I’d heard about Sidney Ponson’s history, about the jail time in Aruba and the DUI arrests. Like a lot of people, maybe most people, I figured Ponson must be a bad guy, a spoiled athlete with no respect for anyone else.
I’m happy to say, I was wrong about Ponson. Which is why I’m not happy he’s gone.
Other teams, other cities had problems with the 30-year-old pitcher, but he was a unique presence in the Twins’ clubhouse. Between starts, he was just a guy who liked to have a good time -- yeah, it’s not hard to see how he got into trouble back when he equated “fun” with “drinking” -- and he liked to entertain others, too.
As Ron Gardenhire said yesterday, “We had a ball with him. He was loud at times, which was fun.”
The only time he wasn’t trying to make people laugh was after poor pitching performances, when he clearly was angry with himself. But even then, he stood up and answered questions, never ducking responsibility for the losses. It’s too bad that he never harnessed his talent enough to stay in the rotation, because you could see how much he wanted to pitch well.
Here’s hoping Ponson figures out what he’s doing wrong. Because for all the trouble he’s caused, and despite the reputation that dogs him still, he really seems like a good guy at heart.
-- Phil Miller
Monday, May 14, 2007
Friday, May 11, 2007
Lew's Back, but Where's Gardy?
There’s a new face on the Twins’ bench tonight, and a familiar one missing.
Lew Ford has reported to the Twins, fresh off 10 days in Rochester, and he’ll be available for pinch-hitting duty. Josh Rabe, who said his right shoulder has been bothering him, was placed on the 15-day disabled list to make room.
Rabe’s injury is not considered serious, though it has affected his throwing, and will require a shot to help heal. That would keep him out of action for three or four days, not two weeks -- “but we don’t have four days right now,” manager Ron Gardenhire said.
Speaking of Gardenhire, he made that comment with his left leg propped up on his desk. The manager had his left knee operated on Friday morning, to clean up a couple decades of wear and tear. He arrived at the Metrodome around 5 p.m. and was ferried to his office in a golf cart. He won’t be in the dugout tonight -- four flights of stairs between the clubhouse and the field make that impractical -- but will be in communication with his coaches while he watches on TV from his office.
-- Phil Miller
Lew Ford has reported to the Twins, fresh off 10 days in Rochester, and he’ll be available for pinch-hitting duty. Josh Rabe, who said his right shoulder has been bothering him, was placed on the 15-day disabled list to make room.
Rabe’s injury is not considered serious, though it has affected his throwing, and will require a shot to help heal. That would keep him out of action for three or four days, not two weeks -- “but we don’t have four days right now,” manager Ron Gardenhire said.
Speaking of Gardenhire, he made that comment with his left leg propped up on his desk. The manager had his left knee operated on Friday morning, to clean up a couple decades of wear and tear. He arrived at the Metrodome around 5 p.m. and was ferried to his office in a golf cart. He won’t be in the dugout tonight -- four flights of stairs between the clubhouse and the field make that impractical -- but will be in communication with his coaches while he watches on TV from his office.
-- Phil Miller
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Options Aren't Optional
Ron Gardenhire feels a little restrained right now, and he doesn’t like it. He kept talking about “options” before Thursday’s game, and how he doesn’t have many. And for a major-league manager, that’s not a good thing.
The bench was never especially deep to begin with, but Mike Redmond has essentially been a regular for a month, even before Joe Mauer got hurt. Jason Tyner was supposed to be a plug-in guy, filling in all over to give people rest, but he’s played 23 of 33 games.
Meanwhile, Luis Rodriguez is hitting .171 and Josh Rabe is at .194. Chris Heintz is the second-string catcher, and Gardenhire is leery of using both catchers.
So he has no options. And it must feel like wearing a straightjacket on the bench.
“Right now, pickings off the bench is pretty tough,” he admitted before another shutout on Thursday. “Come off the bench and get a hit -- we don’t have guys used to that stuff.”
