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Phillies Town | Dodgers 5, Phillies 3: Philadelphia Does Their Best Twins Impression

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Welcome to Phillies Town, Twinkie Town’s Philadelphia Phillies playoff coverage because I like watching Jhoan Duran play baseball and don’t handle change well. Let’s go Phillies!


I thought covering the Phillies would be fun because they are a good baseball team, have fun players that are easy to root for, and have a recent track record of postseason success. However, I think the Phillies are actually pulling a prank on me because they did their best postseason Twins impression in my first game as a Phillies fan.

The game started well for Philadelphia against two-way superstar and probable GOAT Shohei Ohtani, tagging him for three runs in the second inning. Speedy catcher JT Realmuto ripped a triple to center with two men on to bring in the first two, with Realmuto coming around on an eventual sac fly from former Twin Harrison Bader. Meanwhile, Cy Young conteder Cristopher Sanchez was carving up the Dodgers’ star-studded lineup for the first five innings, allowing only two hits and a walk.

You can only hold off that Dodgers lineup for so long. They finally got to Sanchez in the sixth with a timely two-out rally. After retiring Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernandez, Freddie Freeman and Tommy Edman both reached in front of repeated Dodgers postseason hero Enrique Hernandez, who drove both runners in with a double in the left field corner. 41-year-old David Robertson got the Phillies out of the inning with them still on top 3-2.

Robertson stayed in to face the first two batters in the seventh inning, but allowed Andy Pages and Muncy to both reach before manager Rob Thomson turned to veteran fireman and Fargo, ND legend Matt Strahm. In a dangerous spot against two of the best hitters alive, Strahm was able to strikeout Ohtani looking and get Betts to pop out. But with one out to go, the other Hernandez, Teoscar, did the rest of the damage, driving a three-run shot out to right center to put Los Angeles up 5-3.

Unfortunately for the Phillies, they did their best 2025 Twins impression with the lineup providing absolutely nothing after their big third inning. Ohtani retired 15 of the final 17 Phillies batters he faced and gave way to a deeply flawed Los Angeles bullpen. Unfortunately, the Dodgers’ wealth of starters mean that former All-Star Tyler Glasnow was the first man out of the ‘pen. He pitched well in the seventh, but ran into trouble in the eighth when he walked the bases full with two outs. Fireman Alex Vesia came in to get pinch hitter Edmundo Sosa and put an end to the Phillies’ threat.

A couple of ex-Twins paired to give the Phillies a last breath of hope in the ninth. After an excellent top half pitching from Jhoan Duran, where his only flaw was a walk to Ohtani who they were clearly trying to pitch around, Max Kepler hit a soft double to right field with one out to bring up the tying run. However, it only took former top prospect Roki Sasaki three more pitches to get Nick Castellanos and Bryson Stott to hit into the final two outs.

Final: Dodgers 5, Phillies 3

FORMER TWINS WATCH

  • Jhoan Duran: 1.0 IP, 0 R, 1 BB, 2K
  • Max Kepler: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 K
  • Harrison Bader: 0-0, 1 SF, 1 HBP, left game with hamstring injury

STUDS

  • JT Realmuto: 1-4, 2 RBI, 1 R, 1 3B
  • Cristopher Sanchez: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 8 K
  • Jhoan Duran: electric

DUDS

  • Trea Turner/Kyle Schwarber/Nick Castellanos: combined 0-9, 4 K, 1 BB
  • David Robertson: 0.1 IP: 1 H, 1 HBP, 2 R
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Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/playoff...philadelphia-does-their-best-twins-impression
 
Welcome to Phillies Town

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In case you missed it, I spent about 10,000 words and far too much time breaking down the best teams for Twins fans to root for this postseason, following a very defined and scientific process while surely introducing none of my own personal bias against the Cleveland Guardians and New York Yankees. The Seattle Mariners came out on top in the AL with a final score of 39/50 thanks to Jorge Polanco, Mitch Garver, and a relatively fun roster. However, our overall champion was from the NL with the Philadelphia Phillies achieving a 44/50 mark.

The win comes largely thanks to their Minnesota connections and how much fun they have on a baseball field. Philadelphia starts former Twins Max Kepler and Harrison Bader in their everyday lineups, while Jhoan Duran has continued his 9th inning dominance since being acquired at the deadline. Additionally, current Twins Mick Abel and Kody Clemens would get championship rings should the Phillies win the World Series. To make things even more exciting, they’ll face off in the NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the modern reincarnation of the early 2000s Yankees.

We’re in for a fun one tonight with Cy Young contender Cristopher Sanchez facing off against two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, who has been marvelous since returning to the mound this summer. The lefty-throwing Sanchez gets the platoon advantage on the likes of Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, and Max Muncy which should play to the Phillies’ advantage, but it’s worth noting that Freeman essentially has even splits against lefties, and while Ohtani is worse, it’s still an .898 OPS compared to his 1.076 mark against righties.

As we say here at Phillies Town: win, Phillies, win!
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Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/playoff-coverage/49524/welcome-to-phillies-town
 
Phillies Town | Dodgers 4, Phillies 3: Late Rally Falls Short

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Welcome to Phillies Town, Twinkie Town’s Philadelphia Phillies playoff coverage because I like watching Jhoan Duran play baseball and don’t handle change well. Let’s go Phillies!


One game after the Phillies’ offense stalled out in the late innings, Philadelphia reversed course by saving all their runs for the final two frames in game two. Unfortunately, they didn’t have quite enough time to mount a full comeback.

Let’s pick up the game in the seventh, since nothing of note happened until that point. Starter Jesus Luzardo had dominated the game up to that point, retiring 15 straight Dodgers and not allowing a baserunner since the fourth inning. With the pitch count looking healthy and Philadelphia low on reliable relievers behind former Twin Jhoan Duran, Luzardo came back out for the seventh inning, facing the star-studded Dodgers lineup for a third time. Unfortunately, that dreaded third time penalty immediately showed up, with Luzardo allowing Teoscar Hernandez and Freddie Freeman to both reach, putting runners on second and third with no outs.

Manager Rob Thomson turned to Orion Kerkering, the Phillies’ second-best righty in the ‘pen, to face an impossible situation. Kerkering was able to get Tommy Edman swinging for the first out. The second man up was Enrique Hernandez, who hit a soft grounder just past the mound. Trea Turner tried to get the runner at home, but Teoscar Hernandez narrowly beat the tag to break the seal and put the Dodgers up 1-0.

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Kerkering made the damage worse by walking Max Muncy to load the bases with still only one out. After getting Andy Pages to pop out, catcher Will Smith delivered the kill shot with a clutch single to left to score two more. Shohei Ohtani added one more run on an RBI single of his to give the Dodgers a four run lead on a night where the Phillies had managed only a single hit through the seventh.

The ex-Twins did their best to mount a rally in the late innings, though. Max Kepler led off the eighth with a pinch-hit, bloop triple to right. Turner drove him in, but ultimately the Phillies couldn’t manage another run in the inning. Philadelphia got the benefit of finally seeing the Dodgers’ struggling relievers in the ninth, particularly Blake Treinen. The first three batters of the ninth inning reached, highlighted by a double from Nick Castellanos on a slider well out of the zone which scored two more for the Phillies with him on second as the tying run, still with no outs.

