Hits yesterday –
Knuckleballs: 308
Los Angeles Angels: 15
Minnesota Twins: 0
This has been your Sabermetric stat of the day.
Postgame Interview
Here’s a transcript of a part of the postgame interview that didn’t make the public broadcast because it started a little early.. thought you would like to see this part of the conversation.
Reporter: Being part of a No-Hitter in baseball is a memorable thing right?
Gardy: Sure but I don’t think it’s a memory any of them want to keep. I’m pretty sure they all went to bed last night hoping they’d wake up this morning thinking it was all a dream… or maybe a nightmare. A year ago we watched a No-Hitter from the other side of the boxscore and I think everyone enjoyed that a lot more.
Reporter: It’s early to be scoreboard watching but it’s hard to see that last place position and not wonder how it’s affecting them.
Gardy: Of course we all know they’re struggling. Is this what any of them expected this season to start like? No. Have we seen this before? Sure. Yeah, it’s frustrating but I just have to ask them to stay with it.
Reporter: So do you think they can make a comeback?
Gardy: oh, of course. It’s early in the season. For all the struggles, we are only 7 games back. We’ve seen this before and it’s not insurmountable… just have to stay with it, keep battling, They’ve shown a lot of heart to stay with it so far and just have to keep at it.
Reporter: What is the overall health situation?
Gardy: At this point, we don’t have any new injury reports but of course, our main focus is to keep anyone from injuring themselves. We realize that’s always a possibility but we are a little more concerned right now simply because everyone’s tired. They’ve pushed themselves a bit more and no one is used to the time zone change yet. When you get tired to this level, of course you worry more in these circumstances that someone is going to hurt themselves. We hope that doesn’t happen and are recommending that they all enjoy this off-day, get some rest, think about something other than baseball for awhile and try to get their focus back…
Reporter: Ok, enough about the fans, let’s talk about the team….
I think that says it all folks…
GameChat – Twins @ Angels #3, 9:05pm
I have to say that I’m probably not the only person who will be glad to be done playing the Angels.. I wish that meant we were done with late night games but no, we hit Seattle next. I just won’t be sorry to not have Torii kicking our butt each night.
I am really hoping for good outing from Liam tonight AND for a little bit better run support than we gave Liriano. I don’t care how good your pitching is or isn’t, you aren’t going to win very many games with 3 hits.. And I swear to God if Clete Thomas can’t get at least ONE hit tonight, I don’t want to see him out there anymore.. ditch his ass and go see if we can find Luke Hughes. I might be starting to get a little worked up about poor roster management…
| Minnesota |
@ |
LA Angels |
| Span, CF | Aybar, SS | |
| Casilla, A, 2B | Wells, V, LF | |
| Mauer, DH | Pujols, 1B | |
| Willingham, LF | Morales, K, DH | |
| Doumit, C | Hunter, To, RF | |
| Parmelee, 1B | Kendrick, H, 2B | |
| Plouffe, 3B | Trumbo, 3B | |
| Thomas, C, RF | Iannetta, C | |
| Carroll, SS | Bourjos, CF | |
| Hendriks, P | Weaver, P |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Minnesota | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| LA Angels | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 9 | 15 | 0 |
It appears that it has finally happened… the Twins offense has become as impotent as their pitching.
The Twins managed to make history tonight by being no-hit by the Angels’ Jared Weaver. They managed only two baserunners… a Josh Willingham walk and a strike out with a passed ball allowing Chris Parmelee to reach first base. Nine Twins were strike out victims.
On the other side of the ledger, Liam Hendriks lasted just 2 1/3 innings, giving up 6 runs, all earned, and 9 hits. But hey, he didn’t walk anyone! Most of the Twins’ bullpen got some work tonight, but they all have tomorrow’s off day to prepare for the series with the Mariners.
GM Terry Ryan is reportedly in Rochester. Friday’s off day could be interesting if he’s as fed up with the performance of the Twins as the rest of us are. – JC
WE DID IT!! & We Have A WINNER!
I finally figured out a benefit to west coast games! Besides the fact that our coastal friends get a prime time game, of course.