The manager knows that help from outside the organization is unlikely, and that’s why he is so eager to bring Lew Ford back to the big leagues. Ford hit only .226 last year, and the chances of him reclaiming his usefulness has to be considered only moderate.
But Gardenhire at least wants the option. Other than runs, it’s what he wants more than anything these days.
-- Phil Miller
The bench was never especially deep to begin with, but Mike Redmond has essentially been a regular for a month, even before Joe Mauer got hurt. Jason Tyner was supposed to be a plug-in guy, filling in all over to give people rest, but he’s played 23 of 33 games.
Meanwhile, Luis Rodriguez is hitting .171 and Josh Rabe is at .194. Chris Heintz is the second-string catcher, and Gardenhire is leery of using both catchers.
So he has no options. And it must feel like wearing a straightjacket on the bench.
“Right now, pickings off the bench is pretty tough,” he admitted before another shutout on Thursday. “Come off the bench and get a hit -- we don’t have guys used to that stuff.”
The manager knows that help from outside the organization is unlikely, and that’s why he is so eager to bring Lew Ford back to the big leagues. Ford hit only .226 last year, and the chances of him reclaiming his usefulness has to be considered only moderate.
But Gardenhire at least wants the option. Other than runs, it’s what he wants more than anything these days.
-- Phil Miller
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
The Quote Machine
Ozzie Guillen’s answer to the first question I ever asked him gave me a pretty good idea of what a unique person he is. He went on for two and a half, maybe three minutes, exploring various tangents, recounting a minor-league homer he once hit in Salt Lake City, talking about how you can teach various skills but you can’t teach heart, and discussing the physics of baseball at high altitude.
Great answer. Very quotable. It’s especially remarkable, though, when you know my question:
“Excuse me, Ozzie. Got a minute?”
That encounter was two seasons ago, but I’m happy to report that the stream of consciousness hasn’t slowed a bit. Guillen’s pregame media sessions are more like performance art, with a 20-person audience. Give him a question -- or even a three-word phrase -- and stand back. He is forceful, candid, and as entertaining as David Letterman. He uses his hands (or a bat) for emphasis. He poses questions to himself, he grows angry and then amused as he speaks, and he is capable of shocking you with his frankness. (He also works a little blue, if you know what I mean.)
Take his answer on Tuesday to a question about teams that are responding to the death of Josh Hancock by banning alcohol from their clubhouses. Guillen said he had no plans to do so, though if ordered to, he would. And why won’t he initiate a ban? (He answered without being asked, naturally.) Because, he said, Josh Hancock wasn’t drinking in the clubhouse. Very few players do. And to make a knee-jerk reaction that has very little actual effect “makes it look like we feel guilty about something. And I don’t feel guilty about anything.”
Whether you agree or not, just hearing such honesty in an era of carefully chosen, say-nothing quotes makes you appreciate the guy. Yeah, he has some opinions that aren’t admirable. But purely in the service of battling blandness, Guillen holding court is a show worth seeing.
-- Phil Miller
Great answer. Very quotable. It’s especially remarkable, though, when you know my question:
“Excuse me, Ozzie. Got a minute?”
That encounter was two seasons ago, but I’m happy to report that the stream of consciousness hasn’t slowed a bit. Guillen’s pregame media sessions are more like performance art, with a 20-person audience. Give him a question -- or even a three-word phrase -- and stand back. He is forceful, candid, and as entertaining as David Letterman. He uses his hands (or a bat) for emphasis. He poses questions to himself, he grows angry and then amused as he speaks, and he is capable of shocking you with his frankness. (He also works a little blue, if you know what I mean.)
Take his answer on Tuesday to a question about teams that are responding to the death of Josh Hancock by banning alcohol from their clubhouses. Guillen said he had no plans to do so, though if ordered to, he would. And why won’t he initiate a ban? (He answered without being asked, naturally.) Because, he said, Josh Hancock wasn’t drinking in the clubhouse. Very few players do. And to make a knee-jerk reaction that has very little actual effect “makes it look like we feel guilty about something. And I don’t feel guilty about anything.”
