The Young Team of the Almost Immediate Future: YOUR! 2006 Twins thread (or mine, maybe)

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

14 wins in the last 16 games, Liriano outdueling Clemens, Bartlett replacing Castro, Morneau channeling Killebrew, Mauer hitting .368 (after a slump!), Rondell White pretty much vanished, Santana destroying all in his path, a 5th starter named Boof and a new stadium in 5 years: is this the most exciting .500 team in all of baseball or what?

― Stupornaut (natepatrin), Monday, 26 June 2006 03:37 (nineteen years ago)

And to think, these last five years of not-quite championship-caliber ball would never have existed in Bud Selig's ideal world.

Johan Santana and Francisco Liriano are the best 1-2 combo around in terms of awesome names.

― barefoot manthing (Garrett Martin), Monday, 26 June 2006 12:02 (nineteen years ago)

They ain't bad w/ them stat things, either.

― David R. (popshots75`), Monday, 26 June 2006 12:59 (nineteen years ago)

stats are overrated

― barefoot manthing (Garrett Martin), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:18 (nineteen years ago)

I wish the Twins were better/not 14.5 (or however many games) back, because Nathan/Liriano/BOOOOOOF are getting wasted this year -- and I say that as a Giants fan.

― c(''c) (Leee), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:32 (nineteen years ago)

Nate, just thank the idiotic Giants mgmt for your closer and 40% of your rotation:

AJ Pierzynski 2004:
.272/.319/.410
11 HR
45 R
74 RBI
19BB:27K
27 GIDP (#25 all-time, #3 in last 20 years)
VORP = 7.4 (#7 in NL catchers, #17 in MLB catchers)

VS:

Joe Nathan 2004-2006:
IP: 174 1/3
Record: 13-6
Saves: 99 (9 blown saves)
ERA: 2.17
WHIP: 0.94
K/9: 11.72
K/BB: 3.85 (227:59)

Francisco Liriano 2005-2006:
IP: 90
Record: 8-3
1 Save, 1 Hold, 0 blown saves
ERA: 3.10
WHIP: 1.07
K/9: 10.70
K/BB: 4.12 (107:26)

Boof Bonser 2006:
IP: 32.2
Record: 2-1
ERA: 4.68
WHIP: 1.35
K/9: 6.34
K/BB: 2.88 (23:8)

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Monday, 26 June 2006 15:32 (nineteen years ago)

Haha, karma for the Carew trade (Ken Landreaux?!?!)

― Stupornaut (natepatrin), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 00:17 (nineteen years ago)

wow that was a bad trade

― j blount (papa la bas), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 02:56 (nineteen years ago)

Compounded even further in its hilarity since the dude what's catching for us now since we ditched A.J. is currently hitting like a radioactive monster and if some schmuck from the Cubs tried elbowing him he'd fuckin' vaporize him with his eyes.

― Stupornaut (natepatrin), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 04:39 (nineteen years ago)

Anyhow, tonite's Dodgers slaughter:

Silva = learning once again how to be not shitty
Mauer = 4-4, 3B, 5 RBI (4 with 2 outs), back at the magical '77 Carew line again
Hunter = only 1 GIDP!!

― Stupornaut (natepatrin), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 04:43 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.bat-girl.com/archives/chairmanmauer8aj.jpg

― Stupornaut (natepatrin), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 04:43 (nineteen years ago)

Compounded even further in its hilarity since the dude what's catching for us now since we ditched A.J. is currently hitting like a radioactive monster

You left out the part when his knee exploded: oh mattlecroypaws...

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 12:38 (nineteen years ago)

I called in to San Francisco sports talk to make fun of that AJ / Nathan/Liriano/Bonser trade back when Liriano and Bonser were both buried in the minors. It was about halfway through AJ's season with the Giants. The host was incredulous that anyone would criticize the trade since the Giants "needed" a catcher (even though Torrealba was a much better defender and never got an opportunity to start).

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 15:10 (nineteen years ago)

(xpost)

Actually more like Henry Blancopaws, but we're over that now.

So are you a Giants fan or something? 'Cause, y'know, exploding knees... yeah.

― Stupornaut (natepatrin), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 15:10 (nineteen years ago)

The idea of a 20y/o catcher sitting out a season due to knee reconstruction is not the most comforting thought (not that he wouldn't make a great 1B at any rate).

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 15:23 (nineteen years ago)

Giants and Cubs fans could get pretty interested in a Minnesota-Florida World Series.

― mattbot (mattbot), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 20:54 (nineteen years ago)

florida in the series again would be just about the last thing i'd want to see! i'd rather see the yankees there. though my hope for the AL comes down to an Oakland/ChiSox/Tigers/Blue Jays playoff quartet.

― gear (gear), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 21:02 (nineteen years ago)

The AL is going to destroy the NL.

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 21:04 (nineteen years ago)

didnt u call the mets "the best team in baseball" the other day?

― INSANE CLOWN FOSSE (Adrian Langston), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 21:47 (nineteen years ago)

God I hope not. I do think they are the best team in the NL though.

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 21:52 (nineteen years ago)

nm, you said "in the league". i took that to mean both leagues, bizarrely.

