Thursday September 23

Today, I will keep things fairly brief as more and more work was done on my home computer. So, I don't even know if "randomness" is a word or not (spell check likes it), but I'll just touch on a number of topics that I have found interesting and hope you will too.

If you have any questions on anything; if you have comments on the Twins, some players, the playoffs or anything else; if you have any ideas for possible topics send me an e-mail.

But first I want to link to a site that I was just made aware of by David Wintheiser (thanks David!) called Management of Baseball. It is a site written by Jeff Angus to show that "almost everything you need to know about Management you can learn from baseball."

On Monday, I wrote a second article giving the details of a Johan Santana's masterful 8-inning outing on Sunday against the Orioles. I showed the number of pitches he threw, the types of pitches, the count on which he threw them and more to show how he dominated the Orioles. Jeff came to this article because Aaron Gleeman posted a link to it yesterday (Thanks, Aaron!). He broke down the entire article I wrote and, piece by piece, statistic by statistic, analyzed the numbers I used and my comments. (Please click here to read the full article!)

Seriously, this is one of them most interesting blog entries that I have ever read. Maybe because it analyzes my writing like I've never had done before (which I love!). Constructive criticism is great! Maybe it is because I am almost naturally an analyst; because I love statistics and I love interpreting what they say. I won't post much of it here because there is so much good analysis by Mr. Angus. Here is probably my favorite part, starting with my thoughts and numbers, followed by his analysis:

Santana was so dominant yesterday. He only had one 3 ball count. Actually, he had just three 2 ball counts the whole game. Just again to illustrate how unpredictable Santana is, take a look at the pitches he threw on each count: [FB = fastball, CB = curve or slider, CU = change up]

Count -FB CB CU
0-0 ---17 10 2
0-1 ---12 5 -2
0-2- -- 7 2 -6
1-0- -- 4 1 -2
1-1- -- 8 2 -1
1-2- -- 8 2 -7
2-1- -- 1 0 -0
2-2- -- 0 2 -0
3-2- -- 0 1 -0

It is interesting to me to see that Santana does seem to throw more breaking balls with two strikes. Of the 14 strikeouts, seven came with the changeup, four with a curveball and three with the fastball. So, what is his strikeout pitch? Any of the three. [Great stuff. Conclusion supported by data. Note, on the one 3-2 count he got to all game, Santana had the unmitigated gall to throw a curve...an outside-the-Bachs move if there ever was one] [Seth didn't tell you one of the most important things, which perhaps he overlooked, but again, his presentation was so thorough, no plaque, no junk, that it jumps right out for other analysts. I'll get to this in my next paragraph]

Stohs doesn't point out that there are two missing counts here, 2-0 and 3-1. That's really important. Because those are THE two Red Meat hitter's counts, the counts on which batters have statistically the best chances for success (intermediate and beginning fans, if your team has runners on base and the count gets to either 2-0 or 3-1, this is a time to start rhythmic clapping, even if the P.A. system operator doesn't know to put on the claptrack). Hitters try to work a pitcher to get to a 2-0 or 3-1 count because it means the pitcher is overwhelmingly likely to throw a fastball (for most hitters, the easiest, relatively, to hit).

And then what he does is takes my information and analysis, combined with his analysis, and takes it outside of the baseball world and into a practical, "real life" setting. He mentions that my analysis and style fits nicely into a basic three-step means of analyzing any situation.

I'd like to thank Jeff Angus for checking out my site and then taking the time to analyze it. I think this is a great read and will now be reading his site daily (after looking at some of his previous postings as well!). Check it out here. And, for the record, I have NO HTML skills!!!

Just to give you a little update on my computer. Last night, good friend and computer guru, Jay DeBoer again came out and helped me (ok, I didn't do much but stare in astonishment at what he was doing) fix the computer. We were able to take care of the adware problems. Then, finally, a good virus scan was able to be downloaded. I ran that and found 62 infected files, which I deleted. So, things should be far better on my computer. I am already seeing an improvement in its performance. Next week, I will be getting a cable modem and should be all happy then! Thanks again for all of your patience and a special thank you to Jay for spending so much time figuring this all out!

I am happy to say that my cousin-in-law, Jason Bain, and I split four strips of tickets for the 2004 Twins playoffs. It is quite the expenditure, but should the Twins lose out in the ALDS, we will have the majority of the money returned to us. But, if we're being honest, we want the Twins to make the World Series (and win!), and we want to be there, so it will be well worth it! Go to www.TwinsBaseball.com to order your tickets today!

The Twins did exactly what they wanted to do in this series. Sure, they would have liked to win a couple of games to take the series, but by winning the Monday night game, they clinched the division. At this point, the Twins will try to win as many games as they can (in order to get home field advantage in the ALDS), but they will tie that in with 1.) setting up their pitching rotation to allow Johan Santana to pitch Game 1 and Brad Radke to pitch Game 2 and 2.) make sure that their regulars are healthy and rested heading into postseason.

OK, so it isn't really his major league debut, but tonight JD Durbin will be making his first big league start for the Twins in Cleveland against the Indians. I know I'm excited. Remember his first start at AAA Rochester? If he can duplicate that effort, I will be impressed! I may have to track his outing!

