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makingthetwinsrelevant-blog · 5 years

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Why this year is different (although 5 game series are often skewed by sample size and who knows if it will even matter)

I’ve heard a lot of commentary about the Twins season. None of it is too optimistic about their prospects in the playoffs, and that’s understandable. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLIt6xGSqek

That link is the game following the last playoff win in franchise history. It boils down to one mistake, leaving Joe Nathan to try for a third inning. Since then and including that game, the Twins are 0-13, with 10 of those losses coming against the Yankees, who the Twins will play this year for the Division series. But the Nathan mistake isn’t why we lost that series, nor is the Torii Hunter missed catch in ‘06 the reason we lost that series.

A lot of folks think we’re cursed, and that certainly would work as a narrative. A-Rod’s RBI double in 2004, or his home run in ’09 preceding Texiera’s walk-off. Curtis Granderson’s triple in ’10 comes to mind. But everything must come to an end- the curse of the Bambino did, as did the Cubs’, and the Twins aren’t going to lose every playoff game for the rest of their existence. It starts with one game, and I think the 2019 squad is built to do that. Here’s why:

2002 Twins 86-75

2003 Twins 85-77

2004 Twins 87-75

2006 Twins 93-69

2009 Twins 86-77

2010 Twins 92-70

2017 Twins 83-79

2019 Twins 98-64

These are the Pythagorean records for all Twins playoff teams since I have been conscious, and it really validates what I stress when I talk about the 2019 Twins, which is that this is the first team I’ve ever seen that is actually GOOD. Like good good. ALCS good. Which is why we can beat the Yankees this year, legitimately, or at least take it to game 5. Let me explain:

2002-2018: From Rick Reed to Addison Reed

The 2002 team had no fear. The playoffs were brand new and they won a weak AL Central with solid contributions from tons of guys- no mid 2010’s Detroit Tigers stars and scrubs BS here. 12 guys had more than 2 bWAR (a measure of overall value from baseballreference.com- 0 means totally replaceable, anything above 5 means a star player), including a career year for J.C Romero, who as a lefty pitched in 81 innings, allowing a total of 17 runs, with 3 home runs, 62 hits. bWAR for his season was 3.6. We also got nice above average seasons from Corey Koskie (How good could he have been not under the Twins slap hitting tutelage and minus his later concussion issues?), Bobby Kielty, Tony Fiore (91 good innings out of the pen), Kyle Lohse, Dustan Mohr; even Rick Reed was pretty good that year. The Giants and the Angels were better constructed teams, and it would have been a miracle for the Twins to go all the way that year. I couldn’t believe when they beat they A’s, and I couldn’t believe when Joe Mays shut the Angels down in Game 1. 8 innings, no runs and the Angels could not get a barrel to the ball to save their lives. We lost to the Angels because they were a better team (They won 99 games that year) but like the Astros in 2015, it was a good stepping stone for a solid core of guys.

The 2003 team was worse. There was no David Ortiz and only Brad Radke had an ERA+ (a measure of pitching that corrects for context, average score is 100) that was above average in our regular rotation. It was 101. Shannon Stewart and Johan Santana had to save the season and lift us over the White Sox* and Royals, who had a magical season 11 years before they meant to- they had prime Mike Sweeney and Carlos Beltran, but their #1 pitcher (as I recalled but had to confirm) was Darrell May, who had a legitimately good season but would never do THAT again.

*I’m pretty sure the White Sox were the better team that year. They had prime Bartolo, Mark Buehrle, early ok Jon Garland and that one of year of Esteban Loaiza where he almost won the CY Young (226.1 innings of 2.90 ERA ball with a k rate of 8.2, his career k rate was 5.9). They also had prime Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Lee, and this was one of the years in the oughts where Frank Thomas stayed together and hit 42 bombs.

But the Twins prevailed with Shannon Stewart magic plus solid years from Mientkiewicz, Koskie and Pierzynski, won Game 1 against the Yankees because we let Johan Santana free (for 4 innings, as that was the game where he didn’t eat enough potassium and cramped out of the game), and then got swept the rest of the way, getting shut down by Andy Pettite Roger Clemens and David Wells. It was kind of an accidental bullpen game in game 1, but more on that later.

The ‘04 Twins went back to being pitching dominant, with the first year of full season Johan (and his best year) and Joe Nathan joining the fold along with lights out Juan Rincon (watch him strike out Jorge Posada in the 8th in game 2). Radke was great, and Carlos Silva soaked up the rest. If Joe Mauer hadn’t gotten hurt that team could have been something, because the lineup was rough and relied a lot on career year Lew Ford (more on that later). Doug Mientkiewicz, Jacque Jones, Christian Guzman and Henry Blanco all struggled to various degrees. Morneau provided a spark in the second half, taking over for Mientkiewicz at the trade deadline and hitting 19 bombs.

