Misplaced blame

Another Twins game, another Twins loss, another Twins
injury: Jason Repko left Sunday's game after being hit
in the head by a Justin Masterson pitch.

The Twins found a fresh way Sunday to extend their losing streak (now at eight games). Instead of having their starting pitcher get shelled early, they took a 3-0 lead into the seventh and then imploded.

I got some sour amusement out of listening to Dick Bremer try to put the six-run seventh off to bad luck. On the assumption that most of you were watching the Vikings, here's how it went down:

Shelley Duncan homered. 3-1 Twins.
Lonnie Chisenhall reached on an error by first baseman Chris Parmalee.
Jason Donald flied to right.
Ezequiel Carerra grounded into a force play (Twins unable to get two on a grounder back to the mound).
Lou Marson singled; first and third,
Kosuke Fukodome walked. Bases loaded.
Jose Mijares relieved Carl Pavano.
Jason Kipnis walked; Carrera scored; 3-2 Twins.
Alex Burnett relieved Mijares.
Carlos Santana walks; Marson scored; tied at 3.
Glen Perkins relieved Burnett.
Jim Thome broke his bat, beat out an infield single, Fukodome scored. 4-3, Cleveland.
Duncan doubled to left;  Kipnis and Santana scored, 6-3 Cleveland.
Chisenhall grounded to second.

You go through that mess, and what at-bats jump out at you? Parmalee's error; the failed DP ball; the bases loaded walks by Mijares and Burnett, the bullpen's one-out specialists.

What jumped out at Bremer? Thome's broken-bat infield hit.

Look, that was just bad luck. Perkins did his job; the infielders were playing Thome where they're supposed to play him. The error, the uncompleted DP, the bases loaded walks — those were bad plays. By the time Thome came up the lead was gone. Had the Twins made the plays in the field, Pavano finishes the seventh with a 3-1 lead. Had Mijares or Burnett performed their speciality jobs, the inning ends before Thome's at-bat with the Twins in the lead.

To call Thome's fluke hit the key at-bat of the inning, as Bremer did repeatedly, is to twist the actual event beyond recognition.

A reader goes to Cooperstown

In the week leading to Bert Blyleven's Hall of Fame induction, I put out two calls (one in the print column, one in the blog) looking for readers who were going to the ceremonies in Cooperstown, N.Y., my idea being that I would stitch their tales together for a print column.

The Salge family outside the Hall of Fame entrance.

I heard from two. One was a retired gentleman from Hanska who was talking about making a road trip out there; his plan was sufficiently vague as not to be a plan (he asked me about the hotels in Cooperstown, and I had to tell him there isn't a lot there and what is there was spoken for long ago). If he made it out there, I haven't heard from him.

The other ...

Tara Salge and her husband grew up in Blue Earth County (one in Mapleton, the other in Good Thunder) and now live in Buffalo, N.Y., where they have apparently managed to resist the proximity of the Toronto Blue Jays and the gravitational pull of the Yankees to remain Twins fans.

Buffalo sounds close to Cooperstown, and it is closer than southern Minnesota, but in truth nothing is really in proximity to Cooperstown. In her first email she said it was a four-hour trip, and they hadn't been to the Hall of Fame before, but Blyleven's induction was the perfect excuse.

From there, I'll let Tara tell it, with a little editing:

I just wanted to touch base with you on our trip to Cooperstown. What a great sight to see! 

Saturday evening there was a parade with some of the past Hall of Fame inductees. Crowds lined Main Street in Cooperstown as the players made their way to the Hall of Fame Museum. Everyone was so excited to see some of their favorite players from the past. There were people of all ages, from all over the U.S. and Canada. I was proud to see such a large number of Twins fans there to cheer on Bert! 

We went into the Hall of Fame museum before the ceremony on Sunday. On our way in a gentleman held the door for us and I realized it was Dick Bremer there with his family. We didn't say anything at the time, but said thank you and went on our way. Once we got to Clarks Sports Complex and settled on a spot to the right of the stage, numerous people were already there with their chairs and blankets set up. It really was just an open field! 

Dick Bremer and Tara Salge

We talked to a man in front of us from San Antonio; he said he used to live in Minneapolis. I told him of our experience that morning with Dick Bremer, expecting him to ask who that was, and he told us that he and Dick are best friends and they were each other's best men in their weddings. He was even Dick's daughter's godfather! Before we knew it, he was on the phone with Dick and he made his way over towards us. So even though we didn't get close to Bert, I got my picture taken with his sidekick, Dick Bremer. He was also so excited to be there sharing the experience with his son. 

Maxwell in his Twins overall.

I found the atmosphere to be so great. There were people wearing shirts with all of the different teams, but there were no rivalries for the weekend. It was full of people who love the game of baseball and came to show support for their favorite team and player! My husband said that even though our son, Maxwell, age 16 months, won't remember the experience, there is something special about sharing the Hall of Fame experience with your son.

In Bert's speech, he said that all of us Twins fans there were hearby circled. I saw some fans had a big sign held up saying "Bert, we now circle you." Congrats to Bert and a great Hall of Fame experience!

Roy Oswalt vs. Joe Mays

I about gagged Friday evening when I heard Dick Bremer seriously suggest that Roy Oswalt is a comparable pitcher to Joe Mays, formerly of the Twins.

Let's see: They're both "small" right-handers, and they use first names of three letters, the second being "o." Beyond that .. not so much.

Roy Oswalt, in his ninth season, has a lifetime record of 132-68 after Friday's loss to the Twins, a career ERA of 3.20 and two 20-win seasons. He's been in double digits in wins each of his first eight seasons. He's been on three All-Star teams, finished in the top four in the Cy Young voting four times. He's led the National League in wins, in ERA, in winning percentage, in starts.

Joe Mays' career ended after seven major league seasons, several of them partial seasons, with a won-loss record of 48-70 and an ERA of 5.05. His best year, 2001, isn't close to Oswalt's best three.

Reason No. 1 Roy Oswalt is a better pitcher than Joe Mays ever was: Oswalt misses bats. Oswalt has, over his career, struck out 7.4 men per nine innings; Mays, 4.6. Reason No. 2: Mays missed the plate. Mays averaged 3.0 walks per nine innings; Oswalt, 2.1.

Bert Blyleven's comp of Bret Saberhagen is more accurate — the difference between Oswalt and Sabes may well be that Oswalt's managers didn't abuse him during his early 20s, as Saberhagen's did.

Declaring Oswalt and Mays to be equivalent pitchers is an insult to Oswalt — or a sign of mindless blather.