I was surprised how many of the blogs I follow mentioned the death of Leonard Nimoy yesterday, blogs that normally don't mention anything but tech and sports. Spock it seems, was more than just a favorite of mine, he was somebody everyone remembered.
I'm posting these two youtube videos in tribute. One is Nimoy singing a tribute of his own to Bilbo Baggins. The other, a commercial he did with the "other" Spock.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGF5ROpjRAU&app=desktop
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPkByAkAdZs&app=desktop
Both show that he was much more than Spock. His skills will be greatly missed.
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Bulls, Missing Three Starters, Beat Wolves Without Resting Garnett
I'm pretty proud of that headline, so I'll just leave it right there.
Friday, February 27, 2015
Former Twins
Nick Punto had signed a minor league contract with the Diamondbacks in the off-season. But he decided NOT to go to camp with them. At 37, it looks like he called it a career.
Johan Santana, despite his recent arm problems, has signed a minor league deal with the Blue Jays. No one expects it to go further, but Toronto is willing to give Johann one last chance.
Johan Santana, despite his recent arm problems, has signed a minor league deal with the Blue Jays. No one expects it to go further, but Toronto is willing to give Johann one last chance.
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Garnett's Back
Garnett didn't contribute much on the floor, but you could sure see the enthusiasm by the sellout crowd and the players. And that led to a rather easy win over a much improved Washington team.
The first quarter was a little rough, but then-- BOOM!
Welcome back Kevin.
The first quarter was a little rough, but then-- BOOM!
Welcome back Kevin.
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
The Art of the Change-up
A few seasons back, the Twins led the league in pitchers who threw change-ups. Radke, Santana, and Liriano were masters of throwing off-speed pitches, often with devastating results to the hitters. They didn't just throw change-ups, they threw them effectively.
Last year the Twins staff threw less than 10% change-ups, relying on their fastballs to get batters out. That's one of the primary reasons that the pitching staff as a whole was so ineffective. They didn't fool anybody.
So what should be different for the Twins THIS year?
New pitching coach, Neil Allen.
Over the last three seasons, Tampa Bay's young pitching staff threw almost 20% of their pitches as change-ups. They led the league in that category. The reason? Neil Allen was their Triple A pitching coach. He groomed all of those young pitchers in the subtle art of deception. And it paid off in dividends for the Tampa Bay staff. There was a reason that Tampa Bay, a team that spends so little money on anything, produced so many good young pitchers year after year.
Fast balls do not give average pitchers strikeouts. Change-ups get them strikeouts. The fastball sets up the batter. The change-up knocks 'em out. If Allen is going to make a difference in the Twins pitching staff THIS season, we should see the results in the form of more strikeouts brought about by properly thrown change-ups.
Baseball is so much more than throwing the ball and hoping the other guy misses it. It's setting up the batter and PLANNING on him missing it. That's the difference between poor teams and good teams. And good teams and great teams.
Hopefully Allen can instill that same attitude in both a veteran pitching staff and the young guys waiting in the wings. If one man can make a difference in whole ball club quickly, it's the pitching coach. I'm planning on Allen doing that for the Twins this season way more than Molitor or Hunter.
And he's got all of spring training to work out the details.
One last note: Phil Hughes throws an awful change-up. I don't want him to change anything. He is a great pitcher who relies on supreme control for his success. I don't want Allen touching him. Great pitchers don't need the change-up. Average pitchers become much better with it.
I hope Allen knows that as well. Otherwise we are going to see a frustrated Phil Hughes this year, And nobody wants that.
Last year the Twins staff threw less than 10% change-ups, relying on their fastballs to get batters out. That's one of the primary reasons that the pitching staff as a whole was so ineffective. They didn't fool anybody.
So what should be different for the Twins THIS year?
New pitching coach, Neil Allen.
Over the last three seasons, Tampa Bay's young pitching staff threw almost 20% of their pitches as change-ups. They led the league in that category. The reason? Neil Allen was their Triple A pitching coach. He groomed all of those young pitchers in the subtle art of deception. And it paid off in dividends for the Tampa Bay staff. There was a reason that Tampa Bay, a team that spends so little money on anything, produced so many good young pitchers year after year.
Fast balls do not give average pitchers strikeouts. Change-ups get them strikeouts. The fastball sets up the batter. The change-up knocks 'em out. If Allen is going to make a difference in the Twins pitching staff THIS season, we should see the results in the form of more strikeouts brought about by properly thrown change-ups.
Baseball is so much more than throwing the ball and hoping the other guy misses it. It's setting up the batter and PLANNING on him missing it. That's the difference between poor teams and good teams. And good teams and great teams.
Hopefully Allen can instill that same attitude in both a veteran pitching staff and the young guys waiting in the wings. If one man can make a difference in whole ball club quickly, it's the pitching coach. I'm planning on Allen doing that for the Twins this season way more than Molitor or Hunter.
And he's got all of spring training to work out the details.
One last note: Phil Hughes throws an awful change-up. I don't want him to change anything. He is a great pitcher who relies on supreme control for his success. I don't want Allen touching him. Great pitchers don't need the change-up. Average pitchers become much better with it.
I hope Allen knows that as well. Otherwise we are going to see a frustrated Phil Hughes this year, And nobody wants that.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Hope Springs Eternal
Most pitchers and catchers are now in camp. I'll be even more excited when the rest of the players show up later this week.
There's something about the beginning of a new baseball season that gives even the most jaded fans hope. At this point, we are just as good as anybody else. It's what the team does from this point on that matters.
Yesterday I started thinking about the lesser remembered Twins that had great rookie seasons or that were on the roster and performed well for a few seasons but will probably never be in any hall of fame. They were the guys that surprised and turned bleak seasons around so that we could compete for full seasons at a time.
Guys like Ceasar Tovar, Brant Alyea, Danny Ford, Larry Hisle, and Gary Ward. Others like Kenny Landraux, Rich Reese, and Glenn Addams who had great bats for a few seasons. How about Hoskins Powell or Bombo Rivera during the lean years?
Or pitchers like Dave Boswell and Dave Goltz.
Growing up, these were the guys that you remember.
The Twins honor their greats with statues and inductions. But most fans forget the "pretty goods."
It's those guys who helped turn pretty good seasons into great seasons, and great seasons into championship ones.
Baseball is lot like fishing. Even a bad day is a pretty good one as long as there's a game on.
Will the Twins have 100 wins this year? Most likely not. But they'll have their share. And each of those wins will be sweet. All 60 of them.
Ask me how I feel about the Twins in late August and you might get a different answer. But right now they're MY TEAM. And they ARE just as good as anybody else.
Except their defense...
There's something about the beginning of a new baseball season that gives even the most jaded fans hope. At this point, we are just as good as anybody else. It's what the team does from this point on that matters.
Yesterday I started thinking about the lesser remembered Twins that had great rookie seasons or that were on the roster and performed well for a few seasons but will probably never be in any hall of fame. They were the guys that surprised and turned bleak seasons around so that we could compete for full seasons at a time.
Guys like Ceasar Tovar, Brant Alyea, Danny Ford, Larry Hisle, and Gary Ward. Others like Kenny Landraux, Rich Reese, and Glenn Addams who had great bats for a few seasons. How about Hoskins Powell or Bombo Rivera during the lean years?
Or pitchers like Dave Boswell and Dave Goltz.
Growing up, these were the guys that you remember.
The Twins honor their greats with statues and inductions. But most fans forget the "pretty goods."
It's those guys who helped turn pretty good seasons into great seasons, and great seasons into championship ones.
Baseball is lot like fishing. Even a bad day is a pretty good one as long as there's a game on.
Will the Twins have 100 wins this year? Most likely not. But they'll have their share. And each of those wins will be sweet. All 60 of them.
Ask me how I feel about the Twins in late August and you might get a different answer. But right now they're MY TEAM. And they ARE just as good as anybody else.
Except their defense...
Peterson's Agent
It seems Adrian Peterson's agent is just as caustic as Adrian. Yesterday, at the scouting combine, he confronted the Vikings vice president of football operations in a rather heated display vowing that Peterson would never play for the Vikings again. Rumors say they had to be separated physically.
Just more Peterson manipulation and posturing at this point. What an all-time loser. Please, Adrian, take your ball and go home. I didn't think we could replace Robert Smith when he retired a few seasons back, but I've learned a lot since then. We'll replace you, too. Maybe with a two-back system that doen't put so much pressure on one person performing.
We'll be fine either way. You? You need help either way.
Just more Peterson manipulation and posturing at this point. What an all-time loser. Please, Adrian, take your ball and go home. I didn't think we could replace Robert Smith when he retired a few seasons back, but I've learned a lot since then. We'll replace you, too. Maybe with a two-back system that doen't put so much pressure on one person performing.
We'll be fine either way. You? You need help either way.
Monday, February 23, 2015
Hollywood's Elitists
I'm surprised the Oscars are still relevant and one of the most watched shows on television. It's not really a "best of" celebration as it is an elitist bunch of Hollywood people who work in the industry promoting the types of movies THEY like. You know, the movies that very few people see, and even fewer people care about.
In a society where practically everyone has a blog or Facebook page to voice THEIR opinion, why do they even remotely care about someone else's?
IF a requirement for watching the Oscars was that you had to SEE even 20% of the movies nominated, NO ONE would qualify to watch. Even those who DO VOTE on the winners frequently don't see many of the movies.
So what you have is a bunch of people watching a show about movies they will never see, voted on by a bunch of people who have never seen the movies either.
How can movies that generate so very little interest be declared "the best"?
Like all awards shows, I skipped this one.
If the primary reason YOU watched it was to see Neil Patrick Harris in his underwear or women in their dresses, I'll give you a pass. I don't understand that, but I know reality shows are popular for the same reason. But why do so many other people watch?
Me? I discovered some new channels on my TV last night. Antennae TV and ME TV has been joined by the Heroes and Icons channel. My wife and I got to see the first eposode of Wild Wild West with Dr. Lovelace in it. I was amazed at how talented Michael Dunn was in his role.
Then we watched Public Television the rest of the night.
We're elitists ourselves, in our own way. It's just that we watch GOOD stuff...
In a society where practically everyone has a blog or Facebook page to voice THEIR opinion, why do they even remotely care about someone else's?
IF a requirement for watching the Oscars was that you had to SEE even 20% of the movies nominated, NO ONE would qualify to watch. Even those who DO VOTE on the winners frequently don't see many of the movies.
So what you have is a bunch of people watching a show about movies they will never see, voted on by a bunch of people who have never seen the movies either.
How can movies that generate so very little interest be declared "the best"?
Like all awards shows, I skipped this one.
If the primary reason YOU watched it was to see Neil Patrick Harris in his underwear or women in their dresses, I'll give you a pass. I don't understand that, but I know reality shows are popular for the same reason. But why do so many other people watch?
Me? I discovered some new channels on my TV last night. Antennae TV and ME TV has been joined by the Heroes and Icons channel. My wife and I got to see the first eposode of Wild Wild West with Dr. Lovelace in it. I was amazed at how talented Michael Dunn was in his role.
Then we watched Public Television the rest of the night.
We're elitists ourselves, in our own way. It's just that we watch GOOD stuff...
