Wednesday, September 13, 2006

The Morning Addition

That Was Awesome!

Hand Him the MVP Now!

I don't know what to title this posting. Maybe you've got some ideas. Tonight's Twins game was AWESOME! Matt Guerrier did well, and then the bullpen got them through the rest of the game. But Justin Morneau added to his case for AL MVP. Not only does he have all of the right numbers, but he is coming up big in "clutch" situations and putting up the RBI stats that MVP voters really like. He has been the man behind the Twins turnaround. The only thing going against him is that he is playing in Minnesota, not New York or Boston. I guess when the MVP results are made known, we will find out if there is really an East Coast bias. We all know there is, and there really is a lot of season to go, but Twins fans can dream and hope.

In past years, I have e-mailed baseball writers from newspapers all around the country in an attempt to find out if they were voting for Bert Blyleven for the Hall of Fame. I think it is time for Twins fans to start e-mailing the baseball writers from all of the major baseball cities in the country and point out exactly why Justin Morneau should be the MVP.

If you want, you can tell them that Johan Santana should be the AL Cy Young Award winner, but I would really, really hope they would already know that. For awhile, the Cy Young race was close between Santana and the Blue Jays Roy Halladay, but recently Santana has made that an obvious choice.

Likewise, Justin Morneau has made himself into a candidate over the last three months, and he is coming through big in September already. He has been in competition with the likes of David Ortiz and Travis Hafner who have both been hurt, literally by injury or ailment, and by their team's play. Derek Jeter is a legitimate candidate as well, regardless of what you read on other blogs, and what you read in newspapers. Jermaine Dye is also a strong candidate, and I think that it should be between Dye and Morneau, but Morneau would get my vote, and I really don't think it is completely just a biased voted.

Jason Tyner went 3-4 and despite striking out in his 4th at bat, he swung at such a bad pitch that it got by Jason Kendall and scored the insurance run.

Despite being overused the night before, Joe Nathan came back last night for another save, and showed again his dominance.

The Twins now have a shot at the series sweep this afternoon when Francisco Liriano returns to the mound. He will be on a pitch count, but the Twins will also have Matt Garza and Scott Baker ready to go if they are needed. And, although five relievers were used last night, I would guess that at least three of them could go again today. My opinion is that you want to win series. The Twins have already won this series, but now, they might as well go for the sweep! Every win counts.

The Tigers got a 3-2 win over Texas last night on a Carlos Guillen walk-off homer, so the Twins remain 1 1/2 games behind them. The Tigers magic number is at 17.  The White Sox and Angels are in just the 5th inning as I am typing this. They are down 2-1, but have a threat going. Go Angels!

This is the most enjoyable Twins team for me to watch. It is an energetic team (most of the time) with several very young players who just go hard all the time. There are enough veterans around to keep them grounded and such, but they are also not stopping any exuberance. It is just so much fun to watch!

Speaking of the playoffs, the Rochester Red Wings played Game 1 of the International League championship series against Toledo. Unfortunately, the Red Wings fell 6-3. Mike Smith was excellent. He gave up just one run over the first seven innings. He gave up four hits, walked one and struck out ten. However, Beau Kemp came in and gave up four runs and just got one out. Bobby Korecky gave up another run in finishing out the 8th inning. Levale Speigner did pitch a scoreless ninth. Terry Tiffee led the offense with three hits, including a double.

In Game 2 tonight, the Red Wings will send Kevin Slowey to the mound. It will be his first AAA start.

I will likely add more in the morning, so check back. If you have any questions, comments, opinions or ideas, please e-mail me or leave Comments below.

The Morning Addition

Good morning ya'll! I got up early this morning in part to see what people were writing about that exciting Twins game last night. But also, I wanted to see how the White Sox did. And I am happy to report that in the 11th inning, Chone Figgins singled in pinch runner Tommy Murphy and the Angels beat the White Sox 4-3. So now, the Twins have a 2 1/2 game lead over the White Sox in the Wild Card race! Here are more notes from the evening and morning:

 

 

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