Notes from the Twins-Indians Game

One of the biggest surprises of the season is the stolen base. The top three AL teams in Stolen Bases are, in order, the Yankees, Mariners, and Twins. After spending years earning the moniker, Bronx Bombers, the Yankees are stealing bases instead of hitting the long ball, with Alphonso Soriano, Derek Jeter, and left-fielder Chuch Knoblauch.

For the Twins, it’s no surprise to see their name on the list. After having watch them play on television twice in the last two weeks (including last night on ESPN,) they have an unbelievable amount of team speed, both on the bases and in the field. If they had one big hitter, they would be similar to the Cardinals of the 80’s. The Twins force the opposing infield to play in, to prevent the infield hit, and the outfield gets to more balls than any other team I’ve seen. It’s not difficult to see how they have won so many games.

The Twins raked the Yankees over the coals in the Chuck Knoblauch trade. Not only did the Twins get Eric Milton, Christian Guzman is one of the best shortstops in baseball. He hits well, runs well, and has amazing speed. I’ll bet that the Yankees would rather have Guzman instead of Knoblauch right now.

Another note from last night’s Twins-Indians game: Kenny Lofton has turned into one of the worst leadoff hitters in the game. After homering in Tuesday night’s game, he went 1-4 with three fly-outs on Wednesday. 1. With a batting average of .247, Lofton has quit hitting ground balls that would utilize his speed to get on base. He flew out in his first two AB’s, but he bunted for a single on his third at-bat. Just when it seemed that he figured out that putting the ball on the ground would help, he flew out again in his fourth time at the plate. 2. Lofton doesn’t steal 50 bases a season anymore. He has stolen over 30 bases only once since 1996. 3. His defense has always been spectacular but overrated. We could forgive Lofton repeatedly missing the cutoff man when he could catch a flyball just before it disappeared over the centerfield wall, but when he no longer makes the spectacular catches, something has to give. I guess on the positive side, Lofton is still among the best at working the count and drawing a walk. However, I don’t that will be enough for a team to offer him a million dollar contract next year.

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