win over the Orioles’ affiliate. Bluefield actually outhit E-Town 8 to 5.
Check out the starting pitcher for the Orioles, Bryan Lee’s, pitching line for the day. 0.0 innings pitched, 0 hits, 4 walks, 4 earned runs. That’s gross! Perhaps that’s even grosser than gross!! There really isn’t much to talk about on offense other than Bryan Lee’s horrendous outing. The top 5 hitters in the Twins’ each drew a walk. Mark Dolenc hit a double (4) and drove in 2 (17). Starling De Los Santos did not make an error in this game!
David Bromberg started for the Twins and went the first 5 shutout innings. He struck out 8 while giving up 3 hits and 3 walks. Spencer Steedley notched his first save by going the final 4 innings. He walked none, gave up 5 hits, and struck out 6. He also gave up a run. Bromberg and Steedley combined for 14 strikeouts in 9 innings!!
GCL Twins 8 @ GCL Pirates 7
The Twins held on to beat the Pirates 8-7. 1st round pick Ben Revere was 2 for 4 with his second triple of the short season. He drove in 3. Rondell White was 2-4 with a double. He has now tied a career high by playing 7 games without going on the DL. First baseman Jon Waltenbury was 1 for 3 with a 2 run homer.
Michael McCardell picked up the win by pitching the first 5 innings. He gave up 5 hits and walked 2 while striking out 6.
That’s it for me today. Everyone have a craptacular weekend!!
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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.