The Frank Viola Trade 7/31/1989

I had fun chasing down the Knobby trade, so today I decided to check out the Frankie V trade from 1989.

Phase 1- The Twins traded Frank Viola for Rick Aguilera, David West, Kevin Tapani, Tim Drummond and Jack Savage. Savage pitched in 17 games and racked up a 8.31 era, he lasted 1 season. Drummond pitched for 3 forgettable years. David West pitched for 4 years before being traded to the Phillies. Tapani was the second jewel of the trade. He pitched for the Twins for 6 years, hitting double digit wins 5 times and finished with a winning season 4 times. He was traded in 95 to the Dodgers. Do I need to mention what Aguilera did for the Twins? He was eventually traded twice. Tapani, West and Aguilera all won rings with the Twins in 91. However West was not much of a contributor. His stats for the 91 Ws were 0 innings pitched, an infinite ERA, 4 walks, 2 hits, 1 Hr and 4 runs.

Phase 2 West was traded in 92 to the Phillies for Mike Hartley. Tapani was traded 6 years to the day to the LA Dodgers with Mark Guthrie for Ron Coomer, Greg Hansell, Jose Parra, Chris Latham. Coomer was the only one who contributed anything.

Rick Aguilera Phase 1- Traded to the Red Sox for Frankie Rodriguez 7/95. Signed back on as a free agent 12/95.

Rick Aguilera Phase 2- Traded to the Cubs with Scott Downs for Kyle Lohse and Jay Ryan.

RA Phase 3- Lohse was traded to the Reds for Zach Ward. According to Baseball America Ward compiled a 5-17 record with only a 4.08 era. The FM Miracles scored 22 runs in his 15 games.

Acquiring Tapani and Aguilera helped the Twins win the 91 WS however, the subsequent trades could not be parlayed into yielding more stars and could be argued help the Twins slip to the bottom of the league for the next 10 years. While the Twins were still the clear cut winners in the deal, I still rank it behind the Knobby deal.

Quick trivia question who was traded for Tom Brunansky and who was he later traded for? The answers are in the replies.

News Update [Forgive Me]

This isn't related to our core function here at FLSBW, and it's a day late, but I just wanted everyone to be aware:

America has officially jumped the shark.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/28/dunkin-donuts-pulls-ad-fe_n_103859.html

I just sent my citizenship papers in to the Danish government. That is all.

Edit: I see jan covered this in the side bar, but I thought it worthy of being highlighted.

Chuck Knoblauch Trade 1998

Thanks to Jan and his where are they now post below, he got me thinking about the chain reaction of the Knoblauch trade in 1998. Here is the trickle down effect:

Phase 1- The Twins traded Knoblauch for Milton, Guzman, Buck Buchanan and Danny Mota. Mota played 4 games for the Twins in 2000 and that was it. Guzman started for 6 seasons at SS and eventually left as a free agent. Milton became the badly needed arm behind Radke, after a few good years he was traded to the Phillies. Buck was the odd man out in a crowded outfield and traded to the Padres.

Phase 2- Milton was traded for Carlos Silva and Nick Punto. Buck was traded for Jason Bartlett.

Phase 3 Bartlett and Garza were traded for Delmon Young and Harris (I would say Harris and Bartlett were swapped and Young and Garza were swapped).

Present Day- We still have Punto and Harris. Where would we be without them? This has to be the second greatest trade in the history of the organization next to AJ for Liriano, Nathan and Boof.

Where are they now? Denny Hocking and Bobby Kielty

This past weekend I was doing some yard work and had the radio on. Fox Sports radio came on (not sure how I got tuned to Fox, maybe I was trying to get some of those insightful political tidbits, more likely it has to do with syndication) and their baseball show started. As I was listening I was surprised to hear our very own Denny Hocking as the co-host of FOX GameTime Saturday ReAct (not sure what the deal with the name "ReAct" is.) Hocking was actually pretty solid (found out he is a regular guest on "Rome is Burning" as well.) Apparently his finger and feelings towards Jacque Jones have healed since that 2002 ALDS game (maybe I should call in and ask to be sure.) Guess 13 seasons in the Bigs and a career .251 BA and OBP of .310 and you can make the jump to the big time media.

When I went to look up Hocking, I got him confused with Bobby Kielty (RTS - if memory serves, you were a Kielty-guy in 2002.) As we all remember it was Kielty that the Blue Jays wanted/got for Shannon Stewart in 2003 and he later went to the A's for Ted Lilly. What I didn't remember/know was that Kielty then went to the Red Sox and hit a pinch-hit solo home run in Game 4 of the 2007 World Series (probably missed it because I was in China at the time.)

