A couple of warnings and advisories about today's Spring Training Dugout:
It does not feature Bill Pecota
It's about the Twins, but cannot possibly be about every avenue of Twins fandom and lore so if we didn't get to your favorite aspect of the team this time around don't worry, we've got like 600 days left in the season and only 400 of those can be about the Yankees
Today's Dugout features adult language, largely obscured by shift-8, but if you're reading these outloud to your kid or whatever please consider reading to them from Zubazpants.com
A couple of weeks ago our very own "Mullet" (Dugout SN: MulletOver) took a break from being an ironic memory of times passed to report about Carl Crawford having beef with Delmon Young and saying word from across the country. Today's Dugout (after the jump ((don't hurt yourself)) ) takes place just as Carl Crawford has reported to his spring training, but before Delmon Young has reported to his.
I understood why the Minnesota Twins chose to go with Sidney Ponson in their starting rotation over Matt Garza. I get that they want Garza to develop a little more in the minors before feeding him to the lions in the AL Central.
That doesn't necessarily mean I agreed with their decision.
Sure, they can't really be sure what they would get from Garza, but the Twins should know full well what they're going to get from Sidney Ponson. Bad pitching. Garza might be fantastic, Ponson won't.
Let's just look at Sir Sidney's numbers since his 17-win season of 2003. He's 26-37 with a 5.92 ERA. What exactly about those stats fills the Twins with confidence about Sidney?
Monday night was Ponson's debut in Minnesota, and he didn't look any different than when we last saw him as a Yankee, Cardinal, or Oriole. He lasted 5.2 innings and got smacked around for 8 runs on 10 hits, two of which were home runs. The Twins would lose to the Yankees 8-2.
"That's not the way I wanted to start the season with the Twins," Ponson said. "I didn't pitch good. The line will tell you that. I go out there to win ballgames, and I put the guys in a hole to start the game. That's not fun. Hopefully, my next start I won't do that."
To Ponson's credit, after giving up a two-run homer to Bobby Abreu in the second that made the score 5-0 he found a groove. He sat down 14 straight batters before the A-Rod struck a fatal blow in the fifth inning. Rodriguez crushed a three-run homer off to make it 8-1, and Ron Gardenhire blamed himself for it.
"That man will take the ball and pitch forever if he could," Gardenhire said of Ponson. "I knew Matty [Guerrier] didn't have good numbers against A-Rod, but that was stupid, leaving [Ponson] in. Ponson had battled his tail off, and I should have taken him out."
Trust me, this won't be the last time Gardenhire has to make excuses for Ponson if the Twins keep him in their rotation. He can give as many as he wants, it's not going to change the fact that Sidney Ponson just can't get the job done.
The Fanhouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups
Pittsburgh Pirates (4-2) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (2-4)-1:35PM Est.
It's only a week into the season, but seriously, how many of you thought the Pirates would be in first place and the Cardinals would be in last place at this point? Raise your hands. If you raised your hand, you are a liar and should be ashamed of yourself. What would your mother say? Anyway, it's a matchup of Ian Snell and Braden Looper. Snell was fantastic in his first start of the season against Houston, and Looper was decent against the Mets. Now whether or not Snell will experience the same success against the Cardinals now that Albert's got his groove back, that's a whole different story.
Chicago Cubs (3-3) vs. Houston Astros (1-5)-2:20PM Est.
It's the Cubs home opener, and Wrigley Field is sure to be packed. Unfortunately, I'm guessing the majority of that bleacher talent won't be there seeing how it's going to be 38 degrees with possible flurries at game time. The only thing colder than the Chicago weather is the Houston offense. The Astros have managed to score a whole 16 runs in their first six games. Will they be able to get their 2.7 runs a game against Ted Lilly? It won't be easy if Lilly pitches like he did in Cincinnati last week.
Minnesota Twins (4-1) vs. New York Yankees (2-3)-ESPN 7:05PM Est.
This game has an interesting pitching matchup, but not in any way that involves actual pitching. No. It's the pitchers themselves. There's the heartbroken Carl Pavano who struggled on opening day, and then there's the possibly drunk, judge-punching Knight of the Aruban Round Table himself, Sidney Ponson, making his debut as a Twin. I'm guessing both will throw no-hitters because that's just the way things work in baseball.
It says a lot about a pitcher when he can go out and throw seven innings of scoreless baseball while giving up only one hit--and a cheap one at that--and nobody really seems impressed.
That's where Johan Santana is right now.
He's so good at what he does that when he does go out and pitch a beauty you don't even bat an eyelash. It's just what he does, and it's what you expect him to do. What shocks people is when he gives up four runs in six innings, like he did against the Orioles in his last start.
For the White Sox, it's nothing new. After Johan dominated them all afternoon in a 3-1 Twins victory in Chicago, it improved his career record against the Sox to 10-1 in his last 12 starts against them. He owns them.
