SB Nation User Blog: caluofmn

The Best and the Worst on TV

caluofmn — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:32:55 -0000

From: http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2009/12/03/making-the-call-on-baseballs-best-worst-tv-broadcasters/

I'm glad that Hawk was number one in the worst category and a little surprised to see Dick Bremer in the running for the best. As much as I like the Dick n Bert show I have to agree with the site that noone calls a game like Vin Scully. To me it will be a sad day in baseball when he retires.

I'm curious to hear everyone's thoughts on these guys now that we are months removed from the season. Will someone confess that " he fisted the ball into shallow right field" is actually ok to say on the air?

Happy Holidays everyone and thanks for the Winter Meeting updates...

And so it begins...

caluofmn — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:18:09 -0000

From Yahoo Sports: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=ArdDbSFyVWTCZrpQ2ClzodwRvLYF?slug=jp-mauer113009&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

I'm not surprised that Mauer has told the Twins he wants a deal done before the start of next season. I think that this puts more pressure on the Twins to get it done now that this is public. Mauer is one of the few Twins to get national attention and so it's normal for the national media to want to know if Mauer will stay in MN or will they get the chance to show how smart they are and guess who will get to sign him (where is the sarcasm font when you need it?).

The story seems to think that Mauer will get more than Jeter but less than ARod money. I have no idea if that is right but I do agree with the story on this point, If Mauer becomes a free agent the Twins have no chance in signing him. The Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, and Dodgers all could use a catcher in 2011. Or Torii and the Angels could come out of nowhere and make a bid. I can not imagine any of the larger market teams passing on the chance to sign Mauer.

I hope the Twins are able to sign Mauer to a long term deal. It would be very hard to see him play for any other team but I know that it could happen. I'm just hoping it doesn't.

New Uniforms on Monday

caluofmn — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:52:28 -0000

From the Startribune... "The Twins are scheduled to unveil a new-look road uniform along with subtle changes to their home uniform Monday at IDS Crystal Court. The Twins have worn the same primary home and road uniforms since 1987."

I'm going to guess that any changes will be minor but there is a part of me that worries someone "creative" is in charge of this and will try to make a splash. I think the Twins already have some of the best jerseys in baseball and I really hope they do not try to reinvent the wheel here. So please no Pixie vests, no Red jerseys...

I'm looking forward to Monday...

Interview with One of the Greats of the Game (from NPR.org)

caluofmn — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:26:06 -0000

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113742215

This isn’t about one of ours, it’s a NPR story about Ernie Banks but TT is the one place I know where a story like this might be appreciated.

I always love listening to greats of the game speak and respect how hard they played in an era where many players are as pampered as movie stars.

I know the game must change and evolve with the times or it risks becoming irrelevant (some may say it already is…) but I hope baseball never loses its connection to the past. I think baseball is the one sport where that connection really matters.

So I hope you guys enjoy. Through expansion, the addition of wild card teams, and groan a possible world series that drags into November, I say here’s to taking the time to remember the greats of the game. Now if only NPR would interview Killer…

RIP 2009?

caluofmn — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:33:24 -0000

It seems like every year there is a point in the season when I think the Twins are dead in the water and maybe I need to lower my expectations on them. Well here we are again, except this year I don’t think I’ll be proved wrong.

I’ve seen the players look frustrated on the field before but after the 1st inning of Tuesday’s game they looked defeated. After all they were playing the ROYALS! And here they were down 6 runs in the first, at home. I just remember thinking that the players looked like they didn’t want to be there after that. Sad thing is they played the rest of that game that way. It’s almost like the one game they won was in spite of themselves. Add yesterday’s outcome and losing the series to the ROYALS at home and well I think this season is done.

The Twins have lost 2 of the last 3 series to the bottom of the division. If they can’t beat these teams how are they supposed to beat the top two teams in the division? The simple answer is they can’t. This team has not shown the ability to win consistently enough to pass Chicago and Detroit which would have been hard even if they were playing well.

