August 2007

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Let's All Go Ask Some Tough Questions Tonight

Filed under: Twins

As I wrote in my City Pages A-List entry, tonight is the official groundbreaking of the forthcoming Twins Stadium. Needless to say, it's only going to remain "Twins Stadium" until old Carl gets his many millions from whatever corporation showers him and his minions with more cash. Target Field? General Mills Stadium? Taxpayer Park?

It behooves Twins fans to attend this silly little bread-and-circuses gathering, if only to express rampant disbelief at the Twins handling of the thing. First they rammed it through the legislature, using political slight of hand like I've never seen in this state (including getting a no taxes Governor to approve), and then didn't even bother to buy the damned land. Now that there's a stadium definitely on its way, they're upset that the landowners want more money? You think?

Wonder, too, whether there will even be a decent team on the field when it opens in two-and-a-quarter seasons. The Twins made so many promises and threats in the long journey to the new digs, promises that were outright lies and that are proving to be outright lies. Such as that they'll be contracted (no evidence ever existed that that would happen), that they were going to move (where?), and that the stadium would generate enough income to finally make the Twins competitive (which flies in the face of recent years' performance). Today's program, which will highlight the history of the team, will no doubt ignore or gloss over the fact that the Twins already pulled the plug once, jerking themselves from Washington, D.C. because their owner thought there were way too many African-Americans fouling up his stadium (this is also repeated in numerous baseball histories outside of Wikipedia, including Brad Snyder's magnificent Beyond the Shadow of the Senators).

The stadium's a done deal, but it is using public funds, and as such is a part of public policy, which therefore makes tonight's soiree both a celebration and a forum for protest and debate. The Save the Met guys are going to be there, marching with a banner that asks us to, well, save the Met, as well as proclaiming that "We Was Right All Along". More importantly, however, is the rest of us asking for accountability, at the very least (the very least) to a management team that has been handed this golden calf but has done very little this year to put a competitive team on the field this year. How many of today's players are even going to be around when this thing is finished? And what kind of team are we going to see in three years? Will the stadium open with the warm glow of the '08 or '09 champion? Or will it open under the dark cloud of a program that never met its full potential, and is struggling to rebuild?

Posted by Peter Schilling Jr. at August 30, 2007 9:53 AM | Comments (0)

 

Chris Klein bicycle kick equalizer in stoppage time?

Filed under: Soccer

Last night's SuperLiga final was extraordinary. Pachuca was clearly the better squad, but the Galaxy put forth a heroic effort. The crowd was electric. Landon Donovan was a menace. Abel Xavier again proved himself the best defender in MLS. But it was Joe Cannon who repeatedly saved the game with mind-blowing saves. And then the most unlikely equalizer ever by Chris Klein. But the Galaxy--with Landon Donovan primed to deliver the $1-million gamewinning goal--somehow found a way to lose on penalty kicks. Grant Wahl has a great little write up over at SI. And oh yeah: Beckham got hurt--again--and he cried. Watch the highlights here.

Posted by Paul Demko at August 30, 2007 8:46 AM | Comments (1)

 

Can't We Just Agree That The Season's Over?

Filed under: Twins

Look: it doesn't matter that the Twins came into Cleveland with a five game win streak under their belts. If there was momentum, the Indians didn't feel it. After all, four of those victories were against an Orioles team that is nearly as woeful at the plate as the Twins, but also lacks our depth in the arms department. As if to really drive the point home that we are floundering, Cleveland bludgeoned the Twins 8-3, turned a triple play (a wonderful thing), while across Lake Erie and up the Detroit River the Tigers thumped the suddenly vulnerable Yanks 16-0.

What bugs the living tar out of me is that the Twins go through these streaks, keeping hope alive amongst their gullible fans. Yes, the Twins were but 5.5 games behind the Indians before the series (never mind that they aren't anywhere close to the Wild Card spot), but who cares? There is a big, fat difference between a five game winning streak that's plump on victories against the Orioles and one that's come against Cleveland or Detroit. You can say they're "hanging in there" all you want, but the supposedly surmountable distance betwixt third and first in the Central is due more to the Indians and Tigers than the Twins.

For the last time: it ain't gonna happen.

Dark days are soon upon us, if you like kids: September typically sees a decline in attendance, in part because responsible parents don't haul their kids to night games with school the next day. If you don't like the urchins and their enthusiasm, than the mausoleum we call the Dome will be just the place for you.

