twins/mlb
Jim Souhan analyzes the local sports scene and advises you to never take his betting advice. He likes old guitars and old music, never eats press box hot dogs, and can be heard on 1500ESPN at 2:05 p.m. weekdays, and Sundays from 10 a.m.-noon.
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Posts about All-Stars and honors
Sam Mitchell?
Posted by: Jim Souhan Updated: August 9, 2011 - 8:43 PM
I'm hearing that Sam Mitchell has emerged as the frontrunner for the Timberwolves' head coaching position.
To me, this is a sign that Glen Taylor has exerted his influence on the hiring process. Mitchell is an old favorite of Taylor's, and in the absence of a sure-thing candidate like Rick Adelman (who appears to be ready to sit out next season), Mitchell, with his local ties and tough-guy persona, makes a lot of sense.
-It's been a brutal year for the Twins and their medical staff, so let me point out something nice:
Ryan Hedwall, the athletic trainer for the Elizabethton (rookie-league) Twins, has been named as the minor-league athletic trainer of the year for the Appalachian League. Hurry to the bigs, buddy: This team needs lots of healing.
-Baseball is so often wonderfully strange. The Twins had drawn just one walk in their previous 182 plate appearances before Tuesday's game. They drew four walks in the first inning against Red Sox starter Erik Bedard. Including a bases-loaded walk by Delmon Young. I'm not making this up.
Ball four to Young looked like a strike. Young's reputation for patience must have won over home-plate umpire Tim McClelland.
-It was a blast catching up with former Twin Gene Larkin on the radio on Sunday. Gene was always one of my favorite players, a pro who never complained about anything and took great pride in preparing himself to play.
-I believe this trivia question originated with ESPN's Jayson Stark, and the Red Sox beat writers were kicking it around before the game: Name the five active big-leaguers who have hit 20 or more home runs with four different teams. The answer is at the end of this post...
-What are the Twins going to do with Tsuyoshi Nishioka? He struck out in his first two at-bats on Tuesday, looking helpless each time. He's hitting .213 as I write this. If I were the Twins, I would offer to buy out part of his $6 million-plus in remaining salary, and let both parties off the hook. This has to be tremendously embarrassing for a guy so revered in his home country.
-This from Twins' PR wizard Dustin Morse: Jim Thome now ranks eighth all-time in homers and walks. He has 10,003 career plate appearances (through four innings on Tuesday night), with 1,708 walks and 598 homers. That means he has homered or walked in 23 percent of his big-league plate appearances.
-Believe it or not, I agree with the Twins' decision to call up Kevin Slowey, my old pal, and stick him in the rotation, now that Scott Baker is headed to the disabled list.
Slowey won't or can't pitch out of the bullpen. If this were a contending team, I wouldn't want a guy with his attitude around. Now that this team is no longer in contention, allowing Slowey to reestablish his trade value by pitching in the big leagues makes sense.
If he can pitch decently, Slowey should be able to bring a reasonable price in a trade this winter. A lot of teams are looking for affordable bottom-of-the-rotation help in the winter.
-Beautiful night at Target Field, whatever the outcome. There is something relaxing about going to the ballpark and knowing the game doesn't mean anything. It's like spring training in August.
-Trivia answer: Jim Thome, Alfonso Soriano, Mike Cameron, Adrian Beltre and J.D. Drew. (I didn't do very well on this one.)
-I'm really hoping Jim Thome hits his 600th home run at Target Field. A lot of fans are paying a lot of money to watch bad baseball this year; seeing Thome reach that milestone would be a nice reward to them.
But if he can't hit it at Target Field, I'd like to see him hit it in Cleveland, where he started as a rawboned third baseman who heard Charlie Manuel, then the Indians' hitting coach, barking in his ear.
Even in this awful season, Thome remains the nicest man in baseball.
-Upcoming: I have columns on the Vikings, Gopher football and Lynx in the works, and I'll be in the studio on Sunday for the Gardenhire Show and Sunday Morning Sports Talk, while Tom Pelissero checks in from the road.
A few moments with TK...
Posted by: Jim Souhan Updated: August 6, 2011 - 7:48 PM
Chatted with Tom Kelly before the game tonight. He told me he has no plans to become a full-time broadcaster. He considers himself a temporary substitute for Bert Blyleven and not a candidate for future openings.
``No, no, no,'' he said. ``I'm going to do this game, and then I'm going to do two more in Kansas City. I don't think, with the traveling and all of that stuff, I don't think I need that anymore.
``I understand Bert’s doing some things regarding the Hall of Fame and needs a few days. I was hopeful that guys like Timmy (Laudner) and Ronnie Coomer and Roy (Smalley) would do more games. Why they want me to do it, I'm not sure.
