10/4 Game Thread: Oakland Athletics @ Minnesota Twins

Thanks

for the photo, Erika!

by Jesse on Oct 4, 2006 1:03 AM EDT reply actions

Nope

The Twins are going up in flames.

By the way, did that phrase ever pop up before I used it? Just curious.

"Baseball is great because you can't take a knee or kill the clock. You have to put the ball over the plate and give the other guy his damn chance." C Stengel

by AdamOnFirst on Oct 4, 2006 1:31 AM EDT reply actions

LINEUPS

Oakland Name POS Kendall C Kotsay CF Bradley RF Thomas DH Chavez 3B Payton LF Swisher 1B Scutaro SS Ellis 2B

Minnesota Name POS Castillo 2B Punto 3B Mauer C Cuddyer RF Morneau 1B Hunter CF White LF Tyner DH Bartlett SS

by Jesse on Oct 4, 2006 12:24 PM EDT reply actions

Let me just say...

that I REALLY think if ever there was a time to DH White and play Tyner in LF, it is now. We need every fielding advantage we can get when runs are so crucial.

by djskilbr on Oct 4, 2006 12:30 PM EDT up reply actions

God sign already

There's no sign of Joe Morgan and Jon Miller announcing for ESPN. Thank goodness. That's a good start already right there.

by krakoose on Oct 4, 2006 1:08 PM EDT reply actions

BOOOOFF!!!

Strikeouts are ALWAYS good ways to start the game.

by Jesse on Oct 4, 2006 1:11 PM EDT reply actions

Hells Yes!

14 pitches, 3 up and 3 down. Way to rock the start, Boofster.

by Jesse on Oct 4, 2006 1:15 PM EDT reply actions

Castillo

Was he waiting on the fastball? I says no.

by Jesse on Oct 4, 2006 1:18 PM EDT reply actions

Big Hurt

Walks are better than homers. At least in this case.

by Jesse on Oct 4, 2006 1:29 PM EDT reply actions

BOOOOOOFFF!!!!!

Gets the big dawg Swisher on strikes. NICE.

by Jesse on Oct 4, 2006 1:34 PM EDT reply actions

Graphic

Love.

We don't need no water....

by Batgirl on Oct 4, 2006 1:35 PM EDT reply actions

First and Second, one out...

...and Bonser gets out of a potentially dangerous situation with some great pitching. This is the Boof we've come to know and love!

by Jesse on Oct 4, 2006 1:36 PM EDT reply actions

Castillo and Punto

Why won't Castillo swing the bat?

Why does Punto insist on diving into first?

Hep me, thomebody pleathe hep me.

Joe Mauer for MVP.

by cmathewson on Oct 4, 2006 2:07 PM EDT reply actions

Loaiza got coffee dumped all over him by Bradley in the dugout, had to change his entire uniform and we still can't get anything going against him. Bradley is stirring up the A's team and distrating them and we still can't get anything going.

Bonser needs some RUN SUPPORT!!!!!!!

Twins are getting what they deserve if they can't wake their bats up. This is getting ugly. We're now down 0-2.

by krakoose on Oct 4, 2006 2:29 PM EDT reply actions

Cuddyer Morneau

Way to go guys. Whoooooooaaaaaaaaaaa! YYYYEEEESSSSS! Lets go Torri.

by Twins2006 on Oct 4, 2006 2:59 PM EDT reply actions

inside the park homer??

I just saw it on mlb gameday. What the heck happened??

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Oct 4, 2006 3:23 PM EDT reply actions

NOOOOO TORIIIII YOU IDIOT!!!

Joe Mauer for MVP.

by cmathewson on Oct 4, 2006 3:24 PM EDT reply actions

Hunter

Hunter let the ball get by him

by Twins2006 on Oct 4, 2006 3:24 PM EDT reply actions

Terrible

Maybe the worst play I have ever seen.

by MauerPower @ Twinkie Town on Oct 4, 2006 3:25 PM EDT up reply actions

no error?

It looks like it wasn't ruled an error. Was he diving to try and catch it in the air or something?