Despite this, there's still excitement to be had. A team whose season is over can provide fireworks by playing the spoiler. Maybe the Tigers and Indians will be locked in an epic battle until the very end, and we'll be a part of the equation. Maybe we'll see another triple play, this time one we turn. Maybe Santana will toss a no-hitter (don't forget, the last Twins no-hitter came in the merry month of September, when Eric Milton shut down the Angels in 1999). Someone might hit for the cycle, steal home, whatever. This is when the true fan shows her colors, and comes out to watch the thrilling futility.

Posted by Peter Schilling Jr. at August 28, 2007 9:09 AM | Comments (0)

 

Is Winning Losing (Part II)?

Filed under: Twins

Well, the Twins certainly asserted themselves mightily today, beating the Seattle M's 8-4 after a 7-run first inning. The initial frame included a grand slam by one Michael Cuddyer. The game got so out of hand that Dan Gladden and Jack Morris started yakking about anything and everything (though they do this in tight games as well). In the gabfest Gladden mused about young players coming up and going down to Rochester, and stated that Terry Ryan sometimes agonizes over calling up the better prospects because it might hurt the farm clubs during a tight pennant race. Which only makes this scribe say: Huh?

So now we've reached this level of the game. Terry Ryan, so-called genius GM, worrying about the minor league clubs and their fan base. Awesome. Apparently, it is perfectly cool for the owner of the major league club to spend years threatening moving the team or contracting it altogether. But hey, when the club's hurting in the pennant drive, why the fuck bring up a guy who might help, because you know the Rochester Red Wings are on the edge of a pennant themselves.

Fuck that. I don't even know who in the hell these guys were referring to, since I don't know of any Twin in upstate New York who could lift these guys out of the quagmire. Maybe he was looking back at the hesitancy of bringing up Matt Garza, and other arms. I don't know. I do know that Ryan's hands are tied, financially (though not that much, according to Reusse's recent column I mentioned in the last blog). I know he works for a "small market" team that plays in the dome and they have a full time staff that roams the city streets collecting aluminum to make ends meet. I know that they refuse to spend money or trade the excess of arms for a good bat, thus relegating themselves to above-.500 mediocrity that has become the norm of both AL and NL Central Divisions. What I don't need are such shitty excuses. If you live in a minor-league town, you come to terms with players leaving for the big league club. In fact, Mr. Ryan (or Mr. Gladden, if you quoted out of context or were just speculating on a hypothesis), watching a young player develop and leave for the bigs is part of the charm of following the minors.

Posted by Peter Schilling Jr. at August 22, 2007 3:24 PM | Comments (0)

 

U.S. v. Sweden viewing in Twin Cities

Folks will be gathering tomorrow night at the Sweetwater Bar & Grille at 7 p.m. CST to watch the U.S. take on Sweden. The game is actually being broadcast live from Goteborg at 1:30. But since most folks have day jobs, tape delay is the best option. The U.S. will be looking to rebound from its miserable showing at the Copa America and will field a strong, primarily European-based squad. Look for a starting XI something like this:

Howard
Cherundolo-Bocanegra-Onyewu-Bornstein
Dempsey-Bradley-Mastroeni-Beasley
Donovan-Ching

Posted by Paul Demko at August 21, 2007 4:56 PM | Comments (0)

 

Is Winning Losing?

Filed under: Twins

Since there is virtually nothing to be written about last night's 9-4 bludgeoning at the hands of the Seattle Mariners, let's ponder instead Patrick Reusse's column of August 19. Mr. Reusse looks to be examining, and perhaps explaining, the challenges of being Terry Ryan, the Twins highly regarded GM. Reusse writes: "Baseball is the only sport in this country where the triumph is in the pursuit as much as in the ultimate result." Although there's some truth to that, it's depressing when that appears to be your team's core philosophy.

Reusse goes on to show how, in baseball, the regular season is prized much more highly than in other sports, an observation that I couldn't agree with more. Hockey and basketball and football make the postseason so important that it comes at the expense of the regular season (especially in hockey, where teams with losing records often make it to the playoffs). Then comes the fun part: the Twins, Reusse points out, have had "praiseworthy achievement" over the last few years, putting together a string of six seasons in a row with a winning record, which surpasses any other time in their relatively short history (though Washington might not have fared any better).

