Super Bowl Reflections

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It wasn’t so much that the Seahawks beat the Broncos by 35 points that was so impressive, it was that they seemed to win every play. We’ll never know how much the errant snap and resulting safety on the game’s opening play determined the day’s course of events. Confidence is often the decisive factor in a sporting event, and it is hard to maintain a high level of confidence when you mess up your first play so badly. The next time the Broncos got the ball, their runners were swarmed at or near the line of scrimmage; they weren’t tackled by one Seahawk, there were three on hand, which spoke to how dominant their defensive line was. The fact that Seattle had trouble scoring touchdowns was initially cause for worry, but then the defense took care of that, as well, intercepting and taking a Manning pass to the house.

If the Broncos were the best the NFL could come up with to oppose the Seahawks – and, indeed, they were the favored team – does the Super Bowl portend a Seattle dynasty? Their best players are all young, quarterback Russell Wilson will surely get even better and their best offensive threat, Percy Harvin, hardly even played this year. It’s possible, but the NFL is not kind to potential dynasties. Injuries, salary caps and the annual influx of possible game-changers through the draft all work against them. Even more to the point is the difficulty Seattle had in even reaching the Super Bowl this year. If Kaepernick’s pass to Crabtree had been one foot higher, the 49ers would have played for the title, not the Seahawks. And that game was played in Seattle. In fact, if there is one lesson to take away from the Super Bowl for next year, it is probably that the Broncos will not be back, and may have trouble even making the playoffs. The AFC was decidedly the weaker division this year, but even so, Peyton Manning started to look old and, after the best statistical year a quarterback has ever had, has only one direction to go in.

Despite the non-competitive nature of the game, I stayed to the end, as did most of America. Why? For me, it was simply to marvel at the excellence of the Seahawks. Watching a team play its absolute best  in the most important game of the year is a satisfying sight. And it was fun to learn the players and see who would make the next big play. And, unfortunately,  must say it was somewhat gratifying to watch Manning’s difficult night. He has been so good for so long that one need not feel sorry for him. And, frankly, the way he audibles at the line on each play is rather annoying. He’s been good, but Russell Wilson, let alone Colin Kaepernick, is more fun to watch.

 