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With a slew of lefties coming up, the Dodgers pulled Treinen for left-handed Alex Vesia. Bryson Stott laid down a picture perfect bunt to try to advance Castellanos to third, but Max Muncy made the best defensive play of the postseason so far by nabbing the lead runner.

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Another former Twin did his part to keep the rally alive. Harrison Bader, with a bad groin and all, delivered a pinch-hit single, putting the winning run on base still with only one out. Max Kepler had a chance to tie or win the game, but hit a soft grounder to second, as he is wont to do. Vesia was slow getting to first base, keeping Kepler from hitting into his patented game-ending GIDP. Unfortunately, NL batting champ Trea Turner also couldn’t come up with the final hit the Phillies needed, officially putting them down 2-0 and needing to win three straight games to advance.

The good news is that the Phillies have been horrendous at home over the last three postseasons and have come back from down 2-0 in the past, but they’ll need the offense to come to life facing one of the best pitchers in the NL in Yoshinobu Yamamoto. It’s a tall task, but they have the talent to do it.

FORMER TWINS WATCH

  • Max Kepler: 1-2, 1 3B, 1 R
  • Harrison Bader: 1-1 with a clutch ninth inning hit on a bum groin
  • Jhoan Duran: 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K

STUDS

  • Jesus Luzardo through 6 innings: 6 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 5 K
  • Kepler/Bader: Key pinch hits to spark the rally

DUDS

  • Jesus Luzardo in the 6th: 0 IP, 2 H, 2 R
  • Orion Kerkering: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 R, 1 K
  • Trea Turner/Kyle Schwarber/Bryce Harper: combined 1-10, 3 BB, 5 K (now a combined 1-19, 4 BB, 9 K this postseason)
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Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/playoff...n-dodgers-4-phillies-3-late-rally-falls-short
 
Monday Morning Minnesota: The “Louis Varland Is Pretty Good” Edition

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The first round of the playoffs has finished, and now we get to see some old friends do cool things in the playoffs! Jhoan Duran, Louis Varland, and Harrison Bader all have now made playoff appearances, with Varland earning rave reviews from his teammates:

Kevin Gausman on Louis Varland and his big strikeout in the 6th:

“That was one of the greatest trades we’ve ever made.” #BlueJays

— Mitch Bannon (@MitchBannon) October 4, 2025
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In Twins Territory, Rocco Baldelli was officially let go from his post as team manager. And thus begins a fairly consequential offseason for the Twins as they decide how to put together a team using the fewest resources possible.

The Past Week on Twinkie Town:


Elsewhere in Twins Territory:


In the World of Baseball:

  • Jorge Castillo at ESPN takes a look at rookie Trey Yesavage’s playoff debut in Game 2 of the ALDS.
  • Daniel Kramer at MLB.com looks at how the Seattle Mariners finally got their first playoff win in 24 years.
  • Several teams have fired their managers, or have announced they will not be returning in 2026, including:
    • San Francisco Giants (Bob Melvin)
    • Minnesota Twins (Rocco Baldelli)
    • Los Angeles Angels (Ron Washington and Ray Montgomery)
    • Atlanta Braves (Brian Snitker)
    • Texas Rangers (Bruce Bochy) – the Rangers hired Skip Schumaker
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Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/general...sota-the-louis-varland-is-pretty-good-edition
 
I’m still salty about the 2005 AL Cy Young Award

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Coming off a sparkling 2004 season & AL Cy Young Award win, Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Johan Santana put up what was perhaps an equally compelling campaign in 2005. His recognition for such an achievement? A 3rd-place AL Cy Young Award voting finish—possibly one of the worst travesties of MLB awards voting EVER.

But don’t just take my word for it—let’s see for ourselves:

2005 AL Cy Young 1st Place: Bartolo Colon​

  • 21-8, 3.48 ERA, 33 GS, 2 CG, 222.2 IP, 157 K, 43 BB, 1.16 WHIP, 4.0 WAR
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2005 AL Cy Young 2nd Place: Mariano Rivera​

  • 43 SV, 1.38 ERA, 78.1 IP, 80 K, 18 BB, 0.87 WHIP, 4.0 WAR
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2005 AL Cy Young 3rd Place: Johan Santana​

  • 16-7, 2.87 ERA, 33 GS, 2 CG, 1 SHO, 231.2, 238 K, 45 BB, 0.97 WHIP, 7.2 WAR
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To quote the old song:

“One of these things is not like the other…one of these things just doesn’t belong”
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Well, I guess in this case it would be “one of these things VERY MUCH belongs!”. To this day, I don’t understand how Santana wasn’t the ‘05 AL Cy Young recipient—mind-boggling! Two theories:

  • Bartolo Colon racked up 21 wins to Johan’s 16. This was clearly the result of the 2005 Anaheim Angels knowing how to score runs and the ‘05 Twins not. Today, we have a better understanding that other pitching stats matter far more than wins (or winning percentage). But twenty years ago, 20+ wins was seemingly a golden ticket for some new mantle hardware.
  • An East Coast bias for Mariano Rivera. There is little doubt that Mo was the greatest closer of all-time—but equally little doubt that a one-inning closer simply cannot replicate the value of a starting pitcher. Rivera’s 4.0 WAR is actually quite impressive for the modern closer configuration. But only relievers like Goose Gossage or Bruce Sutter—who would reliably pitch 100-150 innings a season—ever compiled SP-like WAR.
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You might be thinking “why does this matter—everyone knows Santana was a dominant pitcher”. But consider: Johan bookended 2005 with Cy Young Awards in ‘04 & ‘06. He first appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot in 2018—and immediately dropped off after garnering only 2.4% of votes. What if he had a 3-peat on his ledger?

Only Greg Maddux & Randy Johnson ever won three consecutive Cy Youngs (both took home four in a row, actually)—and they were HOF locks.

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That’s why the 2005 AL Cy Young Award voting still rankles to this day. If justice had been served, Johan Santana may have a plaque—or at very least still be in the running for one—in Cooperstown.
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Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/minneso...al-johan-santana-bartolo-colon-mariano-rivera
 
North Star Stature Showdown: an OOTP tournament

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His jersey is in Cooperstown, too! | Bruce Kluckhohn / Getty Images

Early in the season (I can’t remember exactly when), someone in the comments (can’t remember who) brought up the idea of a tall vs. short Out of the Park tournament. Now that the Twins season is over, it’s time to make that a reality.

With many thanks to whoever came up with the idea, we are proud to present the North Star Stature Showdown!

Having searched through Baseball Reference’s database, I have built up a 28-man team of the tallest players in Minnesota Twins history and a team of their shortest players. Each had to have some unfortunate omissions in order to fill up every position (I picked by height first, then by games played as a Twin, then by enough to fill out the diamond), but every player on the short team is between 5’7” and 5’10”, while all but four players on the tall team are between 6’5” and 6’11”.

And while I haven’t plugged these teams into OOTP yet — as usual, they’ll be imported with their best season as a Twin — I suspect that the tallest batter in Twins history, 6’8” Carson McCusker, will not be able to play on these teams because he debuted in the majors after the release of OOTP ‘26. So he’ll be the honorary manager. (If I am able to import him from Baseball Reference, he’ll take Joey Gallo’s spot.)

