Kuzul

(This article will also include my awards for the American League and National League).

To an extent, I believe in sabermetrics.  I don’t tout ERA and batting average with RISP as individual statistics, but as team statistics, even if an individual player must come through when it counts.  Both are still important to have, but neither are a good way to evaluate an individual player.

Last year, I argued that Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners should be the American League Cy Young winner.  This year however, I don’t think so.

It appears that baseball fans in recent years have caught a bad case of Sadecki-itis.

I don’t care about how good Hernandez’s ERA is or how many strikeouts he threw: Awarding the top honor for pitching to someone that went 13-12 for a team that won 62 games is exactly why people are losing interest in pro baseball.

To put it simply, it’s abhorrent.

In 2009, Zack Greinke of the Kansas City Royals and Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants both won the honors for Cy Young.  Greinke finished 16-8, while Lincecum finished 15-7.  At least, in the case of Greinke, he had dominated early that season, while the Giants had a respectable record of 88 wins.

The Mariners, plain and simply, have stunk.  Strikeouts are boring, because people want to see wins.  To some extent, how hard is it to be the best player on a team that no one takes seriously?

And here’s the irony of eye-popping stats: The New York Yankees have performed better as a whole when Alex Rodriguez has been at his relative worst.

Awarding league honors to the best players from bad teams, like I said, is exactly why fans have generally stopped caring about pro baseball.  You may think it’s in the interest of fairness to award the hard-luck guys, but at the same time, the league needs viable stars in order to generate revenue.

It is what it is.

I’m an A’s fan, and they have plenty of hard luck players.  But even I know that the league wouldn’t be in business without New York, Chicago, and Boston, not by shear size of those markets but by consumer willingness to spend money.

So get over it.

These days as well, I would submit to you that there’s no such thing as a hard-luck pro baseball player, when even mediocre talent can make upwards of a million dollars per year.

To me, it’s the same as describing a 6’2”, 295 lb NFL lineman as “smallish.”

Now that I have made my spiel, here are my AL and NL awards.

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Scott Baker and Kevin Slowey will battle for the final spot in long relief in the Twins‘ bullpen once the American League playoffs begin next week, according to manager Ron Gardenhire. The team will start Francisco Liriano in Game 1, Carl Pavano in Game 2, and Brian Duensing in Game 3 of their ALDS matchup with either New York or Tampa Bay.

Gardenhire also noted that right-hander Nick Blackburn would get the Game 4 nod if necessary.

Gardenhire‘s decision-making has gotten to be nearly beyond reproach: He has led the Twins to six division titles in nine seasons and perennially gets the most out of his personnel in order to overcome high rates of attrition among his most talented players. If he doesn’t win the Manager of the Year award this season, there ought to be an investigation.

That said, Gardenhire is wrong on this point. Blackburn has had a great month since being recalled from Triple-A, but his numbers since August 23 (1.97 ERA with a WHIP a shade under 1.00) cannot erase the misery of his first half. Blackburn had a 6.66 ERA and a WHIP pushing 1.70 when he was sent down in July.

Blackburn vs. Baker

Furthermore, since his return from the abyss, Blackburn has faced the following teams in his seven appearances: Seattle, Texas, Detroit, Texas again, Cleveland, Oakland, and Cleveland again. The Rangers will make the postseason, but the Twins would not see them until a potential ALCS meeting. The others are non-contenders with poor offenses.

On the other hand, Scott Baker continues to deliver underrated but solid performances. After missing three starts in September with a sore elbow, Baker returned apparently at full strength last week. He held the opposing Indians to just two runs (one earned) on four hits and one walk in five innings, punching out seven. For the season, Baker now has 139 strikeouts and 39 walks in 165.1 innings pitched.

That strikeout rate is the best of Baker’s six-year career, and the walk rate is his best since 2007. His .326 BABIP against suggests he’s gotten very unlucky on his way to a 4.52 ERA, though Baker has always battled to keep the ball on the ground and his 1.20 home runs per nine innings is a potential problem against AL East maulers like Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, and Evan Longoria.

Three Starters or Four?