``I'd like to see those people do it. I think they handle themselves very well. They're very knowledgable.''
Agreed. But Kelly has been excellent in the booth, not only for his knowledge but for his willingness to criticize players. I hope FSN at least keeps Mr. Kelly in the mix.
-I'm hearing that Sam Mitchell may pass the field to become the Wolves' next coach. He's a strong-willed guy who elicits strong reactions. I know people in town who love the guy, and I know people in town who don't want him setting foot in town.
What would be fascinating about Mitchell coaching the Wolves is that he is not the kind of guy who's going to kiss up to David Kahn. And while Kurt Rambis tired of Kahn, Mitchell might throw Kahn through a window.
In other words, I hope Mitchell gets the job.
Seriously, I think Kahn is at least positioned to make a decent hire. Now that Rick Adelman is treating the Wolves like the drunken uncle he only talks to after five beers at the family picnic, Mike Woodson is the safest pick. But I think Mitchell's ties to Glen Taylor and the Wolves might land him the job.
-We had another discussion with Twins manager Ron Gardenhire about Joe Mauer's ``position flexibility'' (I offer that for the millions of you who miss Brad Childress' phraseology).
Gardenhire said Mauer has started to realize that playing another position keeps him in the lineup and saves his legs. (As an aside, let me offer this: ``Duh.'')
Gardenhire also rightly noted that the Twins' moves this winter will frame his decision on how to use Mauer next season. I could see Mauer catching 100, playing first base 10 (presuming Morneau is healthy enough to return to playing 150 games a year), and playing rightfield 50.
Rightfield is smaller than left, and requires a strong arm. Mauer has a strong arm.
-While it's easy to rip the Twins for dumping J.J. Hardy, the real problem is the process by which they did so.
I'm fine with trading Hardy. It's obvious now, though, that the Twins didn't get the bullpen arm they needed (because Jim Hoey isn't good enough) and that Tsuyoshi Nishioka isn't a big-league player.
If you had traded Hardy for an endgame reliever and replaced him with a competent shortstop, this deal wouldn't look so bad.
Yes, the Twins could have simply kept Hardy. That would have been for the best. But at the time I understood their reluctance to pay a guy who didn't seem intent on playing through nagging injuries last year.
This is how bad Nishioka has been: Gardenhire can't wait for Alexi Casilla to return, so he has a competent middle infielder. ``I wish we could say we made a mistake, he's not hurt,'' Gardenhire joked.
-Cool note from Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune: Texas' Derek Holland has four shutouts and an ERA of 4.14. The last pitcher to have at least four shutouts and a 4-plus ERA was the Twins’ Geoff Zahn in 1980.
-Former Twin Randy Bush was telling the story about Kirby Puckett walking into the clubhouse before Game 6 of the World Series and yelling for everyone to climb on his back.
I pointed out that many witnesses remember Puckett saying that pretty much every day of his career.
``Yeah, I kind of left that out,'' Bush said. ``He did say that quite often. It wasn't like it was out of the norm for him to say that. But he did back it up a lot.''
-Tom Pelissero and myself will run the Gardenhire Show and Sunday Morning Sports Talk from the 3M Championship. Gardy Show starts at 9:30, followed by our show, on 1500ESPN.
Two stuck-in-the-middle teams
Posted by: Jim Souhan Updated: August 1, 2011 - 12:08 PMThe Twins didn't trade away players at the deadline because they think they can still win the division. They didn't trade for players because they don't want to pay the high prices required for them to acquire a bullpen arm when they're in the fourth place in the division on Aug. 1.
They're stuck in the middle. I've heard outrage from both sides, that the Twins should have traded their players headed to free agency, and that they should have sold out trying to win this year.
I'm just not surprised that they did neither. To trade an everyday player or a prospect for a reliever could damage their long-term plans without dramatically increasing this team's chances of winning. to trade away Michael Cuddyer, their most valuable player on the trade market, when they're still in contention would be one way of telling fans not to show up at Target Field for the rest of the season.
From a purely logical standpoint, I believe the Twins should have traded Cuddyer. But the Twins care about their clubhouse culture and rewarding the right players, and Cuddyer is the best organizational player they've had, in terms of being a personification of everything they teach and value, in a long time.
We all begin our evaluation of teams by gauging their ability to win a championship, but there is more to sports than that. If keeping Cuddyer, Jason Kubel and Matt Capps around gives this team a chance to win the division and encourages people to buy tickets, then maybe this is the right approach.
I'm on record saying I would have sold pieces off to try to rebuild the franchise's talent base. But while I disagree with the Twins' decision, I also, on a gut level, like it when franchises stubbornly insist on winning, and keep trying to keep a good thing going.
As for the Vikings, this is a strange set a circumstances. They have a first-year coach, a free-agent quarterback trying to learn the offense in a short period of time, a new offensive coordinator, and a slew of very good players who might not have many effective years left in their legs.