For jersey numbers, I tried to match each player with a number he wore as a Twin; for unavoidable duplicates, I picked another number they wore in the majors.

Your rosters, listed by relevant height by position (and numerically within matching heights), are:

Tall Tales:

Starting Pitchers
17 — Bailey Ober — R/R — 6’10”
48 — Mike Smithson — R/R — 6’8”
34 — Mike Pelfrey — R/R — 6’7”
35 — Michael Pineda — R/R — 6’7”
44 — Kyle Gibson — R/R — 6’6”

Relief Pitchers
60 — Jon Rauch — R/R — 6’11”
50 — Aaron Slegers — R/R — 6’10”
51 — Alex Meyer — R/R — 6’9”
58 — Trevor Megill — R/R — 6’8”
45 — John Candelaria — L/L — 6’7”
59 — Michael Tonkin — R/R — 6’7”
30 — Garry Roggenburk — R/L — 6’6”
31 — Dan Naulty — R/R — 6’6”
39 — David West — L/L — 6’6”

Catchers
7 — Joe Mauer — L/R — 6’5”
14 — Glenn Borgmann — R/R — 6’4”

Infielders
40 — Cotton Nash — R/R — 6’7”
19 — Kennys Vargas — S/R — 6’5”
37 — Scott Stahoviak — L/R — 6’5”
22 — Miguel Sanó — R/R — 6’4”
27 — Terry Jorgensen — R/R — 6’4”
9 — Gene Larkin — S/R — 6’3”

Outfielders
21 — Walt Bond — L/R — 6’7”
26 — Mike Poepping — R/R — 6’6”
32 — Dave Winfield — R/R — 6’6”
41 — Michael Restovich — R/R — 6’6”

Utility Players
8 — Dave McCarty — R/L — 6’5”
13 — Joey Gallo — L/R — 6’5”

“But what about middle infielders?”, you may ask. Well, it took until searching 6’4” players to find someone who played shortstop, which brought Terry Jorgensen and his eight games at the position onto the roster. And for second base, the only player 6’3” or taller with any time at the position is Gene Larkin, who played the position for… let me check… one-third of an inning in 1991. Good enough for the team.

Short Stories:

Starting Pitchers
18 — Eddie Bane — R/L — 5’9”
20 — Lee Stange — R/R — 5’10”
22 — Bobby Castillo — R/R — 5’10”
31 — Darrell Jackson — S/L — 5’10”
54 — Sonny Gray — R/R — 5’10”

Relief Pitchers
33 — Jackie Collum — L/L — 5’7”
19 — Bill Pleis — L/L — 5’10”
24 — Danny McDevitt — L/L — 5’10”
27 — Brandon Kintzler — R/R — 5’10”
28 — Mike Marshall — R/R — 5’10”
30 — Francisco Oliveras — R/R — 5’10”
53 — Danny Coulombe — L/L — 5’10”
56 — Carmen Cali — L/L — 5’10”
70 — Ronny Henriquez — R/R — 5’10”

Catchers
7 — Christian Vázquez — R/R — 5’8”
64 — Willians Astudillo — R/R — 5’9”

Infielders
3 — Sergio Ferrer — S/R — 5’7”
4 — Houston Jiménez — R/R — 5’8”
39 — Donovan Solano — R/R — 5’8”
74 — Ronald Torreyes — R/R — 5’8”
8 — Nick Punto — S/R — 5’9”
11 — Chuck Knoblauch — R/R — 5’9”

Outfielders
1 — Jarvis Brown — R/R — 5’7”
6 — Quinton McCracken — S/R — 5’7”
34 — Kirby Puckett — R/R — 5’8”
47 — Sandy Valdespino — L/L — 5’8”
37 — Ben Revere — L/R — 5’9”

Utility Players
12 — César Tovar — R/R — 5’9”

Over the next few weeks, I’ll play out the tournament and we’ll see which size ends up on top! (And I promise my own 5’3” height will not unfairly bias me toward the short squad.)
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Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/general...owdown-an-out-of-the-park-baseball-tournament
 
How to make sure Twinkie Town shows up in your Google search

As many of you are likely aware, Google searches are … different these days.

The good news is Google is offering a solution for folks who like to get their news from specific sources. If you want to help Twinkie Town — while also streamlining all your Google searches — there is now a way.

Simply click on this link and add Twinkie Town as one of your “Source preferences.” That’s all there is to it!

Back in August, the tech giant debuted a feature called “Preferred Sources.” It’s a way for Google to prominently feature the results from websites you trust, like Twinkie Town:

“With the launch of Preferred Sources in the U.S. and India, you can select your favorite sources and stay up to date on the latest content from the sites you follow and subscribe to — whether that’s your favorite sports blog or a local news outlet. …

When you select your preferred sources, you’ll start to see more of their articles prominently displayed within Top Stories, when those sources have published fresh and relevant content for your search.“

As some of you might know, AI searches are hurting outlets around the world and in all spaces. We’ve worked hard at Twinkie Town to build a brand you can trust and rely on for Minnesota Twins coverage. Our goal is to serve you, the fans.

If you’re a fan of our work and want to get the best Twins coverage possible, this is an excellent win-win to improve your Google searches while helping Twinkie Town out.
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Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/general...e-twinkie-town-shows-up-in-your-google-search
 
Phillies Town | Phillies 8, Dodgers 2: The Zombie Lineup Lives

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Welcome to Phillies Town, Twinkie Town’s Philadelphia Phillies playoff coverage because I like watching Jhoan Duran play baseball and don’t handle change well. Let’s go Phillies!


After saving all their runs for late in game two, it appears our beloved Phillies were really saving all their runs for late in the series. With their backs against the wall, Philadelphia finally got some production from the top of the lineup as they kept the series alive.

With ace Zach Wheeler out for the season, Aaron Nola took the mound despite some unsightly numbers this season. Nola struggled with injuries throughout 2025, but has historically been the most steady starter in the sport. Things got out to a rough start in the first, though. After Shohei Ohtani hit into a 103 MPH out, Mookie Betts tripled to threaten to score immediately. Luckily, Nola sandwiched a Freddie Freeman HBP between two strikeouts to get out of the first unscathed.

After getting through the first eight hitters, manager Rob Thomson turned to lefty Ranger Suarez out of the ‘pen for a surprise piggyback playoff start. While it was a good idea in theory, the first batter Suarez had to face was utility man Tommy Edman, who exclusively hits left-handed pitchers and immediately hit a solo shot to let LA score first. For his career, Edman has an .809 OPS against lefties compared to just .683 against righties. While I understand the impulse to bring Suarez in to start the inning since he’s not a reliever, the smarter move would have been leaving Nola to face Edman before bringing in the lefty for Ohtani, but I digress.

Suarez was stellar the rest of the way, not giving up another run while scattering four other hits through five innings. Cristopher Sanchez and Jesus Luzardo are set up to start games four and five, but Suarez made a great case to be Philadelphia’s third starter should they advance to the NLCS.