As I inferred, I put myself through watching game 2 of the ALDS against the Yankees (up 1-0) recently and everything that I remembered from it came rushing back: Koskie’s double against Rivera that would have scored 2 but bounced into the stands, instead tying the game at 5. Then Hunter’s big home run in the 12th, and Nathan to all the world looking like he was out of gas in his third inning of work in the 12th - with 1 out he walked Miguel Cairo as well as Jeter to bring up A-Rod. What I didn’t remember was that Nathan threw a decent slider off the plate down and away, and A-Rod showed why he was one of the top 5 hitters of his generation and almost hit it out, poking a ground rule double (were it a regular double it would have been a walk off) to tie the game. After intentionally walking Sheffield, J.C Romero got Hideki Matsui on a soft fly out to Jones in right, and a good throw would have gotten Jeter. That didn’t happen, and one Carlos Silva start and a Rincon implosion later the Twins were done. The Twins hit well in the series after not doing that all season, but two decisions cost them: leaving Nathan in obviously, and giving Carlos Silva (and Kyle Lohse) a start. The lineup had gotten hot, but archaic ideas about how to use pitching in the playoffs cost them big- although those ideas wouldn’t truly be challenged until Craig Counsell took the Dodgers to 7 games in 2018.

I was jazzed about ’06. They had a good power and speed mix (On base percentages of Bartlett, Castillo and Punto: .367, .358, .352) with Morneau and Mauer both breaking out to post over 10 bWAR between them, Santana winning another Cy Young, and Francisco Liriano having his Greek tragedy. The bullpen was great, with Nathan having arguably his best year, Dennys Reyes giving up 5 runs the whole year and Rincon, Pat Neshek and Crain pitching in solidly.

But Barry Zito outdueled Santana in game 1, Mark Kotsay hit his inside the park home run on the ball Torii dove for but couldn’t keep in front in game 2 (right after we had tied the game with back to back jacks from Cuddyer and Morneau). And that was all the starting pitching we had- with Liriano done, and Boof Bonser pitching out of his mind in game 2, we had can’t-brush-his-teeth torn rotator cuff Brad Radke trying to gut his way through and running out of guts. And cartilage.

Maybe Craig Counsell or Kevin Cash could have made it work, but in 2006 there just wasn’t enough pitching.

In ’09 we had MVP Joe Mauer, Jason Kubel’s best year and Denard Span’s emergence. But the pitching relied a lot on Nick Blackburn and the mad rush to beat the Tigers in game 163 left us with Brian Duensing in game 1 against the Yankees. Brian Duensing was a nice pitcher that year, but he couldn’t handle that assignment. Game 2 was the Phil Cuzzi calling a fair ball foul game, the most errant umpiring call I know of next to the Armando Gallaraga perfect game disaster. Mauer singled anyway to start the 11th. So did Kubel and Cuddyer. Bases loaded, no outs, Delmon Young at the plate- he scaldes a line drive to Texiera at first for a loud out. Carlos Gomez grounds into a fielders choice at home, and Brendan Harris pops out. Kinda deserved that walkoff.

Who are you pitching with this team in a 7 game series anyway? And depth was an issue as well, otherwise Harris wouldn’t have come in for MATT TOLBERT, Gomez wouldn’t have hit with his .623 season OPS, and nor would Delmon with his .733. Blackburn and Pavano combined to go 12 innings, allowing 3 total runs between them in games 2 and 3, so even with those bonuses the fact that the team couldn’t even get to 4 games says a lot.

2010 could have been something, with a good offense led by Mauer and Thome, the one year Delmon Young was good, the year we had J.J Hardy and Orlando Hudson and Liriano had 200 k’s. But Morneau got his concussion, Nathan had Tommy John surgery, Kubel Cuddyer and Span all had bad years and it came down to Curtis Granderson hitting a clutch triple off of a cruising Liriano (The Twins led 3-0 going into the bottom of the 6th). Then the Twins realized that as nice as their seasons were, Carl Pavano and Duensing weren’t pitchers you rely on in the postseason- they pitched to contact and if their command wasn’t perfect they would get exposed. Guess what happened.

In 2017 the team wasn’t good. And they wouldn’t have made the playoffs if the Orioles, Angels and Royals didn’t all collapse while the Twins played .500 ball in September. Their starting pitching was average, with a great Ervin Santana season and a good Berrios one. But unlike the other teams on this list, the bullpen was suspect, with a not-quite-figured-out Ryan Pressly, sinker throwing Tyler Duffey and a Matt Belisle on the right side with a non-slider throwing Taylor Rogers on the left. Alan Busenitz and Trevor Hildenberger had career years but weren’t helpful in the Wild Card game, or really ever again.

The offense was the best of all the teams so far in a bit of foreshadowing, scoring 815 runs and featuring the last good Brian Dozier season, the start of Jorge Polanco busting out, and Joe Mauer having one last .300 season. Miguel Sano looked like a star for 3 months, then busted his shin and got a titanium rod inserted into it because he doesn’t care about baseball or something. Byron Buxton even had his first sustained period of excellence in the second half (and played 140 games!)