― INSANE CLOWN FOSSE (Adrian Langston), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 22:21 (nineteen years ago)

"though my hope for the AL comes down to an Oakland/ChiSox/Tigers/Blue Jays playoff"

Except for maybe the Jays I'd say those are pretty legit hopes.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 22:51 (nineteen years ago)

basically i'm hoping the jays win the division and either the chisox or tigers have a good enough record to shut boston and nyy out of the postseason. if i have to choose, obv i'd rather see boston in than the yanks.

― gear (gear), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 22:55 (nineteen years ago)

I'm glad to see Morneau has not ended up on the DL for tripping on his shoelaces or cutting himself shaving this year. I dogged him out pretty bad earlier this season as being over rated, so I don't mind seeing him finally show up.

― Earl Nash (earlnash), Thursday, 29 June 2006 03:28 (nineteen years ago)

I will probably regret picking up Nick Johnson instead of Morneau in my keeper league, despite Nick's superior peripheral stats.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Thursday, 29 June 2006 04:57 (nineteen years ago)

Justin seems to be at the center of a Wacky Fielding Adventure maybe every other game, so I'm assuming his increased patience (and resulting approaching-.290 average) are basically just him going "I really need to look a lot less like Dave Kingman".

― Stupornaut (natepatrin), Thursday, 29 June 2006 13:51 (nineteen years ago)

HI DERE:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=d_bE0O0LDUA
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tu1BHRKfv0g

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Friday, 30 June 2006 00:05 (nineteen years ago)

The Dugout weighs in, sorta

― nate p. (natepatrin), Saturday, 1 July 2006 18:20 (nineteen years ago)

What's up with the NAVY caps?

mms://a1503.v108692.c10869.g.vm.akamaistream.net/7/1503/10869/v0001/mlb.download.akamai.com/10869/2006/open/tp/archive07/070206_milmin_liriano_12k_tp_350.wmv

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Monday, 3 July 2006 14:58 (nineteen years ago)

Enough with the Giants, I'm a Twins fan now.

― sLeeeter Kinney (Leee), Monday, 3 July 2006 19:27 (nineteen years ago)

is there a way for me to open that with VLC, windows media player makes the image look all crazy

― INSANE CLOWN FOSSE (Adrian Langston), Monday, 3 July 2006 21:39 (nineteen years ago)

VLC? GET ONE MEDIA PLAYER CLASSIC. (Unless you're on a Mac.)

― sLeeeter Kinney (Leee), Monday, 3 July 2006 22:14 (nineteen years ago)

I ALREADY HAVE IT DICKWEED >:O

― INSANE CLOWN FOSSE (Adrian Langston), Monday, 3 July 2006 23:29 (nineteen years ago)

Serious Question:

Is Liriano the best lefty in:
A) Minnesota
B) The AL Central
C) the American League
D) MLB

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Tuesday, 4 July 2006 01:18 (nineteen years ago)

None of the above, because Santana is a lefty and is better than Liriano. Maybe Liriano will eventually be better, but not yet. He's having a nice run, but let's see him do it for a year before we start comparing him to the guy who should have won the Cy Young the last three years.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Tuesday, 4 July 2006 02:31 (nineteen years ago)

NO NO NO Polyp you seem to be confused! This is ILOVEBASEBALL where pitching phenoms are welcomed as our new overlords. Get with the program!

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, 5 July 2006 03:47 (nineteen years ago)

Watch it, Shasta - Paxton Crawford has a posse.

― David R. (popshots75`), Wednesday, 5 July 2006 03:56 (nineteen years ago)

Aw, Contreras got a boo-boo. However will we fill his spot?

― nate p. (natepatrin), Tuesday, 11 July 2006 00:35 (nineteen years ago)

Pierzynski should feel lucky to clean Mauer's cleats.

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Tuesday, 11 July 2006 03:47 (nineteen years ago)

HOLY SHIT
RONDELL WHITE HITS HOME RUN
HOLY SHIT

― nate p. (natepatrin), Sunday, 16 July 2006 23:53 (nineteen years ago)

BREAK UP TE TWWINS

― Jimmy Mod: NOIZE BOARD GRIL COMPARISON ANALYST (The Famous Jimmy Mod), Monday, 17 July 2006 01:39 (nineteen years ago)

One more and he'll catch Bronson Arroyo

― nate p. (natepatrin), Monday, 17 July 2006 02:06 (nineteen years ago)

Soo... any odds on Liriano winning ROY and CY?

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, 19 July 2006 15:18 (nineteen years ago)

Has that happened before?

― Thermo Thinwall (Thermo Thinwall), Wednesday, 19 July 2006 15:43 (nineteen years ago)

Fernando Valenzuela... not sure if there's any others.

― Thermo Thinwall (Thermo Thinwall), Wednesday, 19 July 2006 15:48 (nineteen years ago)

Whatever happened to TNSNAAPP!?

Regardless, I wish the Giants had someone like this.

― c('°c) (Leee), Wednesday, 19 July 2006 16:06 (nineteen years ago)

Too
Numerous
Strikeouts,
Nary
An
Apropos
Player
Prevails?

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, 19 July 2006 16:16 (nineteen years ago)

Haha holy shit, Rondell White has hit not one but TWO homers tonite. And a double. This is hilarious, I hope his season splits are first-half Mendoza/second-half Pujols.

