4/30/2005 08:28:00 AM|W|P|SBG|W|P|Hi SBG fans, this is SBG. NO cat blogging yet, I don't know if Lucy will get around to it or not. With two weeks to go before the wedding, there isn't a lot of time to talk about Jags and Theo. Sorry boys! Last night, I was driving home and listening to the first couple of innings of the game. I was thinking that playing the Boys from Everywhere (LA of A!) would be a good test. The Twins had won five of their last ten games, all against the Royals. In fact, the Twins, going into last night had one win against teams over .500. So, seeing how they played against a good team would be interesting. Except it wasn't at first. Carlos Silva was getting lit up like a Roman candle on July 4. Balls were flying everywhere. After 3 innings, the game was 4-1, advantage BfrE and SBG and Lucy were off to eat Mexican food. (No, not Chipotle.) While we were enjoying our Fajitas, I happened to notice a TV in the corner. (I didn't say it was fine dining, either.) I knew the game had moved along quite a bit, but there was the rocket man, still in there, still pitching. And I noticed a few shots of Twins players scoring and shots of the crowd applauding. And I was thinking, hmmmm, maybe things are all right. Then, I saw a play that was the essence of Torii Hunter. Hunter hits the ball down the right field line and then tears toward first. After he rounds first, he temporarily slowed, so as to deke the right fielder and then he charged into second for a hustle (and guile) double. I've written a fair amount about Hunter in the past. Sometimes, I'm critical of him, like when he spouts off about lockerroom chemistry or he complains about who is or isn't returned to the Twins roster in the off season. Other times, I've expressed some disappointment with his production at the plate. This morning, I see he's hitting .238/.330/.450. But, there's no doubt that Hunter plays hard. It is fun to watch him play. His base running has really improved, and that double was a thing of beauty. Had I been at the ball park, I would have stood and cheered that effort. Back to the game. I saw that Joe Nathan was strolling out to pitch and I said to Lucy, I'm going to check the score. Perhaps someday I'll become a little more crafty (like, I could have pulled out my phone and checked it!). Nevertheless, I did check and see it was 7-4. And, of course, Nathan nailed down the ninth and the Twins won a come from behinder against a good team. This morning as I looked over the play-by-play account of the game, I realized Silva's outing was like sausage making, you don't want to know how he got there. Silva pitched four scoreless innings after the third, but he was in trouble a couple of times after that. In the fourth, the BrfE had 2nd and 3rd with no outs. In the fifth, the BfrE again had 2nd and 3rd with no outs and the bases loaded with one out. In each of these innings, the Twins bailed Silva out with a double play. Kind of reminds me of Silva's shutout last year. Butch and I went to that game. Back then, when this website had just millions, and not billions, of readers, I wrote:
I went to the Twins game last night with my Dad and the Twins won 10-0 behind Carlos Silva's 11-hit complete game shutout. Dad called it a "gem." Hee-hee. My Dad is pretty funny. Silva was in trouble all night. However, he kept inducing double plays, and the Angels never really hit a ball hard. On the other hand, the Twins offense continued to show that it is hitting its stride, bashing four homeruns and scoring runs in bunches. While not the 1927 Yankees, they now have scored an average of 6.25 runs in their last twelve games. With the shutout, the Twins now have the best team ERA (4.04) in the American League. Oh, and the bullpen has thrown a total of 3 1/3 innings in the last four days. That's good, because Kyle Lohse is pitching tonight.
That's right. Silva blanked the BfrE last year on 11 hits. And he avoided enough damage last night to get a good win for our side. That's what you get with Silva. Guile, guts and a lot of double plays. Silva also issued his first walk of the season, lowering his K/BB ratio from infinite to 9:1. Have a good weekend, everyone, and hopefully, there will be a Jags and Theo siting later today.|W|P|111487223515291119|W|P|Saturday Morning Twins Talk|W|P|sbg@stickandballguy.com4/30/2005 10:13:00 PM|W|P|Anonymous Anonymous|W|P|That is what I love about Silva. His games are fun to watch. I'm waiting for him to throw a game with 9 dps or 20 hits (all singles) for no runs or something like that. He's not a great pitcher, like Santana or Radke, but he's got so much style in how he wins or loses. Unlike Lohse, who runs hot and cold, inning to inning.4/28/2005 08:53:00 PM|W|P|SBG|W|P|Welcome SBG fans to a special game of Pepper! As some of you may know, I�m getting married to Lucy in just over two weeks. Even though I�m a wise old man, or at least an old man, just like everyone else, I have concerns and questions about married life. What can I expect? Are my worries unfounded? Am I making the right decision? As I have thought about being married to Lucy, I began to realize that a lot of issues have been gnawing at me. I have tossed and turned at night. I have laid awake pondering these important questions. Because I am the type of person who wants to confront and solve problems, I decided to bring these issues up with some of my fellow bloggers. These issues will be addressed here today for my billions of fans. Perhaps some of you will read the answers and learn something about yourselves and your marriages or future marriages. And so I present to you a special game of Pepper! with Cheesehead Craig from Oracle of Cheese, Shane from Greet Machine, and Cheer or Die from Vikings Underground. Gentlemen, thanks for your help. I appreciate it greatly. Now, let's play Pepper! Issue Number 1 � Should Cats be a Part of the Wedding Ceremony? SBG: As you should know by now, Lucy is a cat lover. I like our cats, too. But should the cats be a part of the ceremony? Let�s go to the judges: COD: Well, I'm a dog guy but I think if pets are considered part of your family then by all means. Include them! And for future guidance, I would rather invite my dogs to the dinner table than my mother-in-law! Shane: Unless the "cats" are man-eating tigers and lions that are there to demonstrate the virility and power of the groom ... then no. I would leave cats out of it. Or else you can end the ceremony with "Let the emasculation begin." CC: Sure, so long as you throw them in the air instead of rice. Better yet, drop them from the top of the church. The Lesson: Jags and Theo, you are staying home! But, you can eat dinner with us anytime! Issue Number 2 � How to Convince Lucy that Baseball is Quite Romantic SBG: The problem is that Lucy just doesn�t like baseball all that much. How can I convince her that baseball is actually very romantic? Boys? Shane: The last time I checked the "Kiss Cam" was still a part of the Metrodome experience. Kissing and baseball don't usually mix, but if the "Kiss Cam" doesn't get your romantic juices flowing, nothing will. CC: Baseball is romantic, especially if you're in one of those buildings next to Wrigley during a game. Nothing like 40,000 fans cheering you on while you're "going for home". COD: The Wife� and I used to go to baseball games. She would bring a book. I would drink beer and watch out for foul tips. That's about as romantic as it got. The Lesson: Maybe COD should have gone to Cubs games! I'll have to tell Lucy that maybe we can get on Kiss Cam! Issue Number 3 � True or False: Lucy should keep Fridge Stocked with Beer. Explain. SBG: I like to have a beer now and then. Should Lucy be in charge of keeping a properly cooled supply of the good stuff? CC: True. Attorneys are notorious for either drinking or using drugs. In order to make sure SBG is not out doing the latter, it would pay to make sure there is plenty of his favorite beverage chilling in the refrigerator at all times. COD: True and False. She should only keep the fridge stocked with beer for the first 3-years. After that, the husband tends to get fat and then Lucy should only stock mineral water and cottage cheese. Shane: True. She'll be in the kitchen anyway, right? Quick joke: What do you do when your wife's watch breaks? Nothing. There is a clock on the stove. Ba-dum-bum-bum. Thank you! I'll be sleeping on the couch all week. The Lesson: Beer will make me fat(ter) but keep me off of the hard stuff. Lucy, darling, I like good beer. And forget about fixing that watch. Issue Number 4 � Electronic Gadgets as Christmas Presents -- for Lucy SBG: Can I buy my wife electronic toys as presents? CC: A GPS with tracking capabilities with a tracking device implanted in SBG is a perfect electronic Christmas gift for newlyweds. There are others, but this is a family site. Shane: My father-in-law once bought my mother-in-law a 4 slot toaster for Christmas in the hopes she could make him more pieces of toast in half the time. This was not a good strategy. I have logged this information away for future reference. I now pass this info on to you. COD: Did you want to stay married? Unless Lucy can wear it, you will be sleeping on the couch come Xmas Day. The Lesson: She can wear a digital watch. Hmmm. Don't fix the watch, buy her a new digital. Am I catching on, guys? Issue Number 5 � Does Chipotle Count as Fine Dining? SBG: Can I get by with "dinner" on Friday night at the local fast food restaurant? CC: Chipotle does not count as fine dining. It's good food, don't get me wrong, but any food that is one sneeze away from being crushed and splatted all over your date does not count as fine dining. COD: Find an ethnic food you both like and then take a cooking class together. The Wife� and I are taking Thai and Seafood classes. It's been great. Cheesehead Craig has yet to find a cheese-curd cooking class so it doesn't work for all ethnic food tastes. Shane: Yes. I once had a pastor tell me that a Chipotle burrito is the "taste of Grace." You can't argue with that. Then again, I have three kids so my wife and I could go to fricken Fuddruckers, put a candle on the table, and be happy about it. The Lesson: Chipotle, maybe, if I don�t spit or sneeze on her. But probably not cheese curds at the road house a few miles away. Issue Number 6 � Is Blogging an acceptable hobby? SBG: Can a married man write a blog and still be in good graces with his wife? COD: Blogging is not a hobby. It is a better to refer to it as your mistress. Your wife will know you occasionally 'cheat' on her to finish some important blog entry on Joe Nathan's latest save but if you abuse it too much.....find the couch. CC: Better than whoring Shane: Ask Lucy what she would prefer: you out on the town all night long every night with me and Cheesehead Craig (because we get CRAZY at the dollar theater in Hopkins), or you geeking out in front of the computer every night writing about the Twins? Blogging is the key to a happy marriage! The Lesson: Yikes! A mistress? Better than whoring? Seems like maintaining SBG, the website might be a dicey proposition. Unless, she is afraid I'll hang out with CC and Shane otherwise. Am I hearing that threats and intimidation will work??? Issue Number 7 � Why not Blaine, MN as a Honeymoon Site? SBG: I want to take the love of my life to Blaine for our honeymoon. Am I off base? COD: Have you ever been hit on the head with a frying pan? CC: What's not to love about watching 300 lb guys filling potholes and working on Hwy 10 while picking their noses and scratching their parts? You can play the game of who is related to who and how. Also, there's no ice rinks in Hawaii. Shane: Hey, has she ever been to Blaine? A short distance to the Halloween capital of the world? Check. Home of Minnesota's largest Velodrome? Check. Future home of the Vikings? Check! What more could she want? The Lesson: 300 lb. pothole fillers are enough to make me spit out my Chipotle. Now I'm thinking Blaine isn't such a good idea, either. Issue Number 8 � How to explain the importance of Viking/Packer rivalry? SBG: My sweetheart doesn�t much care for football. Can I explain that Packer week is not a good time for a trip to the museum? Shane: There is no need to explain this. It just IS. This is where you need to break out the "Executive Decision" strategy. Just say, "I have made a decision. I will be watching this game. There is no discussion." Doesn't this usually work for you Cheesehead? CC: Viking fans inherently have an inferiority complex and feel the need to always prove themselves. Given the Packers are one of the most beloved teams in the NFL, the Vikes fans gravitate to them. Without the Packers, who would the Viking fans whine about? COD: Even The Wife� knows her boundaries on this one. She just leaves the house on Viking-Packer game day. She learned by observing her loving husband transform into a lunatic on such game days. To her credit, she is a fast learner. The Lesson: Lucy, it makes these guys go nuts, too! See??? Issue Number 9 � How Much Trouble is This Posting Getting SBG Into? SBG: Seriously guys, is Lucy ever going to talk to me again if she reads this post? CC: SBG is an attorney and should be able to talk his way out of any predicament that he gets into. If not, and he keeps getting into trouble, he should become a librarian for the U (right Shane?) COD: I think Lucy has to give you credit for trying to learn how to be a better husband...or perhaps, what NOT to do. You score brownie points. Shane: None! Sheesh! God forbid you seek out advice from three "marriage experts." You should be commended. The Lesson: Sounds like things are okay. But, I'll start writing that brief anyway just in case. Issue Number 10 � Wild Card SBG: I�m overwhelmed with this wedding thing. What else do you have to say? CC: The Impressive Clergyman from the Princess Bride: Mawidge...mawidge is what bwings us togewer today... Mawidge, the bwessed awwangement, that dweam wiffim a dweam... Ven wuv, twoo wuv, wiw fowwow you fowever... so tweasuwe your vruv.. Shane: Seriously, best of luck to both of you! Marriage is wonderful and I thank God everyday that I have found my soul mate. However, if you need any more advice ... well ... maybe you should ask someone else! COD: On the serious side, to make the marriage work, you have to work at it. Also respect each other. And be a team! Communicate, communicate, communicate. And most importantly of all, keep separate check-books! The Lesson: Separate check books, interesting. Just answer me one question. Where do the funds for these separate check books come from? Seriously, thanks for the good wishes, guys! Thanks, gentlemen for your advice! I�m not sure that I�ve learned a whole lot and have all the answers, but hey, who does? I am looking forward to our big day, Lucy. I hope you all had a laugh or two with this. I�d like to thank CC, COD, and Shane for playing along and having fun with these "issues." Have a good weekend, everyone, and come back tomorrow when Lucy (if she�s still talking to me) updates you on the ongoing saga of Jags and Theo. SBG and Lucy|W|P|111474012952273998|W|P|Pepper! -- The Marital Advice Edition|W|P|sbg@stickandballguy.com4/29/2005 09:04:00 AM|W|P|Anonymous Anonymous|W|P|i don't know what happened to the comment i just tried to send . . . it's . . . gone. suffice it to say, i am commenting as a somewhat newly married (last may)person who had never cared less about baseball prior to said marriage and has since watched just about every twins game. i watch the games on tv. i listen on the radio. i read all these twins blog sites. i am certain i have surpassed my husband's expectations. what coudl be more romantic than baseball? a marriage stabilizer, for sure. best of luck on your marriage. and go twins!!4/29/2005 09:17:00 AM|W|P|Blogger SBG|W|P|Lucy and I sat down and read the posting last night and we laughed quite a bit.