Relying on the back end of the rotation

Those are the 7 playoff teams of the millennium. And here are the Game 3 starters for each ALDS team starting with ’02:

Rick Reed

Kyle Lohse

Carlos Silva

Zombie Brad Radke

Carl Pavano

Brian Duensing

That group had a combined record of 0-6. This year the hope is that the new regime is smart enough to know that, even though they have 2 starters in Kyle Gibson and Martin Perez who are comparable to that group, and who tried hard and won double digit games, their best bet is to bullpen that game.

One aspect of the playoffs that teams are getting wise to but which have killed Clayton Kershaw in the past, is the inclination to “trust your guys” and “dance with the girl who you brought” or some other idiom about sticking with a certain pitcher out of loyalty or sense of obligation. Carlos Silva had a good ’04 season; of course Gardy would want to give him a playoff start. His results were quite a bit better than Kyle Gibson’s 2019.

But hitters hit .310/.342/.462 against Silva that year. You’re trusting your season to him continuing to get lucky. He gave up 10 hits and the series swung 2-1 to the Yankees.

Results aren’t predictive

What we have in 2019 is the possibility that the Twins brass has learned from the mistakes of the past. You saw it in 2017 when they traded our closer, Brandon Kintzler, at the trade deadline. They knew that despite what the results showed, the team wasn’t good. Even though they got hot and made the WC game, they knew it wasn’t sustainable yet, and didn’t go crazy on free agents or win-now trades.

What the Levine Falvey regime did was take an objective view of their assets (is Mike Morin’s success sutainable? No? Ok then I won’t pitch him in the 7th inning of a playoff game. In fact, I’ll let him be the Phillies problem). They also threw all the “Twins way” shit out the window. No more getting benched for not going the other way, or for trying to hit a home run. And I know that point of view is very much a feeling and not really tangible- something inferred from David Ortiz’s comments years ago, a general sense watching games announced by Dick Bremer and Bert Blyleven, that power is nice but luxurious, as though wanting it too badly should be a sin. And then you have Joe Mauer, who embodied every aspect of that feeling- a guy who looked for his whole career like he could hit home runs, but didn’t because he wasn’t flashy, he didn’t want to draw attention to himself and must have believed that slapping singles and doubles to left field would be a more productive route in the end.

Here’s the big secret about Joe Mauer: As talented as he was- as a catcher, in his general coordination, in his eye at the plate, and his ability to slap an RBI single in some key spots for 14 years, he was kind of a moron. Seemed like he was a nice guy. But he has never in his life said anything remotely close to insightful and I truly believe that he earnestly and wrongly thought he could best serve his team by staying behind the ball and slapping it to left field. He was probably told that from a young age.

He mistook an illusion for a reality, and so did the Twins for 51 years. Every color guy on every team’s broadcast will talk about the importance of the fundamentals, getting the guy over, laying down a good bunt and going the other way. They will talk up players who do that for eternity, and constantly lament how the game isn’t played that way anymore. To every team trying to win, this is taken with a big fucking grain of Morton brand industrial sidewalk salt. They want 2-3 guys like that. To the Twins it was religion. They wanted 12-15 guys like that. They wanted Matt Tolbert, Nick Punto, Denny Hocking and Juan Castro. The did NOT want J.J Hardy or David Ortiz.

This has changed, hopefully, and with Mauer gone, it may have rinsed away completely. We set the freaking home run record. Mitch Garver openly admits he is trying to hit home runs. Max Kepler found out his power is to the pull side. Jorge Polanco found out he could take a rip early in the count. It’s all new; it’s all different. And I’m not saying the Twins will beat the Yankees in the first round because of this philosophy shift. What I am saying is that the 2019 Twins are NOT:

A Cinderella team getting their feet wet around 12 slightly above average guys (2002)

A decent offense with no pitching plus Shannon Stewart (2003)

A great pitching staff 1-2 with an average offense that gave starts to Carlos Silva and Kyle Lohse in the playoffs (2004)

A team with Boof Bonser as its #2 (2006)

A team that relied heavily on Blackburn, Pavano and Duensing in playoff games (2009 and 2010)

A lucky team with no bullpen and 1.5 starters (2017)

So maybe they will.

What’s different now

The best team out of the prior playoff teams is probably the ’04 team, whose struggling offense didn’t struggle in the playoffs. And with Santana being the best and Radke being HIS best, a modern manager could have used their decent bullpen to build something.

Now imagine the ’04 team, except their offense is much better. MUCH better. And despite having only two effective starters, can bullpen their way to wins with a pen that goes 6-7 deep. And unlike a Tony Fiore or a Ron Mahay, or a Matt Capps or Alex Burnett, this bullpen does stuff you can’t fake- stuff you can’t luck your way into.

