When I was a wee lad and the Twins were beginning to enter their decade long decline, I felt OK with growing fond of a National League. When all you did was look at the American League, those NL teams were rather exotic, and I liked the idea of becoming more enchanted with one of those teams. For a kid from Minnesota, there was no team more mysterious to me than the Montreal Expos. Throw in their bright red, white and blue color schemes (key for a kindergartner) and an awesome road trip that took the Hennings through Montreal and I was hooked. I always wanted to play the infield, and Tim Wallach soon became my favorite player.

Of course, my friend up the street had a very old version of Strat-O-Matic baseball that his dad had preserved from childhood. We would essentially close our eyes and pick teams, which meant one of us would get Matty or Felipe or Jesus Alou. Having never experienced the Alou era in person, we were stunned that three of them made it to the majors. Then Moises came along, and he was playing for the Expos! He became an instant favorite.

Of course, Alou would eventually move from team to team indiscriminately. He signed with the Marlins, got traded to the Astros, then signed with the Cubs, then the Giants and finally the Mets. He won a ring in 97 with the Marlins and was part of their dismantling effort after the season. He had a late career resurgence playing with Sammy Sosa, which is not at all suspicious. He was also the outfielder famous for the Bartman incident. Oh, and there was the whole thing that he peed on his hands, to “make them tougher”.

Today, Moises is out of the public spotlight, living with his wife, Austria (really!) and kids Percio, Kirby and Moises Jr.

If there is one thing that’s nice about Twins GM Bill Smith, its that he doesn’t share the same worldview as Ron Gardenhire. Terry Ryan definitely did. Ryan often stood pat at the deadline, thinking that Gardy had a good handle on things, in the short term and that a disruption of the pipeline from the minors would be detrimental to the Twins long term. Then the bullpen would fall apart and the Twins would either miss the playoffs or lose in the first round because they couldn’t score any runs.

Now the new GM Smith has proven that, if he doesn’t necessarily agree with Gardy’s philosophies on baseball, he can mitigate some of Gardenhire’s problem areas so it’s not such a disaster. Let’s take a look at three examples from the past year, and what ones might come into play at the deadline this year.

1) Gardenhire often favors defense to the detriment of offense: One of the first things that Smith did when he took over was acquire Delmon Young. Later, Carlos Gomez and his atrocious plate approach was brought in from New York in the Johan Santana trade. Gomez was a speedy, top flight defender, whereas Young was to be one of the top right handed hitters in a lefty heavy lineup. Well, Denard Span emerged as a good center field defender, which sort of ended the need for Gomez’s glove… until Gardy started putting Span in left field and benching Young. Young’s numbers faltered, but he showed he was at his best when he got extended playing time. Over the offseason, Gomez was traded to the Brewers for JJ Hardy, and Young HAS to play every day. On a team with Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, he is leading the squad in batting average and RBI.

Will this factor into the deadline: Probably not

Gardenhire overmanages his bullpen: Matt Guerrier continuously leads the AL in appearances, and most other pitchers come in regularly for an inning or less. All that warming up and entering games drains a player, and that was the case last year (and every year, but Smith was in charge last year), so to stave off the bullpen fatigue, he added Jon Rauch and Ron Mahay, who if nothing else prevented Matt Guerrier’s arm from falling off.

Will this factor into the deadline: It probably will every year, though the Twins haven’t gone to the minors much for pitching help. Still, don’t be surprised if some relief help is added in Minnesota.

In Gardy’s world, a middle infielder will ALWAYS bat 2nd: This is problematic, because even if you take away terrible hitting middle infielders, another one will take his place. Last year with Nick Punto batting 2nd all season, Smith grabbed Orlando Cabrera from the A’s, and he was immediately put into the 2 spot. Over the offseason, he signed Orlando Hudson who has hit 2nd most of the year, keeping Punto at the bottom of the lineup where he belongs. This problem is usually solved with an Orlando.

Will this factor into the deadline: It wouldn’t have, until Hudson went on the DL. Now Alexi Casilla has taken his spot on the field and in the lineup. The trade doesn’t need to be for an elite infielder, just a backup with a high OBP. This is why Ty Wigginton keeps coming up in Twins rumors.

Will the Twins make any deals at the deadline this year? Probably, if only to keep Gardenhire from himself.

[UPDATE] Well, well well… The Twins have done exactly what my theorizing would have suggested, adding depth to their bullpen to prevent an implosion at the hands of Gardenhire. Well done, Smith. Well done. No on to the middle infield…

The Hot Stahoviak has spent a lot of time talking about Houston and Philadelphia, for some reason, so as we are just two days from the trade deadline, it seems appropriate that we deal with a rumor (perhaps a near fact?) that Roy Oswalt is on his way to the Phillies. The only thing holding this deal up, as the money and prospects are pretty well set in stone it sounds, is Oswalt’s approval. This isn’t always a formality, getting a player approval on a trade like this, so let’s remember that this is Philadelphia and highlight some of the reasons things might not work out. Why wouldn’t Oswalt want to go to Philly?

- He would have to go as Roy O. instead of just Roy. Who wants that?

- While he is in favor of vomiting, he does not endorse vomiting on children

- In addition to being far from his native Mississippi geographically, Philadelphia is just far too literate for his tastes

- Doesn’t trust Jimmy Rollins batting behind him. Oswalt needs some pitches to hit!

- Prefers the gold star of the Astros to the blue of the Phillies. Blue stars are for losers.

