Golden Guys

With baseball and Twins-specific news dwindling in the post-World Series doldrums, it would be downright stupid of us not to mention our namesake's recognition for defensive excellence. Coaches and managers have decided he's wonderfully defensive. He's as defensive as Denny Green after a bad loss. He's defensive as John Kerry. He's a gold glover once again -- for the sixth time -- putting him in the company of Kirby and Jim Kaat for Twins with at least 6 gold gloves.

This may not have been Torii's best season out in the field, but I'm willing to forgive a little due to injury. Reading the quotes from Torii in the above Strib article has me all a'twitter about the possibility of a healthy Hunter patrolling the centerturf grounds once again next year. It was painful to watch him gimp around this season, given the high standard he's set for himself. Football fans watching Troy Williamson with a Moss-worldview know what I'm talking about. But the rest of baseball still thinks he's pretty damn good, and one highly visible post-season blunder doesn't seem to have drastically affected their views. Perhaps this is testament to the fact that no one remembers you when you lose in the division series, even just a month removed. And besides, is there a better candidate in the AL? I can think of better candidates at 2B and C, I can tell you that much.

In Florida, more cryptic news abounds. I'm so sick of this story, and the glimmer of hope each identical version of it brings. But I can't help but click on every headline link, hoping and praying for a miracle. And I'm not talking about this kind of Miracle. Just tell me that his arm fell off in a tragic smelting accident, so I can start thinking about the Slowey-era to come and how cool it will be to see F-bomb's glowing golden limb in the dugout. He's Dutch. Isn't that weird? Frankie can borrow one of Torii's gold gloves to accessorize properly. The free agent pitching market is going to be pathetic and a healthy Liri-elbow next year would be oh so nice, but at this point there's so little accomplished by expecting anything out of him. Part of the frustration is likely due to the fact that we expect doctors to correctly identify what's wrong and be able to fix it, but I suppose that's not realistic. They're not superheroes, after all. Except for that Dr. Charles Xavier guy. He was pretty cool. But I hear this Dr. Yocum has no psionic powers whatsoever.

Loser.