"That's the way I am," Santana said. "I'll do it to any team. I don't have any preference for any teams. I don't disrespect any teams. ... That's the way I've been doing it. I'm always going to stay aggressive and do my job."
The White Sox are so lost against Santana that it seems Ozzie Guillen is going to have to resort to drastic measures. That's right.
He's going to call his mommy.
"I'm going to call my mom in Venezuela to come here and cook for him," Guillen joked. "We'll poison him. If he eats what my mom cooks, he will be in trouble to pitch the next day."
At this point it's the only option the White Sox, or anybody really, have left.
After receiving a contract extension from the White Sox this spring, White Sox starter Javier Vazquez is going to have to pitch with a lot of pressure on his shoulders, especially with the rough start Chicago starters have had this season. With a dominant performance on Saturday afternoon, he went a long way to relieve himself of that pressure against the Twins.
Pitching in blustery conditions--a wind chill of 15 degrees--Javier went 6.2 innings giving up only one hit and no runs while striking out five, as the White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins 3-0. He did run into some control issues early, walking four, but Minnesota helped him out of a few jams.
In the second inning Minnesota had the bases loaded with one out. Jason Tyner then hit a shallow fly ball into left centerfield that was caught by Juan Uribe. Then in the first instance of the Twins beating themselves in this game, Michael Cuddyer was doubled off of third when he forgot the number of outs and never tagged up.
From then on Vazquez cruised through the seventh until he hit Cuddyer with a pitch. He then walked Justin Morneau before inducing a double play by Torii Hunter. Andrew Sisco then came on and struck out Jeff Cirillo to end the threat.
Minnesota's bullpen didn't help matters in the eigth inning when Dennys Reyes gave up a lead off solo shot to Juan Uribe. The home run was then followed up with a bunt single by Scott Podsednik that was misplayed by Reyes. After Erstad bunted Podsednik over to second, Reyes hurried a pick off throw that ended up in centerfield, and Podsednik came all the way around from second to score.
The insurance was nice for Chicago, but unneccesary after Bobby Jenks came in and closed things out in the ninth inning, working through the heart of the Twins order.
The postponement of Friday night's White Sox/Twins game could end up a blessing for the White Sox. It gives the team an extra day to let Mark Buehrle recover from the line drive he took off of his left arm on Thursday afternoon. As of now the team is confident that he'll be able to make his next start on Wednesday in Oakland.
''He felt better today,'' pitching coach Don Cooper said. ''[White Sox trainer Herm Schneider] worked on him Thursday and again [Friday.] We'll see how he is [today], but I think it's 70-30 he'll be OK to pitch [his next start].''
Though honestly, the way White Sox starters have been pitching, this could be bad news. In three games White Sox starters have combined for 7.1 innings of work, and have allowed 13 earned runs for a lovely ERA of 15.95.
The White Sox were also considering shifting their rotation around so that Jose Contreras could go against Johan Santana on Sunday instead of John Danks, but they eventually decided against it.
''Danks was in the bullpen [Thursday] and threw and was ready to come in,'' Cooper said. ''We don't want him to wait too long [to start], so he's lined up for Sunday.''
Sidney Ponson was scheduled to start on Sunday, but with the day off Friday, the Twins decided to move Santana up a day to face a White Sox team he's dominated in his career. Of course, who doesn't Santana dominate?
Today's game is scheduled for 3:35PM Eastern on FOX, but that's only if they decide to play the game. The cold conditions that caused yesterday's game to be called haven't gone away as it's expected to be about 34 degrees at game time, with a wind chill in the mid-20's. Since this game is a national broadcast, it's most likely they'll play the game and avoid having to reschedule yet another game later this season.
Considering over half the teams in Major League Baseball play in warm weather climates, or have a roof over their stadium, you'd think that the schedule makers would be smart enough to plan accordingly. Listen up schedule maker person.
Next season let's not schedule any home games in Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati, New York, Boston, you get the point. It's just not that smart.
At least that game never started, the Indians meanwhile, got screwed. Cleveland had a 4-0 lead on the Mariners and were one strike away from an official game. That's when the "Human Rain Delay" Mike Hargrove did the smartest thing he's done in years.
He ran out onto the field and somehow managed to convince crew chief Rick Reed to delay the game a fourth time due to the conditions. Why Reed would call for a delay when the game's only a pitch away from being official, I'll never understand, but he did and a little over an hour later the game was called.
"We obviously ended up on the south side of things," said Cleveland manager Eric Wedge. "Everybody was fighting for what they wanted and what they believed was the right thing to do."
Lost in all the idiocy of the schedule makers, and Rick Reed is another factor that should be taken into consideration when playing games like these.
Injuries.