Facing one of the NL’s best in Yoshinobu Yamamoto, it looked like it was going to be another long night for a formerly high-powered lineup. Luckily, the Phillies’ All-Stars remembered they were good in the fourth inning. Kyle Schwarber led off with monster 455-foot home run to knot the game at one apiece. Bryce Harper and Alec Bohm followed with singles and were gifted a throwing error by LA centerfielder Andy Pages allowing Harper to score and Bohm to reach third with only one out. Bohm eventually came in on a sac fly to put the Phillies up 3-1 and they never looked back.

There was still plenty of choking involved though, don’t worry. After the first two batters of the fifth singled and executed a beautiful double steal, putting two runners in scoring position with no outs, Yamamoto was lifted for reliever Anthony Banda who got Schwarber, Harper, and Brandon Marsh all out to end the threat without allowing the run, keeping the Dodgers in striking distance.

The game remained close until the eighth when the Phillies finally pulled away. Facing first-ballot Hall-of-Famer and notorious postseason choker Clayton Kershaw, Philadelphia rallied for five runs in the frame. The scoring got started with a leadoff dong from catcher JT Realmuto. The Dodgers then gifted the Phillies two runners with a walk and an error, letting nine-whole hitter bunt the runners over for the top of the lineup. NL batting champ Trea Turner came up clutch with a two-run, bloop single and set the stage for Kyle Schwarber, who hit his second home run of the night to give the Phillies an 8-1 lead.

The Dodgers added a meaningless run in the ninth, but the Phillies kept the series alive and have their best pitchers rested and available for Game 4 tonight.

FORMER TWINS WATCH

  • Max Kepler: 0-3, 2 BB, 1 R
  • Harrison Bader: DNP (injured)
  • Jhoan Duran: DNP (blowout)

STUDS

  • Kyle Schwarber: 2-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB
  • Trea Turner: 3-5, 3 RBI, 1 R, 1 SB
  • Bryce Harper: 2-4, 1 R, 1 BB
  • Alec Bohm: 2-3, 1 R, 2 BB
  • JT Realmuto: 2-5, 1 HR

DUDS

  • No duds, Phillies win!!

It’s Cristopher Sanchez vs Tyler Glasnow as the Phillies fight for their lives once again. Should be a fun game!
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Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/playoff...-phillies-8-dodgers-2-the-zombie-lineup-lives
 
MLB is in its Superstar Era

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Because Major League Baseball was once the shining star of the sporting stage—it still dusts off the National Pastime moniker from time to time —it is sometimes easy to think that “then” was better than “now”.

We are regaled by our parents (or grandparents) with stories about the likes of Stan Musial, Mickey Mantle, Harmon Killebrew, Sandy Koufax, or others dominating the sports section of the daily newspaper. Even in more contemporary times, many of us can still recall the nation turning its lonely eyes to Ted Williams emerging from Fenway Park at the All-Star Game or the Boston Red Sox completing a comeback for the ages.

But please (please, PLEASE!) do not let this fractured media maelstrom convince you that baseball is in any way “lesser” between the white lines. In fact, though the sporty side of Taylor Swift is mostly NFL fodder, one could say baseball is in its Superstar Era at the moment.

Four examples from 2025…

Cal Raleigh (Seattle Mariners)​

  • 159 G, 705 PA, 110 R, 60 HR, 125 RBI, 14 SB, .247 BA, .948 OPS, 7.3 WAR (bold denotes league-leader)
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Even with zero context, one would look at that stat line and think “this is one of the greatest offensive seasons ever”. Now consider: the affectionately-named Big Dumper did it while squatting behind home plate wearing what are often referred to as the “tools of ignorance” for 121 of those games. Never before in the history of this great game has a catcher matched that kind of hitting prowess with defensive durability.

Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles Dodgers)​

  • 158 G, 727 PA, 146 R, 55 HR, 102 RBI, .282 BA, 1.014 OPS, 6.6 WAR
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One year after establishing his own 50-50 club, Ohtani didn’t slow down at the plate whatsoever. Oh yeah—he also ascended the mound again following his late-2023 UCL tear surgery. The results: 47 IP, 2.87 ERA, 1.04 WHIP. Ho hum—just a Cy Young Award-pace as he worked back into flamethrower form.

Do you know how many MLB players have hit 50+ home runs and struck out even a single batter in the same season. Well, besides Ohtani, one—some guy named Babe Ruth in 1921.

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Paul Skenes (Pittsburgh Pirates)​

  • 32 GS, 10-10 W-L, 187.2 IP, 216 K, 42 BB, 1.97 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 7.7 WAR
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This black-jersey’d buccaneer is baseball’s unquestioned ace. Only Pittsburgh’s pitiful ownership situation and their ultra-cautious usage of the young (23) fireballer hold him back from further dominance.

His 1.96 ERA through 55 starts is the best beginning to a MLB career since 1913—when the ball was basically a soggy sphere of mush. That 0.95 WHIP? The best for a Pirates pitcher since Babe Adams posted a 0.90 in 1919.

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Aaron Judge (New York Yankees)​

  • 152 G, 679 PA, 137 R, 53 HR, 114 RBI, 124 BB, .331 BA, 1.144 OPS, 9.7 WAR
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Ho hum—just more mind-boggling bat-smithing from the big man. His 62-home run ‘22 campaign will always be remembered for that number alone, but his rate stats were actually better this year. He has averaged (averaged!) a 1.117 OPS & 203 OPS+ over the past four years. That’s roughly equal to peak Mickey Mantle (1955-1958).

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Baseball may not lead SportsCenter or dominate social media algorithms like it once defined ESPN (Baseball Tonight) or was the cornerstone of the morning doorstep fish wrap. But make no mistake—the stars today are just as talented and exciting (perhaps more so at the exact moment) as the celestial talents of yesteryear.
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Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/general...n-judge-shohei-ohtani-cal-raleigh-paul-skenes
 
Phillies Town | Dodgers 2, Phillies 1: And Now My Watch is Ended

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Welcome to Phillies Town, Twinkie Town’s Philadelphia Phillies playoff coverage because I like watching Jhoan Duran play baseball and don’t handle change well. Let’s go Phillies!


While I didn’t anticipate this going into this feckless experiment, it turns out that rooting for the Phillies was fairly similar to rooting for the Twins. Maybe there’s some lesson here about how baseball is difficult and how we, as a collective humanity, are all more alike than we realize if we set our differences aside and accept that our collective suffering comes at the hands of the top 1% (Dodgers/Yankees), but that’s probably not it. I’m sure I’m just cursed.

This game was scoreless until the seventh as Cristopher Sanchez and Tyler Glasnow threw dueling gems. The Phillies struck first in the top half of the inning after Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pulled Glasnow early in favor of Emmet Sheehan. JT Realmuto led off with a single, was replaced by Max Kepler on a groundout, and then scored on a Nick Castellanos double to scratch across a crucial run as the pitching staffs battled. Castellanos was stuck there and the Phillies took their lead into the bottom half of the inning.

Sanchez was cruising and came back out for the seventh, where the umps helped LA get started. After getting Will Smith out to start the frame, Alex Call walked when the ump missed a crucial 2-2 pitch that would have ended the at-bat (of note: Sanchez said the ump apologized to him after the game for missing the call). Enrique Hernandez followed with a single to put two men on for lefty killer Andy Pages before the lineup would flip back over to the superstars.

