BOD – Page 12 – Knuckleballs

GameChat – Twins @ Royals

Posted on 1 September, 2012 by Jim Crikket

It looks like most of the Knuckleballs crew have holiday weekend plans that will make it difficult, if not impossible for us to get line ups posted for the games today and possibly all weekend.

But I’m putting up the Chat window in case anyone decides they’d like a place to hang out during the Twins games!

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	3	10	0
Kansas City	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	7	0

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota	4	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	9	1
Kansas City	2	0	1	2	0	0	2	0	0	7	14	0

I saw neither of these games. I can tell you all about Iowa’s narrow escape against Northern Illinois and a lot about the scare that Northern Iowa put in to the Badgers. I could even converse somewhat intelligently about Iowa State’s win over Tulsa. And of course, I could tell you all about how the Kernels came up just short against the Lumber Kings. But as for the Twins, I got nothing.

Glancing at the boxscores, I’d say Cole DeVries must have done well in the first game and it’s nice to see Chris Parmelee go deep in the second game. Joe Mauer hit a grand salami in the second game as well, it seems.

But it’s pretty rare that a relief pitcher saves two games in a single day and that’s exactly what Glen Perkins did today. (In fact, according to MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger, Rick Lysander was the last Twin to record two saves in a single day, in 1984.) So, to honor the occasion, let’s award Perk the BOD award for today! – JC

GameChat – Mariners @ Twins #3, 7:10pm

Posted on 29 August, 2012 by CapitalBabs

Ok, I’m actually able to join the gamechat tonight so I would sure as heck love it if the Twins could put on a better game than they did last night while I was actually in TARGET FIELD. *sigh*

Seattle	@	Minnesota
Ackley, 2B		Revere, CF
Robinson, T, LF		Carroll, 2B
Seager, 3B		Mauer, DH
Jaso, DH		Willingham, LF
Smoak, 1B		Morneau, 1B
Thames, E, RF		Doumit, C
Olivo, C		Parmelee, RF
Figgins, CF		Plouffe, 3B
Kawasaki, SS		Florimon, SS
Vargas, P		Deduno, P

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Seattle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1
Minnesota	0	0	3	2	1	0	3	1	x	10	16	0

WOOHOOO!!! I finally have a chance to sit and watch a game and join the chat and they have a fantastic one! A little piece of me wishes they had played this game LAST night while I was there but I’ll take a win regardless.

And this game is a no-brainer for the difference… Deduno just pitched better than Scott Diamond did. Oh yeah, and Deduno? holy crap! 7 shutout innings and 9 k’s.. and NO WALKS! yes, from Mister Not Sure Where The Pitch Will Go. It was so great that even though Plouffe finally got another Homerun, Samuel STILL gets a unanimous vote for BOD.

DedunoEdZurgaGettyImages — Sam Deduno (Photo: Ed Zurga/Getty Images)

GameChat – Minnesota Twins @ Texas Rangers #4, 2:05 pm CDT

Posted on 26 August, 2012 by Eric Pleiss

The Minnesota Twins have not won a game since Monday, August 20, and the closest they’ve come was the following day in a 4-1 loss to the Oakland Athletics. Since then the Twins have lost by 4, 4, 8 and 6 runs, bringing their season-long run differential to -111, only the Cleveland Indians (-134) have a worse run differential in the American League.

A win today does nothing to help Minnesota in the standings, but it will go a long way toward bringing up morale in the clubhouse of a team that’s been clobbered for the better part of a week. Cole De Vries has a 10.64 ERA over his last 3 starts, he will need to turn things around this afternoon or the Twins will be in another big hole against a high powered Rangers offense.

Minnesota Twins	@	Texas Rangers
Span, CF		Kinsler, 2B
Revere, RF		Moreland, 1B
Mauer, 1B		Hamilton, LF
Willingham, LF		Beltre, A, 3B
Morneau, DH		Cruz, N, RF
Plouffe, 3B		Murphy, Dv, DH
Carroll, 2B		Soto, C
Butera, C		Gentry, CF
Florimon, SS		Hernandez, L, SS
_De Vries, P		_Feldman, P

Let’s get it!

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota	1	1	1	0	2	1	0	0	0	6	11	0
Texas	2	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	5	6	2

Here is something that happened earlier today: The Minnesota Twins, previously referred to as a professional baseball team, won a contest of baseballing against an actual real-life baseball club. A club, known as none-other than the Texas Rangers. It was pretty fun.

BOD Voting?