― nate p. (natepatrin), Thursday, 20 July 2006 00:39 (nineteen years ago)

Fernando Valenzuela... not sure if there's any others.
Dwight Gooden came close... finished second in Cy voting in his rookie season (and arguably had more impressive numbers than Rick Sutcliffe).

― ojitarian (ojitarian), Thursday, 20 July 2006 06:29 (nineteen years ago)

Polyp:

None of the above, because Santana is a lefty and is better than Liriano. Maybe Liriano will eventually be better, but not yet.
-- polyphonic (polyphoni...), July 3rd, 2006 8:31 PM. (polyphonic)

I understand your sentiment, even though I think it's false. Liriano continues dominating the same teams that Santana struggles against. Santana's fatal flaw has always been the taco, which isn't an issue with Liriano. The GB:FB ratio spells this out (Santana 146:148 vs. Liriano 141:69).

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Thursday, 20 July 2006 20:22 (nineteen years ago)

I would refer you to the concept of sample size, but as the season progresses, my argument grows weaker and weaker, as Liriano is on well on his way to the Cy Young.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Thursday, 20 July 2006 20:30 (nineteen years ago)

3 games out of the Wild Card?

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Saturday, 22 July 2006 14:55 (nineteen years ago)

They've raised their Postseason Odds to 14%!

btw Santana's VORP is still slightly higher than Liriano's.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 22 July 2006 15:28 (nineteen years ago)

But only because he has more IP... Liriano has been a much better pitcher this year than Santana per IP.

As a starter, Santana looks even less favorable in comparison to Liriano.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=gBe6xkk3tEM

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Saturday, 22 July 2006 15:44 (nineteen years ago)

Going by articles (I was at work and couldn't watch teh gaem) Liriano's start seemed pretty weird -- 10 K in 5 IP (!!) and then Gardy was all "oh no he threw almost 100 pitches, GTFO" and he brought in Neshek. I guess it's good that Liriano doesn't get all Billy Martin A's burned out but enh.

― nate p. (natepatrin), Monday, 24 July 2006 00:09 (nineteen years ago)

He ran out of gas in the 5th after like 85 pitches. He lost a little sharpness in the 4th but by the 5th his control was real shaky. Even yet, he looked fantastic, striking out 6 batters in a row between the 2nd-4th innings.

Liriano breakdown:

Bottom 1st:
Grady Sizemore: singles on 0-2 pitch
Jason Michaels: strikeout
Travis Hafner: groundout
Victor Martinez: strikeout
17 pitches, 2 Ks, 1 hit

Bottom 2nd:
Casey Blake: flyout
Jhonny Peralta: lineout
Aaron Boone: strikeout
11 pitches, 1 K

Bottom 3rd:
Joe Inglett: strikeout
Kelly Shoppach: strikeout
Sizemore: strikeout
17 pitches, 3 Ks

Bottom 4th:
Michaels: strikeout
Hafner: strikeout
Martinez: double on 1-2 pitch
Blake: walks on 3-2 pitch
Peralta: strikeout
24 pitches, 3 Ks, 1 hit, 1 walk

Bottom 5th:
Boone: strikeout
Inglett: groundout
Shoppach: single on 0-1 pitch
Sizemore: walks on 3-0 pitch
Michaels: single on 1-2 pitch, Sizemore scores from 2nd
Hafner: walks on 3-1 pitch
Martinez: groundout
27 pitches, 1 K, 2 hits, 2 walks

22 batters faced, 95 pitches, 10 Ks, 3 walks, 4 hits (3 singles + 1 double), 1 run (1 earned): 58 strikes, 37 balls. 3 groundouts, 2 flyouts.

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Monday, 24 July 2006 00:46 (nineteen years ago)

Well, that explains it then.

Oh and Punto's hitting .321 (with a .402 OBP), which is kinda startling.

― nate p. (natepatrin), Monday, 24 July 2006 02:08 (nineteen years ago)

Twins' Defensive Efficiency is third-worst in MLB (trailing Tampa Bay & Pirates).

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 26 July 2006 12:16 (nineteen years ago)

yet Minnesota leads MLB in Fielding Independent Pitching so maybe the Twins defense suffers due to boredom, esp. when Liriano and Santana and Nathan are on the mound.

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, 26 July 2006 14:45 (nineteen years ago)

Amazing... tied for the wildcard with the Yankees and the White Sox.

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, 26 July 2006 20:06 (nineteen years ago)

34-8 in the past 7 weeks.

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, 26 July 2006 21:47 (nineteen years ago)

Rob Neyer pretty much called it.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Wednesday, 26 July 2006 22:36 (nineteen years ago)

...except that he picked the Dodgers over the Twins in the World Series. If that happens, I will eat my socks.

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, 26 July 2006 22:44 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah what was that about. Did he think Billingsley and Broxton would be starting and winning? Their starting pitching is awful.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Thursday, 27 July 2006 00:08 (nineteen years ago)

'65 REMATCH, DUDE

― nate p. (natepatrin), Thursday, 27 July 2006 02:49 (nineteen years ago)

btw if I have one more baseball roadtrip in me this year I was considering Twins at Baltimore, weekend of Sept 22-24. Would anyone else consider making that?

