"A couple years ago, he wasn't starting, and he came along pretty good in this role," Gardenhire said. "Maybe this clears his mind a little bit, so he's not worried about going 0-for-3 every day, and he'll come back and be a great player. He already is to me because he's so valuable everywhere you play him."( from the strib)
Scene: Nick Punto and Ron Gardenhire share a candlelight dinner for two after the 2007 season.
Nick (forlorn): ...I just want to be a great player...
Ron (reassuring): You already are to me, Nick. You already are to me.
Their eyes locked, the two mens' faces inch towards each other as the lights fade to black.
Fin
Monday, April 14, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Oh my darling hummingbird
La Velle E. Neal III gives us this gem of an article full of the cute quotable Gardenhire we all love. One can't help but beam with joy and feel warm all over after reading Gardenhire's nickname for rookie Matt Tolbert."Hummingbird"
Maybe even better is how Mr. Neal III just sticks the quote in the middle of the article. The previous quote from Tolbert's minor league manager, Riccardo Ingram, kind of explains the Gardenhire hummingbird quote.
"The Latin players call him 'Eléctrico,' " Ingram said.
Still, the fact that the next line only has Gardenhire saying "hummingbird" leaves his meaning a little ambiguous.
Of course, this post isn't meant to criticize Mr. Neal's journalistic talent. No, it's to display the pure giddiness and love Gardenhire seems to have for this young buck Tolbert. And that's exactly what we get at the end of article when Mr. Neal decided to copy down Gardenhire's excited mumbles about the rookie verbatim.
"I said, 'You're on deck. You're hitting right now,' and he was still looking for his equipment. That's not normal. So he's fun."
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
News flash monroe in the outfield
I love how everything Gardenhire says seems like it is a spur of the moment thought. For example, in this article talking about Crumple Magoo.
"Monroe's here to help us out, however we can use him -- and I'm going to use him. I'm going to play him in the outfield, too."
Thanks for the heads up. Wouldn't want you to surprise us with any of your managerial wisdoms like the old days when you'd bat Tyner at DH.
Of course, I'm probably not wrong, about every Gardenhire decision being spur of the moment.
"Monroe's here to help us out, however we can use him -- and I'm going to use him. I'm going to play him in the outfield, too."
Thanks for the heads up. Wouldn't want you to surprise us with any of your managerial wisdoms like the old days when you'd bat Tyner at DH.
Of course, I'm probably not wrong, about every Gardenhire decision being spur of the moment.
Monday, March 31, 2008
More Managerial Wisdom
"Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said recently that he would not use a platoon for the club's designated hitter spot. Instead, he would rotate left-handed hitter Jason Kubel and right-handed hitter Craig Monroe based on matchups and other factors."
That quote is from Kelly Theiser ( you may remember her from such references to Johan Santana's phallus as "hardwood - or should I say, hard wood"). Now, I am no scientist, but I'm pretty sure that a platoon in baseball is generally a situation in which two hitters, one right-handed and the other left-handed, share starts depending on who is pitching. So his quote tells me one of two things. Either Kelly Theiser does not know what a platoon is, and she should lose her job as a baseball writer, or Ron Gardenhire does not know what a platoon is, and he should lose his job as Manager. I would be happy with either, or both.
Anyhow, untrue to his word, last night Ron Gardenhire started the elderly, bad at baseball, right-handed Craig Monroe against the right-handed pitcher. Gardenhire justified this decision in a couple of ways.
1) "It was a gut thing."
That's a quote from Gardy. This of course means that Craig Monroe went 0-3 with a strikeout, stranding 3 runners. To be fair, he did hit a ball well and Torii Hunter made a pretty nice catch. Gardenhire's gut might consider that to be a success.
2) "Another reason for the move was that Gardenhire likes the idea of having an extra left-handed bat with power on the bench in Kubel."
That's a quote from Kelly. I find this to be really amazing. Here is a short list of things that are better than having a left-handed bat with power on the bench: having a left-handed bat with power in the starting lineup against a right-handed starting pitcher.
Thankfully, the players and assistant coaches were able to talk Gardy out of going with his gut and starting Mike Redmond at catcher in order to have an extra left-handed bat on the bench in Joe Mauer.
That quote is from Kelly Theiser ( you may remember her from such references to Johan Santana's phallus as "hardwood - or should I say, hard wood"). Now, I am no scientist, but I'm pretty sure that a platoon in baseball is generally a situation in which two hitters, one right-handed and the other left-handed, share starts depending on who is pitching. So his quote tells me one of two things. Either Kelly Theiser does not know what a platoon is, and she should lose her job as a baseball writer, or Ron Gardenhire does not know what a platoon is, and he should lose his job as Manager. I would be happy with either, or both.
