No round-up this weekend, Batgirl's all Boof'ed out. In lieu, BG gives you her Blogger's Minute this week, from the Twins Magazine on WCCO.
It's been quite a week in the Twins clubhouse. With two of the starters demoted from the rotation, you have to wonder if Scott Baker and Brad Radke are watching their backs. It doesn't help that the demotions are getting progressively worse—with Silva in the bullpen and Lohse in Rochester, it's hard to even imagine what the fates have in store for the other two. You expect to wake up in the morning and find Baker has been demoted to Siberia or Purgatory, and that will leave nothing left for Radke but the 2nd through 9th levels of hell or, worse, Kansas City.
But of course one man's misfortunate is another man's spot in the starting rotation, and for the young pitchers in the Twins organization the struggles of the increasingly-less-Fab 5 must seem like the best Christmas present ever, even better than the Star Wars storm trooper blaster Francisco Liriano got last year from his mom. This weekend I think the average age of the pitchers was about 17 years old and the only worry is whether or not they'd be too distracted by the upcoming junior prom to focus on pitching to Carlos Lee. There's a lot of pressure in going to prom, after all, what with getting the tux rented and trying to remember the corsage and trying to convince your dad to let you use the Beemer even though you took it test driving that one time without his permission and got that itsy bitsy scratch on the door and got grounded for, like, ever and what's a scratch on the Beemer in the grand scheme of things and maybe Dad shouldn't be so hung up on the material, anyway. It's not like it's a Jaguar or something cool.
Anyway if these guys struggle, there's a whole organization full of young pitchers to take their place. Last year's first round pick Matt Garza lit up double A last week, and there are a few rookie league pitchers who might fit the bill. If that doesn't work, there's a kid on my 5 year old next door neighbor's t-ball team that's got a fierce arm. He's a shortstop, but so was Joe Nathan. When Joe Mauer's your battery's elder statesman, anything's fair game. It might sound crazy, but so's legally changing your name to Boof.
Batgirl, do you miss the Evil Pierzynski? My Cubs played the Bitch Sox this weekend, and I do not believe I have seen a bigger wanker than AJP, and not in a good way. Your sage advice is appreciated.
Posted by: Lisa at May 21, 2006 09:38 PMDearest Ms. Lisa,
BG will have more to say on the matter Tuesday morning.
Sincerely,
Batgirl
Boof. Dude. Welcome to the bigs, buddy.
Really, what a debut: 8 K's, only one earned run, scoring a run, a sac bunt that lit up all the faces in the dugout, a performance that WOULD have been a win... good stuff. :D
Posted by: FordHoiberg at May 21, 2006 09:49 PMHow does one conceptualize changing one's name from John to Boof, legally? Makes no sense to me.
Posted by: talldrinkowater at May 21, 2006 09:57 PMI think he knew growing up that it would be fun to have a name that would be able to confuse Bert.
Posted by: Stacy at May 21, 2006 10:20 PMwell... if your mother has been calling you Boof since you were a little kid and all your friends already call you that, I have a feeling that it's not really a difficult leap.
The story I want to hear is what led his family to begin calling him that in the first place... *giggle*
Posted by: CapitalBabs at May 21, 2006 10:21 PMIndeed, welcome to the Show, Boof... where 8 Ks and one ER over 6 innings routinely earns you a "no decision".
Posted by: JimCrikket at May 22, 2006 12:16 AMJim give me a break last year maybe but the offense is a little better this year. I think the scores of the first 2 games prove that it is better. Last year the Twins would not be hitting well even againt some of the worst pitchers....not this year. We usually score around average against good pitchers.
Posted by: Nora at May 22, 2006 12:35 AMDoesn't matter when the bullpen can't hold a lead, Nora.
Posted by: JimCrikket at May 22, 2006 12:46 AMThis was one game, Jim.
Posted by: Nora at May 22, 2006 12:48 AMThough today was only one game...the bullpen seemed almost willing to make it yesterday's game too.
It's unfortunate, and hopefully Boof won't take it too personally. Though with the way Crain handled things (Rincon had to mop up the mess and Silva pitched a scoreless inning) I could see him being the guy they send down when they decide to trim the pitching staff to 11.
Posted by: Torhu at May 22, 2006 01:08 AMOh Im sure Boof was thrilled. Cant really ask for much more in a Major League debut. A bit shakey in the first inning, but thats to be expected. He proved he can pitch at this level. Hopefully, he'll get better support from the bullpen in the future. And yes, Crain has underperformed. He seemed like he was one pitch away from getting outs but would end up giving up a hit. Tough outing, for sure.
Posted by: JimCrikket at May 22, 2006 01:19 AMLisa,
either you're English or the word wanker has finally made it across the atlantic. A great word, and I don't think there is any way it can be meant in a good way.
AJ has a great talent for getting up people's noses, but I remember in the WS last year he annoyed the Astros and then they seemed to get distracted by wanting to hit him.
He is who he is and teams letting them get to them is not a good idea.
Though what are people's favourite AJ story?
D
Posted by: dan in london at May 22, 2006 04:50 AMRe: AJ.. I'm kind of curious how much of a classless jerk he has to be until fans around here will finally give up on the naïve boys-will-be-boys tripe and realize it isn't cute or clever or endearing to be completely unsportsmanlike towards other players on the field of a professional baseball game. Sure, barrelling over a catcher is technically legal -- fine. But to slap home plate like a kindergartner and then intentionally ram your shoulder into the catcher again after that.. Let me just say that this is one Twins fan who was glad to see Michael Barrett give this guy what he has long deserved. (And yes, Barrett deserves a suspension, too)
Well said, margin.
Had it been any other player the reaction would no doubt be much different here (what if Pudge had done the same to Joe?), but I think there is a small group of players/former players for whom excuses are the order of the day.
Posted by: Eric at May 22, 2006 11:10 AMI love Joe Mauer but I miss A.J.'s competetive fire like crazy. You might remember last year? A.J. helped that team win a ring. So he wins the argument. He plays to win. He annoys the other team (remember what he did to the A's for us?). He's a good clutch hitter and a solid defender. He's like Dennis Rodman but with talent, and A.J. plays cleaner. If the gods forced me to get a bitchSox jersey, it would be A.J.'s. He's an asset to his team.
Posted by: clay jr at May 22, 2006 12:01 PMIf Radke were sent down to hell, I am sure he would find a way to give up homers in the first and second levels.
Posted by: The Commish at May 22, 2006 02:45 PM