With the Phillies struggling to score runs, Phillies manager Rob Thomson turned to his closer Jhoan Duran early. His high strikeouts and elite ground ball rates mad him the best candidate to get Philadelphia out of the pickle. He was able to get Pages to ground out to first base, but Bryce Harper took the safe out rather than trying to turn two against the speedy Pages. With first base open, the Phillies intentionally walked Ohtani to get to Betts. Duran had Mookie on the ropes, but ultimately left a 3-2 fastball too high, walking in the tying run.

The game remained knotted at 1 until the 11th inning. It was all-hands-on-deck with the Phillies facing elimination, so Thomson turned to #2 starter Jesus Luzardo as the game went into extras. After cruising through the top brutal top half of LA’s lineup, Tommy Edman and Max Muncy hit soft singles to put the winning run on third with two outs. Duran and lefty Matt Strahm had already gotten the Phillies out of pickles and were unavailable, so Thomson was left with Orion Kerkering as the remaining high-leverage reliever. Kerkering walked Enrique Hernandez to load the bases for Pages, once again coming up in a huge spot.

Kerkering did his job and got Pages to hit a soft ground ball back to the pitcher, but it appeared the pressure got to the Philadelphia reliever. It took him a second to find the ball after he knocked it down, and rather than getting the force out at first to end the inning, Kerkering short-circuited and tried to get the runner at home. He sailed the ball over Realmuto’s head, but even if it was a strike the Dodgers likely would have scored. Game, series, match.

FORMER TWINS WATCH

  • Max Kepler: 0-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K
  • Harrison Bader: 0-1, 1 K, still dealing with groin injury
  • Jhoan Duran: 1.2 IP, 0 ER, 3 K, 2 BB (1 intentional), allowed inherited runner to score in the 7th

After a grueling one (1) week as a Phillies fan, it’s time for Twinkie Town to move back to something way more fun than Philadelphia postseason baseball: offseason speculation.
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Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/playoff...odgers-2-phillies-2-and-now-my-watch-is-ended
 
Who wants to do a TwinkieTown Movie Night?

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There are many different things to write about in the World of Baseballs, or, in bigger terms, the World of Sports. There’s the fact that the boring mega-payroll Dodgers just ousted the fun, also mega-payroll Phillies from the playoffs. (Ben has you covered.) Personally, I think the entire playoff structure is wack, and it should be eight teams, three best-of-7 series, no more, no less. But hey, that’s just, like, my opinion.

There’s been a slew of Stadium Shenanigans, like this hoo-boy piece of turd that the Chicago Ursines NFL team is currently foisting on taxpayers (thanks John for bringing it to my attention). As always, Neil deMause has you covered on those. I’ve been informed by Mr. deMause that his term “vaportecture,” for fancy stadium renderings that bear no relation to any conceivable future reality, is just a few independent uses shy of being eligible for the Oxford English Dictionary. So, how about it, those of you with blogs elsewhere? Wanna use the word “vaportecture” and get it possibly added to the dictionary? Here’s a lovely example that deMause gave us last year, of a proposed HonkyHose stadium:

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How pretty! But, if you zoom in:

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Oops, that’s not how you spell Chicago!

But I don’t want to write about such things right now, and if you think my writing’s only tolerable as it is, TRUST ME — it’s worse when I’m slogging through it. (Hence basically every game recap in basically every September in years that the Twins are out of it, which since I’ve been around, has been most years.)

So… how about a Movie Night?

There’s a different site that does this — I won’t link to it, it’s a political site, and I don’t expect others here to share my political views. (Except… maybe less money for stadiums, maybe?) But the movies on that site’s Movie Night aren’t necessarily political. Sometimes they are, but it’s most fun when they’re not. Like Jaws, for instance. Everybody had a good time just enjoying their favorite music cues, and pointing out when the robot shark looks good/when it totally looks like a cheesy robot shark, etc. (Also what was the stupidest bit in the original novel.)

Here’s how that works!

It’s a set date at a set time. And everyone cues up the movie at exactly that time, from whatever source they’re using. (Like library DVDs, streaming services, or Internet Archive, etc.) Then people make comments/jokes about the movie. Like “that was cool” or “that is dumb,” or sharing trivia stuff they know about the movie or the actors or the subject, etc.

So… kinda like gamethreads. But for movies.

We could do that here. I’m sure we could all think of many baseball movies, some good, some kinda lousy.

For example, The Jackie Robinson Story is easily available on YouTube, because it’s in the public domain. (A lot of movies for Black audiences ended up in the public domain, since the studios really didn’t give a rip about renewing the copyright… although, my favorite instance of public domain is still the 1963 Hepburn/Grant Charade, which was public domain the day it came out, because some dolt forgot to put the “©” symbol in the credits.)

Just a quick look tells me there are Internet Archive copies of the 1942 The Pride of the Yankees (Gary Cooper as Lou Gehrig) and the 1951 Angels in the Outfield (Paul Douglas as a cranky manager who gets nicer via divine intervention… no, it’s not the weather guy Paul Douglas). There’s also the free streamers like Tubi that might have some interesting stuff on them (with commercials, but that’s no different from a gamethread).

And once we start talking about library DVDs, the list expands to basically every baseball movie/sports movie ever made, although we’d need to plan those out a bit more in advance (so people can request them from the library, etc.) And I don’t want to plan out a bunch of Movie Nights in advance if it’s going to be just me typing a bunch of comments by myself. The ideal would be to have at least five people show up.

So… thoughts? Opinions? (And heck, I’m not opposed to doing other inoffensive movies, too, like Charade or The Hitch-Hiker or something free on YouTube like that… I just think baseball movies would be more fun.) With something on YouTube or Internet Archive or the free streamers, people wouldn’t even have to go to the Great Enormous Strain of picking up a library DVD. I mentioned three baseball free ones above; I’m sure there’s more.

And if nobody’s interested, no harm, no foul! It’s not an idea my heart’s set upon. I just enjoy Movie Night at the other site, and I thought we could try it, if anybody likes. I mean, we could also all watch a pretty sunset together, or mascot porn, but I think baseball movies would be better,

(Oh, and OK, you want to know what the stupidest thing in the original novel Jaws was? The Richard Dreyfuss character has an affair with the wife of the Roy Scheider character, and then Scheider hates Dreyfuss, and it’s really a terrible book overall besides about two pages of Shark Facts right at the beginning. Sometimes, it’s best when movies DON’T stick to the book!)
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Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/scenes-from-an-offseason/49625/who-wants-to-do-a-twinkietown-movie-night
 
Rival Roundup, Vol. 68

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Well, gang, we’re swiftly approaching the stage of Rival Roundup winters where I’ll just have to start making up stories. That’s because with Detroit’s recent elimination from the postseason, all five AL Central teams are in a holding pattern until the league’s offseason can officially start. So while the greater baseball world will be tuning in to tonight’s ALCS, you’ll be reading about how some of our rivals are “not sure yet” about some things, and “undecided” on others.

Enjoy!

