A new shortstop and new uniforms! posted by Joe Gunderson

Hey Everyone,

Not sure who is out there but hopefully someone is!    Anyway, for those that don't know my name is Joe and I've been a Twins fan since I was six years old.  I hope you find this blog entertaining and thought provoking.  Let's get started shall we?!

In my first entry I'd like to discuss how the Twins acquired a new shortstop for the 2010 season and what I think of the acquisition and also the news that was announced today, that they are going to be wearing new uniforms next year.

The Twins have acquired shortstop J.J. Hardy from the Milwaukee Brewers for outfielder Carlos Gomez.  I am excited about this acquisition.  It potentially fills a very big need for the Twins, a right-handed bat with good power and an infielder at a position of need.  It thins out the Twins depth in the outfield but they still have four guys who are capable of playing out there everyday and you can only have three out there everyday.  Gomez is very talented but he gets way too excited when he's at the plate a lot of the time which causes him to swing wildly and strike out a lot.  He has the potential to be special at the plate if he ever calms down his approach.  He is an excellent defender as well.

Hardy, while he is coming off a bad year offensively is capable of hitting in the upper .200's to .300 and has pop enough to hit 20+ home runs a season and plays consistent defense.  Overall for 2010, the trade favors the Twins.  In the future, it could favor the Brewers but the Twins had to take that chance to give themselves a better chance to compete in 2010.

College Fantasy Football posted by Chad

It's been awhile, a loooonnnnng while.  Lots has changed since the last time I posted on here.  In fact, the NBA season kicked off; The Office started up again, The Community is taking my Thursdays by storm.  Some things haven't changed:  The Pac-10 is overrated, my team can't win, and I'm still the man.  All in all; I guess people have missed my thoughts and were begging for more. 

I was going to do a fantasy football preview for the week, until I realized I deleted last weeks email with the records and opponents for the week, so there is no real update.  I have the rankings posted below, so you can check those out.  That's about it.  I do, however, want to clear the air on a few things.  Certain members of this prestigious league that has been around for 3 years now (we're ahead of our time, no big deal) are starting to take this a little too seriously.  We have an interesting array of characters here.

We've got husbands and housewives (Bill); bachelors that spend all day on their computers, college students, and a few d-bags from Minnesota.  We've got guys that work full time AND go to school AND coach basketball.. guys that travel and sit on their computer, guys that are on the road all day, guys that wish they had jobs, and a lot of guys that pretend they work a lot harder than they do.  Some of us eat too much, some used to starve themselves to make weight, some eat just right, and some don't eat at all, but drink their supper instead.  

This interesting blend of characters has been up and down all season long.  Some weeks have been battles; 8 mile like.  Better yet, fake 8 mile like.  Some guys are the Eminem wannabe, some are Cena; either way neither of them are really bringing it.. they just like to think they are.  Either way, they're like the Milwaukee Brewers starters right now, starting to fade after the 5th innings; the season isn't done yet and the talk is quieting.  The emails are slowing, nicknames are crawling.  I'm disappointed, a league where I picked the people to bring it.  I thought my mix was on spot; I thought I had a killer dish to keep people coming back for more.  In the end, it looks like I'm missing a special ingredient.  I'm missing an Anthony Mason like Point Forward on a run and gun jump shooting Bucks team; I need that spark to get me over the top.  I can't just throw anybody into a spot; I'm not Ted Thompson here.  I don't throw darts and hope to find a starting offensive line for a fragile QB.  I need gamebreakers, PTP'ers.  I need The Answer, The Truth.  

Was Prince Fielder's Celebration OK? posted by John Frascella

For the past couple days, that's a question that baseball fans have been asking throughout the country. And what's the answer? Is there an answer? Is it OK for a baseball team to premeditate a celebration as over-the-top as Milwaukee's earlier this week?