The benefit is that there was a nice little contingent of Knuckleballers sitting in the game chat when we got that special visitor!!! It is still just amazing to me that we are still here doing what we so haphazardly do for a third baseball season and that so many people have joined us in the process. We can’t thank you all enough for continuing to show up, to comment, to chat, to share your knowledge and insights, and in general join us in the love of baseball and, of course, the Minnesota Twins.
But speaking of amazing… we have a winner for that cool Kirby Memorial!! The winner’s guess was literally within 15 minutes of the actual visit time AND had the right state as well… To be frank, I’m a little weirded out by that. But that’s a win no matter how you slice it.
Congratulations to Lindsay Guentzel!! This is your year!
Lindsay, send me info to where you would like the picture shipped – whether home or NY or wherever and I’ll get it out to you!
Sadly, we don’t know who that actual special visitor was – I wish I was one of those hacker type people who could figure those things out but I’m satisfied with knowing that someone special from San Francisco was the one to put us over the top. Here’s their particulars, whoever they are!
| Knuckleballs By Location > Visit Detail Visit 100,000 |
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| Location |
|
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| Time of Visit | May 1 2012 10:50:17 pm | ||||||||||||||||
| Last Page View | May 1 2012 10:50:55 pm | ||||||||||||||||
| Visit Length | 38 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Page Views | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| Referring URL | unknown | ||||||||||||||||
| Visit Entry Page | http://knuckleballsblog.com/ | ||||||||||||||||
| Visit Exit Page | http://knuckleballsblog.com/ | ||||||||||||||||
I wish we knew who you are but thank you for sharing a brief period of time with us.
I wonder what our next milestone will be…
GameChat – Twins @ Angels #2, 9:05 pm
I’m not a negative person by nature even if I have a critical streak… but today, I gotta admit I just don’t see how the Twins couldn’t have come up with a better way to manage their roster.. yet again. Today they DFA’d Burroughs in order to make room for Drew Butera to come up so that Mauer & Doumit had backup. Butera doesn’t bug me so much – in fact, knowing that Gardy’s had both his catchers in the lineup just about every day, with one “day to day” it is actually a good idea. However, since Morneau is off with inflammation and fluid build up in his surgically repaired wrist, it just seems like there were other options… the same options they have been refusing to use all season.. Whoever is in charge of the DL: you won’t reduce your chances of a repeat of 2011 by just refusing to admit that people are getting injured!
*shakes head* I just don’t really understand and I’m pretty sure I’m not the only fan who is confused and frustrated already.
| Minnesota |
@ |
LA Angels |
| Span, CF | Trout, CF | |
| Casilla, A, 2B | Callaspo, 3B | |
| Mauer, DH | Pujols, 1B | |
| Willingham, LF | Hunter, To, RF | |
| Valencia, 3B | Trumbo, DH | |
| Doumit, C | Kendrick, H, 2B | |
| Parmelee, 1B | Wells, V, LF | |
| Thomas, C, RF | Aybar, SS | |
| Carroll, SS | Iannetta, C | |
| Liriano, P | Williams, J, P |
| Minnesota | ||||||||||||
| LA Angels |
*sigh* combining these struggles with west coast time zone issues is really making Twins fans grumpy.. at least me if no one else. Chat discussion pointed out that Liriano did better tonight than he ever had this season AND it was one of the better outings anyone in our pitching rotation has pulled off lately.. it’s a glass half full/half empty thing.. because while that is true, it’s a very, very sad truth.
And tonight, no one could hit – except Span… seriously guys, we have to put both out there – pitching AND hitting.. neither is going to give this team a losing record.. oh, wait…
Hendriks vs Trout… I’ve Seen This Before
Barring something unforeseen happening, when Twins starting pitcher Liam Hendriks toes the rubber Wednesday night, he’ll be staring down Angels’ top prospect Mike Trout, who’s been hitting in the leadoff spot for the Halos since being promoted a few days ago.
Talk about déjà vu flashbacks.
