Twins 2011

[HornedMessiah]

Awesome, I love that he did it in a Twins uniform and in an AL Central ballpark. I think I heard a stat that he's hit more HRs against the Tigers than any other team. Truly a class act and a throwback to the "simpler" times of baseball.

Going to two games this weekend against the Yankees. First time to Target Field. Hope to see him hit a few more!

[purple guy]

ESPN analysts blow my mind. They actually had a couple discussions the day after, about weather Thome is a HOF player. WTF. On 1st and 10, one actually tried argue he isnt. If Thome is a HOF player, the hall is a complete joke IMO. He should be a 1st ballot HOFer. If he was a Yankee or Red Sox player, there wouldnt even be a disscussion, it would be unanimous he would be a 1st ballot. Class act, great player, great teammate. Congrats to Thome!

[PurpleMustReign]

ESPN analysts blow my mind. They actually had a couple discussions the day after, about weather Thome is a HOF player. WTF. On 1st and 10, one actually tried argue he isnt. If Thome isn't a HOF player, the hall is a complete joke IMO. He should be a 1st ballot HOFer. If he was a Yankee or Red Sox player, there wouldnt even be a disscussion, it would be unanimous he would be a 1st ballot. Class act, great player, great teammate. Congrats to Thome!

Why would anyone argue against him going to the hall? Unreal!! I suppose someone at ESPN wanted attention or something. That's one way to get it.


BTW, I fixed your post, pg, because you had written it wrong... the bold part is what I fixed.

[purple guy]

Why would anyone argue against him going to the hall? Unreal!! I suppose someone at ESPN wanted attention or something. That's one way to get it.


BTW, I fixed your post, pg, because you had written it wrong... the bold part is what I fixed.

Ah, yea, I definately meant if he isnt, my bad, thanks. Who knows why they would argue that, the gal on 1st and 10 said he isnt because he was never dominant in his position/sport, his HRs are due to longevity or some total BS. Anyways, IMO, he is first ballot.

[glg]

Ah, yea, I definately meant if he isnt, my bad, thanks. Who knows why they would argue that, the gal on 1st and 10 said he isnt because he was never dominant in his position/sport, his HRs are due to longevity or some total BS. Anyways, IMO, he is first ballot.

Yeah, she's right, he didn't dominate as a slugger. BECAUSE HIS PRIME WAS SMACK IN THE STEROID ERA.

And of course the 600 home runs is longevity. To get that many, you have to have been around a long time or juiced. The guys above him on the HR list all played 20+ years. Bonds, Aaron, Ruth, Mays, Griffey all had long careers. Bonds, ARod and Sosa (Thome is 9 behind Sosa, should pass him by end of the year) juiced. Hell, look behind Thome on the list down to 550. Robinson, Killebrew, Reggie, all 20+ years. McGwire, Palmeiro, Manny all juiced.

Also, who anywhere around him that isn't a juicer isn't in the hall? The only two are Griffey and Frank Thomas, neither of whom is eligible yet. The first guy you get to who is eligible, isn't a juicer (I don't think?) and isn't in the hall is Fred McGriff at 493.

If you look at OPS, he's #17 in history. Again, everyone above is either in the hall, still playing, not eligible yet, or a juicer except Larry Walker, who gets knocked down for putting up gaudy stats in Coors, but was only eligible for the first time last year, though his 20% vote makes him a long shot. Going down the list a little bit, same thing except for Jeff Bagwell, also eligible for the first time last year (42%, have to see how much he goes up next year).

I could see home not making first ballot, because I think that is grossly overblown, the whole "reserve that for only the superduperest is just dumb, but that could cost him votes his first year.

[purple guy]

Twins waive Kub and Thome. Hope they can get somethig for them. And I hope Thome goes to a contender and gets a WS, he deserves it, by far my favorite, current Twin. Not sure they should waive Kub, but whatever, they are in such a mess as a team now it'll take years to field a decent team again IMO.


http://www.kare11.com/news/article/9353 ... trade-bait

[glg]

Twins waive Kub and Thome. Hope they can get somethig for them. And I hope Thome goes to a contender and gets a WS, he deserves it, by far my favorite, current Twin. Not sure they should waive Kub, but whatever, they are in such a mess as a team now it'll take years to field a decent team again IMO.

http://www.kare11.com/news/article/9353 ... trade-bait

I wouldn't be surprised to see both get claimed and pulled back by the Twins. To make a trade now, a player has to clear waivers first. Thome has that no-trade clause, so if you were a place where you figure he won't go (like the Yankees), you put in a claim to prevent him going to a potential rival.

[purple guy]

I wouldn't be surprised to see both get claimed and pulled back by the Twins. To make a trade now, a player has to clear waivers first. Thome has that no-trade clause, so if you were a place where you figure he won't go (like the Yankees), you put in a claim to prevent him going to a potential rival.

Yep. But I could see him in Cleveland, but unfortunately, them being 5.5 games back, he likely wouldnt get to the post season. Thome has a no trade clause, but he would be open to a trade, to the right place, according to what I read. I think they'll both clear waivers and be traded, Thome for sure, he can help a playoff team forsure.

[PurpleMustReign]

OMG Duensing... did you take advice from Nick Blackburn?

PG, I thought youd like this article, and pray a little with me...

http://www.rantsports.com/minnesota-twi ... he-season/

[purple guy]

OMG Duensing... did you take advice from Nick Blackburn?

