Results tagged ‘ baker ’
Here’s to our boys.
I’m so proud of us this year.
- Mauer is about to become the AL batting champ for the third time, and is probably gonna break a lot of other records and take home a lot more trophies (he also might be a platinum-selling rapper one day, but shhhhh!).
- Morneau put up good numbers until his injury; Joe Crede was my break-out favorite this year. My hope is that he’ll come back next year, but with his back trouble, who knows.
- Orlando Cabrera has proven not only is he great in the batter’s box and out in the field, but he truly cares about his teammates.
-Carlos Gomez has become an asset; and his counterpart Alexi Casilla has come back from a bad start to show us he’s not going back down to AAA anytime soon.
- Denard Span is quickly becoming a fan-favorite for good reason, as is hard-hitter Jason Kubel.
- Delmon Young has taken the past month and turned it all around after the death of his mother and the resulting difficulties on the field – I’m so proud!
- Little Nicky Punto has done some things out on the field I can’t even believe are humanly possible, and his scrappy at-bats have helped us win otherwise hopeless games.
- Michael Cuddyer has stepped up at 1st base in the absence of Morneau so fast, I almost don’t notice he’s gone. He’s become a power-hitter OUT OF NOWHERE, and has saved us in some serious clutch situations.
- Our pitching staff has had a hard year, but hey: Scott Baker can still hold it down; Nick Blackburn gave us a huuuuge win on Sunday and is a force to be reckoned with; Carl Pavano has helped a lot here and there; Duensing has done so well in a short amount of time; and of course, All-Star Joe Nathan, although in the habit of making fans have heart-attacks here and there, has just been all-around amazing.
I think a lot of other teams are scratching their heads and thinking, “Minnesota in a tie-breaker? They actually caught up to the Tigers in like two weeks? HUH?” Yeah. I can safely say Twins fans feel the same way. But we’re thankful for this scrappy little team from up north near all those lakes and stuff. We had a tough second half, up until September. We don’t quit, because we can’t. There’s too much potential, too much talent, too much under-dog quality to this team to give up with the end in sight.
WE MADE IT HERE. And not because the Tigers don’t put up a fight – sweet Lord Jesus, they do! – but because we refused to lay down and die. We bunted, chased down hits, back-hand caught, homered, stole bases, and fought until we made it here: Game 163. And really, who would’ve thought around early August?
So here’s to the Minnesota Twins, to the fight, to the Metrodome, to the fans, and to all those players that have put on our uniform. Let’s keep the fight going.
It’s do or die time.
Twins @ Tigers
Game 4 of 4
1b: Cuddyer
2b: Punto
3b: Harris
Ss: Cabrera
RF: Kubel
CF: Span
LF: Young
C: Redmond
Pitching: Baker, Rauch, Mahay, Guerrier, Mijares, Nathan
PRE-GAME:
Already having a heart attack. Hoping to not let Detroit clinch their first title in 22 years, since I’m stingy and don’t like to share things. Like ALC titles from year to year.
TOP OF 1st:
Span is out very quicky. Ohhhh, no.
Joe “Apparently I Tip Pitches” Mauer is the DH today. Um. Pops up for the 2nd out.
Uh, 1-2-3 inning. I’m scared.
BOTTOM OF 1st (0-0):
Jim Leyland cracks me up. My dad tells me stories of back in the day when you could smoke in the dugouts, and if the Tigers were down, he’d be chain-smoking pack after pack and screaming at the players. MY HERO!
The sun in Detroit is insane today. Hopefully it blinds all the Tigers in the outfield. I mean, GOOD GAME! BEST WISHES! SPORTSMANSHIP!
Okay, so MLBlogs censors your naughty-talk, so I’m going to have to come up with some substitutions for swears. Such as: SON OF A BENCH, why has Baker given up two hits and let runners get on the corners?
Eh, Baker strands the runners. Okay, Shake-N-Bake, keep that up.
TOP OF 2nd (0-0):
Agh, Kubel’s thrown out at 1st.
I’m wearing my Crede shirt, which makes me miss my little ginger-snap. He was one of my favorite Twins … all five games that he actually played.
And Harris doesn’t even put up a fight. Oh and then Granderson, AKA The Beast, catches Reddy’s hit. I may need to just pretend this game isn’t happening.
BOTTOM OF 2nd (0-0):
WOW. Looks like we picked up some Little League player named “Young” for the outfield. Nice.
So far it looks like Baker’s trying to give away the game.
Wow, the hecklers in Detroit are INTENSE.
Tigers score the first run, unsurprisingly.
TOP OF 3rd (0-1, Tigers):
Oooh, Span nailed by a pitch. He looks PIST.
“You gotta know that Punto can fly.” On the back of a unicorn, perhaps?
Mauer bats in Little Nicky and ties the game.
Whoa, Cuddy bats another in … do I smell a rally?