Crucially, though, Baker could operate without fear of giving up too many long balls if he pitched in the Twins’ spacious new home, Target Field. A Game 4 matchup in the first round would be on the road, but because of the shortened five-game series format, the Twins would do well not to use a fourth starter in that series anyway. Liriano, Pavano, and Duensing would give them the best chance to win such a series.

Having reached the best-of-seven ALCS, then, the Twins could expand their rotation to make room for Baker. A Game 3 or 4 start in the second round of the playoffs would be at home, and Baker would be the man for the job.

In the meantime, the Twins’ bullpen (which lacks a ground-ball oriented right-hander) could benefit from the injection of Blackburn, a decent option for middle-inning relief in a hitter’s park like Yankee Stadium.

Blackburn is a fine pitcher, and fits the Twins’ organizational philosophy of pitching to contact and keeping the ball down. That makes him the easy choice for Gardenhire and his staff.

Given Baker’s better all-around skill set, however, and the need for power stuff to face the vaunted lineups of either New York or Tampa Bay, the Twins would be better-suited to hand the ball to their more veteran hurler if they advance beyond the first round of the AL playoffs.

Matt Trueblood is a student at Loyola University Chicago and a B/R College Writing Intern. Follow him on Twitter.

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The Minnesota Twins became the first team in baseball to clinch a playoff spot. They still have 10 games remaining to play out the season. 

For manager Ron Gardenhire this is a luxury he has not been afforded in the past.

The past two years, the American League Central division title needed to be determined by extending the season by one game. In 2008, the Twins lost a 1-0 game to the Chicago White Sox. In 2009, the Twins repaid the favor to the Detroit Tigers. Even 163 games wasn’t enough as the tie-breaking game required three extra innings as the Twins won 6-5.

Even the Twins’ divisional title in 2006 was not decided until the final game of the season.

The Twins stumbled into the playoffs, losing the first two games of a three-game series with the Chicago White Sox. 

They clinched the division by winning the the final game of  the series—the final game of the regular season.

Thankfully for the Twins, who were battling with Detroit for the division lead, the Tigers were swept at home by the Kansas City Royals, a team that went into the series with 100 losses.

So what is Gardenhire and the Twins to do?

The Twins are currently battling the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays for the best record in the American League. Currently, the Yankees hold a half-game lead over the Twins, and a two-and-a-half game lead over the Rays.

Should the Twins strive to win as many games as possible to secure home-field throughout the American League playoffs, or rest their regulars and set up their pitching rotation for the playoffs?

I say do both.

The Twins close out the season with a three-game series at Detroit and Kansas City and then host Toronto for four games to end the season.

The Twins are are 9-6 against the Tigers this year and 12-3 against the Royals. If they can win five of six, along with a split against the Blue Jays, the Twins could possibly end the season with a 99-63 record.

Consider that the Yankees’ remaining schedule has two games with the Rays, six against the Red Sox, and three against the Blue Jays, all teams they have a combined record of 22-21, it is entirely possible New York could go 6-5 in their remaining games finishing at 98-64, one game behind Minnesota.

On top of this, after Tampa Bay finishes the series with the Yankees they will face the cellar dwellers of the three divisions—Seattle, Baltimore, and Kansas City, teams they have a combined record of 17-8 against. The best case scenario for the Twins would be for the Rays to go 9-3 in their final 12 games and tie the Yankees at 98-64, and 9-9 versus each other.

How poetic would it be if only the Rays and Yankees had to play an extra game to determine the divisional winner?

Of course, for all of this to occur, the Twins would have to play to win the rest of the season.

With Joe Mauer currently out of the lineup with a sore knee, and Michael Cuddyer having played first base every game except one in place of Justin Morneau, it might be wise to give him a couple of days off.

The bench players, along with September call-ups, have been doing a good job over the past 10 games, providing a rest for the starters, with the Twins winning eight of 10 games. 

In fact, in the third game against the Cleveland Indians, it looked more like the Rochester Red Wings on the field.

Look for Mauer and Cuddyer to get multiple games off over the next week, while Gardenhire assesses his options for the postseason roster.

