Results tagged ‘ New York Mets ’
Twitter and the Timex Social Club
Did you hear the one about…? No, but can you stop tweeting and read this!
FOUR TO GO: On Sunday, my roommate, Melodie, took her mother visiting from North Dakota to Target Field in the tropical heat we’ve had (and still having). Little did they know they were in for a treat – a big one.
Jim Thome has been clawing his way to be the next power hitter to reach 600 homers in his career. Not only did Melodie, her mother and 38,700+ others witnessed his 596th jack – it was the longest in the new park’s history. This was tape measured at 480 feet landing at the base of the trapezoidal-shaped second deck over right field. If you saw this, all you can do is just be in awe.
This is only Thome’s seventh homer of the season. Could he get his 600th homer this year? I certainly hope so.
THIS AIN’T 1979, PEOPLE! We knew that the NL Central was going to be a tight one. Yet, were we too quick to write off the Pittsburgh Pirates? They reached .500 in June, now they’re a half-game off the division leading Milwaukee Brewers and tied with the St. Louis Cardinals. To make matters more interesting, last season’s division champ, the Cincinnati Reds are three-and-a-half games off the Brewers’ pace.
Why does it matter to discuss the NL Central in mid-to-late July. We’re two weeks from the August swoon and pennant races usually change next month. Yes, they do. However, the second half offers opportunities for teams to make a move to push towards September where the race truly matters. If a division is tight now, it may not be as tight on September 1.
Before anyone goes crazy over the Pirates being in the thick of a developing pennant race, step back a bit and let it all shake out in the next six weeks. In the meantime, enjoy it!
THE DEADLINE: So, The K-Rod to Milwaukee deal is pretty much done. Francisco Rodriguez is being sent to The Crew. I get it. It absolves the New York Mets the responsibility of a huge payout at the end of this season. My question is to the effectiveness of K-Rod in Milwaukee. Is he the right closer for this division contender? As long as he behaves himself (along with the less-crazy Nyjer Morgan/Tony Plush/Ochocinco-Lite), K-Rod could be the catalyst for September at Miller Park.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Dodgers get Juan Rivera from the Toronto Blue Jays. This was done in concert with the reassignment of Marcus Thames due to injuries. Rivera helps the Dodgers to compliment Tony Gwynn, Jr. as he hits left and provides a second speedster on the pads. This fits in Davey Lopes’ plans of adding the stolen base game to Don Mattingly’s arsenal. Rivera can be a boost for the languishing Dodgers. Hey, I’m pretty positive about this guy!
Another “surprise” was the Boston Red Sox off-loading Mike Cameron to the Florida Marlins. Why it is a surprise? I didn’t think Theo Epstein would want to part with the original free agency deal that ultimately did not work. He did – a smart move, I say! Cameron had been hurt and semi-productive in Boston. The Marlins will get someone who can provide some leadership to a team that needs to climb from the cellar. Yet, I wonder if it’s “too little, too late” for the Fish to get a semi-utilized Cameron. The real winner in the Red Sox – they needed the space for the pennant run.
Who’s next for the late July Trade Deadline sweepstakes? The big name that comes up in the rumor mill is the Colorado Rockies’ Ublado Jimenez. One set of tweets has him moving somewhere. Another set of rumors has him staying in Denver. My take? He’s staying in Denver. He mesmerizes Rox’ fans. He won’t be moving for a while. Neither will Matt Garza. Wandy Rodriguez of the Houston Astros? Maybe. The ‘Stros need help.
Photo of Francisco Rodriguez (as a Met) courtesy of Major League Baseball
A Pre-Memorial Day Rundown of What I Missed While Watching the St. Paul Saints Practice
Photo by Randy Stern
Our kick-off for summer – one could argue the unofficial first day of that season – is here. We not only take this opportunity to get out of town and go crazy somewhere (especially in Chicago and Las Vegas…and not for any baseball related reason whatsoever), we also take a moment to remember those who fought for our country and lost their lives doing so.
