Heading in to this series, the Twins trailed the White Sox by 3.5 games. As the Twins head in to the AllStar Break after today’s game, they will either trail by Chicago by that same 3.5 games or will have closed to within 1.5 games of third place. No, your goal should never be to reach 3rd place in the standings, but when you’ve spent most of the season in 5th place, I believe you have to focus on catching… and passing… the next team in front of you. You can’t get to 1st place until you’ve moved in to 4th… and 3rd… and 2nd.
Media reports indicate manager Ron Gardenhire has promised roster changes will be made following the game. One of them is obvious… Delmon Young is ready to return and that almost certainly means Rene Tosoni will be returning to Rochester. But what else?
It just seems to me that Trevor Plouffe has done all he can do in Rochester. I’m not sure if he’ll ever be a good defensive player and I’m not convinced he’s really as good with the bat as he’s been in Rochester this year, but it’s time to bring him back up. I don’t think he needs to start on this team, but he’s got to be a more valuable bat off the bench than the Twins’ third catcher, whoever that might be. I suspect it will be Rene Rivera who gets a plane ticket back to AAA.
I won’t be surprised if Chuck James is recalled from Rochester, as well. The question is, which member of the current bullpen will be dropped? Another thing to consider is that Kevin Slowey’s rehabilitation assignment is drawing to a close and a decision will have to be made with regard to his future, as well.
But first things first… let’s beat down the Bitch Sox today and head in to the break on a positive swing!
That’s 3 of 4 from the BitchSox heading in to the break and while it wasn’t the prettiest of wins, any win over AJ and his buddies is a good win!
Good balance on the offensive side today with 13 hits, but only two were for extra bases (2B by Repko, 3B by Casilla). Anthony Swarzak picked up right where he left off the last time he was pressed in to a starting role and threw six very solid innings. Things got a bit hairy after he left the game, but Glen Perkins cleaned up the mess he inherited and then pitched another good inning for 1 2/3 of terrific relief. Matt Capps looked just fine getting the save.
GameChat votes broke right down the middle, so our Boyfriend of the Day honors are shared today by Swarzak and Perkins. Get some rest, boys… the fun really starts after the AllStar Break!
We are Twins fans and that means we have a lot of things in common. Two of those common threads that most of us share are extreme dislike (I hate to say hate) for the White Sox and the Yankees. It’s tough for us to say a single positive word about players on either team’s roster.
Derek Jeter (Photo MLB)
That said, I’m also a baseball fan. And as a baseball fan, I have to step up and acknowledge… and yes, congratulate… Derek Jeter on reaching the 3,000 hit milestone in today’s game with the Rays. Despite the uniform he wears, Jeter has conducted himself in a manner that I can respect, as a fan, and I enjoyed watching him get #3,000 in classic Yankee fashion… with a home run in front of the home fans at Yankee Stadium.
So, on this day… and this day only… I’ll join with Yankee fans and congratulate number 2. Well done, Derek.
Closer to home, the Twins go for another win over the BitchSox today in Chicago with Brian Duensing facing off with Mark Buehrle. That sounds like a tough match up for Twins fans, but lately that sort of thing doesn’t seem to matter. Somehow, some way, the Twins win these games. Let’s hope it continues today.
That was at least an interesting ballgame. Brian Duensing and Mark Buehrle both pitched very well. What struck me, as much as anything, was that we got a very good look at the good and bad extremes of Ben Revere in the outfield. He made a terrific diving catch and then, on the last play of the game, we saw just how badly he throws the ball. That may have been one of the weiniest throws I’ve ever seen a MLB CF make to home plate… you couldn’t count the bouces because it was literally rolling by the time it reached Joe Mauer at home plate.
Ah well, come back and start a new winning streak against the BitchSox on Sunday.
All three blog hosts are otherwise committed tonight (probably rightfully so) but we’re hoping you guys have been doing this long enough to know how to chat & cheer on your own!
I didn’t get to actually SEE any of this game and all of the scoring was done before I even got to listen to any of it. From what I can tell, however, kudos are due to several players.
Working backwards from the finish, both Joe Nathan and Matt Capps pitched perfect innings of relief. That’s exactly what we envisioned getting out of those guys when the season started. In fact, Alex Burnett managed a similar inning and Phil Dumatrait looked good, too. And while starter Nick Blackburn obviously got off to a horid start and didn’t have a sharp game, you have to give a guy credit for fighting his way through five innings even when he clearly wasn’t at the top of his game.
