Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Hey Eli,
Yeah, it's been a crazy first month in the AL Central. At least it looks crazy now. I doubt if Cleveland is going to end up with the best record in baseball, like they have now, but you never know.
Yes, they've had some injures and Morneau isn't back to speed obviously hitting .205. LOL. The only player they have that's playing "well" is Kubel. And they are getting some periodic decent pitching, but it's been sporadic.
I think they next month is crucial if they have any glimmer of hope for a divison title run.
It appears it's going to take a bunch of no hitters from Twins pitchers in order for the Twins to have any kind of chance this year given their super pathetic hitting so far. ;)
And..WHERE'D YOU GO, COTTON EYE JOE M??
And now the downward spiral of his life begins. Well, I suppose technically it had begun earlier.
Ouch! Well, typical...2-4 on the road trip against Toronto and the Yanks. About what I expected, although a win today and a 3-3 road trip woulda been nice. Home to the friendly confines of Target Field (hopefully). :)
It doesn't appear Burnett has it today. Kubel doubles. Don't tease me like this, Twins!!
Alright! Morneau and Thome both double!! Tied it up!! Wonder how long it will take Morneau to get back in the groove. He's crucial!
Susie, I don't blame you. No fun sitting in the rain!!
If only Yankees stadium had a dome like Target Field!! HEY, I COULDN'T RESIST, BUT I'M SORRY YOU MISSED IT!!
Looks like it will be made up Sept. 8 or 15th , but no official word yet..good for the Twins as Mauer was gonna sit anyway.
No Mauer in the lineup tonight against the Yanks. Morneau not hitting yet, nor most of the Twins. LOL. It doesn't look good against Garcia and hopefully Pavano can improve upon his 15.75 ERA. ;)
TWINS (2-3)
1. Denard Span, CF
2. Tsuyoshi Nishioka, 2B
3. Delmon Young, LF
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Jason Kubel, DH
6. Michael Cuddyer, RF
7. Danny Valencia, 3B
8. Drew Butera, C
9. Alexi Casilla, SS
Starting pitcher: RH Carl Pavano (0-1, 15.75 ERA)
YANKEES (3-2)
1. Brett Gardner, LF
2. Curtis Granderson, CF
3. Mark Teixeira, 1B
4. Alex Rodriguez, DH
5. Robinson Cano, 2B
6. Nick Swisher, RF
7. Eric Chavez, 3B
8. Eduardo Nunez, SS
9. Gustavo Molina, C
Starting pitcher: RH Freddy Garcia (season debut)
Yankee Stadium. First pitch: 6:05 p.m. TV: FSN. Twins Radio Network
Finally!! ;) One never knows in baseball. I had given up, to be honest, and was watching the Texas A&M women beat the Irish in a great NCAA women's championship game!!
No #1 seeds in either the men's or women's championship games this year. In fact, for the men, no #1 or #2 seeds in the Final Four!! I like it when the favorites don't always win it all!!
Hi Eli. Hopefully, he'll make it back and be ok. It's never fun to see talented players sidelined for health reasons and he's missed too much already!
Heya, Lee..
I can understand your frustration about what you are saying about the "bat crossing the plate" being called a strike. It seems like there is very little opportunity at all for the batter to avoid a strike call once there is even a little movement straight ahead with the bat.
I don't think you can really compare the "strike call" to the "football rule" though. Once the football breaks the plane of the beginning of the goal line, the play is dead, a touchdown has been scored and it doesn't really matter what happens after that, be it a fumble or whatever. That rule seems to make logical sense (at least to me) and is fairly straightforward, although, of course, if there is a fumble right at the point the ball touches or is close to touching the goal line, it's a tricky call.
Keep in mind, though, that the player does have to have possession of the football (if only for a fraction of a second) for that moment it touches the first millimeter of the goal line.
Play ball!!
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Twins may have only completed their first full-squad workout of Spring Training on Wednesday, but manager Ron Gardenhire didn't waste any time in answering the question of who will be his Opening Day starter.
Carl Pavano will get the start when the Twins open the 2011 season on April 1 at Toronto, Gardenhire said. The manager also confirmed that Pavano will start the Twins' Grapefruit League opener on Sunday night against the Red Sox at Hammond Stadium.
Hopefully, it will preserved regardless of whatever the owners do. I have a hunch it will always be there.
