Michael Rand started RandBall with hopes that he could keep lies from conquering the minds of the weak. So far, he's only succeeded in using the word "redacted" a lot. He welcomes suggestions, news tips, links of pure genius, and pictures of pets in Halloween costumes here, though he already knows he will regret that last part.
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Posts about Professional baseball
Video comparison: Plouffe and Morneau concussion plays eerily similar
Posted by: Michael Rand Updated: May 22, 2013 - 3:34 PM
If you first instinct when you saw Trevor Plouffe take a leg to the head sliding into second base last night was to think back three years to Justin Morneau, well, your instinct was good.
Plouffe said Wednesday he is feeling OK, but he was placed on the seven-day DL for a concussion. Morneau, of course, has had a long battle back from his concussion sustained in 2010. Here is a link to the Plouffe play (not yet able to embed) as well as the Morneau play below:
Tweets about serious crime accusation coming from Jose Canseco's account
Posted by: Michael Rand Updated: May 22, 2013 - 1:43 PMWas Jose Canseco hacked? Or is this just another bizarre -- this one quite serious and sad -- day in the life of his Twitter account? Here is a screen grab of all three in case he takes them down (update: Which he did), with the name of the alleged accuser eradicated by us. Why anyone would tweet about this is beyond us.
Wednesday (Mauer, The Nook and life's narrative) edition: Wha' Happened?
Posted by: Michael Rand Updated: May 22, 2013 - 1:42 PM
Tuesday was one of those days when we probably tried to do too much -- and had too much confidence in our ability to bend time and make it all happen. As a result, we were constantly running behind by about 10-15 minutes on everything (a phenomenon that friends refer to as Rand Standard Time). It's not laziness or indifference that makes us late. We really do value other people's time. It is, as we said, our overconfidence in an ability to get places faster than we should be able to get there.
But we digress. Around 9:15 p.m., the things we tried to squeeze in were over. We realized we had not yet eaten dinner. We also knew the RBBH was out at a late dinner with a couple of friends. So we were solo. In a serendipitious turn, we were also lost in St. Paul. Instead of using GPS, we used instinct. That instinct led us to Snelling Avenue when we thought we were heading toward University Avenue. You do the math on that one (those two roads intersect, so we couldn't have been much more wrong).
As unsavory fast food prospects spun in our head, a much better light bulb went off: The Nook. It's far closer to our new neighborhood than it ever used to where we used to live ... and, confession: We had never been there. That's right, one of the sacred burger places in all of the Twin Cities had somehow escaped us in the nearly two decades we have been living here. Clay Davis would call that shameful, and he would add another word as well.
But this was the perfect opportunity to fix a wrong. It was late enough that it wouldn't be overly crowded. We were flying solo, so we could sit at the bar. And, in what seemed almost too fitting, we arrived at around the start of the top of the 8th inning of the Twins game, which was being shown on one of the TVs at the bar (the other was showing playoff hockey, this being St. Paul, and not the Spurs/Grizzlies in OT).
We noticed Joe Mauer was leading off the inning at around the same time we noticed all the ingredients of the Mauer burger at The Nook, which is located a strong Mauer throw away from his old high school, Cretin-Derham Hall. His burger is called the "Joe Mauer Hit a Double Burger." We kept it simple, though, opting for a bacon cheeseburger. Mauer, too, kept it simple -- single instead of a double to lead off the eighth.
The inning progressed, of course, with Trevor Plouffe knocking in Mauer with the tying run and Ryan Doumit driving in the go-ahead run. The Twins, who hadn't led since Friday, were suddenly in the lead after one magical trip to burger paradise.
We had the narrative in our head, the perfect opening post for Wednesday with all the lessons of life and fate leading us to the perfect place at the perfect time to see this Mauer-fueled victory. With another Minnesota guy -- and presumed hamburger enthusiast -- Glen Perkins on to lock down the ninth, what could go wrong?
Well, of course, we know what happened. Two-out, tying home run, followed by another run in the 10th, and the Twins had lost seven in a row. We got up to leave, and another gentleman at the bar simply said, "brutal." We replied, "unbelievable." But really, it wasn't. Giving up those runs was hardly crazy. What was crazy was thinking that a chance arrival at a burger place near Mauer's old high school was somehow going to change the Twins' luck. What transpired wasn't a Hollywood narrative, but it was, at least, a better reminder of life's narrative than if Perk had recorded one more out. Remembering that will be the reward for the evening (also, the burger and fries were delicious).