Ben Revere had his 6th career 4 hit game and was on base 5 times, despite only hitting the ball out of the infield once. For his performance this afternoon the fans in the Knuckleballs blog GameChat (BaseballPirate and myself, though BaseballPirate was inactive, so really I just picked whoever I wanted), decided to give Ben Revere a nice warm German style beer. Enjoy that beer, Ben.

Jeff Gray pitched a third of an inning and gave up 3 runs, which was pretty impressive for a guy who has no business being on a Major League Baseball team. Anyways, his run-surrendering performance woke up the bullpen and then Casey Fien, Jared Burton and Glen Perkins closed out the game against the high-powered Rangers offense without surrendering another run. For his wake-up performance, Jeff Gray is the BOD. Hopefully he woke up Terry Ryan and Ryan outrights Gray and assigns him to some lesser level of baseball, perhaps Triple-A baseball.

Anyways, enjoy it Gray, you earned it.

Oakland Athletics v Minnesota Twins — Jeff Gray, IRONIC HIPSTER BOD SELECTION (Photo: Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

GameChat – Minnesota Twins at Oakland Athletics 9:05pm

Posted on 20 August, 2012 by Eric Pleiss

The Twins made waves this afternoon when it was announced that Nick Blackburn and Tsuyoshi Nishioka had been outrighted from the 40 man roster. They’ll still remain with the Minnesota organization and Blackburn will join Nishioka in Rochester.

Twins have just 1 win in their last 9 games, so it would be nice for them to do something positive tonight. Hasn’t been a Boyfriend of the Day in almost a week!

Minnesota Twins	@	Oakland Athletics
Revere, CF		Crisp, CF
Mastroianni, RF		Gomes, J, DH
Mauer, C		Reddick, RF
Willingham, LF		Cespedes, LF
Morneau, 1B		Carter, 1B
Doumit, DH		Donaldson, 3B
Plouffe, 3B		Norris, C
Carroll, 2B		Rosales, SS
Florimon, SS		Weeks, 2B
_Duensing, P		_McCarthy, P

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota	2	2	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	7	15	2
Oakland	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	6	1

It’s been a while, so I’m not 100% sure, but I think that’s what they call a WIN!

The Twins racked up 15 hits and we’ll let it pass that only one of them was an extra-base hit (a double by Willingham). The Hammer certainly earned baked goods of his choice, as did Joe Mauer, with both of them ripping 3 hits a piece. Brian Duensing also earns a few pastries with his six innings of excelling mound work (5 hits, 1 BB and 7 Ks!).

But tonight’s (or is it this morning’s?) BOD award goes to Pedro Florimon, who also came up with three hits of his own. He also walked once, putting him on base four times. He scored three of the Twins’ seven runs on the night. Just to prove he can do it all, he also turned in some pretty fancy leatherwork. That total package earns him the BOD.

Minnesota Twins v Seattle Mariners — Pedro Florimon (Photo:Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)

GameChat – Tigers @ Twins, 7:10 pm

Posted on 13 August, 2012 by Jim Crikket

The bad news is that the Twins just got swept in a 3 game home series with the Rays. The good news is that they get to start a series against a Central Division team. On top of that, they won’t even face Justin Verlander in this series.

also – Trevor Plouffe is back and the Twins optioned Nishi back down to Rochester. No, he has not been DFA’d.. yet… one wonders how long they have him taking a bench spot either there or here. – CB

TIGERS	@	TWINS
Jackson, A, CF		Revere, CF
Dirks, LF		Mastroianni, RF
Cabrera, Mi, 3B		Mauer, 1B
Fielder, 1B		Willingham, LF
Avila, C		Morneau, DH
Young, D, DH		Doumit, C
Boesch, RF		Plouffe, 3B
Peralta, Jh, SS		Carroll, SS
Infante, 2B		Casilla, A, 2B
_Sanchez, An, P		_Deduno, P

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Detroit	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	3	6	0
Minnesota	0	0	1	0	1	3	3	1	x	9	18	0

What’d I say? It only takes getting back to the Central Division in order to turn the Twins’ fortunes around.

It’s been a rare occasion when the hitting, defense, starting pitching and bullpen all come together, but this was one of those nights.

Four different hitters had three hits a piece and a couple more added a pair of hits, contributing to the Twins’ 18 hit attack. Jeff Gray finished the game off with 1 1/3 perfect innings, including a game-finishing strikeout.

But the consensus co-BODs of the night were starting pitcher Sam Deduno, who upped his record to 4-0, and outfielder Darin Mastroiani, who had a home run among his three hits and added 3 RBI. That’s a combination of pitching and hitting we’d like to see a bit more of!