Young Jim Pohlad says that the consecutive losing streak prior to this recent successes were "dark days", and that we won't see such sustained mediocrity under Terry Ryan. Reusse concludes his piece with this: "Staying consistently competitive. That's the goal here. If that leads to another run to the World Series, hallelujah, but avoiding a return to the dark days seems to carry equal importance with today's Twins."

So there's your $10,000 question: is it better to have stretches of lousy seasons and one or two that lead to a World Series berth, or merely not to fall below .500 over a long period of time? Perhaps I'm unique in my interest in baseball, but I'd rather have a World Series and then junk (though of course I wouldn't mind both, Yankee-style). So while I definitely want to see my team win, do I really care if they end up in second and third place years and years in a row? Not really.

Personally, I've not been as enamored of the Twins golden years as the rest of the world. To me, there have been two dazzling seasons in the past six years: 2001 and 2006. In '01, the year the Twins didn't make the playoffs, they had established themselves as an up and coming team after all those years of being plain lousy. Frankly, they were a spectacular entertainment that season. That season was filled with come-from-behind victories, the neck-and-neck rivalry with the Indians, and the Twins incredible fall in the second half. That's a hell of a ride. '06 was the same, except reversed. But the other Central Division Championships and their third place finish in '05? The years with virtually no competition (the White Sox were a poor rival, at best), or being completely outplayed ('05) and things wrapped up by early September... well, that's not much fun in my book.

I look back at the 1987 Detroit Tigers as a great example of spending for the now. THe Tigers pulled the trigger that year, and were rewarded with a playoff berth, which meant a great deal more then, with only one round of playoffs, than today. Now it's been written that the Tigers trade of John Smoltz to the Braves for Doyle Alexander goes down as one of the worst in history. I find that to be an idiotic, coldhearted response. The Tigers would not have won anything in '87 without Alexander, and Smoltz alone would not have revived the Tigers fortunes in the 90s (and early '00s, however you say that). The Tigers gave up part of their future for 1987, a year that will live with Tigers fans their whole lives. I'd rather have '87 over years of moderate success in the 90s... if you could even ask Smoltz to shoulder that load, which I don't think you can.

So I find it somewhat alarming to hear our premiere sportswriter posit that the Twins management doesn't consider winning the World Series their primary goal. Ask yourself this question, Twins fans: if you could know that the Twins could trade for the player that would shoot them into the postseason this year, and perhaps take them to the Series, at the cost of five years of sub-.500 play, would you take it? Or put it another way: in twenty years are you going to be celebrating the division-champion Twins of the last few years? I know that trading for the right bats doesn't guarantee anything. Staying put, however, guarantees only mediocrity. Even if it's got a winning record.

Posted by Peter Schilling Jr. at August 21, 2007 1:32 PM | Comments (0)

 

Tightrope Walking

Filed under: Twins

Johan Santana broke the all-time Twins single-game strikeout record, fanning seventeen Rangers. As usual, a great pitching performance had to be a tightrope walk over rusty razor blades, broken glass, and spikes, since the offensive half only scored a single run.

Bill Veeck once said that "One of the great myths by which we live is that the 'real' baseball fan loves a 1-0 game and abhors a 'sloppy' 8-6 game. Even the most cursory studies show that fans love 8-6 games and are bored to death by classic 1-0 pitchers battles."

Now, I don't think Veeck's entirely right. I personally love to see a pair of great pitchers go toe-to-toe, mano a mano, and parry like champion fencers on the Harvard yard now and again. What's dull as hell are these 1-0 games over and over again. Not to mention the 1-0 pitcher's duel between Johan Santana--arguably one of the greatest pitchers ever to take the mound--and Kevin Millwood, who was once a very good pitcher and, while still decent, shouldn't hold a team like this one to four hits and a measly run.

But this has been the case all year. Like the Japanese, the Twins seem to be playing in an effort to avoid making the opposition lose face. This weekend, we took two of three, but were outscored 6-3, winning a pair of one-run contests that forced both Carlos Silva and Santana to be at the top of their game, the whole damn game. Against Texas, one of the worst teams in baseball. These acrobatics have gotta wear a man down.