The Twins are known for producing talent. Talk about turning out star power.

This Week in (Twins) Baseball

Remember the old "This Week in Baseball" hosted by Mel Allen? Here is the theme song that immediately brought me back to 1984 sitting in front of my t.v. I did a little research (while totally unreliable and admittedly fraudulent, I like Wikipedia as my source of the "truth") and found that it apparently is still in existence on FOX before Saturday games where, instead of Mel Allen, they have a current player be the host. For some reason I remember the show included the "Rolaids Reliever of the Week" but can't remember, any help?

Anywho, didn't get to watch the game last night. Driving home I had it on the radio and MCA's boy Blackburn was still on the mound ready to start the 8th. Thought only good thoughts as I missed the rest of the game. Delmon Young gets this week's "Did He Really Just Do That" award of the week for nearly costing us the game. I also missed Delmon going up to Nathan in the dugout after the 9th inning to try and "hug it out" with Joe who apparently wanted no part of making up with Young. For all the bashing I do on Cuddy, he came through last night and he had a nice catch in the first inning but one game winning RBI and one good defensive play are but small steps in making up for a .237 batting average with that brand new $7M per year contract.

One interesting note, the Twins are something like 27th in the league for errors. After last night we may have moved to 28th. In Gardy's defense, there have been something like 6 different players at second and short and 5 different players at 3rd. Not a lot of consistency.

Monday smorgasbord, courtesy of Peter King

Gents,
As things have been a bit quiet recently, I thought I'd lob a few things in for your reading pleasure:

1) Vikes cut Erasmus James, which means that only one player from the 2005 draft is still around. You'll recall that this is the draft where we had two first round picks in exchange for dealing Randy Moss. From Peter King:

It should interest, or sicken, everyone wearing purple. The Vikings' two most valuable chips entering the 2005 off-season were Randy Moss and their first-round draft choice, the 18th overall pick. Imagine if I told you three years ago that the Vikings would have turned Randy Moss and the 18th overall pick in the draft into absolutely, totally nothing.

That's what's happened -- unless you consider the 27th receiver in the 2008 draft a bonanza.
In the Moss trade, in came linebacker Napoleon Harris and first- and seventh-round picks. Harris lasted two mostly undistinguished years, compiling 84 tackles and 3.5 sacks before moving to Kansas City in 2007 as a free agent. The first-rounder, seventh overall, was wide receiver Troy Williamson, who had three touchdowns in three totally undistinguished years. He's one of the biggest busts in the top 10 in recent years. The seventh-rounder, cornerback Adrian Ward, never played a game for the Vikes. And last Friday, defensive end Erasmus James, the injury-plagued first-rounder from 2005, was waived. He gave the Vikes all of five sacks in three years.

This is what the Minnesota Vikings have left from Randy Moss and a first-round pick in 2005: Jaymar Johnson, a wide receiver from Jackson State. The Vikes dealt Williamson to Jacksonville for a sixth-round pick in March, and Johnson -- yes, 26 receivers went before him -- is the flag-bearer for one of the worst first rounds a team has had in recent history.

2) King spends the first page of MMQB talking about T-Jac. Nothing super-insightful...but gives me mild to moderate optimism going into next season. Check it out at the link below.

3) Interesting tidbit from King about the Santana trade that never happened with Boston: Found myself thinking the other day about the aborted Johan Santana trade to the Red Sox, which the Sox didn't do because it was too rich for their blood. Minnesota wanted, if you believe the reports, either Jon Lester or Jacoby Ellsbury, along with minor-leaguers Justin Masterson, a pitcher, and Jed Lowrie, an infielder.

Lester threw a no-hitter last week. Over his past five starts, he's thrown 34.1 innings and allowed 18 hits and six earned runs. Over his past five starts, Santana has pitched 32.1 innings and allowed 37 hits and 13 earned runs. I haven't even mentioned Masterson -- who, in two emergency-duty starts after being called up from Double-A, is 1-0 with a 1.46 ERA -- or Lowrie, who beat Minnesota with a homer May 10 before being sent back to the minors.

Here's the link to the full MMQB:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/peter_king/05/25/mmqb/index.html

Hope everyone is still in one piece after the holiday weekend.

Early Christmas List Inclusion

You'll recall, perhaps, the discussion we careened into, during the Santana to the Yankees talks, about Joba and then about Chief Bender. First Minnesotan in the Hall of Fame, greatest Native American ballplayer of all time.

There's a new book out about him that sounds pretty interesting: http://www.salon.com/sports/daily/?last_story=/sports/daily/feature/2008/05/23/bender/

It is actually pretty amazing to think that this guy was playing in the majors not in the 1940's or something, but less than 15 years after Wounded Knee.

