Thursday April
15, 2004
HAMMERIN' HANK
TWINS THOUGHTS
BASEBALL THOUGHTS
AMERICAN IDOL THOUGHTS
THE BACHELOR THOUGHTS
Today, April 15th, 56 years ago, Jackie
Robinson made his major league debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Take
a look at
this
link to see just how impressive his ten year big
league career was. Then step back and take another minute to try to
think or remember just how much he had to endure. Put together, it
makes for a pretty impressive man! Major League Baseball is
celebrating Robinson’s birthday by calling April 15th Jackie
Robinson day. Again, just take a moment to think about not only what
his arrival in the Major Leagues meant for baseball, but also what
it meant for society as a whole.
BEST IN THE WEST
Last night, the Wolves played in
The Pyramid, in Memphis, TN, with the chance to win the Midwest
Division, and in doing so, lock up the #1 seed in the Western
Conference playoffs. If nothing else, it would be good for the
Wolves to go into the playoffs after a win.
Well, I would have to say that
the Wolves showed up to play last night! They took an early lead on
the Grizzlies and used a 20-2 second quarter run to take control of
the game. At halftime, they were ahead 55-34 and were shooting 55%
from the field. The team led by as much as 29 points in the 3rd
quarter before removing their starters and letting them get some
rest. The Wolves won the game 107-90 and secured that #1 seed
with their 9th consecutive victory.
Kevin Garnett scored 26
points and grabbed 9 rebounds, one board away from his 72nd
double-double of the season. He was 9-13 from the field and 8-8 from
the line in his 31 minutes. Latrell Sprewell was 8-13 from
the field for 20 points in just 30 minutes. Sam Cassell was
7-9 from the field and scored 17 points with 8 assists in 25
minutes. Wally Szczerbiak shot 7-11 for 17 points in 30
minutes. Pao Gasol led the Grizzlies with 16 points.
The San Antonio Spurs won their 12th straight game,
but even that was not enough to surpass the Wolves in the standings.
It was good for the second best record in the conference, however,
they will hold the #3 seed in the playoffs because the Pacific
Division champions, the Los Angeles Lakers, get the #2 seed. How the
Lakers won that #2 spot was absolutely crazy. First, had the
Sacramento Kings won, they would have had the #2 seed. However, they
were defeated by the Golden State Warriors. The Lakers still had to
win their contest at Portland. What a game that was!! Down by 3
points in regulation, Kobe Bryant fouled Ruben Patterson
on a dunk attempt that would have iced the win for Portland. All
Patterson had to do was make one free throw and the game was
basically over. He missed both. With a man right in his face, Kobe
Bryant threw up a prayer and it was answered! The three pointer sent
the game to overtime. The game went to a second over time. With 8
seconds left, Kobe Bryant missed a jumper. Blazers point guard
Damon Stoudamire grabbed the rebound, and instead of calling a
time out, he took the ball the length of the court and with two
seconds remaining, he hit a lay-up to give the Blazers a two point
lead. After a non-shooting foul on Derek Fisher, the Lakers
took the ball out with just 1.0 seconds remaining. The ball was in
bounded to Bryant who turned and launched a fade away, fall on your
butt, high-arching three point shot... that hit nothing but the
bottom of the net, giving the Lakers the 105-104 win.
Here are the Western Conference first-round
matchups:
#1 Minnesota Timberwolves vs. #8 Denver
Nuggets
#4 Sacramento Kings vs. #5 Dallas Mavericks
#3 San Antonio Spurs vs. #6 Memphis Grizzlies
#2 Los Angeles Lakers vs. #7 Houston Rockets
Check back tomorrow for my predictions on the first
round of the NBA Playoffs as well as my choices for the postseason
awards. In the mean time, be sure to look back at
my Timberwolves Predictions from last
October. I may have had some correct predictions, but as per usual,
I am wrong far more frequently. It's fun too look back though.
What do you think? Can the Wolves get out of the
first round? How far can they go? Could they win the NBA Title?
Send the your thoughts.
HAMMERIN'
HANK?
What is up with
Henry Blanco? Last night, he was 4-4 with two doubles, a
home run, three runs scored and three RBI in the Twins 10-6 win over
the Cleveland Indians. In his last four games, he is 8-14 (.571)
with three homers, three doubles, six runs and seven RBI.
Coming into this season, his
batting averages the last five years were .232, .236, .210, .204,
.199. But since Joe Mauer went down with a knee injury,
Henry Blanco has stepped in and stepped up more than anyone
could have expected! Now, I certainly don't expect Blanco to
continue hitting like this. I still ask the question, "Why won't
Gardy play Rob Bowen?" But for now, he had to ride Blanco until he
slows down. I think the Twins would be happy, thrilled, if he hit
.250 this year.
And don't worry, Joe Mauer's
job is still safe when he comes back from the disabled list! This is
not a Wally Pipp situation!
TWINS
THOUGHTS
Nick Punto got the start
at 2B last night and went 2-5. Cristian Guzman had a double
and a triple in four at bats. Doug Mientkiewicz also had two
hits to keep his 8 game hitting streak going. Corey Koskie
hit a long home run, his second of the season.