So what now? I’m a Twins fan, so I’ll still be tuning in and following the team but all I’m hoping for is that they can get above .500 for the season. I’m going to be rooting for them to hold off the Indians and ROYALS, pretty sad huh? I think the front office needs to change their goals as well. I love me some Red Dawg but please bring up Morales. Release Buscher and bring up Valencia if the organization really thinks he could be the starting 3B in 2010. He still would need to play in a platoon with Crede so he could be protected somewhat. I’d like to see Slama up with the Twins to see what he has.

Oh and one more thing, I’d like to see LNP – The Rally Slayer never play again this season! Is this unfair? Maybe but I think he has FAIL bunted his way out of a job. People here have pointed out that his defense is no longer good enough that he can lean on that so as I pointed out in the game thread, if defense wasn’t enough to keep Dougie baseball on the club then it shouldn’t be enough to keep this AAA player on the field. If Gardy needs to keep his secret love child on the bench fine but LNP should be a pinch runner for the Twins at this point. Oh and he should be 2nd in the depth chart of pinch runners in games that GO GO didn’t start. As for the 4 million he is owed, well someone posted that Mike Lamb is still being paid by the Twins so Bill Smith, close your eyes, pinch your nose, and swallow this ridiculous contract too. Ok, I feel better now…

So I’ll pour one out for my 2009 Minnesota Twins and dream about better results in 2010.

Baseball and TV article

caluofmn — Fri, 29 May 2009 15:22:47 -0000

this was on the Yahoo.com sports page and I thought I'd share. You can read the article at the following link: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/The-Stewards-Debate-How-can-Bud-fix-baseball-s-;_ylt=AguAbRfooFDVU4n.A.AAcvsRvLYF?urn=mlb,166216

I'll like to see baseball do better on TV (I know the sport is not hurting though). The only thing I'd add to my original comments below is that the price of going to a game is getting out of hand. When times were good, families could ignore the hundred(s) of dollars they would spend at a game but now it is easier to see that baseball is losing it's connection to families and is catering to young professionals with the most disposable incomes.

Anywho...This is what I posted there and feel is the real problem with baseball. ...

I think the problem starts before the TV is even turned on. No one plays baseball anymore, and when I say no one I don't mean your beer league I mean kids in America. 18 kids at a park is not a baseball game, it's a birthday party with invitations that had to be sent a month in advanced.

I remember summers when my brother and I would go the park and we knew kids from the neighborhood would show up to play ball. We'd shag flyballs, we'd practice pitching or hitting like our favorite players and eventually we'd have enough kids to play a game. And I'm not even talking about always 9 on 9. We'd make rules up so we could play. Ghost runners, pitching for your own team, rules where we didn't even need 18 kids to play.

If kids are not playing the game themselves they are not going to want to watch it on TV. They are not going to understand what a great game it is. Heck, why watch a game when they can fire up their PS3 or Xbox 360 and play it themselves. But video games are a poor sub for getting on a ballfield.

I know attendance is up but how many people there are actually watching the game. It seems like the new parks are one part baseball, one part amusment park so mom and dad don't have to teach their kids what the game is about. Going to the game seems like it's more about going somewhere, eating, consuming than watching baseball.

I don't know what can fix baseball on TV. I like the idea of a game of the week on Saturdays to go with the Sunday telecast. I like the idea of getting rid of Buck, but unless this generation and the ones that come next learn the game; baseball is going to continue being your dad's game and longterm that will spell trouble for MLB.

Is Redmond Jersey Worthy?

caluofmn — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:09:15 -0000

So it's been a couple of years since I've purchased a new Twins jersey but I'm thinking I need to do my part to help the economy and make another purchase. Ha Ha. The question of course is, who's name and number do I get on the back? I thought I'd ask for advice on whether Red-Dawg is jersey worthy.

So why Redmond:

1. He created the Smell em' sensation

2. Oozes Twins-iness

3. Seems like a cool dude to have a beer with

4. Naked batting practice (might be a minus)

So why not Redmond:

1. Will any non-Twins fans know who he is? (might be a plus)

2. He might finish his career w/ another team after this year

3. Does anyone actually get jerseys w/ the name and number of a backup catcher?

4. Other more deserving player out there.

Alright guys, have at it. I hope you guys provide some input on this huge decision, ha ha again.