Tonight's the Night....oh ooooooo!

I know, I know...but I'm putting my prognosticating ass on line tonight and predicting the Wolves will land a top 2 pick in the lottery:

"But LH, they only have a 28.04% chance of that happening, are you insane?"

"Yes, maybe I am insane, or maybe, just maybe, I'm a man with a dream. A dream that one day my Wolves will rise up from the: Joe Smith/Felton Spencer/Luc/Starberry/Ndudi EBi/Will Avery/Paul Grant/Isiah Rider/Donyell Marshall ashes of draft incompetency and be given a new start, a new day" ( trumpets sound).

"Seriously though, even if the Wolves do somehow end of getting the 1st or 2nd pick, you know they'll end of giving it away for the rights to Rick Smits or something like that...don't you?"

"Of course, I know that, but don't you see, those kind of trades take at least minutes for McHale and others to figure out, so I might actually have 5 or 6 minutes of bliss before it all comes crashing down... and that, my friend, is more Wolves-related bliss then I've had since May 29, 2004... the date of the last Wolves playoff win."

Twins win a (badly needed) wild one

What a weird game last night just take a gander at the box score.

Quick thoughts -

Boof
Wasn't terrible, wasn't great, which I guess is saying it was the same old Boof. 6.1 IP, 4 R, 3 ER, 5 SO, oh yeah and two dongs. 5.25 ERA. His performance was buried in everything else going on. I am tired of seeing him on the end of the bench picking at his goatee after he has been taken out of the game. He also wasn't doing himself any favors with a terrible throw to second for a double play that ended up costing 2 runs.

Cuddy
Are you f'ing serious? I was texting with Gauck when the Twins had the bases loaded in the 10th and Morneau had just struck out. My comment: "Uh oh. Cuddy." Sure enough Cuddy records the out and we go to the 11th. For those scoring at home, Cuddy was 0 for 6 last night stranding 9, yes 9. He is now hitting .226.

Rincon
What is your deal?!?!?!

Korecky
Apparently Gardenhire calls him "Koreck-dog" or at least he did in the post-game. That's a pretty lame nickname for a guy with a last name that is unique enough to be it's own nickname (kind of like Gauck.) Here is what I loved, when Juan "I really should get back on the juice" Rincon walks 2 to load the bases with 1 out in the top of the 11th, Korecky gets the call. As he is walking in from the bullpen and they cut to commercial, Korecky flashes someone a big smile as he is walking towards the mound. One of those "I love this game" smiles. Getting those two outs from the former closer at Rochester showed some major nards. His single in the bottom of the inning was the icing on the cake. Good for you Bobby Korecky.

Howie Clark
This guy spent 10 years in the minors before getting called up by the O's in 2002. Tells you that he is both long in the tooth and really loves baseball. He has had a total of 300 major league at bats in 132 games. In his post game interview, Souhan (yeah, he is part of the FSN team now since the Strib is about to die) asked him if he had ever had any moments like this before, he said he remembers his first hit and his first home run but through both minor league ball and his brief time in the bigs there has never been anything like this before. Good for you Howie Clark.

BG snags first-ever foul ball

Big weekend, fellas. After attending probably 100+ major league games over the course of my life, and only a handful of times even coming close to catching a foul ball, I can finally tick another item off my life's "to-do list."

I was pumped when I caught it, letting out an audible "Yeah!! All right!", pumping my fist in the air, and taking congratulatory high fives from the people around me - much to Mrs. BG's chagrin. However, I had always assumed that, being 33-years old and all, I'd give my foul ball to a nearby little kid or something. Well, when the time came, I kept it. And I have no regrets. Here's why...I decided to list a few criteria for deciding when to keep a foul ball (or homerun ball) and when to give it to a kid (granted, several of us already have kids, in which case this is a moot point, but bear with me here).

Give ball to a kid if:

-You grab the ball by leaning into a kid's seat and "stealing" it from him

-There is a scrum on the ground and you wrestle it out from a group

-You are very near a little kid with a glove on (or several kids)

Keep ball if:

-You make a clean play

-You are not surrounded by kids

-You don't push someone out of the way to catch it

As luck would have it (for me), my situation matched none of the "give away" criteria, and all of the "keep" criteria. The ball was flying at my buddy next to me (while our wives chatted), I reached out in front of him and made a sweet back-handed stab, and I was surrounded by middle-aged men and women (many of them White Sox fans). My only regrets:

1) As you can tell from the picture, I was under an overhang...so I caught it on one bounce after a crowd of people in front of us missed it (in their defense, it was a bit of a screamer)

2) It came off the bat of...gulp...Paul Konerko.

