But remember, everybody wants to play the Gophers

Let's take a look at some non-conference schedules. Home games in bold.

North Dakota
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10/8 at Alaska-Anchorage
10/9 at #12 Alaska
11/22-23 at #7 Maine
11/26-27 #17 Notre Dame
12/30 at #8 Minnesota-Duluth (not included in WCHA Standings, thus it is a non-conference game)
1/8-9 Robert Morris* (unranked)

Minnesota
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10/8-9 UMass (unranked)
11/26 #16 Michigan State
11/28 #5 Michigan
12/31 Union (unranked)
1/1 Ferris State (unranked)

Sure, the Thanksgiving series against Mich St and Michigan will provide quite a challenge for Lucia and his boys, but that weekend is a function more so of tradition...those two teams have been playing in the "College Hockey Showcase" for, um...forever. And by forever, I mean, since before the last time Minnesota was a reputable hockey team.

With the exception of Robert Morris, UND has one very strong non-conference schedule. There's only so much that a WCHA Conference schedule can do for a team. That a team like the Gophers - with the most draft picks, the loudest arena, and highest-paid coach in Division I hockey - can't put together a decent schedule speaks to a lot of things.

Simply put, it's going to be difficult for Minnesota to advance to its first NCAA Tournament in three years (an absence that I'm still laughing about). Minnesota With easily the biggest budget in the WCHA, one would think that the Gophers would be willing to travel to play good teams...but that's not even remotely the case.

In fact, other than the College Hockey Showcase, which rotates between home and away series for the Gophers every other year, Minnesota hasn't played a road non-conference series since October 20-21, 2006, when they traveled to Ohio State. And they don't have one this year, either.

For perspective, the Sioux have played ten road non-conference games since then. And have two more NCAA Tournament appearances.

I think there is some benefit to playing cupcake teams. That is, until it royally screws you over.

Dude.

Thome

I'm always a sucker for a good story. Baseball provides plenty: The Josh Hamilton story. The '91 series. The Subway Series. The list goes on. Right now my favorite story is, of course, Jim Thome.

Thome is as unassuming and humble as he is a masher. He's played for playoff teams ('08 White Sox) and cellar-dwellers (Phils/Indians) alike. He's nearing 600 home runs, yet here he is playing for $1.5 million plus incentives. Does he want to win? Sure he does. But he doesn't yearn for attention. He doesn't fake injuries and play the media.

I mean, for a guy to hit like Thome is hitting right now is astounding, especially after having the kind of career that he has had.

What's more remarkable?

That Thome has been getting better as the year has been going on?
That Thome has been getting better despite being nearly 40 years old?
That Thome has been getting better in the midst of a pennant race?
That Thome has been getting better as he's been used more?

Tuesday night all of those factors came into play: Thome came up to the plate in the bottom of the 10th against his former team, the White Sox. The White Sox who elected to platoon Mark Kotsay et al at DH instead of Thome. The White Sox who traded Thome to the Dodgers at the deadline in '09.

Those White Sox. With himself being the winning run in one of the few remaining games between the two teams still contending for the AL Central crown.

I think maybe Thome is a little peeved at his former team. I think his .387/.472/.645 line against Chicago this year speaks for itself. On the field. Not at his ranch. Not at a press conference. On the field.

Should the Twins bury the White Sox down the stretch, this game will be looked at as a nail in that coffin. And Thome, that guy who the White Sox turned down, might be a huge reason why the AL pennant race will turn the White Sox down.

Thome knows how to be an athlete. Thome knows how to be a man. There's another guy that just got into town today that could learn a thing or two from Thome.

Manning Up Like Nolan Ryan's Pitchers Do

There is nothing quite as frustrating as continuing to hear whining about Slowey's no hitter that wasn't. And I thought the whining was limited to the uneducated masses.

I guess not.