Fly ball brings in Dreamyburns.
Aw ship, Cuddy’s thrown out at third. But hey – hello lead?!
BOTTOM OF 3rd (3-1, TWINS):
Everyone looks like a super-dork with both eye-black and sunglasses. I’m looking at you, Kubel and Punto.
I’m still laughing at all these stories about Mauer stealing signs. I think that these two stories have a pretty good rebuttal to all of it.
Uneventful.
TOP OF 4th (3-1, Twins):
Throw gets by Inge and Harris takes 1st. And Reddy gets a hit! And Baby Nick moves them to 2nd and 3rd with a sac bunt! WORD!
Oh, nice, Span hits Harris in from 3rd. 4-1!
BOTTOM OF 4th (4-1, Twins):
Baker nails Thames with a pitch. Only his arm, but I don’t see Bake do that sort of thing often.
Thames takes out his slide on Cabrera – O-Cab and Thames are having words. Oy. Replay shows he obviously misses the bag and tries to slide into Cabrera.
Bases loaded with two outs. PUT HIM AWAY, BAKE! And Reddy catches a straight-up pop! LOVE IT.
TOP OF 5th (4-1, Twins):
Apparently Cabrera is still upset in the dugout, explaining what happened. In reality, watching that replay a few times, Thames is blatantly trying to slide nowhere NEAR the bag and HARD into O-Cab. Luckily he hopped over Thames‘ body on time.
Whoa, very quick 1-2-3 inning.
BOTTOM OF 5th (4-1, Twins):
Double-play, babies!
And Thames comes up for another piece from Baker. The funny part is Bert was hinting that maybe Thames needs to get nailed by a pitch again … haha. Another pitch sails by his face … Redmond has to tell him it was off-speed.
If Baker so much as taps Thames‘ cleat with a pitch, there will be blood. But he gets him looking, so uh, no brawls this inning.
TOP OF 6th (4-1, Twins):
I have a feeling some Twin is gonna get beaned this inning.
Or not.
BOTTOM OF 6th (4-1, Twins):
O HAI BIG RAUCH. OK BYE BIG RAUCH.
Ma-hay-hey? Jesus. But he holds it down for a scoreless inning.
TOP OF 7th (4-1, Twins):
Little Nicky spanks one into left. HELLO.
Oh, nice. Span drills it into right for a double and Punto moves to 3rd. Jim Leyland out to the mound again … haha.
Heard some heckler yell, “Cuddyer with a K, baby!” Kuddyer? That IS mildly amusing. And he does strike out.
Now’s the time to shine, Kubel. Bases loaded!
AHAH. Some guy on Twitter: “I’m certain Cuddyer struck out because of the guy yelling ‘Cuddyer with a K, baby…Cuddyer with a K!‘”
Aw, Kubel with a K strikes out.
BOTTOM OF 7th (4-1, Twins):
Whoooaaa, Le Warrior, what are you pitching here?
Oh you’re KIDDING. Guerrier, Harris, and Cuddyer go after a pop up over the mound – Harris and Cuddyer call Guerrier off, he doesn’t hear and Harris grabs for it, DROPPING IT.
Oh boy Leyland on the field after a double play where Santiago gets doubled off.
TOP OF 8th (4-1, Twins):
Young gets a nice single to start the 8th.
Span up with two runners on. I like where this is going … and Leyland makes a pitching change, putting Seay in. WHO?
Full count, aaaand … WALKED!
Bases loaded for Cabrera. AND HE HITS IT OFF THE WALL! THREE RUNS SCORED!
OH MAN, Mauer bats Cabrera in. Seven run lead? If we gotta …
So all the bad things I’ve said about the White Sox? Yeah I take it all back. Sweep the effing Tigers this weekend. Win your faces off.
BOTTOM OF 8th (8-1, Twins):
So you’re SAYIN there’s a chance!
…
A chance of another error despite Harris taken off of 3rd and replaced by Tolbert? Yes.
Mijares replaces Le Warrior.
Oh boy … Leyland in the ump’s face about Mijares almost nailing a batter and getting a warning. This should end well …
He’s ejected, and the Tigers are crawling back with 2 unearned runs.
TOP OF 9th (8-3, Twins):
Young gets nailed in the knee by the first pitch! Laird is ejected. Delmon is PISSED, and points angrily toward the Twins‘ dugout.
BENCHES CLEAR! But no punches thrown. God, I’d give it all to see Joe Nathan punch out Verlander or Nick Punto headbutt ANYONE.
BOTTOM OF 9th (8-3, Twins):
J-Nate up in this weird game. Shut it down.
A walk. Oh, God. I think Nathan needs a vacay.
And with a fly ball caught by Young, we win!
FINAL: 8-3, Twins
VERDICT:
Double you tee eff. This is probably one of the most tense, weird games I’ve EVER seen involving the Twins.
