Monday, June 18, 2007
Father's Day Recap
Hello everyone! Well, I am a bit late in writing today, but I think you will understand more as you read below. I really need to take a minute and thank Rick Tintor, Gene Neshek, Steve Waldrop. and Pat Slowey for taking the time to write up some thoughts on their sons on this Father's Day. I thought they did a terrific job! So, quickly, here are a couple of pictures of what I did on Father's Day.
The day at the Dome seemed like a pretty good Father's Day! Getting to see Kevin Slowey pitch was a good thing, and of course, you may have seen this, which made for a great way to end a day at the Dome for Father's Day!
What a game that was! The Twins jumped out to a 9-2 lead and were unable to hold it. Now, from my seats on the 3B line, I couldn't say for sure, but it appeared that the strike zone was rather small. A LOT of fans sitting near me must have had a better view as they were letting the umpire know that they disagreed frequently with his calls. Apparently Bert Blyleven was noting that the zone appeared quite small. I mean, Kevin Slowey will not walk four hitters too frequently in his career. But, with the lead at 9-2, I was contemplating leaving early, you know, with a 7+ hour drive home after the game. When Juan Rincon came in to pitch the 8th inning, I figured I had better stick around.
Now, a lot of talk after the game centered around the defensive performance of Lew Ford in the top of the 9th. First, Prince Fielder led off the inning with an inside the park home run that Ford never saw until it landed. Would Torii Hunter have caught the ball? Probably. Would Lew Ford make that play 98% of the time? Of course. But if you lose it and can't find it, it is a very helpless feeling. Now, with the bases loaded and one out, Craig Counsell hit a soft line drive/fly ball to relatively shallow center. Ford made the catch and because of a double-clutch, made a poor throw home to allow the tying run. Again, does Torii Hunter make that play and a good throw home? Probably, at least 75% of the time. Does Lew Ford make that play and a good throw home 70% of the time? Probably. Honestly, as a fan, it would bother me more than Joe Nathan gave up three hard hits in a row to load the bases before that play even happened. It is ridiculous to blame the entire comeback on Ford when the team had a 9-2 lead, when even after the inside-the-park homer, had its closer in the game with a one run lead.
I bet that I am one of about 1.2 million Twins fans that were at the game yesterday and called Morneau's shot to win the game. That was very exciting though! And, a win is a win! It would have been a very long flight to New York last night had the Twins not won and been swept by the Brewers.
Tonight the Twins start a three game series in New York against the Mets. The Mets have a lot of talent in Jose Reyes, David Wright, Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado, so the Twins will need to pitch well. Tonight the Twins will send Carlos Silva (4-7, 4.07, 1.38, .292) to the mound against the Mets John Maine (6-4, 3.05, 1.28, .228). On Tuesday night, Johan Santana (6-6, 3.19, 1.11, .225) will go to the mound against one of the Mets' surprise stories of the year, Jorge Sosa (6-2, 3.42, 1.06, .229). And on Wednesday, Scott Baker (1-2, 7.33, 1.67, .321) will be pitching for his rotation life against Oliver Perez (7-5, 2.93, 1.11, .205). so, the Twins will not be seeing any big name pitchers against the Mets, but they will certainly be facing three high quality pitchers with potential to dominate. They could create more blog entries in the Twins blogosphere saying that the Twins can't hit no names. Well, these guys' names should be known.
Here are a few more thoughts heading into the Mets
series, as well as the Minor League updates from Sunday's games (note -
be sure to check out the Comments sections of Pat Slowey's posting for
the previous minor league updates - Chris Parmalee was quite
impressive!)
First things first, while I was driving home last night, my sister called me and asked if she could ask me a really important question. I said Sure. She asked, "Seth, I was just thinking... when the Twins move into their new stadium in 2010, what will they do with the Dome dogs?" I said, "I don't know. Probably warm them up and sell them at the new stadium." And she said, "NO!! What will they name them? Stadium Dogs just aren't as catchy!" So, I said I would ask on the site. What do you think will become of the Dome dogs when the Twins move into their new stadium in 2010? Any good, creative names for them?
Rochester lost 9-5 to Louisville, but Alexi Casilla went 4-5 with three doubles. I'm also happy that Korey Feiner, who was 0-27 to start his Rochester stint this year. He went 3-4 with his first homer. Matt Tolbert went 2-4 with a double, and Tommy Watkins had two hits as well. On a negative note, Matthew Lecroy went 0-5 to drop his average to .168. Brian Duensing made the start and gave up six runs (just two earned) on eight hits in four innings. He walked two and struck out five. For Louisville, Eddie Guardado gave up a couple of runs in 1/3 of an inning in his rehab in an attempt to return from Tommy John surgery.
New Britain lost 6-5 in 12 innings to Bowie. Rashad Eldridge went 3-4 with a double and his fourth homer. Brian Buscher went 2-4 with his 7th homer. Matt Allegra hit his 9th homer. David Winfree and Luke Hughes went 2-5. Tristan Crawford game up three runs in 5.2 innings. JP Martinez and Jose Mijares each gave up a run in their outings. Frank Mata threw two shutout innings before allowing the winning run in the 12th.
Ft. Myers had a day off after their All-Star game.
Beloit lost 6-2 to Quad Cities. Adam Hawes gave up five runs (4 earned) on six hits and two walks in four innings. Aaron Craig, Jesus Carnevales and Danny Vais each pitched a scoreless inning, and Matt Fox gave up a run in his inning. Beloit had just four singles, and Steve Singleton drove in the lone run.
Former Twin Sam Perlozzo was fired by the Baltimore Orioles this morning.
And with that, I need to call it a day. I will be back in the morning!
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