Ron Gardenhire comments on Sam Deduno starting instead of Kyle Gibson on Friday
Posted by: Michael Rand Updated: May 21, 2013 - 12:32 PM
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire was on the MLB Network Radio channel on SiriusXM with hosts Mike Ferrin and Mike Stanton on Tuesday, where he revealed that Sam Deduno will start Friday for the Twins at Detroit. There had been some chatter that rookie Kyle Gibson might get the call to fill the hole in the rotation created by Pedro Hernandez's demotion.
Deduno, the hero of the WBC, had a 2.70 ERA in three starts for the Twins AAA team in Rochester as he battled back from a groin strain. Gibson fired a shutout in his last Rochester start but has been up-and-down from start-to-start lately.
Deduno, it should be noted, also had a stretch of eight quality starts in 10 outings in 2012, which qualifies him as the Twins' version of Cy Young.
In any event, we listened to the Gardenhire interview on Sirius. Here's what he had to say about Deduno vs. Gibson (comments he will no doubt elaborate on to local beat writers when there is access later today in Atlanta):
"Mr. Deduno is going to come up and pitch for us. We’ve had long discussions and the overall thought is – and I haven’t seen too many games aside from on the Internet before our games – with Gibby right now he just threw a complete game shutout but it’s been kind of every other start. … We’re looking for him to get some consistency and back it up with another one and then we’ll see. He’s going to pitch in our rotation. He’s the kind of kid you bring up here you don’t want to end up sending back down. They’re giving him a little time. Deduno has been throwing really well. He has that hard breaking ball, puts a little fear in the eyes of the hitter. He’s gonna come in and face Detroit. … We’ll let Sammy come up here and spin some balls on them and wing it all over the place. We love the way he uses his emotions, and it ought to be entertaining."
Your thoughts, please, in the comments.
Tuesday (A classic Joe Mauer letter) edition: Wha' Happened?
Posted by: Michael Rand Updated: May 21, 2013 - 10:26 AM
What this means, of course, is that it gave MAUER HATERZ a chance to hit on a lot of their key themes. Here, then, is a priceless piece of e-mail correspondence we received from a reader:
Hello Mike:
I do not understand why a independent newspaper has to defend Joe Mauer's performance? Are you and the Tribune on the Twins payroll now also?
The facts speak for them selves.
1. Mauer makes 29% of the twins payroll, $ 23 million out of $ 80 million. With the big money comes the big leadership responsibility.
2. The Twins are in last place again in the AL Central division. That is three years in a row. Joe has a professional agent that has told him with the big money comes big responsibility.
3. Ever since the Twins signed Mauer to his big contract the Twins have been in last place in the Central division. Joe's pay, his performance and his leadership have the Twins in last place again. Twins are going for three in a row, last place finishes that is.
4. Miguel Cabrera, A POWER HITTER of the Detroit Tigers, makes less money than Joe Mauer. Cabrera has 47 RBI Joe Mauer has 13 RBI. Joe Mauer has 39 strikeouts and Cabrera has only 23 K's. The only statistics Mauer leads Cabrera in is doubles and strikeouts. This is why Joe Mauer makes more money and you kiss his behind and make excuses for him?
Just for once have you and the tribune finally say Mauer is the twins problem. The Twins made a mistake signing the singles hitter to a $23 million a year contract, Power hitters, home run hitters and RBI producers make over $ 20 million a year ... not singles hitters who strike out A LOT.
Put these facts in your paper also. If Mauer was in New York the press would be ripping him.
Oh.
To reiterate: Mauer is not perfect. He is who he is, and it is not his fault the Twins paid him $23 million a year. Also: He is not a singles hitter. He is in the top 10 in the AL in doubles, on base percentage and WAR. If anyone was on base when he batted, Mauer would have many more RBIs. He is, in fact, batting .360 with runners in scoring position this season. But he only has 32 plate appearances in such situations all season. Miguel Cabrera, also a terrific hitter, HAS 67 PLATE APPEARANCES with runners in scoring position.
Thank you for your time.
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