I did take her to a museum two years ago during the Packer/Viking game. And Kiss-Cam is her favorite thing about Twins games.

She really laughed about COD's wife bringing a book to the game. I foresee Lucy with a book at Twins games in the future!

It was amazing how well the guys' answers fit together. They all did this separately. And Lucy's watch wasn't working (for real!). This was the most fun I have ever had on a post! Hope you enjoy it.4/29/2005 09:47:00 AM|W|P|Anonymous Anonymous|W|P|Well the honeymoon sure opened my eyes to what I was getting into and I have become resigned to the fact that there isn't a time when my husband won't watch sports...there is always a game on somewhere...even if it is arena football or golf. Thank the good lord for Tivo and the fast forward button which means that sometime we see him at dinner. Good luck Lucy. i hope you get a guy that is as good as compromising as we have become...and one that treats you better than his cherished sport teams...like the one I found.4/30/2005 12:45:00 PM|W|P|Blogger Butch|W|P|GREAT game of Pepper! Really enjoyed the advise (?) of the players. Knowing SBG all his life and Lucy for only a couple of years I know that SBG has made a WONDERFUL choice but not to sure about Lucy (ha ha) Acutally we are so happy to welcome Lucy into our family and hope that she will get use to us and love us as we love her. The best think about having sons is that they have brought to our family wonderful daughters. We only had one little girl but now thanks to our three sons we have three more girls that we love and are so thankful for. Looking forward to the big day, will be the best Minnesota fishing opener EVER! (See Lucy just had to get a sports plug in somewhere!! ha ha) We all LOVE LUCY.4/28/2005 07:31:00 PM|W|P|SBG|W|P|The Next Big SBG Contest numbers are updated through this afternoon's game. Yours truly is tied for the lead with one BUW. One note on the results so far. It's amazing how fast positions change. Only one of the top five people, FRW, was in the top five the last time I updated the numbers on this page. It changes wildly. It's hard to tell if certain trends will continue. For example, Joe Mauer has caught in 17 games giving him a pace for 70 games. However, twice he's pinch hit and then came in and caught. I expect that he'll get more rest. But, damn, it's great to see him in the lineup almost every single day. Also, Justin (Li'l Harmon) Morneau has but one HR and is on pace for slightly more than four. The way he's been hitting lately, I expect him to pick it up big time. These early season anomolies will change. And just how much longer will Luis Rivas keep playing? Signs are that Gardentool (name used without express permission from Frightwig) has already run out of patience. He didn't play last night and didn't start today, although he did come in to pinch run for Li'l Harmon, only to be picked off. Gaaack! Keep on coming back for updates. I also intend to add some more pitching numbers soon (I updated the starter numbers, too.) Look at some of those K/BB numbers. Yowza. Oh, and keep the Tagline suggestions coming. I've gotten some good ones. SBG|W|P|111473522405674230|W|P|Next Big Update|W|P|sbg@stickandballguy.com4/29/2005 09:34:00 AM|W|P|Blogger SBG|W|P|Don't make me go nukyular!4/27/2005 10:07:00 PM|W|P|SBG|W|P|Loyal SBG readers, I need your help. Just like International Business Machines or Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing, this website has adopted a new, shortened name that simply conveys the product. IBM. 3M. SBG. Like peas in a pod. I've created a new logo that captures the essence of the website. Crisp and elegant. Delightfully pretentious. Now, I need a new tagline. The original tagline was dull and so 20th Century. "My Thoughts on Sports Related Topics." Yawn. Then, I went to "Sports. Cats. Finkle Ruminations." Maybe better, but still not great. For awhile, it was the "Home of the Al Czerzik Fan Club." I'll admit that has a certain ring to it, but no. That's no good either. Now I'm using the catchy "Billions of Happy Readers." Maybe that's what I should stay with. But, if you have a better idea, leave me a note. I mentioned on this very website just yesterday that I thought the ChiSux would be back to the pack by Memorial Day. Well, after two days of playing in Oakland and the Twins making a trip to the minors (KC), it's now a three game lead in the ALC from the boys from the baddest part of town. Did I mention it's early? I was talking to Moss today and we were talking about Frightwig's page. I convinced Moss to go over there and check it out. Man, did he like it. He especially liked the name that FW hung on the manager of the 3 time AL Central Champions -- Gardentool. That's good stuff. FW, I think you have a new reader. Just what "tool" is the manager? Is he a spade? Is he a hoe? I think I better stop right there. I mentioned to Moss that I was "watching" Tuesday night's game on CBS Sportsline and that Sportsline was showing that Mulholland had come into the game after the eighth inning in a one run game. Clearly that was a mistake, but I thought, hey it's possible. With the club being run by a utensil, anything is possible. But no, Santana went eight and Nathan nailed down the game in the ninth. Tonight, Mulholland was in there in the ninth in a five-run game. Perfect spot for Terry. I don't mean to pick on Terry. He's had a long and distinguished major league career. It's not really that well known, but Terry actually was warming up in the bullpen when Ralph Branca gave up the shot heard 'round the world. What I am saying is that our ho should not be putting him in unless the game is out of reach. And now for something completely different. I was watching FOX 9 news a little tonight and they had part 4 of a four part interview with Ebeneezer Scrooge. As owner of the Vikings, Mr. Scrooge was asked about his reputation of being the cheapest owner in the NFL. Incredibly, Mr. Scrooge actually tried to tell Minnesotans with a straight face that it simply isn't true. In fact, according to him, he's spared no expense with the Vikings! Never mind that they have a head coach making less than coordinators for other teams (not that he's underpaid given his abilities). They have the lowest paid coaching staff in the NFL. They have the lowest salary in the NFL. The players have to reuse towels in the lockerroom for a week at a time. Mr. Scrooge pointed out in his defense the he was the highest bidder for the team when he bought it. Therefore, how could he possibly be cheap? He bought the team! He must therefore, by definition, not be cheap. Everything said about this man are just distortions aimed at hurting the reputation of our used car salesman. Folks, that's about all the serious analysis I can muster for tonight. I don't want you to spend your day too filled with brilliant thought about the Twins and so forth. Instead, I want you to be thinking about a new tagline for this site.|W|P|111466103308789826|W|P|I Need a New Tagline|W|P|sbg@stickandballguy.com4/28/2005 12:32:00 AM|W|P|Blogger Ryan|W|P|A great tagline can make all the difference, I think. I do like my "A Better Way for Twins Fans", which I borrowed from the now-defunct Victory Sports Network.

Also, you could use a sweet logo/graphic at the top of your page. I like ours over at TC, and you could do something great with the name "Stick and Ball Guy".

Good luck!4/28/2005 07:48:00 AM|W|P|Blogger SBG|W|P|You stole your tagline from Victory Sports? That is absolutely fantastic! Thanks for sharing that! Folks, go over to www.twinschatter.com and say hi from SBG.4/28/2005 08:47:00 AM|W|P|Anonymous Anonymous|W|P|Moss also liked the picture of Pope Johan over at Sundappledwood.

Moss4/28/2005 10:22:00 AM|W|P|Blogger Cheesehead Craig|W|P|How about "I'm not afraid to sue"4/28/2005 11:24:00 AM|W|P|Blogger SBG|W|P|CC -- Good one! And so true.

GEB -- Nice work. Worthy of consideration!4/28/2005 01:54:00 PM|W|P|Anonymous Anonymous|W|P|Mr. Cheer Or Die (the original Blogging marketing genuis) provides for your pleasure:

BASEBALL CARD COLLECTORS do it Topps

BASEBALL PLAYERS do it head first

Baseball is all wrong--man with four balls can't walk.

Baseball belongs to the 19th century * Howard Cosell

Baseball in the Bible??? Gen 1.1 In the Big Inning

Baseball is 9 innings, but a diamond is forever

Baseball is the only major sport that appears backward in a mirror. --George Carlin4/28/2005 05:09:00 PM|W|P|Blogger SBG|W|P|Just imagine what Aaron Gleeman's column is going to be about tomorrow. Morneau gets four hits and Rivas goes in to pinch run for him and is picked off.4/28/2005 05:56:00 PM|W|P|Blogger Butch|W|P|How about "Dad said that there would be days like this"4/26/2005 09:57:00 PM|W|P|SBG|W|P|Johan Santana's line tonight: 8IP 5H 1R 1ER 1BB 8K Man, life is easy when Johan is on the mound. It's been a long time since the Twins won a game, or so it seems. Last week was a pretty crappy week. A loss to Cleveland on Sunday, two losses to Chicago, two wins over KC and two losses to Detroit (okay, I'm including Monday). Never fear, JS to the rescue. The White Sox have been running hot, that's for sure. They're ahead again tonight. As I write this, the Twins are 4.5 games out of first place. Repeat after me: it's early. The Twins should have won those two games in Chicago, I believe, but, as Frightwig points out, the Twins hit into double plays with an alarming frequency. The result? Two losses. Had the Twins won those two games, they'd be 0.5 games out of first place. I've heard that Tom Kelly believes a player needs 1000 at bats in the majors before you can really tell if he's going to hit (unless of course, it's patently obvious that he can't). As my boy Finkle so pointedly remarked earlier tonight, I had a tendency to strike out in little league. I don't need 1000 at bats. I'd like 1000 at bats, but the jury wouldn't be out long. What's my point? Well, let's see how things are at the end of May. I think the White Sox will be back to the pack by Memorial Day. Speaking of hot starts, Mr. Jones is scorching hot. In fact, he's been the Twins' best hitter. I'm happy he's hitting well. That's wonderful. I stick with my earlier thoughts: I wish the Twins would have parted ways with Jones and would have gotten another infielder. It's never really been about Jacque. I honestly believe he's a good player. It's about the team. Castro, Rivas, and Punto have demonstrated that they can't hit at the major league level (where has Rivas ever hit?). Another infielder would have been great. How about the stadium proposal? I like it. Oh sure, I'd like to see a roof. But, I'd settle for an outdoor stadium. I wonder what Shane would do if the stadium bill actually passed. Life is short Minnesotans! Call your representative and tell him or her to get this moving! Okay, I had better get some sleep. It's already been a tough week. Hump day tomorrow! I'm excited about Finkle joining SBG, the website. When I get my page a little bit more organized, you will be able to drop him a line. Now, some Shout Outs. A SHOUT OUT to Cheesehead Craig. You got my back. And hey, a little agitation isn't a bad thing. I'll incorporate your idea. Just didn't happen tonight. A SHOUT OUT to Lucy. Less than three weeks from the big day! A SHOUT OUT to Chris. Your comments are appreciated. Keep on coming back. More time on the website? I'll see if Lucy approves. Sixteen hours at work on Monday seriously cut into my ability to blog. A SHOUT OUT to Nick. Good to talk to you. A SHOUT OUT to Henk West. Man, you got busted! No more SBG for you! Get to work! A SHOUT OUT to Butch. Just because. A SHOUT OUT to Shane. Hey, let me know. Are you in? Your buddy is game. A SHOUT OUT to Seth. You come to Minneapolis and I'll treat you to a Twins game. Seriously. A SHOUT OUT to Studes. Thanks for your comments. You do great work. I'm a big fan. I promise that I'll get my bullpen analysis going. You are welcome to my Twins data. A SHOUT OUT to Finkle. Welcome aboard, partner! A SHOUT OUT to JC. Thanks for your continued assistance. A SHOUT OUT to Aunt RAT. Congratulations! Glad you like the Cat Blogging! Have a good night, everyone!|W|P|111457353304132225|W|P|Two is Enough|W|P|sbg@stickandballguy.com4/27/2005 04:45:00 AM|W|P|Anonymous Anonymous|W|P|Thank you for the kind "shout out" SBG. I do enjoy your site and I hope my comments didn't offend! I also share your opinion of Frightwig's site. Very good indeed!4/27/2005 09:24:00 AM|W|P|Blogger Cheesehead Craig|W|P|Always got your back SBG.4/27/2005 05:36:00 PM|W|P|Blogger Butch|W|P|Hope that "Finkle" is who I think it is, will be a good addition to the blog. I see that you can still get 'em riled up. ha ha Wow some people get up tight! Life is to short, relax and go to a game!4/27/2005 09:44:00 PM|W|P|Anonymous Anonymous|W|P|This is totally off the subject but I'm wondering if you ever listen to KFAN and the Carl Gerbschmidt interviews. Is he fact or fiction? They're hilarious but I'm guessing Barreiro has some croney doing the Carl bit. Do you know anything on this?

