Friday March 19, 2004
BREAK NEEDED
Today is going to be a really quick posting. All week, I have been writing up summaries of the USA Olympic baseball teams. I have really enjoyed it. I love researching the players, finding out how good they were, tracking their pro careers and if at all possible, finding out what they’re doing now.
Here are the completed Olympic projects:
Monday - 1984 Olympic Team
Tuesday - 1988 Olympic Team
Wednesday - 1992 Olympic Team
Thursday - 1996 Olympic Team
However, that is a lot of work, and quite the time commitment. Let’s just say that I have been up late at night writing these postings up. The problem is that I have to be at work in the morning by 8:00. I need to be alert. I stay up late frequently, but not four or five week nights in a row. I have actually worn myself out. I had no problem getting through the work day, making it until 5 without being overly tired. However, after work last night, I went for a walk around town, and when I got back to my apartment, I was dead tired. And, thanks to the Atkins program, the tiredness was not from being out of shape. This time, my eyes were shutting. My brain is completely shut down. I could try to write up a posting for today, but it would not be good.
So, I am just writing this to apologize to those of you who came to this site today hoping to see some information on the 2000 Olympic Gold Medal winnings Team USA. I just don’t have it in me. However, I will have a Special Saturday Edition of Seth Speaks which will cover that team’s roster.
For today, I will just discuss yesterday’s Twins game briefly, scan yesterday’s box scores to see how former Twins did, and then link you to some great sites so you’ve got some quality reading today.
Notice on the left side of the screen that I will be updating how I am doing with my picks for the NCAA Basketball Tournament, which were posted yesterday.
If you’re interested in how other baseball bloggers are doing on their NCAA tournament picks, check out The Baseball Savant and his wife’s picks, Aaron Gleeman’s picks and Al Bethke’s upset picks.
So again, I am sorry for not writing much today. I hope you understand, and please be sure to check back tomorrow for the Special Saturday Edition with the information on the 2000 Olympic team.
Twins 5, Orioles 3
Kyle Lohse pitched five innings and was quite efficient with his pitches, throwing just 65 pitches. He gave up three runs, but just one was earned. I listened to that inning and he was hurt by two errors, one by himself. It looks like Lohse should be ready to go soon! Joe Roa pitched two scoreless innings, and Matt Guerrier and Kevin Tolar each pitched another scoreless inning for the Twins. On offense, the Twins had eight hits, and no one had more than one. The big hit came in the bottom of the first inning when Matthew Lecroy slammed a three-run homer. The next inning, Joe Mauer hit his first home run of the spring off lefty starter Eric Dubose. The lone question mark in Mauers’s game is his power game, but he has shown doubles power and now has a home run. He’s hitting .409 this spring, and his at bats have been against pitchers in the opposition’s rotation.
Do you have any thoughts on Joe Mauer, on what he’ll do in 2004 and what he can become? Any thoughts on the Twins in general? E-mail me.
How former Twins players played on Thursday:
· AJ Pierzynski, C - San Francisco Giants (0-1)
· Greg Colbrunn, PH - Arizona Diamondbacks (1-1)
· David McCarty, 1B - Boston Red Sox (2-5, 4 RBI, 2 HR - 3 this spring)
· Casey Blake, 3B - Cleveland Indians (2-2, 2-2B)
· Javy Valentin, C - Cincinnati Reds (0-3)
· Chris Gomez, SS - Toronto Blue Jays (0-1)
· Chad Moeller, C - Milwaukee Brewers (0-3)
· Quinton McCracken, PH - Seattle Mariners (0-1)
· Eddie Guardado, RP - Seattle Mariners (1 IP, 2 H, 1K)
· Todd Walker, RF - Chicago Cubs (0-1)
Alex Belth writes Bronx Banter but is also now a part of The Hardball Times. Yesterday, he shared an interview that he conducted with Howard Bryant, the author of “Shut Out: A Story of Race and Baseball in Boston.”
Speaking of interesting interviews, stop by Ball Talk. Alex Ciepley had a chance to interview Michael Muska, the first openly gay college Athletic Director. It is a good read that addresses a lot of questions and misconceptions.
Some veterans ‘purposely give bad advice to youngsters?” Think it’s true? Check out the Baseball Widow where she discusses the question. It was brought up by Rob Dibble on The Dan Patrick show yesterday. I think that the Twins veterans, particularly Doug Mientkiewicz and Shannon Stewart have always been great with helping the young players.
On that note, I would encourage everyone to check out all of the links on the left side of this screen. There are a LOT of incredible baseball writers out there who deserve to be read. So, take a few minutes and check out some of them. If you like what you read, bookmark them.
Don’t forget to stop back tomorrow for the 2000 Olympic team review. If you have any questions on anything you have read today, or anything in general, please fee free to e-mail me!