August 2006

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Foul tip: bring on the Sox

Filed under: Twins

1. For fear of stating the obvious: The performances of Matt Garza and Boof Bonser over the last two nights were huge. The Orioles might be a bad team, but they still field a pretty badass lineup. When your number nine hitter (Ramon Hernandez, at least in two of the three games) has 71 rbis, the team is not to be taken lightly. Garza, in particular, had opportunities to wilt under the pressure. When Jason Bartlett booted a potential double play ball in the first inning the rookie could've imploded. But he got out of the mess only allowing one run. Bartlett hurt him again in the fourth after Hunter made a leaping catch. An Oriole baserunner (I can't remember who) would've been easily doubled off first base, but for a bad throw by the shortstop.

2. Will Bartlett be a defensive liability down the stretch? I know it's heresy to say anything bad about Bartlett considering that he's hitting nearly .350 and has been a huge part of the Twins turnaround. But as previously mentioned he cost the Twins three outs in a tight game on Wednesday night. Bartlett's now got nine errors, tops on the team, in 63 games, with a .966 fielding percentage. Among everyday shortstops in the American League, only Carlos Guillen has a worse fielding record.

3. By prominent baseball insider he apparently means Krusty the Clown: Charlie Walters had one of the most idiotic items of recent vintage in Tuesday's Pioneer Press. And that's saying something when your competition is Sid. Here's the bit in its entirety:

) A prominent baseball insider says the defending World Series champion Chicago White Sox don't have the intensity to compete with the Twins in the wild-card race.

Posted by Paul Demko at August 25, 2006 1:54 PM | Comments (1)

 

A scary notion: Cuddyer is the key to the Twins's season

Filed under: Twins

My antipathy towards Michael Cuddyer has been well documented in this space. Last season I thought he was among the worst everyday players in baseball. He drove in a pathetically anemic 42 runs, while striking out 93 times, and provided barely adequate defense at third base. It seemed like the only reason that he was getting regular playing time was that he had, in Gardenhire's eyes, jumped through all of the appropriate hoops. I would've gladly seen Terry Tiffee or Nick Punto take his spot.

But Cuddyer has proven me wrong this season. He's on pace to hit roughly 25 homeruns and drive in 100 runs, while his batting average has hovered around .270 for most of the season. Most importantly Cuddyer's been sufficiently dangerous to make teams think twice before pitching around Mauer to get to him.

That said, it can still be extraordinarily painful to watch Cuddyer at the plate. At times he doesn't seem to be familiar with the concept of off-speed pitches, flailing away at curveballs like he's trying to chop down a tree. Consequentially Cuddyer has a remarkable 103 strikeouts, by far tops on the team. (Torii Hunter, not surprisingly, is next with 79 strikeouts, followed by Morneau with 71.) That's one strikeout for every four at bats.

But whatever my misgivings about Cuddyer, it's become abundantly clear that he's now the key to the season. As goes Cuddyer, so go the Twins. With a lineup filled with "piranhas" (Tyner, Punto, Bartlett, Castillo), they need his meaty bat to come through during the last quarter of the season.

The last seven games have clearly amplified this fact. In the Twins five victories Cuddyer was a scintillating 9 for 20, with two homeruns and 8 rbis. By contrast, during the team's two losses, Cuddyer had just one hit in seven at bats, while driving in no runs. Of course hitting behind Mauer and the piranhas he's had a ridiculous number of runners on base when he's come to the plate. During the seven-game stretch, Cuddyer managed to leave a whopping 15 runners stranded.

Hopefully my irrational hatred of Cuddyer will prove to be utterly wrongheaded. If so the Twins will make the playoffs.

Posted by Paul Demko at August 21, 2006 5:37 PM | Comments (3)

 

Koren Robinson: In what sense bulletproof?

Filed under: Vikings

Until about 10:45 last night when he was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and fleeing the police, Viking flanker Koren Robinson was one of the team's major feel-good stories. Everyone, it seemed, was writing pieces about Robinson's redemption, tracing his career arc from troubled Seattle Seahawk to sober Viking team leader poised for a breakout season. In retrospect, the one that caught my eye was this profile from Chicago Tribune's Don Pierson:

[A]larms went off in June when word from South Carolina arrived suggesting Robinson had had a relapse. He said he was only attending relapse prevention classes.

"I just want to make sure I'm good for the season before I put myself back in that lifestyle," Robinson told the Associated Press at the time. "In the NFL, when you lose, you feel real down and when you win, there's a lot of celebrating. I'm just making sure I'm bulletproof and being proactive."