- Miller Man

PS - I had lunch with Beaner on Tuesday and we were talking about your site. We love it!

Also, I'm going to the June 4 game vs. the hated Yankees. If you're around that weekend, I'll try to get in touch...and if you can make the game, even better!4/27/2005 09:59:00 PM|W|P|Blogger SBG|W|P|Yeah Gerbschmidt is a fictional character. I'll be in town and would be more than willing to catch the game.4/26/2005 09:45:00 PM|W|P|SBG|W|P|I love spreadsheets. I love charting things. I have a great KG spreadsheet. I have a spreadsheet for the Next Big SBG Contest. I used to have a huge Barry Bonds spreadsheet, tracking his progress up the career charts in multiple categories. A spreadsheet is a stats geek's best friend.|W|P|111457007569928972|W|P|I Love Spreadsheets|W|P|sbg@stickandballguy.com4/26/2005 08:15:00 PM|W|P|SBG|W|P|Finally, here are the entries to the Next Big SBG Contest. Each contestant has a TLA (three letter acronym). Not surprisingly, my TLA is SBG.
Player12345678910
MAR474.42512.91225516611542
CHC474.34292.45197515653241
COD424.89173.0124441448752
STM484.64443.28227812807048
ANM463.45571.89247120753036
ADR484.56483.172155578648
TWJ504.20463.00216522701839
PEC474.2433.16246014573550
SHN574.32382.19226218694549
BRI914.11783.1444106331237284
LEK493.79442.45285710553046
GEB483.64402.7205512652540
GRB484.57352.56245511702548
JUD424.21242.7516564702156
BUW524.26373.52235721682339
TEB464.31273.81236213594157
SBM514.22442.8255011774444
ROG534.18392.37336518352655
BEM454.52493.3216212722248
RED523.93472.36226314772952
SES494.31412.77265812582445
FRW474.04243.21256311654848
DYB504.31452.37246113682753
SBG494.17393.0624579802557
AAC504.00422.82276016403059
BIJ474.07413.41226211812643
The questions were as follows (all at the all-star break). 1. Team Wins 2. Team ERA 3. Quality Starts 4. Johan Santana's ERA 5. Joe Nathan's Saves 6. Joe Mauer's games catching 7. Justin Morneau's HRs 8. Luis Rivas' Games played 9. Lew Ford's Games in the Outfield 10. Torii Hunter's RBIs Unfortunately, BRI answered for all 162 games. I prompted him to scale back, but he did not respond. So, his answers will stand as first submitted. If you are a contestant and your answers appear incorrect, let me know. Good luck, everyone!|W|P|111456521402393544|W|P|Next Big SBG Contest Entries|W|P|sbg@stickandballguy.com4/26/2005 07:01:00 PM|W|P|SBG|W|P|If you are not reading Sun ap led Wo d, you are missing some great Twins stuff. I read that page and I am constantly amazed by the author's insight. It reminds me of when I first started reading Aaron Gleeman. Put Mr. Frightwig on your daily reading list.|W|P|111456028871692891|W|P|Seriously|W|P|sbg@stickandballguy.com4/27/2005 03:20:00 PM|W|P|Blogger frightwig|W|P|Pshaw. As always, I appreciate the love. Thanks.4/26/2005 06:05:00 PM|W|P|SBG|W|P|I hope I didn't get anybody's noses too bent out of shape with that last post. I was sitting in my office last night about 11:00PM when I finally gave up and said "NO MAS". I went over to my original favorite Twins site, aarongleeman.com and saw that link to the Pioneer Press site. I guess maybe after 16 hours in the office my tolerance was a little low. Oh well. As my old buddy Finkle always says, "It has to be true. It's in the newspaper." Ah, Finkle. What a character he is. Growing up in a small town is a great thing. I wouldn't trade that experience for anything. Yeah, we had to drive to the next town over to go to a swimming pool or a golf course (SAND GREENS!). But we had a ton of fun. There was a vacant lot down the street from where I grew up. A bunch of us built a makeshift little baseball field on that lot. We had a little backstop with a built-in scoreboard and we put pieces of wood paint orange in the ground for bases. A bunch of us would play baseball all summer long. There were quite a few of us regulars. My brother Putzer was always there. So was Beaner, C-Dub, and of course, Finkle. Finkle was a great baseball player and man he loved the game. We always hung out together, the whole group of us. I was talking to Finkle a while back and we started talking baseball and my blog. He really liked reading it and he's always e-mailing me, giving me grief about my entries. I told him, hey, if you can do better, let's see start your own blog. But, of course, Finkle had a better idea (he always does!). He offered to contribute to this blog. I think it's great, because I've had a lot of long nights lately, and I just can't keep it up by myself. He said he'd work on a post and if I get him access, he'll post tonight. Welcome aboard, Finkle! SBG|W|P|111455752972551350|W|P|Well, Wasn't that Fun|W|P|sbg@stickandballguy.com4/25/2005 10:52:00 PM|W|P|SBG|W|P|When I read this story and the numbers associated with it, I thought, wow, that's about as believable as my story about the Yankee ring-kissing ceremony. I know a little bit about web site numbers. I know pretty much who are the biggest websites in the Twins world by how much traffic they direct to this site. I find the claims in this article to be a little hard to believe, frankly. But, let's suppose for a minute that they are true. That would make the site in question without a doubt the most popular baseball blog in the country. By far. I read some well-read blogs in major market cities. And these sites can't begin to hope for that kind of traffic. The most popular sites are not even within an order of magnitude (that's 10 times for those of you who are mathematically challenged) of the purported traffic at the site in question. And yet that site, with about 15 times the traffic of AaronGleeman.com, which itself is one of the most popular baseball blogs in the country, is about 10th in the number of referrals to this site. The site in question is claiming that it got 9,000 hits a day "around this time last year." Folks, a year ago, the site in question was only a couple of days old. Aaron still doesn't get a whiff of 9,000 hits a day, and he's been doing this since August 2002. Less stats, more sass, indeed. I'm going to humbly suggest that the Pioneer Press engage in some fact checking.|W|P|111448818797173708|W|P|April Fools|W|P|sbg@stickandballguy.com4/26/2005 07:51:00 AM|W|P|Blogger SBG|W|P|True enough, there is a difference between hits and visits. But, if she's actually getting 50,000 page views a day writing about the Twins, well, it's nothing short of phenomenal.

And, by the way, 75,000 page views at HBT is pretty damned great, too.4/26/2005 08:28:00 AM|W|P|Anonymous Anonymous|W|P|It's about the comments.
Batgirl has a very active community in her comments. 300+ comments a game, even if non-televised. To keep up on comments, you re-load the comments page. Each time you do that, it's a hit, right? I may give the site 100 hits a day myself.4/26/2005 08:49:00 AM|W|P|Blogger Cheesehead Craig|W|P|Very true. If we had 10 people put comments during your commentary on a Twins game, you would get over 500 hits just on that, if you count the stupid stuff like: lol! and :) and wow! as different hits. Like Studes said, very misleading numbers and much more of a chat room than a blog.4/26/2005 08:56:00 AM|W|P|Blogger SBG|W|P|Anonymous --

Yes, the comments clearly add numbers to the hits or page views. I guess there are different ways to measure traffic. On my page, it doesn't count as a visitor, that is, it doesn't change my counter unless you haven't visited in more than one hour. So, if you sat and reloaded my page all night, you would never increment the counter.

There are different ways of looking at things. I'm in no way saying that the site isn't popular. Clearly, it is. But, there are ways to represent data that are misleading and ways that aren't misleading. Clearly, the representation in the paper is misleading, even if true. To the unsophisticated reader it sounds like 50,000 people a day are reading the site. Clearly, that's not the case.

I still have a problem with the "around this time last year" it was 9,000 page views. I find that impossible to believe. She didn't start the site until April 2004. She got a few comments a day in the first month. 9,000 a day out of the gate?

The site is well done, for what it is. But, the numbers are misleading, if true. If someone asks me my numbers, I tell them the number of people who have visited my site. Not if they reloaded it 100 times a day.

The bottom line is, why do I care? Ultimately, I don't. The article just struck me as disingenuous. That's all. But, I didn't go to an ivy league school, so I guess maybe I'm stupid.4/26/2005 09:18:00 AM|W|P|Anonymous Anonymous|W|P|I used to enjoy Bat-girl but it's failed to hold my interest of late. The rookie boys are just so much more...well...fun!4/26/2005 10:18:00 AM|W|P|Anonymous Anonymous|W|P|Hey SBG, do you dislike Bat-girl? Are you perhaps jealous? I noticed that you don't link to her site (I thought you used to have a link but I could be mistaken). I also noticed that you would not even mention her by name in your post! Why SBG? I have three Twins links in my menu bar, Twins Territory, Batgirl and your site - SBG. If you persist in this irrational jealousy I may have to delete your link from my browser. Perhaps your time would be better spent on more frequent updates to your own blog or even preparing for you upcoming nuptials! Good luck!4/26/2005 11:22:00 AM|W|P|Anonymous Anonymous|W|P|Chris, your comment gave me a chuckle. Bat-girl is full of herself. SBG has bent over backwards helping her out but she has never reciprocated. So, go ahead and get your updates about "bat-kitties" and "boyfriends of the day" I think I'll stick with some concrete analysis of the Twins.

Thanks for the great site SBG!4/26/2005 11:42:00 AM|W|P|Blogger Heavy Critters|W|P|Shane, SGB, et al,

Stick and Ball guy is linked from Batgirl.

Just an FYI. I remember the pissing match about linkage a couple of months ago.4/26/2005 12:09:00 PM|W|P|Blogger SBG|W|P|Part of the fun of writing a blog (at least for me) is ruffling a few feathers. I believe that feathers have been ruffled.

FYI -- Twins Territory, on April 15, reported an average page view total of 3,000 per day with around 1100 visitors per day. Aaron Gleeman is at somewhere around 3000 visitors and 6,000 page views a day. These are two of most popular and longest running Twins blogs around.

B-G is reporting that she had 9,000 page views a day about this time a year ago. She started her site in April 2004. I find that a little hard to believe. Also the 50,000 page views now seems extremely high, although it may be correct. That's what this post is about. Not whether B-G has or doesn't have a link to this site or whether she did or didn't agree to play Pepper! and then reneged. I have merely reported what I read in the St. Paul Pioneer Press. I also offered my informed opinion as to whether I thought what was printed on the online version of the paper is correct.

This site is modest and will never be anything but modest. I get about 150 visitors or so a day, give or take a few. I am perfectly happy with that. I enjoy writing this blog, because I enjoy the Twins. Part of the Twins scene these days are the blogs. If I read something I like, I mention it. Two weeks ago, I complimented B-G on this very site. However, I read this and I just found it curious and decided to comment on it.4/26/2005 12:49:00 PM|W|P|Anonymous Anonymous|W|P|Shane: Let me make an analogy. I love politics. I read newspapers, magazines, listen to the BBC and MPR and also watch CNN and PBS and NBC. I also enjoy The Daily Show and Saturday Night Live. These less serious outlets in no way diminish the knowlege gleaned from other sources. That's why I enjoy SBG, Aaron, Seth, Geek as well as Bat-Girl. Her site does not make me a less serious fan, it only enhances my enjoyment!

SBG raised an interesting and valid question about the accuracy of the Pioneer Press article. My curiousity was piqued when he went out of his way to avoid mentioning Bat-girl or her site by name. Now I read SBG's snotty comment "I didn't go to an Ivy League school, so i guess maybe I'm stupid. That comment makes me think that SBG has some sort of personal issue with Bat-Girl. I just don't think Twins bloggers bashing each other is productive!4/26/2005 12:50:00 PM|W|P|Anonymous Anonymous|W|P|Shane: Let me make an analogy. I love politics. I read newspapers, magazines, listen to the BBC and MPR and also watch CNN and PBS and NBC. I also enjoy The Daily Show and Saturday Night Live. These less serious outlets in no way diminish the knowlege gleaned from other sources. That's why I enjoy SBG, Aaron, Seth, Geek as well as Bat-Girl. Her site does not make me a less serious fan, it only enhances my enjoyment!

SBG raised an interesting and valid question about the accuracy of the Pioneer Press article. My curiousity was piqued when he went out of his way to avoid mentioning Bat-girl or her site by name. Now I read SBG's snotty comment "I didn't go to an Ivy League school, so i guess maybe I'm stupid. That comment makes me think that SBG has some sort of personal issue with Bat-Girl. I just don't think Twins bloggers bashing each other is productive!4/26/2005 05:36:00 PM|W|P|Blogger Shane|W|P|Sure thing Chris. I was just coming to SBG's defense. I will say though that there is more to this story than you realize. But in the end you are right: Twins bloggers shouldn't bash each other. They should help each other whenever possible. Therein lies, I suppose, part of the problem.4/26/2005 06:34:00 PM|W|P|Anonymous Anonymous|W|P|Thanks for the input Shane! I am sure there is much that has transpired of which I am unaware.4/26/2005 06:44:00 PM|W|P|Blogger frightwig|W|P|The Pioneer Press article does say "page hits," which I agree isn't a very useful number for reporting daily readership; but I'd blame the reporter for getting that figure rather than quoting a visit count. Maybe he just asked for page hits, and that's what Batgirl gave him. It's his job to get a more relevant figure, or make it clear to his readers that page hits are not the same as the number of visitors.

I'm also inclined to doubt that she had 9,000 page hits a day last April, just because I know that word of her site reached the DTFC community only at the end of the month and I think Twins Geek linked to her from his Strib page at about the same time. She was on the Almanac program in early June; I think Eric Neel first linked to her sometime in the summer; and she did some LegoVision things for Page 2 in September and October.

It wouldn't surprise me if she had 9,000 daily page hits at some point in the summertime, but not in late April. But, maybe she was misquoted or the reporter gave an erroneous impression through more sloppy writing. I guess we'd have to ask Batgirl herself, if we really care to know.4/26/2005 06:50:00 PM|W|P|Blogger SBG|W|P|I'd agree that the article was very poorly written.4/26/2005 06:50:00 PM|W|P|Blogger SBG|W|P|Oh, and your picture on your profile FW is fantastic. You crack me up.4/21/2005 08:48:00 PM|W|P|SBG|W|P|I've been neglecting my blog this week. Some of you know that I've been quite busy at work this week. Such is the life of an attorney sometimes. That's okay, I enjoy the work (for the most part). And I like the people with whom I work. It's a very good place to work, even if the work is sometimes quite challenging. Usually on Fridays, I have a game of Pepper! at my site. I enjoy Pepper!, as I really like having other people talk about their topics of interest on my site. I recruit people to play the game, I think of questions that they are interested in (based on what they write about on their blogs), I send them the questions on Tuesday and I hope they turn them back in by Thursday. The amazing thing is that everyone turns them in on time. I've really enjoyed reading their entries. Who knew that the Twins Junkie was just a kid? Who doesn't enjoy reading Aaron Gleeman? And how about my guy Seth? I even had a Packer backer (Cheesehead Craig). This week, unfortunately, I didn't get around to recruiting someone. I'll get it done next week. So, this Friday, I'll talk about Lucy a little. I've known Lucy for a little over three years. When people meet Lucy, they are blown away by her friendliness and enthusiasm. She is just so damned nice. And, if I might say so, she's a very good looking woman. And, in case you boycott my site on weekends, she loves our cats. She also has a wicked sense of humor. She and I pulled one of the all-time great/cruel April Fool's jokes this year. And no, it didn't involve Derek Jeter's ring. Let's just say that some people were mad at me for days. But, she's alot more than a pretty face, a friendly smile and a cat lover to me. She's someone who put up with a law school student who was as crabby as hell a lot of the time. She'd sit at home on Friday nights until I got my homework done and then meet me for a little late night pizza. She'd not see for about three weeks at a time when I was studying for finals. And she pushed me through the bar exam, forcing me to study when I wanted to do anything else. In fact, I started this blog as a way to avoid studying for the bar. But, she sat with me that last weekend, eating crappy Chinese food and questioning me about my outlines as I packed in the last bits of information. She's someone who I know will be with me in good times and bad. You know that you've found a good partner when your family is more enthusiastic about her than they are about you. I don't know if that's really true that they are more enthusiastic about her, but I know that Butch, Mrs. Butch, Putzer, The Mayor, Sis and all the rest of the family really like her a lot. I've got nine little nephews and nieces and they all LOVE LUCY! Lucy doesn't have any nieces or nephews of her own, so she just loves those kids. Friday she starts a new job. She's put in some tough days at the old job, but she found a better situation, and I'm very happy for her. I'm looking forward to our night on the town Friday night to celebrate. We'll be dining in a downtown Minneapolis restaurant, one that we enjoy quite a bit. I'm also looking forward to our wedding day, just 22 days away. And our honeymoon to Blaine. Well, maybe we won't be going to Blaine for the honeymoon, in fact, it'll be juuuuuuuuuuuust a little bit better than that. Thank you, sweetheart, for all your love and understanding. Have a good weekend, everyone, and come back tomorrow when Lucy either (a) tells the world how great I am, or (b) does some cat blogging. SBG|W|P|111413614183193504|W|P|Lucy|W|P|sbg@stickandballguy.com4/22/2005 11:03:00 AM|W|P|Blogger Butch|W|P|Hey SBG, have been trying to leave a commet the last couple of days but for some reason I couldn't ?? You bet we all LOVE LUCY! If the "T" pups trade KG and get Kobe I will never listen to or watch them again. That is not a promise, that is a fact. Watched the Twins agaist KC, enjoyed the games. Don't get down, it is a long season and they will do just fine.4/19/2005 11:11:00 PM|W|P|SBG|W|P|I'm still alive, folks. I missed yesterday because I simply did not have enough time to do the blogging thing. That's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes when you have a real job and so forth. I'm sure most of you can appreciate that. It's going to be short tonight, too. I just don't have much time these days. Maybe in a couple of days things will loosen up. The last couple of days, ESPN's Daily Quickie has been advocating my worst nightmare. What would that be? Why a trade of KG for Kobe, of course. That would be just too hard for me to take. Please, Mr. Taylor, do not let this happen. On the Twins front, the Twins have now dropped three in a row and all of a sudden they can't score any runs. Boy, Punto can't hit a lick. And Bartlett is struggling. Sure wish we had another infielder, say a Joe Randa. Radke went the distance (8 innings) in the loss. He gave up three runs, which isn't bad. In fact, he did his job. He gave the team a chance to win. But, the Twins were shut out until the ninth, when they pushed a single run across. They need a patsy right now to get the ship righted. Here comes Kansas City. Tomorrow's pitching matchup? Jose Lima v. Johan Santana. Just what the doctor ordered. Good night, all. SBG|W|P|111397090102170056|W|P|Checking In|W|P|sbg@stickandballguy.com4/20/2005 02:25:00 PM|W|P|Blogger SBG|W|P|Yeah, I'm not concerned yet. The Twins' pitching has been tremendous, and that to me is the best thing a ballclub can have. Good pitching. Things will come around.4/22/2005 10:12:00 PM|W|P|Blogger SBG|W|P|You'll get no argument from me. Today at lunch, Moss and I agreed, no Mulholland except in blowouts. Here's what I said earlier this week.

2. Terry Mulholland is no longer effective. Last year as a starter, he was good for about four innings. My "Mulholland Rule" was that the first time he allows a baserunner after four innings, take him out. I documented that had Gardy followed that approach, the Twins and Mulholland would have been much more effective. Oh, and he wouldn't have used up any more of his bullpen, either, because Mulholland basically fell apart whenever that first guy got on after four innings. He had a bad week, giving up 3 runs in four innings. I think we can do better.

What he was doing in that game is anybody's guess. Gardy, get a clue!4/17/2005 08:09:00 PM|W|P|SBG|W|P|First things first. You will note that I have added stats for the Next Big SBG contest above. I also entered my picks along with my rationale below. A little later this week, I'll discuss the entries that I received overall. Thanks to all who entered. Yes, I know that the Twins lost on Sunday, 2-1 to the Cleveland Indians to snap a six game winning streak. But, I want to talk about the week in review on Sundays and the way statistics providers work compilations are for the seven days prior to today. I'm not about to figure out statistics for the Twins last seven days myself. And so, in order to do a weekly rundown on Sundays, I hereby define the week to run from Sunday to Saturday. Obviously, this does create some problems, as it breaks up series, but who cares. This site is free. Deal with it! I mean really. (Of course, I'm sure you don't really care.) In the six games last week, the story was pitching. The Twins gave up just 19 earned runs in 6 games, an ERA of 3.17. That kind of ERA usually means a lot of quality starts (and wins). The Twins got four quality starts in six games -- two from Johan Santana, one from Dave Gassner(!), and one from Brad Radke. Plus, Joe Mays pitched okay in his first start (and great today). Kyle Lohse was better, although not great. Highlights from the starting pitching: 1. Santana won two games, had 21 strikeouts and 1 walk in two starts (in just 13 innnings), and had an ERA of 2.77. That, and he really didn't have his best stuff. Come, Johan, pick it up! Juuuuuuuuuuust Kidding. As an aside, you may be wondering how the other reigning Cy Young Award Winner is doing. Roger Clemens to this point in the season: 2 Starts, 14 IP, 1 ER, 0.57 WHIP, 18Ks, 1 BB. Roger Clemens is 42 years old. That's pretty amazing. 2. Dave Gassner became the first Twin to win his major league debut since Eric Milton in 1998 and the only the third to do so in the past 25 years. Gassner didn't exactly mow 'em down -- he had just one strikeout in six innings -- but he walked just one and gave up a single earned run. 3. Brad Radke got his first quality start of the season. It wasn't super high quality, six innings, three runs, but it was good enough and the Twins won. Highlights from the Bullpen: 1. Joe Nathan, Juan Rincon, and J.C. Romero (ignore today, we'll talk about that next week) combined for 8 1/3 innings in which they struck out 16 batters and did not allow a run. That's awesome. 2. Jesse Crain was good in two appearances. He gave up 2 hits in 1 1/3, but no runs and he had one strikeout. Now, the bad. 1. Kyle Lohse was inconsistent in his start. He showed some signs that he'll turn it around and pitch well this year, but he also had some trouble. He had six strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings, and he was actually changing speeds effectively. (No kidding. I went to a game last year in which I SWEAR every pitch he threw was 91-92 miles an hour.) But he gave up four earnies and a home run. 2. Terry Mulholland is no longer effective. Last year as a starter, he was good for about four innings. My "Mulholland Rule" was that the first time he allows a baserunner after four innings, take him out. I documented that had Gardy followed that approach, the Twins and Mulholland would have been much more effective. Oh, and he wouldn't have used up any more of his bullpen, either, because Mulholland basically fell apart whenever that first guy got on after four innings. He had a bad week, giving up 3 runs in four innings. I think we can do better. That's about it for the bad. The Twins struck out 8.83 batters per nine innings this week. That's fantastic! This week, I'm starting a pitcher of the week award. My inaugural award goes to Dave Gassner. Yes, Santana had 21 strikeouts. But, Gassner won his major league debut and he threw just 72 pitches in 6 innings. Good job, Dave! Of course, the story of the week was also at the plate. Last week, I bemoaned the fact that the Twins were collectively about as good as Cristian Guzman. What a difference a week makes. The Twins hit .268/.367(!)/.454/.821. That, my friends, is a good week. The Twins scored 37 runs in 6 games, a tidy 6.2 runs a game. That'll play. Last week the guys that were hitting (OPS over .800) was a short list. The guys who were not hitting (OPS under .700) was a long list. The following guys were hitting this week: Terry Tiffee (12PA, 1.300 OPS), Jacque Jones (21, 1.182), Torii Hunter (24, 1.071), Lew Ford (24, .952), and Michael Cuddyer (21, .929). Who wasn't hitting? Shannon Stewart (28, .661), Jason Bartlett (18, .575), Luis Rivas (13, .321). For the old hot/not award, I have decided that you have to qualify for the week, meaning that you need 3.1 plate appearances per game, meaning 19 plate appearances for this week. Based on that criteria, the HOT Player of the week is none other than Jacque Jones. Jones is the first two time winner (and only winner, period) of this prestigious award. My theory is that Mr. Jones is winning this award purely to get back at me for all the nasty things I ever said about him. Actually, I think I was clear that I think Jones is a good player, but that the Twins should have used his money to get an infielder. Anyway, congratulations, Jacque, and keep it up. The "winner" of the NOT HOT Player of the week is Shannon Stewart. Man, I'd love to give the award to Rivas, but I prefer the concept of him not qualifying. :) What I really like about the Twins numbers this week is that on-base percentage. Twins batters took 27 walks, while the Twins pitchers gave up just 11. Jones, for Christ Sakes, walked four times. That's a month's worth for him. If you look at GPA (gross production average: (1.8*OBP+SLG)/4), the Twins as a team had a great week. The team's GPA was .279. That's damned good. Jones was at .391, Hunter was at .343, and Cuddyer was at .312. Those are all very good numbers. I know, it's just one week, but what a good week it was. Random Thoughts: Cristian Guzman update: the $17 million man is hitting .114/.167/.136/.303 after posting a sterling .095/.091/.095/.186 week. I am shocked, SHOCKED!, I tell you that this has happened. Imagine Guzie not playing well after someone gave him a bunch of money. Who saw that coming???? I know, it's early. But, still! And to think that some people thought the Twins had a tough decision with this guy last year. T-Wolves eliminated: At home. In a blowout. Showing no energy. Taking stupid shots. Perfect. I predicted (correctly) that the Wolves would not make the playoffs on this page on January 12, just 34 games into the season. They were 17-17 at the time. Yanks off to a bad start: The talk of all sports radio, the Yanks are 4-8. Could it be that there was more trouble at this year's ring kissing ceremony? Says George Steinbrenner:
Enough is enough. I am bitterly disappointed, as I'm sure all Yankee fans are, by the lack of performance by our team. It is unbelievable to me that the highest-paid team in baseball would start the season in such a deep funk. They are not playing like true Yankees. They have the talent to win and they are not winning. I expect Joe Torre, his complete coaching staff and the team to turn this around.
To which I say, spare me. The Yanks were 8-11 last year. They then went 34-10 over their next 44 games. Instead of talking about the Yankees all the time, how about talking about teams that are playing well? A novel concept, TO BE SURE! Oh yeah, the Twins lost 2-1 today to CC Sabathia and the Indians. Kudos to Joe Mays, who pitched seven innings, allowing just one run. His performance is much more exciting than the loss is disappointing. I'm going to ignore the fact that J.C. Romero hit a batter to force in the winning run. I'm just in too good of a mood to think about that. But, I will say that Corky Miller, you are taking up a roster spot for no good reason. Here's something for you to consider. Mike Redmond, an established major league catcher (albeit a backup) has played 2 whole games so far this year. Corky F'n Miller has played three. Where's the sense in that? How about playing Redmond!!! Corky F. Miller That's it. Mr. Miller will now be known as CFM. As is cubic feet per minute. As in he sucks air. Some of you may know that I am an attorney. Well, before that, I was an engineer. So, sorry for the geek humor, but CFM it is. One last thing. For those of you who have read this page for a while, you may know that I can't stand the adulation that Captain October gets from the press. It's ridiculous. Yes, he's a good player. But, come on. Moss occasionally asks me why I let stuff like this get to me. Well, I don't know why. I think it's because the media influences how people think about things, and they are pretty damned lazy. I mean, how many times do we have to hear the same things over and over? I get to the point where I don't really care about it anymore and then I read stuff like this. From ESPN.COM's Gary Gillette (who is he?):
If any player today should wear Jackie Robinson's No. 42, it is Derek Jeter.
Let the barfing begin. Thanks for stopping by. Come back again tomorrow.|W|P|111378764341189782|W|P|Perfect Week in Review|W|P|sbg@stickandballguy.com4/17/2005 11:15:00 PM|W|P|Anonymous Anonymous|W|P|Moss likes the moniker "CFM." Moss would like to see CFM go down in favor of Tiffee.

