That's right, the Twins account for half the cycles hit in the majors this year. Kubel got one back in April and now tonight Cuddyer hit his. Kubel got his off a dramatic grand slam. Cuddyer's was off an equally exciting triple.
After tonight the Twins have scored 31 runs in their past two games. Now that's what I'm talking about. As much as I would love to see a pitcher's duel over a home run barrage, I was in the need for a little action, baseball action that is.
Twins win 11-3
Record: 20-23
Friday, May 22, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Opposite field
So the Twins have outscored their opponents 42-36 over the past 7 games, and oh by the way, they had lost 6 of those before finally winning today. Confusing stat? Well not after seeing today's final score of 20-1 against the White Sox. Baseball can be a confusing game, and to think the Twins scored more runs today than they have the past 6 games, just confirms the fact that anything can happen any day. And by anything, I mean Matt Tolbert going yard for his first career home run.
Joe Mauer hit his 8th home run of the year, which happened to be a grand slam. I promise I have not seen the highlights from today, but I'm going to predict that Mauer's home run was not hit to the right side of the center field wall. (I'm going to go watch the highlights real quick...)
Weird, a home run to left-center field. How predictable is that guy with his power? Quite honestly it really impressive how often he goes oppo. I need a stat junkie to find me the answer to highest percentage of opposite field home runs (minimum 100) in baseball history. I know some rube has that useless info somewhere.
The Twins have the Brewers in town this weekend for a quick preview of inter league play. Sports cliche upcoming.....After today, let's hope they have some runs left in their bats!
Count on Mauer for 2 home runs this weekend, oppo style
Record: 19-23
Joe Mauer hit his 8th home run of the year, which happened to be a grand slam. I promise I have not seen the highlights from today, but I'm going to predict that Mauer's home run was not hit to the right side of the center field wall. (I'm going to go watch the highlights real quick...)
Weird, a home run to left-center field. How predictable is that guy with his power? Quite honestly it really impressive how often he goes oppo. I need a stat junkie to find me the answer to highest percentage of opposite field home runs (minimum 100) in baseball history. I know some rube has that useless info somewhere.
The Twins have the Brewers in town this weekend for a quick preview of inter league play. Sports cliche upcoming.....After today, let's hope they have some runs left in their bats!
Count on Mauer for 2 home runs this weekend, oppo style
Record: 19-23
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Treading Water
7:40pm CST
The Twinsies are treading water the past week or so. Mauer plays his first game last Friday and hits a home run with his first swing. The team, which is always bigger than the player went 1-2 over the weekend to the Royals and have gone 2-4 since Mauer's return.
Alexi Casilla was sent down to the JV team yesterday. This is move that needed to be made more for Casilla than anyone else. The Twins replaced Casilla on the active roster with Matt Tolbert, who is younger version of Nick Punto. Tolbert is all fundamental, all the time. He won't win nor lose any game for the Twins. Tolbert, much like Punto are guys where you can fill out their stat line before the game starts: 1-3 with a walk, infield single, pop up w/runner in scoring position and a groundout to short where the throw barely beats the head first slide by Tolbert/Punto.
7:56 CST
Mauer singles to tie the game 4-4.
8:53 CST
Twins lose 5-4 and are 2-5 since Mauer's return. I enjoy pointing that out even though I know it doesn't carry any weight.
Record: 13-16
The Twinsies are treading water the past week or so. Mauer plays his first game last Friday and hits a home run with his first swing. The team, which is always bigger than the player went 1-2 over the weekend to the Royals and have gone 2-4 since Mauer's return.
Alexi Casilla was sent down to the JV team yesterday. This is move that needed to be made more for Casilla than anyone else. The Twins replaced Casilla on the active roster with Matt Tolbert, who is younger version of Nick Punto. Tolbert is all fundamental, all the time. He won't win nor lose any game for the Twins. Tolbert, much like Punto are guys where you can fill out their stat line before the game starts: 1-3 with a walk, infield single, pop up w/runner in scoring position and a groundout to short where the throw barely beats the head first slide by Tolbert/Punto.
7:56 CST
Mauer singles to tie the game 4-4.