Whether you agree or not, just hearing such honesty in an era of carefully chosen, say-nothing quotes makes you appreciate the guy. Yeah, he has some opinions that aren’t admirable. But purely in the service of battling blandness, Guillen holding court is a show worth seeing.
-- Phil Miller
Friday, April 27, 2007
Mauer resting
Fresh off his game-winning hit Thursday, Mike Redmond has been promoted, at least for one night, in the Twins’ lineup. Redmond will bat third against the Tigers, giving regular catcher Joe Mauer a night off. A frigid, overcast night off.
“With a day game tomorrow, he was going to take one of them off, and this is a tough matchup,” Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said, referring to Tigers left-handed starter Nate Robertson. “If I’m going to give him a break, I’m going to give him a break against a tough lefty.”
Gardenhire said Mauer has felt a twinge of soreness in his upper leg, the result of either catching or filling the DH role since April 15. Mauer, though, said he feels fine -- it’s the manager’s call to make.
Jim Leyland made a similar call in the Detroit dugout, choosing to keep Ivan Rodriguez on the bench for Game 1 of this three-game set.
Gardenhire also decided to bench rookie Alexi Casilla for a night, figuring that, when playing such a tough opponent as the A.L. champions in their home park, “he might get a little overwhelmed.” Better to let him get used to his surroundings, Gardenhire said, by watching for one night.
Those changes make tonight’s lineup an unusual one, with Nick Punto moving into the leadoff spot. But at least Torii Hunter -- or “Mushmouth,” as Derek Jeter nicknamed him after he was beaned in the face on Thursday -- decided he can play despite some lingering swelling and soreness. The lineups:
TWINS
Punto 3b
Rodriguez 2b
Redmond c
Cuddyer rf
Morneau 1b
Hunter cf
Rabe dh
Kubel lf
Bartlett ss
Ortiz p
TIGERS
Granderson cf
Polanco 2b
Sheffield dh
Ordonez rf
Guillen ss
Casey 1b
Monroe lf
Rabelo c
Inge 3b
Robertson p
“With a day game tomorrow, he was going to take one of them off, and this is a tough matchup,” Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said, referring to Tigers left-handed starter Nate Robertson. “If I’m going to give him a break, I’m going to give him a break against a tough lefty.”
Gardenhire said Mauer has felt a twinge of soreness in his upper leg, the result of either catching or filling the DH role since April 15. Mauer, though, said he feels fine -- it’s the manager’s call to make.
Jim Leyland made a similar call in the Detroit dugout, choosing to keep Ivan Rodriguez on the bench for Game 1 of this three-game set.
Gardenhire also decided to bench rookie Alexi Casilla for a night, figuring that, when playing such a tough opponent as the A.L. champions in their home park, “he might get a little overwhelmed.” Better to let him get used to his surroundings, Gardenhire said, by watching for one night.
Those changes make tonight’s lineup an unusual one, with Nick Punto moving into the leadoff spot. But at least Torii Hunter -- or “Mushmouth,” as Derek Jeter nicknamed him after he was beaned in the face on Thursday -- decided he can play despite some lingering swelling and soreness. The lineups:
TWINS
Punto 3b
Rodriguez 2b
Redmond c
Cuddyer rf
Morneau 1b
Hunter cf
Rabe dh
Kubel lf
Bartlett ss
Ortiz p
TIGERS
Granderson cf
Polanco 2b
Sheffield dh
Ordonez rf
Guillen ss
Casey 1b
Monroe lf
Rabelo c
Inge 3b
Robertson p
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Hunter hit in jaw by pitch
Torii Hunter went to Abbott Northwestern Hospital during Thursday’s game with the Royals, after being hit in the jaw by a Zack Greinke pitch in the second inning.
Hunter tried to turn away from the high-and-tight pitch, but the ball struck him squarely in the face, knocking him to the ground. Hunter jumped up, flipped off his helmet and took two quick steps toward Greinke. But he either thought better of the impulse to charge the mound, or was overcome by pain, because the Twins’ center fielder immediately stopped, then knelt, then laid back on the turf.