Well, this is certainly a matter of perspective. As is often the case when something like this comes up, it's New School vs. Old School. Now I'm admittedly a "New Schooler," but that doesn't mean I'm on board with every aspect of the movement. It's like being a Democrat without a single Republican view -- pretty rare situation to find. 

So what's my take? To be specific, I prefer the Yankees' wedding bouquet celebration to Milwaukee's bowling pin topple. The bouquet thing is subtle in comparison; the toppling pins were a little much for me. I pitched for 15 years of my life, and I know I'd hate it if an opposing team celebrated in that fashion. I think a celebration like that has a home in the NFL (a la the Baltimore Ravens of the past), unfortunately football's hierarchy is so uptight that it cut all of the fun out of scoring.

Does that mean it's baseball's turn to take over in the "flash" department? Is it the Hot Dogs' game now?

Well, hot dogs are the dinner of choice at the stadium.  

Cards Continue September Tear and Recent Sports Oddities posted by Ryan Turner

The Cardinals continued their dominance of the National League Central this week, going 5-1 on a road trip with a blown save on Sunday, meaning it could've been a 6-0 trip. Last night the Cards got a boost from John Smoltz who was rocky early, giving up three runs in the first two innings, but he stuck with it and shut out the Brewers over the next three innings before turning it over to the bullpen. The Brewers had their chances for a knock out blow, but they couldn't capitalize, just as the Cards couldn't do so with runners in scoring position. When a team goes 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position and can still grind out a win, that's the make of a championship caliber team. Even when they don't play that well, they win.

Today, the Cards played much better as Adam Wainwright was back to his normal self after only going five innings in his last start. He went seven scoreless innings today, while striking out six, and also helped himself by doubling and scoring a run. Albert Pujols has officially entered beast mode, as he jacked two more homers today, including the first of his career against former teammate Jeff Suppan. Over his last 14 games, he's batting .460 with seven home runs, six doubles, 17 RBI, 10 walks, and a 1.000 slugging percentage in 50 at-bats. He now has 47 home runs for the season, just two shy of his career high of 49 and he now has three and a half weeks left to pass that mark. The guy is unbelievable. As for his partner in crime, Matt Holliday, he left the game today after stumbling across first base on a ground out with what the team is calling a bruised knee. He had a minor injury a few weeks ago and it didn't phase him, so even though I cringe every time I see him or Chris Carpenter stumble, I'm not worried about this particular injury.

"Giants Can't Score Off Pedro Martinez; Lose to Phillies" posted by Michael McGauley

  Eugenio Velez drilled the first pitch of the game of Pedro Martinez for a home run and a 1-0 Giants' lead.  Too bad that was the end of the scoring for the rest of the game in a 2-1 loss to the Phillies Thursday.  Martinez looked really good with 9 strike outs over seven innings. No, his fastball is not what it once was, but he knows how to pitch, and still features a deceptive delivery with his arm angle. Philadelphia is hoping THIS will be the same Pedro they can take with them into the post season. Giants' fans may remember when Pedro came off the DL in May of '08 as a New York Met, and beat San Francisco at A.T.& T. Park. He also had two hits in that game, and Barry Zito was awful - I remember because I was there!  Now Zito has regained his form, and apparently, so has Pedro, because he was Way better today then he was at anytime last year with the Mets.

  Tim Lincecum was once again snake-bit, and just cannot buy a victory - still stuck on 13.  Since August 1st when he beat the Phillies at home, he's gone 1-1 with four no-decisions.  Today, he was absolutely fantastic, except for a couple of mistakes - a hanging breaking ball that Jayson Werth crushed into the upper deck for his 30th homer of the year. Then, with two-outs in the sixth, he hit Chase Utley, and then gave up an RBI double to Ryan Howard.  Howard also drove in the only run off Jonathan Sanchez in Tuesday's 1-0 Philly victory.  Lincecum struck out 11 over seven innings, allowing two runs on four hits with one walk.  He leads all of baseball with 233 K's after fanning 265 last season.  