Moss was wondering if SBG would see that story about the dreamy Jetes. Moss is not an "insider" so had to settle for SBG's summary. Moss is presently barfing.

Moss4/17/2005 11:28:00 PM|W|P|Blogger SBG|W|P|It's quite the nauseating article comparing Jeter to Robinson.

The problem with CFM is that he's out of options... he stays on the roster or they release him. The Twins had a choice, stick with Restovich or CFM. They've chosen CFM. Hard to understand.4/19/2005 04:11:00 PM|W|P|Blogger Comedy Club|W|P|Uh oh, don't see TWJ anywhere on the leaderboard4/19/2005 06:25:00 PM|W|P|Blogger SBG|W|P|Never fear, TWJ, it's early.4/17/2005 05:27:00 PM|W|P|SBG|W|P|I redid the projected contest entries after Sunday's game. And my, did we have changes! It's early, folks. I myself fell from 2nd place to 9th. What is interesting to me is that all 26 players are in the top ten in at least 2 categories! What does that mean? Well, at this point, anyone has a chance to win. That's what that means.|W|P|111377698891421013|W|P|Update on Contest|W|P|sbg@stickandballguy.com4/16/2005 04:05:00 PM|W|P|SBG|W|P|First of all, thanks to everyone who entered my contest. I hope you all will enjoy it. Each player who entered has received a three letter entry code. Not surprisingly, my entry code is SBG. A total of 25 people entered the contest (I make 26). That's great! If you look above, you will see a table. I have the ten questions for the contest listed, along with actual and projected results and the contestant who is closest to the projected number. Don't worry folks, it's early and the results can change quite a bit from now until the All-Star Break. On the right I have listed the five players who are leading the contest. I'm second right now. If you are wondering what the heck this all means, the rules to the contest are here. Now, here are my entries for the contest. I e-mailed my entries to Shane Nackerud at the Greet Machine on Friday morning, so I had no more time to enter the contest (in terms of games played before the deadline) than anyone else. Question one: How many wins will the Twins have (87 games)? I started with a winning percentage of .550. That would be 48 wins. Then I gave them one more for good measure. Right now, they are running nice and hot. I'd love to see them keep it going, but they've played so-so in the first half over the last couple of years only to turn it on in August and September. Question two: What will be the pitching staff's ERA? I think the pitching staff will be better than last year. I chose 4.17 because I expected a little settling out of the starting staff and then I believe they will turn it on down the stretch. So far, they have almost all been fantastic. Question three: How many quality starts will the Twins have? I figured on about half. Then, that seemed a little optimistic, especially with Lohse taking the ball every 5th day and Radke's perennial slow start. So, I shaved a few off and took 39. Almost right on that pace now. Question four: What will be Johan Santana's ERA? I expect he will continue to improve. I am optimistic that he'll be somewhere in the mid 2s by year end. 3.06 says a little bit of a slow start and by July he'll be humming. He's at 4.00 right now. I think 3.06 could be pretty close by then. Question five: How many saves will Joe Nathan have? This is probably the weakest question in the bunch. I think it's probably fairly predicable unless he gets hurt. The responses I got were bunched together. I said 24, a little more than half of what I think he'll get for the year. Five other people said 24, too. Question six: How many games will Joe Mauer play catcher in? Well, I expect that he'll continue to get quite regular rest. I said 57, which is actually a pretty healthy number. So far, they've been running him out there, and he seems to be doing fine. I guess that I'm saying now that I think his knee is all right. This after I doubted it all spring. Question seven: How many home runs will Justin Morneau have? Before the beaning, I'd have said high teens. Now, I'm at 9. I just think he'll struggle coming back from this head injury. The fact that he went on the DL should tell you something. He's not right. He's not close to right. Question eight: How many games will Luis Rivas have played in? On October 15th, I'd have said zero. He's not hitting, but he's going to play. Punto is doing worse, and he dropped a popup today. I said 80, which is probably a little high, but shows my pessimism. With Terry Tiffee coming up and hitting, maybe he'll slide to third and Cuddyer can mosey over to second. Of course, it'd be nice if Cuddyer hit, too. Question nine: How many games will Lew Ford have played in the outfield? He's played a couple now and produced big time with 3-run HRs. I said 25. That would really be a shame, but that's right on pace 11 games in. Question ten: How many RBIs will Torii Hunter have? I figure Torii's going to get a lot of RBIs this year. With Mauer (instead of Rivas) in front of him, he should have a lot of opportunities. Right now, he's off to a fast start, with 12 in 11 games. I said 57. I think that's about right.|W|P|111368794971371572|W|P|Next Big SBG Contest -- SBG's Entries|W|P|sbg@stickandballguy.com4/15/2005 06:05:00 AM|W|P|SBG|W|P|Welcome Pepper! fans! First of all, thanks to all who have entered the contest. Unfortunately, Comcast was down last night, inhibiting my ability to access the questions and do my taxes. I will post my answers later today. I have had quite a few entrants. Each of you will get an e-mail from me assigning you a contestant number and I will post the answers within the next couple of days. I'm really excited about having my guest this week. "Frightwig" is a long time contributor to Twins message boards and is a frequent commenter over at Bat-Girl. Recently, he started up his own blog called Sundappled Wood and I really like it. He combines some of the humor that B-G does so well with some really good insight into the local nine. He's got Seattle roots, so I've asked some Mariner questions. But he's such a good writer, I'll let him take over.
I grew up near Seattle, and moved to Minnesota from Maryland in 2000. Since then I've held a dual citizenship as both Mariners and Twins fan. I've been writing about the teams practically every day since 1999 on a couple bulletin boards, and hailing the greatness of Johan Santana since before Gleeman even had a blog! Well, a number of us were pretty excited about him, actually. That dark New York night in May 2002 when Mike Trombley coughed up the grand slam to Sta-Puf, what stung me the most wasn't just the loss but knowing that instead of calling up that washed-up reliever for old times sake, Terry Ryan could have recalled Johan Santana. Would the recent history between the Twins and Yankees be less lopsided if Santana had been there that night to prevent that crushing defeat? I'm inclined to believe so. I wish the organization would take a certain lesson from that episode, but incidents like Game 2 of last year's ALDS indicate otherwise. Anyway, I digress. These kinds of questions haunt me in some quiet moments late at night, and maybe that's why I feel compelled to write. I just started a new blog called Sundappled Wood. Mostly I write about the Twins, and post pictures of my cats on the weekends. Later I hope to develop the weekend content to include music/podcasting and other areas of interest. But let's get on with the Pepper, shall we?
Sounds like a good idea to me. Topic #1: Fright Wigs FW: I'm saving up for a flip-curl, actually. No, I have curly hair which can frizz and stand on end, like Einstein hair, when at a certain length. Had I been born 20 years earlier, I could have been a member of the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Hence the name. SBG: I had a nearly bald friend. He had this huge outrageous wig that he'd take along to the bar with him. He'd put it on. He looked ridiculous. But, pretty soon, some girl would be talking to him and he'd be offering to put that wig on her. Pretty sly. Topic #2: A-Rod FW: The Eddie Haskell of baseball. People said M's fans were bitter towards him just for doing what anyone else would do if offered $252m, but they didn't see the manipulations and lies behind his orchestrated exit out of town. Basically, he never gave Seattle a chance to negotiate a new deal. I'd go into detail, but I'm under a word limit. Great player, but a bit of a garbage-time performer, and an insincere phony. It's a small satisfaction to see the NY/national press finally pick up on that now, too. SBG: Supreme talent. Just worried too damned much about image. Wants to be the guy everyone loves. But, he left a good team in Seattle that got great immediately thereafter. He doomed a franchise with the contract he signed. He'll never outshine Jeter in NY even though he's a better player. Topic #3: Seattle as a Baseball Town FW: Most people in the Northwest enjoy sports and the outdoors, and they can be as passionate and knowledgeable about baseball as anyone. The thing is, since they have so many recreational alternatives, they can be fickle if a club isn't doing enough to hold their attention. They're not terribly demanding, but they just want to see good effort and a show worth watching. Do that, and they'll be incredibly supportive and forgiving. For the last dozen years, since the season they hired Lou Pineilla to manage, I'd say the Mariners have been the most popular team in Seattle. SBG: It seems that at one time, baseball was on its way out of Seattle. Mariners stunk forever. But, they finally got good and beat the Yanks in the playoffs. Moving out of the mausoleum and into a ballpark certainly helped I would think. Minnesota could be the same way, support-wise. Topic #4: Griffey, Jr. FW: I love Griffey, really. He broke my heart when he asked to be traded, because he meant so much to the franchise, but I got over it after about the first year. Now I just feel sorry for him. It's tragic what has become of his career. I root for him to have at least a few more healthy years so he can remind people of why he's a first-ballot Hall of Famer, but I'm afraid he's under some kind of curse. SBG: Should have stayed in Seattle. People would look on his years of misfortune differently if he'd have reupped in Seattle. Of course, the Mariners are probably quite happy to have him collecting a ton of money while hurt in a Reds uniform. Joins Mantle in the 500-homer-what-could-have-been-club. Topic #5: Eddie Guardado FW: Eddie was one of my favorite Twins, and it still bothers me when people say that he was shaky and couldn't close out a game without giving everyone a heart attack. As the Twins closer, Eddie had a higher strikeout rate and a lower WHIP and Opp. Avg than most fans seem to believe, and his save rates were comparable to other top closers. I think people doubted him only because he didn't look the part. I loved that he was aggressive, challenged the hitters with strikes. If a hitter beat him, he'd have to earn it. Nathan has been a great closer, but I still miss Eddie when I watch the Twins. SBG: It's amazing how a guy who did a very good job for the Twins could be replaced so easily and effectively. Nathan's great pitching has probably caused fans to forget that Eddie was pretty good, too. But, replaceable. Topic #6: Twins Starters post Silva FW: I like Lohse, but I think he needs to focus on a narrow approach that works for him and can be repeated consistently. Maybe that means concentrating on two pitches instead of mixing in four. I'm just hoping that Mays can post an ERA around 4.50 this year. I look forward to the next generation coming up from the minors, although I'm a bit sorry that Rincon and Balfour probably never will get a shot at a rotation spot. I think Rincon could be a very good starting pitcher. SBG: Post Silva? I guess we'll see. SBG sends questions out on Tuesday to have them fresh. Not fresh enough. Starters haven't been great yet, but Lohse showed some signs as did Mays. Now Silva might be back. Topic #7: Is Torii Hunter Worth his Contract? FW: He's been a fair bargain to this point, but the $10.75m due next year and the $12m option in 2007 are starting to get steep for what he does. He's a great fielder, obviously, and an average bat for the position. Would we miss his defense too much if the club could plug Ford into CF and spend $10-12m on other roster spots? I'd guess not. SBG: I see Hunter as being just below a star caliber player. He's dynamite in the field. But, that contract was signed with the belief that he'd be dynamite at the plate, too. He's not. He's good, not great. That contract is a little too big for what he gives. Topic #8: Lew Ford's Start FW: I know that some people have felt concerned that his numbers slipped over the course of last season, so maybe he was a fluke, but after the break he still hit .289/.389/.422. I'd take that from the top or bottom of the order, wouldn't you? If he just concentrates on making contact and getting on base, I expect him to come around. SBG: Before last night, I was worried. Then, he gets a dinger and a double off the wall and hey, Lou-Lou (Gardy's ridiculous name for him) is back at least for a night. Doesn't hurt that he's out in the field last night. Hmmm. Topic #9: Okay, Michael Restovich (Ed. Note: FW has written extensively about the Twins handling of M.R.) FW: Even if he never catches on with another team, the Twins blew it with him. He was a top prospect, a local boy, who hit at every level of pro ball and did respectably well in his auditions with the Twins, and he seemed coachable and willing to play the Twins Way of baseball. Why they never gave him a real opportunity to stick with the club, and even blocked him out with the likes of Dustan Mohr or spare backup catchers and utilitymen, is just baffling. He at least should have been a trading chip to cash in a couple years ago, if they weren't going to clear a spot for him here. And I suspect that Gardy did mess him up with the "I want to see you lettin' it fly" debacle in 2003. The way Resto has been handled the last few years is a dark black eye for the Twins organization, and they should feel embarrassed. SBG: I wrote during spring training that I didn't care about the 25th man on the roster. That was before the Twins decided to go with four(!) catchers. And two utility infielders. The Twins have had so many outfield prospects. What do they have to show for it? Topic #10: Wild Card FW: I'm torn between discussing why a championship team will never be built around Kevin Garnett, or plugging my catblogging. Oh, who am I kidding? Come visit Sundappled Wood for Catblogging every Friday and sometimes Sunday, and also Lucy's catblogging here at the SBG site on Saturdays. Be sure to leave comments. It strokes the kitties' egos to see people make a fuss over them. SBG: Last week, I criticized Dick Bremer as being too much of a homer. Here's what he said last night. "Juan Castro is a perfect fit for this team." I rest my case. There you go, another successful game of Pepper! Thanks, Frightwig for some great work! Be sure to go over to Sundappled Wood and say hi. He's got a great page.|W|P|111356490429921490|W|P|Pepper! with Frightwig|W|P|sbg@stickandballguy.com4/15/2005 04:45:00 AM|W|P|SBG|W|P|Dmitri Young, in happier days.

