Here is another installment of “Thoughts from a Fellow Fan,” Taylor speaks his mind on the hot Minnesota Twins…
It certainly has been awhile since my last blog from mid June, but in that blog I said that the Twins season would be full of ups and downs because of the pitching. This statement was both right and wrong for me in that I was right in saying the Twins would be up and down, for after the blog the Twins started struggling for a bit and then absolutely have been on fire as of late. But then I was terribly wrong as somehow this group of no-namers to many MLB junkies have came in night in and night out and been unbelievably consistent. So in what has been a very exciting time for “Twins Nation” since my last post I thought I would reflect on why the Twins have become red hot.
1. Pitching – As I reference earlier, the Twins supposed biggest weakness coming into the season, has now become the Twins biggest strength. The young studs of Baker, Blackburn, Slowey, and Perkins now have Twins fans asking the question Johan who? At the beginning of the season I was encouraged with mediocre stars such as 6IP and maybe 4 earned runs. Now those type of starts are viewed as huge disappointments in my mind. The bullpen has stayed also stayed strong, even though they lost their 8th inning specialist in Neshak early in the season. But in usual Twins fashion the Twins bring up more then capable bullpen pitchers year in and year out, this year those guys being Brian Bass and Craig Breslow. Then there is Joe Nathan. Enough said.
2. Piranhas no more – I hated the piranhas. This may not be a popular comment, but I despised of the term used by Ozzie Guillen about Punto, Tyner, and Bartlett, or whomever else batted in the bottom of the Twins order, in reference to their lack of power and used in stead infield hits and bunt singles to get on base. Well much to my pleasure the guys now filling this void, Casilla, Span, and Punto have emerged as more of a complete MLB hitter. Sure they all have speed, but they also are capable of hitting the ball hard and far. Casilla now has two hit streaks of over 13 games since being called up, and has hit 4 home runs in the short amount of time he has been in the big leagues. Span just added more depth the the already loaded outfield for the Twins, and he seems to just keep getting hits nightly. Then as much as it pains me to say, Punto has shown his inner A-Rod by hitting .360 with a homerun and 6 RBI’s in June. The ability of these guys to come in and drive in the Morneau’s, Kubel’s, and Young’s has been very important to the Twins.
3. Delmon Young – Peter Gammons said Sunday on Baseball Tonight that the key for the Twins in this incredible run has been none other then Delmon Young. Delmon has raised his average to near .300 during this win streak, and has provided many clutch hits along the way. Yes he may be first pitch happy, and when I say happy I mean he swings at the first pitch 99 percent of the time, but somehow he has finally turned it on and has been an integral piece in this marvelous stretch for the Twins.
Wow, what an amazing four games series for the Twins. The Twins took three games from arguably the most complete team in baseball. They pitched pretty well, ran the bases well, and the bats came alive. Great series and I enjoyed watching two games on ESPN.
My friend and past MVB guest blogger, Taylor, witnessed the series unfold at the dome and presents the second installment of Thought from a Fellow Fan.
After attending one game and watching the other 3 of the Twins, Red Sox series three points stood out for me.
1. I truly found out what “Red Sox Nation” means. You hear it a lot nowadays as almost any ESPN commentator or media personality has to throw in the phrase “Red Sox Nation” when talking about Boston baseball, and I always thought it was dumb. But after being in the Metrodome Saturday night it finally hit me how true Red Sox nation is. The stadium was filled with red, and it wasn’t because of red Twins shirts. Multiple times the dome flooded with chants of “Lets go Red Sox.” And most importantly it actually sounded like the game was played at a neutral site rather then in an opposing teams stadium. I now understand that there truly is a “Red Sox nation” and they do flood out to every stadium wherever the Red Sox are playing.
2. The Twins hitting is going to be what carries them this year. This series really pushed me over the top into believing that hitting, rather then pitching like in years past, is going to be what needs to be consistent and potent if the Twins will return to the playoffs. We all should have seen this coming into the year, but it’s just something Twins fans aren’t used to. Gomez is a run machine if he gets on base, and the middle of the order with Mauer, Morneau, Cuddyer, Young, etc. can be just as good as the big boys in the AL. So Twins fans might have to get used to more 9-8 victories rather then the 3-2 wins we have become so accustomed to.