Carlos Silva pitched five
strong innings before struggling again in the sixth inning. It
appears as though he tires at about the 75 pitch count. This should
not be surprising as he is still adjusting to life as a starter. It
probably is just a matter of him getting through a sixth inning,
maybe as much mentally as physically, to get past that issue. I
really think Silva will be fine.
Aaron Fultz pitched two
perfect innings. Closer Joe Nathan was brought in to pitch
the 9th inning despite the Twins 10-3 lead, just to get him some
work. Well, it took a lot of work. Nathan really struggled, giving
up a home run a hit and a walk and recording just two outs. After a
four pitch walk of Jody Gerut, Ron Gardenhire went to
Juan Rincon, who struck out Casey Blake to end the
game and record the save. Many will make a big deal about
Nathan's performance. It wasn't good, but we see this so often with
closers. They don't pitch as well in blowouts. Even a pitcher like
Nathan, who was the Giants top reliever last season, pitched
primarily in close, tight situations. Whenever he finally gets a
save situation, I truly believe that he will be just fine.
The Twins are now 4-4, two games
behind the AL Central leading Detroit Tigers... Just 154 games to
go!! Any thoughts on the Twins?
E-mail me.
ROCHESTER
REPORT - The Redwings won two more games
yesterday. In Game 1, Matt Guerrier pitched six perfect
innings. He gave up two hits in the 7th before Jesse Crain
was brought in for the save. It didn't happen. He gave up two hits
before Earl Snyder hit a 3 run homer to put the Pawtucket
Paw-Sox in the lead, 5-4. It was the first homer that Crain had
given up in his minor league career. However, he came back to strike
out the next three batters. In the bottom of the 7th, Justin
Morneau singled in a run to tie the game and the team won in the
9th inning. Jason Bartlett went 3-5 with a double and a
homer. Justin Morneau was 3-4 with a walk. Michael
Restovich went 2-3 with a homer, two walks and two RBI.
In Game 2, Dave Gassner
went to 2-0 with 5 1/3 scoreless innings. (Gassner came to the Twins
organization as the player to be names later in the Bobby Kielty/Shannon
Stewart deal) That was followed by 1 2/3 innings of shutout ball
from Jeromy Palki. The Red Wings won 4-0.
AA New Britain was rained out
again.
BASEBALL
THOUGHTS
The D-Train, Dontrelle Willis,
just keeps on rolling. Last night, he improved his record to 2-0
with 5 shutout innings against the Montreal Expos down in San Juan,
Puerto Rico. However, he also went 3-3 at the plate, meaning that he
has had hits in seven consecutive at bats. The record for a pitcher
is a hit in nine consecutive at bats. The numbers are impressive,
but his swing is probably even more impressive. I see him take a
nice level swing. He hits pitches on the outer half of the plate to
left field. And, when he got a pitch on the inner half? Well, I
don't know if you saw the highlight or not, but he hit that ball a
LONG ways!!! Also for the Marlins, my man, Miguel Cabrera
knocked his 6th home run nine games. Hee Seop Choi hit his
fourth. The World Champion Marlins are "surprising" people with
their 8-1 record.
Another surprise has been the
play (if that's what you want to call it) of the Philadelphia
Phillies. Like so many others, I predicted that the Phillies would
win the NL East. I still believe they have the talent and will win
the division. Yesterday, they were rained out. That may have been a
good thing. The Phils are 1-6 right now, and if they don't improve
very soon, Larry Bowa will be the first coaching casualty of
the season.
The Detroit Tigers beat the
Toronto Blue Jays again yesterday. The Tigers are now 6-2. The Blue
Jays are just 2-6. Could Carlos Tosca be in trouble too?
Maybe, but not yet. He is not in as much imminent danger as Bowa. By
the way, ESPN put out their power ratings and the Tigers were ranked
10th? Crazy? I think so. But, could this be the year that Carlos
Pena busts out? I also think so!
Kevin Brown beat the
Devil Rays for the third time already this season yesterday for his
200th career victory. Mike Mussina won his 200th game last
week. The duo becomes the first set of teammates to both accomplish
that milestone in the same season. If healthy, Kevin Brown is
arguably the Yankees best starter (I may still argue Javy Vazquez).
If he is not healthy, the Yankees could struggle. OK, they still
won't struggle.
In December, I named Braves
pitcher John Thomson the SethSpeaks Pitcher
and thought the Twins should have signed him. Instead, he signed a
two year, $7 million deal with the Braves. Last night, he won his
first game as a Brave with an 8 inning, 1 run, 7 strikeout game in
the Braves 6-1 victory over the Mets. Speaking of the Mets, it is
going to be fun to watch Mike Piazza playing 1B. So far, it's
been ugly!