For anyone familiar with sportswriter Dan Jenkins'classic "Ten Stages of Drunkeness," it is Robinson's stated aspiration that he wanted to become "bulletproof" that should have set off alarms. In the Jenkins model, you may recall, bulletproof constitutes the final stage of inebritation. Here's the rest of the list:

1. Witty and Charming
2. Rich and Powerful
3. Benevolent
4. Clairvoyant
5. Fuck Dinner
6. Patriotic
7. Crank up the Enola Gay
8. Witty and Charming, Part II
9. Invisible
10. Bulletproof

Posted by Mike Mosedale at August 16, 2006 10:12 AM | Comments (12)

 

Koren Robinson in the Nicollet County Jail

Filed under: Vikings

Vikings fans received the bad news yesterday that top draft pick Chad Greenway will miss the rest of the season with a possible torn anterior cruciate ligament. Today brings news No. 1 wide receiver Koren Robinson is sitting in the Nicollet County jail, accused of drunken driving, reckless driving, speeding, fleeing police, and driving without a valid license. Seattle released Robinson after a drunken driving arrest in May 2005. Is this the beginning of the end for the Vikings's 2006 season? Is it Troy Williamson's turn to show us what he's got? Will Robinson ever wear purple again? Let's hear it.

Posted by Corey Anderson at August 16, 2006 9:37 AM | Comments (2)

 

Tuesday morning quarterback

Filed under: Vikings

If you're looking for a Robson-esque analysis of last night's Vikings-Raiders game, you should probably look elsewhere. Consider this an open thread to share your thoughts. As far as the QBs are concerned, Brad Johnson was steady as always, and Mike McMahon was mediocre as always. Fourth-stringer J.T. O'Sullivan made some gaffes, but also showed some potential. The big story would have to be third-stringer Tarvaris Jackson, who went 7-for-13 for 60 yards with 36 yards of rushing tossed in, prompting one of the ESPN commentators to state that he resembled a "right-handed Michael Vick." The other news, of course, was first-round pick Chad Greenway leaving the game in the first quarter after injuring his knee. No news as yet on the extent of his injury, but rumor has it, he could be out for the season. Let's hear what you think about Brad Childress's first game as head coach of the Minnesota Vikings.

Posted by Corey Anderson at August 15, 2006 9:15 AM | Comments (7)

 

The tastiest words I'll ever eat

Filed under: Twins

If hindsight is 20/20, then this four-eyed scribe will take his chance now to recast his pupils on Justin Morneau. (Hey, better late than never.) The Twins' first baseman, as you probably know by now, hit his 30th homer last night (for RBI 100 and 101), at the most clutch time possible. And the hometown nine took two of three in Detroit.

I'll go out on a very sturdy limb and say the guy's a top-five candidate for MVP, and the favorite if the Twins sit primed for the post-season at voting time and the east coast writers pull their heads out of their asses (better to wager on the former). With the exception of Hafner and Ortiz, there's no one in the AL who's more dangerous at the plate.

All of which makes me giddy as hell, except for one nagging matter.

Three months ago in this space, I advocated for the Twins to bench, along with Torii Hunter, the great Justin Morneau. The words are hard to read today:

"Morneau is clearly not ready to face big-league pitching, and the Twins don't miss him a bit while he's on the bench. In fact, if anything, Michael Cuddyer looks like an upgrade at the plate and a straight-up swap in the field."

Ouch ... and har-har-har. In my own pathetic defense, Morneau was flailing away with a .210 average at the time, and I was flat-out despondent over the team's false start. And it was before the kid got a pep talk from dear old dad on a Seattle road trip.

Either way, Morneau, who is the first Twink since '87 to hit 30 home runs, could end up with one of the top-five seasons at the plate this franchise has ever seen. The team record for RBI, for example, is held by Harmon Killebrew with 140 in 1969. Morneau is on pace to hit 144. To speak nothing of his gaudy average and knack for key dingers.

There are too many great seasons by the Killer, Carew, Oliva and Puckett to list here at this point (and, hey, don't forget Larry Hisle). But for the sake of comparison, let's look at fellow first baseman Kent Hrbek's 1982 rookie season. True, it's Morneau's second year, but: 1) Herbie played out the tail end of the '81 season--after starting the season in A ball and then hitting a home run at Yankee Stadium in his first big-league game; and 2) in his second full season he dropped off a bit.

That year, when Hrbek criminally came in second to Cal Ripken for rookie of the year (see east coast sports writers, above), he hit .301 with 23 homers and 92 ribbies. Morneau's already bested him in the power categories, and his average currently sits at .322.

And for that, I couldn't be happier to be so wrong.

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at August 10, 2006 6:25 PM | Comments (1)

 

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