PG, I thought youd like this article, and pray a little with me...

http://www.rantsports.com/minnesota-twi ... he-season/

God, I hope thats true. And who cares about his regular season winning percent when his post season percent is what it is?? The pitching is so bad right now its embarrassing. But, scoring 1 or less runs a game, the pitching hardly matters..........I'll pray daily!

[HornedMessiah]

From that article:

...and it is no question that Gardenhire has the talent capable to make a deep run in the playoffs...

Really? NO QUESTION? What a load of BS. Sounds like this "source close to the situation" is a Bill Smith lickspittle, because it's pretty obvious to anyone who follows the team that they DO NOT have the talent capable of making a deep playoff run. Ridiculous. I'm not a huge Gardy fan, but I don't think he deserves to be fired this year. The injuries were just too crazy.

BILL SMITH deserves to be fired, not Gardy. I think most fans would agree on that.

[purple guy]

From that article: Really? NO QUESTION? What a load of BS. Sounds like this "source close to the situation" is a Bill Smith lickspittle, because it's pretty obvious to anyone who follows the team that they DO NOT have the talent capable of making a deep playoff run. Ridiculous. I'm not a huge Gardy fan, but I don't think he deserves to be fired this year. The injuries were just too crazy.

BILL SMITH deserves to be fired, not Gardy. I think most fans would agree on that.

Out side of pitching, they had plenty of talent to win, and Guardy had some say in the pitching staff I assume. Even in the season that Guardy manages to win the lousy AL Central, his record in the post season is absolutely terrible. ANY other team would have already fired Guardy, long ago. I wont disagree that Smith should go too, but Guardy has shown nothing to deserve more time in Minny. Mauer, Morneau, Cuddy, Kub, Thome, and Vanencia, under the right manager, are capable of more offesne than they produced under Guardy. The defense is good enough, and the pitching, is pathetic. I respect your opinion, but I totally disagree, Guardy needs to go, he cant assemble a starting rotation, cant get guys who clearly can hit to produce, and even when they make the post season, they are one and done. Yuk, he needs to go.

[HornedMessiah]

I would like to see what Gardy can do when he has a non-retarded GM behind him. Some of the moves made in recent years are flabbergasting, the Nishioka fiasco being the cherry on top of the #### cake. I'm not happy with Gardy either, it seems like he's totally lost the team over the past 4-6 weeks, but I just can't call for his head when the team has been utterly decimated by injuries this year. The opening day group played together like a week!

If there's any grain of truth to that nugget PMR posted, then it's a sign that the Smith vs. Gardy PR battle has begun. Interesting timing too, considering that the anti-Smith drumbeat has intensified in recent weeks. Smacks of "it's not my fault, it's his!" One of them will be gone next year, so I guess it's a step in the right direction. Gardy isn't the only problem with the organization, and getting rid of him probably won't address the deeper issues.

Common on KFAN has really started to lay out some interesting tidbits the last few days about "the Twins way". Stuff about how Hardy and Ortiz adjusted to their post-Twins teams. Like how while they were with the Twins, they were instructed to hit the ball to all points of the field and encouraged to make the sacrifice hits. When they went to their new teams (Orioles and RedSox respectively) and they hit "the Twins way" the new team coaches were like, "What in the hell are you doing? You have power! Drive the damn ball!"

[glg]

If there's any grain of truth to that nugget PMR posted, then it's a sign that the Smith vs. Gardy PR battle has begun. Interesting timing too, considering that the anti-Smith drumbeat has intensified in recent weeks. Smacks of "it's not my fault, it's his!" One of them will be gone next year, so I guess it's a step in the right direction. Gardy isn't the only problem with the organization, and getting rid of him probably won't address the deeper issues.

It'd be even better if it's both gone.

[purple guy]

I would like to see what Gardy can do when he has a non-retarded GM behind him. Some of the moves made in recent years are flabbergasting, the Nishioka fiasco being the cherry on top of the #### cake. I'm not happy with Gardy either, it seems like he's totally lost the team over the past 4-6 weeks, but I just can't call for his head when the team has been utterly decimated by injuries this year. The opening day group played together like a week!

If there's any grain of truth to that nugget PMR posted, then it's a sign that the Smith vs. Gardy PR battle has begun. Interesting timing too, considering that the anti-Smith drumbeat has intensified in recent weeks. Smacks of "it's not my fault, it's his!" One of them will be gone next year, so I guess it's a step in the right direction. Gardy isn't the only problem with the organization, and getting rid of him probably won't address the deeper issues.

Common on KFAN has really started to lay out some interesting tidbits the last few days about "the Twins way". Stuff about how Hardy and Ortiz adjusted to their post-Twins teams. Like how while they were with the Twins, they were instructed to hit the ball to all points of the field and encouraged to make the sacrifice hits. When they went to their new teams (Orioles and RedSox respectively) and they hit "the Twins way" the new team coaches were like, "What in the hell are you doing? You have power! Drive the damn ball!"

Like glg said, it would be best if they were both gone. As far as hitters hitting the "Twins way", thats Guardy, not the GM Im guessing. Its clear the Twins farm team doesnt have near the rising stars it did before. Once injuries happened, it was all over. That said, its not like the Twins are getting much out of their "studs" when they are healthy, so maybe there is talent there, they just cant get it out of them. My guess, is at least one of them is gone at seasons end, if just one is gone, I personally hope its Guardy. Both would be best IMO.