Monday, June 16, 2003
Well, I didn’t watch any baseball this weekend (if you can believe that!). I did listen to the radio for some of the Twins games. I must say that I really enjoy listening to Paul Molitor talk baseball. He just has the sound of a future general manager.
First I need to thank Jay from FutilityInfielder.com. He plugged this website very nicely. He runs a great website himself. I always love reading about those infielders who made it to the majors, but just weren’t that good. When I think of those players, I think of Steve Jeltz, Mariano Duncan and others. From a Twins perspective, it’s the equivalent to Lenny Faedo, Houston Jimenez and current manager Ron Gardenhire who was named to the Futility Infielder Wall of Fame! Be sure to check out that article!
The Santana Debate
The big discussion regarding the Twins (as it VERY WELL SHOULD BE) on the Dickie Thon Twins Fan Forum is how Ron Gardenhire can continue to justify Johan Santana being in the bullpen and not in the rotation. He has made three incredible starts thusfar and is 3-0 in those starts with an ERA of 1.00. Those kind of numbers can not be just ignored! Gardenhire says the reason is because the team is better with Santana pitching three or four times a week rather than just once. With the way Joe Mays has pitched this year (not well), and the way Brad Radke has pitched at home (really bad!), this thinking just doesn’t hold any ground.
I’m not going to expand much on this subject because I think the Twins Geek does an excellent job of stating that Johan should be in the rotation (and why). And, I would also check Saturday’s special edition of Aaron’s Baseball Blog (and probably what he’s written for Monday). Aaron is the leader of the Johan Santana Liberation Watch, and I’m sure he’s got a pretty strong opinion on what the Twins should do!
I think the Twins should really explore the value of Joe Mays. If there is any. Last week, I mentioned using him as trade bait for Jose Vidro. Obviously the Twins couldn’t acquire Mays straight up for Vidro. But, maybe we can ask them to add a left handed reliever to the trade, and clearly we can add a number of RF/DH types. Benefits - ONE - Get rid of Mays and the large amount left on his contract (which probably takes away the interest of the Expos, but maybe makes the Marlins). TWO - The Twins get their second baseman, and THREE (and maybe most importantly) the Twins get Johan into the rotation.
At some point, the Twins management needs to understand that the pitching staff of the future and of today should be Kyle Lohse and Johan Santana.
Brad Radke was terrible again Sunday. He has been just awful at home this year. I think he stays in the rotation because of how well he has pitched on the road. He should get better! Rick Reed is coming off the DL and is starting on Wednesday. Aside from Kyle Lohse, he has the best ERA for their “rotation.” Kenny Rogers has been solid and definitely should stay in the rotation as well.
What’s Ahead?
I’ve got a couple of articles in the works for this week. Here’s the schedule:
Tuesday - I finished Michael Lewis’ book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game this weekend and will discuss it with my thoughts.
Wednesday - I heard Paul Molitor and John Gordon discussing some of the best high school players to come of out Minnesota (note, if anyone has a link to that please send it to me. Thanks). They talked briefly about Charlie Nelson from Perham. He was a four-sport athlete in high school. All-State in baseball, football and track. He played for the Gophers and Team USA and 3 or 4 years in the minor leagues. I played high school and legion baseball with him in the spring and summer of 1990. He was a senior, I was a freshman. So, I started thinking. I’ve played ball with a lot of people, Perham High School, Concordia College (Moorhead) and amateur ball (a number of teams). I’m going to come up with a list of the best I’ve ever played ball with, position-by-position. Should be fun, especially for those from the Perham area and the Concordia community. But hopefully for everyone else too.
Thursday - There are 8 players born in Minnesota who accumulated more than 3,000 major league at bats. I am going to rank them, in a fashion similar to how I measured the Greatest Hitters of All-Time. Obviously, Dave Winfield and Paul Molitor will rank at the top of that, but I think it’ll be interesting to see where the others fall in line.
And, of course, each day, there will be discussions on the goings on with the Twins. Big four-game series with the Royals Monday through Thursday, so I’m thinking there’ll be plenty to discuss!
So, be sure to check back every day!
Basketball
Did everyone know that the NBA Finals finish just last night? Yeah, it was still going. Last week, I wrote that the Nets would win in six games. Well, at least I picked the right number of games. Last night, Tim Duncan recorded a triple-double. The Nets had a nine point lead in the 4th quarter, but a 19-0 Spurs run led by the three-point shooting of Stephen Jackson, put the Spurs on top, where they stayed.
Say what you want about The Admiral, David Robinson, but he’s had a stellar career, has carried himself very well as a roll model for so many, and well, what a perfect way to cap a career, with a second NBA title.
Tim Duncan is the best player in the NBA. It’s that simple. Shaq calls him the Big Fundamental. His triple-double was almost a quadruple-double. 21 points, 20 boards, 10 dimes and 8 blocks. That’s impressive!
But, I watched very little of this series, and I’m assuming very few people did. Actually, once the Lakers were out, I didn’t watch much more. These two teams were built on defense, so the games were low scoring. Not fun to watch.
Also, the ratings are just killed (my opinion), by the awful scheduling of the playoffs! Did you know the playoffs started in April? It’s now mid-June. Sure, they do it for TV, but the playoffs are just too long, and I’m an NBA fan. I can only imagine what the casual fan thinks!
Stuart Scott got the Jason Kidd interview after the game. After the standard question/answer discussion, Scott asked Kidd if he would be a Net next year. What answer did he expect Kidd to give? Of course he’s going to test free agency. Of course he would love to stay with New Jersey. I hate that question.
OK, everyone enjoy your Monday, and check in tomorrow!