Feel good internet story invades our blog

Incredible Story


In 1986, Peter Davies was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Northwestern University.
On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seem ed distressed, so Peter approached it very carefully.
He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant's foot and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it. As carefully and as gently as he could, Peter worked the wood out with his hunting knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot. The elephant turned to fa ce the man, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments. Peter stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away. Peter never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.
Twenty years later, Peter was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his teenaged son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Peter and his son Cameron were standing. The large bull elephant stared at Peter, lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.
Remembering the encounter in 1986, Peter couldn't help wondering if this was the same elephant. Peter summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder.The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Peter's legs and slammed his stupid ass against the railing, killing him instantly.
Probably wasn't the same elephant.

Mediocrity resides in the Twins Outfield

Driving home from an appointment this afternoon had the game on the radio. Listened to Morneau take a walk in the bottom half of the 3rd inning putting a guy on second and 1st with two outs with Cuddyer coming up and immediately said "end of the inning." Cuddy follows suit and pops out. Can you say predictable - I knew you could. As we have discussed, our outfielders are treading water in a sea of retarded production. So I looked at some numbers to give me some insights into what in the wide world of sports is going on. Along with Gomez, Cuddy, and Young I lumped Kubel and Monroe into the mix to make it a 5 horse race; considering they all hit between .238 (Kubel) and .274 (Cuddy) it really ain't much of a horse race, feels more like a potato sack rack, but here is what I found:

1. Least suckiest - Gomez
Yes, he strikes out a ton (41 times 147 ABs) and his .272 batting average might make you think twice but he is this Twins team's All-Star outfielder at the plate. His speed has a lot to do with it but he holds a .709 OPS (.301 OBP), a .417 BA w/RISP (sure he has only 14 RBIs but at least when batters 7, 8, 9 get on base, he can get them home) and has an inspiring 16 stolen bases. I probably have the most confidence in him than any of the other 5 of making something happen when he is up. I can't understand most of what he says during the post game but it sounds like he is at least having fun.

2. Least suckiest but still rather sucky - Monroe
Long this blog's debate, I think Monroe has taken over Kubel in who you want at the plate so far this season. Yes, I love controversy. Monroe's .270 BA is crappy and like Gomez he likes to swing at most anything that comes his way (25 ks in 74 ABs) but he has shown some power with his 4 home runs (proves the point at how feeble this team is in power hitting that he is 3rd in home runs) and is .318 w/RISP. But Jan, 'what do we have in Craig Monroe' you might ask? I have no idea.

3. Middle sucker on a relatively short line of suckers - Cuddyer
Only by default is he number 3 on this list, if Young and Kubel weren't so much worse he would have been lower. I actually want him to be lower so I can bitch about it more. Can you tell that I am really down on him right now? Isn't he suppose to be good? Didn't we sign him to a long term deal because he was "good"? Overall, his numbers are 'fine'; he is hitting .274 which is leading this group (don't go patting yourself on the back quite yet Cuddy) and is the most patient at the plate (12 K's in 84 ABs) and is third in this group with an OPS .691. But we want more. We deserve more ("We" as in the royal "We.") What also kills me is that he ground into double plays 4 times, I know Mauer and Morneau have done it more but you aren't batting .330 and .302 so you don't get the benefit of the doubt plus because I don't trust you each time you do it it is magnified. I don't know, he plays uninspiring baseball if you ask me. Is that wrong of me to say?

4. Really sucking it up - Young
Delmon, Delmon, Delmon, stop asking your dad for advice at the plate and actually listen to your coaches cause you are brutal and NOT fun to watch or root for. I had high hopes for you D, really I did, but you lost me at your .270 BA, .250 w/RISP, and the fact that you ground out twice as much as you fly out (I don't know, I feel like you should be getting the ball out of the infield.) Oh, and stop watching film on Cuddy, you too have ground into double plays 4 times, it is unbecoming.

5. Just plane sucks - Kubel
The numbers once told us he was the best hitter on the team. Well, the numbers are now telling us the exact opposite. I get it, you are having a slump, we all have slumps but if I don't "carry the one" on a report that I do doesn't mean the same thing as going 0-15. You're hitting .238, sure you have 5 HRs and 21 RBIs, whoopee, your OBP of .252 is killing me. I want you to be good, I really do but this isn't the start of something beautiful, it's how you are going to find yourself in Rochester (again.)

Maybe it was the O'fer against the Blue Jays who hadn't scored in something like 31 innings straight at one point this season that is making me mad or that we just took 3 of 4 from the Red Sox and now can't buy a W or maybe I am just putting way too much into this but I think MCA is right this team feels more like they could put together a 9 game losing streak faster than they could a 9 game winning streak and it starts (or ends as the case may be) at the plate and these mooks have a lot to do with it all.