GameChat – Twins @ Indians #2, 6:05pm

Posted on 7 August, 2012 by CapitalBabs

Since I’m kind of in the mood to update you on people you haven’t seen in awhile, I thought I would start with an unjury update! Carl Pavano is starting for the Miracle at 7:05 tonight at Hammond Stadium. Interestingly enough, he got his start down there with the Red Sox! I’m sure there are those of you who follow the minor leagues much closer that knew that already but I know I’m not the only one for whom this is new information.

As for the game in Cleveland, I think this will be another interesting outing from Samuel Deduno. However, his odd style definitely depends on having a solid defense behind him. Let’s hope that the new middle infield arrangement is able to gel quickly. That’s all I’m going to say about that.

Minnesota	@	Cleveland
Span, CF		Kipnis, 2B
Revere, RF		Cabrera, A, SS
Mauer, C		Choo, RF
Willingham, DH		Santana, C, C
Morneau, 1B		Brantley, CF
Doumit, LF		Kotchman, 1B
Nishioka, 2B		Duncan, DH
Dozier, SS		Hannahan, 3B
Carroll, 3B		Carrera, LF
Deduno, P		Kluber, P

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	3	7	11	1
Cleveland	1	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	5	9	3

I’d call that a genuine team win. Obviously, Sam Deduno didn’t have it going tonight, but at least he didn’t completely blow up after giving up four early runs. Jeff Manship and Tyler Robertson weren’t perfect out of the pen, but they kept the game close enough to allow the offense to take advantage when the Tribe pitchers inevitably started faltering.

Cleveland has not only lost 11 straight (five of them to the Twins), but have given up at least 5 runs in each game. Gotta say they remind me a bit of the 2011 Twins, having played just well enough to be pretenders through the All Star break, but collapsing in to a heap soon after.

Ben Revere ran his hitting streak to 21 games and the bottom of the order, Brian Dozier and Jamey Carroll each came through with two hits. There was plenty of timely hitting in the 7th and 9th innings, but Ryan Doumit’s three hits (including 2 doubles) and a pair of RBI earn him BOD honors. – JC

GameChat – Twins @ Indians, 6:05pm

Posted on 6 August, 2012 by CapitalBabs

I think you can probably guess what all the buzz is about for tonight’s game. Yes, Nishioka is back with the team and yes, he’s in the lineup batting 7th. I don’t dislike him – in fact, if he is able to do the job, then I will be ecstatic! I just have a hard time believing that will be his fate tonight given his numbers in AAA. From what I’m seeing in the fan community, I’m not alone in my trepidation.

Also reported today is that Gardy has said “it’s not a 3 day thing for Nishi”… I don’t know what that means Gardy! Of course, the people who supposedly know claim that it means when Plouffe comes back, it will be someone else going back down to Rochester. I just don’t know how anyone can say that before Nishi has fielded a single ball or had a single AB. Shall we let things play out a little bit and see what we have here folks? yeesh.

Dick Bremer actually had an interesting tweet today related to a different person in the lineup! Apparently the Red Sox, who are no doubt feeling a little stung even though they avoided the sweep, commented that they were glad that they didn’t have to face Scott Diamond. I’m kind of glad that we have him for the Indians since they are actually in the division. I’d like to see him do his thing and help us make up a little ground.. It’s a matter of a little pride at this point. And the Twins don’t seem ready to just give up and let the season end now. Good for them. Play hard, let us enjoy some baseball!

Minnesota	@	Cleveland
Span, CF		Kipnis, 2B
Revere, RF		Cabrera, A, SS
Mauer, DH		Choo, RF
Willingham, LF		Santana, C, 1B
Morneau, 1B		Brantley, CF
Doumit, C		Duncan, DH
Nishioka, 2B		Lopez, Jo, 3B
Dozier, SS		Marson, C
Carroll, 3B		Carrera, LF
Diamond, P		McAllister, P

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota	0	10	0	2	0	1	0	1	0	14	14	3
Cleveland	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	3	8	1

Tonight’s game looked a little ugly in the first inning… started by McAllister mowing through our hitters in a 3 up, 3 down exercise that was over before you had time to blink.. and then Diamond got himself in a little bit of a pickle & Nishioka got his first error in the bottom half. BUT Scott pulled it together, we got out of the first only giving up one run and from there something else happened entirely!

The guys came out in the 2nd and found out how to get to McAllister in a BIG way. Long balls, singles, errors, bloops, it didn’t matter how they got the hit, they got someone across home plate – 10 times. In the process, Ben Revere increased his hitting streak to 20 games – a career high. And that set the stage for Scott Diamond to come back and nail down the Indians hitting for the next 6 innings. That earned him the honor of being the first Twins pitcher to hit 10 wins this season. More than that, it just continues to build the team & fan trust in his ability – especially against the Indians. Stellar efforts are obviously paying off for both of them. Since we’re in Cleveland, I thought it appropriate to award them both in true Major League fashion – Ben Revere gets a pair of shoes worn by Willie Mays Hayes and Scotty gets a ball singed by Ricky Vaughn!! Congrats boys!