Yet, there are some pressing issues to tackle as I was concentrating on the last two pieces involving the St. Paul Saints. At least it should put me back in the good graces with Mark and Major League Baseball…
PROTECTING THE CATCHER? The absence of Buster Posey will be a huge hole for the San Francisco Giants. He took a collision at the plate and came out of it in bad shape. While Giants fans sort out their 2011 season, the pundits were sorting out plate defense by catchers.
Let me chime in on this one. In 1970, Pete Rose knocked down Ray Fosse at the All-Star Game. Fosse was fine. In the late 1970s, there was a famous clip that showed Dave Parker slamming into Steve Yeager. Yeager was fine.
How many times have we seen plate collisions between a runner who’s brakes were gone and a catcher concentrating on getting the ball quick enough to do the tag? Yes, the impact on Posey was bad. But, it is not enough to argue about instituting new rules of protecting catchers in defending the plate? The MLB is not the NFL where all the things a defensive player got away with in the 1970s are now considered illegal.
BLAME MADOFF…NOT REYES! Another magazine runs quotes of a MLB figure that were borderline libelous. This time, it is Fred Wllpon’s mouth that made the print (or iPad…or web browser) burn.
The New York Mets owner was interviewed by New Yorker magazine over his investments through Bernard Madoff, which affected the bottom line of the ballclub. How? That was someone else’s money, or supposed to be. If the article simply focused on the Wilpon-Madoff financial relationship, they should have stopped there. No. Wilpon went on to criticize his players – his employees – on performance and contract issues. Namely, David Wright, Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes.
Sometimes, you can brush a controversy by making amends. For the Mets, that meant bringing in a new investor, David Einhorn, for a chunk of the team worth $200 million. Everyone’s happy in Flushing. Sandy Alderson and his staff are happy – despite announcing they’ll have to trim the payroll for 2012. That is perhaps the only way this saga could come to a conclusion. Maybe.
GODSPEED, HARMON: I missed out on the memorial for Harmon Killebrew last night at Target Field. Bad me, I know. He was from my era, though I had only a slight inkling about the Minnesota Twins at that stage. I was just one year old when they played the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series. But, I knew who Killebrew was when I was cognizant of the game – though it was mostly Rod Carew’s team at that time.
Still, ol’ Number Three for the Twins is a hero. As Kent Hrbek said, he was our Paul Bunyan. An Idaho-born mountain main capable of take a ball over a fence on to somewhere in the stratosphere.
Killer will continue to grace us from above. Perhaps it is an incentive for a team infirmed and in need of direction now.
How Joe West Almost Ruined Mother’s Day
Well…MLB Advanced Media delayed the WordPress conversion for another weekend. No worries. There’s plenty to say, I suppose…
AIN’T NO WAY, JOE WEST! Quick! Name the two of the worst umpires in the Major Leagues? Well, two of them were at their worst Friday evening at Fenway Park. It was when Boston Red Sox starter Tim Wakefield was trying to throw a pick-off move to third, but switched to first. It eventually got the Minnesota Twins’ Denard Span in a rundown. The initial call was Span was out. However, Angel Hernandez, working home plate, called a balk Wake. Replays show that neither foot was pointed to home plate, as the rule states. The feet turned when Wake switched from third to first, but never landed pointing towards home.
That brought out Terry Francona. He wanted clarification whether the balk was correct. As soon as Francona got within smelling distance of Hernandez, the Red Sox manager was tossed from the game. True, Francona violated the rule arguing a balk call. I will argue again that the call was incorrect.
It got worse when Francona’s ire was raised a level never seen before. It was prompted by Joe West’s trot from third base. West decided put himself between Hernandez and Francona. Francona appeared to be heading back to the dugout, but trying to get a few last words in. What West did was unreal. As he was creating a wall between Hernandez and Francona, it appeared that West was touching the Red Sox manager appearing to push him away and back to the Sox dugout.
For the past couple of days, the screams of umpire governance again reared its head. Luckily, Francona did not get himself into a situation that would prompt a call from the league’s new schoolyard cop – Joe Torre. However, no one is policing the umps. Not even the Commissioner. That continues to be a sad state of affairs.
If a league can screw over Dave Pallone months after the infamous Pete Rose “he poked me” incident, why can’t they (a) teach the two worst umpires in the game what a bloody balk is and (b) get rid of Joe West once and for all. I’m tired of seeing him continue to put the game in repute every time he puts himself into a situation similar to Friday’s night!