Dear Twins, Why are you so frustrating?

After watching Boof start the game with his all too familiar first inning "shenanigans" I actually started to miss the Radke days of giving up just one first inning home run to start the game. Much of what I am about to say ties directly to what both BG and Howard Sinker have recently posted but here goes.

1. In Boof I have no trust -
I texted a friend who attends 20 + games a year if he has ever seen a 'Bonser' jersey in the stands. He said they do sell "Boof" t-shirts at Nick's Sports World. Who owns one of them? I'm guessing a couple girls from the Apple Valley area who think he's hot. His line from last night was the all too familiar: 6 innings, 5 hits, 5 runs (all earned), 1 HR (a grand salami), 3k's, 3 walks, for an ERA of 7.5 and WHIP of 1.33. If you're scoring at home put a check mark in the "sucks" column next to his name. We've discussed Bonser earlier on this blog where we made some excuses for him in our hopes that with a shaky rotation he was a solid #3 guy. He makes me miss Silva. Last night's loss drops him to 2 and 5 on the year with a 5.37 ERA. When Baker and Liriano (hopefully) come back does Boof get an apartment in Rochester?

2. Can someone play a little defense please?
The Twins were once a squad that was solid on fundamentals, made the right throws, and played the game "the right way" (whatever that means.) The Twinkies have committed 28 errors, tied for 8th overall in MLB and 4th in the AL, our Defense Efficiency Rate (divide the total number of hits in play allowed by the total number of defensive opportunities hit into play - I love baseball stats) is .7031 and 21st in MLB - does this remotely smell like a Twins team? Every game seems to increasingly have some knucklehead move, like last night when Crain had Rolen dead-to-rights and biffed the play allowing a costly run. For some reason I give Go-Go a little more leeway in the field because he looks like he is playing hard, but guys like Delmon, despite his great arm, need to step it up.

3. Plug and play is no longer working
I get it, we've got a lot of injuries - to our rotation & our defense - but in years past Gardy would pick up the phone, call Rochester and whoever answered the call would "answer the call." I like Tolbert a lot but the Fort Myers Miracle are missing a short stop and his name is Alexi Casilla (0-3 with 2k's last night); when are those open tryouts again? I miss Nick Punto.

Other quick notes -
While I'm not one to argue balls and strikes, wait a second, that's not true, I am one to argue balls and strikes. Last night's game was a joke. Sinker's blog touched on this, Brian Runge the home plate ump was brutal. Morneau struck out looking on a ball that was 3 inches off the plate, how about a little respect for the eye of an MVP? And Nathan threw a belly button high strike that was inexplicably called a ball. I kept waiting for Gardy to get his ejection, I get it you can't argue balls and strikes but seriously.

Did I mention that I hate Alexi Casilla?

Right now, this is a .500 ball club. Nothing more, maybe less.

Oh yeah, day game today, get Gamecast fired up.

I refuse to pass any judgment until June 15th...but I'm afraid this guy is right

In assessing contenders and pretenders among the "early season surprises" in baseball, this guy handed out a predictable verdict on the Twins. I didn't realize just how poorly we ranked in all the major pitching and hitting categories.

Also...how shocking is this stat: we've gotten ONE homerun combined from our Catcher, 3rd Base, Shortstop and Left Field positions! ONE! That is historically awful.

Scoreboard, baby...scoreboard. That's all that matters right now, though.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8136560?MSNHPHMA

Arlen Specter for President

War in "the Iraq and such"....... sure, but what if the Patriots cheated?

Potential for horrendous devastation in Myanmar, on top of what has already occurred.... yeah, but what if the Patriots cheated?

Hundreds of thousands in China killed, and the U.S. has pledged $500K in aid.... not much, I know, but seriously, what if the Patriots cheated?

$125 for a barrel of oil; $4 for a gallon of gas, rice, corn, wheat, bread, cheese among various other food prices soaring, foreclosure rate at an all time high... but what if the Patriots cheated?

I'm thinking about moving to PA, just so this brillant man can represent me.

Banged up Twinkies have a bang up weekend

I always wanted to write headlines for the Strib. Anyway, you all know the Twins take 2 of 3 over the weekend and gear up for their final meeting tonight with the Red Sox. (For the record, I did not hide in any closets during last nights game when Nathan was doing his best Eddie Guardado impersonation.)

Few updates (no surprises) -
1. The Shiek is shut down for the year. Wonder if he'll start going to more baseball card shows now that he has some time on his hands.
2. Punto is on the 15 DL and Casilla got recalled. Listening to the radio yesterday, apparently Gardy has major issues with Casilla and his attitude.

