Awwww!

Boo. Gobble was my favorite non-Twins player in the division. 

Continue reading this post »

Here is a brilliant (and long) Q&A that Bill James did with the Freakonomics NYT blog. Absolutely worth a read for anyone who digs baseball.

Turns out he's neither a robot or a computer, though I'm sure that some will still argue that he doesn't understand "what the game is really about" or some such.

Man, it sure is February. The frozen bloody North we call home sure is frozen, and we're all getting a little squirrely. That's okay, though, because Spring Training has sprung and the end of it all is in sight. We've got a whole slew of young guys who will be fun as heck to cheer on this summer whether or not we contend. And so, I present to you a short read to make your day a little better.

This article at USS Mariner (which is an excellent blog that I highly recommend to everyone here, despite their misguided fanatacism for the poorly run M's) reminded me, more than anything yet this almost-spring, why I love the game so. It's a great read, and it sure as heck brightened my day even though I've never heard of Dave Niehaus.

Quote: "I learned baseball from him. I learned that Jim Presley was terrible, Harold Reynolds was fast, that Alvin Davis was Mr. Mariner, and that the team didn't have any pitching. They never had any pitching. Through Bill Swift, he taught me what a sinkerball was. Through Scott Bradley, he taught me that catchers could be left-handed. Through John Moses, he taught me that you can give anyone a nickname by just shortening their last name. And through Ivan Calderon, he taught me that hispanic players could have Russian first names."

As a side note, this is the kind of thing that makes the baseball Hall of Fame the kind of institution that other sports can only dream of. Nevermind the yearly arguments about the BBWAA's voting -- the century-plus of history enshrined in Cooperstown from announcers to bloody socks makes me smile every time I think about it.

Silva's apparently about to sign with the Mariners for $44MM/4yrs per Ken Rosenthal, and boy oh boy are the M's fans unhappy with it.

Good analysis and discussion by Dave at USS Mariner (a site that you should probably be reading anyway; I certainly enjoy it even though I don't feel very strongly one way or the other about the M's). Weirdly enough, seems that the posters over yonder aren't too keen on the idea of committing $11MM per annum to Senor Silva...can't imagine why. Though to be fair, I don't know what the M's fans were expecting their front office to do with that money anyway.

Whee, we got ourselves a shortstop. One who can't hit, of course, and figures to be a noticeable downgrade from Bartlett most likely if he's the everyday starter.

One-year deal, no specifics yet. I imagine it's cheap, at least. Sigh.

Link: http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7559454?CMP=OTC-K9B140813162&ATT=49

This guy is easily  my new favorite sportswriter. He writes for Page 2 over at ESPN, yet pens more insightful and reality-based commentary than anything I've seen in quite a while.

And he doesn't even spend half his columns tooting his own horn! Amazing.

Anyway, just thought I'd share. I've enjoyed his columns quite a bit, and I figured some around here would as well if they're not already reading him.

Now, I love Torii as much as the next guy. I've got nothing but respect and appreciation for his years of holding down CF on Twins teams good and bad. But the man seriously needs to stop talking to the press.

Joe C's latest entry is yet another example. Yes, Mr. Hunter, we all know that the bottom half of the lineup has been perhaps this team's biggest problem. No, Mr. Hunter, your less-gifted teammates don't need you throwing them under the bus by admitting that you swing for the fences because you have no faith in the guys hitting behind you.

Anyone else feel like Torii's just personally done with playing here?

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/sfl-0626marlins,0,5116352.story?coll=sfla-sports-front

Ahh, Jacque, we hardly knew ye. Off to the land of oranges and apathetic old folks for a [reported, but not confirmed] mid-level single-A prospect.

That's what happens when you're OPSing .623 as a corner outfielder on a team that already DFA'd the superior Matt Murton (why is he not a Twin yet, btw?).

/salute, Jacque. I did so love your constant, beaming smile.