Pre-Game 162
by Jesse on Oct 4, 2009 10:39 AM EDT
in News
18 comments
Good morning, Minnesota! Feelin good?
As I've thought about the game in a few hours, there've been a few things on my mind.
- Remember in 2006, how the four teams involved on the final day were the Twins, Tigers, Royals and White Sox? Well, those are the same four teams involved today, except the two teams vying tor the one playoff spot (the same two teams as '06 as well) have swapped opponents. It's a fun coincidence that this year we're counting on the White Sox to beat the Tigers, while the team that did us a favor that season needs to roll over for us today.
- Last year, the Twins swept the team in front of them to take a half-game lead with just one series to go. All Minnesota had to do was win, and the title would have been theirs. Chicago forced game 163, and we all know what happened there. This season, all Detroit had to do was win...something they haven't yet done. Can the Twins play the role the White Sox played last summer, and take a division they probably had no right to win?
Don't get me wrong, because I'm not saying "the Twins don't deserve this", because they do. They've done what they had to do whe they had to do it, which was win. But there's no denying they've had help all year to keep within shouting distance of first place, and this week they've had help again. In many ways, it just makes this weekend's improbable run that much more astounding. Admit it, if the Twins were 15 games up and running away from this division, today wouldn't be nearly as exciting.
Moving to the specifics of today's game, the Twins are running out a starter on just three days rest for the second day in a row. Ron Gardenhire wants to go with the veteran in this situation, and I have to agree with him. Carl Pavano has done a decent job to this point and I'm happy to turn to him today. Should he faulter early, I'm sure Gardy won't hesitate to go to Brian Duesning.
Sixty-five minutes prior to first pitch, the Tigers-White Sox tilt will get underway. Watch carefully. We all know what the implications are.
See you for the game thread at eleven!
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Some morning ruminations
Fantastic results from the White Sox over the past couple of weeks. Get swept by the Twins, take 4 of 5 so far from the Tigers. Hopefully they have one more in them, but they’ve given us more than we had any right to expect already.
Zack Grienke might be the most interesting player in baseball. No real filter, along with an active mind makes for great quotes. Talked yesterday about the Twins seeming immunity to pressure, and also talked about what a bad job the Twins did of hitting his fastball until he got overconfident with it. Really good stuff.
The Twins bullpen is wasted. I’m fine with going to Pavano in short rest—I don’t have any more confidence in Duensing, but if the bullpen is needed in a close game for 3-4 innings, I’m going to be eating fingernails. No confidence in, really, anyone out there. Crain and Guerrier are probably the guys most available.
Of course, the Tigers used practically their whole pen yesterday, including Lyon and Rodney. I get why Leyland went with Figaro yesterday instead of Verlander on short rest, but this is the problem with letting Verlander throw 120+ for his past 4 starts. Wouldn’t you rather have Verlander Saturday and Porcello (on normal rest) today?
It’s fantastic that Delmon Young has shown up for the last month of the season for the second straight year. It’s worth noting, however, that the paychecks come in April, May, June, July, and August as well.
One more win extends the season. Let’s go boys.
by Eric in Madison on Oct 4, 2009 11:11 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I cannot believe it's come down to this.
It’s unreal. How often is game 162 this important? If nothing else, the Twins have made September and October very exciting baseball months. They’ve come back from several setbacks, and somehow managed to stay in this thing. Again…unreal. Think of the players Gardy’s thrown out there this season…and then think of what may or may not happen today. My brain is hardly wrapping around this.
Saying “Go Twins!” seems so…inadequate. But really…GO TWINS!
"Baseball doesn't owe me a thing. I owe my whole life to baseball." -Kirby Puckett
by fischean on Oct 4, 2009 11:25 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Just be sure
Nobody sends a case of champagne bottles to the White Sox afterwards.
by PizzaDelivery on Oct 4, 2009 11:25 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Would a few aquariums with pirahnas be ok though?
"That is the craziest sonofabitch I ever saw, how many more like him do you think are up there?"
by VikesFaninNM on Oct 4, 2009 11:48 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
All I can say at this point is.....
GO GO GOOOOOOOO!
"That is the craziest sonofabitch I ever saw, how many more like him do you think are up there?"
by VikesFaninNM on Oct 4, 2009 11:49 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Does anybody know of a site online where you can LEGALLY watch baseball games without paying a subscription? I doubt there is one but having to cancel my cable is driving me nuts. Baseball isn’t a game where you can read an article or take a look at the box score and understand what truly went on during the game.
by TC Mooch on Oct 4, 2009 11:59 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
sports bars
can’t you make it to a sports bar or something. thats a cheap alternative. order a water or tea or soda and enjoy the game.
Doofenschmirtz Evil, INC.
Phineas and Ferb
by doofus on Oct 4, 2009 12:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
My kid loves that show by the way
And compared to the other shows she watches, it’s one of my favorites.
by TC Mooch on Oct 4, 2009 12:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Game 162
Tied for 1st place in AL Central
Season is on the line
e’nuff said
Go Twins!!
by Easy$ on Oct 4, 2009 12:03 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
One small correction
The ’08 Twins never were ahead in the loss column, so they never were in a situation that they could just sweep the Royals and win the division. Chicago lost when the Twins did and then had to win their “games in hand” to force a play-in.
by Alexi Casilla All-Star on Oct 4, 2009 1:11 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
They could have
if they would have won, that was what I was trying to say.
by Jesse on Oct 4, 2009 5:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I hope the Tiger Kick the Crap Out of You Stuck in the Eighties Idiots and your Garbage Bag Stadium!
Twins are a bunch of steroid ingesting freaks! Where did David Ortiz start his steroid usage…. HMMMM Minnesota! I hope Detroit deflates the Heftydome properly!
by Marcmargolis on Oct 4, 2009 5:20 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Hubert H. Humphrey Garbage Bag Stadium
just doesn’t quite have that same ring to it as “Metrodome.” Although it’s only a little worse than “Mall of America Field at Hubert H Humphrey Metrodome…”
by what_would_gil_thorp_do on Oct 4, 2009 5:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Perhaps...
you should try to direct some of that anger at the team that blew the 7 1/2 game lead. The Tigers put themselves into the playoff game by playing poorly down the stretch.
Throwing things at the television since Sunday, December 28, 1975.
by cryhavoc on Oct 4, 2009 7:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
um....
Also, I am pretty sure it is safe to assume Ortiz started using Roids when he joined Manny and Co. in Boston. Have you looked at the numbers Ortiz posted in MN? Not the numbers of a man on Steroids.
by NYCisTwinsTerritory on Oct 5, 2009 12:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
That's totally unfair
It’s Jared Allen who has a hairstyle straight of a Van Halen video, and he plays for the Vikings, not the Twins.
Stay classy, Detroit.
"There are only two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein
by BeefMaster on Oct 5, 2009 3:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
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