Posted by Peter Schilling Jr. at August 19, 2007 4:12 PM | Comments (0)

 

I bet David Beckham's neck is sore this morning

Filed under: Soccer

The headlock that Abel Xavier put on him after he scored last night looked mighty uncomfortable. Let the guy celebrate his damn goal. And can someone explain to me exactly what the hell Troy Perkins was doing? Anyway, here it is:

Posted by Paul Demko at August 16, 2007 10:46 AM | Comments (0)

 

We Stink Awesomely

Filed under: Twins

See, "Two-i" Torii Hunter barked at the Twins recently. "You stink," he told everyone in the clubhouse, an oddly mild thing to say to a bunch of grown men. I don't know if Minnesota Parent had a beat writer in attendance, but that's what Torii said. Today, after he pretty much won the game all by himself, he added, "We stink... though awesomely."

When your team is pretty much out of the playoffs and wearing their spoiler caps, and manages to throw a wrench into the Mariners wheelhouse by winning 6-1 to take the series two out of three, well, that's fine by me. Even finer is when one fellow, in this case Two-i, drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth, and then blasted a grand slam in the ninth to put it away. Who'd a figgered?

See, "Two-i" Torii Hunter barked at the Twins recently. "You stink," he told everyone in the clubhouse, an oddly mild thing to say to a bunch of grown men. I don't know if Minnesota Parent had a beat writer in attendance, but that's what Torii said. Today, after he pretty much won the game all by himself, he added, "We stink... though awesomely."

You could say that. Then again, I might say the Arizona Diamondbacks--who have given up more runs than they've scored, yet sit in first place--deserve that description more than we do. (Or the '87 Twins for that matter.)

Yep, the Twins beat the surging Seattle Mariners, perhaps the most exciting team in the American League right now. Bopped 'em good last night, kept it tight today until the very end of the damn game. Yesterday it was Matt Garza keeping the bats cool, today it was Scott Baker. Yesterday, there was lots of firepower, today there was just enough. Yesterday, it was Jason Bartlett shooting the fireworks. Today, it was Rondell White knocking his first over the fence and then Torii finishing the game off in style.

So I agree that today's Twins are awesome. Friday, maybe I'll say they just stink.

Posted by Peter Schilling Jr. at August 15, 2007 8:43 PM | Comments (0)

 

Barra Brava

Filed under: Soccer

Don't miss this piece about D.C. United's loudest, most unruly supporters section in today's Washington Post. The audio gallery, in particular, is fantastic.

Posted by Paul Demko at August 15, 2007 4:01 PM | Comments (0)

 

The free beer movement!

Filed under: Soccer

The Minnesota Thunder's season can pretty much be encapsulated by last week's three-game west coast road trip. On Thursday night the club was outplayed by Portland, but hung on for a nil-nil draw. Then on Saturday in Seattle they clawed back from a 1-0 deficit with two second half Keisuke Ota goals--only to surrender the equalizer in stoppage time. Finally on Sunday the Thunder again fought back from a one-goal deficit, but a would-be winner clanged off the post in the 89th minute.

Not the worst road trip, actually. They scratched out a point against each of three probable playoff teams. Except at this point the Thunder are desperate for victories. At 3-8-10, they're 12 points out of the playoff picture. With just nine matches remaining, it will be nearly impossible to make up this ground. Tomorrow night the Thunder begin a three-game homestand, facing league leaders Portland for the third time in less than two weeks.

The late great blog We Call it Soccer started something called the Free Beer Movement. The gist of this genius idea: give soccer a chance, we give you free beer. It's a gesture intended to convince the uninitiated to attend a game.

Thunder fans will once again be offering this benevolent service before Saturday's match against Rochester at The Jimmy. Show up at the pre-game festivities and we promise you free beer and free food. I personally am pledging a mini-keg of Paulaner Hefeweizen and a dozen brats to this philanthropic cause. Tailgating will commence at 4 p.m. in the western end of the parking lot. Look for the flags. Kickoff is slated for 7:05.

Posted by Paul Demko at August 15, 2007 1:16 PM | Comments (1)

 

Phil Rizzuto and the Jumpin' Bunt

Filed under: MLB

Former Yankees' shortstop and radio announcer Phil Rizzuto died today at age 89. The New York Times has a nice write up of the man's life, which included a description of a startling play that the fireplug made in 1951.

The Times describes it thusly: "In the first, Rizzuto was at bat against Bob Lemon of the Cleveland Indians. With DiMaggio on third base, Rizzuto took Lemon’s first pitch and argued the called strike with the umpire. That gave him time to grab his bat from both ends, the sign to DiMaggio that a squeeze play was on for the next pitch. But DiMaggio broke early, surprising Rizzuto. With Joltin’ Joe bearing down on him, Rizzuto laid down a bunt on a pitch that Lemon threw at his head.