  • Well, it would be hard to design a more heartbreaking ending for the Detroit Tigers, although the Philadelphia Phillies had just given us a great suggestion. Detroit’s season ended this weekend in a winner-take-all ALDS Game 5, and after the first fourteen innings failed to find a winner, it all came to a final bitter end on old friend Jorge Polanco’s walk-off single in the fifteenth inning.
  • For basically anyone outside of Michigan, this is a thrilling development for one of baseball’s biggest underdogs, a long-beleaguered franchise which has only just recently snapped out of a monumental playoff drought. But for Tigers fans, it’s a crushing conclusion to a season that saw them slip back into a Wild Card position, and a Divisional Round result that serves to reinforce their position as a good-not-great seed in the American League.
  • With the elimination, the AL Central has wrapped up its contribution to the 2025 postseason. The Tigers will go into the offseason with Alex Cobb, Gleyber Torres, Rafael Montero, Tommy Kahnle, Chris Paddack, and Kyle Finnegan all hitting free agency, with a player option for Jack Flaherty, a mutual option with Paul Sewald, and a club option on Jose Urquidy, which nearly guarantees that they’ll have a different look in 2026.
  • The Kansas City Royals are going to grab some new hitting coaches for 2026, the latest team to roll the dice on new voices in the batting cage. Hitting coaches seem to be going the way of relief pitching in terms of perceived performance and volatility of true talent (see: David Popkins falling on the sword for the 2024 Minnesota Twins, only to roll into Yankee Stadium as head man for the Blue Jays and curbstomp New York pitching.) Still, there are always improvements to be made, especially as you get down to the annals of a coaching staff which are actually responsible for adjusting swing mechanics. (Rocco still doesn’t do that.)
  • Our friends over at South Side Sox break down the arbitration figures for Chicago’s upcoming offseason. This is always a fun portion of every winter, as most teams — even those whose payrolls will plummet and hands will be tied — still have agency over a few key decisions, the arbitration agreements being one of them. Chicago has just three arb-eligible players on the roster, and one of them will probably get non-tendered without much ceremony.
  • The Cleveland Guardians will go into an offseason with David Fry undergoing nasal surgery, Tommy John for Nic Enright, and a lack of clarity on the status of some of their more prominent gamblers. The intention is to retain well-regarded manager Stephen Vogt’s coaching staff.
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Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/general/49653/rival-roundup-vol-68
 
Appreciating Byron Buxton in 2025: A Top Five List

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Much like the current theatrical film of the same name, Byron Buxton took Minnesota Twins fans on a big, bold, beautiful journey in 2025. In a year that appalled a large section of the fanbase, Buxton managed to post a season for the ages.

Let’s take a look at what I consider to be the top five moments of Byron’s ‘25 spectacle. Going chronologically…

1. Walk-off catch​


You know that scene at the end of Superman (1978)—where Christopher Reeve extends his arms and smiles as he soars above the Earth as its protector? That’s what Lord Byron turned into on the night of April 22.

I was sitting just up from 3rd base at Target Field that night and my immediate thought when bat-met-ball was “well, we’re gonna need a B9”—perhaps with a few “colorful metaphors” thrown in. But somehow, Buxton (as always) was there and we all went home happy.

2. The Cycle​


As I’ve mentioned, my Aunt had a formative role in my Twins-loving development via numerous trips to the Metrodome in the 2000s. She now lives out-of-state, so ballpark outings are fewer and farther between. But we happened to sync up on July 12 and saw one of the most exciting moments of my entire Twins fandom.

Somewhat hilariously, I was a little mopey to start this contest as I wasn’t able to see Paul Skenes pitch the night before. But the frown quickly turned upside down when Buxton singled in the first inning, tripled in the 2nd, and doubled in the 3rd. After a measly single (how dare he stoop to such normality!) in the 5th, the next cycle opportunity presented itself in the 7th—and Buck trucked.

Before #25 could even complete the curtain call, compadre Willi Castro went deep on the next pitch—pandemonium at Target Field!

3. Home Run Derby & All Star Game​

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For those who recall the early (2015-2018) usage of Byron Buxton, you could be forgiven for being shocked at his participation in a Home Run Derby. At first, he was a beat-the-ball-into-the-ground-and-fly-to-1B type of player, but over the years he developed a natural power stroke.

Of course, to Byron simple participation is never enough—he made it past the first round, out-homering the likes of Matt Olson & Brent Rooker! Seeing Buxton do this in front of his home-state (Georgia) fans was special.

The next night’s main exhibition contest? A double and a run scored. All-star, indeed.

4. “I ain’t going nowhere”​


Imagine—as a competitor—hearing your ownership group sold you out and immediately rendered the last two months of your seasonal livelihood utterly uncompetitive. To boot: some of the individuals traded away may have been close personal friends. Then, you find a microphone in your face asking for your reaction.

Buxton would have been wholly justified in going on an anti-ownership rant. He didn’t. Not only that, he actually re-iterated his desire to remain a member of the Twins organization.

Byron has never seemed like a real vocal leader in terms of “rah rah”—coming across more as a laid-back Southern guy who just loves to play baseball. But via his play, his contracts, or his words, one thing has remained rock-steady: he wants to stay in Minnesota. That’s a form of powerful leadership in and of itself.

5. Final stretch power surge​

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By the time September was winding down, the Twins had been playing meaningless baseball for quite some time. No matter to Buck. In his final four games he crushed five hits—4 of them dingers. Battling until the bitter end for this final 2025 tally: 126 G, 542 PA, 97 R, 35 HR, 83 RBI, 24 SB, .264 BA, .878 OPS, 4.9 WAR.

The only other player in the MN Twins 30 HR-20 SB club: #34.

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All things—most notably health—considered, this was Byron Buxton’s finest season in a Twins uniform. It certainly seems like he may never wear another. For that—and his extremely enjoyable athletic talent to behold—we can all be thankful from a season that was otherwise a lump of coal.
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Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/minneso...le-home-run-derby-all-star-game-staying-in-mn
 
North Star Stature Showdown, Season: Hitting may be everything

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When running an OOTP tournament, you can’t just start with, y’know, the tournament. (Well, you can, but where’s the fun in that?) Instead, you run a shortened or full season so as to seed the teams organically.

For this one, I chose to run a particularly short 30-game season, figuring that would be enough. When I’ve run past tourneys, there have generally been teams which have emerged as Especially Good or Especially Rubbish.

It almost wasn’t enough this time.

After 30 games of setup, the Short Stories emerged at the top of the standings 16-14, earning home field advantage over the Tall Tales in the tournament. Despite both teams pulling off five-game win streaks across the season, neither ever emerged as dominant over the other.

What did emerge as dominant? Bats. (Note as you continue to read that I had the game’s AI set lineups, depth charts, rotations, and bullpens; however, I will be managing those manually for the tournament proper.)

Both teams featured a lineup keyed by a .410 hitter; unsurprisingly, both were Hall of Famers. Kirby Puckett, the top hitter for the Stories, paired his average with a .679 slugging percentage, and Joe Mauer, best Tales batter, put up a .491 on-base percentage. Puckett and Miguel Sanó each clobbered nine home runs, and Dave Winfield outdid them with 10. All four batters mentioned in this paragraph put up an OPS over 1.000.

