All Things 2024 Minnesota Twins In-Season Thread

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TRF Guy said:
After missing the first 22 games of the season with a lower back injury, Joe Mauer homered on his very first swing back from the disabled list on this date in 2009.

He doubled in his next at-bat, and scored three runs in a 7-5 win over the Royals.

Joe, of course, went on to win the AL MVP Award that season.
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I'll never forget that. A classic Mauer opposite field shot. It felt like he was automatically reaching base every time he went to the plate that year. Easily my favorite twin to ever watch swing the bat.
 

This has been the worst 4 months of PR for the twins since the 2018. “This is how we baseball”. They baseballed their way to 78-84. No team makes it so hard to like them in the state.
 

The Braves, Tigers, and Florida teams fans are also largely affected by the Bally/Comcast situation. I'm sure there are others too. Add in the stupidity of the blackouts, this continues to be a disaster for MLB.
 

From the Parkinglot said:
The twins taking the Bally’s money knowing this blackout was possible while also cutting payroll is really something. The statement saying this is out of their hands is so disingenuous as they could have simply not gone with Bally’s. Not the largest cable company in Minnesota won’t have your product and there is no other option to watch. Giving the A’s a run for their money in worst fan friendly organization right now.
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Fubo is an option for anyone with internet access. If the Twins were smart, they'd go to them today and offer a free month or something.
 

OK - according to Sportico - (I am not making this up) - the dispute between Comcast and Diamond is this - Comcast wants to move the Diamond RSN's (including BSN) to a higher-priced digital sports tier. Diamond wants the RSN's to stay on the basic channel lineup.

repeat - if Comcast gets its way, Twins games would move to a sport tier and subscribers would have to pay more to watch the games. This is Comcast trying to increase its per-subscriber revenue to counter the impact of cord-cutting.

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AND - if the Twins had "simply not gone with Bally's" - they would be receiving LESS local TV revenue. If the Twins had done a deal with MLB, that deal would have included streaming. But Commissioner Rob Manfred has admitted in interviews that teams going to the new MLB deals will not make as much money as they did from the RSN's.

So - if the Twins cut payroll this year with the Bally's money, what do you think they're going to do if they have less local TV revenue?

But I'm sure that everyone complaining about the situation will gladly pay $20 a month to sign up for the new Twins' streaming package next year, right?

(my opinion). A lot of the people who are complaining today will NOT sign up for the Twins streaming package. they will just keep complaining.
 


short ornery norwegian said:
OK - according to Sportico - (I am not making this up) - the dispute between Comcast and Diamond is this - Comcast wants to move the Diamond RSN's (including BSN) to a higher-priced digital sports tier. Diamond wants the RSN's to stay on the basic channel lineup.

repeat - if Comcast gets its way, Twins games would move to a sport tier and subscribers would have to pay more to watch the games. This is Comcast trying to increase its per-subscriber revenue to counter the impact of cord-cutting.

---
AND - if the Twins had "simply not gone with Bally's" - they would be receiving LESS local TV revenue. If the Twins had done a deal with MLB, that deal would have included streaming. But Commissioner Rob Manfred has admitted in interviews that teams going to the new MLB deals will not make as much money as they did from the RSN's.

So - if the Twins cut payroll this year with the Bally's money, what do you think they're going to do if they have less local TV revenue?

But I'm sure that everyone complaining about the situation will gladly pay $20 a month to sign up for the new Twins' streaming package next year, right?

(my opinion). A lot of the people who are complaining today will NOT sign up for the Twins streaming package. they will just keep complaining.
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They (the Twins and MLB in general) can't go to a purely direct streaming model. There are a huge % of fans who won't sign up for that. You're shutting yourself off from too many fans who buy your tickets. They will still have to get some cable-satellite-YouTube distribution and/or have games on local over the air. If not, they're accelerating the death of their sport.
 

Tough to blame the Twins for any of this. I think their hands were tied. Stuff like this happens all the time. I wish all the channels were available ala carte somehow, but people have been clamoring for that for decades and it still doesn't seem like it could ever happen.
 

howeda7 said:
They (the Twins and MLB in general) can't go to a purely direct streaming model. There are a huge % of fans who won't sign up for that. You're shutting yourself off from too many fans who buy your tickets. They will still have to get some cable-satellite-YouTube distribution and/or have games on local over the air. If not, they're accelerating the death of their sport.
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if they follow the same model as San Diego or Arizona, there will be some over-the-air or cable options. but the overall revenue will still be lower - and team revenue will be more dependent on fans being willing to pay more money for a streaming package than they are currently paying for cable TV.

the good old days of a relatively affordable cable TV package to watch games is going the way of the dinosaurs. watching games will be more complicated and more expensive.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
the baseball romantic in me would have enjoyed being around in the days when the Millers played in Minneapolis and the original Saints in St. Paul.

the Saints were a farm club for the White Sox from 1936-42, and then a farm club for the Dodgers from 1944-1960.