Just over two years ago, the Beloit Snappers opened their season against the Angels’ Midwest League affiliate, the Cedar Rapids Kernels, and I sat through a 10-inning 1-0 Snappers win in 37 degree temperatures. You can read all about it and see how photo-happy I was in those days by clicking here to go back to a Knuckleballs post I put up after the game.
You’ll note from the story that Liam Hendriks started that game for the Snappers and pitched five strong innings. What you won’t read in that story, because I focused so much on the Snappers, is that Mike Trout was the starting centerfielder for the Kernels.
By the way, I’ve already started gathering my Mike Trout collectables… I’ve got a pack of Kernels baseball cards from 2010 with Trout’s card right up there on top and the Kernels gave away Mike Trout bobbleheads at their home opener this season. Yes, I made sure I was there early enough to be one of the first 1,000 in the gate (which I needn’t have done… they were still handing them out to people who came through the turnstiles at game time).
So, yes, I’ve seen Liam Hendriks face Mike Trout already.
If you regularly attend minor league games, you become accustomed to seeing a fortunate few of these kids eventually wear Major League uniforms, but I have to admit that seeing two of them rise to become Big Leaguers in just two years after playing here in Cedar Rapids seems rare. As it turns out, though, maybe it’s not as rare as I think. Three of Trout’s team mates on that 2010 Kernels team have already made their MLB debuts. Trout’s the only position player, but pitchers David Carpenter, Garrett Richards and Patrick Corbin have all already made appearances for the Angels or, in Corbin’s case, the D’Backs.
That Snappers line up on Opening Day 2010 was nothing to sneeze at either. Hendriks is the only 2010 Snapper to make the Big Leagues (unless you count JJ Hardy, who rehabbed with Beloit for three games that season), but it won’t be that way for long. Check out the picture I posted of my scorecard from that game in April, 2010.
See any familiar names? How about… Brian Dozier at SS. He’s still in Rochester, but it shouldn’t be long before he joins his former Snapper team mate Hendriks in Minnesota.
Aaron Hicks and James Beresford were in the line up that day… both have reached AA New Britain now. So has pitcher Dakota Watts, who also was with Beloit at the start of 2010. BJ Hermsen pitched in Beloit that year, as well, but I don’t believe he even began the year there. Now, he’s also a Rock Cat after being promoted recently.
You’ll also see names like Angel Morales, Michael Gonzales, Danny Rams and Anderson Hidalgo on that scorecard. While their former team mate Hendriks is in The Show, they’ve progressed just one rung up the ladder to High-A Ft. Myers since that Opening Day two years ago. But they’re still chasing that dream.
Wednesday night (and likely Thursday and Friday, as well), I’ll be out at Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids again… watching this year’s Beloit Snappers face the current Cedar Rapids Kernels. I’ll have my eyes on the “big names” like Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario, arguably the Twins two top prospects, but who else will stand out? Which of these “kids” will have a chance to live the fairy tale some day and wear a Big League uniform for the Twins or Angels… or maybe another organization if that should be their fate?
For about $10, you can get the best seat in the house at a minor league ballpark like the one we have here in Cedar Rapids. For that price, you get to watch future Major League ballplayers play baseball. How can you beat that?
Man, I love this game.
– JC
GameChat – Twins @ Angels, 9:05 pm
If you think things are bad in Twinsville (and they are), imagine if you were an Angels fan and your team just came through an offseason when they signed the top free agent hitter to a huge contract as well as arguably the top free agent pitcher, only to find yourself rooting for a team that’s only a half game better than the Twins in the W/L columns.
Now that would be tough to swallow.
Albert Pujols still doesn’t have a home run and frankly has looked pretty bad at the plate all month. Of course, as the Red Sox could tell you, there’s really nothing like a series with the Twins to get your season turned around and going in the right direction.
The Angels aren’t just standing pat and hoping things get better, like some teams are (I’m looking at you, Terry Ryan). They’ve just promoted uber-prospect Mike Trout and released Bobby Abreu.