Go Twins!

Doing it the Twins Way or Bust

caluofmn — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 00:53:32 -0000

Well, another winter is ending and another spring is about to start. I don't know why but it seems the older I get the faster the dead days btwn seasons feel shorter.

Anyway, it's been another quiet offseason for the Twins. Feels more like the typical offseason for the Twins instead what Mr. Smith did last year. In comparison to most offseasons, last offseason felt like a drunken night on the town. One of the things I'm looking forward to finding out is whether young Mr. Young will bounce back or still look like a bad circus act in LF.

There is a part of me that feels fine w/ the Twins not signing Blake, or Crede, or Gagne. I like that the team feels that they have what they need already up or ready to come up this season. Afterall, I seem to remember the Twins doing the same when they had the UN infield and Radke, Milton, and Mays on the mound. Yes, I know they didn't win any rings then but they were fun to watch. I don't know if this batch of players matches up to those teams but once again the Twins seem to want to win on their terms or not at all. Avoiding injury I think the Twins will give us fans another fun season to follow.

They might be following this philosophy to a fault, afterall, wasn't there better arms for the 8th inning than what we got? but I'm not surprised by the quiet winter. Seems to me that, that is the norm and I've grown fine w/ that. I think the Rays showed MLB that a young team can compete for a WS title. I guess it is ok that the Twins want to win their way b/c if they do it will be that much sweetier.

Looking forward to another season,

Cal

No Regrets?

caluofmn — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 23:34:11 -0000

The Rays are about to eliminate the Bitch Sox from the playoffs (thank you Tampa) and two big contributors to this season are Jason Bartlett and Matt Garza. These two former Twins have played a big role for Tampa this year and it makes me wonder, Does anyone regret the trade now?

I know the Twins would never admit to any regrets but do any Twins fans feel that maybe the Twins got the short end of the stick, not just for this year but for the life of the trade? It’s hard for me not to feel that way b/c even after the trade most of us still feel the Twins need a shortstop (Bartlett) and even though the rotation was good this year, wouldn’t it be nice if we had a hard throwing pitcher like (Garza) on the Twins, allowing maybe Perkins to be moved to the pen or traded for another need.

There have been a few posts about how the Twins should move Delmon Young. For me, after the error in Toronto, I’d prefer not to see Pridie. As I posted in one of the last games, I have yet to see Pridie NOT fail for the Twins. That leaves Harris as the only player the Twins got that many feel happy with, and that is just as a platoon player at 3B.

I wonder if this is how the Giants fans felt after they got AJ from the Twins? I know there is nothing that can be done now and hindsight never helped anyone but for discussions sake I’m throwing this out there. I think the Twins got robbed, I just hope the front office can turn their lemons into lemonade.

Stay Classy Chicago...

caluofmn — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:27:07 -0000

''It seems like they can't do anything wrong here,'' Buehrle said of the Twins, after admitting that the Sox do flinch a bit coming to the dome. ''[Manager Ozzie Guillen] calls them 'piranhas,' but I call them 's---heads.' I would tell you what I really call them, but I know you couldn't print it. They get on base, bunt, steal, bloop singles -- it's [bleep]ing annoying.''

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/whitesox/1184322,CST-SPT-sox25.article

Poor Mark Buehrle, baseball can be so unfair. At least he didn't complain that Twins turned the fans on to blow out, like the last big loss he had at the Dome.

I try to follow baseball (not just the Twins) as much as possible and I can not think of a bigger baby than Mark Buehrle. He always has an excuse, a complaint. A loss is never b/c the other team beat him or b/c he pitched poorly (he had no control for the first 4 innings). Nope it's never on him or the Sox. How people can cheer for this guy is beyond me, much less spend money on a jersey w/ his name. I couldn't root him even if he was a Twin.

So call the Twins whatever you want Buehrle but last night I get to call them winners.

Come on boys win tonight!

Go Twins!