From: jjd@TEAK.CRAY.COM (Jeff Drummond)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: Twins/Mariners Game-10   8/16/92
Date: 17 Aug 92 16:52:24 GMT

Summary: One engine out, another overheating.  Rudder jammed.  Fuel low.
Organization: Cray Research, Inc.

In article <1992Aug17.124225.27495@news2.cis.umn.edu> kimmel@epx.cis.umn.edu (Eric Kimmel) writes:
>In article <19754@plains.NoDak.edu> sivaram@plains.NoDak.edu (Sivaram Hariharan ) writes:
>>
>>With only about 42 games remaining in the season, looks like
>>the As, if they can avoid a major slump which looks like
>>it could never happen with their blazing bats and the unhittable
>>EK, could hold on.
>>
>The Twins basically need to play .800 baseball the remainder of the season.
>Here's what the Twins need:

Below, you point out that the Twins need to play .750 ball.  Let's not
inflate that to .800 and make it any more difficult than it already is
going to be.  Also, they need to play .750 ball *IF* Oakland plays at
their current pace.  If Oakland gets hot(ter), it'll be harder.  If
Oakland cools off, the job will be easier...

>A pitcher to step up and take the lead.  Pitching has been absolutely pathetic.
>They have been giving up leads in the next half inning many times, and giving
>at least 1 run back most of the time.  The starters have been inconsistent.
>One good start, one terrible start.  The Twins have not had back to back
>quality starts in 3 weeks!

Their pitching, especially out of the bullpen has been dismal.

>Leuis at third base.  Pags is still hitting less than .200 and is nowhere the
>fielder Leius is.  Leuis was hitting nearly .300 as the regular 3B.

Leius _peaked_ at about .275, a LONG way from .300.  His OBP and SLG
weren't stellar either.  Unfortunately, Pagliarulo has not appeared
to recover (offensively or defensively) from his half-season on the
DL.  The Twins have to start thinking seriously about how much more
time they're going to spend waiting for Pagliarulo to start hitting.
Leius will hit better than Pagliarulo's buck-seventy, but he's not
going to carry the team.

>Park Hrbek.  He's been terrible.  A few days off should sharpen him up a
>little bit.  His bat is slow and defense lethargic.

Kelly parked him for a game already.  No effect.  You don't play 162-
game seasons without various players going into slumps.  All you can
do is hope that other players will pick up the slack.  The problem
with Hrbek's slump is that it coincides with a general team slump
(pitching and a few other hitters).  If the pitching hadn't nosedived,
Hrbek's hitting slump would be a minor irritation.  Mack and Harper have
both been on a tear, but with the pitching like it is, it hardly matters.
As someone once said, the four most important things for a baseball team
are pitching, pitching, pitching and hitting.  The Twins are hurting for
the first three.  Their hitting is still pretty good.

>Baserunning 101.  Too many stupid baserunning errors are costing the Twins
>games.  Last night's game was painful.  Munoz was TAGGED off 2B by the SS
>because he just stood there as a ball was hit his direction (the SS then
>tossed to 1B for the double play).  Knoblauch was easily doubled off of 2B
>while he was running towards 3B and home on an infield fly.  Duh...

Games?  As in plural?  Yes, the Twins committed two costly baserunning
blunders in yesterday's (Sunday's) game.  And maybe those two errors cost
them the game (though I think the pitching is more to blame).  I wouldn't
say the Twins have a baserunning problem in general.

>Aguilera healthy.  He's not.

They need Aguilera to be effective.  He's no Eck; but who (besides Eck)
is?  I think Aguilera has done a good job.  The problem is that the
Twins haven't been able get many leads into the ninth inning.  I'd much
rather have Aguilera blowing 10% of his save opportunities if he had an
save opportunity in every game, then if he was perfect but only got into
every tenth game.

>Tom Kelly to give up his "one day at a time" because there aren't that many
>left.  The were swept by Oakland and Chicago and lose 2 of 3 to Seattle.
>Splits would have kept them in first place.

I don't follow this at all.  You don't make up a five game deficit over
40 games by doing anything but playing one game at a time.  How do you
think Kelly's "one day/game at a time" philosophy is hurting the Twins?
Or do you think that TK has to change his approach because the Twins
slipped out of first place?  There's a word for that, it's called `panic'.
That's the last thing the Twins need at this point.  It looks to me like
some of the players are pressing a bit; trying to carry the pitching
staff and ending-up making errors and baserunning mistakes.  It all
reminds me of 1984 and the curse of Jamie Quirk.

>At Oaklands current pace they will win 26 more games.  The Twins will need
>to win 32 of 42 (a .750 pace).  They have 6 games against Toronto and 3
>against Oakland (at Oakland).
>
>Not impossible, but getting more improbable every day.

Too true.

>-Rick

-Jeff    jjd@cray.com
--
"Look up in the standings and first place seems so far away.  Yet that
team in first place just got crushed by the team in last place, a team
more pathetic and inept than even your own."  -Victor "Spanky" Hugo in
_Les_Miserables_Equipes_
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball