TTD!!! LaTroy Hawkins still hates Tommy Kahnle

Good, good... Let the hate flow through you.

Marney Gellner had just finished talking about what a swell guy everybody thought LaTroy Hawkins was when LaTroy revealed he got into a fight in 2014 with Tommy Kahnle.

LaTroy didn’t give any more details about the fight. Kahnle for his part said it didn’t bother him and just laughed it off. You’re still not off the hook, James McCann!

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Don’t be a Knob on Dollar Dome Dog Day

Goliath put together a list of every MLB team’s most hated players. It will come as no surprise to some that the Twins player is none other than Chuck Knoblauch (sorry Blame Mauer bot).

Former Twins second baseman Chuck put the “knob” in Knoblauch.

Ex-Twin, A.J. Pierzynski made the list as a White Sock, of course. The list isn’t perfect though, future Twins shortstop and 2017 WS MVP, Manny Ramirez also made the list. And in a glaring omission, James McCann was left off.

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Slugging Like Sano Other

Mike Petriello is reporting that Miguel Sano is leading the Majors with the highest percentage of hard-hit batted balls and the highest percentage of productive batted balls. To sum up what this means, the more harder you hit the ball, the more better.

When you crush like this, however, it really doesn't matter. As we've been expecting for years, Sano has arrived. He's not a future star. He's just a star right now.

I don’t know, maybe a few more years of draft picks and rebuilding and we’ll be ready to go in 2025.

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More Bangs for the Bux

Byron Buxton decided to stop trying to pull every ball to left field and now things are starting to click for him.

"We talked a little bit today about going back to the things that he had worked on prior to swinging the bat better," Molitor said. "He said he was getting a little bit pull conscious and wanted to slow it down. He got a pitch out over [the plate] and instead of yanking it, he stayed out over the middle of the field. You try to build on the positives."

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Twins are Blinding Bats with Science

Anthony Castrovince at mlb.com is crediting the Twins use of analytics for their pitching renaissance this year.

For the Twins, going from their previous reports to the kind of data being disseminated by the Falvey-led front office is a leap from Stone Age to Internet Era.

"It's helpful information that we get," said Allen, "about the strike zone, the uses of pitches, why this specific pitch works against this specific individual and not that one, why this guy's breaking ball might not be like the other guys' breaking balls."

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Twins are Catching Balls The Twins Way™

Story in the Pioneer Press by Jace Frederick (who looks like he’s about 14 years old based on his photo) on the Twins improved defense this year.

Win or lose, Mauer said it’s more fun to come to the park every day when you’re playing clean baseball.

He then drank some ice-cold, refreshing milk from a clear glass, I assume.

Minnesota is also positioning its defenders differently as part of the movement to make more information-based decisions. Molitor said the Twins are breaking down defensive charts and taking a few more chances by putting guys in non-traditional spots on the field.

“(You’re) playing percentages,” Molitor said. “And I think these guys are stepping outside their comfort zones to be willing to try those things, and they’re seeing that it’s paying off.”

Okay, I guess there’s some analytics involved.

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Nishioka Goes to War

At least that’s what Google translate tells me former Twin Tsuyoshi Nishioka is up to in this nikkansports.com article.

Hanshin Nishioka 's expectation is great for two military practice merger restoration

Performing menus such as free blow and dash, [???] appeal for the first time. Regarding the return to actual warfare, it became a problem of feeling, although there are unknown parts due to fear and anxiety, expectation is greater than that. "

It could be he’s getting ready to join the rest of his team and DH for a while, but I found the translation unhelpful and confusing.

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Denard Span Attacked by Birds Again

Span narrowly escaped with his life after being dive bombed by a crappie wielding osprey in 2014, then this happened:

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