Anyhow, untrue to his word, last night Ron Gardenhire started the elderly, bad at baseball, right-handed Craig Monroe against the right-handed pitcher. Gardenhire justified this decision in a couple of ways.
1) "It was a gut thing."
That's a quote from Gardy. This of course means that Craig Monroe went 0-3 with a strikeout, stranding 3 runners. To be fair, he did hit a ball well and Torii Hunter made a pretty nice catch. Gardenhire's gut might consider that to be a success.
2) "Another reason for the move was that Gardenhire likes the idea of having an extra left-handed bat with power on the bench in Kubel."
That's a quote from Kelly. I find this to be really amazing. Here is a short list of things that are better than having a left-handed bat with power on the bench: having a left-handed bat with power in the starting lineup against a right-handed starting pitcher.
Thankfully, the players and assistant coaches were able to talk Gardy out of going with his gut and starting Mike Redmond at catcher in order to have an extra left-handed bat on the bench in Joe Mauer.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Managing styles
Near the end of June 2007, the Boston Red Sox called up CF Jacoby Ellsbury from their AAA affiliate. He shuffled back and forth between AAA and MLB before making the playoff roster and eventually helping the team win a world series. In 127 regular season plate appearances, he hit .353/.394/.509. In the playoffs, he managed .360/.429/.520 in 28 plate appearances. He is young talented and full of potential, and has shown that he can deliver on the biggest stage, but has struggled a little in spring training and is still only 24 years old.
Here's Red Sox Manager Terry Francona on his decision to bat Jacoby Ellsbury low in the order:
"You put a young player a little bit at risk when you put him right at the top of the lineup early on," Boston manager Terry Francona said. "I know what he hit last year. It was impressive, but you're still trying to develop guys."
In the middle of May 2007, the New York Mets called up CF Carlos Gomez to the major league roster. He more or less stuck, but suffered a serious injury to his wrist in early July that kept him out of the majors for two months. He stuck despite hitting .232/.288/.304. He is young, talented and full of potential but has yet to perform on the biggest stage, and had his first and only season in the majors interrupted by an injury that has been known to decrease a player's ability to hit for power. Baseball Prospectus says that due to the Mets' carelessness in bringing him up too early and his injury, 2007 was a complete waste in terms of his development. This spring, his hitting coach expressed concern that he was swinging so hard that he could easily hurt his back (his manager encouraged him to swing harder). He started out abysmally this in spring training before getting hot late (though he still has a lower OBP than either of the guys he beat out for the starting job in CF). He is only 22 years old.
Here's Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire on his decision to bat Carlos Gomez leadoff:
"Gomez real good... (grunting)... me like Carlos Gomez... (beating chest)... he run hard like Nick Punto. Also play bad like Nick Punto. If him not hit leadoff, Nick Punto. What on base percentage?
Here's Red Sox Manager Terry Francona on his decision to bat Jacoby Ellsbury low in the order:
"You put a young player a little bit at risk when you put him right at the top of the lineup early on," Boston manager Terry Francona said. "I know what he hit last year. It was impressive, but you're still trying to develop guys."
In the middle of May 2007, the New York Mets called up CF Carlos Gomez to the major league roster. He more or less stuck, but suffered a serious injury to his wrist in early July that kept him out of the majors for two months. He stuck despite hitting .232/.288/.304. He is young, talented and full of potential but has yet to perform on the biggest stage, and had his first and only season in the majors interrupted by an injury that has been known to decrease a player's ability to hit for power. Baseball Prospectus says that due to the Mets' carelessness in bringing him up too early and his injury, 2007 was a complete waste in terms of his development. This spring, his hitting coach expressed concern that he was swinging so hard that he could easily hurt his back (his manager encouraged him to swing harder). He started out abysmally this in spring training before getting hot late (though he still has a lower OBP than either of the guys he beat out for the starting job in CF). He is only 22 years old.
Here's Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire on his decision to bat Carlos Gomez leadoff:
"Gomez real good... (grunting)... me like Carlos Gomez... (beating chest)... he run hard like Nick Punto. Also play bad like Nick Punto. If him not hit leadoff, Nick Punto. What on base percentage?
Monday, March 24, 2008
Gardenhire being Gardenhire
a few notes:
Gardenhire talking about Livan Hernandez:
"He's going to take his time and he's going to go in and out and he's going to spin it."
Now I know Gardenhire's describing Livan, but for some reason I feel like this description applies to all pitchers. There aren't many pitchers who don't try and put spin on it and who just throw it down the middle of the plate. Tim Wakefield. That's really it. Every other pitcher at the very least tries to 'spin it'.