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Jamis Winston and Marcus Mariota
The last two Heisman Trophy winners squared off at the NFL scouting combine yesterday. Both were super, super impressive. With Winston's shoulder strength now in doubt, the focus is turning more to Mariota, who threw long, to receivers he was unacquainted with, with ease. Something he didn't do much in college simply because he didn't have to.
He removed all doubt about his athleticism as well, besting Famous Jamis in every fitness skill required.
Mariota was top-tier, having run one of his 40-yard dashes in 4.52 seconds -- or faster than 10 of the wide receivers who ran in their workouts Saturday -- to go with a 36-inch vertical jump and a 10 foot, 1-inch standing broad jump. He had the fastest 40-yard dash time among all 15 quarterbacks as well.
Winston, at 231 pounds, ran his two 40s in 4.97 and 4.99 seconds, respectively, to go with a 28 ½-inch vertical jump and a broad jump of 8-7.
IF I was looking for a QB I'd go with the one who has demonstrated less drama in his personal life. Knowing he has the greater physical skills would make that decision easier.
Knowing the NFL, their GMs will do just the opposite.
He removed all doubt about his athleticism as well, besting Famous Jamis in every fitness skill required.
Mariota was top-tier, having run one of his 40-yard dashes in 4.52 seconds -- or faster than 10 of the wide receivers who ran in their workouts Saturday -- to go with a 36-inch vertical jump and a 10 foot, 1-inch standing broad jump. He had the fastest 40-yard dash time among all 15 quarterbacks as well.
Winston, at 231 pounds, ran his two 40s in 4.97 and 4.99 seconds, respectively, to go with a 28 ½-inch vertical jump and a broad jump of 8-7.
IF I was looking for a QB I'd go with the one who has demonstrated less drama in his personal life. Knowing he has the greater physical skills would make that decision easier.
Knowing the NFL, their GMs will do just the opposite.
Saturday, February 21, 2015
DH
In honor of MLB increasing the pace-of-play this season, I'm also increasing the pace of my Twins position previews.
It's only fair.
The Twins are one of the few Amecican League clubs who have rarely had a regular DH. They like alternating their regular position players into the slot as a way of giving them a day off without losing their bats from the line-up. Lately, Jim Thome was the closet thing we had to a real DH, but even he was a specialist depending on if a righty or lefty was pitching. Jason Kubel was used the same way.
That kind of made sense for the Twins. Joe Mauer didn't have the knees to catch every day, but at one time, he was considered the best hitter in baseball. As good a catcher as he was, his bat was far more important to the Twins success.
Last year, they tried Kendrys Morales out as their mostly full-time DH. That's the first time they had attempted that since David Ortiz was a pup. After dumping Morlaes, they tried out their own version of a man-mountain, Kennys Vargas in the slot.
He had great success in August at the position, batting .308, but quickly faded in September, batting only .228 that month with greater playing time. Most say he didn't have a very good command of the strike zone and pitchers learned to exploit that.
He worked on that weakness in winter ball this off-season drawing far more walks than was usual for him. He apparently IS learning patience at the plate. He is the anticipated Twins DH this season.
But what if he fails? Well the Twins have a real lousy catcher on their roster. And he's not there because of his glove. He's there to give our primary catcher a break every now and then and to HIT. Someone once described his defensive prowess as a "genuine handcap." (OUCH!)
The thing is, Pinto hits so well that they may leave him play catcher more just to keep his bat in the line-up. That brings us back to Vargas. IF BOTH HIT WELL, BOTH WILL MOST LIKELY PLAY A LOT.
And let's not forget, we have an outfielder who is the equivalent of Pinto on defense attempting to play left field for us this year. Arcia has got a pretty good bat as well. IF Vargas fails, we could be tempted to leave Pinto behind the plate and switch Arcia to DH.
Does anybody else see a trend here? The Twins hit GREAT last year. They also had the second worse metric fielding stats in all of baseball. If not for Cleveland's historically bad defense we would have easily been the worst. The Twins really shouldn't have to worry about their DH this season . They have lots of good options there. It's just that you don't want to see any of them near a glove.
It's only fair.
The Twins are one of the few Amecican League clubs who have rarely had a regular DH. They like alternating their regular position players into the slot as a way of giving them a day off without losing their bats from the line-up. Lately, Jim Thome was the closet thing we had to a real DH, but even he was a specialist depending on if a righty or lefty was pitching. Jason Kubel was used the same way.
That kind of made sense for the Twins. Joe Mauer didn't have the knees to catch every day, but at one time, he was considered the best hitter in baseball. As good a catcher as he was, his bat was far more important to the Twins success.
Last year, they tried Kendrys Morales out as their mostly full-time DH. That's the first time they had attempted that since David Ortiz was a pup. After dumping Morlaes, they tried out their own version of a man-mountain, Kennys Vargas in the slot.
He had great success in August at the position, batting .308, but quickly faded in September, batting only .228 that month with greater playing time. Most say he didn't have a very good command of the strike zone and pitchers learned to exploit that.
He worked on that weakness in winter ball this off-season drawing far more walks than was usual for him. He apparently IS learning patience at the plate. He is the anticipated Twins DH this season.
But what if he fails? Well the Twins have a real lousy catcher on their roster. And he's not there because of his glove. He's there to give our primary catcher a break every now and then and to HIT. Someone once described his defensive prowess as a "genuine handcap." (OUCH!)
The thing is, Pinto hits so well that they may leave him play catcher more just to keep his bat in the line-up. That brings us back to Vargas. IF BOTH HIT WELL, BOTH WILL MOST LIKELY PLAY A LOT.
And let's not forget, we have an outfielder who is the equivalent of Pinto on defense attempting to play left field for us this year. Arcia has got a pretty good bat as well. IF Vargas fails, we could be tempted to leave Pinto behind the plate and switch Arcia to DH.
Does anybody else see a trend here? The Twins hit GREAT last year. They also had the second worse metric fielding stats in all of baseball. If not for Cleveland's historically bad defense we would have easily been the worst. The Twins really shouldn't have to worry about their DH this season . They have lots of good options there. It's just that you don't want to see any of them near a glove.
Garnett Back: BOOM! Wolves Beat Phoenix
There was an enthusiastic packed house at Target Center last night with the highly anticipated return of their greatest legend, the immortal Kevin Garnett.
AND Garnett didn't show...
Phoenix was wiped out this week. They had traded two of their big name players yesterday and only dressed 10. They had also lost six of their last seven and looked horrible in doing so. The Wolves managed to hang on and beat them by two points at the end after allowing 67 second half points.
Wolves fans found out later that Garnett is going to "take some time" off and MAYBE rejoin the team next Wednesday (or so).
All hail the conquering hero...
AND Garnett didn't show...
Phoenix was wiped out this week. They had traded two of their big name players yesterday and only dressed 10. They had also lost six of their last seven and looked horrible in doing so. The Wolves managed to hang on and beat them by two points at the end after allowing 67 second half points.
Wolves fans found out later that Garnett is going to "take some time" off and MAYBE rejoin the team next Wednesday (or so).
All hail the conquering hero...
Friday, February 20, 2015
Fossils, Dinosaurs, and Stinky Garbage
Minnesota professional sports franchises are in a rut, at least the big three are. The Wild are making an impressive playoff run since acquiring a new goaltender, but the Twins, Wolves, and Vikes are all facing a similar situation, and its the kind of situation that polarizes their fan base instead of uniting them.
The question is, "When does a famous former (or aging/disagreeable) star become less than desirable to have around?" In other words, is there a point in time when a once great player can no longer help a franchise but actually hurt them?
The Twins signed Torii Hunter this last off season for one primary reason: to put nostalgic fans back in the seats at Target Field. It was primarily a business move by a desperate franchise. They feel paying him twice what he's worth at this point in his career, twice what anyone else offered, will get fans who are sick of a losing team back though the turnstiles, in effect, paying for his salary and generating early fan interest this season while hoping against hope that the Twins will be better this season than most expect.
There are some who think that the Twins got him to mentor younger guys like Buxton and Rosario, but insiders doubt Torii will be very good at that. He has a way of getting younger players angry rather than motivated (Justin Morneau has lots of stories and was happy to see Torii leave the first time), and his coaching ability has always been a question mark. Torii never worked very hard at being a fielder. He relied more on his speed and natural ability to do the job defensively. He never bothered learning the finer points of positioning and situations, which is why he is now the worst outfielder in baseball. He relied on his speed and arm, not his brain. And it's the THINKING things that good coaches relay to younger players.
I'd put Torii AND Twins management in the fossil category. Why fossil? They just lay there in the dirt hoping something good will be dug up.They continue to do the same old things that don't work while hoping the Twins defense and pitching is good enough to make the team better. I'm not saying it won't work because great hitting and pitching this year COULD happen, making up for both bad defense and management.
But history suggests that won't happen. Especially with the money pit at first base known as Joe Mauer.
Which brings us to one of the huge Minnesota sports stories from yesterday. Kevin Garnett and his $13.5 million salary are back in Minnesota. Garnett is not the player he used to be. No one disagrees with that. Over the last two seasons for Brooklyn he's averaged less than seven boards and seven points a game. And his old bones never play back to back games any more. And they had to give up a 26 year-old former first round draft pick to get him.
I'm not as opposed to THIS deal as the Twin's deal with Torii, but I don't like the idea that the Wolves have committed a roster spot and that much money toward salary cap to an old, part-time player. IF the Wolves had traded for any other player with those stats and that salary at that age, you would have thought they had gone crazy.
But it's KG!
Once more the nostalgia factor overrules common sense. At least Kevin Garnett practices hard and pushes himself and others every time he's out there. That potentially could be a good influence on some of the young stars the Wolves now have in their line-up. The problem is that Garnett is also known as a dirty player. He's always pushing and shoving while playing with a huge chip on his shoulder. He would lead the league in technical fouls if he played more. And much like other bullies, he always blames the other guy. A little shove by someone else often results in a retaliatory punch that gets him noticed and ejected. That is not a good thing. And he's gotten worse at that part of his game over the last few years. If you see him on Sports Center now days it won't be because of a triple double, it will be because he got ejected...again.
For all I know this is just the first step in Saunder's and Garnett OWNING the Wolves in a few years. Garnett has frequently stated that is one of his goals in life. By the time he's done playing, he will have over $350 million in salary from the NBA. No player has made more. Shaq is a distant second with $285 million or so. And rumors suggest that Garnett has invested his salary and endorsement money well.
Why don't I think this is a horrible idea, but merely a bad one? Because KG is a dinosaur, not a fossil. He still has life in him and he plays hard. He may be an aging T-Rex with a few teeth missing (metaphorically speaking) but there still are not many who want to challenge him.
I also don't mind losing Thaddeus Young. He'd cost the Wolves $10 million next season and still leave as a free agent the following season, AND he wasn't even a starter. He was a mistake as a first round draft pick and he played "too short" for his position as a power forward in the NBA. The Wolves got rid of baggage and maybe Brooklyn will figure out how to use him better.
Mainly I don't mind it because the Wolves never look like they're going anywhere. With or without KG the Wolves won't be any better one way or the other. They need another draft pick or two for anything good to happen to them. And KG doesn't prevent that from happening so it's all good. With KG the Wolves WERE once good. Maybe his influence will help more than it hurts this time around as well.
