Wednesday September 10, 2003

Discussion Question of the Week

Game 1 Thoughts

Big Series à Game 2 (White Sox 8, Twins 6)

This team (the Twins) is so incredibly frustrating to watch, and even more frustrating to have to write about! How do you write something that sounds even a little bit positive when they play the way they have the past two nights?  Let’s see if I can come up with anything positive. Sometimes, we just have to take the bad, with the good.

Good - Ron Gardenhire realized that Jacque Jones can’t hit Mark Buehrle, having gone 0-23 against him in his career. So, amazingly, Gardy gave Jones a day off.

Bad - Gardy continues to chose to play Dustan Mohr. In this case, that makes sense because Mohr was 8-23 against Buehrle going into the game.  Those who have read this site for awhile know that I would much rather see Mohr’s at bats go to Michael Cuddyer, Lew Ford or Michael Restovich.

Good - Corey Koskie was 3-3 on the night.

Bad - Koskie was called out at third base by catcher, Sandy Alomar, on a Torii Hunter swinging bunt. Clearly Koskie was safe, the play wasn’t even close. Any close call in games 1 and 2 of the series have gone the way of the White Sox. Conspiracy Theory alert… Who do you think Major League Baseball wants in the playoffs?  A team from the 3^rd largest market in the country (Chicago), or Minneapolis.  If anyone considers the White Sox a “small market” team, they’re fooling themselves!

Good - Ron Gardenhire finally gave Carlos Pulido a well-deserved start.

Bad - It took Gardy two weeks after Pulido was called up just to get him into a game. He pitched great the times that he had pitched.  So, Gardy gives him an opportunity to start, against the offense of the White Sox. Now, I’m not going to say that Pulido pitched great. He didn’t.  He gave up 2 walks and 4 hits in just 3 innings. But, when the White Sox scored three off him in the second inning, it should have been just one! With one out and runners on 1^st and 3^rd, Joe Crede hit a fly ball to deep center field. Inexplicably, Torii Hunter didn’t catch the ball. After seeing replay after replay, I have no idea how Hunter missed that ball. But, if he catches it (which he definitely should have), the runner from third scores. The next batter flew out to left field which should have ended the inning. But, because of the missed fly ball, another run scored. Then another.

Good - Rick Reed is pitching out of the bullpen.

Bad - Rick Reed is pitching.  He does give up some pretty home runs though, doesn’t he?  I mean, when he gives them up, they fly!  Magglio Ordonez and Roberto Alomar were each given that opportunity!  After Frank Thomas just missed a long home run, he drilled a double off the left center field wall. Grant Balfour got to enter the game at that point. He gave up a bloop single by Ordonez to score Thomas, then Carlos Lee hit a majestic home run. So, that means Gardy won’t pitch Balfour much the rest of the season, or, well, ever.  Oh, and I’m guessing that Rick Reed will be joining the rotation the next time around.

Good - Mike Ryan, Lew Ford, Michael Cuddyer and Justin Morneau all got at bats in the game.

Bad - I can’t say anything bad about that! I think all three of them should be on the major league roster next year, and get a lot of playing time. (see 2004 Roster below)

Good - AJ Pierzynski’s 9^th inning at bat.  After getting behind 0-2, Pierzynski must have fouled off about 10 pitches before hitting a sacrifice fly.  That’s great because it may mean that Tom Gordon can’t pitch tonight!

Bad - That just means that the odds of Damaso Marte pitching tonight is greatly improved, and that is not a good thing for the Twins! On another sad note, Billy Koch probably won’t pitch either!!

Good - The Twins mounted an impressive comeback, scoring 4 runs in the 9^th inning to make it just an 8-6 loss.

Bad - The White Sox still won that game. No matter what Dick Bremer and Bert Blyleven tell you, the comeback means absolutely nothing for tonight’s game.  Maybe if the Twins were playing the Royals and came back like that it might mean something. But the White Sox are a veteran team. They’re not going to care that the Twins came back on them.

Good - Hey, the Twins still have 5 games against the White Sox in which they can make up the current 2 game deficit.

Bad - They still have to play the White Sox, a team that is clearly far superior to the Twins. (see below)

Good - The Royals lost 7-1 to the Indians last night!

Bad - Who cares? They had a great run, but they’re done!

Good - The Twins can still split the series, and tonight, they’ve got their best pitcher, Johan Santana on the mound.

Good - Aside from the 5 games remaining with the White Sox, the Twins still have 6 against the Cleveland Indians and 7 against the Detroit Tigers. The Sox still play the Royals, Red Sox and Yankees. I really think this is the Twins chance at backing in to the division championship.