A Tale of Two Sparrows

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The annual Christmas Bird Counts in Santa Barbara County are serious affairs, almost too serious for me to have enjoyed participation in the past. This year (2013) I took part in two counts – Cachuma and Santa Barbara – and found myself more involved than I ever expected.
I accompanied Joan and Bill Murdoch to their allotted territory on Happy Canyon Road, on the side of Figueroa Mountain, for the Cachuma count December 27. The birding was slow, very slow: we struggled to pull hermit thrushes and wrentits out of the bushes. Finally, as the road pulled alongside the creek, we heard some chips and we fanned out, mostly in search of the fox sparrows that had been advertised in the area.
Looking across the creek bank, I saw a fox sparrow dropping down to drink or bathe, then another, then another. Although they skittered about, I decided I had seen six in all, when another, smaller sparrow appeared in their midst, at the top of the bank. It had black on its face, very unusual for a sparrow, and a prominent white eye ring, also unusual. I had no idea what it could be – it was a bird I’d never seen, so far as I could remember – but I didn’t think, given the black face and white eye ring, that there could be many possibilities. I called for Bill, who was downstream, but by the time he got to me, a fox sparrow had chased my bird off.
Back in the car, looking through my Sibley bird guide, Bill suggested a sage sparrow, and I readily agreed. The pose chosen to illustrate the bird, leaning forward with raised tail, was exactly the pose I had seen, and the listed size, one inch shorter than the fox sparrow, meshed with my observation. I didn’t know how rare this sighting would be, but the fact that Bill had suggested the species made me comfortable with the identification.
The rest of our day was largely uneventful, except for the pair of rufous-crowned sparrows that Bill spotted, perched in a bush. The sage sparrow, we thought, would be our main contribution. Because it was unusual, Joan asked me to document my sighting; so I sent her a narrative, much like what I’ve written here. The count leader was appreciative, and apparently my sighting was unusual enough that he sent me an official Audubon count form, in which I had to detail where I was, what binoculars I used, how I made the identification and other matters.
This was my first encounter with CBC officialdom, and it didn’t go well. The leader apparently reported to a committee, and after consultation, they decided not to “submit” my sage sparrow. The fact that I was a single observer – no one else in my party saw it – played a large role; I suspect the fact that no one the committee had ever heard of me also mattered. I didn’t really care, one way or the other, although I was slightly miffed at the “official” reasons for the rejection, which made no sense and which I duly rebutted, just for the record.
(Since then, I have looked up the sage sparrow on my Audubon bird app: the third photo looks exactly like the bird I saw.)
A few days later, January 4, Santa Barbara held its count, and I had been volunteered to scour the Westmont College campus in Montecito. I didn’t expect to find any unusual birds in this suburban setting, an expectation confirmed on a scouting trip two days ahead of the count. Still, it gave me a reason to walk the pretty campus, and if I contributed numbers of birds, even common ones, to the count, it would, presumably, serve some purpose.
Arriving at 8, I staked out a spot at the top of the campus, above a small creek bed, and watched a small flurry of sparrows, towhees and wrens. To my surprise, a white-throated sparrow, in beautiful plumage, stepped out from a group of golden-crowned sparrows. It was one of my childhood favorites, and I hadn’t seen one in Santa Barbara before. I worked my way down campus, seeing birds that were fun, if not rare: Townsend’s warbler, lesser goldfinch, even a trio of mallards on an ornamental pond.
As I was heading back from the bottom of campus I came across a flock of juncos, just below the tennis courts. Mixed in was a smaller bird, nondescript brown with a striped cap. “Chipping sparrow,” I instinctively thought, as it had a remnant chestnut cap, but it had no other particular markings and, again, I couldn’t remember having seen chipping sparrows in Santa Barbara. I was debating whether to count it in my report – was I certain? – when I spotted a Hutton’s vireo on a woodpile behind the junco flock. As I have only recently learned to distinguish the vireo from a ruby-crowned kinglet, I thought, why press my luck: two less-than-100% sightings at my last stop might be too much. And besides, the vireo gave me a round 30 species on the morning.
Back home, I called count leader Joan Lentz, who had requested a before-noon report. “Anything unusual?,” she casually asked. Equally casually – I didn’t know what would be considered “unusual” – I said, “Well, I did see a white-throated sparrow and a chipping sparrow, which I don’t normally see.” She sounded pleased by the white-throat report, mentioning that her group had “missed” this bird that day.
To my surprise, however, that turned out not to be the lead story. Other counters had also found the white-throated sparrow, but mine was the only chipping sparrow seen by anybody. Thus, again, please tell us more – where exactly did you see it and how did you identify it? (No Audubon form this time.) Joan said she was inclined to accept my sighting – mainly because chipping sparrows had been seen in years past on the Westmont campus, although never since the disruption of the Tea Fire in 2009 and subsequent construction activity.
Whether my single-observer sighting would have stood on its own, however, I’ll never know, because the following day I received an email from Joan: “Congratulations! I went to Westmont today and I refound your chipping sparrow. It was in a flock of juncos between the tennis courts.” Thus, because of my participation, the Santa Barbara CBC for 2013 stands at 222 species, not 221.

Vikings Implode

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As bad as Josh Freeman was in the Monday night debacle in New York, the bigger problem, in my view, was the Minnesota offensive line. Not only did Adrian Peterson not see a hole all night, Freeman almost never ended a play in the standing position. When you watch Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, you see them surgically carving the secondary without ever getting hit. When a defensive player “gets to” Manning or Brady, it is considered an accomplishment. Last night, Freeman, a big, mobile quarterback, was on the ground, with a Giant atop him, practically every time he threw. It’s no wonder his passes were off the mark. Of course, the unimaginative pass routes of the Vikings receivers didn’t help. This has been my complaint for years; how can this happen in the ultrasophisticated NFL? My pass routes in the RFL were more likely to get someone open. On one play, Freeman sprinted out to the right where he had two receivers. One ran a simple 10-yard square-out; the other did the same at 18. Both, not surprisingly, were covered and Freeman threw the ball away. I haven’t seen a Viking receiver run a post pattern or a zig-and-zag in years. Or the effective route Victor Cruz ran last night: fly 20 yards, then turn and come back toward the passer for an easy 12-yard-gain.