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Oct 4, 2006 3:25 PM EDT reply actions

Horrible Judgment

He decided to dive late on a ball that should have been a single...which would have left runners on 1st and 2nd, or 1st and 3rd, with 2 outs. Instead it's a home run and the Twins are in serious trouble.

by MauerPower @ Twinkie Town on Oct 4, 2006 3:27 PM EDT up reply actions

ouch

We just need our 'never say die' Twins to come through!!

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Oct 4, 2006 3:31 PM EDT up reply actions

Nope

by Twins2006 on Oct 4, 2006 3:26 PM EDT reply actions

Pitching Change

It is not Reyes fault, Gardy you dork. And get the offense going

by Twins2006 on Oct 4, 2006 3:30 PM EDT reply actions

BOOOF

Boof with an excellent performance, and then Torri does this and we are losing. Torri, I hate you, and I have always hated you, and I will always hate you.

by Twins2006 on Oct 4, 2006 3:33 PM EDT reply actions

7 outs later

I still feel like I've been punched in the stomach.

by TheMattWilke on Oct 4, 2006 3:38 PM EDT reply actions

Well boys and girls...

Brad may come out and pitch the game of his career but I think it's time for our wait until next year speech. We are beating ourselves right now and there's no sign of that stopping. After coming together like a team all year, we have not worked together at all these past two games. No supporting the pitching performances, bad deffense, bad judgements and the obvious 0 for 12 with RISP. This is very depressing

break the 30 HR curse!

by caseintheface on Oct 4, 2006 3:43 PM EDT reply actions

I may have to

Watch The Natural tonight to try to recover from this baseball depression.

break the 30 HR curse!

by caseintheface on Oct 4, 2006 3:46 PM EDT reply actions

$12 Mill??? I don't think so...

by peterma1 on Oct 4, 2006 4:02 PM EDT reply actions

Hunter

You can't blame this all on Hunter, if he would have called it he would have been the savior of the day. Hunter is the reason we are playing the A's right now and not the Yankees at Yankee stadium. In fact we might not be in the playoffs without him coming through in September. So lets not all go Hunter bashing.

break the 30 HR curse!

by caseintheface on Oct 4, 2006 4:07 PM EDT reply actions

Actually

Hunter is to blame entirely. Any player (let alone a veteran like Hunter) knows you don't have to make a spectacular catch on that play. With two out and a runner on first, the worst that happens is first and third with two outs. The flipside if you don't make the catch is...well we all saw what happened. Bonehead play by a guy who should know better. The momentum had swung our way after the two big HR's. The pitching had been steady and the bats were coming around. That play killed any chance of coming back and beating Oakland today and more than likely any chance of taking this series.

by vagabond on Oct 4, 2006 4:18 PM EDT up reply actions

To add to that...

...Hunter had absolutely NO CHANCE to catch that ball, so there really wasn't any chance he could be the hero.

Aside from the obvious damage on the scoreboard, Hunter's folly just killed any momentum/confidence the Twins had. I liken it to the deflating feeling of the Gary Anderson missed FG against Atlanta. If you saw the Twins' dugout after that play, everyone looked completely shell-shocked. And, they looked lost the following inning (i.e., Cuddyer failing to hustle to hold Swisher to a single).

I like Torii as a person, and I appreciate his performance in September, but you can't really defend his decision in this case.

by MauerPower @ Twinkie Town on Oct 4, 2006 4:27 PM EDT up reply actions

NO!

He was miles away from being able to make that catch. He was two feet away. That was a ball you HAVE to keep in front of you. It rolled all the way to the deepet part of the park, there is NO backup on that play. You let it bounce and keep the game tied with runners on second and first. Next guy bounces out first pitch, no problem.

But instead, a Tony Batista sized disaster (as in he's fat AND what it is to sign him).

The Between that, poor hitting, and nathan's wild pitch, the twins are doing everything they possibly can to give this series away. They've scored on three solo homers and a fly ball that turned into a triple because the right fielder lost it, then a one out weak grounder...

This sucks.

But it isn't over yet. F*ck the young one donned int he cap of a warrior, give me the mother f*cking veteren with no arm.

"Baseball is great because you can't take a knee or kill the clock. You have to put the ball over the plate and give the other guy his damn chance." C Stengel

by AdamOnFirst on Oct 4, 2006 4:26 PM EDT up reply actions

I agree

I'm mostly blaming the lame-ass 2 runs a game. We're not hitting with RISP at all. We're like the White Sox relying on these solo shots.