"That's just the way it's going to be. We knew that going in. That's what we're getting right now. That's the way he pitches. So we're kind of adjusting to him."
Those sneaky Cubans. Always spinning the ball. Us Americans are just going to have to learn how to deal with it I guess. Or maybe Gardenhire thought Livan threw a knuckleball and is just realizing he doesn't. Gardenhire was probably on the bench for Hernandez's last start, squinting and rubbing his face a good five minutes before he saddled up to coach Rick Anderson and said, "Hot shit! When did Levine begin putting that old fashioned spin on the ball?"
Even better, later in the article Gardenhire had this to say about bullpen hopeful Brian Bass:
"Bass has been fine. Bass is throwing the ball really good. He's not afraid. He challenges guys, moves the ball in and out. I like Bass. He's doing pretty good, and that bodes well for a guy out of options. He's throwing pretty doggone good."
Aside from the elementary school grammar that is reminiscent of a white man's impression of an Indian, "Bass Good, boy has no fear, I like Bass, he my friend," there is some more talk about moving the ball in and out which I thought was something only Livan Hernandez could do. Then again maybe Gardenhire doesn't know anything about pitchers and is just reading from a set list of standard answers he has written down on an index card he keeps in his back pocket.
Gardenhire said, "We want to do the right things with this young man."
I laughed at this. He was talking about Liriano, but as we've learned Ron Gardenhire isn't really that good at doing the right thing when it comes to running a baseball team so whether or not he wants to do the right thing or not it probably won't happen.
Gardenhire talking about Livan Hernandez:
"He's going to take his time and he's going to go in and out and he's going to spin it."
Now I know Gardenhire's describing Livan, but for some reason I feel like this description applies to all pitchers. There aren't many pitchers who don't try and put spin on it and who just throw it down the middle of the plate. Tim Wakefield. That's really it. Every other pitcher at the very least tries to 'spin it'.
"That's just the way it's going to be. We knew that going in. That's what we're getting right now. That's the way he pitches. So we're kind of adjusting to him."
Those sneaky Cubans. Always spinning the ball. Us Americans are just going to have to learn how to deal with it I guess. Or maybe Gardenhire thought Livan threw a knuckleball and is just realizing he doesn't. Gardenhire was probably on the bench for Hernandez's last start, squinting and rubbing his face a good five minutes before he saddled up to coach Rick Anderson and said, "Hot shit! When did Levine begin putting that old fashioned spin on the ball?"
Even better, later in the article Gardenhire had this to say about bullpen hopeful Brian Bass:
"Bass has been fine. Bass is throwing the ball really good. He's not afraid. He challenges guys, moves the ball in and out. I like Bass. He's doing pretty good, and that bodes well for a guy out of options. He's throwing pretty doggone good."
Aside from the elementary school grammar that is reminiscent of a white man's impression of an Indian, "Bass Good, boy has no fear, I like Bass, he my friend," there is some more talk about moving the ball in and out which I thought was something only Livan Hernandez could do. Then again maybe Gardenhire doesn't know anything about pitchers and is just reading from a set list of standard answers he has written down on an index card he keeps in his back pocket.
Gardenhire said, "We want to do the right things with this young man."
I laughed at this. He was talking about Liriano, but as we've learned Ron Gardenhire isn't really that good at doing the right thing when it comes to running a baseball team so whether or not he wants to do the right thing or not it probably won't happen.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Santana Visits Teammates, Homoeroticism Ensues
Santana did more than just exchange hugs and handshakes with everyone, from the players to the training staff to the coaches and also his longtime buddy, clubhouse attendant Wayne "Big Fella" Hattaway. He even walked away carrying a new piece of hardwood, or perhaps better said -- hard wood.
The emphasis is mine, but that's still amazing. It wasn't enough that Santana hugged all his teammates and "Big Fella" and then walked away with a new piece of hardwood. Kelly Theiser of MLB.com, motivated by the fear that an average reader would not be able to grasp the innuendo and desperately wanting to make a reference to Santana's erect penis, chose to add the words "or perhaps better said -- hard wood".
In related news, I was fired today from my job as a beat writer for the WNBA when I referred specifically to Allison Bales' comparatively large breasts.
The emphasis is mine, but that's still amazing. It wasn't enough that Santana hugged all his teammates and "Big Fella" and then walked away with a new piece of hardwood. Kelly Theiser of MLB.com, motivated by the fear that an average reader would not be able to grasp the innuendo and desperately wanting to make a reference to Santana's erect penis, chose to add the words "or perhaps better said -- hard wood".
In related news, I was fired today from my job as a beat writer for the WNBA when I referred specifically to Allison Bales' comparatively large breasts.
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