LATEST STORIES FROM BUGS & CRANKS
Game 1: That Cliff Lee Has Some Talent
October 07, 2009 by
Bugs & Cranks
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Random thoughts/ramblings/game notes on today’s Phillies game:
-I’ve always thought one of the hard quirks of the MLB playoffs is how quickly and aburptly it can all be over. Take the Phillies in 2007. They battled through 162 games, completing that miracle comeback to...
Seth McClung will Topple your Cable TV Empire
October 07, 2009 by
Bugs & Cranks
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Seth McClung is a man of principle.
Whether sending a message to a showboating Albert Pujols with a high 90s fastball to the spine or Web blasting his local cable television provider’s less-than-savoury customer service - “Big Red” isn’t afraid to let those...
Rockies Lack Gusto In Game 1
October 07, 2009 by
Bugs & Cranks
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The weather in Philadelphia, however, did not. Damn that crap was nasty.
When I saw the flags doing that during pre-game, I predicted there would be at least two Brad Hawpe misplays in right field. Hawpe obliged with one. But it’s Carlos Gonzalez who stole Hawpe’...
Getting to Know the L.A. Dodgers… a Bit Late
October 07, 2009 by
Bugs & Cranks
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If you rely on the likes of Bugs & Cranks to keep you up to date on news and views regarding the Los Angeles Dodgers, allow me to be the first to offer an apology. With writers primarily based on the East coast and three of us (myself included) residing in the Midwest, the Dodgers...
Hope for the Best, Expect the Pavano
October 07, 2009 by
Bugs & Cranks
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That Twins-Tigers playoff was terrific, a true instant classic. And so of course I want to examine it from what is, I’m sure you’ll all agree, the only angle that matters: What does this mean for the Yankees?
The Twins have long been my second-favorite AL team, and I was pulling...
Boston radio didn’t have the game, and I didn’t care
October 07, 2009 by
Bugs & Cranks
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Is ESPN Radio gone from Boston? Did it just move from 890 AM? Is that what happened when ‘BCN kicked the bucket? Whatever the case, when it came time to do an errand in my car last night and I wanted to listen to the game, I couldn’t. WEEI had the usual gang complaining...
How To Beat The Phillies
October 07, 2009 by
Bugs & Cranks
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In three easy steps!
1. Don’t let Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth or Raul Ibanez beat you
That’s all.
I know that doesn’t sound like much to ask of your pitching staff, but if you can just hold all those guys in check, you’...
Twins Baseball in the Bronx? Bring it On!
October 07, 2009 by
Bugs & Cranks
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Minnesota embarks on the Bronx less than 21 hours after playing in perhaps the most emotionally exhausting, non-playoff game in franchise history.
The Twins went winless against the Yankees on the season (0-7) including three losses of the walk-off variety in what Twins television...
Epic
October 07, 2009 by
Bugs & Cranks
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It was a game worthy of its reward.
Two flawed teams squared off for the right to call themselves champion of a flawed division, but the result of that match-up, which played itself out over four hours and 37 minutes of equally excruciating and exhilarating baseball, was flawless...
A brand new Bug. And a postseason plan.
October 06, 2009 by
Bugs & Cranks
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Just in time for the 2009 postseason, Bugs&Cranks welcomes a new writer.
Emma Span has written for all kinds of publications we’ve actually heard of. Like, print stuff. She writes about New York baseball on her own blog Eephus Pitch. And she Yankeefies regularly at BronxBanter...
In the End, There Can Be Only One
October 06, 2009 by
Bugs & Cranks
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It has become something of a tradition in Twins Territory, a 163rd game to determine the American League Central division title.
A year ago, Minnesota traveled to Comiskey and lost a 1-0 heart-breaker to the White Sox in a one-game playoff, but this year, the Twins play host to...
I Like Angry Todd
October 06, 2009 by
Bugs & Cranks
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Todd Helton had an angry, but completely accurate response for Fanhouse’s Jeff Fletcher when asked how he felt about Colorado’s 2007 season being labeled a fluke by numerous baseball “experts” and bloggers.
“Are you gonna say anytime anyone goes to the...
