FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[DuffMan]

Hockey talk?  Cripes!  I'll let it slide today because I am hooking up the boat and going fishing as soon as I get home

[tmerton]

Since I have to put up with more coverage of baseball preseason than hockey during the stretch run of the hockey season, I would hope we could discuss hockey when the season starts.

Start here.

[tmerton]

OK peons, here's how it will go:

Blackburn pitches a complete game shutout. Delmon goes 6 for 6 with a walk-off to end the game and gets carried off the field. Reaching the dugout he collapses in tears upon discovering he finished with a .299, and will not get to split the coveted Hamm's Trophy with TDT.

This is tough to do, unless you plan on keeping Blackburn out there for a day and a half or the Twins load the bases every single inning without scoring.  (And, as Pat notes, playing on the road will make it even tougher.)

There isn't anything I like about this matchup:  Twins suck on the road, Sox are tough to beat at home.  Twins suck against lefties.  Blackburn sucks on the road (5.20 ERA vs. 2.95 at home), especially at the Cell (7.20 in three starts there this year).  The wind is (if you believe the Star Tribune) supposed to be blowing out to CF at 30 MPH.  Yuck, yuck, yuck, yuck.

Still, the Twins come to Chicago relatively rested and ready.  It would have been great if the score stayed 6-2 into the ninth and the Sox wasted Jenks for an inning, but at least they had to use Thornton, Dotel, Linebrink and Carrasco, who I'm sure are all pretty spent by this point in the season.

An argument can be made for John Danks being the Sox best starter this year, but the fact is he's coming off a pounding by the Indians and is starting on 3-days rest for the first time in his career and has thrown 41 more innings this year than any prior season, not a good combination.  Mauer and Morneau own him--heck, the Twins own him, he has a 6.88 ERA against them in 7 career starts--and he pitches worse at the Cell than on the road.  (Well, everyone does.  Chicago sucks for pitchers.)  Even though we typically turn mediocre-or-better LHPs into Sandy Koufax-reincarnates, at least there's historical hope tonight. 

I want to believe, I really, really, do, but I just don't see it happening tonight.  From earlier in the year:

Speaking of not striking anyone out, I'm skeptical that Blackburn will ever be more than a back-of-the-rotation starter.  He's already 26, K's more than a batter and half per 9 innings less than even Slowey, and for a supposed groundball pitcher doesn't even really get that many groundballs. His ERA is at 3.69 now, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it around 4.25-4.50 by the end of the year.  Of course, that makes him a very valuable commodity over the next 3 or 4 years before he get's expensive, and the Twins' ability to continually churn out pitchers like that (Mark Redman, Joe Mays, Kyle Lohse, Carlos Silva, etc., with a handful more on the horizon) SHOULD keep them from flushing resources down the toilet on pitchers like Sidney Ponson, Ramon Ortiz and Livan Hernandez.

For the record, Blackburn's ERA is currently at 4.14 and I think there is a very good chance it is at least 4.25 at this time tomorrow.  He is what he is: a guy who doesn't strike anyone out, tries to keep his walks to a minimum, and has trouble with homeruns.  He's a 29th round draft pick with the corresponding talent level, which isn't to say he's not a valuable commodity, but he relies a ton on his defense and good fortune keeping the baseball in the ballpark.  That is precisely NOT the kind of pitcher you want starting a winner-take-all game at the Cell with the wind blowing out.

Speaking of blowing, I imagine both bullpens will see extensive action tonight.  I'm just afraid the Twins' pen will be in the game earlier than the Sox' and won't have a lead to protect.

Sorry for the extremely rambling, stream-of-consciousness diatribe.  In summary:  Anything can happen in a single game of baseball, and I would love nothing more than to see the Twins pull this one out, but looking at the matchup objectively doesn't give them a great chance.

"The reasons for despair are the same as the reasons for hope."

Someone said that once. (It may have been me though. )

[Rugman]

Unfortunately Delmon can't hit a walk-off. The game is in Chicago.

DOH!!   Revision: Delmon's 6th hit is a solo shot in the 9th, to take a 1-0 lead. Then Nathan comes in and pitches a 1-2-3, but all 3 batters hit deep balls to various parts of left field, all caught with spectacular dives by Delmon...etc.,etc.

Maybe my math is bad, but you'd have to have about 24 lob in order for your scenario to unfold Fins.  Now that would be something.

[stanbob]

Kubel hits for the cycle

Gonna be tough, Gardy is starting Cuddyer at DH tonight.

[The White Silly]

Dang it...Kubes is my boy...I don't like that call lefthanded pitcher or not...gotta go with Kubes I think...alright Twins let's do work tonight!

[Rugman]

Dang it...Kubes is my boy...I don't like that call lefthanded pitcher or not...gotta go with Kubes I think...alright Twins let's do work tonight!

Good bat to have available against Jenks in the 9th.

[Willy Wonka]

Stuck in the office tonight...but watching the Twins on ESPN.com. They have a neat little chat thing they've apparently added to MLB gamecasts!

Starting a bowling league tomorrow night with Frank Rickard. Could get tricksy at the casino...

[sjusection105]

Starting a bowling league tomorrow night with Frank Rickard. Could get tricksy at the casino...

Is the bowling league at the casino?

One thing about Minnesota casinos, they more entertainment than just gambling.

[senor_hauser]

The Cobbs start winning and the posters start coming out of the woodwork   Or did Moorhead just get the internet now?

It's their kickers.  They've nothing to do in practice, so, like Bill Curtis, they've found the internet.

HAHA your a funny man.

[TC]

That was unexpected.  Not the result, but how it happened.  Ugh.

[janesvilleflash]

Got to see lot's of good pitching.

[Redtooth]

TC:
Just like your expertise on Kofoed, you will be wrong again where the Cubs are concerned.
BTW-what is the Vikings record? Bitter Fall for Chicago-Hello, wake up TC!
And I actually like the Twins.

Yeah, after seeing the studs SJU had on the bench last year play this season, it's pretty clear that the only thing standing between the Johnnies and the 2007 Stagg Bowl was Alex Kofoed...

TC,

Help me understand your logic on this one.....most people know me to be as close to an SJU homer as there is, but even I am unable to have seen how last season would have ended in the Stagg Bowl for SJU.  I realize that Bethel made the semis, but they ran into the Purple Machine in Alliance, which would have been the fate of SJU had they gotten that far.  Tough to blame Kofoed exclusively for not getting to the Stagg.  BTW, what studs have you seen this season that would have been the difference makers last year?

[TC]

I forgot how poorly sarcasm translates to the internet. 

[Redtooth]

TC,

I was thinking that as I was writing my response....sorry for my confusion.  Good thing Kofoed stayed healthy those last four years  8) 8)