Injured Jazz = Dangerous Team

There are two things that don't end for the Jazz: their injuries and their depth. With Boozer, Okur, Millsap, and Collins all unavailable to play due to injuries things were looking pretty grim for the Jazz. But it looks like the Jazz might have another Millsap-like rookie: Kosta Koufos. The guy shot 8-11 on the night to end up with 18 points, 8 rebounds, and a couple steals, assists, and blocks in 29 minutes. Remember, this guy is just 19. Perhaps he will end up being the best Ohio State center drafted in the past couple years (#1 overal pick Greg Oden being the other.) He looks great even as a 19 year old. And Kirilenko filled in admirably at power forward. D-Will even had 4 steals, which is a great number for him. Really, everyone came out to play and it was an extremely pleasing game to watch. The Jazz are a fun team to watch most nights, and it is especially fun to watch young players like Fesenko, Koufos, Miles, and Brewer play key roles in a victory. I am definitely ready to get Millsap, Boozer, and Okur back, but it is fun to watch some other players step up and to see the Jazz win despite being so thin.

The Beatles play at the Twins Metropolitan Stadium

The day was August 21, 1965. The day the Beatles visited Minnesota. They played at Metropolitan Stadium, the Twins old ballpark. Now standing where that ballpark was is the Mall of America.

Ringo was very interested in the Twins. He sat in Harmon Killebrew's chair and he got out the Twins gear after asking if it was okay, but none of the other 3 Beatles wanted to play with him. Ringo and George each asked for a Twins hat and autographed baseballs by the Twins players. Ringo thought the Twins would do very well that year. They sat in the Twins clubhouse while waiting to perform. They ran out of the dugout onto the stage which was around the pitchers mound. The crowd went berserk but they were a little more subdued because of the announcement that if any people ran onto the field during the performance the Beatles would immediatly stop playing and leave the stadium. This was a short while after Shea Stadium where tons of fans were tackled as they tried to approach the Beatles. Tickets were $5 dollars. Not all the Beatles thought Minneapolis was that memorable. John Lennon admitted later that he was in the car and he forgot where they were so he was going to ask someone but decided not to, so they wouldn't hurt their feelings. I'm sure the Beatles wish they would have stayed a little longer. They flew out to the west coast after spending time in Minnesota, but they had to make an emergency landing because of an engine fire.

There is an entire book on the Beatles trip to Minnesota and their performance in the Twins stadium.

http://www.amazon.com/Beatles-One-Night-Stand-Heartland/dp/1581825900

Twins in the World Baseball Classic

With the 2nd World Baseball coming up in a few months it is time to wonder which Twins will participate. Last time I seem to remember both Liriano and Santana pitched for their countries and I don't remember anybody else going, maybe Dennys Reyes and Luis Castillo?

As for this year here are some possibilities:
Justin Morneau - Canada (Already confirmed)
Jesse Crain - Canada

USA:
Joe Mauer
Joe Nathan

Dominican Republic:
Francisco Liriano
Alexi Casilla
Carlos Gomez

Australia:
Luke Hughes (Twins AAA 3B)

Venezuela:
Jose Mijares

I'm probably missing some others but those are ones that come off the top of my head. It will be interesting to see what kind of participation the WBC gets from the MLB players and how the rosters turn out. Japan won last year and anything can happen since most of it just depends on a couple of games but I'm sure once again the four favorites will be the Americans, Dominicans, Cubans, and Japanese with Venezuela and Puerto Rico also making things interesting. Canada and Mexico could be spoilers but unlikely to win it all.

State of the Jazz

It seems that the Jazz have been a three headed beast as of late with Okur, Millsap, and Williams leading the way. Nobody else has been a huge contributor game in and out like them. I am starting to wonder about this season. Most viewed it as our big shot to win the NBA title. I'm not sure how wide open that window is currently. Of course there is still plenty of time left in the season, and there are a lot of games to be played. But now word has it that Boozer might need surgery. I just don't see how he could opt out of his contract if that happens. You'd have to imagine that he would stay one more year to have a great year so that teams will be more willing to pay him. And as good as Millsap is this year and as good as he will become, as of right now we still could use Boozer's offense.