Outfielder Ben Revere could possibly make it because of his speed, while Jose Morales, a switch-hitting catcher, will get some looks as a potential backup for first base.

Jason Repko could make it as a late-inning defensive outfield replacement.

That leaves Nick Punto, Alexi Casilla, and Matt Tolbert to battle for the utility infielder role.

As far the rotation goes, the Twins appear to be set.

Since returning to the rotation, Nick Blackburn is only 3-2 in six starts, but has a 1.81 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP. He joins Carl Pavano, Francisco Liriano, and Brian Duensing.

There is a fine line between resting your regulars and staying sharp. Gardenhire is not practiced in the art of coasting to the finish, so it will be interesting to see what his approach will be.

With an unbalanced schedule, the best record does not always fall to the best team. There have been plenty of people who point out that the top three teams in the AL East would all lead the AL West and contend for the AL Central divisions.

With a 52-25 record at home, the Twins need to strive for the best record in the American League.

The Twins could use every advantage they can get their hands on.

Now, if only they could get Morneau back in the lineup.

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For Minnesota, the magic number for clinching the American League Central title (8) is smaller than the Twins’ lead in the division (9).

Since the All-Star break no one has been better than the Twins this year—and over the past 50 years there are only two teams that have been this good. 

At 88-58, they are but one half-game from the best record in all of baseball and home-field advantage through the American League Championship Series.

The Twins are near the top of the team leader boards for defense, offense and pitching. 

Their .278 batting average is tied with the Rangers for tops in the league.

They have the second-best fielding percentage of .988, behind the Yankees’ .989. 

Their team ERA is 3.77, second only to the Oakland A’s at 3.59. 

Include the inaugural season of Target Field, and all of this points to a potential third World Series championship for the Minnesota Nine.

Yet something just doesn’t feel right.

Here’s my look at five things that just “feel” wrong, and an attempt to change that—in my own mind, at least.

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Coming into this week’s series against the Chicago White Sox, it was a do-or-die situation for the Sox. They needed to take at least two from the Twins to stay afloat in the American League Central pennant race.

The Twins went ahead and stepped on the head of the White Sox. Race over.

Even though the Twins haven’t technically won the AL Central, it’s now just a matter of time before the Twins officially clinch the Central with a “magic number” of eight combined Twins wins and White Sox loses.

However, now is not the time to shift into neutral and coast to the finish. There is still a lot at stake.

It’s no secret that the Twins have struggled mightily against the New York Yankees in both the regular season and the playoffs in the past decade. This year hasn’t been any different. The Twins need to do everything possible to avoid playing the Yankees.

Avoiding the Yankees will not be easy if not impossible. With that being said, the Twins need to bring the Yankees, or any other team to them.

The Twins need home field advantage.

As of Friday morning, the Twins are tied for the best record in the American league with the Tampa Bay Rays. Having the best record in the league equates to home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Coming in second means possibly having home field advantage only in the first round.

If the season were to end right now, the Twins would have the Yankees in the opening round at Target Field and the Rays and Rangers would match up with the Rays gaining home field in that series. If the Twins and Rays were to both advance, the Rays would have home field advantage in the American League Championship Series.

What does that all mean?

Even if the Twins do have the central under their control, they still have to play for playoff positioning. 

Although resting the ever-day players is a must, there has to be a happy medium between resting the starters and still being competitive. Luckily, the Twins are done playing competitive and will finish the season playing the Oakland A’s (3 games), Cleveland Indians (3 games), Detroit Tigers (3 games), Kansas City Royals (3 games), and the Toronto Blue Jays (4 games). Ten of the 16 games are at Target Field, as well.

In other words, the Twins are in prime position to still win games with their “B” squad in the game against these much lesser opponents. You couldn’t draw it up any better for the Twins to end the season.

Jason Kubel will have a chance to get his wrist to 100%, Mauer can get a few more days off, and the rotation can get an extra day or two to rest. All of which and more is very much needed to have a good playoff run.

All in all, the Twins need to keep on fighting in effort to lock up great positing for the playoffs. Let the Yankees, Rays, or Rangers come to Minnesota and deal with the hottest team in baseball at their brand-new stadium.