I agree, Excel. The best baseball movie. And having grown up on a farm in South Dakota that looked very much like the one outside of Dyersville, Iowa that they used to film the movie, it's especially meaningful to me. And having played on those "town teams" (college players and locals playing amateur ball in the summer) and travelling locally to play in the summer, I can really relate.
Back in the summer of 1990, on my way to visit my sister and her family in Iowa, I stopped by to check out the place. It was sort of a magic moment as I could almost see Ty Cobb coming out of the cornfield. ;)
An aside...the ballfield was actually owned by two farmers and, as I recall, there was some initial disagreement regarding whether they would preserve the Field of Dreams.
In fact, I'll have to use google now and see if the " Field" still exists!!
Edit: Yes, it does...one farmer bought the other one out!
http://www.fieldofdreamsmoviesite.com/distance.html
If that's really the story, I think that's very cool.
So, you think they should be paid a salary and that their total compensation for a year should be exactly the same and include no "incentive pay" or "performance pay" in addition to the salary no matter if they hit .180 with no homers, no rbis, etc. or they hit .375 with 50 homers and 120 rbis?
I agree completely, Excel. Why should non-performing players be paid huge up front salaries just because they've had some good years in the past?
Yep. Well, love the guy, but you have to wonder if "this" is the year he drops off. Chicago thought it was gonna be last year and they were wrong. ;) He signed for 3 million. Thome was a big reason the Twins won the Division with Morneau being the last part of the year.
Looks like Thome will reach the 600 homer club next year on his way to the Hall. I'm not sure I agree with the signing because at some point these players' production at about his age just seems to drop off a cliff. Always hard to pinpoint that spot, though.
January 14, 2011 – The Minnesota Twins signed designated hitter Jim Thome to a one-year contract on Friday.
Thome, 40, hit .283 with 25 home runs and 59 RBIs in 108 games with the Twins last season. The five-time All-Star is eighth on the all-time home run list with 589 over 16 seasons.
I see where you got the stats. ;) It is refreshing to know that in Bert's case the case was made with the stats and became convincing enough to eventually swing voters enough to elect him into the Hall.
Wikpedia entry:
After his first year of eligibility in 1998, Blyleven was widely considered to be the best eligible pitcher not yet in the Baseball Hall of Fame. According to Matt Welch of Reason Magazine, "there had long been a strong case that the Dutch-born curveballista was the most deserving player on the outside of Cooperstown looking in."[7] Still, it was not until his 14th year of eligibility in 2011 that he was elected, with 79.7% of the vote. He currently ranks 5th all-time in Strikeouts, 9th all-time in Shutouts, and 27th all-time in Wins. At the time of his election he was the only eligible member of the 3000 strikeout club, and the only person with 50 or more shutouts, not in the Hall of Fame.
Blyleven received only 17.55% of the vote for Hall of Fame admission in 1998 (first year of eligibility), and his vote total dropped to 14.1% the following year. No player who had debuted on the ballot since 1970 had a vote total that low and later won election to the Hall. However, according to ESPN.com columnist Jayson Stark, "no player has ever — and again, that word is 'ever' — had his Hall of Fame candidacy helped more by the sabermetrics boom than Blyleven."[8] Specifically, "the president and chief investment officer of Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel in Long Beach, California, a guy by the name of Rich Lederer, began spending some of his off-hours writing analysis on the Interwebs about Blyleven's overlooked case."[7]
By 2006, this total had increased to 53.33%. In 2007, Blyleven's total dipped to 47.7% (75% is the minimum required for admission to the Hall). In 2008, he received 336 votes, or 61.9% of the vote.[9] In 2009, he gained only two votes, for a total of 338, 62.7%. In 2010, Blyleven had 74.2% of the votes, missing admission to the Hall of Fame by only 5 votes (0.8%).[10] He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2011 after receiving 79.7% of the vote. Because of his long association with the club, it is believed that Blyleven would enter the Hall of Fame as a Minnesota Twin.[11]
Blyleven was inducted into the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame in 2002,[12] and was chosen to the fan-elected "Wendy's- Minnesota Twins All-Metrodome Team" on July 28, 2009.
It's kind of cool, too, that being "clean" really paid off for him. If some of the "steroid boys" hadn't used steroids, they would have probably gotten more votes along the way which may have resulted in Bert getting just enough fewer votes to keep him from the Hall. Of course, maybe their careers wouldn't have been as productive, so that's a tough call.
McGwire, for example, may have had the credentials for a Hall of Fame career even without the enhancers, tough to say. Same for some others.
Anyway, in Blyleven's case, somteimes nice guys do finish first.