The batting standouts didn’t stop at four, though. Walt Bond tied for the season lead with eight doubles, Chuck Knoblauch and Ben Revere each stole 10 bases, and Scott Stahoviak matched for the lead with 25 runs.

Statistical standouts were much harder to find on the pitching side, especially in rotations. Bailey Ober paced starters with a 2.75 ERA with Mike Smithson behind him at 3.54, but every other starter had an ERA above 4.50. Six starters, including the entire Stories rotation, had an ERA of 6.00 or higher, a dreadful showing even with the small five-to-seven start sample size. Even the bullpens weren’t much better, especially for the short crew, who only had two relievers (Ronny Henriquez at 2.77 and Bill Pleis at 3.52) with an ERA under 4.00. Like their starters, the Tales’ relievers shined more statistically—including a 0.00 ERA over six appearances for Michael Tonkin—but it wasn’t enough to get them over the Stories in the standings.

So the series is set up, a seven-game tilt. Given the chaos of these 30 simulated games, I can’t say I have a prediction other than the stars will continue to shine. But it’s seven games, and we all know anything can happen in that short a time.

Well, anything other than injuries and suspensions. I turned those off in Settings.
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Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/general...ing-may-be-everything-kirby-puckett-joe-mauer
 
The robots are coming (to MLB in 2026)

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  • Robby the Robot
  • C3PO & R2D2
  • HAL 9000
  • The Terminator
  • WALL-E
  • Lieutenant Commander Data
  • Replicants
  • Cylons
  • Whatever that thing from Rocky IV was
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All examples of famous robots.

Joining that list in 2026 will be Major League Baseball’s Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System (ABS), pejoratively known as “robot umps”. Site-runner Ben already dove into the ABS details a number of weeks ago so I won’t rehash that, other than to say it is interesting that only batters, pitchers, or catchers—not managers—will be allowed to initiate the challenge protocol. I feel like this may perpetuate some interesting conversations about managerial authority on the matter within clubhouses.

For the most part, this seems like a good step forward for MLB. As good as umpires have become (more on that momentarily), they are human beings and will understandably miss precise calculations of spheres traveling 90+ mph that often feature tremendous breaking movement, all while the catcher explicitly positions them for the best—though not most accurate—outcome.

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But while looking at the tremendous Umpire Scorecard website, I was amazed at what I found—most notably that umpires continue to get more accurate behind the plate.

For those of us who watched baseball in the 1990s, we vividly recall pitchers like Tom Glavine extending outside corner strikes to the point of lunacy—epitomized by the “Livan Hernandez game” of the 1997 postseason.

But by 2015—the first year of Umpire Scorecard data—this had largely been cleaned up:

  • 2015 Average Umpire Accuracy: 90.38 %
  • 2015 Average Minimum Umpire Accuracy: 84.65%

Amazingly, despite upticks in velocity and breaking ball usage that should make umps’ livelihoods even tougher, those percentages have improved dramatically in the past decade:

  • 2025 Average Umpire Accuracy: 94.15%
  • 2025 Average Minimum Umpire Accuracy: 89.67%
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Like I said, I do still believe ABS will be a nice tool in the toolbox, so to speak, for MLB to push those accuracy rates even higher. The league seems to be slow-playing the entire process, which I also think is smart—measure twice & cut once, as they say.

But in an age where so many occupations—from cinema to the classroom—turn a wary eye towards artificial intelligence, it is important to remember that living, breathing umpires continue to be remarkable arbiters of our great sport. I sincerely hope that ABS provides them a helping hand rather than pushes them off the diamond.

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Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/general...accuracy-2015-2025-artificial-intelligence-ai
 
Rival Roundup, Vol. 69: No Title Needed

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Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/general/49750/rival-roundup-vol-69-no-title-needed
 
Little Nicky Punto, manager?

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According to The Athletic, the Twins have talked to famed SLUGGGRRR Nick Punto about the Twins’ open managerial position. Among various other folks. Punto’s currently an infield coach for the Padres; he’s originally from Southern California. (Oddly, his career OBP and SLG are both .323).

Now, in a way, I don’t really care who they hire as a manager. There’s a few Sparky Andersons and Terry Franconas in baseball history, who really add something to their teams. There’s a few buttheads like Larry Bowa, who detract from their teams. (Billy Martin made a career out of firing teams up for about one season, then making everybody hate him and getting fired.) The vast majority of managers are somewhere in between.

Besides, no matter who “manages” the Twins, the manager will be Derek Falvey. He will tell the manager what formula to use in every situation of every game, and the manager will be expected to follow that formula rigidly.

Basically, whoever manages the Twins, since Falvey took over, is a placeholder to be fired when the team loses, usually because of the roster that Falvey gave it.

So, in a larger sense, it doesn’t matter if the Twins hire Punto, or any of the other candidates they might be interested in, or use a chatbot.

But Punto would be the most fun. Like Bill Parker at OverTheMonster put it, “Following Punto is in turns terribly fun and awesomely infuriating, but it’s never remotely dull.” So: what could we expect with Punto?

First things first: every player is now required to dive into first base. Never mind that this makes you slower getting to first. It feels like you’re FLYING! Flying is fun!

The new clubhouse celebration isn’t some funny hat; it’s Nick Punto coming up behind you and ripping your clothes off. Seriously — one time, when the Twins were celebrating clinching the division, Punto’s wife Natalie accidentally caught hold of his shirt and it came off, and everyone found it funny. So Punto adopted the alter ego “The Shredder” and went around ripping teammates’ shirts off. He’d even do it on plane flights. But did they look as good as this guy?

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Did all his teammates like it? Who knows. Maybe that’s the reason for this rule: whenever broadcaster Justin Morneau is interviewing Punto, players are allowed to take a punch at Morneau, miss, and hit Punto instead.

Not managerial-related, but, in Roger Clemens style, all Punto’s kids have names that represent his “G” attributes; Grit, Gristle, Gumption, Guts, and Getting After It.

And of course, we must summon the Blog Ghost of BatGirl (the blog is dead, but the author is not, here’s the webpage for her books), and witness the return of Little Nicky Punto (LNP), Tiny Superhero.

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LNP can squeeze into places that others cannot. Here he is saving a nice old lady’s quarter that she dropped in a sidewalk grate:

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BatGirl would also write about how Punto’s head was swollen by his ginormous one year, $.325 million contract, with Joe Mauer saying “You f—— call those hits? You just keep dinking the ball and running around the basepaths like your a** is on fire! What do you think you are, a piranha or something?”

And then there’s BatGirl’s Lego version of a benches-clearing brawl, titled “Twins v. Bitch Sox, the Brawl: a Reenactment.” SEE how far Morneau can throw Paul Konerko! Definitely a classic.

The site was lost to the world for awhile, but apparently enough people asked for it back, and so it has returned, in archive-only fashion. Go have a peek sometime during a rain delay or whenever you want something to poke around in. Look down at the lower left-hand side of the front page, and count the number of independent Twins blogs there were! 33 listed! The glory days of blogging, folks. This site got its start because of stuff like BatGirl out there, before everything was written A) by bot or B) by somebody who’s getting $5 for every 5000 page views, the way so many crappy blogs are, now.

