Bried Thoughts About Baseball (07/27/2009 - 08/02/2009)

1. Mmmmm...schadenfreude...

2. Somewhat interesting note. Josh Willingham had two grand slams in one game on Monday. This is impressive, but not as impressive as Fernando Tatis, who had two grand slams in the same inning in 1999. To commemorate Willingham's two grand slam day, Tatis decided to hit a grand slam of his own on Monday also.

3. Was I the only person worried that Mark Buehrle was going pitch another perfect game? Luckily, that did not happen. He did set a record though...grumble, grumble...

4. This week for the Twins could be characterized as The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. The Good would be the series against the White Sox where the Twins got a rare sweep, thanks to a little help from Alexi Casilla (look for the cameo by Mrs. Dr. Bitz to the left).

5. Greatest "non-catch" ever?

6. So I was watching the White Sox/Yankees game on MLB Network. The announcer, Bob Costas, said that Alexei Ramirez's first name is pronounced "Alice-say" instead of "Alex-ey". I feel like athletes have a month to speak up if their name is being mispronounced. Otherwise you're stuck with whatever people have been calling you. I'm talking to you Justin MORNeau/MornEAU. (And if your name is Chone, you're stuck with Chone no matter what. Sorry, Chone isn't Sean.)

7. So I was watching the White Sox/Yankees game on MLB Network. The Yankees scored a few runs and I heard the fans chant "Yankees Suck!" I just find it funny when fans say a team sucks when they do something well against the fans' own team. If the team that's beating yours sucks, what does that make your team?

8. The Bad for the Twins would be the trade deadline and the Twins nearly doing nothing. You can see the full trade list here, but let me highlight a few players: Jake Peavy (Starting Pitcher), Joe Beimel (Relief Pitcher), Claudio Vargas (RP), Jarrod Washburn (SP), John Grabow (RP), George Sherrill (RP), Freddy Sanchez (Second Basemen), and Ian Snell (SP).
Those were some players that were traded that the Twins could have used but did not get. Most notable from that list is Jarrod Washburn and Freddy Sanchez. Those were the players I really wanted the Twins to get (that they had a realistic chance of getting). They were also flirting with trading for Heath Bell (fantastic relief pitcher in San Diego) but did not get him, either.
At the end of the day, the Twins settled for the trade deadline consolation prize of Orlando Cabrera (shortstop), whose numbers put him barely above Brian Buscher...and his defense isn't all that great either.
What annoys me is that the Twins also complain that teams are asking for too much. What do do they think? That other teams are going to give you players for free? You have to give something get something.
Now the question is, will the Twins inability to show any attempt to make their team a "contender" cause Mauer and Morneau to try and find another team.

9. Which brings us to The Ugly. After the Twins fail to make an impact move at the trade deadline the Twins flop against the the Angels. The Angels had 52 hits and 35 runs against the Twins in the three games they player this weekend. The starting pitching and relief pitching was terrible. Good thing the Twins didn't trade for any starting or relief pitching, right?
The Twins really look like they might be done.