Ya, it saddens me to admit that 7IS has been scooped by of all things The Late Night With Jimmy Falon website. Well, at least it wasn’t Leno.  But here’s the latest on new Brewers closer John Axford and his Handlebar Mustache from that website, as well as the A.V. Club Milwaukee:

LNWJF:

There’s a new rising star on the mustache scene, who also happens to be a rising star in the world of Major League Baseball. He’s Milwaukee Brewers relief pitcher, John Axford. Lately, John and his super waxed handlebar mustache have been closing out games in place of future Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman. Not since Hall of Fame pitcher Rollie Fingers has a mustache like this made such an impact on the game and in the mustache world. Welcome to the club John Axford.

AVCM:

John Axford is “debating handlebars” when it comes to his mustache. He also fantasizes about dying it blonde and taking over for Bernie Brewer, which is not a terrible idea.

It’s not quite Mutton Chops Yaz, but it is certainly something to ponder.  To read more about Dave Kingman and how he led the National League in home runs in 1982, visit Devon Young’s My First Cards: Blogging The 1982 Topps Set.

I have no idea what would make anyone want to wear this. I think I would much rather be wet than look like an inverted bomb pop. And this travesty pf fashion is occurring in a place where it actually rains! It’s n0t as though this thing is showing up in Anaheim, where tit might rain once every other year. No, they are trying to awn this one off on Chicagoans. Perhaps this is all in the hopes that Mother Nature has an eye for fashion and won’t let rain anywhere near one of these monstrosities.

I’m sure you all remember Curt Ford. He has a little more than 2 paragraphs written on him on Wikipedia, and there are a lot of pictures of his baseball cards. He was a backup outfielder for the Cardinals, including their World Series run in 1987 before he went to the Phillies where his career went to die by 1990. The thing that struck me about his playing career was his weight. He weighed a paltry 150 pounds, or 115 less than Prince Fielder. Curt Ford wasn’t a power hitter

Now, Ford manages in something called the Prospect League, a wood bat league for college players. He leads the Springfield Sliders, who are in first place! Somehow, the State Journal Register (oldest newspaper in Illinois!) keeps a pretty good beat on the Sliders. In a recent article, we found out what kind of a firebrand manager he is. Sayeth Preacher Ford:

You’ve got to start shedding the shackles of fear, doubt and lack of confidence.

Powerful stuff. His son, Curtis, plays for the opposing Hannibal Cavemen (really). Why doesn’t he play for Curt? Well, maybe because Curt doesn’t think he’s very good, and is willing to tell all of Illinois:

Hitting-wise, I was a different animal. I enjoyed hitting the ball hard and didn’t carry a lot of doubt, especially at this level. I think that separates the two of us. I’m not saying that he doesn’t have it. It’s just one of those things that lives inside you

A reminder: Curt Ford hit 7 home runs in his career. And he is saying that, compared to his sone, he was the confident one at the plate who hit the ball hard. Outstanding.

We’re getting down to the trade deadline. Only 9 days away! Expect a whole lot of Buster Olney and Ken Rosenthal occupying your subconscious, telling you about how much a team likes someone or who has been scouting who. One name in particular that will become a constant headache for the next week plus is Roy Oswalt.

He’s demanding that the acquiring team pick up his 2012 option, which is killing many proposals, from the sound of it. Some are saying he will drop that demand, but even then, this trade will be a tough pill to swallow for most Astros fans. There are three primary candidates that could end up with Oswalt and rip the hearts out of Houston youngsters. Let’s take a look at these villains.

Saint Louis Cardinals: It would be tough to see Oswalt pitching for a division rival if you are  a Houston fan. But the Cardinals have the right idea. Oswalt is always best when he has two Cy Young candidates in the rotation with him (see: Roger Clemens/Andy Pettitte)

Philadelphia Phillies: If the Phillies acquire Oswalt, this would give the Phillies the most impressive tandem of Roys ever seen in a pitching rotation. It’s hard to argue with that.

Minnesota Twins: It appears that he may be unable to grow a suitable mustache. That said, there are some in Minneapolis who would rather have Roy Oswalt than Delmon Young. He’s not coming to Minnesota

If I had to guess, I would say he is going to Philadelphia, but of course, that is purely speculative. What is the trade deadline if now 3 months of speculation followed by 4 hours of trades then anyways?

Thus far old-timers have been underrepresented in the hairy hallowed halls of the MLB MHOF. Today, we begin to rectify this with the induction of Tim Murnane, who was both a great baseball player and a great baseball writer.

Here’s what veteran Connecticut newspaperman Joe Palladino remembers about Tim Murnane, the writer:

Think Peter Gammons, multiplied by 10, and you have an accurate picture of Murnane’s stature as a writer at the time. He was a commanding figure in print and in person. With a dazzling crop of white hair and a stunning mustache, Murnane earned the nickname of Silver King. Such was his popularity with players that baseball all but shut down for a day to participate in Tim Murnane Day at Fenway Park [after his death in 1917].

And about Tim Murnane, the ballplayer:

He started in 1869, playing seemingly everywhere, from Connecticut, with the Middletown Mansfields, to the Philadelphia Athletics, to the Boston Red Caps and the Providence Grays. Murnane had a 17-year career, eight of those recognized as Major League seasons. His career batting average was a modest .261, but in 1872, playing for Middletown in the National Association, Murnane batted .362, sixth best in the league. In 1876, now in the NL with the Red Caps, Murnane was third in the league in home runs. He hit two.

Tim Murnane’s stache = Regal

After a mediocre performance (a dramatic improvement, actually), it is expected that Blackburn will be pulled from the rotation sooner rather than later. It’s always difficult to see a mustache live up to it’s expectations to be a salve for all the woes the team has.

And Nick Blackburn with a Fu Man Chu? Who does he think he is, Rod Beck?

(image from the Star Tribune)