'If I didn’t bunt, the pitch would’ve hit me right in the head,' Rizzuto said. 'I bunted it with both feet off the ground, but I got it off toward first base.'

DiMaggio scored the winning run, and Lemon angrily hurled the ball at the press box. Stengel called it 'the greatest play I ever saw.'"

Well, knock me over the head with a wet baseball card. That does sound like one of the greatest plays ever--in fact, had I seen something to that effect at the Dome I most certainly would have embarrassed myself by shouting out something to like "Holy Fuck!" around a coven of young children and old ladies.

But that's part of the joy of this sport. Not swearing around the innocent, but the utter surprise from incredible and unlikely plays. Even in a year such as this, which, for all intents and purposes, is going to go down as one of the dullest in recent years, we can thrill to individual plays in specific games, or even marvel at a tale told from a game long, long ago.

Phil Rizzuto barely registers in my own personal firmament, and is not a player I would go out of my way to read or talk about. I didn't dislike him, but I just never found his career or his stories all that interesting--and that goes for the rest of the Yankees (I'll take the Brooklyn Dodgers over the Bombers any day). But I mark Rizzuto's passing with satisfied smirk and a small offer of thanks over a play that still energizes this fan almost sixty years later.

Posted by Peter Schilling Jr. at August 14, 2007 1:56 PM | Comments (0)

 

Doom and Gloom

Filed under: Twins

The Twins lost late last night 4-3 in the ninth inning, when Seattle's Richie Sexson smashed a homer off Matt Guerrier. This drops us to 1-6 on this road trip, and is beginning to make me think that perhaps our intrepid GM Terry Ryan is a genius. Perhaps he alone knew that if he paid the big bucks for a slugger, why it'd be like luring a saber-toothed tiger into a tar pit. One bat wasn't going to jump-start this sorry group.

Granted, the Twins played a decent pitcher in Felix Hernandez. Then again, this is a strange land called Major League Baseball, so it might behoove the local nine to understand that, now and then and even for stretches of time, you face decent pitching.

That's OK, that's OK--the last series we averaged two runs a game, and this series we're already up to three runs! Pathetic, I say. Soon, the Twins overburdened pitching staff is bound to collapse, and when it does, things will get even uglier. Which is hard to believe. So let's give a big cheer to the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians for keeping this a race, and making the Central Division, once the cream of the crop, suddenly looking beat-up... and beatable.

Posted by Peter Schilling Jr. at August 14, 2007 9:41 AM | Comments (0)

 

Fireworks! (Sparklers, whatever...)

Filed under: Twins

With bats ablaze, the Minnesota Twins erupted for two whole runs today in Anaheim Stadium, losing a close game 6-2. As if awoken from a deep, deep, deep, deep slumber, our Twins, once written off, once derided for their inability to score, actually blasted two runs per game--you read that right--in this visit with the Los Angeles Angels of Disneyland. Had their pitching staff actually done their job, and shut out the Southern Californians on three straight days, this weekend might have been radically different.

"It's not Disneyland in here right now," Ron Gardenhire moped afterwards. Au contraire--a theme park is what you make of it. For the California Angels, taking three straight while holding your opponents to two runs per is a day in the sun with Mickey. After the game it was revealed that the Twins have scored only 87 times since the All-Star break, worst in the league. That means that Kansas City and Tampa Bay are scoring more runs, even though we have the reigning MVP and batting champeen, both of whom are Silver Sluggers. Which one might assume meant that they could slug. The ball, that is.

"We know these guys are good pitchers," Torii complained, yet this fails to explain the demeaning losses to the Kansas City Royals, who are not going to win any Cy Youngs this year. "It's tough to swallow," he said, referring to either the three losses or the two runs. I'm certain that he had a good cry in private, since he went 2 for 11 with a walk and a pair of K's. It matters not--he's still doing well enough to land a fat contract somewhere else in New York or Los Angeles.

So be it, so be it. If the Twins are going to get shut out as often as they do, then I think it behooves fans to gush whenever we can get one, or even two across in a game. Don't worry about what the other teams do, like, say, score six or seven... let's marvel at the sacrifice flies, and let other people whack their thundersticks over towering home runs. This is Twins Territory, and in Twins Territory two runs is enough.

Posted by Peter Schilling Jr. at August 12, 2007 10:43 PM | Comments (0)

 

End of the Fat Man?