Good - The Twins traded Todd Sears to the San Diego Padres for minor league infielder Alex Garcia. The Twins had dropped Sears from their 40-man roster, so they weren’t planning on keeping him anyway, so they were at least able to get something for him.  Infield depth within the organization is something the Twins are definitely short of, so this is good.

Bad - I wanted Sears to go somewhere that he’d get a chance to play. I don’t know that San Diego is that place.  With Ryan Klesko out for the season, Sears may play some for the Padres yet this year. But, with Brian Giles, Mark Kotsay, Sean Burroughs, Xavier Nady, and Klesko in the organization, I don’t know that Sears will be given any chance at full-time playing.  He could be another Brian Buchanan for them though, and that’s not a bad thing.

 

Good - Lisa Dergan - Fox Sports Net

Bad - Lisa Guerrero - ABC’s Monday Night Football, formerly of Fox Sports Net.

Good - ESPN’s drama Playmakers!  I heard Rams Tackle Kyle Turley say on Dan Patrick’s radio show that Playmakers is ridiculous, that it is completely an exaggeration of what happens in an NFL locker room.  I would totally agree with that. That said, it presents a lot of issues that are facing NFL players as well as common folks. In just the first three episodes so far, they have already dealt with a plethora of issues, from drug use to preferential treatment of stars. From domestic disputes to psychological issues to keeping your old friends (ala Allen Iverson).  The show is interesting, controversial and really just enjoyable to watch! Tuesday night’s at 8 p.m. (Central Time), then a couple more times that night!

2004 TWINS ROSTER -

Is anyone else frustrated with a number of the veterans on the roster?  If you’re at all like me, you enjoyed watching the Twins in 1999 and 2000, when the Twins were losing, but they were youngsters that played hard at all times. Notice the comeback last night was sparked by a few guys that don’t play a whole lot.  Is anyone ready to see the below roster be the 2004 roster? 

I would totally enjoy watching this team play! I think the pitchers could be great! If Brad Radke is your #4 pitcher, that’s not bad.  JD Durbin could be a star! The bullpen would have 2 lefties and 3 righties before closer Jesse Crain comes in and throws gas in the 9^th inning. 

I think the hitting could be much better than the current team’s. We haven’t seen most of these guys get consistent at bats in the big leagues. When they do, they will hit. Lew Ford continues to amaze me with the type of at bats he has. I think he’d be an ideal leadoff hitter.  I’d keep Rivas in the 2-hole, but move him over to his natural position, SS. I’d keep Mientkiewicz in the 3 spot, followed by Michael Cuddyer batting cleanup and playing 2B. The Twins should pick up Corey Koskie’s option and bat him 5^th. Justin Morneau could DH and bat 6^th, followed by Joe Mauer taking over at the catcher position.  Michael Restovich could bat 8th and play RF, and Michael Ryan could be a very strong 9^th hitter in LF. I think between catcher, 1B and DH, Matthew Lecroy could play 5 out of 7 games. Same with Mientkiewicz (to save on his surgically repaired wrist).

So, here’s my regular lineup:

CF Lew Ford

SS Luis Rivas

1B Doug Mientkiewicz

2B Michael Cuddyer

3B Corey Koskie

DH Justin Morneau

C  Joe Mauer

RF Michael Restovich

CF Michael Ryan

-

When Lecroy plays 1B, put Koskie in the 3-hole, Lecroy 4^th, Morneau 5^th and Cuddyer 6^th.

So, what do you think?  Could this team compete?  E-mail me your thoughts.

DISCUSSION QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Apparently this week’s question was a good one, as I have already received quite a few e-mail responses to it!  That’s great and I’d love to hear from everyone, so send me an e-mail and have your thoughts heard on the below question:

This is a question that I think comes into question at this time every year… The MVP award.  What does the term “Most VALUABLE Player” mean? Does it mean just the best player in the league statistically for the year?  Does it mean the most clutch player?  Does it mean the best player on the best team? Last year, Miguel Tejada of the Oakland A’s won the AL MVP award even though his overall numbers weren’t as good as Texas Rangers SS Alex Rodriguez. But, the A’s went to the playoffs, and the Rangers didn’t play a ‘meaningful game after Memorial Day.  So, what do you think? I know that everyone has different opinions on this, and I would love to hear from you on your thoughts.

Here’s how the Discussion Question of the Week works. The Question is presented. It will be included on the site all week. If you would like to participate in the discussion, just send me an e-mail with your response by Thursday night. I will then, on Friday, post the responses that I get. This one should be fun and interesting.

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