Highlights -
1. How about Gomez drawing the walk on Friday night against Papelbon and then drawing the walk with the bases loaded on Saturday? He has more walks than Kubel.
2. This was a text I sent to a couple friends on Friday night: "Mike Lamb - professional hitter."
3. Let the Monroe v. Kubel debate begin (again)!
4. Blackburn and Perkins get a solid B for their efforts.

Lingering questions -
1. What is Boof's deal? He gave up 6 runs (yeah, Harris and Young had something to do with it) but anyone have confidence in this guy? Does he have confidence in himself?
2. Heard on the radio yesterday that Delmon Young is using his dad as his his hitting coach and won't take advice from Joe Vavra or any other Twins. Not good.
3. What is up with Kubel? Talk about a sluuuuuuummmmp. Hitting .234 with 3 BB & 24k's.
4. Twinkies have made a name for themselves with solid defense but have looked kind of ugly in the field. Maybe it's just me.
5. One of the more frustrating things with this team is when, like on Saturday, the Twins need some pop from their lineup and the inning starts with "Mauer, Morneau, Cuddyer" and they go down 1-2-3.

Anyway, this is the best team we've seen all year (one of the top two teams in baseball, how annoying is that?!?!) and we have held our own. Good for us! We need all the moral victories we can get.

Revised Title to Below Post:

To: Dave Golokhov of "askmen.com": It is better to say nothing and be thought a fool than to write an article for Fox Sports and remove all doubt.

I hear what this guy is saying but...

The list of the 10 worst Franchises in pro sports, Twins #7.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8098378/Top-10:-Worst-franchises-in-pro-sports?MSNHPHCP&GT1=39002

What he writes is 100% true. However, it does not fit into the list he is making. If the article was 10 worst owners, then I would be on board. There are a lot of teams that would kill to have the success the Twins have had. McPhail, Ryan and hopefully now Bill Smith are all GM's who could work within the limitations imposed on then. Kelly and Gardy have been able to execute the game plan. The minor league teams clearly get the players to believe in the system and make them fundamentally sound. The scouts have done a tremendous job identifying talent. Wouldn't that make up an organization more so than just an owner? Who would you rather be a fan of a team that has 2 World Series rings and is continually competitive despite the owner's short comings or a team like the Texas Rangers that throws around a lot of money and still blows?

Morning breakfast with the Vikings

My father-in-law invited me to Dunker's this morning with guest speaker Rick Spielman, VP of Player Personnel for the Vikes (for some reason I also get him confused with Chris Spielman LB from the Lions.) He basically went through an overview of the process the team takes in addressing position needs both through the draft or through UFAs (Unrestricted Free Agents, a little insider lingo for you.) No real surprises in what he said. Basically, since he came on board 2 years ago 85% of the Vikes roster has turned over which tells you a lot about the faith they had in the team from the Tice Era. He said that in the off season they have a list of 8 needs and if they could fill 6 of them they were a playoff/Superbowl caliber team. He didn't list those 8 needs per se but discussed them generally. What I picked up was this:

1. Wide Receiver - There was no one in the draft that they wanted and the Vikes had identified Bernard Berrian as the player they wanted in the UFA process. Money got a bit out of control when negotiating the deal but the Wilf family stepped up and gave them the green light to go after whatever talent they thought they needed. He is excited about the receiving corps with Berrian, Rice, and Aundray Allison.

2. Defensive Lineman - Again, Spielman didn't think there was a way to get one of the 3 defensive lineman in the draft (proved right when those 3 were taken in the top 10 and the Vikes would have missed out at #17.) When Jared Allen came up Spielman again said the Wilf family was all about getting the best player available and would put up the cash to do it. The interesting note he made was that Jared Allen became a possibility because of the Vikes relationship with his agent, a relatively unknown guy, who the Vikes had dealt with in the past and maintained contact with. Like we said, the Vikes felt that getting Allen for what we gave up was like having a top pick in the draft (and for a proven player at that.)

3. QB - No discussion of the TJac situation. Talked briefly about having Booty and Wright in camp and what they can bring. Liked the depth at the position.

4. Secondary - Getting Madieu Williams from the Bengals and drafting Tyrell Johnson were off season highlights. He said that they liked Johnson from when he was at the combine and that after they scouted him they didn't want to lose him to another team so no one talked about him at Winter Park in order to prevent other teams from thinking the Vikes wanted him that badly. Yeah, lot of cat and mouse in the NFL.

5. Offensive line - Nothing. Sid asked about the McKinnie situation. Spielman dodged it and said there is a hearing coming up and skirted the "suspension" issue.

