Showing posts with label twins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label twins. Show all posts

May 19, 2010

Somebody loves me

Gina recently bought me this jersey because she was able to get an authentic one for a great deal.  It's sweet.  It's the old school 1961 Twins replica jersey that the team wears for some of their Saturday home games.  Had there been other options, I probably would have picked someone other than Mauer but I definitely still love the jersey and with his recent contract agreement if he stays healthy the jersey will be retired by the Twins someday so it will be one that I can always wear.  Thanks G!

July 6, 2009

Enjoying some hardball

Click on the picture to take a closer look. Check out the guys circled with Morneau and Pujols from our recent trip to STL and KC to follow the Twins.

August 25, 2008

A nice little half day of work

Here are some pics from the Twins game Beno and I attended last Wednesday afternoon. We sat in the middle of the first row of section 117, which are very nice seats.


The pictures will help give you an idea of how close we were to the action as well. Unfortunately, the lighting in the dome is not that good so action shots didn't turn out too well.

Mauer didn't play so there are no pictures of him. I focused on Morneau (Gina's favorite), Nathan (my favorite) and Liriano. The game was great and it was nice to hang out with Ben for an afternoon.






Oddly, the most interesting part of the game came when I got home though. There was a voicemail for me from a friend of mine that I played college ball with at NDSU. He lives in Texas now and I happened to randomly run into him at the Twins/Rockies series at Coors Field in May. It was cool, as I hadn't seen him for about a decade. We exchanged numbers that day but hadn't spoken with each other since.

His voicemail talked about the Twins and how I needed to get Liriano going (who had to pitch out of jams most of the game). He also let me know that he noticed that I was playing hookie from work. I was confused how he knew and called him back because the game was not broadcast on FSN like it usually is.

He was watching the mlb.tv broadcast which was using the radio announcers with different cameras angles then you normally see on TV. In the seventh inning, Morneau made a catch against the wall about ten feet from us and he saw me at that point.
Small world I tell ya.

May 5, 2008

Joe's birthday fun

Some of us attended the Twins game yesterday.  There were a few reasons for going, but the main one was for Joe's birthday (which is coming up on the 16th).

It was a very enjoyable game and it was nice to get out with the guys. 

After spotting the Tigers six runs in the first the Twins came back and ended up winning 7-6.  Here's the boxscore from the game if you want to check it out. 

We also were asked to have a picture taken by one of the Twin's photographers.  I wanted to share the picture (which is the main reason for this post).

January 30, 2008

Good-bizzle Jo-hizzle

 
I'll admit that my biggest flaw as a sports fan is that I expect players to be more loyal then they actually are, but I am not saying players should stay when it doesn't make sense to.
 
However, I generally get upset when they cling to years of the contract as the sticking point of a deal and downright dislike the ones who ask to be traded before it's up because the team did not hold up their end of the bargain.  What is forgetten is that they gave up their opinion on the topic when they wanted the security of an "eight" year deal. 

Sign a three year deal and show your team that you are worth the money...when the deal is over decide if you and your club are both moving in the same direction and go from there.

I feel like I am in the minority on this topic.
That being said...

Johan Santana did not have to be traded. 

The four year / $80 million extension the Twins offered was fair.  After the contract would have been honored, he'd have been able to enter free agency as an elite 33-year-old left handed starter with two to four Cy Youngs under his belt.  This trade, as are most, was all about years.  Johan can say that he wanted what was best for the Twins, but the truth is a much different picture then he painted. 

He forced this trade.  We were only able to get a portion of his value because of the restrictions he placed on the deal, because he had all the power.

I read the Pioneer Press this morning.  I was surprised by all the negative print Bill Smith is getting.  Did he take the best deal offered to him? No.  Did he get market value? Definitely not.  Does this allow the Twins to compete in 2008? No, but they were the third best team in the Central with Santana.

Would I have chosen the same deal he did? Yes. 

The fact that Fernando Martinez is not a Minnesota Twin right now is unfortunate.  Smith needed to get him and I will admit he failed there.  But I would take the Mets package with a handful of useful players, sending him to the National League, over the Red Sox and Yankee's offers as they were. 

Look at the Knoblauch and Pierzynski deals.  Look at how the Twins brass have, as a whole, done far better acquiring "talent" then other franchises.  We need to let this one play out before we start throwing rocks.

Don't get me wrong though...if the offers would have been different, my tune on what we should have done would have been as well.

In the end, I understand that we will likely be seen as the losers in this deal.  It's hard not to be when you're trading away the best pitcher in baseball.

Am I upset with the Twins? Not really.

Am I worried about our staff? Yes.

Am I upset with Johan? Regretfully, yes.

Fortunately for me, Johan will be a Met soon and I will be able to eventually cheer for him again.  I have absolutely loved watching him pitch over the years.  I'm grateful he's not a Yankee (or Red Sox, surprisingly) and I will just bide my time until I can appreciate he talents as a pitcher again.  I may hold a little grudge against him this year but it will not be long before I am enjoying highlights of him pitching.

He's the best pitcher I have ever been able to watch on a consistent basis.  I will miss his tenacity and willpower.  Most of all, I will miss seeing his changeup make batters consistently look silly.

I'll admit that it was fun while it lasted...and maybe I will be able to say the same thing about Liriano someday (minus the being traded portion of this post). 

I do have a soft spot for southpaws you know.