And now it's time to talk about stinky garbage.
Adrian Peterson, paving his way to join the Dallas Cowboys, came out swinging yesterday saying he doesn't trust Minnesota or its fans any more. He says the Vikings SAY they want him back but that, "they never had his back while he was going through this ordeal."
Where to begin? Adrian, you are NOT the victim in all of this. Your son is.
Period.
This is just another example in the long line of examples of YOU not taking responsibility for YOUR actions. We didn't beat your child. YOU did. We didn't use a charity's credit card for personal expenses. YOU did. We didn't smoke marijuana before a pre-trial drug test. YOU did. We didn't skip the NFL meeting where you had a chance to explain yourself and your regret over this horrible incident. YOU did. We didn't take the whole season off WITH PAY so that you could clear your name and then suddenly cop a plea bargain at the very end when you and your lawyers realized you'd be found guilty. YOU did.
And now you're blaming your team and your fans for noticing all of this and not forgiving you, even though you've never really demonstrated you are sorry for any of it. You aren't sorry for any of it, if you were, you'd be asking the fans and the Vikings and the league and the sponsors and children everywhere for forgiveness, and begging for a second chance.
Instead you accuse us for all your problems. Adrain Peterson, you are a jerk of the highest magnitude. You aren't sorry, you were merely "put out" by all of this. You were just mad all of this had to happen to YOU.
I don't understand the mindset of the Vikings fans who want you back. You aren't welcome here. Both your character and intelligence come into question daily.
I also have no doubt that on the proper team with the right circumstances you could still have two or three really good, maybe great, seasons left in you. But I can't stand the stench of you. Please go elsewhere. My Vikings smell bad enough without you.
Minnesota will smell better if you are not here.
The question is, "When does a famous former (or aging/disagreeable) star become less than desirable to have around?" In other words, is there a point in time when a once great player can no longer help a franchise but actually hurt them?
The Twins signed Torii Hunter this last off season for one primary reason: to put nostalgic fans back in the seats at Target Field. It was primarily a business move by a desperate franchise. They feel paying him twice what he's worth at this point in his career, twice what anyone else offered, will get fans who are sick of a losing team back though the turnstiles, in effect, paying for his salary and generating early fan interest this season while hoping against hope that the Twins will be better this season than most expect.
There are some who think that the Twins got him to mentor younger guys like Buxton and Rosario, but insiders doubt Torii will be very good at that. He has a way of getting younger players angry rather than motivated (Justin Morneau has lots of stories and was happy to see Torii leave the first time), and his coaching ability has always been a question mark. Torii never worked very hard at being a fielder. He relied more on his speed and natural ability to do the job defensively. He never bothered learning the finer points of positioning and situations, which is why he is now the worst outfielder in baseball. He relied on his speed and arm, not his brain. And it's the THINKING things that good coaches relay to younger players.
I'd put Torii AND Twins management in the fossil category. Why fossil? They just lay there in the dirt hoping something good will be dug up.They continue to do the same old things that don't work while hoping the Twins defense and pitching is good enough to make the team better. I'm not saying it won't work because great hitting and pitching this year COULD happen, making up for both bad defense and management.
But history suggests that won't happen. Especially with the money pit at first base known as Joe Mauer.
Which brings us to one of the huge Minnesota sports stories from yesterday. Kevin Garnett and his $13.5 million salary are back in Minnesota. Garnett is not the player he used to be. No one disagrees with that. Over the last two seasons for Brooklyn he's averaged less than seven boards and seven points a game. And his old bones never play back to back games any more. And they had to give up a 26 year-old former first round draft pick to get him.
I'm not as opposed to THIS deal as the Twin's deal with Torii, but I don't like the idea that the Wolves have committed a roster spot and that much money toward salary cap to an old, part-time player. IF the Wolves had traded for any other player with those stats and that salary at that age, you would have thought they had gone crazy.
But it's KG!
Once more the nostalgia factor overrules common sense. At least Kevin Garnett practices hard and pushes himself and others every time he's out there. That potentially could be a good influence on some of the young stars the Wolves now have in their line-up. The problem is that Garnett is also known as a dirty player. He's always pushing and shoving while playing with a huge chip on his shoulder. He would lead the league in technical fouls if he played more. And much like other bullies, he always blames the other guy. A little shove by someone else often results in a retaliatory punch that gets him noticed and ejected. That is not a good thing. And he's gotten worse at that part of his game over the last few years. If you see him on Sports Center now days it won't be because of a triple double, it will be because he got ejected...again.
For all I know this is just the first step in Saunder's and Garnett OWNING the Wolves in a few years. Garnett has frequently stated that is one of his goals in life. By the time he's done playing, he will have over $350 million in salary from the NBA. No player has made more. Shaq is a distant second with $285 million or so. And rumors suggest that Garnett has invested his salary and endorsement money well.
Why don't I think this is a horrible idea, but merely a bad one? Because KG is a dinosaur, not a fossil. He still has life in him and he plays hard. He may be an aging T-Rex with a few teeth missing (metaphorically speaking) but there still are not many who want to challenge him.
I also don't mind losing Thaddeus Young. He'd cost the Wolves $10 million next season and still leave as a free agent the following season, AND he wasn't even a starter. He was a mistake as a first round draft pick and he played "too short" for his position as a power forward in the NBA. The Wolves got rid of baggage and maybe Brooklyn will figure out how to use him better.
Mainly I don't mind it because the Wolves never look like they're going anywhere. With or without KG the Wolves won't be any better one way or the other. They need another draft pick or two for anything good to happen to them. And KG doesn't prevent that from happening so it's all good. With KG the Wolves WERE once good. Maybe his influence will help more than it hurts this time around as well.
And now it's time to talk about stinky garbage.
Adrian Peterson, paving his way to join the Dallas Cowboys, came out swinging yesterday saying he doesn't trust Minnesota or its fans any more. He says the Vikings SAY they want him back but that, "they never had his back while he was going through this ordeal."
Where to begin? Adrian, you are NOT the victim in all of this. Your son is.
Period.
This is just another example in the long line of examples of YOU not taking responsibility for YOUR actions. We didn't beat your child. YOU did. We didn't use a charity's credit card for personal expenses. YOU did. We didn't smoke marijuana before a pre-trial drug test. YOU did. We didn't skip the NFL meeting where you had a chance to explain yourself and your regret over this horrible incident. YOU did. We didn't take the whole season off WITH PAY so that you could clear your name and then suddenly cop a plea bargain at the very end when you and your lawyers realized you'd be found guilty. YOU did.
And now you're blaming your team and your fans for noticing all of this and not forgiving you, even though you've never really demonstrated you are sorry for any of it. You aren't sorry for any of it, if you were, you'd be asking the fans and the Vikings and the league and the sponsors and children everywhere for forgiveness, and begging for a second chance.
Instead you accuse us for all your problems. Adrain Peterson, you are a jerk of the highest magnitude. You aren't sorry, you were merely "put out" by all of this. You were just mad all of this had to happen to YOU.
I don't understand the mindset of the Vikings fans who want you back. You aren't welcome here. Both your character and intelligence come into question daily.
I also have no doubt that on the proper team with the right circumstances you could still have two or three really good, maybe great, seasons left in you. But I can't stand the stench of you. Please go elsewhere. My Vikings smell bad enough without you.
Minnesota will smell better if you are not here.
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Twins Right Field
The previews continue.
The most irritating aspect of the Twins offseason is the blithe assertion that Torii Hunter remains a good defensive outfielder.
Hunter, of course, was a perennial Gold Glove center fielder in his first go-around with the Twins. Now he's 39 and has played strictly right field since 2011, when he was with the Angels. The Twins will move Oswaldo Arcia to left to make room for the veteran.
Both Terry Ryan and Paul Molitor, during the press conference at which they paraded the signing, dismissed the defensive metrics that rank Hunter at the very bottom of regular outfielders. And they did so in a manner that suggests that they don't get it.
I am not claiming that the new-age measurements of defensive range and effectiveness are perfect. They aren't. But the flaws in the various systems are, if anything, minimized in the case of Hunter.
The metrics won't tell us much about the Twins shortstop contenders. The most devoted adherents of the metrics say the numbers need time -- three years of regular play. Neither Eduardo Escobar nor Danny Santana have enough time to make the numbers meaningful as an evaluation tool. In their cases, the eyeball test remains necessary.
Hunter is a different case. He has had three years of regular play -- three years of steadily declining proficiency. In 2012, (this is Baseball Info System's runs saved measurement) he was four runs to the good; in 2013, he gave away nine runs; last season, he was 17 runs worse than the average right fielder.
Ryan and Molitor don't care what the numbers say. We watched him play 30 or so games, the new manager said at the press conference, and he made the plays.
What the new manager is saying, in effect, is: We trust our subjective judgement in a fraction of the games more than an objective measurement over the full season. That makes little sense to me.
Nor does Ryan's insistence that the Twins outfield defense last year was acceptable or even good. It wasn't. The objective numbers tell us that, of course, but so did the eyeball test. It makes me wonder if the Twins have gone so long playing slow and awkward corner outfielders -- Delmon Young, Jason Kubel, Michael Cuddyer, Josh Willingham, Chris Parmelee, Arcia, Chris Colabello -- that they've lost track of what a good corner outfielder looks like.
Outfield defense was, emphatically, part of the problem last year (and the year before that). The day is long past when Hunter could repair that. He may not look as misplaced in the field as Willingham did, but he will still be part of the problem.
And the problem won't be solved until the general manager and manager acknowledge that there's a problem.
The most irritating aspect of the Twins offseason is the blithe assertion that Torii Hunter remains a good defensive outfielder.
Hunter, of course, was a perennial Gold Glove center fielder in his first go-around with the Twins. Now he's 39 and has played strictly right field since 2011, when he was with the Angels. The Twins will move Oswaldo Arcia to left to make room for the veteran.
Both Terry Ryan and Paul Molitor, during the press conference at which they paraded the signing, dismissed the defensive metrics that rank Hunter at the very bottom of regular outfielders. And they did so in a manner that suggests that they don't get it.
I am not claiming that the new-age measurements of defensive range and effectiveness are perfect. They aren't. But the flaws in the various systems are, if anything, minimized in the case of Hunter.
The metrics won't tell us much about the Twins shortstop contenders. The most devoted adherents of the metrics say the numbers need time -- three years of regular play. Neither Eduardo Escobar nor Danny Santana have enough time to make the numbers meaningful as an evaluation tool. In their cases, the eyeball test remains necessary.
Hunter is a different case. He has had three years of regular play -- three years of steadily declining proficiency. In 2012, (this is Baseball Info System's runs saved measurement) he was four runs to the good; in 2013, he gave away nine runs; last season, he was 17 runs worse than the average right fielder.
Ryan and Molitor don't care what the numbers say. We watched him play 30 or so games, the new manager said at the press conference, and he made the plays.
What the new manager is saying, in effect, is: We trust our subjective judgement in a fraction of the games more than an objective measurement over the full season. That makes little sense to me.
Nor does Ryan's insistence that the Twins outfield defense last year was acceptable or even good. It wasn't. The objective numbers tell us that, of course, but so did the eyeball test. It makes me wonder if the Twins have gone so long playing slow and awkward corner outfielders -- Delmon Young, Jason Kubel, Michael Cuddyer, Josh Willingham, Chris Parmelee, Arcia, Chris Colabello -- that they've lost track of what a good corner outfielder looks like.