‘DRE ENDS AT 30: Just 26 games short of Joe DiMaggio, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Andre Ethier ended an exciting hit streak at 30 games on Saturday night against the New York Mets. He was also one game short of the franchise record.
Why was the streak something to watch? It gave Dodger fans one positive thing to look at while the club was riddled with bad news. After Frank McCourt cried wanting his team back from the Commissioner’s Office, Ethier’s streak came into play. It was a diversion – like Osama Bin Laden’s death, the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the rise of the NDP as Canada’s official opposition to the Tories’ new majority government causing the fall of the Liberals and the Bloc from federal parliament.
Yes, the streak was huge. Will there be another attempt?
VERLANDER’S SECOND NO-NO: Yesterday in Toronto, we saw the second no-hitter of the season. It was also Justin Verlander’s second no-hitter in his career. The Detroit Tigers’ ace had the Blue Jays for only a walk and four strikeouts throwing 108 pitches.
Before you compare this no-hitter against Verlander’s previous one in 2007, understand one thing: He was dominating either way. The Jays’ bats were swinging and they connected into strong defensive plays. One such play appeared to be close – an Edwin Encarnacion hit slaps Verlander’s glove, rolling towards third. Verlander got to the ball and threw it to Miguel Caberra within millimeters of Encarnacion’s toes to dig up the crucial out.
Congrats to Justin! We needed that second no-no his week!
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY: Finally, I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Mother’s Day full of flowers, cards, memories, pink bats, shoes, gloves, etc.
Because this blog is dedicated to the memory of my own mother, it is always a special occasion to celebrate this day. Just thinking about her and the gifts she gave her sons years ago before she moved on from this planet.
Do something good for your mother – or the mother of your children – and celebrate this day at its best! Cherish her for life!
Majors and Minors and More Craziness
Plenty of ground to cover…I better get to it…
WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE RED SOX? I have no clue, really. I wished I had an answer as to why the Sox are coming home to Fenway with an 0-6 start. They open at home against the New York Yankees, who are 4-2, including taking two from the visiting Minnesota Twins. How long do you think this will go on? Um, well…
…AND THE RAYS? Same thing – a mystery! They’re on the South Side facing Ozzie Guillen’s team and there’s no let up. It’s puzzling when you have two contending AL East clubs winless after the first six games…
DID I FORGET ABOUT THE TUCSON PADRES? I did, I’m afraid. The former Portland Beavers opened their 2011 campaign on the road in Colorado Springs with intentions on making their temporary home a good spot to make a run in the Pacific Coast League’s Pacific South division. They’ll have some tough company with the Fresno Grizzlies and Sacramento River Cats. However, day 1 of the Tucson Padres ended on a high note: An 18-14 victory over the host Sky Sox.
HOW DID BRYCE DO? The Hagerstown Suns’ Bryce Harper – the first pick of last year’s Amateur Draft for the Washington Nationals – went 2-for-4 against the host Rome Braves. He brought in a run, but struck out once. From all reports, he certainly impressed everyone with an array of fielding skills and poise at bat (if you take out the strike out, that is). How soon do you think he’ll make the next level at Woodbridge, VA and the Potomac Nationals? No clue there…
THE INFIRMARY: The White Sox’ Adam Dunn went in for appendectomy. He appears to be recovering nicely as Dunn trotted out for the South Siders’ home opener on Thursday. Then, Tsuyoshi Nishioka of the Minnesota Twins broke his leg on a slide defensive slide by Nick Swisher at Yankee Stadium on Thursday. While Nishi sits on the Disabled List, the Bloke from Perth, Luke Hughes, will fill in for the time being. As sad as I am to see Nishi hurt, I’m happy to see Hughes up for the time being.
BACK TO THE TOP: The Texas Rangers remain the only undefeated ball club in the week of the season. That may not last long as they travel to Baltimore to meet the Orioles. The Orioles sit on top of the AL East with a single loss to their record. This could be an early series to watch. Maybe the Rangers will give Vlad his ring for his work with them from last year.
