Raise your hand if you thought the Sox game was over in the first

Seriously, when it was 3-0 before the Sox even came to bat, I was all ready to write a post about why the Dice-K era might be winding down.But Carl Pavano said "I'll see your meltdown and raise you" birthday boy Adrian Gonzalez launched one out that would have been a harmless flyball in Petco and the Sox pulled one out.You take them when you can get them.Let's update the tally.DODGED BULLET GAMES

The Most Recent No Hitter For Each Franchise (Updated for May 3, 2011)

Last year I wrote a post where I had each most recent no hit game for each franchise. And with Francisco Liriano's gem tonight, that old post is now obsolete.So dutifully, here is the updated list of each team's most recent no hitter.THE MOST RECENT NO HITTERSFOR EACH FRANCHISEMINNESOTA TWINSFrancisco Liriano - May 3, 20111-0 over Chicago White SoxPHILADELPHIA PHILLIESRoy Halladay - October 6,

Yes. An April Twins/Indians Series is BIG!

It seems counter intuitive to call any series in April big. The Indians will have 144 games left after today and the Twins have lots of time to recover from their injuries.But I will argue this is a big series for both teams. Cleveland is off to a hot start. Is this an April fluke, like the Royals in 2009? Remember how the Royals were in first place in Mid May? You probably don't. They finished

The Bill Mazeroski Baseball Annual for 1987 - A treasure found at my parents house

Whenever I go back to my parents home, which was also my home during my high school days, I love going through the closets and seeing what artifact from my childhood I can unearth.This past Christmas I stumbled across this gem: Bill Mazeroski's Baseball Annual for 1987.For those of you who don't remember or are too young to even know, the release of the Bill Mazeroski Annual was one of the

Pavano's second pay day

He did it... Carl Pavano did it.He got one big huge gigantic contract for more money than you and I will ever see with the $39 million heist from the Yankees.And, after being declared dead from the neck up, got his act together and signed for another $16 million.I wrote about it earlier, but Carl Pavano is indeed living the American dream.OK, can he pull it off again.Come back here in 2013 and

Carl Pavano and the American Dream

Has there ever been a player in baseball history with better timing than Carl Pavano? It’s staggering if you think about it from a certain point of view.If I turned the clock back just two years and mentioned Carl Pavano’s name, it would be a baseball punchline.He was the $39.95 million bust with the Yankees… the guy who pitched 9 games total in his last three years with the Yankees… the guy who

How happy are the Twins they signed Joe Mauer when they did?

Not that Joe Mauer came cheap. He is paid like a unique superstar which he is.But holy cow, compare Carl Crawford and Jayson Werth's contract and their worth to Mauer... an MVP batting champion home town hero catcher?And if he was on the open market can you imagine the Yankees desperate to make a splash and with a huge hole at catcher and an inviting right field porch doing the bidding?Can you

Twins... don't change a damn thing about Target Field

Justin Morneau is complaining about the dimensions of Target Field and he wants them changed?Um, Justin. Your team was 52-28 at home. That's a .654 winning percentage. If the Twins played to a .654 winning percentage for a full season, you'd win 106 games.If I were you, I wouldn't want a DAMN THING changed about Target Field. So a few homers turn into doubles... keep winning there and it will

Jim Thome and Kenny Lofton’s post season luck

So it goes for the Twins… their post season losing streak at 12 and they have been swept out of the playoffs again.Homefield advantage?New ballpark?No difference.And it also goes for Jim Thome, who in his 20 seasons, is still in search of his first World Series ring.His luck has been truly rotten.He’s appeared in 9 post seasons, including 2 trips to the World Series (1995 and 1997 with Cleveland.

Which Twins would put up a bigger fight against the Yankees?

The Minnesota Twins... or MY Twins?Don't answer right away.It's a tougher question than you think.

It has come to this...

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Girardi is not so dumb now, is he?

When the Yankees and Rays were going down the stretch, there were a lot of Yankee fans killing Joe Girardi for not playing all of his veterans in every game. "They HAVE to win the Division!" was the rallying cry.I heard one person KILLING Girardi for not using Mariano Rivera in both games of a double header in the last meaningless weekend of the series.The Rays won the Division... the Yankees are

Once again, if you are against instant replay... you are wrong

It is to the point where people who are against instant replay sound a lot like people who would insist the world is flat.They have nothing to back up their claims except tradition and an inability to accept new ideas.There isn't a logical reason to be against instant replay.Even one of the people who comment on my blog against instant replay admitted that.But we saw in the final game between the

FRANCISCO LIRIANO IS THROWING A NO HITTER AFTER ONE INNING!

Let's stay on our toes people... something MORE can happen tonight!

A guide for Red Sox fans in picking a playoff team to root for

So the playoffs are starting and the Red Sox are on the golf course.Does that mean we Red Sox fans should just NOT watch the playoffs?Of course not... just because our team is dead doesn't mean our interest should be.Seeing that I was too young to remember 1975, I never saw the Red Sox play in October until 1986, when I was 14. Yet I never missed a post season... I would just temporarily adopt a

IF THE PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY... October 3, 2010

Here we are... the last day of the season... and not one single Division Series match up has been set.The Yankees played a combined 20 innings yesterday and very well might have lost the Division in the wee small hours of the morning. And the Twins may have lost homefield advantage in the Division Series and ALCS with a poorly timed losing streak.But that is NOTHING compared to the potential

IF THE PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY... October 2, 2010

The only change in the playoff match ups came from the weather. The Red Sox and Yankees were rained out and the Rays couldn't take advantage and lost ANOTHER to the Royals.And the Twins couldn't take advantage and lost again themselves.Am I the only one who has noticed that the American League pitching for the playoffs has been pretty lousy this week, save for Cliff Lee, David Price and CC

IF THE PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY... October 1, 2010

September is over after today... teams that are still alive tomorrow can officially say they were in it into October. But how far?It is now October and only 2 National League spots are locked up while all four playoff teams in the American League have clinched.However by the end of the day, the two Division Series could be set in the National League while nobody could know who is playing who in

Can Yankee fans read this headline without vomiting?

Carl Pavano?Leadership?The man dubbed as "American Idle" by the New York press.The man who signed arguably the worst contract in the history of the New York Yankees.I guess for a Yankee fan, a more likely headline would be ...SYNAGOGUE VOTES MEL GIBSON AS MAN OF THE YEARorPETA HIRES SARAH PALIN AS SPOKESWOMANorMICHAEL AND DINA LOHAN WIN PARENTS OF THE YEARJust goes to show you, some people are

IF THE PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY... September 30, 2010

September is over after today... teams that are still alive tomorrow can officially say they were in it into October. But how far?Time is running out on San Diego and despite a slew of injuries the Braves just might limp across the finish line. The Giants have all but clinched a better record than the Reds (2 games up with 4 to play is hard enough to make up for Cincinnati... but San Francisco