Outfield defense was, emphatically, part of the problem last year (and the year before that). The day is long past when Hunter could repair that. He may not look as misplaced in the field as Willingham did, but he will still be part of the problem.
And the problem won't be solved until the general manager and manager acknowledge that there's a problem.
Defate Gate: Oops!
"Your right hand should not know what your left hand is doing."
The NFL follows that rule really well.
Turns out the story the NFL released to the public yesterday was MISSING a key part of the story. It seems that the ball that the Kraft employee gave to a game official was GIVEN to him by another NFL employee who collects actual game balls for charity purposes.
Since one of the special K balls (kicking special teams) was misplaced in pregame, the NFL employee simply gave the Kraft locker room guy another ball and told him to use that one instead. That's what the Kraft employee did.
A side note: Bob Kraft is a billionaire who owns the Patriots, Kraft foods, and lots of other little companies. He freely assigns jobs to to some of those employees, as a reward, so they can see Patriot games up close. It's one of things that makes him such a popular boss. I guess many major league sports owners do the same thing. The employee from yesterday has had this game day job for about a decade.
Notice I haven't used ANY names in my articles about any of this. That's because, unlike all the other sports journalists, I don't want to give the impression that these little guys are guilty of anything. This employee was vilified in the sports media yesterday because everyone else finally thought they had the smoking gun. I refused to play that game. This guy's name was mentioned over and over nation-wide yesterday and his reputation was called into question. Me? I said the NFL was at fault, not this guy. I refused to play that game.
Once more I was right.
This case is no closer to closing than it ever was, and now an innocent man's name has been dragged through the dust for nothing. I hope he sues the league for millions. Isn't it about time that the NFL admit their procedures need more tweaking and call this a day? Even Mike and Mike are getting sick of this story. And they talked about it for a week straight after it happened.
One last thing. I'm hearing more and more how the Colts GM requested that the officials keep a closer watch on the balls because of an inflation issue in a previous game with the Patriots. My question is why they didn't share that information with the Patriots BEFORE HAND to let them know they are watching. It would make more sense to PREVENT this kind of thing from happening than catching them in the act. It's like they wanted to catch the Patriots doing something wrong when all they really supposedly wanted was a clean game.
Think about it. Which of these procedures would have given them the clean game they wanted?
As we all see, they clearly made the wrong choice.
The NFL follows that rule really well.
Turns out the story the NFL released to the public yesterday was MISSING a key part of the story. It seems that the ball that the Kraft employee gave to a game official was GIVEN to him by another NFL employee who collects actual game balls for charity purposes.
Since one of the special K balls (kicking special teams) was misplaced in pregame, the NFL employee simply gave the Kraft locker room guy another ball and told him to use that one instead. That's what the Kraft employee did.
A side note: Bob Kraft is a billionaire who owns the Patriots, Kraft foods, and lots of other little companies. He freely assigns jobs to to some of those employees, as a reward, so they can see Patriot games up close. It's one of things that makes him such a popular boss. I guess many major league sports owners do the same thing. The employee from yesterday has had this game day job for about a decade.
Notice I haven't used ANY names in my articles about any of this. That's because, unlike all the other sports journalists, I don't want to give the impression that these little guys are guilty of anything. This employee was vilified in the sports media yesterday because everyone else finally thought they had the smoking gun. I refused to play that game. This guy's name was mentioned over and over nation-wide yesterday and his reputation was called into question. Me? I said the NFL was at fault, not this guy. I refused to play that game.
Once more I was right.
This case is no closer to closing than it ever was, and now an innocent man's name has been dragged through the dust for nothing. I hope he sues the league for millions. Isn't it about time that the NFL admit their procedures need more tweaking and call this a day? Even Mike and Mike are getting sick of this story. And they talked about it for a week straight after it happened.
One last thing. I'm hearing more and more how the Colts GM requested that the officials keep a closer watch on the balls because of an inflation issue in a previous game with the Patriots. My question is why they didn't share that information with the Patriots BEFORE HAND to let them know they are watching. It would make more sense to PREVENT this kind of thing from happening than catching them in the act. It's like they wanted to catch the Patriots doing something wrong when all they really supposedly wanted was a clean game.
Think about it. Which of these procedures would have given them the clean game they wanted?
As we all see, they clearly made the wrong choice.
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Deflate Gate: The Ongoing Saga
The NFL refuses to answer questions about the ongoing investigation BUT they keep on releasing weird bits of information about the incident.
Now, it seems, that a Kraft employee (not an employee of the Patriots, but a part-time guy paid for by the Kraft family) who only works on game days, tried to hand the officials an un-inspected kicking ball during the Colts' game. They said that is one of the reasons they decided to check all the balls at halftime.
I find it more interesting that the NFL keeps changing their story. I can see that they could FIND OUT more information as the investigation continues, but I don't see why THIS information wouldn't have come out IMMEDIATELY, if it truly is ONE OF THE REASONS WHY THEY FELT IT NECESSARY to re-check all the balls at halftime.
It's like they are trying to build the case AFTER the fact rather than as it happened.
To clarify:
They originally said they checked the balls during halftime because the Colts equipment guy noticed a ball that he handled during the game seemed a little under-inflated.
Then they said the reason they checked was because the Colts GM told them to watch for under-inflated balls BEFORE the game started.
Now they said they decided to check the balls because this guy tried to give them an unmarked (un-inspected) kicking ball.
If ALL of these things WERE the reasons, why weren't all of those reasons told us at the very beginning? You see, that information wouldn't have changed between then and now, AND it would have made the NFL look less stupid AND the Patriots look more guilty RIGHT AWAY. They would have had several good reasons for building a legitimate case against the Patriots.
Now it looks like they're trying to cover-up their own incompetence by changing the history of what really happened.
By adding these "facts" now THE NFL begins to look even more like the one's who have something to hide.
I have another question. If all game balls are to be identical, why does a league, that prides itself on keeping the game above reproach, have DIFFERENT BALLS for kick-offs and punts? Shouldn't ALL the balls in the actual game be INTERCHANGEABLE?
IF kicking a ball changes the balls so much that only special balls are allowed for that purpose, shouldn't the game be called footballs?
I said it before. And I'm going to keep saying it. The more the NFL investigates this, the less I will accept their findings.
They're just making all of this up as they go along, and by appearing thorough, they are just looking less and less credible as time goes on.
Now, it seems, that a Kraft employee (not an employee of the Patriots, but a part-time guy paid for by the Kraft family) who only works on game days, tried to hand the officials an un-inspected kicking ball during the Colts' game. They said that is one of the reasons they decided to check all the balls at halftime.
I find it more interesting that the NFL keeps changing their story. I can see that they could FIND OUT more information as the investigation continues, but I don't see why THIS information wouldn't have come out IMMEDIATELY, if it truly is ONE OF THE REASONS WHY THEY FELT IT NECESSARY to re-check all the balls at halftime.
It's like they are trying to build the case AFTER the fact rather than as it happened.
To clarify:
They originally said they checked the balls during halftime because the Colts equipment guy noticed a ball that he handled during the game seemed a little under-inflated.
Then they said the reason they checked was because the Colts GM told them to watch for under-inflated balls BEFORE the game started.
Now they said they decided to check the balls because this guy tried to give them an unmarked (un-inspected) kicking ball.
If ALL of these things WERE the reasons, why weren't all of those reasons told us at the very beginning? You see, that information wouldn't have changed between then and now, AND it would have made the NFL look less stupid AND the Patriots look more guilty RIGHT AWAY. They would have had several good reasons for building a legitimate case against the Patriots.
Now it looks like they're trying to cover-up their own incompetence by changing the history of what really happened.
By adding these "facts" now THE NFL begins to look even more like the one's who have something to hide.
I have another question. If all game balls are to be identical, why does a league, that prides itself on keeping the game above reproach, have DIFFERENT BALLS for kick-offs and punts? Shouldn't ALL the balls in the actual game be INTERCHANGEABLE?
IF kicking a ball changes the balls so much that only special balls are allowed for that purpose, shouldn't the game be called footballs?
I said it before. And I'm going to keep saying it. The more the NFL investigates this, the less I will accept their findings.
They're just making all of this up as they go along, and by appearing thorough, they are just looking less and less credible as time goes on.
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Monday, February 16, 2015
Four Degrees of Separation
I was talking to a friend of mine at church yesterday. He and his wife are expecting their first baby in a few weeks. He was talking about a friend of his that works at a restaurant with him in Marshall. The guy has a 5 month-old that's 23 pounds! By comparison, we have a two-year old at church, too. He weighs about 24 pounds. Suffice is to say, that is one big baby.
As most of you know, I follow pro wrestling pretty closely. I have been doing that for about 50 years. For a little more than a couple years one of my favorite heel (the bad guys) groups has been the Wyatt Family. They have kind of a backwoods cultish thing going on. Their leader, Bray, is a guy that talks real well about apocalyptic sort of things. He's got two huge guys working with him. Luke Harper, a very athletic 6 foot eight inch, 270 pound monster who can wrestle real well.
His tag team partner? Eric Rowan. Now, HE'S big. In a "sport" where big is relative, he's still pretty impressive. He's billed at 6 foot 10 and weighs around 330 pounds. And he's strong. He one of the few guys in wrestling that can pick up wrestling's largest giant, the Big Show, and body slam him easily. Even though Show has lost some weight recently, he's still in the 450 pound ballpark.
Eric Rowan is just one impressive physical specimen. He looks scary, too. He's bald, has a huge red beard, and wears a sheep's mask for good measure.
Getting back to my initial story, I asked my friend how big is co-worker is. He told me he's about 6 foot-five and easily 260 pounds. That starts to explain his baby's huge size. But you know what? That's only part of the story. It seems he's the runt of the family. His brother is just a monster.
And he works in wrestling.
For the WWE.
Yep, turns out Eric Rowan is his co-worker's brother.
I always knew Rowan was from Minnesota, but this is just cool. That's only four degrees of separation for me.
As most of you know, I follow pro wrestling pretty closely. I have been doing that for about 50 years. For a little more than a couple years one of my favorite heel (the bad guys) groups has been the Wyatt Family. They have kind of a backwoods cultish thing going on. Their leader, Bray, is a guy that talks real well about apocalyptic sort of things. He's got two huge guys working with him. Luke Harper, a very athletic 6 foot eight inch, 270 pound monster who can wrestle real well.
His tag team partner? Eric Rowan. Now, HE'S big. In a "sport" where big is relative, he's still pretty impressive. He's billed at 6 foot 10 and weighs around 330 pounds. And he's strong. He one of the few guys in wrestling that can pick up wrestling's largest giant, the Big Show, and body slam him easily. Even though Show has lost some weight recently, he's still in the 450 pound ballpark.
Eric Rowan is just one impressive physical specimen. He looks scary, too. He's bald, has a huge red beard, and wears a sheep's mask for good measure.
Getting back to my initial story, I asked my friend how big is co-worker is. He told me he's about 6 foot-five and easily 260 pounds. That starts to explain his baby's huge size. But you know what? That's only part of the story. It seems he's the runt of the family. His brother is just a monster.