The Vikings have no imagination and, Jared Allen excepted, no fire. Among their defensive backs they have little skill, and certainly none of the aggressiveness required to outfight the receiver for the ball. Leslie Frazier is, it is now obvious, not the coach to fire up this squad. Nor, I am afraid, is Josh Freeman, who seemed to be in his own world most of the game. His “attitude” seemed to prevent him from relating to anyone around him, not a good sign for the future. And as for that, I don’t think Freeman’s future is in Minneapolis. Even, in their desperation, should the Vikings try to keep him, I can’t imagine that he would choose to play behind Minnesota’s offensive line any longer than necessary.

Liking the Cards

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I have rarely been a fan of the St. Louis Cardinals. First, they win too much, like a Midwestern version of the Yankees. Second, they come across as organizationally boring, more corporate than colorful. Third, they compete with the Pittsburgh Pirates, to whom I will always feel an allegiance. Fourth, Tony LaRussa, the Tiger Woods of baseball. But after dabbling in the NLDS and NLCS – I’m still more of an American League fan – I find myself warming up to these Redbirds.

The first turning point came, I suppose, when they jettisoned Albert Pujols, letting someone else (the Angels) pay him the obscene salary he demanded (and, we now know, did not deserve). LaRussa, too, is gone, replaced by the perfectly nondescript Mike Matheny, one more catcher-turned-manager. Nor did I particularly begrudge their dispensing of the Pirates’ postseason, partly because the Pirates had already achieved so much success this year and, more to the point, because the Cards had beat out the Bucs for first place in their division, and the regular season should count for something.

Facing the L.A. Dodgers in the NLCS also put them in a good light. My feelings toward the Yankees have somewhat transferred themselves to the Dodgers now that I reside on the West Coast: the highest payroll, the glitziest owners, the excessive media attention, the rent-a-player roster are all black marks in my book. But the defining moment came in one at-bat: Matt Carpenter against Clayton Kershaw in the scoreless sixth game. Kershaw, the league’s best pitcher, threw Carpenter ten quality pitches – huge hooks, buzzing fastballs, biting sliders – and couldn’t get him out. Each pitch that Carpenter managed to foul off amazed me. Before the playoffs all I knew of Carpenter was a name that appeared among the NL batting leaders. I didn’t know his first name, his position or where he’d come from. Before this at-bat, he had not had a particularly distinguished postseason, and I was surprised to hear he had led the league with 199 hits during the regular season. On the eleventh pitch, Kershaw hung a slider (when a batter gets a hit, the announcers invariably identify the pitch as having “hung”) and Carpenter roped it into the rightfield corner for a double that started Kershaw’s and the Dodgers’ downfall, to the eventual tune of a 9-0 series clincher. It was a classic case of a very good hitter against a very good pitcher; those duels usually go to the pitcher, so when Carpenter won this one, I said he deserves it and the Cardinals deserve it. Yes, Yasiel Puig made two awful throws from rightfield and there may have been other flubs, but this was not a case of the Dodgers giving the game away – the Cardinals took it.

I am still learning about the rest of the team. There appear to be no prima donnas, no one set up for me to root against. On the contrary, it is thrilling to see Michael Wacha rising from obscurity to Bob Gibson territory, right before our eyes. And the one player I do know about, Yadier Molina, is the definition of solid excellence. I am used to seeing Minnesota writers canonize Joe Mauer, but I would prefer the durable Molina on my team; and if any part of a pitching staff’s success is attributable to the catcher, then it is no contest.

I am equally glad that the Red Sox have put the Tigers out of their misery and will be the Cardinal’s opponent in the World Series. When they were cruising, the Tigers were imposing, and their starters were second-to-none. But after Cabrera got hurt, they barely played .500 ball, and it was painful to watch Cabrera and Fielder slump through the playoffs. Jhonny Peralta back from steroids was a black mark, and the bullpen, with no closer, was the Achilles’ heel that ultimately doomed them. Still, if it hadn’t been for Big Papi’s big blast, one of the most dramatic home runs I’ve seen, the Tigers might have squeaked through. As it is, we get to watch the feisty BoSox, who swing and run and field with abandon and have those charmingly god-awful beards. Where will my sympathies lie? I don’t yet know, but it will be fun to find out.