|W|P|111356564993055310|W|P|How do you like me now?|W|P|sbg@stickandballguy.com4/14/2005 09:00:00 AM|W|P|SBG|W|P|The Twins are winning, the contest ends tonight, work is calling and the IRS is waiting! What a taxing time! Be sure to get your contest entries in. You have until 11:59 CDT on April 14! Good luck! Come back tomorrow for a game of Pepper!|W|P|111348731047965193|W|P|Tis the Season|W|P|sbg@stickandballguy.com4/13/2005 09:33:00 AM|W|P|SBG|W|P|Sorry for the short post. I've been working long hours and no time for blogging. I've got to get the taxes done yet (yikes!). Yesterday, the 7th Angel predicted in a comment at this page that maybe something would happen in the Detroit series to push the Twins onto a winning streak. How about their first earned run ever against Troy Percival to win the game in the bottom of the ninth? Sounds like a good omen to me. See you later. Get your contest entries in! I've got quite a few entries so far, but, the more the merrier!|W|P|111340306459245832|W|P|Short Post -- Long Hours|W|P|sbg@stickandballguy.com4/13/2005 10:39:00 AM|W|P|Blogger Cheesehead Craig|W|P|I found out last night that my stepfather's great-nephew is none other than Twins Catcher, Corky Miller. No, I cannot get you tickets.4/13/2005 11:56:00 AM|W|P|Blogger SBG|W|P|If only you had a shoestring quasi-relative playing on the Vikings. How sweet would that be??4/14/2005 02:26:00 AM|W|P|Blogger Andrew|W|P|How's this:

My dad's cousin's husband's best friend is Scott Schoeneweis, pitcher for the Blue Jays. I've actually met him. I ran into him at the wedding. He would win the World Series with the Angels a few months later.4/11/2005 09:53:00 PM|W|P|SBG|W|P|First of all, I encourage one and all to ENTER THE NEXT BIG SBG CONTEST. The winner gets two tickets to a Twins game from SBG. The deadline is April 14th at 11:59PM. Click here for details. Good luck. Last night I was starting my column when I got really tired and punted. I promised at the beginning of the column to talk about the week that just was. Then, I went off on a ramble about why it was that I hadn't been following the Twins. Cheesehead Craig would be proud. That was a real stream of consciousness rant. Tonight, I promise to talk a little bit about the Twins of the last week, but there ar a couple of other things I wanted to mention. You gotta love my co-workers, Moss and Drew. Neither one of those guys are NBA guys at all. But, they both made sure to inform me in their own ways how the Wolves have bit the dust. Here's Moss: I've been telling you for a month that it's time for the Ndudi Ebi era to begin. Talk about pouring salt in the wound. Ndudi was last seen at Troy Hudson's concert. In retrospect, fact that Troy Hudson had a concert and a rap album should have set off warning alarms through out the organization. Apparently, Mr. Hudson thought that he was hot poop or something. Well, if he's hot, it's only because he's been burned all year. And then, there's Drew. The guy knows how to stick the knife in. He was in a meeting all day long and when he gets out, he promptly sends me this e-mail.
Still supporting the Twolves title run?
So succinct. So brilliantly cutting. So hitting me where it hurts. Then, he comes moseying over to my office at the end of the day and tells me how Dan Barreiro was ripping the entire organization on Sunday. And how Dan "the Common Man" Cole called into his show to defend Kevin McHale. I got a chuckle out of that. Common Man, he's the greatest. I was telling Butch tonight how old I feel today. I woke up with a sore neck and I turned in my chair today and wrenched my back. I had tired eyes all day. I walked in the apartment and I thought -- where the hell is my cellphone? -- and I was talking on the damn thing at the time. Yes, Friends, I am either really senile or very damned tired. Maybe both. Okay, enough rambling, on to the Twins. The Twins are 3-3. They were 3-3 last year. And the year before. It's early. I'll talk about things a little because I want to do this on a weekly basis. In the future, I'll be building on what has happened, but we are where we are, so let's talk about it. Starting Pitching In six games, the Twins have gotten two quality starts from their starters. Last year, they had one quality start in the first six games. Radke is 0-2 with a 6.08 ERA and has given up four home runs. Last year, in his first two starts, Radke was 1-0 with a 5.73 ERA and had given up, yep, four home runs. I remember last year, Moss was telling me that Radke is known for his slow Aprils. I'm not panicking. Yes, the Silva injury is disheartening. However, all the news isn't bad. The Pioneer Press is reporting some good news.
The Twins may have gotten good news regarding pitcher Carlos Silva's knee injury when team orthopedist John Steubs examined Silva and evaluated his magnetic resonance imaging tests Sunday night. Steubs concurred with the original diagnosis that Silva has a tear in the medial meniscus in his right knee, but the surgical procedure necessary to return him to playing shape might be a less extensive operation that could have him back on the mound before the all-star break. It was originally feared he could miss the whole season if surgeons attempted to suture the tear. After Steubs' exam, manager Ron Gardenhire said it now looks like, "Maybe it's just cleaning it up a little bit, so maybe we got a little good news today." Former Twins pitcher Eddie Guardado had a similar surgery in 2001 and made an unusually quick return in less than three weeks. Steubs is expected to confer with other doctors in his office today, and Silva is expected to have an outside second opinion before surgery is scheduled.
Maybe, it won't be as bad as originally feared. Of course, I remember that a certain rookie catcher had a meniscus tear in the first week of the season. That didn't turn out so well. Even with Silva's injury, I'm still not that concerned. Yes, we have some question marks. But, Santana looked great last night, and Radke will be there. If anyone else shows up at all, the Twins will be just fine. Bullpen Going into the season, it was recognized that the bullpen was absolutely a team strength. Here's what the bullpen did last week. In 15 appearances, the pen pitched 15.1 innings, allowing 10 hits, 2 earned runs, 3 walks, one HR, and struck out 10 batters. That's an ERA of 1.17, and a WHIP of 0.85. That's a FIP of 3.33. What? What is FIP? FIP is fielding independent pitching. FIP recognizes that of the balls that are put in play, about 1/3 or so are hits. Thus, FIP uses the "three true outcomes" to determine how well a pitcher is pitching, independent of the fielding behind him. FIP should be read similar to ERA. It has a baseline of 3.20, which is about the average ERA of someone who doesn't strike anyone out, walk anyone, or give up any homeruns. To that it adds a number based on the three true outcomes of the pitcher. The formula looks like this. FIP = 3.20 + (13*HR + 3*BB - 2*K)/IP If you don't like to think about a zillion numbers may I suggest you go here. If you don't like or trust scientific analysis, go here. If you are curious, stick with me. Let's look at an example. Last year, Joe Nathan threw 72.1 innings, striking out 89, while allowing 23 walks and 3 homeruns. His ERA was 1.62. His FIPs was 3.20 + (13*3 + 3*23 - 2*89)/72.3333 or 2.23. This indicates that he benefitted somewhat from the defense behind him. Nevertheless, 2.23 is a very good number. (Does anyone see a potential column here? Or three? Like, does FIP show any indication of how well a defense plays?) Anyway, back to the bullpen. Twins fans think it's strong, and it started out well. In fact, the pitching staff overall, has started out just fine, leading the league in KK/B and WHIP, while being third in ERA. Not too bad. Did I mention it was early? Hitting Well, surprise. The Twins haven't been scoring many runs. With Justin Morneau seeing stars, the Twins will probably call up Terry Tiffee if Li'l Harmon needs to go on the DL. Here are the team's AVE/OBP/SLG/OPS: .266/308/.391/.699. Yikes! The Twins are, collectively, Cristian Guzman! (Well, not really. The $17 million man is hitting .125/.192/.167/.359. It's early, I know.) Here's a list of players who are hitting (OPS over .800). Jacque Jones (1.047), Matt LeCroy (1.012), and Jason Bartlett (.859). Here are the players who are not hitting (OPS under .700). Joe Mauer (.668), Torii Hunter (.658), Shannon Stewart (.605), Lew Ford (.400), and Michael Cuddyer (.359). Surprisingly, Mauer, known as a patient hitter with a good eye, struck out 7 times and walked just twice. Hunter has a couple of homers, including a three run blast on Sunday, but just 4 hits in six games. I expect Hunter to hit. I expect Stewart to hit. I'm a little worried about Mauer, Ford, and Cuddyer. I know, it's early. Finally, I have posted a little box in the upper right hand corner -- Hot/Not Hot. The hot hitter for the week -- Jacque Jones. The Not Hot hitter -- Michael Cuddyer. I'll name Hot/Not Hot winners every week. Let's see who wins.|W|P|111327947992424072|W|P|Twins Week in Review|W|P|sbg@stickandballguy.com4/12/2005 12:28:00 PM|W|P|Blogger Andrew|W|P|I think your overall "don't worry, it's early" idea is right on. There is no need to panic. Everything usually turns out alright in the end. I can foresee something happening in the Tigers' series to jumpstart the team, and they'll go on a modest, but uplifting, winning streak.4/12/2005 04:52:00 PM|W|P|Blogger Butch|W|P|Not to worry, "it's early". Going to watch the game tonight, heard that Mays was starting, he is going to have to step it up and help out for a while. Go Twins!!4/11/2005 06:22:00 PM|W|P|SBG|W|P|The Hot/Not Hot Award are SBG awards given out each week to the Twins players who had the best and worst weeks at the plate. The player has to play more than a couple of games in the week to win. This file keeps track of the previous winners.
HotNot Hot
WeekPlayerABAVEOBPSLGPlayerABAVEOBPSLG
1Jones17.353.400.647Cuddyer23.174.174.217
2Jones17.353.476.706Stewart23.217.357.304
|W|P|111328030976201938|W|P|Hot/Not Hot Awards|W|P|sbg@stickandballguy.com4/10/2005 10:12:00 PM|W|P|SBG|W|P|Hello SBG fans, and welcome to the first edition of Monday look back and look forward. After five games, I'll admit that I was a little bit worried. Carlos Silva is out at least until the all-star break (damn!), Li'l Harmon is still groggy from his beaning last week, and Brad Radke gave up a couple of home runs and got beat again by the White Sox. And the White Sox were looking at a sweep of the home town nine. Never fear, Aaron's Guy, was on the mound. And he is the cure for what ails you. 7IP, 7H, 2ER, 11K, 1BB, no HR. And the Twins won 5-2. And for tonight, all is well in the world. I still haven't had much of a chance to watch the Twins, although I did see the last four inning on TV tonight. Lucy and I have been running around with our head chopped off lately. Last weekend it was Butch and Mrs. Butch's parties. This weekend, it was off to my brother Putzer's place in South Dakota for a baptism. Putzer and Mrs. Putzer recently had their sixth child, and the baptism was today. So, this morning, Lucy and I drove through every small town in Minnesota to get to Brookings, SD. We had a lot of fun. I surprised my brothers and sister with a copy of the picture Butch and his dog that was the centerpiece of my Dog Blogging on Saturday. They were quite happy about it, as this is a family favorite picture. Butch told me some of the details of that picture. It seems that the photographer was smoothing Butch's pants before the picture and that made Butch's dog, Ginger, quite agitated. If you look at the picture, Ginger is on alert. Butch told me that that dog would not let anyone touch him. I also found out that picture was taken in about 1947. More news on the weekend (and excuse for why there isn't much on the Twins in this post). Lucy and I did a lot of wedding stuff. We got our reception finalized, tuxedos rented, registration done, and honeymoon booked. Because these things had to be done, I just couldn't be sitting around watching baseball. Lucy and I are having a very small wedding, just 23 people. We have a room at a romantic little restaurant in St. Paul as our reception site. I think it will be great. Lucy and I have eaten there a few times and the food is good. Plus, the restaurant is an old mansion and so it has a ton of character. We are very excited about the reception site. And we set the honeymoon. I was pulling hard for Blaine, MN. I hear it is lovely in Blaine in May (our wedding is May 14!), but for some reason, Lucy just didn't think this was the best option. So, I said okay, let's go somewhere else. And so, Lucy and I are headed to Maui for a week. Really, is this better than Blaine? She seems to think so. (If you think I'm serious, may I refer you to my April 1 post on my meeting with Derek Jeter.) It was a busy weekend so no more time to blog about the Twins. Come back tomorrow and I'll try to talk a little more about the first six games of the year. SBG|W|P|111319109185219005|W|P|The Cure for what Ails You|W|P|sbg@stickandballguy.com4/11/2005 11:00:00 AM|W|P|Anonymous Anonymous|W|P|Debbie, one of the girls I work with, got engaged at Miracle game Sunday First they announced that "Debbie from Lehigh" was throwing out the first pitch and that where was a special guest catcher. Seemed her boyfriend got dressed up in a Miracle uni with the mask on went out to catch. I was wondering who the couch potato was. She threw a strike, and he did catch it, then he walked over to the mound , took the mask off, got down on one knee and proposed to her. I always wondered what sort of people do that at ballgames. Now I know.