And he works in wrestling.
For the WWE.
Yep, turns out Eric Rowan is his co-worker's brother.
I always knew Rowan was from Minnesota, but this is just cool. That's only four degrees of separation for me.
Sunday, February 15, 2015
Zach LaVine
Remember how yesterday I mentioned that T-Wolve Zach LaVine led his team USA squad in scoring in the young all-stars game?
Well he did something a lot cooler Saturday.
He WON THE NBA SLAM DUNK COMPETITION! And he did it easily. That kid's got some skilz.
I watched the winning dunks in slow motion a few times this morning and I think that Doctor J and Michael Jordan in their prime would not have a chance against LaVine in this contest. And he's only 19.
I may have to watch more Wolves games in the future just to see Lavine more often. We might not be winners, but we got some dazzle frrshizzle.
I'll stop now.
Well he did something a lot cooler Saturday.
He WON THE NBA SLAM DUNK COMPETITION! And he did it easily. That kid's got some skilz.
I watched the winning dunks in slow motion a few times this morning and I think that Doctor J and Michael Jordan in their prime would not have a chance against LaVine in this contest. And he's only 19.
I may have to watch more Wolves games in the future just to see Lavine more often. We might not be winners, but we got some dazzle frrshizzle.
I'll stop now.
How the Mighty Have Fallen
Last year, ESPN conducted a preseason poll among its baseball experts rating the top first basemen in baseball. You'll notice Joe Mauer was number FOUR on the list among mighty good peers.
This year USA Today has conducted a similar poll. Notice that Joe Mauer has dropped quite a bit based on last year's numbers and this year's expected results.
I've included one of the top fantasy baseball sites to show you what FANATICAL STAT GUYS now think of Minnesota's own.
None of the current results are very pretty. Joe Mauer is now looked at as a has-been. One more bad season and he won't be on anybody's list.
This year USA Today has conducted a similar poll. Notice that Joe Mauer has dropped quite a bit based on last year's numbers and this year's expected results.
I've included one of the top fantasy baseball sites to show you what FANATICAL STAT GUYS now think of Minnesota's own.
None of the current results are very pretty. Joe Mauer is now looked at as a has-been. One more bad season and he won't be on anybody's list.
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Wolves Shine in Rising Star Game
Canadian Andrew Wiggins of the T-Wolves got the MVP of last night's Rising Star All-Star game.
The format is a Team USA versus a Team World concept. That allowed another young Wolve, Zach LaVine to lead his team, the USA, in scoring as well. Both looked great and they led their respective teams with 22 points each.
In the real world, the Wolves are 11-42 with the second worst record in basketball. Obviously that game and their performances don't mean very much.
The Wolves, it seems, are always going to be a team "building for the future."
That and $5 will get you a small latte at Starbucks but you won't be able to leave a tip.
The format is a Team USA versus a Team World concept. That allowed another young Wolve, Zach LaVine to lead his team, the USA, in scoring as well. Both looked great and they led their respective teams with 22 points each.
In the real world, the Wolves are 11-42 with the second worst record in basketball. Obviously that game and their performances don't mean very much.
The Wolves, it seems, are always going to be a team "building for the future."
That and $5 will get you a small latte at Starbucks but you won't be able to leave a tip.
Friday, February 13, 2015
Center Field
With Spring Training rapidly approaching, I thought it best to step up my position previews.
When last season ended it was pretty obvious that Danny Santana was going to remain the Twins center fielder. He was the best choice. But new manager Paul Molitor has other ideas. More and more he sees Santana as THIS year's shortstop. Which means we have to settle for a far worse solution to our center field needs.
So if we ignore Danny Santana, who enters spring training a presumed shortstop, the Twins will open camp with three center fielders with multiple seasons of major league experience: Aaron Hicks, Shane Robinson and Jordan Schafer.
Hicks is 25 and a .201 career hitter in 538 plate appearances spread over two years. Those numbers are absolutely abysmal.
Robinson, a non-roster invitee signed after the Cardinals let him go, is 30 and a .231 career hitter (five seasons, less that 500 plate appearances)
Schafer is 28 and a .229 hitter (five years and nearly 1,400 plate appearances).
You can draw up various platoon possibilities out of these three. Schafer is left-handed, Robinson right-handed, Hicks a switch hitter. (I use that term lightly.) You might still envision Hicks as a regular, although that notion is increasingly dubious. No matter how you deploy this group, you get inadequacy. These are, at best, bench guys,
The best center field talent in camp (and this is true even if we count Santana as a center fielder) are two prospects coming off disappointing 2014s and ticketed for Double A: Byron Buxton, who had repeated injuries, and Eddie Rosario, who served a 50-game drug suspension.
Despite his 2014 stall, some still believe that if the Twins simply handed the center field job to Buxton this spring and let him play all year, his floor is something like .260 with 10 homers, 30 steals and Gold Glove caliber defense (assuming, of course, that he stayed intact). Rosario would probably put up a better batting average but with fewer steals and lesser defense.
IF Santana isn't the number one choice any more, I find it hard to argue with that.
You know to a dead certainty that the three "major leaguers" aren't going to come near those numbers. Not a dead certainty, but close to it, is that the Twins front office won't let Buxton sniff the majors until the second half of the year at the earliest, and Rosario isn't going to be fast tracked either.
The Twins have reasons to slowly bring Buxton and Rosario into play. They would do better to look for reasons to play the kids, not to look for reasons to keep them in the minors. Let the kids play.
When last season ended it was pretty obvious that Danny Santana was going to remain the Twins center fielder. He was the best choice. But new manager Paul Molitor has other ideas. More and more he sees Santana as THIS year's shortstop. Which means we have to settle for a far worse solution to our center field needs.
So if we ignore Danny Santana, who enters spring training a presumed shortstop, the Twins will open camp with three center fielders with multiple seasons of major league experience: Aaron Hicks, Shane Robinson and Jordan Schafer.
Hicks is 25 and a .201 career hitter in 538 plate appearances spread over two years. Those numbers are absolutely abysmal.
Robinson, a non-roster invitee signed after the Cardinals let him go, is 30 and a .231 career hitter (five seasons, less that 500 plate appearances)
Schafer is 28 and a .229 hitter (five years and nearly 1,400 plate appearances).
You can draw up various platoon possibilities out of these three. Schafer is left-handed, Robinson right-handed, Hicks a switch hitter. (I use that term lightly.) You might still envision Hicks as a regular, although that notion is increasingly dubious. No matter how you deploy this group, you get inadequacy. These are, at best, bench guys,
The best center field talent in camp (and this is true even if we count Santana as a center fielder) are two prospects coming off disappointing 2014s and ticketed for Double A: Byron Buxton, who had repeated injuries, and Eddie Rosario, who served a 50-game drug suspension.
Despite his 2014 stall, some still believe that if the Twins simply handed the center field job to Buxton this spring and let him play all year, his floor is something like .260 with 10 homers, 30 steals and Gold Glove caliber defense (assuming, of course, that he stayed intact). Rosario would probably put up a better batting average but with fewer steals and lesser defense.
IF Santana isn't the number one choice any more, I find it hard to argue with that.
You know to a dead certainty that the three "major leaguers" aren't going to come near those numbers. Not a dead certainty, but close to it, is that the Twins front office won't let Buxton sniff the majors until the second half of the year at the earliest, and Rosario isn't going to be fast tracked either.
The Twins have reasons to slowly bring Buxton and Rosario into play. They would do better to look for reasons to play the kids, not to look for reasons to keep them in the minors. Let the kids play.
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Cheating
In seems fitting that in a sport where the USA is always accusing other countries of cheating WE are the ones that get caught with our fingers in the cookie jar.
The USA Champion Little League team vacated all their wins yesterday because they were using players not from their predetermined arbitrary geographical recruiting boundaries. What's funny is that THIS HAPPENED in Chicago, where historically arbitrary geographical boundaries are often ignored for voting purposes.
The kids supposedly had no idea what was going on. It was the adult coaches and league organizers that did the actual dirty deed. At least that's the story. For now.
In a sport where other countries have used players much older than they were supposed to, I guess at least we can be happy that a couple of small sixteen year-old kids weren't included on the roster as well.
Personally? I hate the overexposure of the tournament on a world-wide scale. I don't think any of these games should be televised. Like every other sporting event, the bigger it gets, the more likely stupid stuff like this will occur. And let's not kid ourselves, there's no real way to police the hundreds of teams world wide that participate either. There's lots of teams breaking the rules. The only way this team got caught was because some insider squealed.
The Little League organization makes most of their money from this tournament, and if anyone would care to investigate, we'll also find out that the top salaries of those running it will seem more than it should be. Adults ultimately do nearly everything for money or power or prestige. This is no different.
I absolutely detest organized ball at this age. Kids should be playing every day, on their own, with their friends with nary an adult in sight. Yes, they'll pick up bad habits, but they'll be playing the greatest game ever invented without adults around to screw it up.
There's plenty of time for that when they get older.
And I can't help but think this team got BEAT by some international team. I wonder what THEY did to assemble a team good enough to beat this one. They probably cheated to, but we'll never know because they were smart enough not to squeal.
You know the old saying, "Cheaters never prosper?" Sure they do. That's why so many do it. The key is to not get caught. More teams than ever are getting good at that part of the game.
"With greater exposure comes greater corruption."
The USA Champion Little League team vacated all their wins yesterday because they were using players not from their predetermined arbitrary geographical recruiting boundaries. What's funny is that THIS HAPPENED in Chicago, where historically arbitrary geographical boundaries are often ignored for voting purposes.
The kids supposedly had no idea what was going on. It was the adult coaches and league organizers that did the actual dirty deed. At least that's the story. For now.
In a sport where other countries have used players much older than they were supposed to, I guess at least we can be happy that a couple of small sixteen year-old kids weren't included on the roster as well.
Personally? I hate the overexposure of the tournament on a world-wide scale. I don't think any of these games should be televised. Like every other sporting event, the bigger it gets, the more likely stupid stuff like this will occur. And let's not kid ourselves, there's no real way to police the hundreds of teams world wide that participate either. There's lots of teams breaking the rules. The only way this team got caught was because some insider squealed.
The Little League organization makes most of their money from this tournament, and if anyone would care to investigate, we'll also find out that the top salaries of those running it will seem more than it should be. Adults ultimately do nearly everything for money or power or prestige. This is no different.
I absolutely detest organized ball at this age. Kids should be playing every day, on their own, with their friends with nary an adult in sight. Yes, they'll pick up bad habits, but they'll be playing the greatest game ever invented without adults around to screw it up.
There's plenty of time for that when they get older.
And I can't help but think this team got BEAT by some international team. I wonder what THEY did to assemble a team good enough to beat this one. They probably cheated to, but we'll never know because they were smart enough not to squeal.
You know the old saying, "Cheaters never prosper?" Sure they do. That's why so many do it. The key is to not get caught. More teams than ever are getting good at that part of the game.
"With greater exposure comes greater corruption."
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Wild Lose
I've been wanting to post this headline for awhile, but they just kept on winning and winning.
It took overtime for them to lose after a six game winning streak.
Go Wild!!
Give me a team to root for.
It took overtime for them to lose after a six game winning streak.
Go Wild!!
Give me a team to root for.