The post is comical if you forget the fact that this is posted on the website of KFAN, possibly the most recognizable sports radio station in Minnesota. Actually, it still is pretty comical:

I am shocked at how many people are buying into this pitch count crap. The pitch count has been worse for baseball than the steroid era. There have only been 268 no-hitters in the history of the game, and the freaking pitch count stood between Kevin Slowey and number 269.

This is Kevin Slowey we're talking about, right? To say that the "freaking pitch count" is the only thing that stood in the way of Slowey and baseball immortality, one must ignore quite a few things:

1. First of all, it was only the seventh inning. That Slowey was able to no-hit the Athletics as far as he did spoke more to Oakland's ability to hit than anything. Slowey is the epitome of the Twins' pitch-to-contact mentality. Well, I guess that's not entirely true, but nonetheless Slowey doesn't get too many strikeouts with his 86.1% contact rate in 2010. Compound that with his 1.25 WHIP in the 8th and 9th innings. Oh, and let's throw on his career .379 batting average-against after pitch #100, and you have several reasons to doubt that Slowey's no-hit bid was a given.

2. This is not a team that can risk injuries over trying to make baseball history (and we've already discussed the improbability of it). While not the same situation, consider the injury to Francisco Liriano. Liriano simply threw his slider too much and the 2006 campaign changed quickly from a 12-3 thrashing of any opponent to an 18-month recovery from Tommy John surgery followed by two seasons of attempting to find his form again. Great pitchers don't grow on trees, even if San Francisco's trade (Nathan, Liriano, and that one time Boof was a good pitcher) made it seem like they do. Ron Gardenhire knew firsthand the consequences of an elbow injury, and that's why you don't mess around with it, even amidst the potential of being the 269th no-hitter.

3. The Twins sent up seven men to the plate in the bottom of the 7th en route to scoring three insurance runs. There were two pitching changes. Slowey would no longer have been loose after what was probably a 15 minute inning. It's akin to why you don't bring your starter back in after a rain delay.

Let's quit buying into this pitch count garbage and man up like Nolan Ryan is making his pitchers do down in Texas. His philosophy seems to be working just fine. And don't waste your time playing the tendonitis card. Tendonitis is easily healed with short periods of rest... just like the last period of rest Slowey received. He missed one game and bounced back pretty well from it, wouldn't you agree?

I'll just leave this here.

Average pitches per outing, Texas starters:
Colby Lewis (23 starts), 108 pitches / game
CJ Wilson (24 starts), 106 pitches / game (most are in the 110 range)
Scott Feldman (16 starts), 105 pitches / game
Cliff Lee (8 starts as Ranger), 103 pitches / game
Rich Harden (15 starts), 97 pitches / game, only six starts above 100 pitches
Tommy Hunter (13 starts), 83 pitches / game, only three above 100

I guess it's true that any idiot can have a blog. And that's why I'm here too.

Freefalling

After Detroit left Minnesota last week, the Twins were clinging onto a 1.5 game lead in the AL Central, having gutted out a series victory over the Motor City Kitties. They were second - SECOND - in the AL in ERA and, largely thanks to Jim Thome's dingers, were hitting the ball soundly.

And now look where we are. Third place entering today's blockbuster Blackburn/Bonderman matchup. Three games behind Detroit. Six losses in eight games.

Little has changed on the hitting side of things. Yeah, the primary suspect is the starting pitching which turned sour nearly overnight. Since July dawned, Twins pitchers have a 5.66 ERA...that's a jump up from a 4.22 ERA in June. One other interesting statistic is that pitchers are letting over twice as many inherited runners score. So far (yes, small sample size applies) 32% of inherited runners have scored, compared to 14% in June. Actually, it's nearly 1 per game.

The lineup, while hitting consistently (sort of), has questions. Justin Morneau has been out since Wednesday with concussion-like symptoms, putting in flux a lineup that could have finally gone back to normal. Michael Cuddyer is at first and Nick Punto is at third for the second game of the three-game series with Detroit.

