Puckett's Pond » Hideki Matsui http://puckettspond.com A Minnesota Twins Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More Sat, 25 May 2013 16:54:17 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 2011 Series Preview: Twins vs Athletics (4/8-4/10) http://puckettspond.com/2011/04/08/2011-series-preview-twins-vs-athletics-48-410/ http://puckettspond.com/2011/04/08/2011-series-preview-twins-vs-athletics-48-410/#comments Fri, 08 Apr 2011 14:07:09 +0000 Wally Fish http://puckettspond.com/?p=4569 Finally the Twins get to kick of year 2 of Target Field. To make things even better, their opponent doesn’t come out of the ridiculously loaded AL East. Both teams head into the first of a three game series with offenses ranked in the bottom 3rd of the American League in terms of runs scored. While each team has played only 6 games, they share a common opponent in the Toronto Blue Jays. Like the Twins, the A’s went 1-2 against Toronto.

Dropping in to offer up the A’s perspective on the series is Swingin’ A’s Lead Writer, Joseph Lopez.

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]]> http://puckettspond.com/2011/04/08/2011-series-preview-twins-vs-athletics-48-410/feed/ 0 Jim Thome http://puckettspond.com/2010/08/09/jim-thome/ http://puckettspond.com/2010/08/09/jim-thome/#comments Tue, 10 Aug 2010 00:18:39 +0000 http://twinkietalk.com/?p=2168 July 23, 2010: Jim Thome for the Minnesota Twins in action during a game against the hometown Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland. The Orioles beat the Twins 3 - 2.

Nobody was really sure what to expect when the Twins inked Jim Thome to a one-year, $1.5 million deal in the offseason. He had a good 2009 for the White Sox, batting .249/.372/.493, but was awful after being dealt to the Dodgers at the trade deadline, batting .235/.235/.235 in 17 plate appearances as a pinch-hitter. Even though the price was certainly right, it didn’t really look like Thome would be a good fit for the Twins. He’s a left-handed bat in a lineup stocked with good left-handed hitters, and he can’t hit left-handed pitching at all anymore (he slugged just .421 against southpaws last year). He’s in his twilight years, he can’t play in the field, and his performance as a pinch-hitter (which was Bill Smith’s reasoning behind the signing) was disappointing. Between Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer, the Twins already had enough decent hitters who really shouldn’t play in the field. Far from being washed up, however, Jim Thome has actually been one of the best hitters on the team this season, and one of the best free agent bargains of the offseason. (more…)

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