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Left Field
Continuing a look at the Twins, position by position, about once a week:
Oswaldo Arcia took a step forward in 2014, but that step still left him a bit shy of being an established, reliable major league regular.
His slash line of .231/.300/.452, while good enough for an OPS+ of 108 (or 8 percent above league average), was marred by an ugly walk-strikeout ratio of 31 BB, 127 K. Coupled with what has become his customary shoddy defense, it's difficult to see that he was any real help last year,
The Twins are shifting him to left field this year so Torii Hunter can play right, and I have seen suggestions from the Twins front office that he should be better in left than in right, apparently in part because they believe he was (my term, not theirs) spooked by the overhang.
But the Target Field overhang doesn't seem like that big a deal to me. It certainly shouldn't be an issue in road games, Arcia looked pretty poor in left when he played there in 2013. If you'll remember, he was playing left field when a foul ball hit him in the head.
In truth, I don't know of any reason for Arcia to be as poor defensively as he is, but I don't know why Delmon Young was as bad as he was either.
There are three obvious, and significant, areas for Arcia to improve:
Defense.
Strike zone judgment. This piece by MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez suggests that, as with Kennys Vargas in Puerto Rico, this has been a point of emphasis for Arcia in winter ball (in his case, in his native Venezuela).
Hitting left-handers. Arcia's OPS last year against righties was .848; against southpaws, a dismal .574.
Arcia turns 24 in May, so there's room for growth. Right now, he's looking like a Latin version of Jason Kubel: A lefty best fit for DH duties and a candidate for a platoon. Kubel was a useful player for a few years, but the Twins didn't do a particularly good job of highlighting his strengths and masking his flaws. Maybe Arcia can at least negate some of his flaws. This year may go a long way toward determining that.
His power brought him to the majors. A lack of somebody better keeps him here.
Stat that worries me? He's struck out in over 30% of his major league at-bats so far.
Oswaldo Arcia took a step forward in 2014, but that step still left him a bit shy of being an established, reliable major league regular.
His slash line of .231/.300/.452, while good enough for an OPS+ of 108 (or 8 percent above league average), was marred by an ugly walk-strikeout ratio of 31 BB, 127 K. Coupled with what has become his customary shoddy defense, it's difficult to see that he was any real help last year,
The Twins are shifting him to left field this year so Torii Hunter can play right, and I have seen suggestions from the Twins front office that he should be better in left than in right, apparently in part because they believe he was (my term, not theirs) spooked by the overhang.
But the Target Field overhang doesn't seem like that big a deal to me. It certainly shouldn't be an issue in road games, Arcia looked pretty poor in left when he played there in 2013. If you'll remember, he was playing left field when a foul ball hit him in the head.
In truth, I don't know of any reason for Arcia to be as poor defensively as he is, but I don't know why Delmon Young was as bad as he was either.
There are three obvious, and significant, areas for Arcia to improve:
Defense.
Strike zone judgment. This piece by MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez suggests that, as with Kennys Vargas in Puerto Rico, this has been a point of emphasis for Arcia in winter ball (in his case, in his native Venezuela).
Hitting left-handers. Arcia's OPS last year against righties was .848; against southpaws, a dismal .574.
Arcia turns 24 in May, so there's room for growth. Right now, he's looking like a Latin version of Jason Kubel: A lefty best fit for DH duties and a candidate for a platoon. Kubel was a useful player for a few years, but the Twins didn't do a particularly good job of highlighting his strengths and masking his flaws. Maybe Arcia can at least negate some of his flaws. This year may go a long way toward determining that.
His power brought him to the majors. A lack of somebody better keeps him here.
Stat that worries me? He's struck out in over 30% of his major league at-bats so far.
Monday, February 9, 2015
James Shields
The last of the big money free-agents, James Shields, signed with the Padres yesterday. He was 14-8 with the Royals last year, and has led all of baseball with over 900 innings pitched the last four seasons. He also doesn't walk many.
He was hoping for $100 million dollar deal, and that's why it took him so long to sign, There were rumors that he had turned down a $110 million deal early in the off-season hoping for a better offer, He never got one. He had to settle for a $75 million, 4-year deal instead.
It's still a good deal for most pitchers, but he waited too long to sign, and it cost him a lot of money. If I were Shields I would switch agents.
He was hoping for $100 million dollar deal, and that's why it took him so long to sign, There were rumors that he had turned down a $110 million deal early in the off-season hoping for a better offer, He never got one. He had to settle for a $75 million, 4-year deal instead.
It's still a good deal for most pitchers, but he waited too long to sign, and it cost him a lot of money. If I were Shields I would switch agents.
Sunday, February 8, 2015
My Take: LeBron's Legacy
Franklin High senior guard, Luke Kennard, a Duke signee ranked No. 23 in the ESPN 100,
scored 44 points Friday night against Brookville to pass James and move
into fourth on the Ohio High School Athletic Association career scoring
list. Kennard now has 2,652 career points.
He was quoted as saying, "To be in that same category [as LeBron James], I'm really blessed to have that opportunity."
My Take: It's not just the points the kid scored, it's his uncanny resemblance to James that fascinates me the most.
He was quoted as saying, "To be in that same category [as LeBron James], I'm really blessed to have that opportunity."
My Take: It's not just the points the kid scored, it's his uncanny resemblance to James that fascinates me the most.
Russell Wilson
Russell Wilson, the Tuesday after the Super Bowl, did the same thing he always does on Tuesdays. He visited the local childrens' hospital. A kid there, having watched the game, had a special surprise for him. When Russell was leaving his room, the kid, knowing the history of the game well, pulled out a bottle of Coke, and tossed it to Russell.
Overcome with emotion, Russell threw the kid his Super Bowl Jersey.
Butler intercepted it.
A kid behind Russell, who saw the whole thing, told Russell he should have just handed it off.
Overcome with emotion, Russell threw the kid his Super Bowl Jersey.
Butler intercepted it.
A kid behind Russell, who saw the whole thing, told Russell he should have just handed it off.
Saturday, February 7, 2015
Improving Baseball
The new baseball commissioner has been making the rounds to various talk shows talking about what his plans are for the game. Primarily he wants the game to be more viewer friendly to attract more fans. When pressed for details, it's obvious he wants more offense and faster games. That's why he's advocating no more defensive shifts and an on field time clock for pitchers, much like the play clock in football for quarterbacks. He also wants any pitcher that comes into the game to face at least TWO batters before leaving. No more left-handed specialists coming in to get a quick grounder for an out and then taking HIM out for a right-handed specialist to try to do the same thing to the next batter.
He doesn't say these things will come about quickly but that he wants to get a dialog going among players, fans, owners, and commentators to help fix the game.
"Fix" the game? I know what he's trying to say, but as the new commissioner I think he's going about it the wrong way. The game doesn't need fixing. It needs tweaking, over time, as small things become apparent.
These are the things I would suggest, right now, that would speed the game up. At a later date, I'll give you a radically different game that I'll call NEW baseball, that'll make it more fun for the fans.
I'll preface all of this by saying the current proposal of having less time between inning breaks is something nearly everyone is going to support, and it's a step in the right direction. It might be ALL that's needed. But if they want more ideas, here are mine:
First up, get rid of the seventh inning stretch ceremony. It USED to be time when fans sang "Take me Out to the Ball Game" during a NORMAL commercial break. It was a fun thing for fans who were at the ball park ONLY. It's now devolved into a Super Bowl-like halftime show with special guest singers, and bands, sometimes orchestras, accompanying full choirs singing 14 verses of America the beautiful. And THEN they sing "Take me Out to the Ball Game." Baseball doesn't need a halftime ceremony every game. And it sure doesn't need it just as the game is getting over. Do it at the All-Star Game if you want. Do it at the FIRST World Series game each year if you must, but nothing, and I mean nothing, slows down an already intolerably long baseball game like that convoluted new version of the seventh inning stretch. It not PART of the game, it's recent in origin, so get rid of it. Go back to singing "Take me Out to the Ball Game" during the regular commercial break.
Secondly, limit every at-bat to nine pitches. If the pitcher hasn't walked the guy by then and the hitter hasn't got on base yet, he's out. No more watching an expert at hitting foul balls foul off pitch after pitch. If the count is 3-2 and the pitcher keeps throwing strikes, if the hitter fouls off the ninth pitch, he is out. It's a strikeout. Period. Baseball in it's early days had a rule like this. It's time again. And it's not without precedent. Even today if you can't hit a ball in play on the third strike, while bunting, it's strike three. Reward the pitcher for throwing strikes. Punish the batter for not doing something with those pitches other than foul balls.
Third, have games end in ties after 10 innings. Neither pitcher gets a decision.
The first two things will speed up the game 10-15 minutes or more, every game. The third will allow fans to get to bed at a reasonable time. But you will notice that the second one of them will change the game dramatically. And I could see many die-hard fans not liking it.
And that's my point. It will CHANGE the game. I hear Mike Greenburg on Mike and Mike saying that baseball fans will have to get used to improvements because the game is always evolving. And he misses what's already great about baseball. It changed so little that you can actually compare stats and players from different eras. When Henry Aaron broke Babe Ruth's all-time homerun record, a record that had been there for decades, it meant something. When Roger Maris broke the single season homerun record it meant something as well. ANY changes to the game make it a different game.
My suggestion will change the number of strikeouts by pitchers each season, probably radically. Their pitch counts will go down as well. They might even have longer careers and better career numbers.That means their accomplishments won't be comparable to those who have gone before.
The connection to the past, to baseball's illustrious history will be lost. There will have to be an asterisk added to every single hitter's stats and every single pitcher's stats from now on. Strikeouts will go up but history will be lost.
I'd like to add that the same thing will happen if defensive shifts are outlawed. Or a 20 second pitch clock is installed, or if a pitcher is required to pitch to at least two batters if he is in there. Every change you make to the game will cause its link to the past to be damaged. Eventually enough changes will cause that link to be severed. Modern day fans with no attention span who spend three quarters of the game looking at their cell phones won't care. And if that's who modern day commissioners want to appeal to, I can't stop them. But one of the biggest problems Americans have as a whole is that most don't remember, or don't know their history. Any history. That means they don't have enough reference points to help them see things clearly. They can no longer connect the dots in a way that adds to their experience, giving them greater perspective or insight.
I like the current rule proposal change that says you should be playing the game in two minutes again after each half-inning switch, because that is what baseball had ALWAYS used to do. The game has gotten away from its roots. I would argue that throwing endless strikes to a batter so he could keep fouling them off has done the same thing. It's getting further away from what necessary and originally intended. A batter should have a reasonable chance to get on base. He shouldn't take all day doing it IF he's seeing strikes.
I would like to also add, at this point, that the goals of having more offense and speeding the game up MAY VERY WELL BE INCOMPATIBLE. The games that last the longest, with the most pitching changes, are the high scoring games. The fastest games are well-pitched masterpieces with great defensive alignments. The new rule change proposals favoring offenses will most likely delay the ends of games. It will not make them faster.
They failed to connect the dots.
He doesn't say these things will come about quickly but that he wants to get a dialog going among players, fans, owners, and commentators to help fix the game.
"Fix" the game? I know what he's trying to say, but as the new commissioner I think he's going about it the wrong way. The game doesn't need fixing. It needs tweaking, over time, as small things become apparent.