"Brad Penny on the Bump for the Giants" posted by Michael McGauley

  Hopefully for Giants' fans, Brad Penny can find his groove back in the National League.  In his three inter-league starts against national league teams this year, Penny posted a 2.70 ERA, while his overall earned run average was well above five.  How much of that points to a comfort factor pitching against familiar hitters and pitching in familiar ball parks.  Also, the American League has overall better hitting and the DH- that's one less hitter he's got to worry about in the NL.  Penny clearly has something to prove after getting released by Boston, and is basically auditioning for perhaps one last BIG pay day (with the Giants or someone else).   San Francisco looks to bounce back in Philly this afternoon after getting blanked 1-0 by Cole Hamels, who kept the Giants off balance with a brutal change up Tuesday.  A short-handed line-up -- playing (again) without Sanchez, Sandoval, and Molina -- only managed to scratch out two hits; a double by Ryan Garko and a pinch-hit single by Rich Aurilia.  Classy move by the Giants to conveniently drop Richie on the DL through the end of August, and then bring him back with the expanded rosters Tuesday.  He didn't deserve to end his career with the Giants by getting released before the end of the season.    Back to the offense...this is a team that has enough trouble scoring runs, but when you trot out a 3-4-5 of Aurilia, Garko, and Uribe, you've got problems.  Hamels tossed a complete game: walking one and striking out nine in 118 pitches. JonContinue reading ""Brad Penny on the Bump for the Giants""

Magic Number Keeps Shrinking, Brendan Ryan's Mustache Keeps Growing posted by Ryan Turner

The Cardinals' magic number has dipped all the way to 21. The Cardinals have 29 games remaining, 14 of which are at home. The 15 road contests left consist of games in each NL Central city except for Chicago and three in Denver with the Rockies. The Cardinals should probably win eight or nine of those, as the Rockies are the only decent team between them. St. Louis could be tested a bit in their next home stand when the Marlins, Braves, and Cubs come to town, but they're on such a roll right now that it may not matter. The Brewers got spotted a 3-0 lead in the first inning of last night's game, but after that Joel Pineiro kept them in check for just one more run over the next six innings. The offense came to life for the second time in three games, scoring in three separate innings including a couple of crooked numbers in the fourth and seventh. Last night's game showcased the reality of the Cardinals' revamped lineup. Albert Pujols is clearly starting to heat up again, as he hit his second bomb in four games. But Matt Holliday has remained hot for the birds. He took out the "A" in Big Mac Land during batting practice, tying the score between him and Pujols in letters for the year.

In the seventh inning with the go ahead run on second, first base open, and Pujols at the plate, the Brewers decided to hand Pujols the IBB. Seeing as he is 10-19 in his career against current pitcher David Weathers, that probably wasn't a bad move. But Milwaukee then removed Weathers in favor of Todd Coffey to face Holliday, even though Holliday was just 1-of-5 with a stirkeout in his career against Weathers. Coffey's first pitch traveled 416 feet after hitting Holliday's bat, putting the Cards up 7-4.

More Thoughts on MLB Pitching Statistics posted by Eric Hatleback

In the National League, the elongated double switch shows again why pitching statistics are quite poorly attributed.  A traditional double switch involves the manager inserting a position player into the game  for the current pitcher and a new pitcher for a position player--typically one who just made an out, so that the new pitcher won't be batting for nearly a full trip through the lineup.

However, this same basic maneuver can also occur by simply pinch-hitting for the pitcher while on offense and then placing the pitcher in for whichever player makes the last out of the inning.  If the team takes the lead (and subsequently does not lose it), the just-substituted-for pitcher gets credited with the win.

The problem is this: if this scenario occurs before the 5th inning, the starting pitcher cannot get the win, so it'll almost certainly be the next guy who pitches that will get the win.  But given that a position player is the opne who was inserted for the pitcher, why wouldn't that guy get the win?  He is technically inserted for the pitcher.  Of course, I'm not advocating that he really should get the win; I'm arguing that the statistics need to be reconfigured so that there are categories such as "Team Wins / Losses."  See some of my earlier posts for more good examples of why this should be the case.