On the offensive side, Alexi Casilla, Joe Mauer, Michael Cuddyer and Rene Tosoni all contributed a pair of hits, but it was Luke Hughes’ 3-run home run that provided the winning margin. His 3 hits in 5 AB and 3 RBI earned him a consensus Boyfriend of the Day award from the GameChat folks! – JC
Hey Everyone! It’s time to wish a happy birthday to our blog host, JimCrikket!
I think he’s turning the big 3-0 this year so it’s a pretty big deal! (yeah, I know he looks a little older than that but he’s sensitive so don’t say anything ok? 😉 ) I don’t think he’s going to join us for the game tonight so here’s your chance to send your good wishes!
Ladies, looking for a night of Beauty, Baseball, and Fun? The St. Paul Saints are hosting a Girls Night Out on Tuesday, July 12 from 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Join us with your friends for a night of relaxation and pampering from local vendors and enjoy dinner provided by Pazzaluna and the St. Paul Grill.
It’s preposterous to call any game or even any series a “must win” at this point in the season. Still, you don’t have to spend much time perusing the standings before coming to the conclusion that the pre-AllStar Break series that begins tonight against the White Sox is huge.
It’s easy to focus on the number of games the Twins trail the AL Central Division leaders, if for no other reason than those are the numbers we see published every day in the media. The Twins have been bouncing around between 7-9 games behind whichever team, the Indians or Tigers, might happen to be leading the division on a particular date. In fact, some writers (including myself) have pointed to the week of July 18-24, when the Twins are scheduled to play eight games against the Indians and Tigers in a span of seven days as the stretch during which the Twins’ destiny will be determined.
But, as we all know, the Twins don’t just trail Cleveland and Detroit. If the Twins are truly going to pull themselves up in to contention, they’re going to have to step over the cold, dead body of the BitchSox, as well. The Sox haven’t found a way to win even a single game over the Twins so far, with our guys going 2-0 both on their last trip to Chicago, in May, and also on the Sox’ return trip in June. That’s a trend that needs to continue.
The Sox enjoy a 3.5 game lead over the Twins as the series begins. A Twins sweep would propel them in to third place at the AllStar Break. Getting swept by the Sox would mean a 7.5 game deficit and we’ll probably start reading a lot more articles about other teams contacting the Twins about trades, like this one from the Denver Post, as it would seem all but impossible to catch and pass three teams from that far back at the Break.
As for tonight’s game… it’s the long-awaited (and much too ballyhooed) debut of Joe Mauer at first base for the Twins.
Joe and the Twins will be facing off against former Twin Phil Humber. Joe Christensen at the Strib wrote a nice piece on Humber that’s worth a read.
Finally, congratulations to Sox 1B Paul Konerko on winning the fan vote for the final spot on the AL AllStar team. Personally, I thought it was stupid that he had to go through that process, rather than just being named on his own merits. Konerko is one of those guys I can’t help but respect, even when he plays for a rival.
Didn’t tonight just remind you how much fun it is to beat the BitchSox?
Carl Pavano wasn’t terrificly sharp, but he still got through 7 innings while giving up only 2 runs, so you have to happily take that. Glen Perkins and Matt Capps… yes, Matt Capps… each contributed a scoreless inning of relief work.
Ben Revere had a really nice night, going 3 for 5 with a couple of runs scored and Tsuyoshi Nishioka contributed with the bat and the glove.
But tonight’s BOD was pretty clearly Joe Mauer. The Chairman had 3 hits and 2 RBI, and also looked like he had been playing 1B most of his career. Ground balls, line drives, scooping balls in the dirt, soft-tossing to the pitcher covering… he had to do it all and did just fine. Good work Joe!
I was skimming my way through a few baseball articles today, including a brief Associated Press piece reporting that a Delaware judge denied a motion by lawyers for the Los Angeles Dodgers that MLB be required to turn over certain documents that the lawyers claim would demonstrate that MLB has not treated the team fairly. Of course, by “the team”, we’re talking about Dodgers owner Frank McCourt.
At the end of the brief article, this particular line caught my attention: “But Gross said he did not want to turn a July 20 hearing on the team’s proposed financing plan into a trial of baseball Commissioner Bud Selig.”
My reaction, of course, was, “Well, that’s a damn shame, because if there’s one thing we could really use, it’s a trial of baseball Commissioner Bud Selig.”
Jamie and Frank McCourt
Alas, we won’t be getting that. Instead, we’re going to continue to be treated to months of “McCourt v. Selig”. How the hell are we supposed to find someone to root for in THAT contest?
Trying to figure out who to root for in this battle is kind of like figuring out who to root for when you watch the Yankees play the White Sox. If you’re like me, you just end up rooting for everyone involved on both sides to be swallowed up in to a giant sinkhole.
