Archive for May, 2011

Happy Memorial Day, Puckett’s Pond Readers. This is a bittersweet holiday, as we fire up the grills, visit friends and family, and celebrate the unofficial start of summer, but also take time to remember the millions of Americans who have died in wars, from Lexington and Concord to Iraq and Afghanistan. This Twins vs. Tigers series also brings out some mixed emotions. It is still a battle between intense division rivals who have a recent history of competing for the Central Division title. But the stakes are much lower this time, as the Twins enter with baseball’s worst record, and the Tigers [...]

This is part six in a series examining every Twins team that has made the playoffs. Whether the current version of the Twins is 20 games over .500 or stuck in last place, fans can always hold onto memories of successful teams past. Previous articles in the series: 1965, 1969, 1970, 1987, 1991   The Minnesota Twins were reborn in 2002. The championships of 1987 and 1991 failed to usher in a generation of prosperity for the team, and it suffered through eight losing seasons in the mid and late 90s. Fan interest waned along with team talent, and by 2000, [...]

The Target Field crowd cheered when Jim Hoey induced the final out of the 8th inning Friday night. Perhaps never before in the history of sports has a team done so little to earn applause, as the Twins horrific bullpen gifted the Angels five runs that inning, ruining a solid Twins offensive performance and a brilliant Scott Baker start. By the top of the 9th inning, when Hoey walked off the field after surrendering the go-ahead run, the cheers had soured to a chorus of well-deserved boos. Friday’s six run meltdown was just the latest in a string of contemptible [...]

When people start saying “things can only go up from here” that is usually a nice way of saying “wow, things really suck” and for the Twins right now, that’s pretty accurate. After winning three straight games against Seattle and Oakland, the Twins have now lost 5 of their last 6 games and are a season-worst 16 games below .500. Though the offense has been a little better in the past couple of weeks, the bullpen has been downright terrible which has cost the Twins a number of potential wins. This 3-game weekend set finishes out a 6-game home-stand after which [...]

I cannot believe it is Friday again.  Despite what many thought could have been a turn around for the Twins before they started the series against the Diamondbacks last week, the Twins have returned to their losing ways and are 1-5 since last Friday.  Not the way to climb out of a hole, and the Twins are now 14.5 games behind the Indians, with no real hope in sight.  But even when the Twins are playing poorly there are writers all over the internet writing smart and intelligent articles about baseball, and even about the Minnesota Twins.  Without further ado, here [...]

Two years ago, Twins fans watched in suspense as catcher Joe Mauer chased a hallowed batting record. As late as June 21st, his average stood at .407, and for a few weeks it looked as if Mauer might be the first man since World War II to hit .400 in a season. Mauer didn’t make it, though his .365 mark at the end of the year was still pretty impressive. While most Twins fans would love to see the 2009 team instead of the dreadful group of players on the field this year, there is some good news. Twins fans can once again watch [...]

I have never been one of those people that knows a lot about baseball, the depth charts of other Major League teams and their Minor League affiliates.  As a result I am generally lost when other writers start talking about the how the “value” of a particular player is different to different clubs.  I understand the concept, I just do not have a firm grasp on what that value is, and generally speaking, I do not have a great desire to dig deep enough to raise any contradictions, I am happy just taking these statements at face value. As the [...]

The optimism the Twins created with their recent three game winning streak has suffered a painful demise. After briefly passing up the Astros for the 29th best record in MLB, the Twins staggered right back to the bottom with three epic fails in the Arizona desert. Unlike the first 27 Twins losses, in which terrible hitting, pitching, and fielding all contributed to the team’s futility, the sweep against the Diamondbacks can be blamed on a single culprit: the bullpen. Words cannot describe how completely worthless Twins relievers were in this series – at least, not words that I’m willing to use on a [...]

This is part five in a series examining every Twins team that has made the playoffs. Whether the current version of the Twins is 20 games over .500 or stuck in last place, fans can always hold onto memories of successful teams past. Previous articles in the series: 1965, 1969, 1970, 1987   Every Twins can recall the image. It is a picture of a short, stocky slugger, his mouth agape and his right fist raised in triumph as he rounds second base. The Metrodome crowd is not visible in the background, but one can almost hear their frenzied screaming [...]

I’m fairly confident saying that I know less about the 2011 Arizona Diamondbacks than any other MLB team.  I asked a couple of my friends if they could name anyone on the Arizona roster and all of them did better than I did.  I asked the other Twins Twin and he at least identified a guy that USED to play for the Diamondbacks, Brandon Webb, even if that was two years ago.  Since interleague play is so brief, and the Twins are probably NOT going to be playing the Diamondbacks in the World Series, I thought this would be a [...]