What happens if the strained left quad Cleveland catcher Victor Martinez suffered while running to first turns out to be a serious injury, and he has to miss a lot of time? The Indians could be without a big member of their team after he played in a game that didn't count, and never should have been played in the first place.
The Fanhouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups
San Francisco Giants (1-2) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (1-2)-10:15PM Est.
You know how when two rivals meet, announcers tell you to "throw out the record books!" That's one of the dumbest things announcers say. First of all, if you throw out the record books then how in the hell is anyone supposed to know who's in first place? Second of all, who the hell keeps records in a book? Ever heard of the internet? Anyway, throw out the record books when the Giants and Dodgers meet, because all either of these teams care about is beating each other!
Chicago White Sox (1-2) vs. Minnesota Twins (3-0)-8:11PM Est.
Here's another series starting tonight between two division rivals. The White Sox and Twins have been fighting each other for the AL Central for years now, all the way back to when the Tigers were losing 100 games a season. It seems like every time these teams meet, something exciting happens. With Carlos Silva and Javier Vazquez on the mound, that excitement will probably come in the form of 600-foot home runs.
Houston Astros (0-3) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (0-3)-8:10PM Est.
Remember a few seasons ago when these two teams were fighting for a National League pennant against each other? Well tonight's game won't be anything like that. Nope, instead we're gonna get two teams that are yet to win a game this season. How exciting. If for nothing else, I suggest you watch just in case Brad Lidge has to face Albert Pujols in the 9th inning again. Have you ever seen a pitcher wet himself on the mound?
I've always thought that you generally stop growing while you're in high school. I know I haven't grown any taller since I was probably 16, but I'm no Joe Mauer.
The team lists him at 6-5 in the media guide, but Mauer acknowledged that he is actually 6-6 "wearing shoes."I've been growing ever since last year," he said Wednesday. "I don't want to get too big, or I might have to move [positions]."
Mauer was 6-4 when the Twins drafted him out of Cretin-Derham Hall in 2001. His big growth spurt came earlier in high school, and he stayed the same height until last year.
Mauer will turn 24, and at this rate he'll be 7 feet tall by the time he's 30.
There was some speculation that the growth spurt may have contributed to the recent stress reaction in his left fibula, but Mauer doesn't think that's true. He's also upset because this wasn't the kind of growth spurt that he was hoping for.
"Hopefully I'll grow the other way. I'd like to get a little stronger, but I don't know about taller."
I'm sure the Twins don't care how tall he gets, as long as he keeps that gorgeous swing and .455 batting average he has so far this season.
I've always admired Joe Nathan. For my money he's the best closer in the game. Arguments can be made for a Francisco Rodriguez, and of course there's Mariano and Trevor Hoffman, but I'll take Nathan.
Why?
Because the man has lights out stuff, and he can pitch while he's got other things on his mind. Take for instance the first two days of the Nathan's season thus far.
Monday night, Joe Nathan saved a baseball game, and later he stayed up with his young son, Cole, who had a fever of 104 degrees. Tuesday night, Nathan saved another baseball game, and later, at about 7 this morning his wife Lisa was scheduled to be induced and deliver their second child, who is supposed to be a girl the Nathans will name Riley.
Apparently nothing distracts this guy, whose second save of 2007 came in the Twins' 3-2 victory over Baltimore.
"It's crazy," Nathan said. "(Today) it will probably be a little more crazy. If the game's close and Riley's not out yet, then it's going to be pretty crazy. Hopefully my wife is understanding if I have to leave for a couple hours and finish a ballgame."
Now that's dedication. Seriously, what's scarier? Facing Albert Pujols in the bottom of the 9th inning with the game on the line, or telling your wife you have to leave the birth of your child to go strike out Corey Patterson?
A couple of warnings and advisories about today's Spring Training Dugout:
I understood why the Minnesota Twins chose to go with Sidney Ponson in their starting rotation over Matt Garza. I get that they want Garza to develop a little more in the minors before feeding him to the lions in the AL Central.
It says a lot about a pitcher when he can go out and throw seven innings of scoreless baseball while giving up only one hit--and a cheap one at that--and nobody really seems impressed.
After 
The postponement of Friday night's White Sox/Twins game could end up a blessing for the White Sox. It gives the team an extra day to let Mark Buehrle recover from 
Considering over half the teams in Major League Baseball play in warm weather climates, or have a roof over their stadium, you'd think that the schedule makers would be smart enough to plan accordingly. Listen up schedule maker person. 
I've always thought that you generally stop growing while you're in high school. I know I haven't grown any taller since I was probably 16, but I'm no Joe Mauer.
I've always admired Joe Nathan. For my money he's the best closer in the game. Arguments can be made for a Francisco Rodriguez, and of course there's Mariano and Trevor Hoffman, but I'll take Nathan. 