In case you haven’t really followed the situation involving the owner(s) of the Dodgers, let me summarize the situation:
Frank McCourt and his wife Jaime bought the Dodgers a few years ago, apparently without having to put a single nickel of their own money in to the transaction. I’m not exactly sure HOW they did this, but apparently they were not only able to essentially borrow 100% of the money they needed, but Selig and his MLB buddies (yes, the same ones who don’t seem to think bazillionaire Mark Cuban is good enough to join their little club) cheerfully approved the sale to the McCourts.
Frank and Jaime then commenced to spend every dime the they could rake in from the organization to support a lifestyle they really had no business expecting to live. They gave out huge deferred contracts that are now handcuffing the Dodgers. In other words, they not only spent current revenues on themselves, but when that wasn’t enough any more, they had the team go deeply in to debt so they could continue living their excessive lifestyle.
Then the couple started not getting along any more. The details of how that came to pass are certainly interesting, but I won’t bother with them here. You can look those up yourself. But suffice to say that Frank didn’t care for some of the things he discovered his wife was doing and he fired her from her position with the Dodgers. They filed for divorce and Jaime claims she owns half the Dodgers.
In order to fund (a) the divorce, (b) his soon to be ex-wife’s lifestyle, and (c) his own lifestyle, Frank has talked FOX in to a long term TV rights deal for Dodger games on a contract that is significantly… some would say obscenely… front loaded. The net effect would be that, while the money would arguably allow McCourt to pay off his wife and have a few bucks to spend on himself, it would also almost eliminate a critical revenue stream that the Dodgers would otherwise have to spend on other things… like baseball players, for example… over the rest of the next decade.
So Bud Selig said, “no”. This has forced the Dodgers in to bankruptcy when they were unable to meet their June 30 payroll.
When owners buy their team, they are required to sign an agreement stating that they will not sue MLB. I think it’s safe to say that the validity of that agreement is about to get tested and we will then get the “McCourt v. Selig” battle I referred to at the onset of this post.
If we were Dodger fans or if it had been the Twins ownership that had so overtly plundered their team’s present and future revenues, we would really have no choice but to loudly root for the Selig team. But we’re not and they haven’t.
So I’m rooting for McCourt.
It’s certainly not because I think what the McCourts did was “right”. The two of them have got to be just about the worst excuses for owners… and probably even just as human beings… that you could find in modern day sports. They are clearly flat out awful people and what they’ve done to the Dodgers is indefensible.
Bud Selig
But I don’t care about that as much as I care about Bud Selig and his buddies losing this fight. The reason is simple… if Frank McCourt can convince the legal system that he is within his rights, as owner of a MLB team, to essentially steal most of the team’s future TV revenues just to support his own immediate personal financial needs, then maybe… finally… MLB will be forced to finally take central control over teams’ local broadcast/cable rights.
McCourt is only able to do what he’s done because MLB lets every team negotiate their own local TV deals. This has, as we all now know, led to the BS blackout restrictions (~You can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant~) and, even more importantly, enormous revenue and competitive advantages for teams in the largest media markets.
I want the courts to tell Bud Selig, “You approved this guy as an owner… your rules say he can make his own TV deals… so if you don’t like the deals he makes, too damn bad! Maybe you should change the rules!”
Because, let’s face it, until the current situation blows up in Bud’s face, nothing will change. We will see the Yankees and Red Sox on TV 45 times a season. The Yankees will take in twice as much revenue as anyone else and therefore have twice as much to spend on talent. Only when revenues are more balanced (not necessarily equal, but more equitable) will teams compete on level playing fields… and that will not happen until Selig and the big market owners get punched in the nose by the courts. This may be the last, best hope of seeing that happen.
This would also solve the silly realignment issue. Which teams are crying the loudest for realignment? Baltimore, Toronto and Tampa Bay, that’s who. Why? Because in the current situation, they have to contend with the two teams with the most obscene revenue advantages, New York and Boston, every season. So, naturally, instead of curing the illness… revenue disparity… MLB proposes treating the symptom through realignment schemes that result in the rest of the AL sharing the competitive disadvantages equally. After all, MLB and their network partners WANT the Yankees and Red Sox in the playoffs every year and competitive balance would make that far less assured to happen.
Finally, there’s one last reason to root for the courts to come down against Bud Selig. It’s simple really. He’s Bud Selig.
I know the odds are against me… and Frank McCourt… in this deal. So what do we wish for if it’s not possible for McCourt to win this battle?
I guess there’s always the “swallow everyone involved on both sides in to a giant sinkhole” thing.