Like the Twins, the Vikings are stuck in the middle. To win nine or 10 games, they'll need surprising performances from Donovan McNabb, Bryant McKinnie, John Sullivan, Steve Hutchinson, Cedric Griffin, Jared Allen, Brian Robison...just about every veteran on the team.
How many of their best players are sure things, presuming good health? Adrian Peterson, Chad Greenway, Antoine Winfield...and that's about it. All of their other name players are either aging or coming off disappointing seasons or injuries.
So why should the Vikings avoid a true rebuilding process? Because sport is unpredictable. I still don't think the Bears were all that good last year, but they wound up on the right side of the Calvin Johnson ruling, got to face the Seahawks in the playoffs and suddenly found themselves with a chance to win the NFC title game against the team that would eventually win the Super Bowl.
So my attitude toward the Vikings is the same as it is toward the Twins: It might be smart, in a clinical sense, to rebuild, but neither franchise is willing to give up. And there's something to be said for trying to win every year, regardless of the circumstances. Remember: Rebuilding sounds good until you try it and it doesn't work.
-News just broke, via ESPN, that Randy Moss is retiring.
I think the Vikings should hold a ceremony to honor him. He can stand on a podium at FedEx Field in Washington, D.C., and then, as he begins his speech, everyone can walk off, and into the locker room.
And then Matt Birk can finally beat him up.
-Upcoming: I'll be on 1500espn at 2:40 today with Pat and Phil, then on with Phunn in the 6 o'clock hour. I'm also hosting the Phunn House on Tuesday night from 6-8:30 on 1500.
I'm in Mankato until Tuesday afternoon, and I'll tweet as warranted at @Souhanstrib.
Bert’s big day awaits
Posted by: Jim Souhan Updated: July 23, 2011 - 5:25 PM
Bert Blyleven showed up late to the Hall of Famers’ press conference on Saturday.
No, it wasn’t a protest after taking 14 years to be voted in. Blyleven’s round of golf went long, so he belatedly joined Pat Gillick and Roberto Alomar on stage.
Asked a few questions about the weekend, Blyleven admitted that he was still steamed that ``I missed that five-foot putt on 18.’’ The Star Tribune baseball writers have covered just about every angle of Bert’s career and induction over the last week. In this post, I’ll offer a few moments and memories that didn’t fit neatly into my columns, including Jerry Terrell’s favorite Bert prank, which caused Rod Carew to chase him into the clubhouse. -Blyleven on anticipation of the induction ceremony, on Sunday: ``It’s kind of like you get ready for a start. You anticipate it for three days, but when that day comes, and you have to get up in front of how many thousands of peple and make a fool of yourself...well, I’ve done that before.’’ And there’s this: ``I’ll try not to say the F word.’’ -Blyleven’s curve definedhim. Who has the best curve in the game today? ``Adam Wainwright,’’ Blyleven said of the Cardinals’ starter. -A writer working on a history of the curve asked what Bert’s favorite nickname for the pitch is - Yakker, Uncle Charlie, the Deuce? Blyleven looked at him and said, ``Curveball.’’ -On becoming the first Major League, modern-era, starting pitcher to enter the Hall since Nolan Ryan in 1999: ``I think in the new era that we’re in, with computers...and all that stuff, there’s so much more research out there,’’ Blyleven said. ``I think when Zack Greinke won (the Cy Young) a couple of years ago not having the most wins, and last year Felix Hernandez not having the most wins and C.C. Sabathia having 21, it’s changed. ``Writers are seeing that wins are hard to come by and it’s out of your control at times.’’ ---------------------------------- Jerry Terrell, the former Twin who played infield behind Blyleven during Bert’s first stint with the Twins, remembers this as his favorite Blyleven prank: ``This was one of those times when I think Bert said he overstepped his bounds. ``Rod Carew was very superstitious. He was playing first base at the time. At the end of an inning, he would come in and put his mitt, with his Beechnut, on the top step of the dugout. Every time. ``Every time he went out to the field, he’d put a new Beechnut in his mouth. He’d never look, he’d just put a new chew in. ``Bert came out before the game and had this little Dixie cup thing, and he had one of those grins going. I told Steve Braun, Bert’s up to something. ``So Rod comes in and was going to lead the inning off. When he went to get his bat and go to the on-deck circle, Bert got the Beechnut pack out and opened the Dixie cup and there were six of the fattest night crawlers you’ve ever seen, wiggling all over. ``He puts them in the Beechnut pack and closes it and moves away. ``Rod gets a hit, as usual, and is on second when the inning ends, so someone brought him his glove. He’s standing at first, talking to the ump, and we’re all watching, and sure enough Rod takes that first bite and knows something is wrong. ``His eyes got big as saucers. He threw up behind first base. We’re laughing our heads off so he looks at us, and we point at bert. ``Rod went crazy. Bert was laughing his head off and he ran down the tunnel. Rod chased him to the clubhouse. In the meantime the ump came over and said `Where did Rod go?’ Gene Mauch, our manager, said, `He just went down the tunnel. ``Mauch told me, `Terrell, you’d better find him or I’ll fine you $500.’ I said, `Skip, I didn’t do anything.’ Skip said, `But if you can’t find him, then I have to put you in, and I don’t want to do that.’ ``I think Bert went a little too far on that one.’’ -------------------------------------- In summation, I know Bert’s candicacy has been debated for a long time. I’ve always supported him and voted for him, and while I could list a number of reasons, the simplest for me is this: When Blyleven retired, he ranked third all-time in strikeouts. Strikeouts, to me, are the pitching equivalent of home runs - acts of individual dominance that occur independent of the quality of the team surrounding the player, and the circumstances. His victories, strikeouts, complete games and shutouts make a better argument for him than I ever could. Congratulations, Bert. This is overdue and deserved. ----------------------------------------- Upcoming: I'll still be in Cooperstown on Sunday to cover Bert's induction, and to conduct Sunday Morning Sports Talk. We'll start the Gardenhire Show at 9:30 a.m., followed by SMST with Tom Pelissero from 10-noon. We plan on speaking with Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder and a Twin.
Heading back to the heat
Posted by: Jim Souhan Updated: July 20, 2011 - 7:17 PMComing back to town after a quick vacation to San Francisco. This is the first time I've ever left a sunny day in California dreading that Minnesota is much hotter.
We went to the Dodgers-Giants game on Monday night, and I believe this was my first visit to AT&T Park since the 2002 World Series.
This might be the one ballpark you'd want to visit if you've already been spoiled by Target Field. Because it has the one thing that Target Field doesn't have: A bay.
It's a beautiful setting, and if you head up to the upper deck, you can see the bay, and the lit-up Bay Bridge, and the kayakers, and the lights of the city. The Giants, like the Twins, play a Journey song during seventh-inning stretch, but theirs is ``Lights,'' a song about the bay.
(Although it sounds like Journey's Steve Perry first wrote the song about the lights of ``LA,'' but didn't like the sound of that and changed it to ``the bay.'' Which is good editing.
Anyway, I"ll be home tonight, then leaving for Cooperstown on Thursday, preparing with photographer Carlos Gonzalez to cover the weekend festivities culminating with Bert Blyleven's induction into the Hall of Fame on Sunday.
A few points on the Twins, from afar:
-No, calling Kevin Slowey up to start one game of the doubleheader made no sense. He hasn't pitched well at Triple-A yet, why would he be ready to beat the Indians?
-Much of the Twins' dominance of the division over the last 11 years is due to pitching depth. This is no time to whine about them being forced to start Anthony Swarzak and Scott Diamond. And both pitched well enough to win, had the Twins taken advantage of the Indians' weak pitching that was lined up for Monday.
-The Twins hoped to go 8-4 on the post-All Star-break homestand. If they take 3 of 4 from the Tigers, they will have done so. Even if they split with the Tigers, they will be positioned to chase these teams until the last weekend of the season.
Yes, they'll have to beat good teams to do so, given the difficulty of the upcoming schedule. But shouldn't you have to beat good teams to make the playoffs?
A few points on the Wolves:
-You could do worse than Mike Woodson. The guy teaches half-court offense, ball movement and strong defense. The Hawks apparently stopped listening to him after a while, and he failed in the playoffs, but he's young enough and ambitious enough to benefit from those lessons.
Actually, Woodson might be ideal for the Wolves, because he would fight back against David Kahn's ridiculous notion that the Wolves should run more.
I think Don Nelson would be a hoot to have around for a year or two, before he drove everyone in the organization crazy and alienated a couple of key players. I don't think he's a good fit for the long haul, but he'd hasten the Wolves' return to relevance.
A point on Tiger Woods:
-It's not unusual for celebrities and sports stars to go through scandals and personal problems. What offends me more about Tiger Woods is that he always seems to be looking for a scapegoat.
He got rid of swing guru Hank Haney, and now he's fired caddy Steve Williams. I'm not a fan of either man's work. I felt Woods won despite Haney, and Williams could be a cad when he was on Woods' bag. But neither are the cause of any of Woods' current problems.
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Upcoming: I'll be blogging and tweeting from Cooperstown all weekend. I'll also be doing Sunday Morning Sports Talk from Cooperstown. The Gardenhire Show is 9:30 on Sunday, followed by SMST from 10-noon, with Tom Pelissero in the studio.
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