Wednesday August 25, 2004
OK, I had this whole Mailbag posting all set up. I had gone through a boatload of e-mails and copied a lot of your thoughts onto a Microsoft Word document. I was just starting to transfer those onto this page, when the power went out in my house. It was out for just one or two seconds, but it was enough to shut off the TV, the microwave, and of course, the computer.
Was I smart enough to have saved my Word document? No. Had I saved when I had written on here yet? No.
Am I a very happy person right about now? Not really, but I'm alright. I just wish I would have been able to share your thoughts with this audience. So I do apologize to those of you who took the time to write some really great stuff!
However, this frustration has made me decide that I don't want to go through all of that work again, especially since so much was lost. That took quite awhile. So instead, I am going to take a day off and return on Thursday with a new entry. I hope you'll stop back then.
Until then, be sure to check out this great article called Bud Selig: The Man Fans Love to Hate. It really is a well-written posting. You remember John from the Conversation with John Strubel on this site a couple of months ago. So, please, stop by his site and check out his work.
The Twins lost their game in the bottom of the 9th to the Rangers. It was Joe Nathan's second consecutive blown save. I'm sure lots of people are worried. I'm not. He'll be just fine.
I was just about to comment on just how good Rob Bowen looks defensively, and then he let the wild pitch by him in the 9th inning that allowed the runners to advance to second and third. It really didn't matter because Mark Teixeira's hit still would have scored Gerald Laird.
Oh, and that Justin Morneau guy is pretty good, huh? What a great 9th inning at bat he had, coming off the bench cold against a great closer in Francisco Cordero and roping a two-strike double to give the Twins the temporary lead. Yeah, he's good.
Carlos Silva came out with the bases loaded in the 7th inning. Twins trainer Jim Kahlmann went out to the mound to see if he was alright. Does anyone really think that there is anything wrong with Silva's shoulder? They had just told Juan Rincon to start warming up. They didn't want Rincon pitching to one more batter. So, they send the trainer out there, fake an injury, and then Rincon gets to come in and get as much warm-up time as he needs. That is a brilliant strategy. Now, in the next couple of days, the team will have to talk about the "injury" but somehow, miraculously, he will be able to make his next start.
They kept talking about how Chris Young doesn't throw hard, that he was sneaky fast. Then he keeps hitting 94 and 95 on the radar gun! That's just regular fast!
Rochester got another win from David Gassner last night. Jason Kubel hit yet another home run. I think that the Twins will add Kubel to their roster by August 31st in order to have him on the playoff roster. I think that move makes sense. They can then send him to the minors to finish off their season, but he could be a valuable pinch-hitter in the playoffs. He won't play much this September, but he should definitely be considered for playing time next year.
OK, this is already longer than I thought it would be.
Again, I apologize for not having an entry today, but I hope you understand and I certainly hope you'll stop back again tomorrow. Until then, be sure to check out yesterday's Johan Santana analysis below as well as the Archives page (where all of my entries for the last 16 months are stored). You can check out my Photo Album and the About Me pages.
Have a great Wednesday! E-mail me if you have any thoughts, questions or comments.