Billy Koch Steps IN as ChiSox New Mouth

pjl7 · 12-13-2002, 11:44 AM

From 12/12 St. Paul Pioneer Press...

Newly acquired White Sox reliever Billy Koch this week in the Chicago Tribune: "I honestly don't think the Twins can play at the level they did last year. They had a lot of 'baseball bounces' last year. I'm not taking away from their talent because they had a lot of talented players, but they had every single bounce go their way. It was almost like they never had any bad luck; they only had good luck. Unless they have some deal with the devil up there, I don't see that happening again."

I am just going to spend a minute reflecting on the Twins' charmed season in which they had no bounce go against them...

4/6 to 6/4 Rivas out with fractured wrist
4/18 to 7/19 Mays out with inflamed elbow
4/23 to 5/12 Ortiz to 15 day DL with swollen knee
5/10 to 5/24 Koskie out with pulled hamstring
5/14 to 8/3 Radke out with pulled groin
6/12 to 7/23 Wells out with inflamed elbow
6/30 to 8/19 Kinney out with rotator cuff strain
7/27 to 8/15 Jackson out with rotator cuff ailment
8/7 to 9/2 Milton out with knee injury

OK...let's call Wells (deep pen) and Kinney (spot starter) not huge impacts. That leaves three weeks without a top setup man, three weeks without DH, two weeks without starting thirdbaseman, two months without starting second baseman. Finally, your top three starters miss three months, two and one half months and one month each.

Oh yeah, their first baseman had a really bad season based on his previous level of play too...

Man, they were really lucky.

WiredTiger · 12-13-2002, 11:48 AM

I too thought the Twins had a ton of bad luck last year. They were just bett than everyone else in the horrible AL Central.

Craig S. · 12-13-2002, 12:12 PM

I wouldn't let anything Billy Koch said bother me too much. He's obviously completely ignorant of the Twins, just like he's ignorant of the fact that you're supposed to have movement on a fastball. And what in the world is he talking about with lucky bounces? I don't even know what that part means.

This should just be fodder for the Twins, really.

KCBOOMER · 12-13-2002, 02:32 PM

I think Koch was referring to how lucky the Twins were is returning his 100 mph heater faster than it came in.

satchel · 12-13-2002, 05:19 PM

Really, there may be legitimate arguments to be made about the relative strengths and weaknesses of the Twins versus other contenders, but coming from the guy who led his team to such spectacular defeat against those very Twins, this is just a textbook example of what people of skill in the art call "sour grapes."

hmrsf · 12-14-2002, 07:20 AM

Let's throw in that this was the team that was up for contraction too!

Nice way to start the off........eh?

gyb13 · 12-18-2002, 12:44 PM

Koch was obviously commenting on what happened in the playoffs.

Game 1 - Minnesota commits 3 errors in the first 2 innings, comes back from down 1-5 to win 7-5. (what koch must have been thinking: they looked like minor leaguers out there)

Game 4 - Oakland makes 2 errors, 2 wild pitches, 1 hit batsman on routine plays in the 4th inning, and the Twins break it open for 7 runs - all unearned (what koch must have been thinking: we should have made those plays)

Game 5 - Koch gives up 3-run dinger in the top of the 9th, and Ellis' 3-run shot in the bottom isn't enough as the Twins prevail 5-4 (what koch must have been thinking: who the #@&% is AJ Pierdinger?)

rcartman28 · 12-18-2002, 02:51 PM

Well, the Twins will have the "good luck" of playing 19 games against Koch's team next year........

pjl7 · 12-19-2002, 11:00 AM

If he's talking about Oakland series in particular, I couls understand that. The quote as a whole doesn't sound that way, but I suppose he's tinged by frustration. The good news is that the Twins will continue to have good reason to consider the CWS games as rivalry games. Clearly, the two teams don't like each other...and there's nothing better than beating a team that doesn't respect you.

Duque · 12-19-2002, 08:23 PM

Didn't Koch get in some kind of spat with AJ Pierzinski?

poorme · 12-20-2002, 08:04 AM

twins fans a so sensitive....

SmedIndy · 12-20-2002, 12:59 PM

Enjoy the overpaid one inning wonder with the big mouth, Sox Fans.

b-ball-lunachik · 12-28-2002, 11:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Duque
Didn't Koch get in some kind of spat with AJ Pierzinski?

yup, Koch called him a jackass.

http://www.netshrine.com/vbulletin2/...k i#post91062

The Twins had a great year and I'm sure they had some luck -- I don't think any team gets to the playoffs without some luck in any year...I think the Cardinals and Angels seem to be on more of a destiny's darlings ride but both those teams earned where they finished as well...Koch should think less about the baseball bounces the Twins got and more about the ones the A's let slip away...

Koch is one of those guys that is an interesting read because he says what's on his mind and it's refreshingly honest -- although not always the best thing to say or necessarily true but he thinks so...I'm glad he's not on a team I root for or I'd be cringing at every other quote...

Max Power · 12-29-2002, 07:39 AM

Koch has a lot of Dibble in him. Does Dan Patrick have room for a 2nd funky?

Skip · 12-29-2002, 07:44 AM

The word, Max, is flunky. Or perhaps funky flunky. Or ... perhaps it is jackass.