Hunter made a dumb play. He's made it before and he's made it again. But with Zito throwing 45% his pitches out of the zone yesterday and Loaiza unspectacular today too, 4 runs in the last two days is biggest issue.

by TheMattWilke on Oct 4, 2006 4:54 PM EDT up reply actions

Pinch it for Punto!

Do it or we'll lose

break the 30 HR curse!

by caseintheface on Oct 4, 2006 4:10 PM EDT reply actions

Torrii

hunter? More like Cunter..

"Baseball is great because you can't take a knee or kill the clock. You have to put the ball over the plate and give the other guy his damn chance." C Stengel

by AdamOnFirst on Oct 4, 2006 4:17 PM EDT reply actions

If I see...

N. Punto pops/flies out... on Gameday again, I'm throwing my computer out the window.

That home run he hit in Chicago ruined his approach at the plate.

by TheMattWilke on Oct 4, 2006 4:22 PM EDT reply actions

Punto's at-bat

I ducked out of the office to watch the bottom of the ninth at the bar up the block.

Punto had a decent at-bat. He smartly worked the count full since Street was having a little trouble throwing strikes. It almost looked like he was trying just to foul-off anything near the strike zone until he got ball four. But unfortunately he popped it up where it could be caught.

No way you can give up on this team now. I think when they've got nothing to lose and Radke on the mound, they'll play like the team that got them here. They should go Radke, Santana, Boof to finish up the series and win it!!

by adam @ Twinkie Town on Oct 4, 2006 4:48 PM EDT reply actions

Yep...

this one ain't over yet. Two tough losses since we beat ourselves, but I fully expect a HUGE game from Bradke on Friday, and I'll personally guarantee game 4 since I'll be there in Oakland in RF seats, 3rd row. Then Boof/Silva combo at the Dome to win it.

Go Twins!!!

by djskilbr on Oct 4, 2006 6:20 PM EDT up reply actions

Repeat post b/c I am so sure that I saw that ball

Ill repeat my post here for people to see because I am sure that I saw that ball tail away from Torri just before/as he was making his dive.

SO,just for fun entertain this speculation.

When I watched the highlight I was positive that I saw that ball tail away from Torii just as he was making his dive. I am positive that is what I saw, but I was equally sure that that was contrary to what little I knew about physics and that instead it was some sort of visual/optic trick.

Then Torii confirmed what I was sure I had seen, which is that the ball DID tail away from him as he went to make the dive.

I know he could be making excuses but I would challenge you all you watch it again just for the heck of it.

by montanatwinsfan on Oct 5, 2006 3:28 PM EDT reply actions

Re-sign players!

I hope Terry Ryan and the front office can come up with a way to re-sign Torii Hunter. If I had his job, I would re-sign Cuddyer, Morneau, Mauer, Punto and others to extensions and roll the dice from there. This is a great team and I really think if they can't do it this year, they can make a run for the World Series in a year or two coming up.

Just think, if Radke DOES retire, thats $9 more million to play with and Stewart probably won't be back so that should be $6 more million as well. That might be enough to re-sign Hunter. Its hard to think about next year already but it will be here in a few months in December during the winter meetings.

by twinsfan4ever on Oct 5, 2006 9:45 PM EDT reply actions

Oh for

Those 15 million you mentioned, yeah, they're taken up.

Hunter can be brought back by option next year, but not after that unless you want to lose a couple guys like Santana, Mauer, barttlett, Liriano, Morneau, or other players getting older.

"Baseball is great because you can't take a knee or kill the clock. You have to put the ball over the plate and give the other guy his damn chance." C Stengel

by AdamOnFirst on Oct 5, 2006 11:10 PM EDT up reply actions

no

give the money to the furture. Torri is not the future. let him try someplace else, like the Cubs where he and JJ can try and hammer 50 between them over the ivy, have a few beers with AJ and take Cory to dinner when he comes to town. absolutly not the money goes to the new guys. put Nick on second find a real third baseman with power, find a CF and a real DH. that's where the money goes.

"hi everybody" Herb Carneal Hall of fame baseball announcer.

by firstatbat61 on Oct 6, 2006 10:38 AM EDT reply actions