Opponents are hitting .157/.223/.245 against Tyler Duffey in the second half.

They’re hitting .159/.220/.354 against Trevor May

(Both those guys were good in the first half, too)

Taylor Rogers gave up a .225/.273/.353 line for the year

To my count there are 9 relievers that can be counted on in different spots- Rogers, Duffey, May, Romo, Littell, Stashak, Dobnak, Graterol and Smeltzer (by different spots I mean that Rocco won’t throw Smeltzer into the 8th inning of a tie game to face Aaron Judge).

That depth can be leveraged to overcome the loss of Michael Pineda, and the fact that Berrios and Odorizzi are no locks to be effective. Stashak and Smeltzer can both give you 3 innings of effective mop-up duty that keep games close, and allows the offense to come back by exploiting New York’s middling starting pitching, and mercurial late inning relief (Namely Britton, Green and Ottavino).

How to cope when Lew Ford leads your team in total bases

Almost as importantly, the offense isn’t going to need guys who had career years to continue thriving in the post when they were clearly playing above their true talent level. Lew Ford carried the ’04 team at times, but he was still Lew Ford, and he showed it against the Yankees and for the rest of his career. Same with Nick Punto in ‘06. Nelson Cruz is a force who scares the Royals as much as the Yankees.

Mitch Garver didn’t hot streak his way into a 1000 OPS; he’s kept it above .919 since April 9th. Check his game log.

These guys are actually good. So is Max Kepler, who I hope is ok. You don’t hit 36 bombs with reverse platoon splits by accident.

Marwin Gonzalez isn’t a great hitter but I trust he’ll take a good at bat when we need him too. You’ll appreciate that when you watch rookie Jason Kubel swing at two straight pitches at his eyes against Rivera in ’04.

Eddie Rosario is the wild card, and teams NEED* a wild card:

*Delmon Young on the Tigers, Yasiel Puig on the Dodgers, Alfonso Soriano on the Yankees, Eric Byrnes on the Diamondbacks. Rafael Devers for the Red Sox last year. That’s Rosario. Everyone needs an underachiever from the regular season to come up in the post.

Rosario, Polanco, Garver, Cruz, Sano and Kepler could all be game changing offensive players in a short series, which is not a quantity we’ve seen since Morneau went down with his concussion in ’10.

There’s no curse, the Yankees just exploited an obvious weakness of the Twins 4.5 separate times. That weaknesses boiled down to smoke and mirrors results that translated to good regular season stats, which led to Terry Ryan and Gardy trusting those results to be predictive. The 2019 team wasn’t built that way, otherwise Brandon Kintzler might still be part of it. The bullpen will have to perform for a lot of innings, the lineup will have to score, and one of Berrios and Odorizzi will have to perform to or above his talent level. As likely as it has ever been, this team could, say it with me here- take it to a game 5.

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twins2994 · 5 years

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Tampa Bay Rays-Minnesota Twins Series Preview

6.25.19-Blake Snell LHP (4-6) 4.40 ERA Vs. Kyle Gibson RHP (7-4) 4.18 ERA

6.26.19-Charlie Morton RHP (8-1) 2.31 ERA Vs. Jake Odorizzi RHP (10-3) 2.58 ERA

6.27.19-Ryne Stanek RHP (0-1) 2.47 ERA Vs. Martin Perez LHP (7-3) 4.28 ERA

The Rays At A Glance- Since we last saw the Rays in late-May, they have been a streaky team. They won six out of seven games then went (2-8) in the middle of June. Tampa Bay is (10-13) this month and is currently in second place behind the New York Yankees in the American League East. Austin Meadows is having a solid season, but has come down to Earth with his average. He is hitting .304 on the year, but is hitting just .217 in June. Tommy Pham and Avisail Garcia are having solid seasons and are both hitting .294 with eleven homers. Brandon Lowe leads the team with fifteen homers and is a candidate for Rookie of the Year. The Rays have some injuries with Yandy Diaz out with right hamstring tightness. Daniel Robertson is out with right knee inflammation. Diego Castillo has right shoulder inflammation and was placed on the injured list on Sunday. Charlie Morton has been the most consistent starter with a 2.31 ERA in sixteen starts. Blake Snell has had a rough June with a 10.29 ERA in fourteen innings this month. Jose Alvarado is the lefty closer with six saves on the year. Emilio Pagan has four saves and he is the righty closer replacement for Diego Castillo. Pagan has a 1.23 ERA in 29 1/3 innings out of the bullpen. Hunter Wood, Andrew Kittredge, and Ryne Stanek have been solid bullpen arms this year as well.