She does realize that she'll get no peace at work now for the next week. I've been sending out e-mails on it all morning long. Heh!

We told her she could get married at the game too. They have that nice picnic pavilion area for the reception, the mascot could be her maid of honor, they could use the sling-shot thingy to throw out the bouquete, and instead of dancing, all of her guests could try the "catch a crab in your pants" contest.

Of course, I dunno, they're planing an October wedding, so they might have to get married at a hockey game. ::shruggs::

I did tell him to make sure she brings the boyfriend back to the park for the "Couch Potato Olympics". Then again, Aaron's already "working out" for that one! Big screen TV is on the line!4/12/2005 10:26:00 AM|W|P|Blogger SBG|W|P|I that if I'd have done that, Lucy might have said "no."4/09/2005 09:31:00 AM|W|P|SBG|W|P|Good morning! I am taking over (this week) on the pet blogging for my fiancee Lucy. Previously, she has blogged about our cats, Jags and Theo, here, here, here, here, and here. My family never had any cats, it is only after I met Lucy that I had anything to do with cats. But, we've had some dogs, or at least some of us have. Mrs. Butch (my mother) grew up on a farm and they had dogs. I remember this big out mutt, Buffy. She was a big black dog and was very old when I was young. Mrs. Butch never liked the dogs out on the farm, but I thought they were alright. Henk West (my uncle) still has dogs (or at least his wife and daughters do). The last time or one of the last times Henk West was back here in the homeland, his dog had died the night before he left. But, he's got a new dog (or at least his wife and daughters do). When Henk West heard I was going to dog blog, he sent me pictures of the new dog, Roxie. Here they are.
What a cute little dog! Not quite the same as the old farm dog, but a very nice animal. Butch is a huge dog lover. He grew up with dogs, and my grandmother had dogs pretty much all her life. When I was a kid, we had a dog Sadie that was a daschund cross (she had long legs!). But, she met a terrible end when someone who Shall Remain Unnamed decided to get rid of her and had her put to sleep while Butch was at work and us kids were at school. The rest of us were quite angry about that. The whole purpose of dog blogging was to share this picture of Butch with one of his dogs as a boy. This picture is almost 60 years old. Funny, I can see a lot of Butch today in that boy from the late 1940s. And look at his buddy. I love this picture.
Finally, no Saturday blogging can be complete without a picture of Jags, right Lucy?
Have a good weekend, everyone! SBG|W|P|111305913639268903|W|P|Dog Blogging by SBG|W|P|sbg@stickandballguy.com4/09/2005 12:49:00 PM|W|P|Blogger frightwig|W|P|That is a fantastic picture of Butch. Classic. The new puppy and Jags as a kitten are awfully cute, too.4/08/2005 11:15:00 AM|W|P|SBG|W|P|Note: Seth got his homework to me with plenty of time to spare. However, because Blogger was not working last night or this morning, I couldn't post until Friday at almost noon. NOTE: CHECK OUT THE POST DIRECTLY BELOW THIS ONE FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN TWO FREE TICKETS TO A 2005 TWINS GAME! OF COURSE, YOU SHOULD READ PEPPER! FIRST! Welcome, SBG fans, to another game of Pepper! If you are new to Pepper!, this is a game where I have someone else contribute to my site. I pick ten topics and both my guest and I have fifty words to respond. The tenth topic is a Wild Card, which allows each Pepper! player to say whatever they want. Normally, I get a Twins blogger to play, although I�ve been known to snag a gold glove shortstop for this game. This week, I have one of the heavy weights in the Twins blogging community, Seth Stohs of Seth Speaks. Seth has been a tremendous supporter of this humble little site and he�s also the first two-time player of Pepper! Thanks, Seth! Do me a favor, dear readers and stop over at Seth�s site. Now, let�s play Pepper! Topic #1. Twins TV Announcers Seth: Bremer � Minnesotan that you can tell he truly loves his job and loves the game. A homer, with tact and much skill. Blyleven � Can be annoying at times, but also loves what he does and provides great incite from a former player perspective. SBG: Not so long ago, Bremer moaned non-stop how the Twins couldn�t compete because of baseball�s finances. Now, he is quite smug about their success, forgetting how wrong he was about their inability to compete. Dick, you call a nice game, but how about some objectivity? Circle me Bert! Topic #2. Radke and Santana's Starts Seth: Each had a flaw. Radke�s, the homers to Sexson. Santana, the first inning. However, both showed plenty for Twins fans to be really excited about. Santana relied on his changeup, almost too much, and it still baffled. Radke was great against all but Sexson. Silva�s first outing, better than both. SBG: Obviously, neither guy was exactly great. But, they weren�t that bad either. I was surprised that Santana struggled. He was great this spring. But, look on the bright side. Their WHIPs were low, very few walks. They�ll be fine. Continuing tradition, Radke pitched a little better but still lost. Topic #3. Morneau's Projected Career HR total Seth: 23 now. This is his Age-24 season. 35 HR each of the next twelve seasons. At least seven 40 home run seasons in there. That will leave him with about 485 at the age of 36. With his build, he�ll play to 42 and hit 574, one more than Killebrew. (Ed. note: would that make the Killer Li'l Justin?) SBG: His upside is tremendous. So young, so powerful. I believe that if he becomes selective the sky is the absolute limit. 600 is within reach. But, I�m not so sure. He�s seemingly had some injury problems already. Because of that, I�m going to say 375. I hope I�m way low. Topic #4. One Thing You'd Change about Twins Lineup Seth: Nick Punto replacing Luis Rivas. I�ve also thought that switching Morneau and Hunter might be good. Hunter would see better pitches. It would break up the lefties (although you�d have to switch Ford and Jones to keep that scenario true throughout the lineup.) SBG: I�d move Jones out of the lineup against lefties. Against right-handers, he�s very good. Against lefties, he should sit next to the hitting coach. Yeah, getting Rivas out of the lineup would be great, but that�s going to take a roster move. How about Tiffee up and Corky Miller out? Topic #5. Favorite Non Twins AL Central Team Seth: Definitely Cleveland! I like how GM Mark Shapiro tore the team apart and started over by developing a minor league system and then letting guys like Crisp, Hafner, Martinez, Peralta, Westbrook, Sabathia, Lee and now maybe Sizemore play and complimenting them with cheap alternatives like Blake, Belliard and Millwood. SBG: The White Sox are so much fun. I mean really, who provides Twins fans with more enjoyment than the South Siders? They had a three run lead in the ninth and lost by six on Thursday. Are they psychologically eliminated yet? Oh wait, they need to talk some trash first. Topic #6. Chicago Cubs Seth: Potentially dominant rotation, if healthy. Not likely. Solid lineup led by Ramirez. Patterson will be a stud. Derrek Lee underrated. Garciaparra is the key! I still like LaTroy! I generally don�t like the Cubs, but did (foolishly) pick them to beat the Cardinals in NL Central. SBG: Love the Cubs. Love them. I can say that again. Hated Sosa. Now he�s gone. I�ve seen 10 games at Wrigley, it�s the absolute best. Loved Harry. Love that they always lose. Never want them to win, but I love them (again). Topic #7. Bret Boone Seth: Not sure what happened in the late �90s that flipped a switch to make him a great 2B power hitter (I won�t say that �S� word!!). I despise the Booney Bat Flip. It is even worse than Jacque�s! Unbelievable defensively, such quick hands. SBG: When I sent this topic to Seth, I was thinking I�ll bet his HRs are down this year. And then he jacks one yesterday. Mentioned to Moss that I thought he looked thinner. Does getting of �roids really cause you to lose a bunch of weight? Not convinced of that. Topic #8. Randy Johnson Seth: He�s tall. Many think he could win 30 for Yankees. It is a legitimate possibility, but he hasn�t been real healthy this spring. Amazing that he still won 16 with Arizona last year with no run support. Should have won the Cy Young. He�s the 2nd best pitcher is baseball! SBG: I�ve seen Unit pitch twice in person. A two-hitter both times, once coming off a no-hitter. I sat behind the plate in Arizona. He was incredible. Guys were way out in front of his slider. Then you look at the gun and he�s throwing it 90MPH. Awesome. Topic #9. Curt Schilling Seth: The fact he�s still hurt reminds us of how truly amazing his performances were in the ALCS and World Series last year! He is tough. I like how he speaks his mind on issues, and chose to support President Bush! SBG: Great pitcher. Borderline HOF candidate. But, shut up already. Topic #10. Wild Card Seth: Twins fans � Don�t forget to enjoy the season. Enjoy the game of baseball. Enjoy watching these remarkable athletes perform at such a high level. Stay positive. Question decisions if you want but continue to support the team. Don�t be a fair-weather fan. Enjoy the nuances of the game. Dig into stats, but don�t let them consume you. And, read SethSpeaks.net and Stick and Ball Guy every day! SBG: Sometimes I get home from work and think, man I gotta do the blogging. It can really wear on a guy. When I�m not doing my best work I don�t like what I�ve written and it can be discouraging. But, when it goes well it is so much fun. There you have it! Another successful game of Pepper! Thanks to my guest, Seth. You are the best. Come back tomorrow when SBG hosts it�s first ever dog blogging. You surely will not want to miss that!|W|P|111297728737942002|W|P|Pepper! with Seth Stohs|W|P|sbg@stickandballguy.com4/08/2005 12:03:00 PM|W|P|Anonymous Anonymous|W|P|SBG: Couldn't agree more on Schilling, but the Boston pitcher who really needs to shut up and pitch is David Wells.4/08/2005 12:29:00 PM|W|P|Blogger SBG|W|P|Jim H.: You said a mouthful there.4/08/2005 07:24:00 AM|W|P|SBG|W|P|Welcome to the Next Big SBG contest! I am very excited! Now is your chance to win two free tickets to a 2005 Twins game, courtesy of SBG! Here are the rules to the contest. 1. You have to answer 10 questions, listed below. Each question requires a numerical answer, which predicts certain statistics at the all-star break. The contestant who answers closest to the actual number for each question will receive 10 points. The next closest will get nine points, and so on down to 1 point for the tenth best answer. If players tie on a particular question, they will each receive an equal share of the total points for their positions. For example, two players who tie for the best answer will each receive 9.5 points, half of the points for first and second. A perfect score is 100. 2. The Twins have 87 games scheduled before the all-star break, the last of which is scheduled for July 10th. The contest ends at the end of play on July 10th. 3. If you have the highest total score, and you beat SBG, I will give you two lower level left field seats (or a comparably priced pair of upper deck reserved tickets) to the game of your choice for the 2005 season (I am not responsible for sellouts, nor am I responsible for any problems associated with logistics of any sort. This is a gift and should be treated thusly). 