Jacque Jones is not hitting at all. I like how he "broke his 0-21 slump" with a home run last night. Right... now that he's 1-22, he's out of the slump, right? Last night, in the 8th inning, Jones' spot in the order came up in a big situation. Hard-throwing lefty Damaso Marte was pitching for the Sox. Jones simply can not hit left-handed pitching. The Twins had righties Lew Ford and Michael Restovich on the bench, available to hit. Also, Jose Offerman, a player specifically on the roster for pinch-hitting was available. So, who did Ron Gardenhire have hit? Of course, his boy, Jacque Jones. I appreciate Gardy's loyalty, but that situation screamed for a pinch hitter, if nothing else to prepare Offerman or Ford for pinch-hitting duties that either/or could have in the playoffs.

I think we all understand that Jones will/should be traded in the offseason. Next year, I am liking the idea of platooning Kubel and Restovich in right field. Kubel can hit, period. Restovich can crush left-handed pitching. Kubel is the bigger prospect and should be playing four out of five games next year. Between Shannon Stewart, Lew Ford, Jason Kubel and Michael Restovich, the left field, right field and designated hitters should be filled, with Ford occasionally giving Torii Hunter a day off in center.

Have I mentioned that I am a big fan of Jason Kubel? After hitting his first bit league home on Tuesday night (with two other hits), Kubel went 2-4 last night with his second home run! His stance, timing mechanism and swing are all so fluid. He is going to be a major star! Ozzie Guillen wants him!

I am in agreement with all of the bloggers out there who find the Baseball Tonight crew almost impossible to watch (With the exception of Peter Gammons, of course). But I do watch it every day to keep up with what is going on in the world of baseball, and sometimes to be frustrated by the dumb things that Karl Ravech or Jeff Brantley say. But last night's episode was AWESOME. They sent Harold Reynolds to Fenway Park and he took on the roles of clubhouse attendant and then of a ball boy during the game. On Baseball Tonight, the Red Sox clubhouse attendant, Pookie Jackson, was in studio, along with one of the team's ball girls, Kelly Barons. Nice choice. Holy Wow, is Ms Barons an attractive individual! Also, she sounds very intelligent and knowledgeable about the game. She plays college softball at Regis College (and is a sophomore). Yeah, we (as in me) really like her. Seriously... how perfect is this woman?! Kelly, if you happen to find this site, PLEASE e-mail me.

Bob Von Sternberg of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune wrote a very interesting article on the blog (From Geek to Chic: Blogs Gain Influence). This isn't a baseball blog article and doesn't even have anything to do with sports, but it does tell us just how powerful the world of blogging can be, or even, has become. When CBS officials didn't verify the validity of the source documents last week, it was a blogger who first questioned it. A blogger from FreeRepublic.com first questioned the story's validity, and a mainstream writer took that information and used his resources to break the story wide open. That is just one example of what a blogger can be. According to the article, there are currently 2.4 to 4 million blogs on the internet and they expect 10 million blogs in 2005. I realize that you come to a baseball blog like this one for baseball information. But there are blogs of all types. Here is a list of political blogs.

Aaron Gleeman continues to put out great postings every day. On his own web site, he has been posting his thoughts on baseball, the Twins, poker, football and television. Oh, and on Johan Santana, the Official Pitcher of Aaron's Baseball Blog. Oh, and he also writes an article for The Hardball Times and takes a regular college class load!

Ryan Maus and John Betzler write great Twins thoughts every day. Yesterday, they also began a series called Playoff Perspectives in which they will keep us updated on the scores and new surrounding the Twins potential playoff opponents. Check it out!

I think it is fair to say that Batgirl is getting some major recognition from all over the place. Recently, she composed an article for ESPN.com Page 2! Her style of writing is different from anything else you will fine. It is thoughtful, fun and very entertaining. But it is also full of substance. She answered a bunch of Twins questions to be answered yet this season. Also, she is not a fan of the Chicago White Sox!

They're back! His most recent article discusses the struggles of JC Romero, something I appreciate!

After quite a hiatus, Anthony is back. He has written a number of quality postings in the last week on the Twins win streak, Johan Santana and the Twins youngsters.

Another new blog. It is definitely a Minnesota sports blog as already he has discussed the Twins, Vikings and Timberwolves and more!

This is a site I just linked to last night, but it is very good. Primarily Andrew discusses the Twins, but we have also exchanged a number of e-mails on television shows the last couple of days, specifically on the great show, Scrubs. His current posting is very interesting to me. He looks at the lineup that the Twins put out there against the White Sox on Tuesday night and compares it with the Twins Opening Day lineup. Just three of the ten players started both games.

And, of course, for the best Twins talk and discussion around, check out the Dickie Thon Twins Fan Forum. Current Discussions include:

Stop by and check out the discussion. The people there are great, so feel free to participate and post your thoughts.

There are a number of Twins sites out there that are great. These are the ones that I am aware of. If there are more, please e-mail me and tell me so I can link to them. Thanks!

On that note, it is getting late! Have yourself a great day. As always, please feel free to e-mail me about anything.