November 29, 2007

The wildest offseason in Twin's history - part 1

11/21 - Torii Hunter signs with the Los Angeles Angels for 5 years, $90 million.

11/28 - Minnesota acquired Delmon Young, Brendan Harris and Jason Pridie from Tampa Bay on

Wednesday in exchange for Matt Garza, Jason Bartlett and Eduardo Morlan.

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My take:

*The Hunter deal is off the charts.  I will miss the guy but his salary next year ($18.5 million) would have been the fourth highest salary in baseball behind Giambi, ARod and Jeter.  I hope the best for him in LA but he was grossly overpaid.

*I don't love or hate the Young trade at this point.  However, I'm just happy Bill Smith did something and I think this is obviously just the first piece to a bigger offseason puzzle for the team so it's hard to draw any conclusions right now. 

Terry Ryan was too cautious, I like Smith's mentality more already (from what I can tell at this point at least). 

All that being said, the more I look at things the more I think this is a trade our franchise will be glad we made five years from now.  Young's numbers at 22 are similars to Torii's at 26.
My only big complaint is that Young is defensively an average corner OF.  If he was a CF, I'd be much more excited. 

I suppose I also hope he's grown up a bit as he claims.

Harris and Bartlett are a wash to me.  Hopefully we acquire a SS so Harris can play 2B.  He's more valuable there.

July 11, 2007

Unfortunately, Torii has got to go

 
Before I start this post, I want to be clear that I am not looking forward to the day that Torii Hunter will no longer be roaming CF for our Minnesota Twins.  He has been the most enjoyable defensive player I have ever been able to watch consistently.  I loved Kirby and he was fantastic with his glove too, but based solely on D (in their primes) I'd take Torii over him and I wouldn't even have to consider it for very long.

He has been a good clubhouse leader too.  His personality is infectious and the team has definitely fed off it.  I think that is important to note.  However, Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer (while much quietier) now have the credentials to lead this team.  It no doubt will be different then how Torii did it, but that doesn't mean it will be any less effective.

Offensively, he is what he is.  He's streaky and when he is hot he's pretty darn good.  When he's cold, he can be a detriment at times.  He has holes in his swing and he's a great #6 hitter to me, but batting him any higher is not a good idea (especially because of the OBA).

His career numbers are:
.271 AVG   .324 OBA   .470 SLG   Six gold gloves

This year, he is having a great year and his numbers are all career bests:
.301 AVG   .342 OBA   .558 SLG

If those numbers are his topside capability, we can't spend $12-$15 million a year (for four or five years) to keep him.

His numbers compare slightly less favorable to other defensive CFs like Carlos Beltran (.280, .354, .491, 1GG) and Andruw Jones (.264, .343, .500, 9GG) and he is two years older then both of them.

Both players make about $13 million per season.  Torii currently makes $10.75 million.
It's not that I wouldn't like to see the cost conscience Twins keep him, but with Justin's contract still unresolved and the prospect of likely needing a minimum of five years and $100 million to keep Johan Santana (the best pitcher in baseball) after the 2008 season, we have bigger issues and bigger needs then Torii.  I feel that Johan and Justin must be kept, which ultimately makes Torii expendable.

Also, while the Twinkies are fun to watch and are doing all right this year it's not likely that they catch both the Tigers and Indians and go on the run we saw in the second half of last season. 

I say we move Torii before the trading deadline (while he is healthy) and get some pieces that will help keep this team competitive with the core players we have for the forseeable future.

The only thing worse then signing Torii to a five year, $70 million contract would be letting him walk at the end of the season while getting nothing more then a sandwich pick between the first and second round of next year's draft.

October 2, 2006

Quite the roller coaster ride


My parents, Gina and myself all attended the Twins game yesterday. I must say, it was the greatest game I have ever been to.

To start things off, there was touching pre-game ceremony honoring Brad Radke.

Once the game started there was a lot of things going on. First off all, Mauer was trying to win the batting title (which he did!). But, on top of that they had a special place on the scoreboard showing exactly what was happening in the Tigers game (pitcher, batter, where runners were on base, outs, etc.). It was great.

However, the Tigers early 6-0 lead and the Twins 1-0 deficit after three innings took a little wind out of the crowd.

About the time Royals started coming back the Twins had started to take control of their game. While everyone still watched the Twinkies, ooohs and aaahs let everyone know how the other game was going.

There were even random times where the crowd would go absolutely crazy because the Royals did something good. Batters would step out of the box because it was so loud, etc.

Once the Twins game finished, the Metrodome switched the Tigers game on the big screen. It was the bottom of the 11th with one out and the Tigers had the bases loaded. Of the 45,000 in attendance, at least 40,000 stuck around. We all watched the end of the 11th and then the 12th inning together. The whole time, Twins players were running out of the dugout getting the crowd into it. When the game finished, the whole team poured out onto the field and celebrated by giving fans high fives, etc.

It was an incredible experience.

This team feels different..more like '87 or '91 then teams from the last five years. I have a feeling we are in for an amazing ride with them over the next month or so.

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Beno said...
It was an incredible experience watching it on TV, I can't imagine what it was like being at the Dome.

Shane said...
Bless you, Jimmy Gobble!

Rory said...
From 12 games back to overcome a Tigers team that was in first place for 161 games... that's not normal.

Shannon said...
Very cool story!

Soopa said...
I watched this on tv as well, it gave me chills.