Filed under: MLB

Sorry, but I just can't bring myself to write about the yo-yo known as the Minnesota Twins, or throw more words into the hurricane already covering Barry Bonds. No, what caught my eye instead was this story, which barely registered at ESPN and MLB.com: David Wells, one of seventeen men to have pitched a perfect game (against the Twins, mind you), was released yesterday by the San Diego Padres. His career appears over and done with.

David Wells (I can't bring myself to call him 'Boomer') personified this great quote by the Tigers' own Mickey Lolich: "I guess you could say I'm the redemption of the fat man. A guy will be watching me on TV and see that I don't look in any better shape than he is..." That was Wells all over. Look at him in his most recent photo. He looks awful, fat and pasty. But he was one hell of a pitcher in his prime, and a guy who could work wonders in the postseason. His career spanned twenty seasons with eight different teams, including a short stint with Marge Schott's Cincinnati Reds. He loathed Schott, and made a point of mentioning that anytime there was a mic in his face.

The guy loved playing for the Yankees, but was also paid to pitch for the Red Sox. Like Curt Schilling, he knew his baseball history, but didn't harp about it, like Schilling does (endlessly). Wells bought Babe Ruth's hat and almost wore it in an actual game, before Steinbrenner pulled the plug. He wore number 33 for the Yanks, in honor of the Babe's number 3 (which he couldn't wear). Supposedly, he claimed that he threw his perfect game while hung over, then later claimed to be misquoted. Anyone could have told you he was merely copying the great Dock Ellis, who tossed a no-hitter while on acid.

Had this been the 1920s, he would have certainly had some horrible nickname, like 'Fatty'. The guy never shied away from his image as a beer and doughnuts kind of guy. Why this impresses me, I'm not entirely sure. Perhaps David Wells is proof that anyone can play this wicked game, that a big sucker like Wells or Lolich can win games, which means that scrawny bastards like myself could do the same. Anyone, Wells seems to say, can play baseball.

Posted by Peter Schilling Jr. at August 8, 2007 9:45 PM | Comments (1)

 

Watch globally, cheer locally

Filed under: Soccer

One of the great (and terrifying) things about being a soccer fan is that there is no offseason. There are meaningful matches being played somewhere on the planet at practically every possible moment. They really should have treatment centers for footy addicts.

Take recent months. Major League Soccer kicked off in April, just as the major European leagues were winding down their campaigns. But as soon as the English Premiership, La Liga and the rest hung up their boots, the Gold Cup kicked off. Which was followed immediately by Copa America and the U-20 World Cup. Now we're in the middle of the inaugural SuperLiga, which pits top Mexican clubs against their MLS counterparts--and which has been ridiculously fun. (Don't believe me? Watch the absurd highlights from L.A.'s 6-5 victory over Dallas.)

Meanwhile the Mexican Apertura season kicked off last weekend, as did league play in France and Scotland. This week they'll be joined by the Brits and the Germans. It's all enough to make one's head hurt. And thanks to Fox Soccer Channel, Gol TV, and Setanta, you can now watch practically every glorious second of it.

But of course the matches that really matter involve the mighty Minnesota Thunder. Unfortunately the squad's miserable fortunes have not improved of late. After putting together a modest four game unbeaten streak (2-0-2), they've failed to win any of their last three contests, which included a mortifying home loss (which luckily I missed) to fellow cellar dwellers California Victory. The inclusion of Tony Sanneh has done nothing to inspire the squad. In fact by all reports he was miserable in the California game. With just 10 games remaining on the schedule, the Thunder are entrenched at the bottom of the table. On the plus side, they're still Dan Loney's favorite 1st Division team!

The Thunder will now try to turn things around on the road. A three-game swing through the northwest starts on Thursday when they face the top-of-the-table Portland Timbers. A half dozen jackasses are making the trip out west. Perhaps the squad will be inspired by their delusional loyalty and heroic alcohol consumption. Or maybe not.

Posted by Paul Demko at August 7, 2007 4:45 PM | Comments (4)

 

That'll Do, Pigs. I guess.

Filed under: Twins

Whoa. Scott Baker is looking just great, isn't he? Today, in the Twins 1-0 victory o'er Cleveland, the kid from Shreveport went 8 innings, gave up 4 hits and 2 walks, with 4 Ks. That means that in his last two starts he's gone 16 innings, given up 1 earned run, 6 hits and a pair of walks, and struck out eleven. No homers. A couple of wins under his belt. Whether this is good luck stretched over a couple days or not, that's ace material.