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 27 July 2006 12:34 (nineteen years ago)

Excitement in Minnesota this weekend:

Friday-
Francisco Liriano (12-2, 1.93 ERA, 0.97 WHIP) vs. Zach Miner (6-2, 4.07 ERA, 1.40 WHIP)

Saturday-
Brad Radke (9-7, 4.74 ERA, 1.48 WHIP) vs. Neil Robertson (9-6, 3.70 ERA, 1.29 WHIP)

Sunday-
Johan Santana (12-5, 3.04 ERA, 1.01 WHIP) vs. Jeremy Bonderman (11-4, 3.66 ERA, 1.17 WHIP)

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Thursday, 27 July 2006 14:24 (nineteen years ago)

Liriano does lead the Cy predictor (Webb in NL):

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/features/cy

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 27 July 2006 20:37 (nineteen years ago)

i'm awfully surprised to see early frontrunners kenny rogers and brad penny not on those lists!!!

― gear (gear), Thursday, 27 July 2006 21:23 (nineteen years ago)

http://cache.gettyimages.com/xc/71420521.jpg?v=1&c=MS_GINS&k=2&d=17A4AD9FDB9CF193875DCB1DD8387ABB9E3750FC879AB81D

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Friday, 28 July 2006 00:06 (nineteen years ago)

The team reminds me of the mid-90s Expos for some reason. Will Minnesota be able to pony up to sign these guys to long term contracts when the time comes? The assumption, of course, is that Liriano doesn't pull a Prior.

― mattbot (mattbot), Friday, 28 July 2006 14:18 (nineteen years ago)

Another question: anyone know how the Twins plan to use Liriano down the stretch? He pitched about 190 innings last year between AA, AAA, and the Twins, and is at 107 so far this year.

It looks like they've managed him really well so far: 94.6 pitches per start, #121 on BP's pitcher abuse chart.

― mattbot (mattbot), Friday, 28 July 2006 14:32 (nineteen years ago)

When he got named to the All-Star team, Twins brass specifically said DO NOT USE LIRIANO. He's def. on a pitch-count, not sure about an inning count.

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Friday, 28 July 2006 14:35 (nineteen years ago)

It will be interesting to see what they do in a tight playoff race though, when every game counts (as opposed to the early season games, which did not count). Will there be temptations to stretch him out if he's pitching well?

― mattbot (mattbot), Friday, 28 July 2006 16:53 (nineteen years ago)

Probably similar to Dontrelle in the 2003 playoffs after he hit his innings cap, put him on the bench and only use him when it counts (Dontrelle faired poorly).

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Friday, 28 July 2006 17:03 (nineteen years ago)

Liriano looks a little shaky, probably the shakiest I've ever seen him:

Mid of first: one sing'e, 1 double 1 walk, 2 Ks: 23 pitches

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Friday, 28 July 2006 23:23 (nineteen years ago)

Steve of little faith... 8 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 12 K on 104 pitches.

― mattbot (mattbot), Saturday, 29 July 2006 01:26 (nineteen years ago)

I think he just caught a case of mild Radkitis. We would've won that game if it weren't for our dipshitty baserunning.

― nate p. (natepatrin), Saturday, 29 July 2006 13:37 (nineteen years ago)

And we would've won THIS game if Gardenhire hadn't decided "you know who we need to get on the mound in a close game? KYLE LOHSE."

― nate p. (natepatrin), Sunday, 30 July 2006 01:39 (nineteen years ago)

oh godDAMN it

― nate p. (natepatrin), Tuesday, 8 August 2006 04:27 (nineteen years ago)

Liriano to the DL, Matt Garza called up.

Liriano is slated to have an enhanced MRI performed Thursday afternoon, Aug. 10, in which an injected dye will be used to try to determine the cause of Liriano's forearm pain near his left elbow. It was also revealed that Liriano had told the team he was pain-free before his last start Monday, Aug. 7, when in fact he had still been in some pain but tried on his own to pitch through it.

― mattbot (mattbot), Wednesday, 9 August 2006 15:52 (nineteen years ago)

I think Garza's given up the cycle through 1 and 2/3rds...

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Friday, 11 August 2006 23:45 (nineteen years ago)

Whoops, no triple, just 4 singles, a double and a HR (and a walk).

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Friday, 11 August 2006 23:45 (nineteen years ago)

I'm sorry, I have to post this

http://img439.imageshack.us/img439/5707/johanwiggleanimation3ze7.gif

― mattbot (mattbot), Thursday, 17 August 2006 19:18 (nineteen years ago)

The Twins recent woes give credence to my devil's advocate Liriano MVP vote.

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Thursday, 17 August 2006 20:55 (nineteen years ago)

oh my, 7 more vs KC....

Rodger (Minnesota): When Liriano gets back will the Twins take command of the wild card lead and will we see some seperation throughout the races in the AL?

Rob Neyer: (12:41 PM ET ) When? How about *if*? I don't think we can assume anything about Liriano's valuable left arm. Surprisingly, the Twins are in pretty good shape even without Liriano, thanks in part to seven more games against the Royals. My preseason picks for the World Series were the Twins and Dodgers, and I'm sticking with them. Especially if Liriano can give the Twins a few innings between now and Thanksgiving.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 23 August 2006 16:05 (nineteen years ago)

When was this chat? Liriano looked pretty nice during his workout yesterday.