Fifteen Faces Of October: The DRT Playoff Preview
October 05, 2009 by
Bugs & Cranks
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With the game’s marquee team noticeably absent, this year’s MLB playoffs are virtually guaranteed to be a ratings disaster. There’s a palpable death of anticipation and excitement that’s almost reminiscent of 2007’s infamous Worst NLCS Ever.
And yet...
Miguel Cabrera: I got ripped in one night!
October 05, 2009 by
Bugs & Cranks
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As the season drew to an end and the Detroit Tigers threatened to blow a first-place lead they’d held since May, Miguel Cabrera did what any right thinking pro athlete would do - he got stinking drunk with the other team, came home, roughed up his wife and got carted away by...
The Proliferation Of The One-Game-Playoff
October 05, 2009 by
Bugs & Cranks
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There were a multitude of reasons Major League Baseball expanded to eight playoff teams in 1994 (most of which involved money). However, the one most often cited was that it would keep more teams competitive later into the season. And how.
Tomorrow night’s elimination game...
That was the season that was
October 05, 2009 by
Bugs & Cranks
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Well, thanks to the Twins for making it interesting down the stretch. Bonus baseball again! Also, it leaves the Yankees unsure who they’re playing in the first round, which seems good. Also, whichever teams comes out of Tuesday’s Battle for the Midwest is going to have...
Trembley Replacement Trek
October 05, 2009 by
Bugs & Cranks
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Last night B&C’s own J. Jonah Smithwicks broke the shocking news that Baltimore Orioles manager Dave Trembley would be back managing the team in 2010.
Today, thanks to the crack investigative reporting you’ve come to expect from us, the inexplicable has become somewhat...
And The Rockies Season Comes Down To…
October 05, 2009 by
Bugs & Cranks
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Jorge De La Rosa’s groin.
Bet nobody predicted that one.
Is there ever a good time to strain your groin?
Of course not.
But for the love of God, why now? Why four days before the NLDS against a Philadelphia line-up loaded with left-handed bats when you’re the only left...
Not Ready to Say Goodbye
October 05, 2009 by
Bugs & Cranks
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Sunday afternoon was supposed to represent Minnesota’s goodbye to the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, but it represented so much more.
It represented a team that has lost its clean-up hitter and an MVP-winner (Justin Morneau), but still does not comprehend the meaning of...
Ode to Dan Barreiro
October 05, 2009 by
Bugs & Cranks
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After the Minnesota Twins clinched the American League pennant at Tiger Stadium in 1987, Barreiro penned a short piece for the Minneapolis Star Tribune titled Who Would Have Believed It?
22 years later, in honor of Mr. Barreiro, here are 20 memorable moments in the incredible run of...
Braves By Proxy
October 04, 2009 by
Bugs & Cranks
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As the curtain drops on another — yet another — post-season that won’t include my Braves, I find myself looking for a substitute. In the heyday of my twenties and early thirties (insofar as what I did with those years qualifies as a ‘heyday’), Atlanta...
Andy Smith Enjoys Crying
October 04, 2009 by
Bugs & Cranks
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I can remember crying after a sporting event maybe two or three times. There was definitely the Super Bowl XVIII loss to the Raiders. I may have started to cry or just felt like it when the Broncos went up 10-0 in Super Bowl XXII, but that went away fast when Doug Williams started...
Turns out I was wrong.
October 04, 2009 by
Bugs & Cranks
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See you in the spring, Dave.
I wouldn’t have bet a nickel that Dave Trembley would still have a job when Sunday evening rolled around.
Everything pointed to a pink slip for the Orioles manager. His boss Andy MacPhail made it clear that he was very much not OK with another second...
Sox getting a head start at winning in October
October 04, 2009 by
Bugs & Cranks
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The Sox are 3-0 in October, which means they head to the next round, right?
Man, is there any time time in the baseball more happy (and useless) than right now? The Red Sox have already clinched a playoff berth, nailing down the the wildcard and no longer contending for the division...
Not Going Anywhere
October 02, 2009 by
Bugs & Cranks
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They just won't go away!
Every so often, a team can revel in the fact that they would not allow another team to celebrate a championship in front of them.
And the Twins are that team.
Minnesota is also a club that takes that premise a step further, as well.
However unlikely,...
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