FRIDAY’S HOME OPENERS: Besides the Twins and Red Sox, there’s a slate of home openers happening on Friday. The Seattle Mariners, San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Angels, Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, Houston Astros, Arizona Diamondbacks and Detroit Tigers open up their doors for the first time in 2011. The Giants will celebrate 2010 with the presentation of the World Series championship rings, awarding Buster Posey’s Rookie of the Year nod and the hoisting of the pennant – all wrapped in gold. That could be tarnished quickly – Sammy Hagar will be singing the National Anthem.
Those Other Pennant Races
One flag down, five to go…
With seven slots left to fill for the Postseason, it takes strategic analysis to understand who will fill these slots. So, I did. And here’s what I came up with…
NL CENTRAL: This will be the next flag to be won. Why? The Cincinnati Reds will culminate a rebuilding effort that has taken twenty years to complete. If you count the near misses the Former Big Red Machine had over this time, you’ll understand how important this year is to Dusty Baker. Love him or despise him, he can lead teams into the postseason. Baker also has plenty to work with: A mix of postseason-experienced veterans and farm-grown quality talent. You balance Joey Votto with
Scott Rolen, Jay Bruce with Orlando Cabrera and Edinson Volquez with Bronson Arroyo. For the most part, this is a young team with plenty of skill sets mixed in. They’re in it for beyond this season, but winning this pennant now helps boost this team for the future. THE CLINCHER: Sometime this weekend in San Diego – that’s if the Padres decide to sweep the Reds instead for the sake of their own pennant race.
NL EAST: Sometime after the Reds grab their pennant, it will be a goose race between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Texas Rangers. My view is that the Phils take their umpteenth-in-a-row NL East title in a resounding manner. Why? The nine-game win streak, for starters. Then, there’s the benchmarks: Roy Halliday winning 20 games and Ryan Howard smashing 30 dingers. Simply, the Phils are in Bugatti Veyron mode – they turned the secret key and poured on the 1,000HP twin-turbo V-16 engine with the foot mashed on the accelerator. Nothing can stop the Phils – with a magic number of four. As for the Atalnta Braves and Bobby Cox’s swan song – I’m not sure if they’ll even win the NL Wild Card, either. Just not seeing it manifest somehow… THE CLINCHER: Sorry Mike/BTB, but the New York Mets are looking like lambs to slaughter at Citizens Bank Park. It’ll be over by Sunday in the NL East.
AL WEST: Let’s talk about those Rangers, shall we? Depsite the magic number being four, the reason why I stated above that the Phils will clinch before the Rangers are lingering setbacks, such as injury recoveries and slumps. Josh Hamilton is scheduled to be back soon, but when can you count on him being 100% before the Postseason? Still, those who were injured and expected to return by this time are trying to acclimate to the final push towards clinching. It also doesn’t help that they travel to Oakland this weekend – the proverbial spoilers. It also creates a double whammy: An Athletics’ sweep this weekend not only postpones clinching the AL West for the Rangers – it also draws Oakland closer in the race. It could also halve the lead between these two teams. This may not bode well for the Rangers as they look to quickly close in on the division title. THE CLINCHER: The Rangers must win more than two games in Oakland to secure the clinch, but don’t count on it. Worst case scenario would be to wait until they get home next week against Seattle to grab the flag.
AL EAST: The New York Yankees began to put some serious distance this week on the Tampa Bay Rays in The Bronx. That ended last night. There’s one more battle between these two this evening before they part ways for the remainder of the regular season. However, there is a high probability they will meet again in ALCS. In owning a one-and-a-half game advantage on the Rays, the Yankees would have to string a series of victories starting at home with the incoming Boston Red Sox. All next week, the Yanks will be on the road in Toronto and Boston. For the Rays, making the Postseason again is not enough. They come home Friday for the Seattle Mariners (and Bret Michaels on Sunday) and Baltimore Orioles before closing the season in Kansas City. How the rest of the season will come into play depends on tonight’s series finale in The Bronx. A Rays’ win makes this division race a dash to the end. A Yanks’ win will make it elementary which one will repeat as division champs and the other being the AL Wild Card. THE CLINCHER: Stay tuned – the champagne will either pop in Boston or Kansas City in more than a week’s time.