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, 23 August 2006 16:20 (nineteen years ago)

UP 1.5 IN WC AFTER OT WIN SATURDAY!

― Jimmy Mod: THE HANDLESS ORGANIST (The Famous Jimmy Mod), Sunday, 27 August 2006 13:45 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3q3Si6pY1do

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Thursday, 7 September 2006 00:42 (eighteen years ago)

HA HA! Fantastic!

― Thermo Thinwall (Thermo Thinwall), Thursday, 7 September 2006 02:01 (eighteen years ago)

When I heard he got in trouble for cursing on-air I'd hoped it was for something like "You've hereby been fucking circled".

― nate p. (natepatrin), Thursday, 7 September 2006 13:30 (eighteen years ago)

Liriano pitched 3 innings in Rehab at AAA Rochester:

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2006_09_09_rocaaa_swbaaa_1&t=g_box&did=milb

40 pitches, 25 strikes, 0 hits, 4 Ks, 1 BB, 1 HBP

not too shabby.

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Sunday, 10 September 2006 04:42 (eighteen years ago)

http://static.flickr.com/78/200337898_a460549c91.jpg

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 16:03 (eighteen years ago)

Liriano's blown out his elbow again and is apparently out for the year.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 17:00 (eighteen years ago)

WOE

― Jimmy Mod's Champion Erotic Fantasy Team 2006 (The Famous Jimmy Mod), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 17:20 (eighteen years ago)

alex, where'd you hear that?

― gear (gear), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 17:26 (eighteen years ago)

Reports I hear say he left the game w/ elbow pain. Jumping from there to GAME OVER MAN is some Mexico-City sort of leap.

― David R. (popshots75`), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 17:27 (eighteen years ago)

Um no it isn't.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 17:28 (eighteen years ago)

if i'm the twins i'm making sure he's done for the year, even if his elbow isn't blown out.

― gear (gear), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 17:41 (eighteen years ago)

DO NOT WANT! T_T

― c('°c) (Leee), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 17:46 (eighteen years ago)

Dammit shitfuck. Well, not like he would've gotten any run support today, unless his elbow regressing sunk the morale of all the batters in the lineup or something. At least Garza looked frighteningly competent and/or lucky.

Was anyone catching the game on TV last night? The "Fan of the Game" was a little baby being held on someone's (prob. his mother's) shoulders and immediately after s/he was circled the kid spit up all over the place; it was bizarre.

― nate p. (natepatrin), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 18:33 (eighteen years ago)

Fucking Bert, that fucker.

― David R. (popshots75`), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 18:35 (eighteen years ago)

Reyes is pitching like a god, WTF?

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 18:41 (eighteen years ago)

I was out when it happened but I just saw the replay of Morneau trying to take second on a single in today's game and he didn't so much slide as he kind of stopped suddenly and fall backwards.

― nate p. (natepatrin), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 18:46 (eighteen years ago)

The word on the street is that Liriano will undergo Tommy John surgery and return in 2008.

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 21:34 (eighteen years ago)

That sucks.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 21:38 (eighteen years ago)

But totally predictable DAVER!

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 21:39 (eighteen years ago)

"Pending MRI results" of course.

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 21:40 (eighteen years ago)

I can't be the only person who's wondering how an entire organisation's doctors and trainers can give the green light for a top prospect to resume pitching, only to have him blow out his elbow right away. Either the doctors screwed up big time, or blown elbows are simply unfortunate occurances that can't be accurately predicted. (we've probably had a thread about this)

― NoTimeBeforeTime (Barry Bruner), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 22:15 (eighteen years ago)

did the twins snatch a trainer away from the cubs this past offseason?

― gear (gear), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 22:18 (eighteen years ago)

I heard it bandied about that Liriano threw a lot of sliders today, but it was my understanding the pitch he blew his arm out on was a fastball. I am inclined to believe that "blown elbows are simply unfortunate occurances that can't be accurately predicted" though (although obv some organizations flaunt disaster through mismanaging young pitchers and obv some young pitchers lie about how they are feeling which can really only be barely blamed on the organization if at all.)

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 22:25 (eighteen years ago)

Didnt Liriano have huge red flags regarding his delivery leading to potential injury? I've seen some Giants apologists wheel it out to defend the infamous trade..

Some players also try hard to come back in spite of not being 100% - See: Gagne, Eric.

― Stuh-du-du-du-du-du-du-denka (jingleberries), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 22:26 (eighteen years ago)

From rotoworld:

"The last two pitches I threw, I felt a pop and it really hurts," Liriano said. If the Twins had their way, Liriano would have been bright enough to stop before the last one, when it became clear that he was hurt. "Obviously he won't be pitching again," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "Something is in there bothering and continuing to stop him. ... Obviously when he gets in game and puts a little extra torque in there, something is not right. We have to make sure we stop it and do what we have to do." Surgery might be an option. First, he'll undergo another round of tests.

― c('°c) (Leee), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 22:41 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah -- why the fuck did he throw the second pitch?