First, Billy Koch gave up
two homers and four runs to blow a three run lead in the 9th inning
to the Royals. Then in the bottom of the inning, Curtis Leskanic
and Jon Adkins blew the save opportunity as the White Sox won
10-9. The AL Central teams may not be great, but they are all better
than most people want to think. There is strong parity in the
division, and some teams that will refuse to give up. That means
that the pennant race, and well, the whole season, will be fun to
watch!
Yesterday, A's OF Jermaine
Dye hit two homers and drove in four runs in the A's 9-4 win
over the Rangers. Dye was injured last year and when he played, he
was one of the worst hitters in baseball. He was certainly due for
an improvement. So far, so good! He is now hitting .344 with 5
homers.
Rockies rookie second baseman
Aaron Miles was given the 2B job out of spring training, but
Rule V pick Luis Gonzalez was taking a lot of playing time
from him. Well, in last night's 14-4 Rockies win over the
Diamondbacks, Miles made a little statement about his job. He went
3-5 with 2 home runs and 6 RBI. Fantasy players, if you're
looking for a sleeper, you may want to look at the Rockies Joe
Kennedy. He showed glimpses a couple of years ago with the Devil
Rays, and has started out well for the Rockies.
Wes Obermueller won his
first game for the Brewers with 6 2/3 shutout innings against the
San Francisco Giants.
David Aardsma (Giants),
Chad Cordero (Expos) and Ryan Wagner (Reds) are all
relievers in the big leagues right now. They were all first round
picks in the June 2003 baseball draft. What does that mean? Well, to
me it means that the Twins should not feel like they are rushing
Jesse Crain!
AMERICAN
IDOL THOUGHTS
The American
Idol performances were moved from Tuesday night to Wednesday
night because of the President's Address. There were eight who
performed, and I will discuss my thoughts as I watched each. I will
then rank them by how I think they performed. Finally, I will try to
predict the final three and who will be eliminated. Just a couple of
thoughts first though. Of the eight, half of them chose animated
movies as their favorite, including two who chose Finding Nemo.
Now, as you know,
I loved
Finding Nemo, but they all lied! No one picked
American Pie. No one picked real movies. They picked
movies that are G rated so that people can go rent them!
Quentin Tarantino was a guest judge last night. He was pretty
good (considering how weird he is). He was even honest, which is
good. Finally, is anyone sick of the Paula Abdul using the
same dumb sayings? I mean, how often can you hear "you have a light
about you." What does that mean? Anyway, enough of that stuff, let's
get to the analysis:
George Huff - Against All Odds
Great voice, but I think he was flat, or below
the correct notes, most of the song
Jennifer Hudson - I Have Nothing
Nearly perfect performance! Very strong! She
still scares me.
Jon Peter Lewis - Jailhouse Rock
Good song choice because his voice is not good.
He needs to be quirky. He just has a lot of fun and the crowd
digs him!
Diana Degarmo - My Heart Will Go On
Two or three spots she was really, really bad.
But, the overall performance was really, really... OK?
Fantasia Barrino - Summertime
She is so good. She was so controlled too. The
Macy Gray comparisons are pretty obvious. I have to admit
that I really don't know that song. Here are the thoughts of my
cousin, Chris Sieling on Fantasia's performance:
Fantasia's
version of Summertime was the best version of any song of
any singer of any season of American Idol. It wasn't even
close. It brought my wife and I to tears. There are two
other great versions of that song. The Janis Joplin version
and the Ella Fitgerald version. Two of the greatest singers
of the 20th Century. I would go as far to say that
Fantasia's version is the third best version I have ever
heard and deserves comparison to the previous two.
Jasmine Trias - When I Fall In Love
Definitely a different rendition of that song,
but I really thought she was great!
John Stevens - From Casablanca soundtrack
Good song choice. I thought he sang just a little
bit too high, but he was much better than he has been in
previous weeks.
LaToya London - Song from Westside Story
Simply put: They saved the best for last!
How would I rank the performances?
1.) LaToya London
2.) Fantasia Barrino
3.) Jennifer Hudson
4.) Jasmine Trias
5.) John Stevens
6.) George Huff
7.) Jon Peter Lewis
8.) Diana Degarmo
Who will be The Bottom Three?
Diana Degarmo, Jasmine Trias, John Stevens
Who will be eliminated?
Diana Degarmo
Do you have any thoughts about American Idol? If so,
e-mail me.
THE BACHELOR THOUGHTS
Last
night's episode of
The
Bachelor provided a lot of information. I won't say too much
for those who taped it and hope to watch it later. But, We (as in
me) really like Mandy C and Mandy J!! Jesse Palmer
had an individual date with his first impression winner, Trish, who
no one seems to like. Late in the show, we found out who The Spy
was, and it shouldn't have been surprising. Again, I don't want to
give away too much, but if anyone would like to discuss last night's
episode, e-mail me.
Welp, that is it for today. Be
sure to check back tomorrow for a very exciting entry. I invite any questions or comments you may
have about this site, about baseball, about fantasy sports, about
basketball, about me, about anything... by simply
clicking here to e-mail
me.
I hope you have a wonderful day!
Be sure to check out the Archives
to see what I choose to write about.
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