That was basically it. Overall, relatively insightful on the Vikes off season. Spielman thinks they are loaded this year and that Allen is going to be the face of this franchise for the foreseeable future because of his ability on the field and personality/leadership in the locker room. He also went out of his way to talk about how in his 18 years in this business he has never worked for owners like the Wilf family who is all about winning and doing the right things.

When do you become what you are parodying?

Talladega 2008

Do We Miss Them? Santana and Silva

As the Twins rotation continues to raise question marks (aside from Livan, Blackburn, and Bonser) it got me a thinkin' about how The $48 Million Man and The $137.5 Million Man are doing so far this season.

Carlos Silva 2008
Games Started - 7
Record - 3 and 1
ERA - 4.20
WHIP - 1.33
Innings - 45
5 HRs, 9BB, 19SOs

Those numbers just smell like Carlos. During his 4 years with the Twins Carlos' ERA was an average 4.445 so he is off to a better start with the M's but I bet that number edges more towards his average as the year goes on. Honestly the only thing I think we'll miss, aside from having someone nicknamed 'Chief', is that he averaged 193 innnigs pitched over those 4 years in Minnesota, something we could use but something we got in Livan (more on that later.) What we won't miss is paying $12M a year for a .500 pitcher (avg of 11.75 wins and 11.25 losses in a Twins uni) who was never particularly overpowering (avg of 76.5 K's) even though he didn't walk a lot of guys either (avg 28/year.) With signing Livan we basically have Silva for 40% of the price. Livan's career averages (throwing out 1996, wow is he old) before coming to the Twins: 4.31 ERA, 121 SO, 65BB, 10.3 wins and 10.2 losses, with an average of 185 innings.

Mr. Met 2008
Games Started - 7
Record - 3 and 2
ERA - 2.91
WHIP - 1.01
Innings - 46
7 HRs, 12BB, 47 SOs

Wow, those numbers make me miss him and miss him terribly. There isn't anyone on the Twins with anything like those numbers. Just looking back at Santana's Twins career kind of makes me want to cry that he isn't still wearing that TC on his hat. I tossed out 2000 and 2001 stats (he played in 45 games but started only 9) and I know you've seen this before but from 2002 to 2007 he averaged 196 innings, 214 strikeouts, a 2.94 ERA, and a 15 - 7 record. Did you just poop your pants? Because I did. Not to mention the 2 (should have been 3 as we all know) Cy Young's. The fact that he was booed at Shea a couple weeks ago is insane - they have Cytana on their hands. Think he will at least wear a Twins uniform when he goes into the HOF? WHY! WHY! WHY!

Don't Look Now...

but the Twins are in first place in the A.L. Central, and might still be tonight after The Gambler squishes them. This is of course meaningless, given that they're 15-14. We all know this isn't going to last with this offense, Detroit will scorch through July and August, Sabathia can't be as bad as he looks right now, etc., etc. Nonetheless, it is worth noting for posterity - we can look back in our old age and recall that the 2008, rebuilding year, Santana-less, Torii-less, Liriano-looking-terrible Twins were division leaders in May.

IU Hoops: Meltdown

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3378521

What an ugly mess Kelvin Sampson left behind. This is tangentially related to FLSBW in that (a) the Gopher hoops program appears to be on the rise, and (b) it is one thing to get better, but something altogether different to actually climb over the teams above you and become part of the top tier of a major conference. The ebb and flow of other programs has to be aligned correctly, too, otherwise the temporary excitement of a new coach/philosophy/facility/whatever will wane if there's no tangible change in terms of pecking order and you'll stop getting the types of recruits necessary to take it to the next level. Well, one of the traditional powerhouses of the Big Televen, over whom the Gophs would need to step to reach the top tier for the first time since forever, has essentially displaced themselves from the upper echelon of the conference for at least the next 3-4 years. Couldn't have timed it better from a window of opportunity perspective. Tubby: kick them while they're down. Hard. Right in the crimson and cream. Couldn't have happened to a nicer program.

Coming to you from the past

I wrote this at 10:05 this morning and used the post date and time function to delay the post until now. I am coming at you from the past. It will blow your mind.

I just wanted to test this out. It could have been titled test but that would have been no fun.

In the Booth: Analysis of Twins Broadcasters

Watched the Twins game the other night on FSN. Usually Dick Bremer and Bert Blyleven are in the booth but this night Ron Coomer got “the call” as Bert was taking a night off. Five minutes into the telecast I was wishing Coomer had taken the night off too and it was just Dick, or Dick and some guy from Section 232 in a Koskie jersey, or Dick and Jo Jo the Dogfaced Boy, you get the idea.

