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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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Monday (Two of the best at-bats you will ever see) edition: Wha' Happened?
Posted by: Michael Rand under Professional baseball, Twins fans Updated: June 25, 2012 - 9:50 AM
As such, in this case: Stop.
We need to linger just a little longer on Sunday's 4-3 Twins victory over the Reds -- in particular, a two at-bat sequence in the ninth inning that might be as good as you will see.
With the Twins trailing 3-2, Joe Mauer came up with one out against Reds fireballer Aroldis Chapman. Sometimes "fireballer" is used as a catch-all for hard throwers. Chapman has earned that title. He threw a ball 105 mph, the fastest ever recorded. He didn't allow an earned run this season until June. True, he has hit a bit of a rough patch now -- wrap your head around the fact that Chapman has four times as many blown saves as Matt Capps -- but his overall numbers are still staggering: Opponents are batting .130 against him with a .464 OPS. He has 61 Ks in 35.1 innings.
He regularly throws 100 mph with a slider that hits 90. Going into Sunday, lefties hadn't squared up for an extra base hit against him all season.
Against that backdrop, Mauer came up. The Twins had just given up the lead. A potential road trip-ending victory looked like it was going to turn into sour defeat. Mauer fell behind 0-2 on a fastball and a slider. And then, as Joe C noted, he proceeded to have the first at-bat for the ages. He fouled off four fastballs (one at 102 mph) and took three sliders for balls. Even working the count to 3-2 made us want to give a standing ovation, but then he crushed the 10th pitch, a 99 mph fastball, off the left field wall for a double. Keep in mind, this was Mauer's first game back playing catcher, and it was the end of a long, hot day. It was a ridiculous at-bat.
But it was hardly over. If that was the quintessential "good" Mauer at-bat -- taking pitches, working the count, hitting the ball hard to the opposite field -- then Josh Willingham's approach was equally apt for what he does best. Willingham was able to lay off a couple of tempting pitches to work the count to 3-1. He later said he was trying to keep his swing simple and short -- hit the ball hard somewhere. And if you look at the replay of his swing at that 97 mph heater, he does just that. Knowing the smoke that is coming his way, Willingham is striding well before Chapman releases the ball. It was classic power on power, with a hitter knowing the pitcher doesn't want to put the go-ahead run on base. The 438-foot blast (as announced on TV) still might not have come down.
And yes, you knew all this and probably saw all this yesterday. But even in the midst of a losing season -- with plenty of problems about which to gripe -- we needed to linger on this sequence for a little while longer. It just doesn't get much better than that.
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