Twins Spin (Wheels)

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As we watch Postseason 2013 we are reminded not only of how bad the Twins were this year, but how little there is to look forward to. When the season started, I could identify only two players – Joe Mauer and Glenn Perkins – who would be welcome on any team, and the same was true in September. Justin Morneau, of whom many have fond memories, is still a ghost of his pre-concussion self, and his stint with the Pittsburgh Pirates did nothing to change one’s perception. Local commentators point to Brian Dozier’s “emergence” as a solid second baseman; and while it is true he improved over last year, when he was sent to the minors, he remains a .250 hitter who can be considered “average,” at best. The rest of the squad would not look out of place in Rochester, where many of them in fact spent time this summer.

The greatest discouragement, however, is on the mound. Last year’s acquisitions of Worley, Pelfrey and Correa didn’t even rise to the level of stopgap solution, and there’s no reason to think they will answer next year. All of the “promising” pitchers of the year before, except perhaps the frequently injured Samuel Deduno, are a year older and less promising: Diamond, DeVries, Hendriks, Hernandez, et al. The biggest hope in the minors, Kyle Gibson, showed nothing, which casts some doubt on the other prospects who are rumored to arrive. Just as bad as the Twins’ situation, however, is what we see going on around them, highlighted in these Playoffs. Not only are other teams not standing still, waiting for the Twins to catch up, they are showing off young arms that will raise the bar in the future. Michael Wacha, Sonny Gray, Gerrit Cole, Dan Straily – these are rookies who aren’t just promising, they are future aces (indeed, Oakland has an entire bullpen of rookies who can already pitch at the major-league level). It’s like the common blind spot experienced after each NFL draft: look how much better our team will be with these new draft choices, the fan thinks, not recognizing that every one of the competition is doing the same.

Maybe the Twins will get better when Buxton and Sano arrive – they must! – but they will have to get better faster than other teams do for it to make a difference, and, as the Playoffs also show, the name of the game is still pitching.

Twins Win!

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Thanks to my daughter’s Christmas gift, I turned on MLB.com to watch my first Twins game of the season. It was the 7th inning and they were down, 2-0, to the Tigers. With a man on first – Plouffe had walked – Parmelee and Dozier both struck out looking on fastballs down the middle. After a squib double by pinch-hitting newcomer Wilkin Ramirez scored the Twins’ first run of the year, rookie Aaron Hicks struck out swinging on a 3-2 fastball high out of the strike zone. I decided then and there, after one half-inning, that the Twins just have too many black holes in their lineup to be a factor. In the 8th inning, Mauer and Morneau wasted a walk to Willingham with weak ground balls, and I further decided that their supposed big boppers weren’t big enough to make up for the aforementioned black holes.                                                                                                   Then came the 9th, after two fine shutdown relief innings from Burton and Perkins, the team’s main holdover strength from last year, Plouffe again walked (the Minnesota offense consisted of more walks than hits today). After a Parmalee flyout against new Tiger closer, lefty Phil Coke, Brian Dozier, hitless for the year, lofted a soft liner to right and pinch-runner Jamey Carroll dashed to third. That brought up #9 hitter Eduardo Escobar, whom I had never heard of and who, we learned postgame, speaks no English. He had been inserted at shortstop after Ramirez had pinch-hit for Pedro Florimon. On the first pitch from Coke – against whom righties hit over .400 last year, we’d been told – Escobar drove a deep fly to left, far enough to easily score Carroll from third to tie the game. Even better, the Tiger outfielders shied away from each other, the ball bounded against the wall, Dozier scored from first and the Twins had their first win of the season, a walk-off against their nemesis, Detroit. Almost lost in the late offensive outburst was the performance of starting pitcher Kevin Correia who, like Vance Worley the day before, held the potent Tiger offense, last year’s best plus Victor Martinez and Torii Hunter, to two runs. It’s one thing to be workmanlike and eat up the innings – already an improvement over 2012’s starters – but it’s another to do that and help your team get a win.                           So where does that leave me with my prediction for 2013 – having seen only three innings of at bats? You know, it really doesn’t matter, or at least I don’t really care. Everyone else has picked the Twins to finish last. I think they have a shot at finishing as high as third in their division, but with expectations so low we’re in the pleasant position of being excited by every unexpected win. Everyone is also excited about the future now in the farm system – Sano, Buxton, Gibson, Meyer – so we can view any positive signs from the Major League team as a launching pad for 2014, 2015 and beyond. And then – as I’ve said every year this decade – if Morneau happens to get hot, the Twins will go as far as he takes them.