This lead me to the idea for this post, considering that 80% of this blog’s readers reside outside of God’s Country, I’m not sure it is relevant but it gave me something fun to do today and the next time you’re in town you can compare and contrast with my analysis.

T.V. Analysis

Dick Bremer – B+
Dick does the play-by-play on FSN along with interview segments with players and pre/post game analysis. I liken Dick to white bread – he doesn’t try to be something fancy like a croissant and he doesn’t try to be something he’s not like a piece of toast. I guess what I mean is he is a steady voice, knows his baseball and Twins history, doesn’t get too excited when things go well and doesn’t get worked up when things go into the toilet on the field. Working with Bert might make him seem better than he is but I like the baritone voice and approach to calling a game. Plus my father-in-law spent some time with him this past Winter and said Bremer was a normal guy (plus he invited my father-in-law to stop by the booth next time he goes to a game.)

Bert Blyleven – C+
I know, he is a Hall of Famer (in waiting) and does the fan-friendly “Circle Me Bert” gimmick that would make you think he is a regular Joe. The problem I have is that he is the retired “star” who wishes he could still lace ‘em up because he would still have his “stuff” (and he reminds you of it all the time.) Yes, he has lots of stories from his days in MLB but listening to him talk about his career gets old. Case in point: during the most recent series against the Rangers, Nolan Ryan was in the stands and I can’t count how many times Bert talked about Nolan, the “battles they had,” what made Nolan a great pitcher, how that compared to Bert blah, blah, blah. Shut it already! I get it, you pitched against Nolan Ryan and went 1 for 4 against him (yes, they flashed the head-to-head comparison.) It is clear that Bert loves Bert; I mean how can you miss the ever present "Count Down to My Birthday." Kitchy when you first see it and think "Ha, ha, good one, I would do that too if I was in the booth" but when "Hey folks it's 283 days until my birthday" becomes "Just a reminder it's 282 days until my birthday" turns into "281 days until my birthday" you find yourself sending Bert a mirror as a present hoping he gets the hint. There is no doubt that Bert would rather be in the clubhouse hanging out with the guys again. He has his moments but you have to listen to 9 innings to get them.

Ron Coomer – D
Coomer usually does some pre and post game analysis along with a few updates during the game on the status of a player etc. He is brutal. Like Bert, Coomer still wishes he was on the field. He says grating things like “Well, when I played for the Yankees we had a guy . . .” as if this legitimizes his career. It’s also obvious from the telecasts that he and Bert don’t get along as they have gotten into a couple “debates” this season. I have 10 to 1 odds there will be a bar fight between these two this season. Coomer, like Donny from Big Lebowski, is “like a child that has wandered into the middle of a movie” – he is the type of guy who would tell Bert how to grip the ball to throw slider – he has “no frame of reference” but doesn’t care. What also kills me is that he talks about “fundamentals of hitting” all the time; the Washburn High 9th grade boy’s team is as insightful. He has a lifetime .274 BA and .313 OBP and should stop acting like he is a Silver Slugger.

Anthony LaPanta – B -
Anthony hosts FSN’s “Twins Live!” and “Twins Post Game Report.” He is more a traffic cop than anything else. He might just be the hardest working man at FSN as he does a ton of different gigs (like the High School Hockey tournament) and he seems to know the Twins and MLB. My sense is that he is more concerned about the sport’s anchor job at KARE 11 than working himself into the booth with Bremer.

Telly Hughes and Roy Smalley – C –
Jury is still out on these two. Hughes is new and has the crappy assignments like talking to the row of fans that won a lottery ticket from the Minnesota State Lottery or talking to a bunch of high school kids that have a wacky Gomez sign. Roy Smalley works with LaPanta. I think he has a day job that keeps him from making all the broadcasts or at least it seems that way because I don’t think he has said anything that is memorable.

Radio Broadcasts
Herb Carneal – A
Rest in Peace, Herb.

John Gordon – A-
Might totally be my bias but Gordo is the voice of the Twins for me, heck, he is the voice of Minnesota Summer for me. Sure, Gordo makes every ball that gets hit hard sound like it is going out of the park but he can’t help it. His “Touch ‘em all!” call for dingers and his “Oohhhhh My!” call for a good play in the field are classics in my book.

Dan Gladden – B +
Maybe it’s just that I like radio announcers better but the Dazzle Man has grown on me. He announces like he played – hard, gruff, and understated. The turning point was last year during a game when he was doing the play-by-play for the 4th, 5th, and 6th. The Twins were killing some team and an opposing batter had just struck out. Gladden said: “I don’t know why you would even swing at that pitch. . . that was terrible. . . almost like he has no business being out there at all . . . next up is (insert player’s name here) . . . wonder if he can do any better.” Maybe you had to be there.