8:53 CST
Twins lose 5-4 and are 2-5 since Mauer's return. I enjoy pointing that out even though I know it doesn't carry any weight.
Record: 13-16
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Hot Tips
A couple hot tips off the bat...
-Get Joe Mauer in your fantasy baseball starting lineup now!
-Jose Morales is making a strong case for having the largest differential between offensive and defensive ability in MLB history
-Learned lessons: Never leave a baseball game early, even if you got the tickets for free
An example of that final hot tip:
I know a guy (we'll call him Slick Noffman) who was at the game where Kubel not only hit for the cycle, but hit a grand slam to complete the cycle. To top it off the Twins came from down 9-4 in 8th to win it. What a great game for "Slick to be at, huh? Maybe so, if only he wasn't getting a phone call from his buddy telling him of the unpredictable ending.
Two weeks later, Mr. Noffman returned to where he had left the scene of the horrific accident. Only this time, he would see it through to the end where Justin Morneau hit a walk-off (no, not home run) fielders choice.
The Twins have gone .500 without Mauer and you can bet there aren't any complaints from inside the organization. On a side note, the over/under on Joe Mauer non-baseball related injuries the remainder of the season has been set at 1.5.
Record: 11-11
-Get Joe Mauer in your fantasy baseball starting lineup now!
-Jose Morales is making a strong case for having the largest differential between offensive and defensive ability in MLB history
-Learned lessons: Never leave a baseball game early, even if you got the tickets for free
An example of that final hot tip:
I know a guy (we'll call him Slick Noffman) who was at the game where Kubel not only hit for the cycle, but hit a grand slam to complete the cycle. To top it off the Twins came from down 9-4 in 8th to win it. What a great game for "Slick to be at, huh? Maybe so, if only he wasn't getting a phone call from his buddy telling him of the unpredictable ending.
Two weeks later, Mr. Noffman returned to where he had left the scene of the horrific accident. Only this time, he would see it through to the end where Justin Morneau hit a walk-off (no, not home run) fielders choice.
The Twins have gone .500 without Mauer and you can bet there aren't any complaints from inside the organization. On a side note, the over/under on Joe Mauer non-baseball related injuries the remainder of the season has been set at 1.5.
Record: 11-11
Friday, April 24, 2009
Start to Finish
For the first time in 17 games, which happens to be every game this season, the Twins did not trail at all tonight. They are very fortunate that their record (8-9) is as good as it is considering how often they have dug themselves a hole.
Looking forward...
Joe Mauer is continuing his dominance of the pimple faced pitchers in minor league "A" ball. Word on the street is that he will be back by the end of the month. Only a couple more weeks before we get to hear Joe Mauer's entrance music again by local artist A&R. I've heard the song, and I'm really questioning the decision making behind this selection. Did Mauer have an agreement with A&R to throw a game last year and when he didn't come through, A&R said "Joe, you know what this means, right? It means you must have the theme song I wrote for you played every time you come to the plate for the rest of your career, and it's going to embarrass the hell out of you."
Here it is!
Back to the team, the Twins are in a good spot...1.5 games out of first place and 2 games out of the wild card lead. It's never too early to start thinking about postseason play.
Record: 7-8
Looking forward...
Joe Mauer is continuing his dominance of the pimple faced pitchers in minor league "A" ball. Word on the street is that he will be back by the end of the month. Only a couple more weeks before we get to hear Joe Mauer's entrance music again by local artist A&R. I've heard the song, and I'm really questioning the decision making behind this selection. Did Mauer have an agreement with A&R to throw a game last year and when he didn't come through, A&R said "Joe, you know what this means, right? It means you must have the theme song I wrote for you played every time you come to the plate for the rest of your career, and it's going to embarrass the hell out of you."
Here it is!
Back to the team, the Twins are in a good spot...1.5 games out of first place and 2 games out of the wild card lead. It's never too early to start thinking about postseason play.
Record: 7-8
Monday, April 20, 2009
Sexy Baseball Music
First things first, I need to mention that the reason for the blog lapse was due to a weekend vacation in the District of Columbia. I spent the better part of three days letting Bo chase me around the White House.
Now on to some baseball...