Tigers Sweep Yanks

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Every Yankee-hater’s heart is swelling glad tonight after the Detroit Tigers’ four-game sweep in the ALCS. It wasn’t just the Tigers’ domination – they were never behind in any game – it was how bad the Yankees looked. They got two (two!) runs off Detroit starting pitching in four games, and both were scored by someone named Eduardo Nunez, who wasn’t even on the Yankees’ playoff roster when the series started.
Not only were the Yankee hitters impotent, they gave us hope of bad years to come. Look down the lineup: Ichiro is fading – Seattle was much improved by his departure. Curtis Granderson was exposed as a strikeout artist, and he’s on the wrong side of 30, too. Robinson Cano, supposedly the best player in New York and the only youth in the Yankee lineup, set a record by going 0-for-29 and responded with lackluster effort and poor defense. Derek Jeter, my personal bete noire for his smug manner, epitomizing ‘Yankee cool,’ broke his ankle and, at 37, will have a hard time ever reaching this year’s level. Nick Swisher is probably at the end of his time with the Yankees; and Mark Texeira, who mishandled two ground balls today, has, it’s safe to say, peaked. A-Rod? He’s been in steady decline and was thoroughly humiliated by his own manager as well as the Tiger pitchers, lefthanded and right. Who are the backups? Eric Chavez, Brett Gardner, a catcher no one has heard of – where will the Yankees turn next year, while they are still paying huge salaries to all of the above? Their pitching is forgettable, as well. Andy Pettite and Mariano Rivera are in the twilights of their careers. C.C. Sabathia is the only solid starter, and the Tigers rocked him tonight. It’s no stretch to believe that his best years are behind him. Somehow the Yankees compiled the AL’s best regular-season record this year. Including the playoffs, though, they were barely ahead of the Orioles. You have to think – with great pleasure – that this particular dynasty has ended.
As a Twins fan, my delight at the Tigers’ success is slightly alloyed with the recognition that they are now the dynasty to contend with. Theoretically, all their players still could have their best years ahead of them. Austin Jackson gets better every season, and they pulled a player out of Double-A, Avilais Gomez, who looked right at home facing the Yankees in the playoffs. Miguel Cabrera has obviously matured since his meltdown before the one-game playoff with the Twins a few years ago, and it is a pleasure to watch him hit, he is so completely comfortable at the plate. The most fun, though, is Prince Fielder, who seems to enjoy himself 100% of the time and brings that joy to his teammates, too. What a contrast to their Twins counterparts, Mauer and Morneau. Watching Fielder catch the final out today, motioning everyone away from a routine popup, brought tears to my eyes that I hadn’t felt since Argo. Then there is Justin Verlander, who is not only the most fun pitcher to watch because of his control and his stuff, it turns out he’s a fun personality, too. He was miked up for a half-inning of today’s game and held his own with the TBS announcers.
Speaking of announcers, the Tigers-Yankees series was a pleasure to watch. Ernie Johnson calls a clean game and his commentators – Ron Darling and John Smoltz – were smart and never intrusive – i.e., the exact opposite of Tim McCarver, who is doing the NLCS on Fox with Joe Buck. The TBS postgame show was also excellent, largely because of Dennis Eckersley, although Cal Ripken was also a creditable contributor (David Wells not so much). I also highly applaud a TBS innovation – keeping the pitch-track box on the screen for the entire at-bat, showing not only where the last pitch went, but where every pitch in the sequence crossed the plate. How long until this is standard on every baseball broadcast?
Will the World Series be an anticlimax? Probably, if only because I won’t be able to concentrate on the games, with McCarver babbling pointlessly. Also, I’m not as familiar with either St. Louis or San Francisco as I was with the American Leaguers, and from what I’ve seen of the Cardinals I don’t like their facial hair. I will hope that the Tigers continue to roll. Maybe a World Series win will make them less hungry next year. But for the moment, I can’t begrudge their potential supremacy over my Twins. I am first and foremost a Yankee-Hater at heart.

