Comments on: Sunday Gardy Mishaps

By: garth brooks

garth brooks — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 09:58:10 +0000

[...] widely known as place for classical music and traditional singers. Pammy will be acelebfreaks.comSunday Gardy Mishaps Sometimes Gardy manages to outdo himself. I really ?? I mean ?? I can??t say anything about it. [...]

By: sirsean

sirsean — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 20:24:09 +0000

I like it. And I must admit, after the rough stretch during the 90's, I was pretty thrilled about getting to the playoffs for a couple years. But ... we didn't take the next step.

And I can't decide if it's a good or bad thing that we as a fanbase have become spoiled by repeated playoff appearances, to the point where we can say it's not good enough.

Oh, and I have two things to say about that participation awards comment:

The team gets a trophy for getting to the playoffs. So they do get an award for participating.
I would consider the giant professional paychecks to be "participation awards." I'd take it.

Indeed, in a world where Nick Punto earns $2.4 million in a year ... professional athletes seem to get their participation awards regardless of their actual participation.

Just saying.

By: Scotty

Scotty — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 20:08:58 +0000

You guys are exactly right about the "happy just to be here" attitude. It seems to be a theme among Minnesota sports teams, and part of the problem is that the fans are satisfied with that pinnacle of achievement. Never mind championships, we were in the playoffs!

Sorry, they don't give out participation awards in pro sports.

By: sirsean

sirsean — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 21:04:01 +0000

Fundamentals. And trying hard in practice. These are the things that will win Gardy's heart. (And presumably something involving copious amounts of tequila, a pregnant goat, and a camera ... thus explaining Lew Ford's otherwise inexplicable spot on the team.)

I agree that the team has seemed to be so happy that they're in the playoffs that they don't bother to show up. But I think that can (almost) be forgiven in 2006. They were playing on a knife's edge for 4 months ... and they probably actually were out of steam.

Still, that needs to be fixed.

By: FunBobby

FunBobby — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 21:00:19 +0000

I think he just gives away roster spots for trying hard. Sometimes it seems as though he treats the game like little league, all that matters is you tried and learned the concept of teamwork. All those things are well and good, but you know what else is good: winning lots of games, especially in the playoffs. Was it just me, or the past few years did it seem like the Twins were just happy to be in the playoffs, and had no intention of winning? Billy Beane’s Oakland A’s teams were built like that. Win a lot of games in the 162 game season, but be pretty much out of steam by the playoffs.

By: sirsean

sirsean — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 20:54:34 +0000

I'm pretty sure Gardy just says stupid stuff sometimes. But I don't know why. I figure it's either because a) he wants to throw people off the scent of his upcoming brilliant and unconventional moves, or b) he doesn't know what in blazes he's doing. It's probably a mix of the two, actually.

Ah, Sunday afternoon games. Get ready for Everett/Punto/Redmond at the top of the order.

By: Scotty

Scotty — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 20:40:03 +0000

How about batting Punto second and Morneau fifth as Gardenhire did many times last year? I suppose Everett AND Punto in the same lineup is worse.

I think the sole fact that Gardenhire actually put this lineup together, even if it is spring training, tells us that he wanted to see how it looked and would be something he'd consider during the season. If you don't think it's possible that we'd see that lineup on a Sunday or Thursday afternoon, you're giving Gardenhire way too much credit.

As for Hernandez, I'm just banging my head against the wall. Gardenhire seriously thinks he's in mid-season form? Is he just an idiot on purpose? What would it take for him to actually get fired? Because constantly favoring no-talent ass clowns sure doesn't do the trick.

By: FunBobby

FunBobby — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:10:20 +0000

So he claims he is always bad in spring training, and his ERA is 9. What is good? 7? Are we really going to have an opening day starter with an ERA of 7?

By: Texas

Texas — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 18:43:01 +0000

His ERA is like 9.09 for the spring! Also tangetially, did you see Reusse’s piece on Gardy and Mauer, I believe in the saturday Strib. Priceless!

By: FunBobby

FunBobby — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 18:25:48 +0000

The more times Livan pitches, the more I lose faith in his abilities. It just doesn’t look like he has what it takes to compete in the AL, he will look especially bad facing the Indians, Tigers, and White sox a bunch. I bet hunter takes him deep on opening day, if Livan does pitch in that game.