The Twins At A Glance- The Minnesota Twins split a four-game set from the Kansas City Royals this weekend and are hitting a mid-season lull. They are (3-5) in their past eight games, but still lead the American League Central by seven and a half games. CJ Cron had a good series in Kansas City, where he hit 6-for-17 with two homers and three RBI’s. Miguel Sano only had two hits against the Royals, but they were both homers. The team hit 6-for-26 (.231) with runners in scoring position this weekend. The starting staff did okay against the Royals. Jake Odorizzi only went four innings on Thursday, but Kohl Stewart saved the bullpen with four innings in relief. Martin Perez went five frames, but the bullpen picked him up. Jose Berrios had a nice seven-inning outing on Saturday. Michael Pineda went five innings, but Rocco Baldelli split out the work on Sunday. The bullpen should be rested after a day off on Monday. The team made some minor league moves this week. They signed former Indians and Angels closer Cody Allen to a minor league deal. He had a 4.70 ERA last year with the Tribe and a 6.26 ERA with the Halos this year. The Twins will try to iron him out. They also signed Drew Hutchison to a minor league deal.

What To Watch For- The Twins took three out of four from the Rays in late-May/early-June in St. Petersburg. Minnesota is (6-2) in their past eight games against Tampa Bay over the past two years. Last year, the Twins took three of four from the Rays at Target Field in July. Blake Snell is (1-1) with a 5.12 ERA in four career starts against the Twins. Kyle Gibson is (3-5) with a 5.22 ERA in nine starts versus the Rays. Charlie Morton is (2-0) with a 4.58 ERA in three starts against the Twins. Jake Odorizzi is (1-0) with a 4.35 ERA against his former team in two starts. Ryne Stanek has a 4.05 ERA in 6 2/3 career innings against the Twins. Martin Perez is (0-4) with a 7.49 ERA in nine games versus the Rays. Mike Zunino has three career homers off Perez. The Charlie Morton-Jake Odorizzi pitching match-up should be one of the best in Target Field history. One of the best was on July 17, 2010 when Mark Buehrle and Carl Pavano dueled. Both guys threw a complete game and the game was played in one hour and fifty-two minutes as the Twins won 3-2 before a heavy thunderstorm hit the Twin Cities. Another one that comes to mind, is the May 7, 2017 game where Chris Sale faced Ervin Santana. The Red Sox thumped the Twins 17-6 after the pitching match-up was promoted heavily. Who knows what we’ll see on Wednesday night.

-Chris Kreibich-

#Twins #MnTwins

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marlinshistory · 3 years

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Cliff Floyd anchored the #Marlins lineup from 1998-2002. In 2001, he achieved career highs for runs scored, hits, doubles, triples, RBI, stolen bases & batting average earning him his only All-Star selection. In mid-2002 he was traded back to Montreal for Carl Pavano & Mike Mordecai. #floridamarlins #miamimarlins #florida #miami #baseball #mlb Source: eBay https://www.instagram.com/p/CIbYcIsAwNy/?igshid=kue3zoc20pqb

#marlins #floridamarlins #miamimarlins #florida #miami #baseball #mlb

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twinstakes · 4 years

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@MLB.com has been doing a box score of the day and today’s box score goes back 10 years ago to the debut of the #MNTwins current home of @TargetField. The very first game at Target Field featured a ton of firsts of course. First: Hit-BOS SS Marco Scutaro Caught Stealing-Scutaro (Mauer to Hudson?) Extra-Base Hit & Double-BOS 2B Dustin Pedroia Walk-MIN CF Denard Span Twins Hit-Orlando Hudson (1B) RBI-MIN OF Michael Cuddyer (RBI 1B in bottom of the 1st) Run-Denard Span Strikeout-MIN RHP Carl Pacino struck out David Ortiz (T2) Stolen Base-MIN 3B Nick Punto (2nd base (B2)) Twins strikeout-Orlando Hudson (B3) Twins XBH, Double & RBI Double-C Joe Mauer (to LF (B2)) Home Run-MIN DH Jason Kubel (solo to RF (B7)) Sacrifice Fly-BOS 2B Dustin Pedroia (T8) Save-MIN RHP Jon Rauch Win-MIN RHP Carl Pavano Player of the Game: Minnesota @Twins C Joe Mauer: 3-for-5 with 2 doubles & 2 RBIs It’s fun to reminisce about the beginning of a new era of Twins baseball even if they might have already entered another new era since then with Derek Falvey leading this team into the future! https://www.mlb.com/news/twins-defeat-red-sox-in-target-field-debut https://www.instagram.com/p/B-5v_-JgStA/?igshid=1l3vk3a595ng3

#mntwins

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junker-town · 4 years

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Joe Girardi is the only manager to win MLB Manager of the Year with a losing record

Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

The Baseball Writers Association of America reveal their annual awards this week, and the one that is most difficult to pin down is Manager of the Year.

This is the 37th season of the honor, and it’s not as simple as picking the manager with the best record, nor should it be. After all, we are trying to determine the manager’s performance, not necessarily the team. It is all intertwined, however.