Instant Replay, Baseball Edition

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The horrible call in last night’s Yankees-Tigers game that resulted in two very unearned runs for the Tigers could easily be avoided by a system that Major League Baseball does not appear to be considering, perhaps because it is the exact same system that the NFL currently uses: give each manager two challenges a game. Balls and strikes would be excluded, of course – just as many species of decision cannot be challenged in football – but everything else is fair game. With only two challenges at his disposal, a manager would have to be wary about using them – thus, saving them for game-changing moments and plays where the evidence should be clear.
Rather than slowing the game, a challenge system would speed it up. No longer would we have to wait for the manager to come trotting out of the dugout, engage in a lengthy conversation often requiring the presence of other umpires, then slowly tromp back to his seat, if he hasn’t been ejected, which then consumes a further minute or two. Under my proposal, he could toss a red flag from his back pocket without even moving; a replay official in the booth upstairs would review as many replay angles as are needed or available; he would then communicate electronically with the home plate, or other designated, umpire; and the call would either stand or be reversed. Further appeal would be futile. Note the one change from the NFL: there would be no need for the umpire or umpires to leave the field and look at the replays themselves, as baseball currently does for its limited home run/not home run review. If the missed call isn’t obvious to independent eyes in the skybox, the call stands.
Last night, Infante was out by two feet on Cano’s tag, and every replay angle showed the same thing. In sixty seconds, the call could have been corrected and the game could have proceeded without controversy. As for second-guessing the umpire, what umpire wants to be remembered for a bad call? And if MLB wants to proceed even more cautiously in this direction, start with one challenge per game. I’ll bet most will never be used, and pointless arguing will be curtailed even further. If a manager doesn’t have the courage to throw his flag, how seriously will the umpire take the manager who comes out to complain?

Morneau Must Go

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At the end of last season, I warned the Twins that I wouldn’t take them seriously this year if they brought back Tsuyoshi Nishioka, which they didn’t. As the 2012 season winds down, I must tell them I feel the same way about Justin Morneau. As valuable as Morneau was in the past – and for several years I proclaimed that the Twins would go only so far as Morneau could carry them – he has turned into a millstone dragging them down, as they live on the memories of what he once was and the hope that he will revive his career. As a result, they bat him fourth or fifth, where kills rally after rally, and further, he impedes the progress of Chris Parmelee, who is already a better hitter and cannot develop as the Twins’ first baseman while Morneau still casts his shadow. Maybe it’s just lack of confidence, but Morneau doesn’t even take very good swings. Half his hits are flares, lacking all authority. With two strikes, he is putty in the pitcher’s hand, totally helpless against a low, outside slider. Knowing he is dead meat once the count gets that far, he often makes up his mind to swing at the first pitch, which he will then do, regardless of its speed or location. If I have figured all this out, what must opposing scouts know, in addition? If Miguel Cabrera beats out Joe Mauer for this year’s batting title, think of the advantage he has, with Prince Fielder hitting behind him, while Mauer, now with Josh Willingham hurt, has only Morneau for protection.
I was glad to see in today’s paper that Morneau is aware that the Twins might trade him. (The problem is, who would want him, especially with his salary and concussion history.) The other rumored trade bait is Denard Span – a deal that I would oppose. Span and Ben Revere are a formidable top of the order, able to work the count, fast when they get on base, and afraid of no one. Mauer and Willingham fill the next two spots comfortably. It’s at that point that things get a little shaky. Ryan Doumit has been solid and would be even more impressive if he could bat a little lower in the order. Trevor Plouffe has shown more potential than actual Major League ability, both at bat and in the field. If he is truly a work-in-progress and can improve as much in the next two years as he has this year, he will be a keeper. He is just not good enough now to be an asset. Shortstop and second base remain holes to be filled. Given their lack of power, especially in the #3 spot, the Twins can’t afford two more players, however slick on defense, who hit .230.
As for pitching, the Twins amazingly have an effective rotation of five rookies, none of whom was with the team at the start of the year: Scott Diamond, P.J. Walter, Liam Hendricks, Samuel Deduno and Cole DeVries. This could be the start of something good – or it could mean years of mediocrity to come. Given how far each has come this year, I like to be hopeful. Jared Burton and Glen Perkins are solid anchors for the bullpen. I said at the start that Perkins was the best pitcher on the Twins, and I like him as the closer for the foreseeable future. There will be a role, too, for Brian Duensing. As for Alex Burnett, Casey Fien, Anthony Swarzak and others, I hope we can do better.