Well, it would be hard to surpass the Wendy's honor, but perhaps this new award comes close. ;) I thought I read where every single player who has reached the 70% vote level has gotten in. But, yeah, it was getting down to the wire. I don't think Bert could have relied on some "old timer's" committee getting him in!
I really like Bert. He's a treat to watch/listen to as the color commentator for the Twins for the past 15 seasons. I remember when he came up to the Twins as a 19 year old California kid.
He played for quite a few teams with crappy seasons, too, including a lot of those Twins teams, particularly early on in his career.
That guy had a heck of a curveball; perhaps still the best ever in baseball.
Congrats, Bert!!
I'm so happy for BERT!! 11 of the 22 seasons as a Twin and Twins color commentator for the past 15 seasons!!
GO BERT!!!
Here's some interesting reading about what makes a great pitcher...
It does not hurt to be fit to pitch ..... but it is not as important as most people think. What does strength have to do with throwing a baseball that weighs 5 oz ?.....nothing. Tim Lincecum, the 23 year old 5'10" 170 lb. small and skinny Giants' right-hander, regularly throws his fastball is the 95-100 mph range. Do you know how a pitcher who is considered small and skinny by today's major league standards is able to produce that kind of overpowering velocity...when pitchers six inches taller and 40-50 lbs heavier can't?
Improving Pitching Velocity Has Little To Do With Getting Stronger
It's not about a special conditioning program or getting bigger and stronger as most would like you to believe. It's about how to develop explosive pitching mechanics. Certainly being fit to pitch by doing explosive full body exercises is important however recent research has proven that strength is not much of a factor for throwing a 5 oz. ball...since there are Little League pitchers at the age of ten who are able to throw 70 mph plus.
Here's how Tim Lincecum throws overpowering fastballs and how pitchers can boost velocity 6-12 mph:
1.move fast from the back leg to the front leg
2.use the back leg to move out very low to the ground
3.get the throwing arm up very late in the delivery (use a late hand break)
4.stride length of over 100% of the pitcher's height
5.brace the front leg and hip to increase upper body speed
6.land in a straight line toward the plate
Tim Lincecum's pitching mechanics, because he moves fast into a long stride and stays low, forces his body to put as many muscles on stretch as quickly as possible which helps develop maximum elastic energy so that his body acts like a huge rubber band stretching to it's maximum length ready to be let go and whip the arm through
From 8.2 of The Science and Art of Baseball Pitching: "Total actions (e.g., those to be used in a competitive setting [ie. pitching]) need to be practiced. The partial or isolated training of movement segments (e.g., long-toss, resistance training) would not replicate the unit function in the total action [it's not the same as pitching from the mound]. Thus, once techniques (total response patterns) are being refined, partial practices will serve no purpose other than to learn another movement. There should be no intergration of the partial practice movement into the total response movement once an individual-determined level of skill competency is reached. The only way a highly skilled pitcher can improve his pitching, is to practice pitching. No axuiliary training activities will contribute to skill enhancement once the skill has achieved a resonable level of proficiency."
The specificity of movement patterns and control is a scientifically established principle of human exercise. There has been no wavering on this scientifically validated phenomenon over the past century, although minor theoretical incursions have been attempted. The training of the pitching skill and its variants has to be specific and hole.
The key is that baseball pitching is overwhelmingly a skilled acitivty. Every long-toss throw replaces a throw that could be made from the mound while working on perfecting better mechanics, stimulating game conditions, and mentally focusing and rehearsing the very refined and difficult skill of hitting the glove with all pitches.
Strength in the throwing shoulder is equal with the strength in the non-throwing shoulder (Sirota, Malanga, Eischen, & Laskowski, 1997). Ellenbecker and Mattalino (1997) also showed there were no differences between both shoulders in isokinetic work in professional pitchers. Strength did not differentiate the throwing arm and non-throwing arm and therefore, is an element that is irrelevant for pitching. It shows that strength in the throwing shoulder is not that important (for velocity) because it is no different to the non-throwing shoulder.
Henry and Whitley (1960) studied the relationships between arm strength, speed, and mass. They found no relationship between static and movement strength. The explanation for their findings was that neuromuscular patterns are specific for all forms of movement and unrelated to static strength.