Joe Mauer hitting an opposite field double; Jim Thome crushing hanging sliders out of the yard; Francisco Liriano baffling hitters with his slider.

All of that and hopefully more fireworks has to happen at Target Field as much as possible during the playoffs.

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 Ron Gardenhhire’s Minnesota Twins are well on their way to winning the AL Central.

This would be Gardenhire‘s sixth division title in nine years.

Another division title was within reach, if not for a 1-0 loss in game 163 against the Chicago White Sox in 2008.

Since he took over for Tom Kelly in 2002, Gardenhire‘s record is 792-644, a .551 winning percent.

He has guided the Twins to four ninety-win seasons, and his team is poised for its fifth this season. Compare that to only three for Kelly over 15 seasons. 

Only once have the Twins finished below .500 under Gardenhire‘s leadership.  

Incredibly over the same time span, every other AL Central division team has had their skipper named the AL Manager of the Year, while Gardenhire has finished second five times—twice to a division counterpart.

His .551 winning percentage is better than any of the last 10 AL managers to win the award.

Has his success been held against him?

Here are some interesting statistics for the AL Manager of the Year winner since 2000.

• 2009: Mike Scioscia’s Angels lost three more games than the previous season.
• The average turn around from the previous season is 23.3 more wins. Gardenhire‘s best turnaround has been only 13 wins.
• The average record for the winner was 97-65. Gardenhire‘s best season was 96-66 in 2006.
• 2003: Tony Pena’s Royals improved an incredible 34 games from 2002—and still finished third in the AL Central.
• Four of the 10 winners of the award did not win their division.

Is the fact that Gardenhire took over for a two-time World Series Champion manager being held against him? Kelly, even though he won to World Series Championships, never had to win a divisional round in the playoffs.

Until the team started to increase its payroll, he has managed one of the lowest payrolls every year.

Gardenhire has done more with less than every other manager, with perhaps the exception of Joe Maddon in Tampa Bay, who won the award in 2008. In his first season, while managing the lowest payroll in baseball, Gardenhire had to also deal with the foreboding talk of contraction of the team—a year in which the Twins won 94 games.

There’s talk that Texas Ranger’s manager, Ron Washington, is the leading candidate this season. The Rangers should win the AL West for the first time since 1999. But the division is weak, and the Rangers may not finish with a record any better than last season.

The problem is Gardenhire and the Twins have been a consistent, winning ball club.

The manager of the year is usually recognized for turning around a losing team, something Gardenhire has not had to do.

Perhaps for next year, the Twins should tank it, and strive to lose, so Gardenhire has a chance in 2012.

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After the acquisition of closer Matt Capps, the Minnesota Twins had a consistent bullpen. Every reliever knew what his job was going to be. Every reliever had his inning.

It was organized. Peaceful.

Flash forward a month.

The Twins acquired two more relievers: Randy Flores off of waivers from the Colorado Rockies and Brian Fuentes via trade from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of California of the United States in North America.

Now, everything is a complete mess and it’s evident by the pen’s performance as of late.

Starting with Thursday’s absolutely terrible loss to the Tigers in 13 innings, it became quite evident that Ron Gardenhire and the Twins’ coaching staff is too inclined on using the deep bullpen.

What do I mean by that?

Since the Twins acquired Flores and Fuentes, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire seems to be too keen on “playing the match-up.”

Instead of letting his reliever pitch his inning, Gardy is now using the one-and-done strategy where he brings in a pitcher to get an out, then goes to another reliever to get another out or the final two outs.

In Friday’s game, the Twins went through three relief pitchers in just one inning. Three. This is coming off the heels of a game that required the use of two starting pitchers, Brian Duensing and Nick Blackburn, as relievers.

It’s one thing if it’s a 17-inning game and you have no other choice to use a starter. However, if the starter is coming in during the 11th inning, something is wrong.

Now, the Twins entire pitching staff, sans Francisco Liriano and Carl Pavano, is in utter disarray.

What happens if Friday’s game goes into extra innings? You just burnt three pitchers in the eighth inning trying to get three outs and a handful of your previous relievers were taxed in the previous game and probably unavailable. 