There's more good news... I guess. As Dick Bremer pointed out repeatedly, the Twins have watched their 9 game deficit for the Central Division title get cut to 4.5 in roughly ten day's time. That's the good news. However, they're also just 12-10 since the All-Star break, which really sucks. Perhaps that's this team needs to do to get to the World Series: emulate the 1987 club, that mediocre club that gave up more runs than it scored, and went on to beat superior teams in the playoffs and World Series.

Sorry if I can't get more excited about the Twins cutting their lead in half and remaining in the hunt thanks to the inability of either Cleveland or Detroit to put this thing away. Of course, the difference between the '87 Twins and the '07 Twins is that their pitching and hitting seem reversed: this club's got the arms, that club had the bats. Whatever. At this rate, the Twins will back into the playoffs, take the thing, and then in two decades eager fans will shell out big bucks to watch the highlights of today's game on DVD. At least you'll get a pair of great pitcher's duels, both of which involve the young Mr. Baker. There's worse entertainment, I suppose.

Posted by Peter Schilling Jr. at August 5, 2007 3:41 PM | Comments (2)

 

One Man's Nightmare; Most Men's Dream

Filed under: MLB

Poor Bud Selig. Poor Tom Goldman. Goldman is a reporter with National Public Radio, and Selig, well, he's the Commissioner of the corporation known as Major League Baseball. This morning, on NPR's Weekend Edition, Goldman gave us a story about how Barry Bonds has been stuck on 754 home runs and the effect this has on the Commissioner and the reporters who follow this circus. Apparently, Bud Selig is growing surly from having to spend so much time in the pursuit. Goldman's report featured audio coverage of Selig cursing out a reporter who inquired whether the commissioner was going to continue to follow Bonds if the slugger failed to break the record this weekend. Goldman also gave us the excruciating detail of his having to watch Bonds--that Barry has but three to four at-bats a game, and those brief moments make up the gist of Goldman's day. If Bonds fails, well, then he has to pull a story out of the turnip that is a Giants game.

So let me see if I get this straight: this story, situated as it was between an editorial about the UN's failure to make real progress in the Darfur disaster and some other minor problem in the world, tells us that the Commissioner of Baseball, the fucking Commissioner of Baseball, is grousing because he has to actually sit and watch a game of the sport he ostensibly is in charge of, and supposedly loves. And Tom Goldman has to work in the press box, gorging himself on hot dogs and pop, and turn his brain on four times a game. If only he could grab one of those easy assignments in Iraq!

I'm not a Giants fan, but I think I speak for a lot of baseball fans when we say we'd love such sweet seats in any ballpark in America. As a reporter, I'd love to make Goldman's wages following Bonds, controversy or no. And when I say I'm not a Giants fan, that doesn't mean I don't like the Giants like I don't like liver and onions. Selig used to run the Brewers, now he runs baseball, and, really, the guy doesn't have to go if he doesn't want to. Goldman, for his part, received an assignement to follow Barry Bonds. For most fans, being "forced" to watch Bonds, in the Commissioner's seats or in the press box would be a dream come true. And in light of events, not just here but in the world in general--damn, every single day, in fact--makes this story not only irresponsible but narcissistic and insulting to fans. Everyone gripes about their job--Mr. Goldman and Mr. Selig, perhaps it would be serve the world if you kept yours to yourselves.

Posted by Peter Schilling Jr. at August 4, 2007 10:16 AM | Comments (1)

 

Ticket scalpers of Minnesota, rejoice!

Filed under: Tickets

Good news for anyone who's ever had to furtively buy (or sell) tickets on the street as if participating in a drug deal: Minnesota legislators have legalized ticket scalping. Passed by the state legislature in February and effective today, H.F. 189 repeals a 1963 state statute that outlawed the selling of a ticket “at a price greater than that charged at the place of admission or printed on the ticket.”

In sponsoring the bill, Rep. Chris DeLaForest (R-Andover) said the repeal will attract ticket-reselling companies to the state and that increased competition will benefit consumers by curbing ticket prices. Previously a misdemeanor, scalping could get you up to 90 days in jail and/or a $1,000 fine. Ticket scalping, that is.

Posted by Matt Snyders at August 1, 2007 2:29 PM | Comments (3)

 

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