Weighted balls and longtoss WILL NOT increase velocity. In fact they can have the opposite effect that you desire. This is NOT my opinion it is a Scientific fact. (Mills and Rushall Ph.D.,R. Psy The Science and Art ofBaseball Pitching)
http://www.pitching.com/product/the-scie…
http://www.pitching.com/
Yeah, it's hard to believe that they could be throwing over 100 mph back then, but supposedly they measured him several times. The Army Ordinance machine actually measured at home plate where the ball has already slowed down from the hand release area, so supposedly the upper 90 figure was really over 100 and then one time they did record him at 107....well, at least supposedly.
Some batters actually faced both Nolan and Feller and most of those players said Feller threw faster. But, who knows? Folklore has a way of growing bigger as time passes. ;)
I've always read where leg strength counts immensely in enabling a pitcher to throw harder. Is that true?
Good question! I suppose "they" decided it was wasted motion? It's just hard to believe Feller threw as hard as he did some 60-70 years ago. He must have been a freak of nature. And he was in the war during what would have been extremely productive years...23 through 26 years of age. Three and most of the fourth season, I believe...
Ha ha. Thanks...have great Holidays!
No problem. Thanks for all you folks do on here, too..and Happy Holidays!
Take a look at the photos...they are awesome...click on the "Bob Feller photos"..there's like 79 of them...some very, very old when he was a kid in high school, etc...
He's God in Iowa....well, and I'm sure Cleveland, too...
True..going to war in the prime of their careers..both Williams and Feller..
Here's some great stuff from his home state paper..the Des Moines Register..
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/section/bobfeller
Heck, I'm old enough to have watched that World Series!
You need to start respecting us elders, Fung, that have a little more perspective than the young whippersnappers like..well, you.
;)
Ha ha. Is that my Christmas present? Seriously, though, the stuff I said about Nolan Ryan is true. Our family has a ranch/farm in South Dakota and for four years in a row he flew up in a small plane and bought several premium bulls at our bull sale. Although he didn't stay at our place, he did attend the pre-sale meal we always have the night before. He stayed two nights each time. It was the thrill of my Dad's life and we even mentioned it as his funeral if Oct. of 08. My Dad was a sports nut and a good athlete and meeting Nolan was a highlight for him, for sure.
If you don't belive me, I'll send you a pic of a pic (I'm not too high tech, so don't have it scanned) with my Dad's pic with Nolan with Nolan's arm around him...
That said..everything I said about waiting 6 or 7 years still applies..hahahaha.
Happy Holidays!!
There's a neat little Bob Feller museum in Van Meter, outside of Des Moines just off I-80, if you ever get out that way. He was also the first Major League player to volunteer for service after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Some say he had threw a heater at a greater speed than Ryan.
Bullet Bob Feller will be missed.
Well, Fung, to tell you the truth, I do know Nolan personally as he attended quite a few of my father's cattle sales back in South Dakota (he would fly up in his private plane..although someone else flew the plane) and bought some bulls from my father. And, yes, that's the truth. That was a few years ago before he became President of the Rangers. I think he attended our sales for about four years. He stayed over night in the small town in South Dakota where I grew up and bought bulls at the annual sale. He loved it because everyone left him alone and yet he could do his cattle business.
Bet you are a little surprised, aren't you?
Check it out of you want. Ask him if he ever bought many bulls from someone who held an annual sale in South Dakota..then report back to me.
In fact, my Dad talked with him quite a bit and has several autographed baseballs and pics of him shaking hands with Nolan as my Dad was quite a baseball player and fan.
But all I really wanted to convey was you can brag once the Rangers have won several division titles while being in the lower fourth of the average salary paid per team or you can whine about their manager not getting manager of the year once they've won 6 or 7 division titles.
Until then...good luck.
The email was for you, not Ranger's mangement. However, I have learned they lurk on this board...so are you Nolan?? ;)
Hey, your team salarywise is where the Twins have been while winning 7 division titles!
True, this year the Twins had a higher payroll (and won the division).
Congrats for the Rangers' overperformance!! Now do it 6 more times with the same realtive low payroll and I'll congraulate the Texas Rangers. I'll even give credit for two division titles this year for winning the ALCS. So, you only have to win 5 more now with the same salary standing in order to be where the Twins have been.
;) It's easy to do a lot of things once or twice...it's hard to do it multiple times over a number of years so it becomes more than luck.
We shall find out if it was skill or luck 5 years from now unless the Rangers' team payroll rises significantly. Then you'll just hear what the Yankee and Red Sox fans hear every year.
"I would expect a top payroll team to win."
Cheers!!
LOL.
Yes, to another dome. LOL.
And it's not helping them. ;)