Does Gardy send in Michael Cuddyer to toe the rubber? How about seeing what Denard Span has?

Before we had this depth, the bullpen had a rhythm. It was effective. Now, the bullpen seems disorganized and that may be leading to the inefficiencies we’ve been seeing over the past couple weeks.

Now, I’m not against playing the match-ups if you have the players. However, those match-ups should be in the eighth and the ninth, not the sixth or seventh or when your entire pen is available to throw. Two pitchers in an inning should be enough unless, of course, one flounders and needs to be yanked.

Also, it’s September. That means expanded rosters. More pitchers are available to use. However, for some reason, these pitchers weren’t with the team for Thursday’s marathon. 

Even with the expanded rosters, I’ll still want Crain, Guerrier, and Flores in the game before Alex Burnett and Rob Delaney. These pitchers should only be used when the game is out of reach or the bullpen in completely taxed like Friday’s game.

Hopefully, Gardenhire is taking a long look at his pitching staff and will rethink his strategy and going back to how things were before. 

Stick with what works. Now is not the time to experiment with a new bullpen strategy.

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For the past two seasons, 162 games were not enough to crown the AL Central Division Champion.

In 2008, the Chicago White Sox hosted game 163 at U.S. Cellular Field, defeating the Minnesota Twins 1-0 on a Jim Thome home run. 

In 2009, the Detroit Tigers were leading the division by three games with a mere 10 games remaining, including a four game against the second place Twins.

After splitting the series with the Twins, Detroit only needed win two of three from the Chicago White Sox ensuring them the AL Central title. Even if they only won one of the three, Minnesota would have to sweep the Kansas City Royals to tie the Tigers.

The Tigers failed. Game 163 was played at The Metrodome, where nine innings were not enough to decide the division.

The Twins ended up winning in the bottom of the 12th.

What are the chances that the Minnesota Twins are heading for a third straight game 163 to decide the AL Central?

The Twins currently hold a three-and-a-half game lead over Chicago, and a nine-game lead over Detroit.

At this point in the season in 2009 the Tigers had a larger lead at four-and-a-half games over the Twins, and a five-game lead over the White Sox.

Detroit finished the 2009 season 18-17.

The Twins went 22-12.

Both teams ended up at 86-76.

Here’s a look at the remaining schedules for the Twins, White Sox, and Tigers. All three teams have 11 series remaining in the season.

Minnesota Twins

On the road (15 games): Seattle, Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, and Kansas City.

Current road record: 32-33

At Target Field (19 games): Detroit, Texas, Kansas City, Oakland, Cleveland, and Toronto.

Current home record: 40-22

For the Twins, only four of their remaining series are against teams with a winning record, and only Chicago and Texas are in the hunt for the playoffs.

The Twins will continue to play well at home, while playing .500 baseball on the road.

Prediction: 20-14 down the stretch finishing at 92-70 overall.

Chicago White Sox

On the road (16 games): Cleveland, Boston, Detroit, Oakland, and Los Angeles.

Current road record: 32-33

At U.S. Cellular Field (19 games): New York, Kansas City, Minnesota, Detroit, Boston, and Cleveland.

Current home record: 36-25

The White Sox have 10 games remaining against the Yankees and Red Sox, both with better records than any team in the AL Central currently.

They have the advantage of hosting the Twins in their final three meetings of the season, although Minnesota has already won the season series, and would host the tie-breaking game, if necessary. 

Like the Twins the White Sox struggle on the road, and with trips to Boston, Oakland, and Los Angeles, even a .500 record will be difficult. 

Prediction: 18-15 to finish the season at 87-73 overall, four games behind the Twins.

Detroit Tigers

On the road (22 games): Toronto, Minnesota, Kansas City, Texas, Chicago, Cleveland, and Baltimore.

Current road record: 20-39

At Comerica Park (13 games): Chicago, Baltimore, Kansas City, and Minnesota

Current home record: 43-25

The Tigers have the best home record in the AL Central, and the worst road record of the three teams competing for the division.

There are just not enough home games for the Tigers, and with the toughest remaining schedule, there is no way they climb back into the race.