However, when you have a win like this, it can be hard to get the chat population to settle on that one individual they thought MOST contributed to the win – our BOD. After much discussion, the winner was the one who hit 2 homeruns in tonight’s game – including his career #200. Yes, that person is Justin Morneau!

And because it really was a team victory with EVERYONE putting forth a good effort this game to bring home this win, we promise not to leave anyone behind in Cleveland… like we did with Danny in Boston.. or Delmon in Detroit.. No really, you all get a plane ticket home.

GameChat – Twins @ Red Sox #3, 6:10pm

Posted on 4 August, 2012 by CapitalBabs

I can honestly say that I never thought we’d be halfway through the Red Sox series knowing that at the WORST we’d split and have the opportunity to WIN this series. Knowing how important each and every game is to the Red Sox right now, I really expect them to come out hard every game and even harder now that they are down two games.

Cole has been doing well enough that I think he should be able to face this lineup with confidence despite their tremendous abilities. I also enjoy the face that our offense seems to be able to bring the bats when necessary. However, facing Clay Buccholz is no small thing but that’s what baseball is supposed to be – a challenge for any given day.

Minnesota	@	Boston
Span, CF		Kalish, CF
Revere, RF		Crawford, LF
Mauer, 1B		Pedroia, 2B
Morneau, DH		Gonzalez, Ad, 1B
Doumit, C		Ross, C, RF
Mastroianni, LF		Saltalamacchia, DH
Dozier, SS		Aviles, SS
Casilla, A, 2B		Shoppach, C
Carroll, 3B		Punto, 3B
De Vries, P		Buchholz, C, P

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	4	6	12	0
Boston	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	4	6	3

ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!?!!?!?

There are really no words to describe the roller coaster of emotions watching this game tonight. Just crazy… coming from behind twice and leaving the big runs for the final inning of the Twins half… I think these boys are TRYING to give me an ulcer.

I spent more than an inning complaining that Cole DeVries had really pitched well enough to get better support from his team and they were really letting him down.. Did he get the win tonight? No, but since the team did, I don’t think he will mind all that much. HOWEVER, we do believe he deserves SOMETHING in the way of a gratuity for a tremendous outing. Since he’s a Minnesota boy, we here at Knuckleballs thought he would appreciate some down home comfort food from the North woods. So, because you are just so special Cole, you are awarded a plate of beer battered walleye fingers.. they are making me drool just looking at them..

But when all was deemed lost and even Nick Punto was wondering why the Twins were still trying in the 9th inning despite being down by 2 runs.. things seemed to happen.. remarkable things.. guys at the top of the order got on base – the way they’re supposed to. And then Mauer strode to the plate… all confidence and swagger. Ok, no swagger because that’s not his style but let’s just say there was a glint in his eye! All of Twins Territory held their breath with each pitch and groaned when he took a 2/2 pitch and gets the ball call… There aren’t a lot of people I would choose to be at the plate in the 9th with runners on base and a full count over a healthy Joe Mauer. And he proved exactly why that incredible eye for the strike zone serves him so well by launching one over the Green Monster. What a dramatic storyline!! I really love that the Twins are making it fun to watch baseball again!! And yeah, pretty much an automatic BOD!

GameChat – Twins @ Red Sox #2, 6:10 pm

Posted on 3 August, 2012 by Jim Crikket

I’m not sure how the Twins can improve on last night’s 5-0 shutout of the Red Sox, but let’s find out, shall we?

Hoping Brian Duensing has another good start as he continues to demonstrate his versatility.

I probably won’t be around for the Chat tonight, but I’ll be watching the game at my local purveyor of adult beverages and unhealthy food choices.

Enjoy the game, all!

TWINS	@	RED SOX
Span, CF		Ellsbury, CF
Revere, RF		Pedroia, 2B
Mauer, C		Ross, C, RF
Willingham, DH		Gonzalez, Ad, 1B
Morneau, 1B		Lavarnway, DH
Valencia, 3B		Middlebrooks, 3B
Mastroianni, LF		Crawford, LF
Dozier, SS		Shoppach, C
Carroll, 2B		Aviles, SS
_Duensing, P		_Doubront, P

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota	0	1	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	1	6	13
Boston	0	1	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	14

Holy CRAP, what a game. Hard to believe that we won AGAIN in Boston. Two in a row.