I offer this gem from Journey:
DOOOON’T STOP, BE-LIEEEE-VIN!
Ahh, nostalgia:
Let’s get Denarded in here!
AHHHH DENARD IS BACK! Pregame, Span told FSN he was looking forward to contributing in Milwaukee after the frustration of being on the DL. Hopefully all will be well and we can get a few very nice hits out of him.
1B: MORNEAU
2B: TOLBERT
3B: CREDE
SS: HARRIS
RF: CUDDYER
CF: SPAN
LF: KUBEL
C: MAUER
PITCHING:
- BAKER
Not too shab.
Baker told that new guy on FSN … the one who looks like Anthony LaPanta Jr. … that today is the day to represent the pitching staff in the batter’s box. Hope so, because Blackburn and Liriano were, at best, questionable.
Good luck, boys!
POST-GAME UPDATE:
FINAL: 6-4, Twins
… and get Denarded we did. Mr. Span, might I kindly offer you my hand in marriage? Or perhaps, at the very least, a batch of cookies? Because today, instead of playing like an over-stimulated kindergartner with all the paper and finger-paint you can handle and a king-size candybar freshly in your tum-tum, you held back and played deliberately and patiently. There was no over-eager Span trying to prove himself, just good playing. A beautiful triple sealed the deal, and well as superb defense. You, sir, are a class-act.
And oh, Joe Crede, all my dreams came true with our homer today. No, it was not a grand slam as you’re skillfully executed before, but a very nice solo home run at just the nick of time, taking and keeping us ahead of the Brewers. You, my little ginger-snap, are truly a gentleman.
And also, seriously, I wish we played by AL rules sometimes so I could see the pitching staff batting some more. BAKER at the plate?? AHAHHA. I loved it. Bert and Dicky B were so proud when he could “make contact.” Baker, Guerrier, and Nathan were a great combo, keeping lots of Brewer runs off the board.
Feels good to take the series – on the ROAD! – and have Denard back.
Oakland A-holes.
Oh. My. God.
So there’s that. That game took waaaaay too long considering we had it in the bag until like two batters into the 9th. Oh well – a win is a win, especially on the road!
So, two catchers and two managers walk out of a game …
The tossing of both catchers and managers of the Twins and Sawxwas all over the news today. Apparently for an ump, being 32 is young and he has a short fuse:
The 32-year-old Tichenor, up from the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, gave the boot to both catchers and both managers during a wild seventh inning that ended with Red Sox starter Josh Beckett giving a dismissive wave toward home plate in disgust.
What I didn’t understand at the time was how Redmond could’ve been tossed, since the man had approximately 2 seconds to say anything to the ump. I saw no f-bombs, just like … two words. Like, “excuse me, my dear umpire, but I believe perhaps I had tagged this young gentleman before he had extended his limb upon the home plate.” Alright, maybe not that polite, but this is how Redmond put it:
“I couldn’t believe he threw me out, honestly,” Redmond said. “I don’t go out there, ever, to get thrown out. Especially knowing that Joe’s DHing. I can’t get thrown out. I really can’t get thrown out. I didn’t swear at him. I didn’t do anything. He just had a short fuse I guess.”
Redmond, after trying to say he tagged the runner before he hit the base, got tossed. And that’s when Gardy, who’s been tossed 40-plus times, came in:
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire jumped out of the dugout to defend Redmond and was ejected himself.“I just thought he had a quick gun there,” Gardenhire said. “He just pulled the trigger too quick, and I went out to defend and he threw me out too.”
BAM. Then Varitek and Francona got booted:
Things escalated in the bottom of the inning when Beckett threw a pitch that Varitek tried to frame for strike three on BrendanHarris. When he didn’t get the call — replays showed that it appeared to be outside – Beckett seethed. Varitek stood up to intervene, turned around and got in Tichenor‘s face.
Generally, I think it’s in your best interests, Mr. Catcher, to not TURN AROUND to FIGHT with the UMPIRE. I could just be wrong. Oh wait, no I’m not. Well, then ejection numero quattro came to fruition:
“I just said it was uncharacteristic of him,” said Beckett, giving the clean version. “It was all caused by me.”Then it was Francona‘s turn to defend his player.
See ya.
Too funny. Well, at least Crede had a homer:
Joe Crede hit a home run in his return from a three-game absence because of a bruised hand, but Beckett (5-2) was too much for the Twins. He allowed one run on three hits with four wal
ks and eight strikeouts in seven innings.
In other news, Punto had a sore, nagging crotch (teehee); Baker is likely starting tonight; and we’re in Florida tonight to play some Rays.Heh, Rays. The Tampa Bay Sea-Bugs.
Toronto Dirty Birds.
TOP O’ THE 2nd:
OH NO, A BEACH BALL ON THE FIELD! EVERYBODY PANIC!
s player while he was running, making him automatically out. I have never seen that before.
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