Joe Girardi is the only manager to win this award with a losing record, and for that he is the most memorable Manager of the Year ever.

Fourty-four times since 1983 has a team won 100 games (or its equivalent in a strike-shortened campaign), and only nine of those teams (20.5 percent) were helmed by a Manager of the Year. There have been more Managers of the Year from teams that missed the playoffs (10) than from 100-win squads.

One of those teams that missed the playoffs despite being led by a Manager of the Year was the Marlins in 2006, led by Girardi.

The Marlins have won two championships in their history, both coming in the first 11 years of the franchise. Each World Series triumph was followed by an immediate fire sale, the first by original team owner Wayne Huizenga and the latter by Jeffrey Loria, an odious figure who moved to the Marlins after effectively killing the Expos in Montreal.

After winning the title in 2003, Loria did what he does best, ruin a baseball franchise. Eighty percent of the championship rotation was either traded — Josh Beckett, Brad Penny, Mark Redman — or left via free agency (Carl Pavano) in the next two years. In that same time frame, the club’s top five home run hitters from 2003 were either traded — Mike Lowell, Derrek Lee, Juan Encarnacion — or left as free agents (Alex Gonzalez, Ivan Rodriguez).

By 2006, the Marlins looked nothing like their World Series-winning team from three years earlier. The cupboard wasn’t bare by any means, still stocked with Miguel Cabrera, still just 23 years old, plus Hanley Ramirez and Anibal Sanchez in their infancy. But the Marlins were by no means contenders.

Loria hired Girardi, who finished a 15-year playing career just three years prior, to manage.

Things got off to a horrific start, with Florida (they weren’t yet “Miami”) losing 31 of their first 42 games. But things started to gel, behind a great year from Cabrera — .339/.430/.568 with 50 doubles and 26 home runs — plus excellent rookie campaigns from Ramirez and Dan Uggla. They also got competent pitching out of an absurdly young rotation, with 124 starts coming from pitchers 23 or younger.

Even after that putrid start, Girardi’s Marlins were above .500 as late as September 15. They were nowhere near the postseason picture, but it was an incredible performance by a first-year manager.

It wasn’t without some turbulence, however. On Aug. 6, the Dodgers finished off a sweep of the Marlins in Miami, and Loria was stewing in his field-level seats. From an ESPN recounting of events in 2006:

Loria and Girardi had words after two borderline pitches were called balls in the midst of a six-run Dodgers rally. Loria, who was sitting near the team dugout, yelled at the umpire, and then got into a discussion with Girardi when Girardi asked him to stop.

”Then Girardi said, ‘Just stay out of it. I’m the manager.’” a source told the Palm Beach Post. “And Loria said, ‘Well, I’m the owner,’ or words to that effect. ‘If you don’t like what I’m telling you, you’re fired.’” Another source told the newspaper Girardi’s reply to Loria included profanities, which irked the owner even more.

”Loria got up out of his seat and was preparing to get rid of [Girardi],” one source told the newspaper. “Jeffrey can be very knee-jerk. Before he was done walking up the aisle, Jeffrey made up his mind to fire Joe right after the game.”

Loria was talked out of firing Girardi then, and he finished the season with a 78-84 record. Despite the losing record, Girardi received 18 of 32 first-place votes and beat out Willie Randolph for NL Manager of the Year, with voters recognizing the challenges of working in that environment with that owner.

Loria did eventually fire Girardi, but not until after the season, even though Girardi had two years remaining on his contract. By the time Girardi won the Manager of the Year award, he was already out of a job for more than a month.

“I don’t know if vindication is a good word just because, as a manager, you want to manage,” Girardi told reporters at the time. “Whether you’re recognized as a Manager of the Year or not, it’s not going to put you in that seat.”

He also got the last laugh, eventually. Girardi didn’t manage the next two years, but then signed with the Yankees and won a World Series in 2009, his first season in New York. Even more hardware for Girardi.

Girardi made the postseason six teams in his 10 seasons managing New York, and had a winning record every year with the Yankees, but never finished higher than third in Manager of the Year voting. Go figure.

Of the 74 MOY awards, 27 (36.4 percent) have gone to the manager whose team had the best record in the league that season. This used to be the norm for the award, which began in 1983. The first three National League winners and the first six American League top managers also happened to finish with the best record in baseball.

In the last 10 years, the team with the best record has had the Manager of the Year just twice. Both were Nationals managers — Davey Johnson in 2012 and Matt Williams in 2014 — who were gone at the end of the next season, Johnson by retirement and Williams by force.

The teams with the two best records in baseball in 2019 were the 107-win Astros and 106-win Dodgers. Neither A.J. Hinch nor Dave Roberts finished in the top three in their respective Manager of the Year voting. But before you say that neither is Dave Martinez, whose Nationals won the damn World Series, we must remember that Manager of the Year, like all BBWAA awards, is voted on before the postseason begins.

