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Hardy for Gomez

It's Sad. But We Move On.

Bring on Target Field.

(Image courtesy of the Star Tribune)

Amazing WIn

That was an amazing win. I couldn't do the game justice, so I won't even attempt to do so. But I will say one thing, today I had to break out the Casilla shirt.

Nice win guys, now stick it to the Yankees.

53.95680%

The Twins now have a 53.95680% chance of making the playoffs. That's over 50%, or in other words, a better shot than the Tigers. The Twins send Carl Pavano to the mound, and the Royals counter with Luke Hochevar. If The Twins win and the Tigers lose, the Twins win the division.

If the Twins and Tigers win, there will be a 1 game playoff on Tuesday at 4:00 PM CT. That game would almost certainly feature Scott Baker and Rick Porcello. If the Tigers win and the Twins lose, the Tigers win the division.

Quick Notes

Nice win for the Twins over Zack Greinke today.

Carl Pavano will pitch tomorrow.

A possible 1 game playoff would be at the Dome on Tuesday at 4:00.

22.60130%

After last night's 10-7 Twins win, and the Tigers 8-0 loss to the White Sox, the Twins now have a 22.60130% chance of winning the division. That's a 14.29305% better chance than yesterday, and a 18.64235% better chance than 2 days ago.

The Twins now have the latest edition of "The Biggest Game of the Year", and this one comes against Zack Greinke, trying to stake his claim to the Cy Young award. The Twins counter with Nick Blackburn, who has 3 earned runs in his last three starts. Blackburn will be pitching on 3 days rest. The curtain will be up so 50,000+ fans will be in attendance. Tune in to FOX, the first pitch will be at 3:10.

8.30825%

According to Baseball Prospectus the Twins have a 8.30825% chance of making the playoffs. That's a long shot, but it's up 4.3493% from yesterday.

The Twins could get in on 3 situations.

Situation A: The Twins sweep the Royals and the White Sox Sweep the Tigers. The Twins win the division by 1 game.
Situation B: The Twins sweep the Royals and the Tigers take 1 game from the White Sox. There would be a 1 game playoff at the Metrodome, the winner taking the division.
Situation C: The Twins take 2 of 3 from the Royals and the White Sox sweep the Tigers. Again there would be a 1 game playoff.

Any other situation and the Tigers are in, and the Twins are out.

Tonight Jeff Manship (0-1, 5.81) will face Lenny DiNardo (0-2, 7.52). Saturday's probables are Nick Blackburn (11-11, 4.08) and Zack Greinke (16-8, 2.06). Sunday's are Brian Duensing (5-2, 3.69) and Luke Hochevar (7-12, 6.24).

Saturday will obviously be the toughest of the the three games, with "The Cy Guy", Zack Grienke taking the mound looking to secure the Cy Young award with a strong performance.

Do you Remember?

Do you remember Saturday, September 12 when the Twins lost at home 4-2 to Oakland? The Twins have since rattled off 11 of 13, with one of the two losses coming from the should-be-but-probably-will-get-snubbed-for-a-New-Yorker Cy Young Award winner Zack Grienke. They are now two games out of first with a four game series in Detroit. This is the most important series the Twins have played in all year, and I can't think of a team that the Twins have fielded that I'd rather have out there now.

Situation A: Twins Sweep, up by 2 games, and have a magic number of 2.

Situation B: Twins take the series 3-1 and Twins and Tigers are tied going into their final three games with the Twins playing the Royals and the Tigers playing the White Sox.

Situation C: Series split and Twins down 2 games heading into final 3 with Tigers magic number of 2.

Situation D: Tigers take series 3-1 and Twins are down by 4 and thus eliminated from playoffs.

Situation E: Tigers sweep and Twins are 6 games back and eliminated.

Let's aim for situation A.

Top 10 Twins OPS+ - #9 Kent Hrbek

Kent Hrbek-OPS+ 128

Kent Hrbek is everybody's favorite left-handed hittin', right-handed throwin', homerun crushin', fist pumpin', Ron Grant pickin' up, fishin', huntin' chicken eatin' first baseman. Hrbek spent all of his 14 years in the majors with the Twins. He averaged a .282 batting average, .367 OBP, 21 HR, 78 RBI, 64 R, 3 SB, 22 2B, an a triple. He had a stellar glove, posting a .994 fielding percentage. He made the 1982 all-star team and finished 2nd in the rookie-of-the-year voting to Cal Ripken that same year. Hrbek finished 2nd in the MVP voting in 1984 and 16th in 1987. He won the World Series with the Twins in 1987 and 1991.

My view on Hrbek: if you just take a look at his stats it appears that his reputation as one of the great players in Twins history isn't as justified as you would expect. But Hrbek was the power hitter the Twins needed. He was the run-saver at first the Twins needed. He was the voice the Twins needed. He was the jokester that was needed in the clubhouse. He was the Kent Hrbek that was needed.

I had the pleasure of meeting Hrbek a couple of summers ago at the State Fair. He is as nice as could be and, let me say, the big World Series ring did not look overly big on those hands. He is a big man-in all of the ways to be a big man, for the team and for the community. Thank you Kent Hrbek-for everyhting.

Top 10 Twins OPS+ - #10 Lyman Bostock

OPS+. The great way to measure a complete hitter. It measures both power hitters and guys who get on base. But, to have a great OPS+ you can't be a guy who who creams the ball or a guy who gets on base at a good clip. You have to be both.

Lyman Bostock-OPS+ 127

Lyman Bostock was a left-handed hitting, right-handed throwing outfielder who spent his first three of 4 years in the majors with the Twins. He was with the Twins from 1975 to 1977. He averaged 6 HR's, .318 BA, .366 OBP, 60, RBI, 77 R, 10 SB, 26 2B, and 9 3B. Bostock spent time at all 3 OF spots, spending the majority of the time in center. He signed with the California Angels on November 21, 1977. With a week left in the 1978 season, Bostock was shot and killed in Chicago with a bullet that was never meant for him. Please take a few seconds of silence to remember one of the greatest hitters you don't remember.

How good is Joe Nathan? Part 1

As fans of the Minnesota Twins we all know Joe Nathan is a very good closer. But how good is he really? Does he stand up against the likes of Mariano Rivera and Jonathan Papelbon? If you were a manager which of these closers would you want on your team?

	W	W-L%	SV	ERA	WHIP	SO
Closer A	4	.500	39	2.16	.900	77
Closer B	3	.467	41	2.06	.981	85
Closer C	2	.538	41	1.78	.959	79
Closer D	3	.500	45	2.73	1.262	79
Closer E	4	.550	42	2.79	1.132	79

These stats are averages of the last three seasons per 162 games. Leave your closer in the comments and I'll reveal them in my next post. Try not to look up their stats.

Welcome

Welcome to Hitting The Eephus! For those of you who do not know and those of you who need a quick refresher, the eephus is a very slow pitch with high trajectory designed to keep the hitter off guard. At Hitting The Eephus I will try not to be caught off guard and deliver the best coverage of the Minnesota Twins as possible.

My Name is Louie Schuth and I live in Trempealeau, Wisconsin. I am an avid Twins fan as well as a baseball fan. I really enjoy fantasy baseball and fantasy football. The 'Louie'ville Sluggers are currently working on wrapping up their 2nd championship in 3 years.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the blog. As you continue reading, someday you too may be good at Hitting The Eephus!