twins/mlb
Willingham cautious with hamstring
- Article by: LA VELLE E. NEAL III , Star Tribune
- Updated: September 6, 2012 - 12:02 AM
Twins outfielder Josh Willingham, still bothered by a sore right hamstring, was not in the starting lineup Wednesday. He did pinch hit in the ninth, flying out to end the game.
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CHICAGO - Twins outfielder Josh Willingham, still bothered by a sore right hamstring, was not in the starting lineup Wednesday. He did pinch hit in the ninth, flying out to end the game.
"I could have [started]," Willingham said.
Willingham and the Twins are looking at the big picture. It's better to keep him off the leg as much as possible Wednesday and during Thursday's scheduled off day than to have him try to fight through it and have it bother him the rest of the season. With two days off, Willingham hopes to play in the outfield Friday when the Twins open a four-game series against Cleveland.
"The biggest problem he's having right now is bending over and trying to field ground balls," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "It's kind of a high strain in the hamstring, and when he bends over to field balls, that's when it barks at him the most."
Willingham is batting .261 with a career-high 33 homers, and he has tied his career high with 98 RBI.
Ryan's decisionAs of now, Terry Ryan has the job title of Twins' interim general manager. With the season almost over, it's getting close to the time when Ryan either takes the interim tag off and commits to steering the club out of successive dismal seasons -- or decides that someone else should take over.
Ryan won't be specific, but he will weigh many factors -- both personal and baseball-related -- before making his decision.
Some in organization believe that Ryan's future will be determined during the offseason, but Ryan said Wednesday that he will sit down with owner Jim Pohlad and president Dave St. Peter before then.
"I can't wait that long," Ryan said. "The organization needs to know before that."
He replaced Bill Smith in the role on Nov. 7, Ryan's second stint as GM.
Sox attendance woesThe Twins have the worst record in the American League, yet they expect to draw around 2.8 million fans this season,
It's one area the White Sox wish they were like their AL Central rivals.
The White Sox entered Wednesday on pace to draw just 1,973,889 fans to U.S. Cellular Field this season despite being in first place for 97 days. A midweek series against the Yankees last month drew an average of only 26,0422 fans.
As a result, Chicago has started slashing ticket prices for some seats. On Monday, some upper-deck seats (normally $16) went for $7 and lower-level seats (normally in the upper $30 range) went for $17.
Revere watchNow that Jamey Carroll ended his home run drought on Monday, Kansas City's Chris Getz has the longest active streak without a home run, at 918 at-bats. No. 2? The Twins' Ben Revere, who has not homered in 893 career at-bats.
Getz is on the disabled list for the rest of the season, so Revere can take over the No. 1 spot later this month.
Scoring changeChris Parmelee is so hot at the plate that even scoring decisions are going his way.
Major League Baseball has overturned a decision on Aug. 29 in Seattle in which a ball Parmelee hit past Mariners' first baseman Justin Smoak was ruled an error. The play has been changed to a double.
Parmelee now is batting .406 with three doubles, three home runs and eight RBI in eight games since being recalled from Class AAA Rochester.
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