Fifty-nine of the 74 MOY winners (79.7 percent) before 2019 improved by at least 10 games, including managers who took over midseason and a few adjustments for strike-shortened years.

The last seven AL Managers of the Year all improved by at least 10 wins from the previous season, as did eight of the last nine NL winners.

Best I can tell, the Manager of the Year award is about expectations. Do better than expected, or better yet better than last year, and you are a candidate for this award. Or maybe wait for Loria to purchase another team, and tell him to get bent from the dugout.

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ellsworthbonia-blog · 5 years

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Alyssa Milano An Actress & Singer

Alyssa Milano - An Actress & Singer

Alyssa Milano's biography starts off when she received the part of "Annie" in an open audition. She emerged given that the winner amid 1500 ladies and later on revealed physical appearance in handful of television commercials Other than some off-Broadway productions. She starred as Samantha Micelli in "Who's the Boss" when she was 11. Then she and her relatives moved from Staten Island to Hollywood.

Among her stage plays were "Tender Offer you", "All Evening Long" and an American musical version of Jane Eyre. She starred in a movie, "Commando" in 1985 though her visual appearance within an R-rated motion organization prompted her to a proposal of 5-album record offer. In 1988, she appeared in two teenage television shows, "Crash Course" and "Dance 'til Dawn".

Milano intended to conclusion her performing career to choose for academic career but she was turned down a release from her deal. She continued her performing career filming in "Casualties of affection: The Extensive Island Lolita Story" in 1993, "Embrace in the Vampire" in 1994, "Deadly Sins" in 1995 and "Poison Ivy II: Lily" in 1996.

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She appeared within a thriller, "Worry" in 1996 which led her to acquiring a job in "Hugo Pool" a 12 months afterwards. She acted as "Phoebe Halliwell" inside the hit tv sequence "Charmed" and within the show's fifth year, she was the producer together with Holly Marie, her near Close friend. She also did some commercial performs which involve her visual appearance in "Josie", a songs video clip by Blink-182 and tv advertisements for Sheer Go over and Veet.

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Milano was selected as being the Ambassador for the Global Film Community for Neglected Tropical Disorders and she or he is usually a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for The us. In the course of her 37th birthday she arranged an internet based fundraising marketing campaign.

Alyssa Milano's biography of private life consists of her dating with Cinjun Tate and Justin Timberlake besides several Qualified athletes, Barry Zito, Brad Penny, Carl Pavano and Russell Martin. In 2008, she acquired engaged to David Bugliari, a CAA agent. A yr later they bought married at Bugliari's house in New Jersey.

#movie #film #cinema

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nightmare-afton-cosplay · 5 years

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Hoping for a Home Run, Carl Pavano Selling $3.2M Florida Home

G Fiume/Getty Images; realtor.com

Former MLB pitcher Carl Pavano is hoping to catch a buyer for his home base in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. He’s listed the Santa Barbara–style mansion for $3.2 million.

The retired hurler bought the property in 2010 for about $2 million. In 2013, he listed the home for $3 million; it has since gone on and off the market.

Perhaps this time will be a home run. The property, located in the country club community of Mirasol, is certainly a hit. The stately interior features marble flooring, exposed wood beams, and floor-to-ceiling windows. The double-story living area has a fireplace and views of the pool, golf course, and water.

Entry

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Living room with vaulted ceiling

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Den

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Master suite

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Pool

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The chef’s kitchen—with high-end appliances and an arched brick ceiling—flows to the den and dining room. There are two offices with custom wood desks and shelving. Outside, the backyard has a kitchen, pool, and spa.

The five-bedroom, 5.5-bath home also features a handcarved wood rotunda, curved staircase, and private elevator.

“The home is gorgeous and architecturally a standout,” listing agent Laura Gambino says. She points to the gated courtyard’s “regal feel,” and notes that all the bedrooms are en suite, and have water and golf course views.

Pavano, 42, played in the major league for 14 seasons, from 1998 to 2012. Despite being named an All-Star in 2004, he was hampered by injuries throughout his career. He signed a four-year, $40 million contract with the New York Yankees prior to the 2005 season and wound up pitching only 26 games over those four seasons. A freak accident in the snow that led to a spleen injury finally prompted him to retire.

The post Hoping for a Home Run, Carl Pavano Selling $3.2M Florida Home appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

from https://www.realtor.com/news/celebrity-real-estate/carl-pavano-selling-florida-home/

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davidoespailla · 5 years

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Hoping for a Home Run, Carl Pavano Selling $3.2M Florida Home

G Fiume/Getty Images; realtor.com

Former MLB pitcher Carl Pavano is hoping to catch a buyer for his home base in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. He’s listed the Santa Barbara–style mansion for $3.2 million.

The retired hurler bought the property in 2010 for about $2 million. In 2013, he listed the home for $3 million; it has since gone on and off the market.