NL WEST: Once again, this division is ending up tighter than Wayne Brady’s jeans. This is still a three-team race between the San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres and the Colorado Rockies. The trouble is I cannot put my finger on which of these three teams has an advantage during these final 11 days of the season. It’s going to be down to the wire with the Rox not letting go of the rope. THE CLINCHER: The final day of the season – someone will win this division. Someone else could be the NL Wild Card. Even that’s another bucket of crazy…
Random Acts of Wha’?
With three more weeks left in the regular season, there are a few things worth catching up on – or, at least I should’ve said something when it happened…
Eh, here’s to randomness on this blog!
NYJER MORGAN: In case you’ve under a rock or have been handwashing your Brett Favre jersey daily, let me introduce to you the hottest head in baseball. The Washington Nationals’ outfielder was last seen on the highlight queue in a fracas with the Florida Marlins’ Chris Volstad at Sun Life Stadium over a pitch thrown behind Morgan’s back. Today, Morgan is appealing his suspension over the altercation. What’s working against were a couple of other incidents involving Morgan. The night before, he ran into Marlins’ catcher Brett Hayes on a play at home. Hayes left the game with an injury to his shoulder as a result of the collision. Then, in Philadelphia a week or ago before the big brawl, Morgan threw a ball at a fan. Why is he a hot head? Look at the highlight from September 1 and tell me that his post-brawl reaction wasn’t a telling sign of his boorishness. You don’t just act like some hardcore hip-hop star from the 1990s after you induced a bench-clearing brawl! We have already seen some really crappy behavior from the likes of Milton Bradley, Carlos Zambrano, Manny Ramirez, Francisco Rodriguez, and Brandon Phillips – among many others this season. Morgan? I think we had enough.
SPEAKING OF K-ROD: When is it OK to have an altercation in the Family Room outside of a team’s clubhouse? Don’t answer that Francisco – I’ll do that for you. No. Next?
SIMPLE MINNESOTA LOGIC: The equation is simple: Brett Favre skipped training camp and it showed last night in the Vikings’ loss inside the Superdome. Meanwhile, the Twins’ are six games up on the Chicago White Sox going into this weekend’s tilt in Cleveland. Did you know that there are fans in the Twin Cities that have forgotten that the Twins own the third best record in the Majors? Just because we love our favorite Redneck-sans-mullet Jared Allen so much, we forget that Joe Mauer is batting .325 in fourth place amongst his peers. Francisco Liriano has struck out 182 batters so far this season – a tremendous comeback by a once-protégé of Johan Santana. Carl Pavano has 16 wins, Matt Capps has a total of 37 total saves, including the 26 he had with the Nats, and Delmon Young has 97 RBIs. And, as icing on the cake, I keep reading that Justin Morneau may return from his concussion by the end of the regular season. What do you have to say to that my purple-clad, horned-helmet fans?
Sorry, Brett, your pants are on the ground. You may want to pick them up before you trip over them…
A MINORS’ UPDATE: I believed I predicted correctly that the Florida State League finals would be a rematch between the Tampa Yankees and the (Port) Charlotte Stone Crabs. That should be another good one as it was last year. Kyle Drabek did not live up to his billing in the Eastern League’s North playoffs between New Hampshire and Trenton. The home Thunder simply stole – you know – from Doug’s son. The next evening at New Jersey’s state capitol, the Fisher Cats had to contend with a rehabbing Andy Pettitte on the mound. Needless to say, the Yank was comfortable in his own skin that night (rimshot). This series heads to Manchester this weekend. And, how about the Tacoma Rainiers! In the PCL Pacific playoffs, the Mariners’ Triple-A club embarrassed their hosts, the Sacramento River Cats in their first two games against them. The series switches to Cheney Stadium for a possible end to the River Cats’ season. Looks like the old ballpark in West Tacoma will not be closing shop for a while.