Oh, and one more thing manager Nick Punto will bring us; his legendary walkup music. Some players like big-sounding songs; some like songs you can dance to; I remember one Twin had a G-rated version of a song called “Pu**y Poppin’.” So what was Nick Punto’s walkup song?

Phil Collins’ “In The Air Tonight.”

When heck, as Grantland’s Jordan Carr pointed out, Nick Punto already HAD his own song! From a thing called the Minnesota Sports Band. It is, well, unpolished:

There you go. There’s all the reasons that LNP should be the Twins’ manager. If you have reasons against, leave them in the comments. But don’t be surprised if a tiny superhero shows up and wreaks havoc with ya.
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Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/breakfast-baseball/49716/little-nicky-punto-manager
 
Monday Morning Minnesota: The “Money Buys World Series Appearances” Edition

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The Dodgers have punched their ticket to the World Series and await the winner of Game 7 between the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners tonight. Despite having the best record in the majors this season, the Milwaukee Brewers could not overcome the pitching prowess of the Dodgers, with their four starters of Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and Shohei Ohtani giving up a combined two earned runs and 35 strikeouts. Ohtani also continued to rewrite the record books, with three homers in addition to his six shutout innings in Game 4 to send the Brewers home.

The ALCS has been a much more back-and-forth affair, with the road team winning the first four games. It’s been more of a slugfest between the two teams, rather than shutdown pitching, with the Mariners hitting 12 homers and the Blue Jays having 10 homers. Game 7 will feature George Kirby pitching at home against Shane Bieber.

The Past Week on Twinkie Town:


Elsewhere in Twins Territory:


In the World of Baseball:

  • According to reporter Joon Lee, the Dodgers have already made back the entirety of Shohei Ohtani’s $700 million contract just from ticket sales, marketing deals, and merchandise.
  • Per Jeff Passan and Pete Thamel at ESPN, the San Francisco Giants plan to fill their vacant managerial position with University of Tennessee coach Tony Vitelo. Vitelo led the Volunteers to the College World Series title in 2024, but has never worked in the pros.
  • Jomboy breaks down Max Scherzer’s less-than-cordial response to John Schneider’s mound visit in Game 4 of the ALCS.
  • Even in a losing effort, the Brewers, and more specifically Sal Frelick, pulled off an 8-6-2 double play that may never be replicated.
  • Also, in case you were wondering, the Mariners have $164 million payroll while the Blue Jays have a $225 million payroll. The Mariners rank 15th and the Blue Jays rank 5th in the majors in total payroll.
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Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/general...e-money-buys-world-series-appearances-edition
 
If I ran the zoo—a return to relevance plan for 2026

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“But if I ran the zoo…I’d make a few changes…that’s just what I’d do”
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The last two months of the 2025 Twins season produced some of the most painful-to-watch baseball this side of 2011-2014 & 2016—if not the That Which Shall Not Be Named late-1990s.

Assuming that no major reinforcements are on the way, I present to you my five-step plan for playing relevant baseball in 2026.

Step 1: Keep Pablo Days & the Joe Ryan Experience​

  • I honestly do not see a path to relevance should one—or especially—both of these star players be salary-dumped (see: Carlos Correa) by the Pohlad ownership group.
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Step 2: Lean into SP​

  • With Pablo & Joe remaining in the fold, one can dream on them fronting a rotation with Bailey Ober, Zebby Matthews, & Simeon Woods-Richardson. All of those hurlers should now be past the babying stage, so give them a little more rope. Doesn’t mean they have to go third-time-through every turn or grind through 120 pitches. But when that last out or two is necessary, maybe lean on them a bit instead of a bullpen that will be chewing gum and baling wire for some time.

Step 3: Get serious about defense​

  • In keeping with steps 1 & 2, what’s the best way to help a pitching-forward approach? Solid defense. I’m thinking of this more organizationally than player-over-player. Rocco Baldelli’s clubs never seemed all that concerned about defense (flexibility being further up on his totem pole), so perhaps this can be a new managerial-led emphasis.
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Step 4: Keep running​

  • In Rocco’s defense, he did turn a slog of a team into a well-oiled running machine at the end of ‘25. Let’s continue that approach even with a new skipper. If too many caught-stealings are the result, well then at least it’ll be known that end-of-‘25 was more apathy-driven from opposing clubs. Plus, presumably a defensive-oriented club is going to struggle scoring runs, so plate-touches may need to be manufactured.
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Step 5: No more bunting excuses​

  • Everyone on a major league roster should be able to drop down a bunt. Many will laugh and think “oh that Zach and his bunting”, but I’m serious. It may not always work out—it may pop up or roll foul. That’s baseball. But I don’t want to hear the old broadcaster refrain of “this guy hasn’t dropped down a sac bunt since playing Pony League ball as a 12-year old”. Everyone needs a basic understanding of how to square.
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None of these steps preclude the “usual suspects” of bullpen-building and hitting/power development. But instead of riding slim pen percentages and swinging for the fences to try and override the “little stuff”, I’d like to see this team solid on the fundamentals and then build from there.
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Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/minneso...lads-defense-bunting-baserunning-stolen-bases
 
North Star Stature Showdown, Game 1: Cottoning on

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Turns out Nash played some basketball when not hammering simulated baseballs into space. Who knew? | Malcolm Emmons/Imagn Images
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Before looking for a featured image for this writeup, I hadn’t realized Cotton Nash was also a professional basketball player. He only played two seasons, but perhaps that height advantage gives him an edge in Out of the Park as well. (…nah.)

Regardless of what it was, Nash’s home run and Scott Stahoviak’s 3-4 game led the Tall Tales to an easy 11-5 win over the Short Stories to take the opener in the Stature Showdown.

Jackie Collum, the shortest of the Stories’ moundsmen (5’7”), did not make it out of the fourth inning after getting rocked for four in the third. Joe Mauer started a string of four consecutive hits (the fourth a Nash two-run double) that brought home a trio; Nash later capped the frame’s scoring by coming across on a Mike Poepping fly ball.

After the Tales loaded the bases with one out in the fourth, Bobby Castillo entered out of the bullpen and got the final two outs, but he was finally hammered by Tall bats in the sixth. Again, the heart of the order (Mauer, Dave Winfield, Stahoviak, and Nash) set up the scoring, but Walt Bond ended up with the ribbies upon singling a pair home.

Meanwhile, Michael Pineda made rapid work of Story lumber, allowing just four hits and one run across seven innings. The sole run he allowed came on a Quinton McCracken fielder’s choice with the bases loaded.

The top of the eighth saw Nash tag Ronny Henriquez for a solo dinger that barely cleared the right field wall, extending the Tales’ lead to 8-1 and setting things up for the bullpen. The Stories got two runs off Dan Naulty in the eighth and two more off Alex Meyer in the ninth, but they were unable to close the gap—a gap that had widened on Stahoviak’s bases-clearing double in the top of the ninth.

The Tales’ Game 1 win sets them up with an early advantage as they send Mike Smithson to the mound for the sequel; Lee Stange will counter for the Stories.
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Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/general...on-cotton-nash-scott-stahoviak-michael-pineda
 
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