MLB 2006

[JohnH]

And this "every team needs a representative" is crap too.  I'm sure everyone was jizzing in their pants when Mark Redmond was selected.

*raises hand*



Kidding...I'm a lifelong Royals fan and still think Redman was the worst All-star selection in history.  Not that the Royals had a truly deserving representative, but I would have gone with Grudzelanik or DeJesus over Redman in a second.  Maybe even Emil Brown.  He's at least hitting .280 with 40+ RBIs.  I do think it's nice to have a representative from each team, but Guillen's choice could have been better.  I know many will argue that by allowing people on from teams just because they have to robs other possibly more deserving players of slots on the team, but that's going to happen anyway.  First, the fans tend to vote in the more popular players anyway regardless of their numbers.  Second, there are only 30 slots on the roster anyway, so there will *always* be more good players than open slots.  It's unavoidable that good players will be left off the team.

About the All-star game "counting", don't even get me started.  Selig has had some dumb**** ideas, but this is certainly near the top.  Yeah, it makes perfect sense that these 60 players, 75% of which aren't going to play in the playoffs anyway, are going to be the ones to decide who gets home-field advantage.     Let the best team have home-field advantage...end of story.

And again, don't get me started on these ******* ninnies that are pitching.  "Oh, I pitch on Thursday so I can't throw an inning on Tuesday in the All-Star game."  Freakin' panzies, I tell you.  The All-Star game is supposed to be an honor.  These guys should be begging to get an inning in just to say they played.  Nope...can't throw 30 extra pitches because you might blow your arm out.  ******* wimps.

John

[Dressel Rebel]

And now it's an entire decaded since we've won. 

I don't recall voting for a Roton7, nor do I recall seeing him play last night. 


And this "every team needs a representative" is crap too.  I'm sure everyone was jizzing in their pants when Mark Redmond was selected.

OK, I don't recall voting for a "Mark Redmond" either then Mikey D, nor do I recall seeing him play last night.

I recall a Mark Redman though.

[Darth Broem]

Yay!  It's almost the trading deadline.  I am just kind of interested to see what happens.  The latest is Abreau to the Yankees.  I assume Maddux will go to some team desperate for more pitching down the stretch.

[Scott]

I sure hope the Twins pull the trigger on a Soriano deal, that would be sooo friggin sweet and soooo out of character of the conservatism they have shown the past 15 years.  People still here are reliving the Shannon Stewart trade from a few years ago who hasn't done **** since the year he got him

They need another power hitter...they need an outfielder.  Mauer/Morneau/Soriano that would be sick.  Come on, please

Also props to the guy who predicted Liriano to be Santana Jr. around here a few months ago, same idiot who dropped him a few weeks later 

[Rob]

How freaking good is David Ortiz?

Seems like every time I watch a Red Sox game he's hitting a 9th inning home run.



I wish I'd drafted him where I drafted Teixeria...

[Morgbug]

If it's any consolation, I wish I'd drafted him where I drafted Arod.

Just for reference sake, at this point in the season:

Arod:                    73 22 74 09 .280   - 1st pick overall
Carlos Lee:          63 28 82 12 .294   - 6th round pick (42nd)
Grady Sizemore:  84 16 49 16 .302   - 7th round pick (43rd)
Justin Morneau:   60 28 86 01 .316    - free agent pickup
Chase Utley:        90 21 69 11 .327   - 4th round pick (28th)

Trust me, I'm pleased with Arod's overall numbers and I'm hoping he can come out of his slump for the better part of the second half. 

[Jeff]

I sure hope the Twins pull the trigger on a Soriano deal, that would be sooo friggin sweet and soooo out of character of the conservatism they have shown the past 15 years. 

Oh well, at least we dumped Lohse...   

[JohnH]

I sure hope the Twins pull the trigger on a Soriano deal, that would be sooo friggin sweet and soooo out of character of the conservatism they have shown the past 15 years. 

Oh well, at least we dumped Lohse...   

I feel the same about Affeldt.    I'm kind of bummed about Stairs.  Even though he's a bit old he's still a decent hitter and a good guy to have around for the sake of the younger guys. 

John

[Jeff]

Francisco Liriano likely is headed to the disabled list  

I sure hope it's just a minor muscle thing and not something that will require surgery... recent Twins pitching prospects haven't seemed fare all that well after surgery (Milton, Mays, etc).   

[Dressel Rebel]

Francisco Liriano likely is headed to the disabled list  

I sure hope it's just a minor muscle thing and not something that will require surgery... recent Twins pitching prospects haven't seemed fare all that well after surgery (Milton, Mays, etc).   

Whew, I was actually afraid of the Twins this year as a Yankees fan.

But just as it's cheap that we lost Godzilla and Sheff due to injuries, it's cheap that you may not be able to throw Liriano in the playoffs, if you even make it that far now.

Gotta say, I was not looking forward to facing Santana Game 1, Liriano Game 2, Radke I guess Game 3, then back to Santana/ Liriano Game 4/5.  That really would have been Schilling/Unit-esque when the 'Backs ripped us up.

[JediMAC]

Nice to see the Dodgers and Angels finally turning things on over the past month.  Had SoCal fans in a deep snooze up until that.  Not entirely sure it'll last, but considering the relatively weak Western division in the NL, I suppose the Dodgers have as good a shot as anyone in there.  If they can just keep Nomar and Kent on the field, instead of the DL, their chances should be much better.  Some continued consistent pitching from Penny and Lowe will help, and if Maddux is re-inspired (as he appears to be so far) and can regain some of his former form, we'll have a solid staff going into the stretch run this next month.  Of course, losing Gagne at the beginning of the season (again) absolutely sucked, but I guess if he hasn't been around for the past couple years, it's not really all that much of a loss if you think about it.  Lost potential, more like.  Sad to see his career getting shat down the toilet by all his injuries...

Fingers crossed that one or both can make the post season again this year.  Still waiting for that dream "Freeway Series" that I've been praying for since I was about 5 years old!  Might get SoCal sports fans minds off of the recent Lakers fiasco, at least.

I see the Halos still seem to have the Yank's number! 

[Jeff]

Kudos to ESPN for choosing to show all those Red Sox vs. Yankees games this weekend and NOT choosing a Twins/ChiSox game instead. 

Why would anyone want to watch a nice Radke/Garland or Santana/Vasquez match-up (with AL Wild Card Implications) when they could watch yet another Yankees/RedSox game instead. 

Why watch one of the hottest teams in baseball take on the defending World Champs when you can watch more of Boston getting the crap kicked out of them by NY?   

I guess maybe there is something to that ESPN "east coast" bias everyone always talks about... 

In fairness though, thanks to the Yankees for kicking the crap out Boston this weekend.  Time to bury them, so my Twinkies only have to worry about getting past Chicago for that Wild Card slot.   


Anyway, some fun Johan stats.

- Santana (15-5) hasn't lost at the Metrodome in 20 starts, dating to Aug. 6, 2005. He is 13-0 with a 2.03 ERA during that stretch.
- The Twins won each of those 20 Santana games, becoming the first team in the modern era (since 1900) to win 20 straight home games that were started by a particular pitcher.

[Morgbug]

If it's any consolation, there's a similar bias up here with TSN (The [Toronto] Sports Network) and it applied universally across sports.  No matter how lousy the Toronto team is, they'll always supplant a better game, because it's more important

[Jeff]

Memo to the Minnesota Twins:

When they do finally allow Human Cloning, get started here:

[Dressel Rebel]

Okay how bad did Liriano hurt himself today?