Wednesday Morning Updates

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

Please note that The Stick & Ball Guy convention has been moved from this Saturday (8/1) to Saturday, August 15^th. I don’t know my schedule for certain, but hope to be there and would love to meet any of you there as well.

THE MANDATORY FAVRE/VIKINGS STUFF

As you know, I’m been mainly annoyed by the on-going Brett Favre/Vikings courtship. Basically, I was just certain that Favre would sign with the Vikings. It only made sense. Well, he surprised me and most of Vikings and NFL fans by saying that he was staying retired. Alright, I’m four sentences into a paragraph on Favre, and I’m already bored with it. However, it was my StarTribune.com/YourVoices blog last night was about the Brett Favre situation, but it was mainly about the 2009 Vikings season. Check it out and feel free to comment there.  

COMMENTS ON THE ALL-TIME METRODOME TEAM

Last night, the Twins announced their All Metrodome team before the game against the White Sox. The vote was conducted with fans able to vote online and then media and front office personnel also factoring into the decision. For the most part, the choices were fairly easy to make, but there are still a couple of comments: 

Manager – Tom Kelly  

No Question. That is an easy choice. Two World Series championships and being the manager for 15 of the 28 seasons in the Dome. 

Starting Pitchers – Bert Blyleven, Frank Viola, Brad Radke and Johan Santana

Again, hard to argue with any of these selections. I don’t think anyone else really even should be considered.

Relief Pitchers – Rick Aguilera and Joe Nathan

Again, very easy selections, and no one else to really even consider, at least if they were limited to two. 

Catcher – Joe Mauer  

I mean, who could have even finished 2^nd? Brian Harper? 

DH– Paul Molitor  

Another pretty easy selection. He had three amazing seasons with the Twins. Now, if this was done a couple of years from now, Jason Kubel has to be in the conversation. 

Infield – Kent Hrbek, Justin Morneau, Chuck Knoblauch, Greg Gagne and Gary Gaetti

Could you make a decent argument for Corey Koskie? Probably. Other than that though, these selections were easy as well. Hrbek had to make the team, and Morneau is an MVP who finished 2^nd once and will likely be in the Top 3 again this year. 

Outfield – Kirby Puckett, Torii Hunter, Tom Brunansky and Dan Gladden

OK, I guess there really would only be one player on the All-Metrodome team that is even questionable. I realize he is now part of the media, but how is Dan Gladden on this list. Yes, he was on both World Series teams. I get that. He was the team’s leadoff hitter in both championship teams, but wow, was he not good. In his five seasons with the Twins, his on-base percentage was just .318. It was never higher than .331. In 1991, his OBP was just .306! That’s horrible. So, the next question you may ask is for me to name a player that should be on the All-Metrodome team in place of Gladden. I’ve got five players (including Gladden) for you to consider:

	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	2B	3B	HR
Dan Gladden	0.268	0.318	0.382	0.700	117	26	38
Michael Cuddyer	0.269	0.345	0.450	0.795	160	27	92
Jacque Jones	0.279	0.327	0.455	0.782	189	15	132
Matt Lawton	0.277	0.379	0.428	0.808	163	13	72
Shane Mack	0.309	0.375	0.479	0.854	119	24	67

Gladden spent five seasons with the Twins. Shane Mack spent five seasons with the Twins. Matt Lawton spent parts of seven seasons being incredibly underrated with the Twins. Jacque Jones spent seven seasons in a Twins uniform. Michael Cuddyer has been with the Twins since 2001. So, there are three players who are clearly much better options for the All-Metrodome team than Gladden. If you want, I’d be happy to add Randy Bush as another option who could be better. He spent 12 seasons with the Twins.

Obviously this isn’t some life-altering decision, but it makes no sense. But if one name out of 17 is bad, that’s not too bad at all. What do you think? 

TWINS 5, WHITE SOX 3

Alright, I’m right up there with other Twins fans that just do not like Mark Buehrle. However, sometimes you have to just give a little respect, and what Buehrle did over his last two starts is simply incredible. First of all, he had the perfect game which is amazing. It was only the 18^th in Major League Baseball’s history. And then last night, he started out by getting the first 17 Twins hitters out. He carried another perfect game into the 6^th inning. Like him or not, that is absolutely remarkable.