MLB Hall of Famers who played in St. Paul included Roy Campanella, Duke Snider and Leo Durocher. Other notable Saints included Ralph Branca, Gene Mauch and Don Zimmer.

The Millers were affiliated with the Red Sox from 1936 to '38. they were the top farm club for the NY Giants from 1946-57, and then the Red Sox again from 1958-60.

Millers' Hall of Fame alumni include Williams, Mays, Carl Yastrzemski, Hoyt Wilhelm, Orlando Cepeda and Monte Irvin. Other notable Millers included Felipe Alou and Al Worthington. Halsey Hall was the Millers' play-by-play man on radio from 1933 to 1960, and survived with his liver more or less intact.....

on major holidays, the MIllers and Saints would play a split double-header with one game in each city.
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My dad used to go to both games by riding the streetcars from Mpls. to Saint Paul.
 









tikited said:
Nice! I didn't see your post until just now. He said it was a blast. I was amazed at the incredible talent that came through both teams.
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For those interested.... The Saints Stadium used to be on University and Dunlop. An Aldi Grocery is now there. I read the plague is now at a TCF/Huntington Bank location, but that info. was from 2006.

Nicollet Park in Mpls was on...Nicollet Ave. and W31st St. There used to be a Wells Fargo Bank there more recently, but it is now an empty parking lot.
 


Ope3 said:
The injury was on a SB attempt, and Buxton's streak of 20 successful thefts was ended.

www.startribune.com

Byron Buxton to have MRI; Manager Rocco Baldelli won’t speculate about extent of knee issue

Byron Buxton left Wednesday’s game against the White Sox in the second inning with what the Twins described as knee soreness after slowing to a jog on a stolen base try.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com
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The 20 straight should have ended last night as he was caught stealing light night to end the 7th.
 


From the Parkinglot said:
The 20 straight should have ended last night as he was caught stealing light night to end the 7th.
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You're correct. Reading comprehension Error on my part. It states that in the article I posted.

Thanks for the feedback. I guess that's a better way to have the SB streak busted, though I can't help but think the injury also contributed to him being caught last night.
 


Miranda looks like a completely different player than last year - nice to see him bounce back this year and get his career back on track. Aggressively attacking the ball - love that confidence.
 
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Ope3 said:
Is there some #1 Draft Pick prospect they are actively trying to tank for, or are they just this bad?

I guess both can be true.
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They're just that bad. The players wouldn't purposely suck. The makeup of the team is horrible but man this is so bad.

I'm not aware that there is a sure-fire #1 pick next year at this point.
 


howeda7 said:
Fubo is an option for anyone with internet access. If the Twins were smart, they'd go to them today and offer a free month or something.
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Fubo sucks. It's $20 more per month than YouTube TV and you get way fewer channels. No Turner networks, now no WB. YTTV is way better and is where the games should go.
 


GophersInIowa said:
They're just that bad. The players wouldn't purposely suck. The makeup of the team is horrible but man this is so bad.

I'm not aware that there is a sure-fire #1 pick next year at this point.
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True, except the 1919 White Sox did purposely suck, so there is a precedent.

Different circumstance though. ;)
 

WilliamsArenaGuy said:
Fubo sucks. It's $20 more per month than YouTube TV and you get way fewer channels. No Turner networks, now no WB. YTTV is way better and is where the games should go.
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I know people are upset and venting. but the tele-communications world is in a huge state of flux right now. it's not just impacting Twins fans.

the reason these RSN's are not on other streaming services is because they have not been able to negotiate a mutually-acceptable agreement. just like the current dispute between Comcast and Diamond. it takes two sides to reach an agreement. YTTV was not willing to pay the fees that the RSN's were asking, and the RSN's were not willing to accept a lower fee. you cannot force people to reach an agreement if they are not willing to compromise.

so much of this goes back to when Disney acquired Fox and was forced to sell off the Fox RSN's because of monopoly concerns. Sinclair paid way too much for the RSN's - got buried in debt - and could not generate enough revenue to get out of debt. after a few twists and turns, that has led us to where we are today.

the cable TV model is slowing dying. the RSN model is dying more quickly. and Twins fans are collateral damage. but as old models die, new models will emerge.

to quote Bob, "someday, everything is gonna be different."
 

The boys were throwing the leather around early to keep the game within reach. I know the competition has been weak, but 10 straight is still an achievement.
 

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