― Andy_K (Andy_K), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 23:02 (eighteen years ago)

maybe he thought he could pop it back into place

― gear (gear), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 23:07 (eighteen years ago)

All he has to do is throw one fast-pitch softball style. That will fix it.

― Andy_K (Andy_K), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 23:13 (eighteen years ago)

Well, once for each 'pop' -- so twice.

― Andy_K (Andy_K), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 23:15 (eighteen years ago)

HOW DO I SHOT MACHO BULLSHIT

― David R. (popshots75`), Thursday, 14 September 2006 04:20 (eighteen years ago)

According to Neyer chat:

"Chuck, Maple Grove MN: A quick Liriano update...no structural damage, should be good to go by Spring Training. Very good news for the Twins. That being said, do you think he needs to change anything in his delivery to put less stress on the elbow?"

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 14 September 2006 17:12 (eighteen years ago)

Rob Neyer: (2:11 PM ET ) First, I'm not buying the "no structural damage" diagnosis quite yet. MRI's don't always tell the whole story. As for changing his delivery, I suspect if you change his delivery you change his ERA. And not in the right direction.

― gear (gear), Thursday, 14 September 2006 17:14 (eighteen years ago)

Rob's comment:

"Rob Neyer: (2:11 PM ET ) First, I'm not buying the "no structural damage" diagnosis quite yet. MRI's don't always tell the whole story. As for changing his delivery, I suspect if you change his delivery you change his ERA. And not in the right direction."

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 14 September 2006 17:14 (eighteen years ago)

Woops!

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 14 September 2006 17:14 (eighteen years ago)

i hope Chuck is right, though!

― gear (gear), Thursday, 14 September 2006 17:15 (eighteen years ago)

HOW DO I SHOT MACHO BULLSHIT

RUB SOME DIRT ON IT

― Andy_K (Andy_K), Thursday, 14 September 2006 23:34 (eighteen years ago)

I think Johan blew any MVP chances last night (even w/ 2 bloops and his bad throw doing most damage).

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Friday, 22 September 2006 13:41 (eighteen years ago)

1234567893123456789412345678951234567896123456789712345

― mr. brojangles (sanskrit), Friday, 22 September 2006 16:23 (eighteen years ago)

oops, trying to paste this on Santana: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=2596112

― mr. brojangles (sanskrit), Friday, 22 September 2006 16:24 (eighteen years ago)

midi, i'm in your algorithm, cracking your code.

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Friday, 22 September 2006 16:27 (eighteen years ago)

i work for SETI

― mr. brojangles (sanskrit), Friday, 22 September 2006 17:10 (eighteen years ago)

HI DERE PLAYOFFS

― Young Fresh Danny D (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 17:24 (eighteen years ago)

I guess the big question now is whether we should be worried about facing teh Yankles. A spaz-back Johnson (with his 5.00 ERA), thumb-bruising Mussina and Emo A-Rod have me leaning towards "probably not," though that 257-1 game against Tampa last nite kind of scared me.

― nate p. (natepatrin), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 17:45 (eighteen years ago)

Imagine how Tampa felt!

― David R. (popshots75`), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 17:56 (eighteen years ago)

Resigned?

― nate p. (natepatrin), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 17:59 (eighteen years ago)

Or "Holy shit, we took two outta three!"

― nate p. (natepatrin), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 18:00 (eighteen years ago)

"I want to play the Yankees," said Hunter, who wants to even the score of playoff losses to New York in 2003 and 2004. "I want to take those guys out. For two years in a row they've been eating our butts up, and now I want to do the biting."

― gear (gear), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 19:05 (eighteen years ago)

yikes

― nate p. (natepatrin), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 19:06 (eighteen years ago)

Torii, ew.

― Young Fresh Danny D (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 19:15 (eighteen years ago)

For two years in a row they've been eating our butts up

Well, THAT'S gonna inspire some fan fiction.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 19:17 (eighteen years ago)

Jeter Sucks XVII: Torii With An Eye For #2

― David R. (popshots75`), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 19:27 (eighteen years ago)

Well, THAT'S gonna inspire some fan fiction.

Not really. The Yanks are across-the-board fugly.

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 19:33 (eighteen years ago)

Except maybe Mussina

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 19:34 (eighteen years ago)

Right now, Randy Johnson is totally flipping you off.

― David R. (popshots75`), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 19:34 (eighteen years ago)

Jared Wright is totally cute.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 19:37 (eighteen years ago)

Fuck that.

― David R. (popshots75`), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 19:38 (eighteen years ago)

(that's a request, BTW.)

@_@

― David R. (popshots75`), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 19:39 (eighteen years ago)

http://mlb.mlb.com/images/2002/07/10/cNUJK2Mr.jpg

― gear (gear), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 19:41 (eighteen years ago)

I'm being good and not linking to any baseball-porn-fiction sites. (Kyle Farnsworth appears fairly often, along with A-Rod and Jeetz of course.)

Saw some Twin champagne footage -- Joe Nathan is pretty sweet.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 19:47 (eighteen years ago)

I'm being good and not linking to any baseball-porn-fiction sites. (Kyle Farnsworth appears fairly often)

I can't even picture that after reading the Dugout for so long

― nate p. (natepatrin), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 19:54 (eighteen years ago)

(Case in point)

― nate p. (natepatrin), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 19:54 (eighteen years ago)

Kyle stretches the uni pants in very pleasing ways, whether Torii would bite his superb butt I dunno.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 20:12 (eighteen years ago)

It is on nights like this that I wonder how Joe Nathan has gone this long with only two blown saves and zero losses. I don't think even Mariano Rivera's pulled that off.