Speaking of changes in status… Twins outfielder Trevor Plouffe tweeted today that he “popped the question” to his girlfriend last night. Since he referred to her as his “fiance,” I guess we can assume she said, “yes.” Congratulations, Trevor and Olivia!
Anyone care to set the over/under on the inning during which I fall asleep tonight?
Oh yeah… no Joe Mauer tonight. That foul ball in the 9th yesterday got his knee pretty good.
| TWINS |
@ |
ANGELS |
| Span, CF | Trout, CF | |
| Carroll, SS | Izturis, M, 3B | |
| Willingham, LF | Pujols, 1B | |
| Morneau, DH | Morales, K, DH | |
| Valencia, 3B | Hunter, To, RF | |
| Doumit, C | Kendrick, H, 2B | |
| Plouffe, RF | Wells, V, LF | |
| Parmelee, 1B | Aybar, SS | |
| Casilla, A, 2B | Iannetta, C | |
| _Blackburn, P | _Wilson, C, P |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Minnesota | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
| LA Angels | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | x | 4 | 8 | 0 |
Hate to waste a Quality Start when you get one out of one of your starting pitchers at this point, but that’s what the Twins did tonight. The offense didn’t show up until the 8th inning and fell one run short. But the loss wasn’t even the worst news of the night. Justin Morneau came out of the game with a sore left wrist… the same wrist he had surgery on last year. He’s “day to day.”
If This Is Journalism, I’d Rather Be a Blogger
I’ve decided that, from now on, every time a “professional journalist” gets all high and mighty about how we’re “just bloggers,” we need to send them this clip.
Stop and think about it… Major League Baseball teams don’t want to acknowledge the blogging community includes “real” journalists so you won’t find them making their ballplayers available for interviews with us low-lifes.
But the St. Louis Cardinals apparently have no problem making their talent endure something like this from one of the local “professional journalists.”
***********
OK, I couldn’t figure out how to keep the damn video clip from starting over every time I refreshed the page and I couldn’t bear to keep listening to that woman… so if you want to try to watch the video, you’ll just have to click HERE to see it.
GameChat – Royals @ Twins #3, 1:10 pm
Remember a week ago when everyone was looking forward to six games against the Red Sox and Royals… two teams that we thought were struggling just as much as the Twins?
Well, here we are at the end of that stretch still waiting for the first Twins win. How friggin depressing is that?
On the bright side, it’s 55 degrees and, more importantly, NOT raining in Minneapolis right now, so there will be baseball played today. I wish I were more certain that that’s a good thing.
| ROYALS |
@ |
TWINS |
| Getz, 2B | Span, CF | |
| Gordon, LF | Carroll, SS | |
| Butler, DH | Mauer, C | |
| Hosmer, 1B | Willingham, LF | |
| Francoeur, RF | Morneau, 1B | |
| Moustakas, 3B | Valencia, 3B | |
| Pena, B, C | Doumit, DH | |
| Escobar, A, SS | Plouffe, RF | |
| Dyson, CF | Casilla, A, 2B | |
| _Chen, P | _Marquis, P |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Kansas City | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 2 |
| Minnesota | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | x | 7 | 11 | 0 |
It’s been a while, so it’s hard to recognize it when we see it, but I’m pretty sure that’s what they call a WIN!
Once again, the bats did their job. Danny Valencia had a good day, with three hits, a couple of ribbies and started a critical double play in the field. One thing we saw today that we haven’t seen in a while was a “Quality Start” from a member of the Twins rotation. Three or fewer runs in six or more innings doesn’t seem like a terribly high standard until your guys can’t seem to meet it. But Jason Marquis did exactly that today and Jared Burton, Glen Perkins and Matt Capps managed to hold the lead.
But today’s Boyfriend of the Day has to be Josh Willingham, who managed 3/4 of the “cycle” with a single, double and triple, to go with two RBI and a couple of runs scored. Great way to end the homestand, guys! – JC
Sunday Morning Comic Relief
Saw this last night – yes, I’m one of those late night channel surfers who LOVE the Red Green Show! But you’ll love it. It might even be the best 5 minutes of your day (if you have to rewind and watch that knuckleballs part again!)