Entry

realtor.com

Living room with vaulted ceiling

realtor.com

Den

realtor.com

Master suite

realtor.com

Pool

realtor.com

The five-bedroom, 5.5-bath home also features a handcarved wood rotunda, curved staircase, and private elevator.

The post Hoping for a Home Run, Carl Pavano Selling $3.2M Florida Home appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

Hoping for a Home Run, Carl Pavano Selling $3.2M Florida Home

#TRUSTED LOCAL REALTOR #Hoping for a Home Run #Carl Pavano Selling $3.2M Florida Home

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this-day-in-baseball · 6 years

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January 19, 2013

After removing six and half liters of blood from his chest cavity, doctors perform life-saving surgery on veteran starting pitcher Carl Pavano, removing his spleen, which had been lacerated five days ago when he slipped on ice and fell onto a handle of a snow shovel while clearing snow at his Vermont home. The 37-year-old right-hander, who had been amping up his free-agent negotiations with several teams after being recently released by the Twins, says he is determined to pitch again.

#baseball #sports #this week in baseball #carl pavano #minnesota #twins #mlb #history

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truesportsfan · 4 years

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Giancarlo Stanton is latest Yankees star to suffer injury

TAMPA — Welcome to Camp Big Hurt where it seems everybody is one awkward body movement away from an injury that leads to the Carl Pavano Memorial MRI tube and shuts them down.

When Giancarlo Stanton slid out of the machine Wednesday he was diagnosed with a Grade 1 strain of the right calf. Stanton, who wasn’t included in the batting practice groups before the day’s Yankees-Nationals game at George M. Steinbrenner Field, suffered the injury near the end of Tuesday’s fielding practice.

“He basically has a Grade 1 calf strain,’’ manager Aaron Boone said following an 8-2 Yankees win in a game shortened to 4 ½ innings because of rain. “He will be down for a little bit.’’

And possibly in jeopardy of opening the season on the injured list, where he spent a big chunk of last year due to a left biceps strain, a left calf strain and a right knee sprain that limited him to 18 regular-season games.

With 28 days before the Yankees open the season in Baltimore, the question whether Stanton will be ready to play at Camden Yards on March 26 is legitimate.

“It will probably put us up against it a little bit. I would say [there] is time for him to get back, but then getting built up and stuff, we will see,’’ said Boone, who added Stanton would be inactive for two weeks.

Giancarlo StantonCharles Wenzelberg/New York Post

After playing in 158 games, hitting 38 homers and driving in 100 runs in 2018, his first season with the Yankees, Stanton’s second year was a disaster. Because one injury bled into another, it seems possible the same scenario could develop this season.

While Stanton has an opt-out clause in his contract, not many expect him to leave $218 million from 2021-27, with a buyout for 2028, on the table to seek another deal that would be better than the $27.25 million he would average including the buyout. Prolonged absences with injuries this season would certainly keep him in pinstripes.

The news on the 30-year-old Stanton arrived a day after the Yankees announced right-hander Luis Severino would undergo Tommy John surgery, be out for the entire season and miss a part of the 2021 schedule. Aaron Judge hasn’t taken batting practice on the field yet due to a right shoulder issue that surfaced before camp opened and lefty starter James Paxton underwent lower back surgery on Feb. 5 that is expected to keep him out until sometime in May.

“It’s disappointing because you want to get guys built up, but it is just a bump in the road and we are equipped to handle it,’’ Boone said of the injuries to the biggest names on the roster that is also without center fielder Aaron Hicks, who is expected to be shelved at least until June after having Tommy John surgery following last season.

Entering camp, Stanton was viewed as a left fielder/DH, which means the Yankees could be looking for an outfielder from outside the organization toward the end of spring training if they don’t believe in-house candidates are sufficient. Left-handed hitting Mike Tauchman was a fourth outfielder at the beginning of camp and moves up a notch, especially against right-handed pitchers. If Stanton isn’t ready, Clint Frazier is a possibility of making the 26-man roster out of spring training. Miguel Andujar started in left field Wednesday but he could fill the DH hole if he doesn’t beat Gio Urshela out at third base.

“It was a concern [Tuesday]. I don’t think he thought it was that big of a deal and came in [Wednesday morning] and felt better but we sent him just to be safe after Doctor [Daniel] Murphy examined him and everything and showed the strain,’’ Boone said. “So it is going to be a couple of weeks.’’

There are three grades of calf strains. Grade 1 is considered mild, Grade 2 is moderate to severe and Grade 3 is a complete rupture.

Because the injury could have been worse, the Yankees and Stanton avoided a more serious problem. Yet, as was the case last year when injuries shadowed the powerfully built 6-foot-6, 245-pound slugger all season, even the lowest grade strain could be a window to more problems.

source https://truesportsfan.com/sport-today/giancarlo-stanton-is-latest-yankees-star-to-suffer-injury/

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