4. In case of an overall tie, the person with the highest individual score on a given question will be the winner. If that score is a tie as well, the next tie breaker will be the next highest score. 6. In case of any problems with the rules, SBG reserves the right to make all binding decisions. 7. If you have questions about the rules, e-mail me. 8. One entry per person. Include your full name on entry. 9. Email your selections to stickandballguy@hotmail.com. 10. Deadline for entry is April 14, 2005 at 11:59 PM. 11. I will post my selections on April 15, 2005. 12. Good luck and have fun! And now, the questions! Question one: How many wins will the Twins have (87 games)? Question two: What will be the pitching staff's ERA? Question thee: How many quality starts will the Twins have? Question four: What will be Johan Santana's ERA? Question five: How many saves will Joe Nathan have? Queston six: How many games will Joe Mauer play catcher in? Question seven: How many home runs will Justin Morneau have? Question eight: How many games will Luis Rivas have played in? Question nine: How many games will Lew Ford have played in the outfield? Question ten: How many RBIs will Torii Hunter have? I suggest you cut and paste the questions and add your answers in your e-mail to make it easier for me. Good luck! SBG|W|P|111297764739813605|W|P|The Next Big SBG Contest|W|P|sbg@stickandballguy.com4/07/2005 10:37:00 PM|W|P|SBG|W|P|Twice I have typed in my contest rules only to have them blown away.|W|P|111293249177476079|W|P|Damn Blogger to Hell|W|P|sbg@stickandballguy.com4/08/2005 01:37:00 AM|W|P|Blogger Ryan|W|P|You don't have to tell me how frustrating that is SBG. Blogger can be maddening at times.4/08/2005 07:04:00 AM|W|P|Anonymous Anonymous|W|P|Where's pepper? How can I have breakfast without any pepper?4/08/2005 10:52:00 AM|W|P|Blogger Cheesehead Craig|W|P|I think SBG had Pepper! with Blogger, but then Blogger didn't like the results, so won't let him post.4/06/2005 10:37:00 PM|W|P|SBG|W|P|Welcome, SBG fans, to another episode of Thursday Wild Card. Thursday is a day in which I talk about what ever comes into my head (as if I don't do that every day). As a preliminary matter, I want to direct you to the post immediately below this one, in which I announce the winner of my first SBG Contest. And the winner is -- me. Of course, I am giving away two tickets to a Twins game to the best entrant not named SBG. So go and find out who won the tickets. The Twins won again tonight 4-1, getting a classic Carlos Silva performance. Seven innings, 9 hits, one home run, no walks or strikeouts, a pile of double plays and one run allowed. Silva pitched those seven innings and threw just 68 pitches. I was looking at the lineup tonight and I was thinking "B-Squad" game. The Twins had Stewart, Hunter, and Jones in the outfield; Cuddyer, Castro, Punto, Morneau and Redmond on the infield and LeCroy as the DH. Then I thought, hey, this isn't that far away from the lineup I'd like to see every time the Twins face a left hander. Put Ford in left and Bartlett at short, give Mauer a day off and that's about the best line up we have. A while back, I postulated that LeCroy should DH against lefties and Jones should sit down. LeCroy jacked a three-run dinger tonight, and Jones was 0-3 against lefties (he had a bunt single against a right handed reliever). I couldn't care less if Castro gets another at bat, but like everyone else (except Gardy), I want to see Somebody Else get a shot at 2nd. Come back tomorrow and check out Pepper! I have a repeat guest this week, and I like our topics. Hopefully, they will generate a little disagreement. And no, it's not Derek Jeter. Incidentally, just for the record (and I'm sure you already know this), my post last Friday was an April Fool's joke. But, did you understand who the travelling secretary's assistant was? I know some of you got that, but some did not. Okay, now for my regular Thursday Feature: SHOUT OUTS. A big SHOUT OUT to the Mayor and Putzer, my two brothers. They have their own websites, where they chronicle their lives. If you have any interest in SBG's family, you should check them out once in a while. A big SHOUT OUT to Butch. Finally officially retired. When are you coming down to take in a Twins game? A big SHOUT OUT to Drew. Play with the big ball. It makes a difference. A big SHOUT OUT to Bubba. Got the message on the new house. Like the sepia picture of the kids. Very nice. A big SHOUT OUT to Miller Man. If I hear you are in the neighborhood and don't look me up, you'll be in big trouble!!!! A big SHOUT OUT to the Shoe-Man. Gotcha! Hope you enjoyed my little prank. A big SHOUT OUT to Mrs. Butch. Age is just a number. A big SHOUT OUT to Kobe Bryant. Nice work, buddy. You could learn a thing or two from my man KG. A big SHOUT OUT to Frightwig. I absolutely love your site. What's with the missing letters? A big SHOUT OUT to Henk West. I will publish your submission. A big SHOUT OUT to Seth. Thanks for helping out. I know I can count on you. A big SHOUT OUT to Big Henk. I actually had someone reach this site by googling "BIG HENK." You are famous! A rather unwelcome SHOUT OUT to Jags and Theo. Lucy talked about how the cats like to lick each other, which brought someone to my site who googled "guys lick guys balls." Hopefully, that visitor was disappointed. Speaking of visitors, I actually had a visitor today from Iran. I can't explain that. Here is the google string that brought that person to me, complete with Arabic. That's all for tonight. Come back tomorrow for another episode of the World Famous Pepper!|W|P|111284853193499092|W|P|Thursday Wild Card|W|P|sbg@stickandballguy.com4/07/2005 07:17:00 PM|W|P|Blogger frightwig|W|P|Hey, I got a SBG Shout Out! Awesome.

The missing letters... any combination of these possible answers may be true:

* it fascinates/amuses me when I see missing letters or burned out bulbs in restaurant/store signs

* they're lost in the memory hole

* some letters are obscured in flickering sundappled shadow

* I'd like to encourage people to fill in the blank spots with their own letters of choice

* it is my tribute to Fawlty Towers; later I may re-arrange the letters or even make up entirely new phrases that sound like the original title. Would you read a blog called Sundrizzled Snood?

* Eventually, the letters will form the name of the blog's true title: Little Canada (of Anaheim).

* it's nothing but nonsense fun.4/07/2005 07:57:00 PM|W|P|Blogger SBG|W|P|Little Canada of Anaheim. Brilliant!4/06/2005 09:50:00 PM|W|P|SBG|W|P|Hello Twins Fans! Last October, I invited all of my readers to enter a contest. The purpose of the contest was to predict the Twins' opening day roster based on the season just ended. A lot of people who write blogs pontificate about this and that. They tell you why the Twins or other teams will or should make this move or that move. As far as I know, I am the only blogger out there who put his money where his mouth is. I challenged my readers to predict the opening day roster. I would award the winner two tickets if they beat me. I later decided to give the tickets to the second place finisher if I won. Think of it! Other blogs try to sell you junk or inundate you with advertisements. Here at SBG, we give away free tickets to see your favorite team! What could be better than that?!?! Here were the rules of the contest.
1. Choose 25 players that you think will be on the Twins opening day active roster (disabled list doesn't count), that is the roster that is established for the very first game of the season. 2. Assign each player a number between 1 and 25. No number can be used more than once. Example: supppose you think Lew Ford is the most likely player to be on the Opening Day roster, you would assign him 25. If you think that Torii Hunter is second, you would assign him 24. And on down to 1. Important: If you assign any number more than once, you will be disqualified. Do NOT assign multiple people the same number! 3. For every player that you correctly predict is on the roster on Opening Day 2005, you will get that player's points. So if Lew is on the active roster, you would get the number of points that you assigned him. 4. The person with the highest total wins. 5. If you are the highest total, and you beat the Stick and Ball Guy, I will give you two lower level GA (or a comparably priced pair of upper deck reserved tickets) to the game of your choice for the 2005 season (I am not responsible for sellouts, nor am I responsible for any problems associated with logistics of any sort. This is a gift and should be treated thusly.) I will look to see if I can get some sort of voucher from the Twins. 6. In case of ties or any problems with the rules, Stick and Ball Guy reserves the right to make all binding decisions. 7. If you have questions about the rules, e-mail me. 8. One entry per person. Include your full name on entry. 9. Email your selections to stickandballguy@hotmail.com. 10. Deadline for entry is October 22, 2004. 11. I will post my selections on October 23, 2004. 12. Good luck and have fun!
Eight hardy souls took me up on my offer (my readership was a little lower then). As you know, the first game of the season has been played, and thus the Opening Day roster was set. Here are the results of the contest. As you can see, I did in fact win the contest with 281 of a possible 325 points, and contestant number 8 came in second with 267 points.

Players

Contestants

23465178SBG
Torii Hunter132321252425252424
Justin Morneau242519221823222525
Johan Santana252125192324241819
Lew Ford232220232220232223
Joe Nathan221823212518211921
Shannon Stewart191222241717202315
Juan Rincon111724201919191720
Michael Cuddyer14246161622182122
Carlos Silva151912182121151618
Jesse Crain17169112012141514
Kyle Lohse1213135141411137
Joe Mauer1601713416131213
Nick Punto0112812133916
Joe Mays0615145012118
Brad Radke48015886611
J.C. Romero105842721010
Matthew LeCroy914501001019
Luis Rivas6014010000
Jason Bartlett331000056
Jacque Jones504000700
Terry Mulholland020304000
Juan Castro000000000
Matt Guerrier000000000
Mike Redmond000000000
Corky Miller000000000
Totals248259260261261263265267281
The big question is, who got second (and the free tickets). Why, it was none other than my co-worker, and fellow traveler to Florida, Moss. Imagine my disappointment. I whupped his butt, and now I have to give him two free tickets. For those of you who think that Moss is a figment of my imagination (and a certain recent post has shown that my imagination is quite fertile, thank you), I can assure you that one Aaron Gleeman has, in fact, met Moss. Thanks to all of you who entered this contest. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Now, here's the big news. Tomorrow, I will announce a new contest! I will award two tickets to a 2005 Twins game to the winner of this contest! I expect that more than eight people will enter. Be sure to come back tomorrow and learn how you can go to see the soon-to-be World Champion Minnesota Twins, courtesy of SBG!|W|P|111284493235565308|W|P|The First SBG Contest Results|W|P|sbg@stickandballguy.com