LAST, BUT NOT LEAST: Did you know that the second hottest ticket in the Twin Cities, next to attending Twins games at Target Field, are tours of Target Field? Normally, tours of ballparks are usually sold the day of the tour – unless you have a group together. Some are sold in advanced, and I’m certain there are ballparks where tours fill quickly more than others. Today, I figured I’d get in a tour tomorrow morning. Nope. Both tours scheduled for tomorrow are sold out. My next potential date for a tour is in two weeks. Since I have the day off to prepare for a flashmob as part of my residency with a local choral music organization, I might as well get a tour in so I can see some things that I missed during the Open House back in March.
Just a note: If anyone is visiting the Twin Cities and the team is not playing – get in a tour. But, get your tickets in advance!
April Didn’t Bring Any Showers
The first month of the regular season saw the opening of a magnificent new ballpark in Minneapolis housing one of the hottest teams in the majors. It also its share of astounding innings, games, stunning career starts and puzzling starts. We also experienced the passing of a young executive for the Colorado Rockies.
Yet, most of what we’ve seen in the month of April truly matters until the All-Star Game in Anaheim. However, this past month has superseded a lot of people’s expectations in terms of the brevity and astonishment baseball gives us.
THE BEST OF APRIL: No one expected the Tampa Bay Rays! Well, why didn’t you? After all, any team who kept their core players over the past few seasons or more will yield huge results. The formula for the Rays success was to keep that core in tact – then augment it with newer talent. The unbeatable lineup of Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Evan Longoria and B.J. Upton only tell a fraction of the story. Just look at their starting rotation of James Shields, David Price and Jeff Niemann. If I were to build a starting rotation for a pennant race, I begin with those three arms. The only difference would be to make Price my ace (instead of fourth in the rotation – a great strategic move by Joe Maddon and Jim Hickey). In all, this is truly a good team that should not surprise anyone.
My surprise team for April just happens to be the San Diego Padres. Everyone expected Adrian Gonzalez to bolt from the Gaslamp Quarter during the course of the off-season. He chose to stay – and many happy San Diegans were glad he did. Gonzalez is now a leader amongst another collection of Padres’ ex-farmhands and low-cost orphan veterans. Though calling Jon Garland “low-cost” is indeed an insult, but the ex-Angel/Southsider/D-Back is the ace of a young set of arms at PETCO Park, including the emerging Clayton Richard. Heath Bell anchors the pitching staff as he ascends into the “best closer in the National League” role. Still, Gonzalez is not the entire show. He’s got a supporting cast of the Hairston brothers, the son of Tony Gwynn and that rangy short fella who was a hero up in Anaheim several years ago. Maybe Bud Black has a winner after all.
Meanwhile, New York baseball is back on the upswing with the Yankees doing well enough to defend Number 27 while the Mets are meeting expectations. The St. Louis Cardinals are exactly where they prefer to be. And, the Minnesota Twins – well, I’m enjoying their big start so far.
THE WORST OF APRIL: Three words: Boston Red Sox. Two more words: David Ortiz. While the Nation is playing below .500, Big Papi is batting only .143. There are no other words to describe this…
Unless, you’re a fan of the Baltimore Orioles – where words escaped even the grave of Edgar Allan Poe to describe their futility.
DAS MINORS: Stephen Strasburg. Aroldis Chapman. They’re sentences by themselves. They mean absolutely everything in terms of the future of the game. Just watching them develop from their current state of flame throwing from the hill is mouth-watering. Then you hear the following sentence: “Wait until they reach the Majors!” Wait we will. Yet, did you catch last night when two Midwest League games experienced no-hitters? How often does that happen – even in the Majors? Still, the fans in Peoria got a rain-shortened and official no-no from the Chiefs’ Nick Struck while three Kernels’ arms combined for a complete game nein-nein in Cedar Rapids. What a month to be a fan on the farm!
“PUNCH AND JUDY”: It seems that every time the Milwaukee Brewers and the Pittsburgh Pirates meet, a lopsided game happens. It just happens – no script, no expectation of the pummeling the Brew Crew inflicted upon the young Bucs. On a series-closing afternoon tilt at PNC Park, the Brewers won by a score of 20-0. A football score, nonetheless, usually reserved for the tenants across the street at Heinz Field. You watch these two teams as you’d watch a performance of “Punch and Judy.” Better yet, anything starring Wile E. Coyote with the Pirates playing the one who gets the anvil in the head. If you’re a Bucs fan, I’d scream “foul,” too! Until the Pirates stopped the bleeding last Tuesday, the Brewers scored 53 runs against the Pirates in four games, allowing only four runs over the same span of match-ups.