― nate p. (natepatrin), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 02:46 (eighteen years ago)

Fucking Mark Redman
Fucking Carlos Silva
So much hate

― nate p. (natepatrin), Thursday, 28 September 2006 00:29 (eighteen years ago)

Well, Radke's back tonight. So there's that.

― Thermo Thinwall (Thermo Thinwall), Thursday, 28 September 2006 13:22 (eighteen years ago)

What's amazing about Mauer's likely batting title -- his BACKUP's hitting .350!

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 28 September 2006 13:39 (eighteen years ago)

Mauer is actually Mike Redmond's Tyler Durden.

― nate p. (natepatrin), Thursday, 28 September 2006 15:12 (eighteen years ago)

It's amazing that nobody in Twinsville realizes (publicly) that Mauer is more valuable than Morneau. RBI bias strikes again.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 28 September 2006 15:38 (eighteen years ago)

The Twins 2006 allstar representatives:

Mauer
Santana
Liriano

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Thursday, 28 September 2006 15:47 (eighteen years ago)

http://static.flickr.com/78/200337898_a460549c91.jpg

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Thursday, 28 September 2006 15:48 (eighteen years ago)

well, Morneau has admittedly gone nuts with the bat from late June on.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 28 September 2006 15:52 (eighteen years ago)

Morneau was a bit crap in April and May.

― NoTimeBeforeTime (Barry Bruner), Thursday, 28 September 2006 15:57 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah, I dropped him in one of my leagues to pick up Nick Johnson. Oy.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Thursday, 28 September 2006 16:03 (eighteen years ago)

Johnson is more likely to end up on my NL MVP ballot than Morneau on the other one...

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 28 September 2006 16:10 (eighteen years ago)

JESUS, what a game -- Mauer with a 2-out solo shot to tie it in the bottom of the 9th, and Bartlett with a bases-loaded double to win it in the 10th. And allasudden we're tied for first in the division. MADNESS. Put on your high heel sneakers, it's party time.

― nate p. (natepatrin), Friday, 29 September 2006 01:55 (eighteen years ago)

OK, Tigers have season series advantage over Twins in case of tie for best record -- what about NY-Minn?

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Friday, 29 September 2006 12:43 (eighteen years ago)

I say I'll be content regardless of how these few last games play out but goddamn... SO... ON... EDGE...

― Andy_K (Andy_K), Friday, 29 September 2006 14:35 (eighteen years ago)

Jim Baker of Prospectus: Mauer's VORP is the best by any American League catcher since 1960, and Mauer's WARP1 is now 8.9 to Morneau's 7.1.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Friday, 29 September 2006 18:24 (eighteen years ago)

But what are his INTANGIBLES?! I still can't tell if he's better than Jeter! :(

― nate p. (natepatrin), Friday, 29 September 2006 18:31 (eighteen years ago)

I think I'm going to be sick.

― nate p. (natepatrin), Saturday, 30 September 2006 01:40 (eighteen years ago)

b-b-but the Royals came through for you!

― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Saturday, 30 September 2006 01:52 (eighteen years ago)

Squandered five-run lead (and other things). I AM sick. Well... just about.

― Andy_K (Andy_K), Saturday, 30 September 2006 02:03 (eighteen years ago)

The kind of shit you think about (and then calculate) when you've woken up at 5 AM and can't get back to sleep: if Mauer sits today, plays the finale tomorrow and goes 1 for 4, Cano and Jeter would have to go 5-8 and 6-8 respectively to pull ahead of him in the batting race (assuming they don't draw any walks, and Cano isn't exactly patient at the plate). I like those odds.

― nate p. (natepatrin), Saturday, 30 September 2006 10:59 (eighteen years ago)

And here's a somewhat convincing argument for playing the Yankees in Round 1. I don't believe the "Mussina pwns teh Twins" crap that ESPN's been spoonfeeding people (as a Yankee, he's been mediocre -- something like just sub-.500 with a 4.00+ ERA, and that's before Morneau and Hunter turned into 30+ HR players and Mauer evolved into Tony Gwynn II). We've already gotten to Rivera earlier this year, we pretty much win at will against right-handers, and Wang is overrated -- he's a control-pitching sinkerballer who doesn't strike people out, and it's not like we've been drawing a surplus of walks lately; I'm keeping my fingers crossed he'll go Silva at some point.

― nate p. (natepatrin), Saturday, 30 September 2006 11:10 (eighteen years ago)

The shorter the series, the greater the likelihood of an upset. Particularly when the best pitcher in baseball will pitch in 40% of the games in that series.

