Thursday September 4, 2003

TWINS THOUGHTS - The Twins are back in first place!! Yesterday, they won a crazy game in an absolutely crazy way.  John Gordon and Dan Gladden are getting LOTS of air time on Sports Center, earning the Call of the Day for yesterday! For once, I can actually understand and appreciate Mr. Gordon’s enthusiasm!

DISCUSSION QUESTION OF THE WEEK

BACK IN FIRST and WEEK 1 FOOTBALL PICKS

Before we get started with our picks for this week’s games, I’d like to point out a couple other links that football fans should check out. 

First, check out my posting from yesterday, a Vikings Preview.

Second, if you are into Fantasy Football, be sure to check out the results and analysis from the two fantasy football drafts I participated in last week.

With the start of the NFL season tonight, today I am introducing a panel of “experts” to pick football games each week. I think it’ll be very interesting. Now, “experts” is a term that is probably used pretty loosely in this case. These people are actually experts in what they do, but are they expert football prognosticators?  Well, we’ll find out.  Let me first introduce the panel:

Seth Stohs – It’s me. If you want to read more on me and this website, please check out the About Me link on the left side of your screen. To summarize though, I am a 28 year old analyst for Marvin Windows & Doors, in Warroad, MN.  I got a few AB’s of college ball at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN. But basically, I love sports, especially baseball. I have had this website since June, and really enjoy writing each day. So, primarily, this will be a baseball-related (Minnesota Twins specifically) web site. But, I also love other sports, namely football and basketball, so be sure to check back at any time during the year. And, please feel free to leave me any feedback you may have for me.  Thanks for stopping by.

Melissa Olson – Webmaster and co-editor of this site, www.SethSpeaks.net. Not only is she a computer genius, but she also knows football. She consistently picks more games correctly than I do. And, she’s absolutely one of my best friends!

Aaron Gleeman – People who are reading this site are probably very familiar with Aaron. He, of course, is the writer of Aaron’s Baseball Blog, a great source for baseball knowledge and stats. It is a site that gets more hits each day than my site gets in a month! (hopefully I can approach those numbers… someday!) Aaron is beginning his third year at the University of Minnesota.

Anthony Fox – Recently, Anthony started up a Twins-Related website called The Bad Twin. He is a 20 year old junior at Metropolitan State University majoring in Writing and English, with a Political Science minor.

Ben Jacobs – I originally heard of Ben because he has been the author of Universal Baseball Blog, another great baseball source, since mid-April. Ben is a 22 year old part-time sports columnist for the Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle, where he currently is writing a weekly fantasy football column, which will appear every Friday, in addition to his other duties.

David Lee – David writes a great blog called Braves Buzz, where he discusses his favorite baseball team, ironically, the Braves. David, who is also a student, is a big Falcons fan as well.

Michael Labuda – Michael Labuda just recently started up his own website, ChiSox Daily. I think it is interesting to see the viewpoint of a White Sox fan during this pennant race! He is a lifelong Chicagoan who roots for the White Sox, Bears, Bulls, Illini, Blue Demons and his alma mater, the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers!  He is currently working on an MBA at Northwestern.  Michael is 30 years old, and about to be a first-time father! Congratulations Michael!

Vic Quick – Vic is the Sports Director at KDUH-TV in Scottsbluff, NE. He was one of my college roommates and remains a great friend! Originally from Dallas, TX, Vic is a huge Cowboys fan, even now when they are terrible! In Vic’s job, he covers the Denver Broncos and the Nebraska Cornhuskers during their seasons.

Michael Brasel – One of my best friends since we were both about 6. He is listed as the left fielder for my Best Players I’ve Played Ball With team. After serving in the Navy for 6 years, Mike went back to school and became an engineer.  He’s also a pretty smart football person, who I turn to for fantasy football advice!!

So, you’ll see the format. Each week, these 9 people will pick the winners of each game, each week throughout the 17 week NFL season. This week, they also will pick the AFC and NFC Champs, Super Bowl Champs, NFL MVP, NFL Rookie of the Year and will make a guess on how well the Minnesota Vikings will do. It’ll be fun to track how we all do, and then see if our other prediction are even close!

Here are our Week 1 Picks:

So, here is the rundown on our picks:

NY Jets @ Washington - Redskins 6-3

New England @ Buffalo – Bills 6-3

Jacksonville @ Carolina – Panthers 6-3

Denver @ Cincinnati – Broncos 9-0

Indianapolis @ Cleveland – Colts 7-2

Arizona @ Detroit – Lions 6-3

Minnesota @ Green Bay – Packers 7-2

San Diego @ Kansas City – Chargers 7-2

Houston @ Miami – Dolphins 9-0

St. Louis @ NY Giants – Giants 5-4

Baltimore @ Pittsburgh – Steelers 9-0 (this is surprising!)