12-13-2002, 11:44 AM	#1
pjl7 NetShrine MVP Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Twin Cities, MN Posts: 232	Billy Koch Steps IN as ChiSox New Mouth From 12/12 St. Paul Pioneer Press... Newly acquired White Sox reliever Billy Koch this week in the Chicago Tribune: "I honestly don't think the Twins can play at the level they did last year. They had a lot of 'baseball bounces' last year. I'm not taking away from their talent because they had a lot of talented players, but they had every single bounce go their way. It was almost like they never had any bad luck; they only had good luck. Unless they have some deal with the devil up there, I don't see that happening again." I am just going to spend a minute reflecting on the Twins' charmed season in which they had no bounce go against them... 4/6 to 6/4 Rivas out with fractured wrist 4/18 to 7/19 Mays out with inflamed elbow 4/23 to 5/12 Ortiz to 15 day DL with swollen knee 5/10 to 5/24 Koskie out with pulled hamstring 5/14 to 8/3 Radke out with pulled groin 6/12 to 7/23 Wells out with inflamed elbow 6/30 to 8/19 Kinney out with rotator cuff strain 7/27 to 8/15 Jackson out with rotator cuff ailment 8/7 to 9/2 Milton out with knee injury OK...let's call Wells (deep pen) and Kinney (spot starter) not huge impacts. That leaves three weeks without a top setup man, three weeks without DH, two weeks without starting thirdbaseman, two months without starting second baseman. Finally, your top three starters miss three months, two and one half months and one month each. Oh yeah, their first baseman had a really bad season based on his previous level of play too... Man, they were really lucky. __________________ There is only one MLB franchise with division championships in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

12-13-2002, 02:32 PM	#4
KCBOOMER NetShrine All-Century Team Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Home of the T-Bones Posts: 11,116	I think Koch was referring to how lucky the Twins were is returning his 100 mph heater faster than it came in. __________________ KCBOOMER *Buck O'Neil: The Monarch of Baseball*

12-13-2002, 05:19 PM	#5
satchel NetShrine All-Century Team Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 2,600	Really, there may be legitimate arguments to be made about the relative strengths and weaknesses of the Twins versus other contenders, but coming from the guy who led his team to such spectacular defeat against those very Twins, this is just a textbook example of what people of skill in the art call "sour grapes." __________________ Rare mold, old vomit - An anagram rejected by Tom Riddle

12-14-2002, 07:20 AM	#6
hmrsf forum mom Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: relocation Posts: 4,297	Let's throw in that this was the team that was up for contraction too! Nice way to start the off........eh? __________________ NDF who shares good karma! Get a coaster! My cup is not only 1/2 full it is brimming! We don't need no stinking Arods!

12-18-2002, 12:44 PM	#7
gyb13 NS Omnipresent Brasilian Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Crazy George's playground Posts: 10,903	Koch was obviously commenting on what happened in the playoffs. Game 1 - Minnesota commits 3 errors in the first 2 innings, comes back from down 1-5 to win 7-5. (what koch must have been thinking: they looked like minor leaguers out there) Game 4 - Oakland makes 2 errors, 2 wild pitches, 1 hit batsman on routine plays in the 4th inning, and the Twins break it open for 7 runs - all unearned (what koch must have been thinking: we should have made those plays) Game 5 - Koch gives up 3-run dinger in the top of the 9th, and Ellis' 3-run shot in the bottom isn't enough as the Twins prevail 5-4 (what koch must have been thinking: who the #@&% is AJ Pierdinger?) __________________ Gustavo NDF Moderator Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin

12-13-2002, 11:48 AM	#2
WiredTiger Guest Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: The city of Kaline, Cobb and Greenberg Posts: 3,395	I too thought the Twins had a ton of bad luck last year. They were just bett than everyone else in the horrible AL Central.

12-13-2002, 12:12 PM	#3
Craig S. Guest Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Ohio Posts: 6,330	I wouldn't let anything Billy Koch said bother me too much. He's obviously completely ignorant of the Twins, just like he's ignorant of the fact that you're supposed to have movement on a fastball. And what in the world is he talking about with lucky bounces? I don't even know what that part means. This should just be fodder for the Twins, really.

12-18-2002, 02:51 PM	#8
rcartman28 NetShrine All-Century Team Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Hudson, WI Posts: 1,408	Well, the Twins will have the "good luck" of playing 19 games against Koch's team next year........ __________________ I would have looked out for the water main. But that's just me..... Brett Favre

12-19-2002, 11:00 AM	#9
pjl7 NetShrine MVP Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Twin Cities, MN Posts: 232	If he's talking about Oakland series in particular, I couls understand that. The quote as a whole doesn't sound that way, but I suppose he's tinged by frustration. The good news is that the Twins will continue to have good reason to consider the CWS games as rivalry games. Clearly, the two teams don't like each other...and there's nothing better than beating a team that doesn't respect you. __________________ There is only one MLB franchise with division championships in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

12-19-2002, 08:23 PM	#10
Duque NetShrine's Desperado Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Southern CA Posts: 2,638	Didn't Koch get in some kind of spat with AJ Pierzinski? __________________ Bad Andy It's such a fine line between stupid and clever.

12-20-2002, 08:04 AM	#11
poorme Guest Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: washington dc Posts: 2,625	twins fans a so sensitive....

12-20-2002, 12:59 PM	#12
SmedIndy NetShrine's Historian Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Zionsville, IN Posts: 10,569	Enjoy the overpaid one inning wonder with the big mouth, Sox Fans.

12-29-2002, 07:39 AM	#14
Max Power NetShrine Creator & Curator Join Date: May 2002 Location: NetShrine WHQ Posts: 5,548	Koch has a lot of Dibble in him. Does Dan Patrick have room for a 2nd funky? __________________ Steve, Forum Administrator "They come and they go, Hobbs. They come and they go." That's why there's NetShrine.com

12-29-2002, 07:44 AM	#15
Skip NetShrine Vagabond Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Louisville Posts: 7,866	The word, Max, is flunky. Or perhaps funky flunky. Or ... perhaps it is jackass.

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