What will May bring us? Flowers? A better perspective on the summer – least we hope so!
Metrodome Memories: Wither Santana
Santana’s 2006 Awards. Photo by Randy Stern
The following is a series of blog posts commemorating the final days of the Minnesota Twins playing inside the Metrodome. This piece was originally posted on The Journey on February 6, 2008.
Yes, my fellow Minnesotans, he’s officially gone.
Johan Santana was formally introduced to the New York media as the new ace of the Mets. It also coincided with the announcement that Billy Joel’s performance at the last home game at Shea Stadium before moving across the way into Citi Field. I attempted to research the correlation between these two media events – failing miserably.
My co-workers and friends debated how the Twins would do without Santana as their pitching ace. It was pretty bleak from what I recalled pointing to the Twins starting rotation as extremely weak. At the time, I disagreed naively. I certainly was proven wrong early in 2008.
Though Francisco Liriano appeared to be walking normally and appearing to be healthy at the 2008 TwinsFest, he became an expensive bust for the Twins? I also hoped that Boof Bonser would have been dealt to the Tampa Bay Rays in the Delmon Young deal. Instead, the Twins sent Jeff Garza along with Jason Bartlett. If you’re a Rays’ fan, you can thank General Manager Billy Smith for giving you two key components of the AL Championship squad in 2008. Would things be different if Bonser was sent to St. Pete instead of Garza? Absolutely. Bonser would’ve screwed the pennant run up.
Despite the recent season-ending injury, Santana was a bright light on a Mets team that had its ups and downs for the past two seasons. Though fans in Queens saw some of Santana’s patented inconsistency in his starts, he brought some solidity to the starting rotation even as turmoil continue to swirl around the Jackie Robinson Rotunda at Citi Field.
In the end, the Twins looked mainly to their farm system for an answer to fill the hole left by Santana. They continue to try to sort out the starting rotation as they look ahead to 2010 and the opening of Target Field. Yet, the Venezuelan’s presence can be still felt on the slightest of Twins’ losses this season. Santana left an indelible mark on the team’s history inside the Metrodome.
Don’t Count Those Chickens Before They Hatch!
Since I’m writing on the road right now (in Rochester, Minnesota – home of the Northwoods League Champion Honkers – heading deep into Wisconsin), there’s a few things to parse out here for you. I do need to write much more, but maybe later. For now…
Thirty-one years ago, the Los Angeles Dodgers pulled off one of two miracles that season. While the Yankees caught the Red Sox from fifteen games out to force a playoff in game 163, the Dodgers caught up with the then-NL West-leading San Francisco Giants on a fateful four-game weekend series at Candlestick Park.
It almost appeared that the Dodgers would end up on the wrong side of history in Denver with the Colorado Rockies set to pull even on the Bums. That was until the Dodgers took the last two out of three at Coors Field. In baseball, one game can never stop a speeding freight train. It may stop the bleeding, but the Rockies aren’t done yet. Though they lead the NL’s Wild Card race, the Rox can still create havoc towards claiming the West as they did two years ago. Credit is due to Jim Tracy coming in to replace Clint Hurdle and righting the ship in the Mile High City. A manager with postseason experience can make the difference in leadership. Tracy came in at the right time to see improved hitting and a pitching staff supporting ace Jason Marquis for this recent push into the postseason.
On the other side of the NL, the New York Mets may have employed their patented “kiss of death” on one of their staffers. This time, it’s Omar Minaya. The Mets’ upper management stated they supported Minaya as their team is once again beset with injuries towards what could be their worst finish in recent history. Making matters even worse, Johan Santana suffered a season-ending bone-chip injury. For the Mets’, if it’s not one thing, it’s another – this time, it could mean more changes come October. Don’t be surprised if Minaya is fired by the start of the World Series. You hate to see one of the most respected guys in baseball sent packing from his office, but I have a hunch that it might happen sooner than we think.
Then again, I could be wrong and the Wilpons will give Minaya one more chance to deliver a winner.
