Sox set sights on Target Field
As the Sox prepare to play outdoor baseball in Minnesota for the first time in decades, let’s familiarize ourselves with Target Field.
Capacity: 39,504, down from 55,300 in the Metrodome.
Bathrooms: 401 fixtures for women, 266 fixtures for men. Early reports indicate that the lines for men’s bathrooms are longer than the lines for women.
Camera: Broadcasts from Target Field have the camera situated behind dead center, instead of the slight offset angle used
Dimensions: The park favors left-handed hitters, with shorter distances to the right field corner (328 feet to 339) and right-field power alley (365 to 377). Plus, while dead center is 403 feet, the deepest part of the park is just left of center, measuring 411 feet.
Weather: It’s supposed to rain all day, but clear out around 6 p.m. So 38 degrees and cloudy for tonight, 45 degrees and cloudy for Wednesday.
Jim Thome: Hitting .258/.395/.545 with four doubles and five homers, good for an OPS+ of 154.
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Christian Marrero Reading Room:
*Don Cooper and Sergio Santos talk about their baby steps toward higher-leverage situations.
*J.J. says the Sox should stick with Bobby Jenks, at least if Ozzie Guillen is settling on one guy.
*Oral Sox has a new podcast up.
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Minor league roundup:
- Charlotte 3, Lehigh Valley 2
- Tyler Flowers hit a pair of solo homers, and struck out once.
- Carlos Torres had a good night: 7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
- Jordan Danks went 0-for-3 with a walk, an RBI and his ninth stolen base. He struck out twice.
- C.J. Retherford went 1-for-4 with a K, Dayan Viciedo went 1-for-3 with a K.
- Jacksonville 7, Birmingham 3
- Brent Morel went 3-for-4 with his second homer and three RBI; he’s hitting .324.
- Christian Marrero went 1-for-4 with a K.
- John Shelby went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Winston-Salem 4, Potomac 1
- Justin Edwards threw seven shutout innings, allowing four hits and a walk and striking out two.
- Brandon Short doubled twice.
- Jon Gilmore went 1-for-4 with an RBI and two strikeouts, but committed his 11th error.
- Kannapolis 5, West Virginia 2
- A much-needed quality start for Justin Collop: 6 Ip, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 1 HR.
- Brady Shoemaker went 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBI.
- Miguel Gonzalez went 2-for-4 with a strikeout; Nick Ciolli went 1-for-5 with a double, RBI and a strikeout.
- Trayce Thompson went 0-for-4.
Its a crappy raining day so why not pile on, I think my numbers are right but just to double check lets say the twins win 2, that puts the sox at 13-21 and the twins at 23-11, to just catch them the sox would then have to go 74-54 and hope Minny plays 500 ball the rest of the way. Not sure which of those two equations is more unlikely but betting against both of them becomes a crazy proposition.
Anyways, Jim, after also enjoying someones handle, can you please find out how many consecutive games Yinka Dare went without recording 1 freaking assist its an incredible NBA record.
77 games. I did not know that.
When the Sox landed at the Minneapolis airport, they were pronounced officially dead by the county coroner. I’m expecting a blow-out tonite (if the game is played) with sweaty Freddy on the mound. Forty degrees & wet is usually not the weather that he excels in. Come to think of it, none of the Chisox play well in that kind of weather. Prediction: Twins 10 Sox 0. Time to back up the truck and start re-tooling for 2011!!
This is why I love being a White Sox fan.
Because even at my most cynical, most vitriolic, there’s someone else out there transforming their unfathomable cynicism into unreasonable stupidity.
I answered some questions for Fox Sports North. Nothing too surprising, but they have a nice series preview.
Link