If this turns out to not be a title run year (which it easily could still end up being) it certainly isn't a rebuilding year either. Just a regrouping year. Besides Memo, the 4 other starters are young, very young. Millsap, Brewer, and Williams are all going to be key cogs of this team for a very long time. If the Jazz fail to make a deep run in the playoffs, I'm sure it won't be the last shot that Williams has at an NBA title with the Jazz. This team will only get better and Millsap has proven he can put up Boozer-esque numbers while playing much better defense and staying healthy. And remember the Jazz have the Knicks first-round draft pick in 2010, which could be a very high pick. And we all remember the caliber of player the Jazz were able to select the last time they had a top 5 pick.

Twins Time Machine: 2002

Let's take a look back at the 2002 season. The season where the Twins finally made the playoffs again. The 2001/2002 Twins teams were the ones that really started renewed interest in the Twins, after a decade long slump. Let's take a look at where they were playing in 2008, since all have left the Twins.

Here was the common lineup, along with how they did in 2008:
LF Jacque Jones With Tigers/Marlins. a little over 100 AB. 1 HR. 7 RBI. .108 BA.
SS Cristian Guzman With Nationals. 9 HR. 579 AB. 55 RBI.
1B Doug Mientkiewicz With Pirates. 285 at-bats. 2 HR. 30 RBI. .277 BA.
DH David Ortiz With Boston. 23 HR, 89 RBI, 416 AB.
CF Torii Hunter With Angels. 551 at-bats. 21 HR. 78 RBI.
3B Corey Koskie Not in MLB. Last team: 2006 Brewers.
RF Dustan Mohr Not in MLB. He had 16 at-bats with the 2007 Rays.
C AJ Pierzynski With White Sox. 13 HR. 534 at-bats. .281 BA.
2B Luis Rivas With Pirates. 3 HR. 206 at-bats. 20 RBI. .218 BA.

The pitching staff:
Brad Radke Retired after pitching for Twins in 2006.
Johan Santana With Mets. 16-7. 234 IP. 206 K. 2.53 ERA.
Eric Milton Not in MLB. Last team: Reds.
Kyle Lohse Pitched for Cardinals in 2008. 3.78 ERA. 200 IP.
Rick Reed Retired after pitching for Twins in 2003.
Joe Mays Not in MLB. Last team: Reds.

Juan Rincon Dropped by Twins picked up by Indians. 5.60 ERA, 27 IP.
JC Romero Pitched for Phillies. 59 innings. 2.75 ERA.
LaTroy Hawkins With Yankees/Astros. Pitched 62 innings.
Eddie Guardado Traded back to Twins mid-season. Only pitched 7 innings with Twins.


Well there are a decent number who just don't matter in baseball anymore: Jones, Koskie, Mohr, Radke, Milton, Reed, Mays, Rincon.
There are a few doing great: Hunter, Ortiz, Santana, Lohse, Romero, Pierzynski.
And there are some who will likely be done soon: Guardado, Hawkins, Rivas, Mientkiewicz.

That was a great team but it wasn't good enough to win a World Series. The 2002 team would lose to the Angels in the ALCS. Now they are all gone. I wouldn't mind having Ortiz, Hunter, and Santana back in Twins uniforms.

My Top Ten Favorite Twins Players of All-Time

Same rules apply. Hence no Killebrew, Oliva, Kaat, Blyleven, or Carew.

1. Johan Santana
2. Kirby Puckett
3. Francisco Liriano
4. Justin Morneau
5. Joe Mauer
6. Chuck Knoblauch
7. Kent Hrbek
8. Torii Hunter
9. Brad Radke
10. Corey Koskie

My Top Ten Favorite Jazz players of all-time

Note: I only put players I remember seeing play on the list. Hence Maravich, Dantley, Griffiths, etc. are disqualified.

1. Karl Malone
2. John Stockton
3. Deron Williams
4. Andrei Kirilenko
5. Jeff Hornacek
6. Memo Okur
7. Bryon Russell
8. Paul Millsap
9. Carlos Boozer
10. Donyell Marshall