3. The Twins are for real. Usually coming into the baseball season I feel the Twins get disrespected because they are always picked to never make the playoffs, although they always seem to be there in the end. But this year I agreed with the ESPN’s and Sports Illustrated’s in picking the Twins to finished towards the bottom. Boy was I fooled. Just Sunday on ESPN the radio analyst Steve Phillips had the Red Sox as the #1 team in his power rankings in all of baseball and the Twins just took 3 of 4 out of them in multiple ways. They beat the best closer in baseball one game, out slugged them in another, and out pitched them in the final game. Now in the middle of May I expect the Twins to be still playing in October. And once again the “preseason projectors” if you will will be terribly wrong, this time me included.
The Twins look for their third win in a row tonight against the Toronto Blue Jays in the first game of a three game series in the Metrodome. Toronto’s Jesse Litsch faces off against Kevin Slowey.
One thing I like to do on this blog is for the readers to hear opinions from people other than me. There are a lot of Twins fans out there, so here is the first installment of Thoughts from a Fellow Fan.
A good friend of mine from high school days back in South Dakota made the trip south to K.C. this weekend to see his first look of the 2008 Twins. Here are Thoughts from a Fellow Fan, Taylor.
Over the weekend I was lucky enough to go along with some friends down to Kansas City for the Saturday and Sunday Twins vs Royals games. Although the weather was probably more suited for football, the baseball games were fun nonetheless.
Saturday: Saturday’s game was great for two reasons. One, the Twins won which always constitutes for a great game, and second, the game was sold out due to Billy Butler jersey night. Coming into the game I expected a high scoring affair with a Bonser, Tomko pitching matchup. Naturally I was mistaken, and instead I witnessed a pitching duel. The Twins jumped up early thanks to a Jason Kubel solo blast, which contributed to his already solid start. If Kubel can stay healthy this year I expect a very solid year, ending with him surrounding the 20 home run mark. The Royals couldn’t get anything going, as Bonser looked wonderful on the mound, carrying a no-hitter into the 5th, only to be jynxed by a Royals fan behind us and thus gave up a single to Ross Gload. That was about the only positive for Royals fans as their offense mustered up no real threats throughout the game. The Twins had a chance to blow the game out in the 7th up 2-0, but failed to score a run after having the bases loaded with no outs. Thanks to the solid Neshek/Nathan combo the Twins shut to door and took game 2 of the series.
Sunday: This game was direct opposites for both teams coming in. The Royals fans failed to come out on a chilly Sunday afternoon, probably because of the back to back losses without scoring a run. On the otherhand the Twins fans came in full of anticipation for Fransisco Liriano’s first major league start since late 2006. The game looked as if it would be more of the same from the previous two nights as the Twins knocked on across in the first. But Liriano couldn’t hold the lead long as the Royals chipped away and took the lead with runs in the 1st, 2nd, and 4th innings. One positive to take from Liriano’s start was he didn’t let the game out of hand, which was something that easily could have happened because it seemed the Royals were constantly threatening. Obviouslly the main concern after Liriano’s start is with his command as he never seemed to be able to get ahead of hitters and finish them off. It was nice to see the development of his changeup, which if it was controlled properly reminded this me of a former Twins Lefy ace’s changeup. Bannister didn’t allow any real threat for the remainder of the game, and he continued the dominance he has shown all year, helping the Royals finished off the sweep.
Random Notes I got from the games: -The Royals stadium is incredible! They have the biggest HD jumbotron in the nation, and it is just wonderful for the fans. Also they have wiped out the old left outfield seats because they are putting in new seats in front of the waterfalls throught the staduim.
-The Royals fans hate Jose Guillen, constatnly chanting 12 million dollars which is what they are paying him to hit .100. It didn’t help when he dropped an easy fly ball in the first Sunday, leading to the only Twins run
-If you do attend a Royals game in the future, buy the cheapest available ticket. My friend and I baught the 9 dollar tickets, and ended up front row behind home plate both games. They do not have people checking tickets at each gate, and we basically wondered and sat wherever we pleased.
- The Royals will be good and soon. Their lineup is young and potent with emerging stars in Teahan, Gordon, and Butler. Plus the pitching staff is set up to be real solid with veterans Meche and Tomko and young guys coming into their own with Bannister and Grienke.
-These two teams are very similar, and will probably battle throughout the year in the standings. Who knows, maybe another 2003 is in store with both teams being in the division race after the all star break!
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3. Delmon Young – Peter Gammons said Sunday on Baseball Tonight that the key for the Twins in this incredible run has been none other then Delmon Young. Delmon has raised his average to near .300 during this win streak, and has provided many clutch hits along the way. Yes he may be first pitch happy, and when I say happy I mean he swings at the first pitch 99 percent of the time, but somehow he has finally turned it on and has been an integral piece in this marvelous stretch for the Twins.