A few solutions for this mess are pretty easy. Ron Gardenhire has clearly lost all confidence in reliever Ron Mahay, however deservingly. Mahay is 0-1 with a 3.96 ERA in just 25 innings of work (28 appearances). Mahay has been used mostly as a mop-up guy, but now Gardy is even hesitant to use him there. It appears that Mahay's days are numbered. A few rumblings (aka tweets) suggest that a move may be made soon. My guess would be that Mahay gets designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for either Kyle Waldrop or Anthony Slama, both relievers for AAA Rochester that are having solid years. Waldrop is buzzoo.ing right along with a 1.11 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP, while Slama has been a solid closer with a very impressive 1.28 ERA and a 0.932 WHIP (only 4 H per 9 innings).

My overwhelming hunch is that the Twins will also make a trade for a pitcher. Nick Blackburn is beyond struggling right now and a move to the bullpen appears imminent (or at least, it should be). His 6.00 6.16 ERA through two 6.21 through three innings Saturday has put the Twins behind nearly every time he toes the rubber. Reliever Brian Duensing has avoided a sophomore slump and is more than ready to start; his performance down the stretch was a huge part of the Twins' 2009 run.

Roy Oswalt comes to mind, but there are probably others (Ben Sheets, Dan Haren) to note too. But right now the Twins aren't really linked to any of the three. That's a speculation for another day.

Neshek Misdiagnosed, Mistreated

Partially lost in all of the excitement of being 19-9 and getting to tee off on the Orangebirds this weekend is Pat Neshek. Neshek and manager Gardenhire apparently had an argument about Neshek's status. Neshek reported his finger as "better" and pitched twice, yet lacked any resemeblance of control in either start. Gardenhire, apparently, wanted Neshek to get sent back down to AAA Rochester, but Neshek said he would prefer the DL, which was granted on Saturday.

Some columnists really let Neshek have it, painting the idea that Neshek was faking an injury to cover up an inept performance in his appearance last Wednesday (8 pitches, 1 strike). Said Jim Souhan of the Star Tribune: "Pat Neshek seems to be following Glen Perkins' career path even after seeing where that path leads."

I'll let you draw your own conclusions about Jim Souhan's opinions and his writing in general, but suffice to say, Souhan was a bit off the mark, more than anybody could have thought.

As Phil Mackey of 1500ESPN.com reports, Neshek's finger is not the problem it's his palm. As he posted on Facebook, Neshek was told the problem was in his finger...which wasn't true. Obviously the injury is responsible for his lack of control and that likely puts Neshek out of the alleged doghouse.

Not so fast

I feel like we've heard this before. Scott Baker had a, um, poor outing in an early season start. I would feel like a broken record if I were to break it down again, but Baker is...not hot right now.

Baker is, for all intensive purposes, the antithesis of what the Twins have set up their lineup and outfield for. What I mean is that Baker is predominantly a fly ball pitcher. If you are unaware, while Cuddyer has a strong arm and Delmon Young appears fast, both have among the league's worst UZRs. (You'll excuse me for dismissing Young's 1.0 UZR so far in '10 as small sample size.)

Long story short, Baker has kept his HR/9 numbers down around 1.1 in 4 starts, which is fine...but the rate at which he allows fly balls (38% in 2010) is alarming to anybody who willingly allows Young and Cuddyer to be in the same outfield together. Or in last night's case, Young and Jason Kubel.

But hark, Baker is doing nothing we didn't expect him to.

Anywho, the Twins are about to embark on their rubber match against the Tigers. It's Detroit's Dontrelle Willis (who struggles with control) against Carl Pavano (who has 17 Ks and 1 BB so far in '10). The Twins are shorthanded, what with Mauer, Morneau, and Hardy all taking the day off for various reasons, but suffice to say Willis is prone to some problems, and if the Twins are patient at the plate, there's no reason to count Minnesota out of this one. Luke Hughes and Drew Butera round out the lineup at 8 and 9 respectively, but we're not far removed from the days when the Twins would win games with both Punto and Tolbert...so...I'll leave that here.