I was in attendance last Wednesday when the Twins lost to the Blue Jays 12-2. I really don't want to recap that game, but there was one thing that did catch my attention during the snoozer. When Mike Redmond stepped to the plate early in the game I was shocked to hear a classic 80's tune (or at least according to me). The first question I asked myself was "why the hell is Mike Redmond playing this song"
Here is the music video of the song. Cue the chorus at 1:15...
The song is titled We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off by Jermaine Stewart. The significance of this song to Mike Redmond is that he enjoys walking around the locker room completely naked. I'm not sure why he insists on these antics, but I guess you have to give it to the guy for having the comfort to watch tv, play cards or drink beer while naked in front of 25 other guys.
Although the Twins are 7-7 on the year I have noticed that all of their losses have to come against a division leading team. The Mariners lead the West, White Sox lead the Central and the Blue Jays lead the East. I tend to find obscure stats like these throughout a long baseball season as ways to keep me believing that the Twins are always in contention.
The Twins go to Fenway tomorrow for a grueling 2 game series. I don't know when these became trendy, but why even unpack your bags if you are the visiting team.
That's all for now.
Record: 7-7
Now on to some baseball...
I was in attendance last Wednesday when the Twins lost to the Blue Jays 12-2. I really don't want to recap that game, but there was one thing that did catch my attention during the snoozer. When Mike Redmond stepped to the plate early in the game I was shocked to hear a classic 80's tune (or at least according to me). The first question I asked myself was "why the hell is Mike Redmond playing this song"
Here is the music video of the song. Cue the chorus at 1:15...
The song is titled We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off by Jermaine Stewart. The significance of this song to Mike Redmond is that he enjoys walking around the locker room completely naked. I'm not sure why he insists on these antics, but I guess you have to give it to the guy for having the comfort to watch tv, play cards or drink beer while naked in front of 25 other guys.
Although the Twins are 7-7 on the year I have noticed that all of their losses have to come against a division leading team. The Mariners lead the West, White Sox lead the Central and the Blue Jays lead the East. I tend to find obscure stats like these throughout a long baseball season as ways to keep me believing that the Twins are always in contention.
The Twins go to Fenway tomorrow for a grueling 2 game series. I don't know when these became trendy, but why even unpack your bags if you are the visiting team.
That's all for now.
Record: 7-7
Monday, April 13, 2009
Back Home
7:46pm
Coming off a 2 game losing streak the Twins got some offense going again tonight against a pitcher who has nothing on me when it comes to growing the red beard. I really feel like I'm in heaven right now. I'm sitting on my couch, got my Twins hat on, just finished two chili dogs and weiner water soup is on the stovetop for a pre-bedtime drink.
The Twins have a new starter tonight. Brian Buscher is getting his first start of the season tonight. He is the last member of the team to start a game this season. Speaking of Buscher, it reminds me of a lame attempt at joke Dick Bremer pulled off a few years ago. During pregame he said, "tonight we have a (Brian) Buscher, a (Scott) Baker, but no candlestick maker". I can't help but think of Bremer as the Grandpa who comes into the 1st grade classroom at naptime to read Where the Wild Things Are to all the little kids.
Coming off a 2 game losing streak the Twins got some offense going again tonight against a pitcher who has nothing on me when it comes to growing the red beard. I really feel like I'm in heaven right now. I'm sitting on my couch, got my Twins hat on, just finished two chili dogs and weiner water soup is on the stovetop for a pre-bedtime drink.
The Twins have a new starter tonight. Brian Buscher is getting his first start of the season tonight. He is the last member of the team to start a game this season. Speaking of Buscher, it reminds me of a lame attempt at joke Dick Bremer pulled off a few years ago. During pregame he said, "tonight we have a (Brian) Buscher, a (Scott) Baker, but no candlestick maker". I can't help but think of Bremer as the Grandpa who comes into the 1st grade classroom at naptime to read Where the Wild Things Are to all the little kids.
10:47pm
The pitching let the Twins down tonight. I think Slowey gave up 14 or so hits in a little more than 5 innings pitched. Toronto has a hell of an offense, it's just too bad they have 3 of their pitchers out for the year with arm injuries.
Twins lose 8-6.
Record: 3-5
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