Prediction: 15-20 to end the season at 78-84, 14 games behind the Twins.

There’s no need for an extra game, as the Twins give manager Ron Gardenhire his sixth division title in nine years.

Although, anything can happen, just ask a Detroit Tiger fan.

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How can you pull a man from a no-hitter? Ever?

You say you pulled him because his pitch count was too high and you were saving his career?

What about his possible immortality in baseball history?

I am not saying he would have pulled it off, but at least let him pitch until he gives one hit up.

Geez, if I hear another word about pitch counts I am going to puke my guts out. I know I am old school, but my God, who was the man who decided 100 pitches was all a pitcher could take?

In 1963, not when they were throwing balls of sox or pitching from 40 feet, Juan Marichal pitched a 16-inning shutout over the Milwaukee Braves, 1-0. Warren Spahn picked up the loss after going 15 innings of shutout ball.

Marichal faced 59 batters and Spahn looked at 56.

Maybe age or maturity was the factor? I don’t think so. Marichal was 25 and Slowey is 26.

Pitch count? Pitch count, is that what you said? Pitch count? I don’t want to hear pitch count ever again, do you mark me well?

Kevin Slowey was working on a no-no for the Minnesota Twins yesterday while leading the Oakland Athletics 4-0 in the seventh inning. Manager Ron Gardenhire rode out to the mound on his white horse and told the youngster that his day was done. His tryst with immortality a thing of the past.

Unfortunately for Slowey, he had reached the dreadful 100 pitch count—yea surpassed it by six.

If I were the pitcher and had any competitive bone in my body, I would have said “Hell no! You can’t be serious.”

Wonder how many pitches Marichal threw? 200-250? Oh yeah, he came back and pitched seven innings five days later.

Most pitchers don’t ever get past the fourth or fifth inning with a no-hitter intact during their careers.

Truth be told, he would have probably lost his bid the next inning, but we will never know, will we?

“We’re not going to come close to risking this guy,” Gardenhire said. “It’s the way it is. It’s sad. I’d be booing too because I want to see a no-hitter, but I also know I’m responsible for this guy’s arm.”

Letting a shutout go to the wayside is one thing—happens every week. But a no-hitter or perfect game is another animal altogether.

As Lady Fate had her way, the reliever Jon Rauch gave up a double to Cliff Pennington after striking out his first batter.

The Twins went on to win 4-2, so I guess all is well in the Twin Cities.

It was only the fourth time in 20 years that a pitcher had been relieved of his duty while crafting a no-hitter.

In 1990, Mark Langston of the California Angels was the only one of the four whose bullpen did its job and finished what he started.

So you can say what you will—arm injury, Tommy John surgery, torn rotator cuff—hell, say it all. The point is history was flirted with yesterday, and someone will have to dig through the archives to pull out the facts that Slowey was pulled while fate held her breath.

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by shlepcar

…

I grew up in Minnesota and as a kid attended many Twins games at the old Met in Bloomington from 1977 through 1981.

I remember clearly, and somewhat sadly, being at the game in 1980 in which Twins center fielder Ken Landreaux’s 31-game hitting streak came to an end.

I remember going to the Mall of America for the first time and seeing where home plate for the Met used to be. I’d remember the games and players I liked seeing there—Bombo Rivera, Disco Dan Ford, Rod Carew—and then looking around to see a bunch of crappy mall stores. 

The Metrodome years hold some fond memories for me because the Twins won two World Series, but the place was a drag. It felt like an empty greenhouse. There became a time in 2002, though, where I’d have been content with the Twins playing there forever. That was the year Bud Selig tried, or at least professed to intend, to contract the Twins.

I was so angry at Minnesota for a while, because they were slow to approve any ballpark measures, and worse seemed to have an undying love for the Vikings—the heartbreaking, stupid Vikings! The Twins had won two World Series, and it seemed nobody cared. Of course, that was just passionate anger stemming from fear of losing my team.

The chance of it began to seem real enough that I had to entertain the idea of a life without baseball. I enjoy the Giants because I live in San Francisco and they are a National League team that doesn’t compete with the Twins, but they wouldn’t be enough. It was then that I really developed empathy for Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants fans.