Another absolutely perfect day for baseball in Minnesota and there are going to be 30,000+ people exceedingly happy they are skipping out of work to be at the game. I wish one of them was me.. *Sigh* Sadly, I’ll be in and out even of the chat much less able to listen to much of the game. But I’m taking my radio with me as I play teenage boy taxi and hit the golf course this afternoon – scary huh?
So here’s the rundown for today’s roster news:
Mauer is getting the day off today due to general soreness – & getting a lot of crap for it from the virtual world. All I have to say is what do you think the reason is that catchers always get regular days off???? Come on people, just because he’s admitting to people that he’s sore because of all the detailed attention they are paying to his physical condition doesn’t mean this is out of the norm. Even when he was leading all MLB catchers in game appearances, he regularly missed the day game after a night game.. settle down. However, tomorrow he is expected to make his debut appearance at 1B. That could be interesting.
Per Rhett Bolinger: Baker’s injury is diagnosed as a flexor muscle strain but MRI results not back yet. Gardy said “good chance” Swarzak starts Sunday.
As a follow-up to that piece of info: Slowey is also scheduled to pitch Sunday with Rochester, throwing around 75 pitches. Delmon will DH tonight for Rochester.
and in one more piece of minor league roster news: Gardy asked that Plouffe play 1B yesterday. Added, “He’s going to play 1B & I told them to pretty much do it, you know, until we call.”
uh… someone please tell me what happened?? see… when I finally had to leave the radio behind at the bottom of the 7th inning, Cuddyer had just tied the score at 5. Perhaps it was actually even a more perfect day for golfing than I thought… because it means I was spared the end of this game! I think I will leave it that way and not go find out what actually happened in the 8th and 9th innings.
However, just in case anyone else really does want to know what happened, here’s a link to the official Play by Play!
MINNEAPOLIS — Twins outfielder Ben Revere was named the Gillette Presents American League co-Rookie of the Month for June along with A’s second baseman Jemile Weeks.
Revere, who batted .294 with 14 runs, four doubles, a triple, nine RBIs and seven stolen bases, was surprised to learn about the honor when told before Tuesday’s game against the Rays.
“Really? I didn’t know that,” said Revere, grinning. “They told me I had a chance but I thought Jemile was [going to be selected]. So it’s awesome. All the coaches helped me out. It’s an honor to be [named] that, but I have a lot more stuff to work on.”
Revere, who was recalled on June 2, helped spark the club atop the lineup while also providing excellent defense in center field. The club was also 17-8 in the 25 games he played after entering the month with a 17-36 record.
“When I first got called up again, my grandpa told me that I was going to help turn this team around by bringing my enthusiasm and work ethic,” Revere said. “So I told him I’d do my best, and he must be psychic, because it’s actually what we’re doing. We’ve been getting back.”
The good news is that we have two players who are most definitely on the mend and feeling better – Span has been taking batting practice and his rehab assignment will begin as soon as he has several good days in a row; Morneau says the pain in his arm that was caused by the pinched nerve is gone! He still has some numbness in his fingers but the doctors say that is normal and should dissipate as he heals.
Sadly, the story is going a little slower for Jason Kubel. He’s still sore and visited the docs up here in MN yesterday. We’re still waiting to see if they find anything more.
As far as tonight’s game, having one win in the series under our belts feels like a great place to start. Let’s hope that Baker can go back out there and have a great outing AND that the weather holds off until the game is done!
Well the ending was certainly dramatic – Matt Capps couldn’t do the job for the 3rd game in a row – and Glen Perkins ended up getting his 2nd Save in as many opportunities which is pretty darn good for a setup guy. Gardy says that Capps is still the closer but it’s obvious that things aren’t right with him. They are going to close games however they need to while they work on getting Capps back into his previous form.
The start was prety good too – Baker came in strong and Revere & Lexi did their jobs getting on base.. things went well that way. A few weird calls scattered through the game though made things interesting start to finish.
It was the middle where things get a little muddy. Baker ended up having to leave the game after the 5th inning with elbow tenderness. I don’t know about you but I don’t like the sound of that. He’s going to get an MRI tomorrow and I’m just going to hold my breath until we find out what it says. Baker had told them that he could keep pitching but once he said “I felt something in the elbow” they said “hell no” and pulled him so it could be checked out. I can’t begin to say how tired I am of all the injuries though… what is going on?! I think the Twins need to stock up on bubblewrap.
But the story is really about getting the win and how the game ends and the chat went with the importance of that final out given the threat on the bases – so Glen Perkins, you are today’s BOD!
