OK, that's it. No more flattering quotes about the Twins.
Did you read
this one from Paul Konerko?
...but Minnesota is a team where the bullpen is so good, it becomes a
really short game. You feel like you have to have a lead by the fifth
or sixth, or it's over.
Way to lead, Captain! "Well, boys, theoretically we're within one swing of tying this up, but now that Juan Rincon's out there... hey, where are you guys eating tonight?"
Or how about this one from Ozzie Guillen, about Johan Santana not pitching in this series:
''I might kiss Gardy. They aren't pitching Santana? Why? What happened? Is
he in jail or something? Gardy, I love you. I better keep it quiet and make sure [Santana's] not going.''
Droll, Ozzie. Droll. (Guillen
must've paid back Gardenhire tonight by letting Gardy pants him on the pitcher-switching. He baited Ozzie by sending Josh Rabe (no extra-base hits in 28 at-bats) to face Matt Thornton, and Guillen brought in David Aardsma. Gardenhire then brought in the guy he wanted in there all along, Jason Kubel. Fortunately, Kubel struck out.)
You know, it's funny how other teams can make Santana work. For instance, Baltimore and Tampa Bay, two teams who haven't been over .500 in a decade, scored four runs on him each. Even with
seven innings of one-hit ball against the White Sox, there are still 15 pitchers in the American League with lower ERAs than Santana, including our very own Mark Buehrle.
It's one thing to respect opponents and provide no bulletin board material. It's also acceptable at times to hand out compliments, because sportsmanship should be encouraged. But when I'm watching the game on Minnesota's feed and the camera cuts to fans waving toy piranhas around in an excited fashion, it makes my stomach turn.
Think about it: When it comes to games against the Twins, Ozzie Guillen and the Sox do a better job of revving up Twins fans than they do their own. I honestly get the feeling the Sox close their eyes and pray for one win out of three when Minnesota comes up on the schedule.
It's ridiculous. Even if the trash-talking that went on in the early part of the decade was ill-advised, it's not like the Sox owe the Twins anything. Why they're carrying on like a court ordered them to pay Minnesota verbal reparations is beyond me.
And this is coming from a guy who's probably in the bottom 10 percent among Sox fans when it comes to animosity towards Minnesota. I don't like Torii Hunter and the fans who think "Bitch Sox" is clever, but otherwise, I have nothing against them. To me, they're just another quality baseball team in a league that has an abundance of them. The Sox can stop singling them out for worship any day now.
****************
Minor league round-up:- Richmond 4, Charlotte 3
- Josh Fields had his first real solid game in a while -- 1-for-1, two walks, and a sacrifice fly.
- Brian Anderson went 0-for-3 with an RBI groundout. Wiki Gonzalez went 0-for-4 and grounded into two double plays, and his average dropped below .300.
- Vladimir Nunez gave up all four runs, so no big deal.
- Jacksonville 4, Birmingham 1
- Adam Russell struggled through 5 1/3 innings, giving up all four runs on eight hits and two walks. He only struck out one.
- Sean Smith and Chris Getz had two hits apiece; Thomas Collaro had the lone RBI.
- Salem 6, Winston-Salem 2
- The Warthogs had only eight hits on the night, but five of them were doubles. Victor Mercedes had three hits himself; Aaron Cunningham went 0-for-4.
- Another unimpressive outing for Kyle McCulloch -- he gave up all six runs (three unearned) in six innings on nine hits. He struck out only two.
- Kannapolis 5, Greenville 4
- Chris Carter went 2-for-4 with his fifth homer of the year.
- The Intimidators ran recklessly -- 5-for-8 in the stolen base department, including a thwarted attempt of stealing home by Brandon Allen.
- Richard Brooks was ineffective -- eight hits and four runs in five innings -- but Kanekoa Texeira, Clevelan Santeliz and John Wesley threw four scoreless innings in relief.