These are the things I would suggest, right now, that would speed the game up. At a later date, I'll give you a radically different game that I'll call NEW baseball, that'll make it more fun for the fans.
I'll preface all of this by saying the current proposal of having less time between inning breaks is something nearly everyone is going to support, and it's a step in the right direction. It might be ALL that's needed. But if they want more ideas, here are mine:
First up, get rid of the seventh inning stretch ceremony. It USED to be time when fans sang "Take me Out to the Ball Game" during a NORMAL commercial break. It was a fun thing for fans who were at the ball park ONLY. It's now devolved into a Super Bowl-like halftime show with special guest singers, and bands, sometimes orchestras, accompanying full choirs singing 14 verses of America the beautiful. And THEN they sing "Take me Out to the Ball Game." Baseball doesn't need a halftime ceremony every game. And it sure doesn't need it just as the game is getting over. Do it at the All-Star Game if you want. Do it at the FIRST World Series game each year if you must, but nothing, and I mean nothing, slows down an already intolerably long baseball game like that convoluted new version of the seventh inning stretch. It not PART of the game, it's recent in origin, so get rid of it. Go back to singing "Take me Out to the Ball Game" during the regular commercial break.
Secondly, limit every at-bat to nine pitches. If the pitcher hasn't walked the guy by then and the hitter hasn't got on base yet, he's out. No more watching an expert at hitting foul balls foul off pitch after pitch. If the count is 3-2 and the pitcher keeps throwing strikes, if the hitter fouls off the ninth pitch, he is out. It's a strikeout. Period. Baseball in it's early days had a rule like this. It's time again. And it's not without precedent. Even today if you can't hit a ball in play on the third strike, while bunting, it's strike three. Reward the pitcher for throwing strikes. Punish the batter for not doing something with those pitches other than foul balls.
Third, have games end in ties after 10 innings. Neither pitcher gets a decision.
The first two things will speed up the game 10-15 minutes or more, every game. The third will allow fans to get to bed at a reasonable time. But you will notice that the second one of them will change the game dramatically. And I could see many die-hard fans not liking it.
And that's my point. It will CHANGE the game. I hear Mike Greenburg on Mike and Mike saying that baseball fans will have to get used to improvements because the game is always evolving. And he misses what's already great about baseball. It changed so little that you can actually compare stats and players from different eras. When Henry Aaron broke Babe Ruth's all-time homerun record, a record that had been there for decades, it meant something. When Roger Maris broke the single season homerun record it meant something as well. ANY changes to the game make it a different game.
My suggestion will change the number of strikeouts by pitchers each season, probably radically. Their pitch counts will go down as well. They might even have longer careers and better career numbers.That means their accomplishments won't be comparable to those who have gone before.
The connection to the past, to baseball's illustrious history will be lost. There will have to be an asterisk added to every single hitter's stats and every single pitcher's stats from now on. Strikeouts will go up but history will be lost.
I'd like to add that the same thing will happen if defensive shifts are outlawed. Or a 20 second pitch clock is installed, or if a pitcher is required to pitch to at least two batters if he is in there. Every change you make to the game will cause its link to the past to be damaged. Eventually enough changes will cause that link to be severed. Modern day fans with no attention span who spend three quarters of the game looking at their cell phones won't care. And if that's who modern day commissioners want to appeal to, I can't stop them. But one of the biggest problems Americans have as a whole is that most don't remember, or don't know their history. Any history. That means they don't have enough reference points to help them see things clearly. They can no longer connect the dots in a way that adds to their experience, giving them greater perspective or insight.
I like the current rule proposal change that says you should be playing the game in two minutes again after each half-inning switch, because that is what baseball had ALWAYS used to do. The game has gotten away from its roots. I would argue that throwing endless strikes to a batter so he could keep fouling them off has done the same thing. It's getting further away from what necessary and originally intended. A batter should have a reasonable chance to get on base. He shouldn't take all day doing it IF he's seeing strikes.
I would like to also add, at this point, that the goals of having more offense and speeding the game up MAY VERY WELL BE INCOMPATIBLE. The games that last the longest, with the most pitching changes, are the high scoring games. The fastest games are well-pitched masterpieces with great defensive alignments. The new rule change proposals favoring offenses will most likely delay the ends of games. It will not make them faster.
They failed to connect the dots.
Friday, February 6, 2015
Quote of the Day
This is from Ed Thoma, a newspaper man and baseball stat fanatic from Mankato:
"The Twins, at least for public consumption, profess to believe that
...their 2014 outfield defense wasn't bad and Torii Hunter is still a good outfielder...
Neither belief is backed by objective evidence, of course. The objective evidence says that the Twins had the worst defensive outfield in the majors and that Hunter was the worst regular outfielder in the majors."
It's nice to know there are other knowledgeable fans out there who see the same things I see.
"The Twins, at least for public consumption, profess to believe that
...their 2014 outfield defense wasn't bad and Torii Hunter is still a good outfielder...
Neither belief is backed by objective evidence, of course. The objective evidence says that the Twins had the worst defensive outfield in the majors and that Hunter was the worst regular outfielder in the majors."
It's nice to know there are other knowledgeable fans out there who see the same things I see.
15 Year-Old Powerlifter
This Russian girl, Maryana Naumova, has been setting world records in women's bench pressing for a number of years. Last year in October, at a Mr. Olympia exhibition, she broke her own mark in the bench press at 319 pounds. That she's only 15 is the most surprising stat of all. She weighs 156 pounds.
Thursday, February 5, 2015
The NFL Has an Image Problem
I'm not going to talk about deflate-gate this morning, but it's part of a bigger issue the NFL is now facing.
The Rice and Peterson domestic violence cases this year were just part of the problem as well.
In the last week alone Johnny Manziel, who has a long, long history of alcohol abuse said he has hit rock bottom and decided to check himself into rehab. His teammate, a wide receiver, has now been suspended for a year for the same problem, one he refuses to admit IS a problem. And the antics of Marshawn Lynch, both on and off the field, is causing the NFL a great deal of concern. He says he has started a foundation to help youth, but in reality he just tells them to oppose authority, because it's the only way to get what you have coming. This is not the message that society wants sent. This is not the identity the NFL wants to present either.
And then there's yesterday. THREE different NFL players were arrested. One for getting into a fight over a parking space which resulted in a guy, not the football player, getting his face punched in. The other two involved having way too much marijuana in states where NO marijuana is legal.
The bigger news item of the three involved former Viking and current Green Bay Packer Letroy Guion being picked up with 12 ounces of marijuana, $192,000 in cash, and a loaded firearm down in Miami. It doesn't matter where you stand on the current marijuana laws in the United States, Guion got caught looking like a major drug DEALER, not just a user.
His ONE year deal with the Packers had just expired and he had yet to sign an expected long-term deal. There is every indication that the Packers will now simply discontinue negotiations with him. He's got both criminal charges and league discipline issues to look forward to now, and the Packers really don't want to go along for the ride.
And even though the NFL says it's starting to learn its lesson on who they should and should not draft because of character issues, everyone's expected number one draft pick this year in the NFL is Florida State's Jameis Winston, the man with one of the worst reputations in college history.
You see, you'd hate to be the team that passed on Winston if he turns out to be as good as scouts are predicting he is going to be. Me personally? I kind of like the idea that the Vikings have Teddy Bridgewater and not Johnny Manziel or Jameis Winston.
But then again, I'm used to losing in Minnesota.
The Rice and Peterson domestic violence cases this year were just part of the problem as well.
In the last week alone Johnny Manziel, who has a long, long history of alcohol abuse said he has hit rock bottom and decided to check himself into rehab. His teammate, a wide receiver, has now been suspended for a year for the same problem, one he refuses to admit IS a problem. And the antics of Marshawn Lynch, both on and off the field, is causing the NFL a great deal of concern. He says he has started a foundation to help youth, but in reality he just tells them to oppose authority, because it's the only way to get what you have coming. This is not the message that society wants sent. This is not the identity the NFL wants to present either.
And then there's yesterday. THREE different NFL players were arrested. One for getting into a fight over a parking space which resulted in a guy, not the football player, getting his face punched in. The other two involved having way too much marijuana in states where NO marijuana is legal.
The bigger news item of the three involved former Viking and current Green Bay Packer Letroy Guion being picked up with 12 ounces of marijuana, $192,000 in cash, and a loaded firearm down in Miami. It doesn't matter where you stand on the current marijuana laws in the United States, Guion got caught looking like a major drug DEALER, not just a user.
His ONE year deal with the Packers had just expired and he had yet to sign an expected long-term deal. There is every indication that the Packers will now simply discontinue negotiations with him. He's got both criminal charges and league discipline issues to look forward to now, and the Packers really don't want to go along for the ride.
And even though the NFL says it's starting to learn its lesson on who they should and should not draft because of character issues, everyone's expected number one draft pick this year in the NFL is Florida State's Jameis Winston, the man with one of the worst reputations in college history.
You see, you'd hate to be the team that passed on Winston if he turns out to be as good as scouts are predicting he is going to be. Me personally? I kind of like the idea that the Vikings have Teddy Bridgewater and not Johnny Manziel or Jameis Winston.
But then again, I'm used to losing in Minnesota.
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Shortstop
A much as it LOOKS like the Twins have a starter at short this season, this position is still wide open for at least a couple of players. Eduardo Escobar had a pretty good year at the plate last year for Minnesota. He's also listed slightly above average on defense for his position in major league metric lines. Normally this would give a shortstop a pretty much guaranteed spot in the lineup.
But that's not the whole story. Escobar's year at the plate was his first real year in the majors. He never hit that well in the minors. The same goes for the his defense. He's never had great range, and you never base a shortstop's defensive skills on just one season of play. So basically he needs to show Twin's management that last year wasn't a fluke.
Now if you listened to Molitor and upper level Twins officials during the off season, they praised Escobar non-stop. They were bragging up Eduardo to everyone that listened. That's an old-time baseball trick that's been around since Babe Ruth was a pup. It was sending the message to other ball clubs that Escobar was available for the right price. The Twins were probably still looking for a reliable fourth or fifth starter at the time, and they figured that Escobar's trade value would never be higher. They were just waiting for someone to bite.
No one did.
You'll notice that LATELY Molitor has changed that strategy and is now talking about the Twins center fielder, Danny Santana, possibly being the Twins shortstop of the future. The problem with that is that we still don't have a current answer for centerfield if Santana displaces Escobar at short. We'll talk about the whole centerfield situation at a later date. As for now, Santana is better at the plate than Escobar. It's generally acknowledged that he's the better athlete as well. BUT when it comes to defensive skills at short, Escobar is still ranked higher. One of the reasons Gardy played Santana in center last year was that he knew Escobar was the better defensive shortsop. With Santana's athleticism and Molitor's mentoring, Santana could still become a pretty good shortstop. And I think that's what Molitor would like to do. Maybe next year...
With Pedro Florimon gone, that leaves only Jorge Polanco as a possible third man in the mix. But Polanco is the Twin's utility infielder with more second base experience. He's not really in the running unless there's an injury.
I guess a lot of what the Twins are this year (and next) depends on how quickly mega-prospects Sano and Buxton are ready to join the majors. MOST say that's at least a year away. Both are coming off major injury seasons and they need minor league playing time to get ready again.