Hunter was spitting blood as the athletic trainer attended to him, and Jason Tyner pinch-ran for him. Two batters later, Jason Bartlett was hit by another pitch, setting off a loud round of boos from the crowd. But a double play quickly ended the inning.
Hunter needed three stitches on the inside of his lip to halt the bleeding. The Twins won't know until Friday whether their center fielder will be available to play in Detroit.
-- Phil Miller
Hunter tried to turn away from the high-and-tight pitch, but the ball struck him squarely in the face, knocking him to the ground. Hunter jumped up, flipped off his helmet and took two quick steps toward Greinke. But he either thought better of the impulse to charge the mound, or was overcome by pain, because the Twins’ center fielder immediately stopped, then knelt, then laid back on the turf.
Hunter was spitting blood as the athletic trainer attended to him, and Jason Tyner pinch-ran for him. Two batters later, Jason Bartlett was hit by another pitch, setting off a loud round of boos from the crowd. But a double play quickly ended the inning.
Hunter needed three stitches on the inside of his lip to halt the bleeding. The Twins won't know until Friday whether their center fielder will be available to play in Detroit.
-- Phil Miller
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
White suffers setback; Wild join BP
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said Rondell White felt his calf pop while running in the outfield this afternoon. He doesn't know yet if that means White reinjured his calf or not.
Jeff Cirillo ran the bases today and Gardenhire said the infielder wouldn't necessarily need a rehab stint before rejoining the team. Luis Castillo continues to improve but Gardenhire had no timetable for his return.
The four bottles of champagne that have caused Torii Hunter so much trouble were returned today. Hunter ran by Gardenhire while the manager was talking to reporters and said, "Gardy, the champagne's back. Want to drink it tonight?"
Gardenhire responded, "Sure, invite (Royals DH Mike) Sweeney."
Five members of the Minnesota Wild -- Mark Parrish, Wes Walz, Nick Schultz, Wyatt Smith and Stephane Veilleux -- joined the Twins for batting practice today at the Metrodome. Bloomington native Parrish hit a home run to left field and Walz displayed decent skills taking grounders at second and short.
With that, lineups.
Minnesota
Alexi Casilla 2B
Nick Punto 3B
Joe Mauer C
Michael Cuddyer RF
Justin Morneau 1B
Torii Hunter CF
Mike Redmond DH
Jason Kubel LF
Jason Bartlett SS
Sidney Ponson P
Kansas City
David DeJesus CF
Esteban German 2B
Mark Teahen RF
Mike Sweeney DH
Ross Gload 1B
Emil Brown LF
Alex Gordon 3B
Jason LaRue C
Tony Pena, Jr. SS
Odalis Perez P
Jeff Cirillo ran the bases today and Gardenhire said the infielder wouldn't necessarily need a rehab stint before rejoining the team. Luis Castillo continues to improve but Gardenhire had no timetable for his return.
The four bottles of champagne that have caused Torii Hunter so much trouble were returned today. Hunter ran by Gardenhire while the manager was talking to reporters and said, "Gardy, the champagne's back. Want to drink it tonight?"
Gardenhire responded, "Sure, invite (Royals DH Mike) Sweeney."
Five members of the Minnesota Wild -- Mark Parrish, Wes Walz, Nick Schultz, Wyatt Smith and Stephane Veilleux -- joined the Twins for batting practice today at the Metrodome. Bloomington native Parrish hit a home run to left field and Walz displayed decent skills taking grounders at second and short.
With that, lineups.
Minnesota
Alexi Casilla 2B
Nick Punto 3B
Joe Mauer C
Michael Cuddyer RF
Justin Morneau 1B
Torii Hunter CF
Mike Redmond DH
Jason Kubel LF
Jason Bartlett SS
Sidney Ponson P
Kansas City
David DeJesus CF
Esteban German 2B
Mark Teahen RF
Mike Sweeney DH
Ross Gload 1B
Emil Brown LF
Alex Gordon 3B
Jason LaRue C
Tony Pena, Jr. SS
Odalis Perez P
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