That said, I felt just fine when he walked Alexi Casilla. I was also glad that Denard Span lined a clean single up the middle for the first hit. I would have hated to see one of the Twins players bunt for a hit to break up the string, and even more, I would have hated to see a questionable hit/error decide it. You know, a play like the next one, when Joe Mauer hit a ‘double’ to left field that really should have been caught by Scott Podsednik. But within three batters, Buehrle lost the perfect game, the no-hitter and then the shutout. Then in the 7^th inning, the Twins scored four more runs. Brendan Harris drove in a run to give the Twins the lead. Two batters later, Nick Punto slapped a single to right field to drive in two. Then Octavio Dotel came in and walked three, including Justin Morneau with the bases loaded that gave the Twins the 5-1 lead. 

Scott Baker was good. He gave up one run on just four hits over the first six innings. His performance was unfortunately overshadowed by Buehrle, but he was good. He walked none and struck out six. Jose Mijares then got five outs. Bobby Keppel got out of the 8^th inning, and then gave up two runs in the 9^th inning, doing just enough to create a save situation for Joe Nathan who only had to get the final out. 

Tonight, I will be in attendance to see Francisco Liriano and the Twins take on Bartolo Colon and the White Sox, hoping to see the Twins complete the sweep! 

Any thoughts?
MINOR LEAGUE REPORT

Tuesday – SethSpeaks.net Hitter of the Day – Steve Tolleson, Rochester Red Wings

Tuesday – SethSpeaks.net Pitcher of the Day – Philip Humber, Rochester Red Wings  

ROCHESTER REPORT

Tuesday –Rochester 7, Gwinnett 1  – Philip Humber got some run support and did well with it. He gave up just one run on four hits in seven innings. He walked two and struck out four. Armando Gabino threw two shutout innings. Steve Tolleson went 2-3 with a walk. Matt Macri went 2-4 with his 19^th double. Justin Huber was 2-5 with his 15^th double. Jose Morales was 2-5. Danny Valencia was back in the lineup and had a double.      

ROCKCAT RECAP

Tuesday – New Britain 1, New Hampshire 5 – The Rockcats played two games on this day because of a power outage in New Hampshire. It would be safe to say that the Rockcats had no offensive fire power on this day. In the first game, they managed just five hits. Whit Robbins went 2-3 with his 18^th double. Ryan Mullins started and gave up five runs (1 earned) on six hits and two walks in 4.2 innings. He struck out six. Alex Burnett came in and got the final four outs.  

Tuesday – New Britain 0, New Hampshire 5 – In the second game, the bats managed just three hits. Brian Dinkelman hit his 26^th double. Deolis Guerra got the start. He did alright through two innings, but then he faced six batters in the third inning and got none of them out. All told, he gave up five runs on six hits and a walk. Kyle Waldrop then threw two more shutout innings. Carlos Gutierrez gave up a hit and a walk in a scoreless inning. He struck out two. Spencer Steedley walked two in a scoreless inning.             

MIRACLE MEMOS

Tuesday – Ft. Myers 1, Brevard County 4 – The Miracle were held to just four hits in this game. Mark Dolenc and Evan Bigley each hit a double. Tyler Robertson started and gave up three runs on seven hits and a walk in seven innings. Henry Arias came in and gave up a run on two hits and a walk in his inning. Loek Van Mil struck out one in his perfect inning.  

SNAPPERS SNIPPETS

Tuesday – Beloit 5, Great Lakes 8 – Brad Tippett has been, by far, the top pitcher for the Snappers this season. He was due for a rough start. In this game, he gave up seven runs (3 earned) on eight hits and a walk in just 4.2 innings. Blake Martin gave up a run in 1.2 innings. He struck out three. Steve Blevins then was perfect threw 1.2 innings. James Beresford went 2-5 with his sixth double. Nate Hanson went 2-4. Michael Harrington hit his 27^th double. Aaron Hicks hit his seventh double.   

E-TWINS EXTRAS

Tuesday – Elizabethton, Johnson City – Postponed by Rain.

GCL TWINS GOINGS ON

Tuesday – GCL Twins 2, GCL Rays 2 – This game was called as well in the 10^th inning and will be completed next week. I likely won’t think to look back, so I figured I would show some highlights already. Rory Rhodes and Hyun-wook Choi each went 2-4. Rhodes hit his fifth double. Choi stole his second base. Mark Grudzielanek went 1-3 with a double. Adrian Salcedo had another strong start. In six innings, he gave up two runs on eight hits. He walked none and struck out five. Nelvin Fuentes struck out three in two shutout frames. Eliecer Cardenas struck out the six in the 9^th inning.  

Please feel free to Send me an e-mail, or leave your questions or comments here.