― NoTimeBeforeTime (Barry Bruner), Saturday, 30 September 2006 13:04 (eighteen years ago)

All the talk about the SUPER-TERRIFYING!! Yankees lineup had me looking up their performance over the last month. Here are the conclusions I have come to:

SCARY: Cano, Jeter, A-Rod, Matsui
WORRISOME: Posada, Abreu
NO BIG DEAL: Bernie
LAUGHABLE: Damon, Cabrera, Giambi, Sheffield, most of their bench players

Twins-wise:
SCARY: Rondell (!), Hunter
WORRISOME: Morneau, Mauer, Redmond
NO BIG DEAL: Castillo, Tyner
LAUGHABLE: Punto*, Bartlett*, Nevin, Ford, maybe Rodriguez
*defensive assets

I dunno, it doesn't seem so much David vs. Goliath as it does Wolverine (healing factor!) vs. the Hulk (giant smashy monster but also mild-mannered scientist sadly walking away from an 8-0 loss to the Devil Rays as lonely piano music plays in the background).

― nate p. (natepatrin), Saturday, 30 September 2006 13:41 (eighteen years ago)

Do you really think Sheffield, Damon, and Giambi are laughable? I mean, maybe they weren't so good in September of 2006, but they are supremely good hitters.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Saturday, 30 September 2006 16:36 (eighteen years ago)

I'm basing things mostly on momentum, though by those standards, by the last week, the Twins in their entirety would probably be filed under "laughable". DO SOMETHING WITH YOUR BATS YOU FUXX I AM NOT HAPPY

― nate p. (natepatrin), Saturday, 30 September 2006 16:51 (eighteen years ago)

Funny how the Twins player I forgot to mention in my half-assed analysis up there was the sole provider of offense today. Cuddyer I will designate as "NO BIG DEAL" -- dude hasn't been the model of consistency lately but he hasn't been a vortex of shit, either.

Anyways, whatever point I was trying to make up there is probably better left in the garbage anyways, supplanted with this: if more teams had a bullpen like the Yankees, everyone'd have a batting order that looked as intimidating as theirs.

― nate p. (natepatrin), Saturday, 30 September 2006 21:34 (eighteen years ago)

This is hilarious, I hope [Rondell's] season splits are first-half Mendoza/second-half Pujols.

(AVG/SLG/OBP)
BEFORE BREAK: .182/.215/.209
AFTER BREAK: .320/.542/.354

― nate p. (natepatrin), Sunday, 1 October 2006 19:37 (eighteen years ago)

ROYALS WIN
TWINS WIN
MAUER IS BATTING CHAMP
TWINS FACE THE A'S
GET RETARDED

― nate p. (natepatrin), Sunday, 1 October 2006 20:44 (eighteen years ago)

BEST PENNANT RACE EVAH (if it had actually meant something)

― NoTimeBeforeTime (Barry Bruner), Sunday, 1 October 2006 20:48 (eighteen years ago)

Seriously though, the Twins are fucking amazing for pulling this off after being under .500 until mid-June, losing Liriano, and having to clinch against the World Champs while Detroit only had to play KC.

― NoTimeBeforeTime (Barry Bruner), Sunday, 1 October 2006 20:50 (eighteen years ago)

They completely deserve this -- and they deserved an on-field celebration, so it's a shame the Royals-Tigers game had to drag out so long.

― Andy_K (Andy_K), Sunday, 1 October 2006 20:58 (eighteen years ago)

DETROIT, U MAD

― Young Fresh Danny D (Dan Perry), Sunday, 1 October 2006 21:00 (eighteen years ago)

i can't explain why, but i can't help but hate the twins. despite liking johan, mauer, morneau, etc.

― hstencil (hstencil), Sunday, 1 October 2006 21:42 (eighteen years ago)

Maybe it is because their fans are dicks?

― nate p. (natepatrin), Monday, 2 October 2006 01:16 (eighteen years ago)

naw i hardly have ever even known any twins fans, and they've been fine.

― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 2 October 2006 01:23 (eighteen years ago)

three weeks pass...

Surgery for Liriano?

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2637773

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 26 October 2006 14:01 (eighteen years ago)

oh crap, we're gonna pick up Silva's option now, aren't we

help

― nate p. (natepatrin), Thursday, 26 October 2006 20:20 (eighteen years ago)

Perhaps after this surgery he can work on not snapping the hell out of his arm when he pitches. If he doesn't correct his mechanics, he will be done within ten years -- if not sooner. Elbow injuries are very easy to predict with a motion like that.

― Andy_K (Andy_K), Friday, 27 October 2006 17:59 (eighteen years ago)

(Okay, wow: all this exposure to McCarver is rubbing off.)

― Andy_K (Andy_K), Friday, 27 October 2006 18:27 (eighteen years ago)

Liriano had a pre-screening for Tommy John in LA today.

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Friday, 3 November 2006 00:25 (eighteen years ago)

It's official... Liriano will have Tommy John on Monday.

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Friday, 3 November 2006 20:59 (eighteen years ago)

see you in 2008 dude.

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Friday, 3 November 2006 21:12 (eighteen years ago)

We still got Santana + Boof and maybe Garza will step up, so... uh...

Ah, fuck.

― nate p. (natepatrin), Friday, 3 November 2006 21:31 (eighteen years ago)

There goes the heart of my keeper league team.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Saturday, 4 November 2006 00:05 (eighteen years ago)

two weeks pass...

!!!!!!!!!!

― Pamplaxico Polancobon (Andy_K), Monday, 20 November 2006 21:21 (eighteen years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.