When the Twins clinched the division that year, the team celebrated in the locker room with champagne while Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds” played (“Don’t worry about a thing/’cause every little thing’s gonna be all right”). It was cool to see that the players cared so much.

They felt it was a mission to win, figuring that if they did, it would be that much harder for Selig and the owners to get rid of them. That mission is one of the reasons that I will always be a Torii Hunter fan. He gave a crap.

So today, eight years after almost being contracted, I went to see my first Twins game at their new stadium, Target Field. I couldn’t tell you if the food was that great, though they did have walleye and pork chop on a stick. I couldn’t tell you how their new ballpark compares to all of the other modern ones. It isn’t better than the Giants’ park, but I doubt that many are.

It is the Twins, in downtown Minneapolis, outdoors. It’s perfect.

(My uncle from Wisconsin came with me and assured me that Miller Park is better, but he also frothed at the mouth at the mere mention of Brett Favre coming back to the Vikings, so take that with a grain of salt.)

…

Kevin Slowey wasn’t perfect against the Oakland Athletics today, but he was really good. He threw 106 pitches in seven innings, allowing five baserunners but no hits. Clinging to a 1-0 lead, Slowey got into a little trouble in the seventh, but with two runners on and one out, he got out of it when Rajai Davis hit into double play.

There was a sustained ovation at that point, as if the crowd was finally letting themselves believe that there was now a good chance that they might be witnessing a no-hitter—something that hasn’t happened for the Twins since Eric Milton pitched one against the Angels in September 1999.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Twins opened up their lead to 4-0 after Jim Thome hit his 16th home run of the season, and 580th of his career, with two on. It was a line shot to right, and it just so happened that a guy in a Thome shirt caught the ball.

With the lead expanded, the buzz definitely built in anticipation of Slowey returning to the mound, but instead, Jon Rauch headed out there to pitch the eighth. The whole stadium was pretty confused. People were angry, and there were a lot of boos. You could see everyone looking on their iPhones and Blackberries for instant answers and finding none.

Only after Rauch had allowed the no-hitter and shutout to lapse did word spread that Slowey was removed just as a precautionary measure. He’d missed his last start with tendinitis, and Ron Gardenhire wanted to keep him on a short leash.

AUGH!!

Okay, I suppose it makes sense. But I gotta admit being angry about it. I just feel like year after the year the Twins find success and then tighten up. I think not letting Slowey out there can also be seen as being symptomatic of a fear-based way of managing.

I know Gardenhire says it is the smart thing—and yes, I suppose it is—but it doesn’t make the thought it conjures invalid. The Twins have faced the Yankees in the playoffs multiple times in the past seven years and lost each time, and it seems that with each meeting, the Twins seems more and more intimidated.

That’s just mainly frustration talking. I know there is a wisdom to pitch counts and protecting pitchers, especially when the guy is already dealing with tendinitis. On the other hand, there does seem to be some undercurrent of wussiness at work when managers feel comfortable pushing pitch counts as the excuse.

There is a gap between the manager and fans that doesn’t seem to be going away, no matter how logical. Something stinks about it, and I think it is that it says to the fans that the manager, and in some cases the player, doesn’t care about winning as much as the fans do.

A no-hitter in August is of course nowhere near as important as a World Series Game Seven, but you gotta wonder if Jack Morris would ever get to pitch that 10th inning today (he ended up throwing 126 pitches).

In looking up the Morris pitch count, I found a 2009 baseball preview from the Minneapolis Star Tribune, which interestingly enough focuses on the differing schools of thought on pitch counts, with Slowey being the center of the article and Bert Blyleven, who defended the decision today, making a case against the pitch count police 16-and-a-half months ago.

I do wish, though, that Gardenhire would have let him go out there. Saying that there is “no chance” Slowey would’ve finished is no reason, especially when it is Gardenhire himself who makes the decision.

Gardenhire said after the game that he thinks the fans had the right to boo. If that’s the case, then he should have let Slowey out there and then gone to remove him so that Slowey could tip his cap and Gardenhire could hear the boos, not poor Jon Rauch.

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