In one of my last posts, I pretty much declared the Minnesota Twins done for the season. On some level, they are as they continue to flirt with a .500 record. A recent losing streak by the Chicago White Sox, combined with a winning streak of five games brought the Twins back into the AL Central race and tied with the Southsiders. The Detroit Tigers sit precariously on top of the division, four-and-a-half games up form the Twins and White Sox. Two things can happen: We can either see a repeat of 2006 when the Twins caught the Tigers and stole the division on the last day of the season or the Tigers hold on to finally win a division flag for the first time under Jim Leyland. As for the Southsiders – sorry, not your year, fellas!
Lastly, since when did Milwaukee Brewers tickets become hard to come by? For the Pittsburgh Pirates?!? The reason why I brought this up is that a friend of mine in Madison, Wisconsin suggested I get away and visit during this period of not working. I’m definitely considering it, and as a token of my appreciation I was going to take him out to a game. I looked around and saw the Brewers-Pirates series this weekend. Perfect! He graduated form the University of Pittsburgh, so this would possibly work.
That was until I checked tickets on the Brewers website. Friday had some decent seats, Saturday shows only standing room only tickets, while Sunday popped up some excellent seats for a pretty coin – the kind of money someone out of work shouldn’t be spending IMHO. Luckily, StubHub had better deals, so I grabbed a couple of good 400-level seats for Sunday at less than listed price. Not bad, eh?
Still, I don’t get it! The Brewers are under .500 – the Pirates are worse still. Both teams are out of the NL Central race! Explains why there’s a ton of seats available on StubHub. My point? Imagine a world without StubHub…how else could I have gone to Yankee Stadium in June?
Believe it or not, it’s almost September. Things are heating up in the races and the Minors are going into their postseasons. My seatbelts are fastened – are yours?
Front Office Executives Gone Wild!
Rarely do you hear of a firing of anyone outside the General Manager and field Manager in baseball.
Consider last year when Willie Randolph was fired as Manager by the New York Mets. In light of this action, most Mets fans were looking for General Manager Omar Minaya’s head to chop in the aftermath of the season. Even when the ownership gave Minaya and current Manager Jerry Manuel their votes of confidence (i.e., “the kiss of death”) in the off-season, there seems to be a feeling that the Mets may just turn things around.
A glance at the standings state otherwise. Injuries and underperformance set the tone for a team that opened up the new ballpark in Queens.
Now, consider Tony Bernazard, the man who used to be the Vice President of Player Development. That was until Monday when he was sacked by the Mets brass. The reason for Minaya’s dismissal of Bernazard was due to “his behavior in his interaction with others was inconsistent with our organization’s values.”
How can an exec get fired? Simple! First, go to Binghamton and check out the Double-A affiliate. Then, watch them have a bad game and have a tantrum that includes ripping his shirt off and challenging the future players of your ball club to a fight. If that’s not all, have yet another tantrum laced with profanities because a scout has the seat that he wants at Citi Field. Doesn’t this exec have his own box seat instead?
For an encore, why not have a run-in with one of the top closers in baseball: The Mets’ own Francisco Rodriguez?
In Minaya’s announcement, he recognized Bernazard’s contribution to the game after 10 years as a player and the last 5 in the Mets’ front office. In the end, the Mets’ General Manager concluded that no one could be trusted with a position of authority exhibiting such behavior unbecoming of it. The press and the Mets’ called this “combative behavior.”
Wow. That’s deep…or, is it? I suppose that the level of scrutiny already placed on our ballplayers, field managers and coaching staff has now been expanded to cover the front office. No one is safe from evading transparency when it comes to behavioral issues.
Granted, Bernazard’s actions were indeed unbecoming of a person with the responsibility he has. When an executive is charged to ensure the ball club’s future includes cultivating prospects and other players within the farm system as well as to ensure the continued success of its current roster on the big club, you simply cannot challenge your minor league to a fight! Nor can you scuffle with anyone in the same building or on the road as a representative of the ball club.
These anger management posts have become a dime a dozen this season. The next time we ask who will blow their stack loud enough to find themselves out of a job, be prepared to be surprised as to whom it will be…or not.
Randy Stern
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