Just to play the first 9 innings took 4 hours. And the fact that there was a 10th is one of those gifts from the baseball gods that we may not have earned but for the pitching staying steady despite working harder than they should have had to. Too many errors from my guys to call it a GREAT game but wow was it intense.

Justin is finally back to hitting Lefties!! But there’s many people who deserve a little recognition. Besides Justin leading the way with consistent AB’s getting hits in every AB & 2 RBI, Mastroianni had some incredible defensive plays, baserunning, AND hitting a crucial double in the 10th. Despite the rare error to Justin, they both really earned a little treat so they are promptly gifted rootbeer floats for their efforts!

And you can look a little sideways at AJ Burnett if you want but our usual weak spot is pitching and tonight, they really held on to their big boy pants and threw some REALLY tough innings and situations. Duensing had a really great start especially given the errors in the field behind him. Robertson had a ridiculously well-timed strikeout of Ellsbury despite only a dozen or so SO by Jacoby all SEASON. There were so many things I could say so we will just let the whole pitching staff keep their keys to the Knuckleballs Ice Cream Buffet they earned last night. Hope none of those boys are lactose intolerant!

But the real hero for me of tonight’s game was Jamey Carroll. 4 hits in 4 AB’s, a steady presence every time he comes out, some practically miraculous fielding and he’s the one who finally knocked in the winning run in the 10th to break the tie. His response during a postgame interview regarding his success this game kind of said it all for me:

“just ask my son, he’ll tell you I don’t hit any homeruns so I don’t have to worry about the green wall”

For all around amazingness and actually bringing the win before I turned back into a pumpkin, Mr. Carroll is the Knuckleballs BOD! – CB

GameChat – Twins @ Red Sox, 6:10pm

Posted on 2 August, 2012 by CapitalBabs

Now we begin a nice long stretch of early games due to East Coast baseball!

Let’s cover a little bit of pitching injury update/news:

Pitching prospect, Alex Wimmers, unfortunately has to undergo Tommy John surgery. Is anyone ever surprised by one of these announcements anymore? Whatever it is in the current training of young pitchers, it seems as though severe damage to elbow ligaments is now de rigueur. Or the surgery itself is being over-prescribed. Or both. I’m not sure how many careers it’s actually doing a service to but it must keep enough players in the game to be worth the investment of money and time.
Pavano was scratched from his scheduled start in GCL today but he did throw a bull pen session. If all goes well with the recovery from that, he’ll make a start for the Miracle next week. At least that sounds a little bit like progress.

After a difficult series against the White Sox, all of which were 1 run games, I would love to see the offense come out a little bit. Yes, our games always seem to rise and fall with the pitching but the last few would have benefited greatly from some additional run support. No, I am not talking about one of those monster hit games that are ridiculously exciting – I just mean get a few more guys across home plate if we get them on base. Ok??

Minnesota	@	Boston
Span, CF		Ellsbury, CF
Revere, RF		Crawford, LF
Willingham, DH		Pedroia, 2B
Morneau, 1B		Gonzalez, Ad, 1B
Doumit, LF		Ross, C, DH
Valencia, 3B		Lavarnway, C
Dozier, SS		Middlebrooks, 3B
Butera, C		Kalish, RF
Casilla, A, 2B		Ciriaco, SS
Deduno, P		Lester, P

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota	0	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	2	5	9	0
Boston	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0

*giggles uncontrollably*

so, shutting out the BoSox at home.. yeah that doesn’t happen every day – especially to the Twins. In fact, it hasn’t happened in almost exactly 16 years (tomorrow). I had asked for some offense to give the pitching some run support and look what happened! Just a little bit in the way of early runs and the pitching just took over!

It’s interesting that the most commonly discussed facet of the pitching was the odd ability for Samuel Deduno to be “effective wild” – in other words, no one knows how the hell he does it but he gets outs. He pitched 6 full innings with the support of Drew Butera with only 2 hits. Yes, there were 4 walks which is distinctly un-Twins-like but it was all part & parcel to keeping the batters off their step. I liked it. Then the bullpen came in and finished it off in similar fashion! Fien and Perkins nailed it down. In response, we here at Knuckleballs would like to thank them from the deepest place within us – no not our hearts, our STOMACHS! For being stellar tonight, we give the entire pitching staff access to the Knuckleballs ice cream buffet! And Deduno gets all the cherries he wants..

As you can see, we are classy folk here at Knuckleballs so it’s a prize worth of such a great performance.

However, our loftiest of prizes went to Brian Dozier for all around great offense & defense and basically cementing the game for our pitchers to claim. For that, he was awarded our BOD! Congrats Brian!