We don't need another Aaron Hicks. We need another Kirby Puckett. To do that the Twins and their fans will have to show patience.
But that's not the whole story. Escobar's year at the plate was his first real year in the majors. He never hit that well in the minors. The same goes for the his defense. He's never had great range, and you never base a shortstop's defensive skills on just one season of play. So basically he needs to show Twin's management that last year wasn't a fluke.
Now if you listened to Molitor and upper level Twins officials during the off season, they praised Escobar non-stop. They were bragging up Eduardo to everyone that listened. That's an old-time baseball trick that's been around since Babe Ruth was a pup. It was sending the message to other ball clubs that Escobar was available for the right price. The Twins were probably still looking for a reliable fourth or fifth starter at the time, and they figured that Escobar's trade value would never be higher. They were just waiting for someone to bite.
No one did.
You'll notice that LATELY Molitor has changed that strategy and is now talking about the Twins center fielder, Danny Santana, possibly being the Twins shortstop of the future. The problem with that is that we still don't have a current answer for centerfield if Santana displaces Escobar at short. We'll talk about the whole centerfield situation at a later date. As for now, Santana is better at the plate than Escobar. It's generally acknowledged that he's the better athlete as well. BUT when it comes to defensive skills at short, Escobar is still ranked higher. One of the reasons Gardy played Santana in center last year was that he knew Escobar was the better defensive shortsop. With Santana's athleticism and Molitor's mentoring, Santana could still become a pretty good shortstop. And I think that's what Molitor would like to do. Maybe next year...
With Pedro Florimon gone, that leaves only Jorge Polanco as a possible third man in the mix. But Polanco is the Twin's utility infielder with more second base experience. He's not really in the running unless there's an injury.
I guess a lot of what the Twins are this year (and next) depends on how quickly mega-prospects Sano and Buxton are ready to join the majors. MOST say that's at least a year away. Both are coming off major injury seasons and they need minor league playing time to get ready again.
We don't need another Aaron Hicks. We need another Kirby Puckett. To do that the Twins and their fans will have to show patience.
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Deflation Gate: The Series
With the Super Bowl done for another year, it's time to devote my full attention to something far more important: Deflation Gate.
It's odd how the story is coming out now. It seems it was the Colts GM that instigated the investigation at the Colts/Patriots championship game, though he says he's not allowed to talk about it now because it's, "in the league's hands."
Say What?
Reporters have been unmerciful and unrelenting in their attack on the Patriots organization and it's players asking unremitting questions of them day and night for over two weeks DEMANDING answers, and now when somebody DOES KNOW something HE says he can't say anything publicly just yet.
This makes no sense at all. And it's really starting to look very, very fishy. The ORIGINAL STORY released to reporters was that the equipment manager of the Colts got his hands on a ball briefly during the normal course of the game and that he mentioned to officials that it seemed a little deflated. It was just assumed that the officials then noticed all the balls were a little off and they decided to check them at halftime.
But this newer version of the story suggests something far more sinister on the Colts part. Unless the GM was standing next to the equipment manager on the sideline (and let me tell you that is not where any GM in football ever stands) when the ONE BALL was discovered maybe a little soft, and HE decided to launch an investigation RIGHT THEN AND THERE, it almost seems that the whole thing was a set-up on the Colts part.
Balls have been discovered to be a little light or a little soft and taken out of games on a regular basis in football games forever. They get damaged valves, they get holes in them from spikes, so it's normal to grab a ball and ask the ref to remove it.
But to then jump to the conclusion, as an equipment manager, to contact your GM DURING THE GAME and have HIM have the refs check ALL THE BALLS because they're afraid the Pats MIGHT have illegally decided to deflate all the balls is decidedly darker. It suggests that the Colts did indeed plan the whole thing.
Why? Because no one in the history of the game has done anything like that before. The only reason you'd ask the refs to check them as GM is because you know ahead of time what they will find. In other words, it WAS the Colts who cheated. Why else would an equipment manager take the time to contact the GM who would then contact the officials to have them check ALL the balls. Nothing that happened in the game at that point would make one jump to such a ridiculous assumption.
Maybe there is a much more reasonable explanation to all this, but the GM REFUSES to talk. Considering every single player or coach has talked as much as requested by reporters during this investigation that automatically brings us to the reasonable conclusion. What's that GM hiding? Why is he not talking?
UPDATE: It seems the league has said now that the GM submitted his request to watch for under-inflated balls during the game BEFORE the game because of something that happened at the November 19th game. This doesn't change anything other than they had MORE time to plan this.
So who is guilty in all of this? Physics says its the Colts. Their balls were overinflated ahead of time, that's the only way their balls could have stayed above minimum levels by the end. This latest news also points to the Colts.
Yes, someone might have figured out a very sneaky way of deflating all the balls equally just before the game who was representing the Patriots. But since that is where the investigation is right now and nothing has been discovered, you have to at least consider the Colts are responsible for this.
I used to think that the refs just don't check the balls that closely ahead of time. But if they were specifically told ahead of time to CHECK the Patriot's balls ahead of time closely, that now seems unlikely. Unless of course the refs really never check that closely, which is a possibility. For instance, there is no official written record of any game balls at any game. They don't write down their pregame ball checks. They just supposedly "do it" somehow. I still haven't seen or heard a ref tell us exactly how this is done, so I don't know.
That leaves us with the Colts looking very guilty. Something that has not been investigated or shared by the league as of yet.
It's odd how the story is coming out now. It seems it was the Colts GM that instigated the investigation at the Colts/Patriots championship game, though he says he's not allowed to talk about it now because it's, "in the league's hands."
Say What?
Reporters have been unmerciful and unrelenting in their attack on the Patriots organization and it's players asking unremitting questions of them day and night for over two weeks DEMANDING answers, and now when somebody DOES KNOW something HE says he can't say anything publicly just yet.
This makes no sense at all. And it's really starting to look very, very fishy. The ORIGINAL STORY released to reporters was that the equipment manager of the Colts got his hands on a ball briefly during the normal course of the game and that he mentioned to officials that it seemed a little deflated. It was just assumed that the officials then noticed all the balls were a little off and they decided to check them at halftime.
But this newer version of the story suggests something far more sinister on the Colts part. Unless the GM was standing next to the equipment manager on the sideline (and let me tell you that is not where any GM in football ever stands) when the ONE BALL was discovered maybe a little soft, and HE decided to launch an investigation RIGHT THEN AND THERE, it almost seems that the whole thing was a set-up on the Colts part.
Balls have been discovered to be a little light or a little soft and taken out of games on a regular basis in football games forever. They get damaged valves, they get holes in them from spikes, so it's normal to grab a ball and ask the ref to remove it.
But to then jump to the conclusion, as an equipment manager, to contact your GM DURING THE GAME and have HIM have the refs check ALL THE BALLS because they're afraid the Pats MIGHT have illegally decided to deflate all the balls is decidedly darker. It suggests that the Colts did indeed plan the whole thing.
Why? Because no one in the history of the game has done anything like that before. The only reason you'd ask the refs to check them as GM is because you know ahead of time what they will find. In other words, it WAS the Colts who cheated. Why else would an equipment manager take the time to contact the GM who would then contact the officials to have them check ALL the balls. Nothing that happened in the game at that point would make one jump to such a ridiculous assumption.
Maybe there is a much more reasonable explanation to all this, but the GM REFUSES to talk. Considering every single player or coach has talked as much as requested by reporters during this investigation that automatically brings us to the reasonable conclusion. What's that GM hiding? Why is he not talking?
UPDATE: It seems the league has said now that the GM submitted his request to watch for under-inflated balls during the game BEFORE the game because of something that happened at the November 19th game. This doesn't change anything other than they had MORE time to plan this.
So who is guilty in all of this? Physics says its the Colts. Their balls were overinflated ahead of time, that's the only way their balls could have stayed above minimum levels by the end. This latest news also points to the Colts.
Yes, someone might have figured out a very sneaky way of deflating all the balls equally just before the game who was representing the Patriots. But since that is where the investigation is right now and nothing has been discovered, you have to at least consider the Colts are responsible for this.
I used to think that the refs just don't check the balls that closely ahead of time. But if they were specifically told ahead of time to CHECK the Patriot's balls ahead of time closely, that now seems unlikely. Unless of course the refs really never check that closely, which is a possibility. For instance, there is no official written record of any game balls at any game. They don't write down their pregame ball checks. They just supposedly "do it" somehow. I still haven't seen or heard a ref tell us exactly how this is done, so I don't know.
That leaves us with the Colts looking very guilty. Something that has not been investigated or shared by the league as of yet.
Monday, February 2, 2015
Patriots Deflate Seahawks and Their Fans With Late Interception
Boy, New England sure has a way of taking the air out of things. Just when EVERYONE knew the Seahawks were about to win Superbowl X-LAX, I mean XLIX, the whole game got flushed down the toilet when a stupid, unnecessary throw got intercepted on the goal line. EVERYONE knew that Marshawn SHOULD have been handed the ball for an easy TD, but Seattle and their coaches over-thought the play and did something that NO ONE expected.
And it cost them the game.
That CATCH. That lucky, miraculous CATCH at game's end meant nothing.
And I couldn't be happier. I knew that Seattle wasn't that good. It was all luck. And in the end, their luck finally ran out. The Seattle coach and player reactions on the sideline after the interception were priceless. I don't think I've ever seen a group look more deflated.
Great game. The right ending. And the Brady Bunch Snickers commercial was the only really good one last night. Too many legless people, dads, and stupid puppies dominated the game-breaks last night. Its always about Marcia, and Jan let us know that.
And it cost them the game.
That CATCH. That lucky, miraculous CATCH at game's end meant nothing.
And I couldn't be happier. I knew that Seattle wasn't that good. It was all luck. And in the end, their luck finally ran out. The Seattle coach and player reactions on the sideline after the interception were priceless. I don't think I've ever seen a group look more deflated.
Great game. The right ending. And the Brady Bunch Snickers commercial was the only really good one last night. Too many legless people, dads, and stupid puppies dominated the game-breaks last night. Its always about Marcia, and Jan let us know that.
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Aaron Rodgers Named MVP
He didn't have as many touchdowns this season as when he got his first MVP award (38) but he only threw FIVE interceptions. He also had the second highest quarterback rating and yards per attempt. ALL of those stats added up to another MVP award.
Some people were holding out for J.J. Watt because he had the best defensive year that people have seen in a long time. His team, the Texans weren't so good however, and that swayed the voting. I think rightfully so.
Let's see, there's something else going on today, but I can't remember what it is...
Have a super Sunday everybody.
Some people were holding out for J.J. Watt because he had the best defensive year that people have seen in a long time. His team, the Texans weren't so good however, and that swayed the voting. I think rightfully so.
Let's see, there's something else going on today, but I can't remember what it is...
Have a super Sunday everybody.
Mick Tinglehoff in the Hall!
Former Vikings center, Mick Tinglehoff, has made the NFL Hall of Fame!
He hasn't played any games since I was a kid, but he was elected as the Senior representative yesterday. Way to go Mick!!!
He hasn't played any games since I was a kid, but he was elected as the Senior representative yesterday. Way to go Mick!!!
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