Twins in Misery

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Today (May 27) the Tigers finished sweeping the Twins, and the three losses each highlighted one of the Twins’ deficiencies: Friday, in a game we attended, their starting pitchers – Swarzak and Liriano – were terrible; Saturday, in a game I skipped, their hitters struck out 16 times; and today, in a game I watched on TV, they nursed a lead until their suspect closer – Capps – gave up a two-run homer on an 0-2 pitch. They have already ransacked their farm system, and with no help in sight are a lock to do worse than their 99-loss season of 2011.
Sometimes with a bad team there are young players whose potential can provide a measure of interest, but except for Brian Dozier, who may turn into a steady if unspectacular shortstop, the Twins are also lacking here. Last week SI had an article about the young players that teams have locked into long-term contracts, as well as a half-dozen newcomers with possible big paydays in the offing. Tellingly, there were no Twins on either list. The only bright spot so far this season came when rookie call-ups Scott Diamond and P.J. Walters provided five wins in their first six starts. Neither has obviously great stuff, and whether either or both will be winning pitchers long-term is still very much in doubt. I don’t have the same gut feeling for them I did when Baker, Blackburn, Slowey and Garza, not to mention the old Liriano, were embarking on their Twins’ careers. Speaking of pitchers, Kyle Lohse and R.A.Dickey, two that the Twins discarded, are off to great starts this year and would be the staff ace if still around.
One measure of the Twins’ desperate situation is their insistence on getting Trevor Plouffe, a .135 hitter, into the lineup, whether at second or third base, left or rightfield. Behind him on the bench have been outfielders named Mastroianni and Komatsu, wonderful for geographic diversity but a far cry from the never-better-than-average duo of Dustin Mohr and Bobby Kielty. Basically, where the Twins are is where they have been, in my opinion, for awhile: in a position to go only as far as Justin Morneau can take them. When he is on a streak, everyone perks up and the Twins can play with anyone. When he is slumping or, as has been the case more often, hurt, they just can’t do any damage. Joe Mauer is an endlessly debatable subject, but the bottom line is, if you’re down a run in the ninth, there are about 20 players in the American League you’d rather have at the plate, yet he’s getting paid more than all but one or two of them. Not only is he not a leader, but his presence makes it hard for any other leader to emerge. When it comes to well-struck, meaningless singles and the occasional double, though, he’s your man.
Which brings me to the question: why watch a team this bad? If the game’s on TV, I enjoy Dick Bremer’s announcing and the commentary of Messrs. Blyleven, Smalley and Coomer. On the other hand, as much as I didn’t like John Gordon, I am even less enamored of this year’s new radio voice, Cory Probis. Still, a baseball game is good background noise and there’s plenty to do – gardening, reading the paper – while they play. Going to the game, however, is a different story. I have been graced with great seats at both outings this year, but great seats don’t guarantee good company around you. At the first game, a quartet of young men behind us kept up a loud running commentary that I couldn’t escape and got continually more annoying. Friday was a similar experience, only this time it was a group of kids interested mainly in coming up with loud, unison cheers – “Mauer Power” – for each batter. The general noise level of Target Field, with the perpetually large crowd and the overactive scoreboard, is so high that, in fairness, these individuals almost had to yell to hear each other. I know that I could converse with my seatmate only by leaning close to his ear. Then there is the general ambience of Target Field, where there is always a multitude strolling the concourse and lining up for every drink and delicacy on hand. The Twins seem committed to making the ballgame an “evening-out experience.” It is very far from the old days when you went to the ballpark to watch a game – and could even hear yourself think. It’s not as bad as the NFL or, certainly, the NBA, where the in-person viewing experience requires a couple aspirin. Maybe, like my experience at rock’n’roll clubs, it’s more a matter of my growing old, but going to the ballpark has lost much of its allure. Combine that with the state of the Twins, and my rabidity level is way down. I wonder how long, if ever, it will take the rest of Minnesota to feel this way.