One other note--it also wouldn't help to require a pitcher to actually throw a pitch before earning a win, as we saw last month:  http://espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=290707127.  Both Embree and B.J. Ryan (in 2003) have recently earned Wins without throwing a pitch.  This makes it possible for a reliever to enter for a starter before the 5th (after an offensive rally when his team took the lead), warm up for the inning, then leave without doing

"The Giants Get it Done in Houston" posted by Michael McGauley

  How cool is this Eli Whiteside story?  The Giants' rookie back-up catcher, who plays sparingly behind Bengie Molina, has had some big moments in recent weeks.  After catching the Jonathan Sanchez no-hitter last month, Whiteside launched a grand slam today -- his first career home run -- helping the Giants to a 10-6 victory over the Astros.  San Francisco improves to 60-and-48, taking two of three games ON THE ROAD, and now return home to open a weekend set against Dusty Baker's Cincinnati Reds.  Thursday's off-day, by the way, is the first for the team since the all-star break in mid-July.

  The offense, which was non-existent in Monday's loss, bounced back with 18 runs Tuesday and Wednesday combined.  Wednesday's 13-hit attack featured three hits apiece for Pablo Sandoval and Freddy Sanchez, and two more hits for Ryan Garko, who appears to be finding his comfort level in the National League.   

  The other story-line from Wednesday's win was rookie Joe Martinez, who returned to the mound for the first time since early April, after suffering a fractured skull from a line drive off the bat of Milwaukee's Mike Cameron.  Martinez improved to 2-0 after working five solid innings, allowing three runs on seven hits, with four strike outs and zero walks.  Martinez pitched well enough to keep his team in the game, and considering the extraordinary circumstances, how much more can one really ask from this kid?

  The pitching rotation turns over Friday night, and you know what that means - LIN-CE-CUM! 

Brewers Current Pitching Rotation Enough? posted by Sheridan Sander

With the end of the trade deadline just passing, the everyday brewer fan ponders whether or not the Brewers will have enough to make it into the 2009 MLB playoffs. Doug Melvin failed to make the C.C. Sabathia like trade that he did in 2009 and instead settled for a former Brewers, Claudio Vargas. With the Brewer's pitching staff currently with a huge dent in it. Should Melvin have considered making a more effective trade? The answer we will not know until October. But with heavily coveted prospects in Alcides Escobar and Mat Gamel, it is hard to understand why Melvin did not decide to make a larger deal. With Cliff Lee, Jarrod Washburn and even the likes of Jake Peavy swapping jerseys, not making a deal to that caliber is a bit confusing. With injuries to Jeff Suppan and Dave Bush the Brewer's organization will have to look to other solutions in order to patch up their pitching rotation. Claudio Vargas would be one direction that the Brewers may look, with a 11-6 record in the 2007 season. Vargas still could be a great addition to the Brewers organization. But will it be enough?Continue reading "Brewers Current Pitching Rotation Enough?"

Brewers' Fielder not worried about deal

On the field, nothing will change with Prince Fielder. He'll playfirst base, bat fourth and is still considered the key of theMilwaukee Brewers' offense.Off the field, Fielder says there's nothing to worry aboutright now, either. He wants to stay in Milwaukee as long as he canand there's no urgency in negotiating for a new contract. [read full article]

From FOXSports.com News for MLB

Edmonds reaches one-year deal with Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday signed Jim Edmonds to aminor-league contract. [read full article]

From FOXSports.com News for MLB

Brewers to keep Bush with one-year, $4.2M deal

Dave Bush and the Milwaukee Brewers have agreed to a one-yearcontract for $4,215,000. [read full article]

From FOXSports.com News for MLB