How much exactly?

by house412242 on Nov 25, 2011 9:52 PM EST

I've been wondering a lot about Justin Morneau's 2010 concussion. And the first thing that comes to mind is how much they lost because of that head first slide into 2B. I hate it when people bring up "what ifs" but this is something that really hurt the franchise. Working on a list....

1. The most obvious. Over $15 million in payroll costs of poor play last year and the last half of the season prior.

2. Bill Smith's job.

3. He was a STRONG contender for AL MVP 2010. It may have cost himself the honor.

4. Playoff wins? Playoff contention in 2011?

Mind runs blank after these.

Poll

Who is your Favorite Face of a Minnesota Franchise?

Adrian Peterson

40 votes

Maya Moore

16 votes

Kevin Love

10 votes

Mikko Koivu

16 votes

Joe Mauer

44 votes

126 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 20 comments | 1 recs |

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Comments

He was on pace for an awesome year

A .340+ average with 30+ homers, 100+ RBIs…and that was only a year and a half ago.

"Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona." ~George F. Will

by SooFoo Fan on Nov 26, 2011 1:09 AM EST reply actions

He was on pace

For a HOF career. Now he is a question mark.

by clutterheart on Nov 26, 2011 8:47 AM EST up reply actions

He's not Pujols

HoF is a hard standard to meet at 1B. I saw a few more all star games in his future though.

by DJL44 on Nov 26, 2011 11:09 PM EST up reply actions

It wasn't even a head first slide.

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=9761163

The Twins lost a lot. Morneau lost a lot.

by spanspanspan on Nov 26, 2011 5:13 PM EST reply actions

2 posts and 1 comment is always a red flag to me.

Mind runs blank after these.

1. It’s apparently Morneau’s fault he took a hit to the head, AND that apparently lead to his other surgeries last year too?
2. So Morneau’s concussion lead to all the other Twins injuries and the Pohlad’s “philosophical differences” with Smith?
3. Sliding into 2nd base feet first and getting kneed in the head, somehow he “cost himself?”
4. Again, Morneau’s concussion lead to all the other Twins injuries? We ended up in last place, not 2nd. Ridiculous.

I wish I hadn’t added my comment to this post, this is bob puller/Strib comment territory.

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by less cowbell, more 'neau on Nov 26, 2011 9:25 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs

.....

Yeah well I sorta wish I didn’t post this. I really only wanted to add the poll and see the results. But it was just a topic that came to me.

by house412242 on Nov 27, 2011 10:58 AM EST up reply actions

Looking at the play,

The 2nd baseman was clearly blocking Morneau, but doing so in a way that would have caused injury either way.

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by Jessy S on Nov 26, 2011 8:44 PM EST reply actions

What the crap are you talking about?

McDonald was facing the other way and did the best job possible to avoid a collision once he turned to throw.

Oh yeah, this old and tired topic. I’m annoyed I even bothered.

by spanspanspan on Nov 27, 2011 2:44 AM EST up reply actions 2 recs

Too bad there just is NOTHING else to talk about right now

I mean it’s now Sunday, but do we really want to talk Vikings without AP? The Wolves??

by twinscrazy_german on Nov 27, 2011 9:15 AM EST up reply actions

The Wild are in first so not everything is doom and gloom.

by MNSportsGuy on Nov 30, 2011 6:23 PM EST up reply actions

I don't think he did the best job to get out of the way

The standard there is to take the ball and step to one side or the other to make the throw. He took the ball and jumped toward first to get more on the throw. But Morneau’s a tall guy and McDonald has a 10 inch vertical leap. It was definitely an avoidable collision if he was willing to step towards the mound.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Nov 27, 2011 1:42 PM EST up reply actions

yeah, this one hurt

He’s had his second half differences, but he was having an MVP season going into that concussion. I still am holding out hope that a normal offseason for the guy could return him to some level of greatness. I think the HOF case would have been borderline unless he had continued that season on and had a good season like that this year, but at this point, I don’t think that’s really in the cards anymore. I for one just hope he’s himself in 2012. From a fantasy perspective, he’s certainly worth blowing a late round pick on.

by diehardtwinsfan on Nov 27, 2011 9:24 AM EST reply actions

I voted Mikko , with Mauer, and Moore close behind, i do think Kevin Love's wolves will be closer to .500 this year

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW9ge8l3jY8
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by SteveHoffmanSlowey on Nov 27, 2011 1:41 PM EST reply actions

Me too!

Wild are good this year. I picked him with the first vote.

by house412242 on Nov 27, 2011 8:03 PM EST up reply actions

Point being:

if you had two AL MVPs, both coming into their prime, and one on the field proving it every day, you would imagine that the future of the team is bright. And it hasn’t worked out. Not by a long shot.

That’s bad luck, John MacDonald’s knee has altered the trajectory of an entire franchise.

For Morneau, just on the slide, the thing to do is bring your arm up paralleling the neck/head area, so that is the defender runs into you, the weight is pushed up and off. As it was, Morneau’s head is just sitting there and the blow lands in all its devastating fullness.

The Twins and Morneau will never be the same. Kind of rare in baseball to have a smallish, freak thing like that end up making such a huge difference. But, it is what it is….

by Old Twins Cap on Nov 27, 2011 4:18 PM EST reply actions