Well, the World Series is almost over and soon the off season madness will begin. Right now, all is quiet in Twins land. The Aki Iwamura trade rumoring made for interesting conversation yesterday but, he ended up being traded to the Pirates for some reason. Here at Ontheroad.... we like to cover some of the hot button Twins Territory stories but, especially like to post some different content. Content that may not be found on the other blogs.
Since there isn't alot going on right now, I decided to play "take your wife to blog day". I asked my fiancé Allison, what baseball related item she would like me to write about. She chose Nick Punto's ten best moments as a Twin.
I am not a big fan of the little guy, but as you can see here, she loves Punto!
In her mind, #1 would be December 11, 2008, the day the Twins committed 8.5 million dollars to the utility infielder. I am trying to limit this to his ten best moments helping the team, not fleecing the team.
10. June 26, 2006: 8-2 win over the Dodgers.
Punto went 2-3 with 2 walks, scoring 2 runs. Win Probability added: .154.
9. July 4, 2008: 12-3 win over Cleveland.
Punto went 2-4 with a walk, 2B, HR, scoring 3 runs and driving in 4. WPA .076.
8. April 27, 2005: 9-4 win over Kansas City.
Punto went 3-4 with a 2B, scoring 2 runs and driving in 1.
WPA .172.
7. July 18-19, 2006: Back-to back wins over the Rays and back-to-back good games for Punto. Combined 4-7 with 2 triples, 2 runs scored and 5 RBI in 8-1 and 7-2 wins. WPA .061 on the 18th and .110 on the 19th.
6. September 15, 2009: 5-4 win over Cleveland.
Punto went 3-4 with a 2B and 2 RBI.
WPA .223.
5. August 8, 2006: 4-2 win over Detroit.
Punto went 3-5 with 2 doubles and an RBI. He also scored the game winning run! WPA .242.
4. September 3, 2005: 3-2 win over Cleveland. Punto went 3-3 with a walk, a stolen base and the game winning RBI. WPA .248.
3. July 22, 2004: 7-5 win over Tampa Bay. Punto went 2-4 with his only career grand slam! He also drew a walk. WPA .285.
2. May 28, 2007: 10-4 win over the Chicago White Sox. Punto went 3-4 with a walk and 2 stolen bases. He scored a run and drove in 2. His WPA of .297 was the highest in his career, in his worst season.
1. June 14, 2006: 8-1 win over the Boston Red Sox. Punto was 1-4 and his -.083 was a team low for the day. However, this was Punto's first start as the regular third baseman. He and Bartlett(SS) were installed as everyday for a Twins team just starting to break from a 2 month slumber. The team started the day 29-34 and went 67-32 the rest of the way.
So there you have it! The Twins fan base's favorite whipping boy does have his moments, even if they are few and far between.
Shawn, still in Binghamton