Atlanta @ Dallas – Falcons 6-3

Chicago @ San Francisco – 49ers 9-0

New Orleans @ Seattle – Seahawks 5-4

Oakland @ Tennessee – Titans 5-4

Tampa Bay @ Philadelphia – Eagles 6-3

~~~~~~~

AFC Champs – Colts/Dolphins (3)

NFC Champs – Buccaneers (6), Eagles (3)

Super Bowl Champs – Dolphins (3), Eagles (2)

NFL MVP – Ricky Williams/Donovan McNabb (2)

NFL Rookie – Charles Rogers (5), Andre Johnson (2)

~~~~~~~

TWINS THOUGHTS

What a game!!!  It wasn’t on TV, so I was trying to “watch” it online. So until later, when it was on SportsCenter, I had no real idea what had happened.  I knew that Troy Percival was brought into the game with a 5-4 lead. I knew he got AJ Pierzynski to fly out. I knew that Michael Ryan struck out for the second out.  Justin Morneau batted for Cristian Guzman and worked out a 8-pitch walk.  At that point, I knew Shannon Stewart was coming up to bat. But then, Yahoo Game Channel just froze.  It must have been five minutes before anything happened.  Sometimes it takes a couple minutes, and that means a homer, or some play that takes more time to explain. But, never has it taken this long.  Then, all of a sudden, it was a final, the Twins had won 6-5.  But there was no explanation of how they won. My assumption was that Stewart had hit the first pitch for a game-winning home run.  Later, I read the box score and it said “Stewart doubled to left, Mohr to third.”  Well, that didn’t tell me much.  Then I read that Angels catcher Bengie Molina had an error, on a catch.  That pretty much told me what happened.  And, then seeing the highlight was just the verification!

For those that missed it - Dustan Mohr was pinch running at 1B. On the first pitch from Troy Percival, Shannon Stewart hit a rocket down the third base line (which was impressive since the 3B was playing almost on the line). LF Garrett Anderson hustled (I think it was the first time he’d done that the whole series) to the line to field the ball, made a strong throw to the shortstop, who turned and relayed the ball to home plate. It arrived on a couple of bounces, but right online. Bengie Molina caught the ball and came up to put the tag on Mohr. Mohr running hard, but clearly out by three or more steps put a shoulder into Molina, and the ball popped out and rolled down the first base line. Mohr was safe, and Shannon Stewart running all the way, slid into home plate for the winning run. Bengie Molina actually broke his wrist in two places on the play. 

I’ve been really tough on Dustan Mohr, and I still don’t think he’s an every day starting outfielder, but there is no doubt that he hustles, sometimes even when it’s not necessary. That said, his effort helped the Twins win a HUGE ballgame yesterday!

A few other thoughts about the Twins:

BIG AT BAT

Justin Morneau deserves a lot of credit for the Twins win yesterday, and probably won’t get much.  He worked out an 8-pitch walk, allowing Shannon Stewart to come to the plate.  It may not seem like a big deal, but remember that Stewart was standing in the on-deck circle, watching that at bat, getting his timing down on his fastball.  That’s why he was able to jump-all-over Percival’s first-pitch 98 mph fastball!

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM OUR FRIENDS

The Twins are in a tie with the Chicago White Sox for 1^st Place in the American League Central Division. It is the first time that the Twins have been in 1^st place since the end of June!  And, yes, they got quite a bit of help from a couple of “friends.”  Former Twins 1^st round pick Jason Varitek (although, instead of signing with the Twins, he returned to Georgia Tech for his senior year) hit a solo home run for the Red Sox off White Sox starter Mark Buerhle. In the 8^th inning, down 3-2, former Twin David Ortiz drilled a 2-run homer to give the Red Sox the 4-3 lead. In the bottom half of the inning, White Sox SS Jose Valentin (who’s brother, Javier is a former Twin) hit a solo homer to tie it up at 4.  The game went to extra innings, where Mr. David Ortiz came through again, hitting a solo home run to give the Red Sox a 5-4 lead, a lead they would hold in the bottom of the inning to take the win, AND, most importantly to Twins fans, to put the Twins back in 1^st place!  David Ortiz now has 25 home runs and 84 RBI for the Red Sox.

The Royals Jimmy Gobble held the potent Texas Rangers offense to just 1 run, and the Royals beat the Rangers 3-1.  So, as of today, the Twins and White Sox are tied for the AL Central Division lead, with the Kansas City Royals just one game back.

AGE DISCRIMINATION

I’m sure you’ve seen in a few places already that 46 year old, Jesse Orosco, is the oldest Twins player ever. First, how sick of hearing “46-year old Jesse Orosco” do you figure Jesse Orosco is?  It’s like the general manager of the Boston Red Sox being referred to as “29-year old Theo Epstein.”

FAMILY TIES

The previous “oldest Twins players”, both at age 43 and both in 1988, were Steve Carlton and Joe Niekro. Did you see in the transactions that the San Francisco Giants made IF Lance Niekro a September call up? Lance is the son of Joe Niekro. This season, at AAA Fresno, Niekro was hitting .302/.334/.383 with 15 doubles, 4 home runs and 41 RBI.

WHAT’S NEXT?

The Twins are probably looking forward to a day off today (Thursday), before they host the Texas Rangers in a 3-game series this weekend. I will be in attendance on both Friday night and Saturday. I’m looking forward to seeing Johan pitch!  I’ll probably be out in left field for that game, hoping the Twins tee off on Mickey Calloway. It’s also AJ Pierzynski bobblehead day on Saturday. Game time on Saturday, remember, is 11:00 a.m. because of a Gophers football game that night. Remember the last time the Twins played a game at 11:00 a.m.? It was September of 1998, and Eric Milton threw a No-Hitter!

DISCUSSION QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Last chance to be heard (or read) regarding this week’s question of the week.  Please send me an e-mail by tonight so I can include it in tomorrow’s entry! Be sure to check out yesterday’s posting to get the full question. Here it is.

Looking at this e-mail, should Terry Ryan take some blame for what’s been going on with the Twins this year? From his lack of bringing in the power hitter they needed, so some of the roster moves during the season, to drafting, to scouting? Basically, how has Terry Ryan done as the Twins GM?

Have a great Thursday!

        Back to Archives           Home