Perkins Giving
Twins Return on Money
After a long holiday weekend, the
Sports Headliners notebook is full. Here’s what made the final
draft:
The irony of the Twins’ late inning relief
pitching situation is that the team’s closers, Matt Capps and
Joe Nathan, who combined earn over $18 million, have blown eight of
24 save opportunities so far this season, and haven’t been as impressive
as Glen Perkins, the guy who is the
team’s current ninth inning savior.
Capps, who earns $7,150,000, is the MLB
co-leader with the Angels' Jordan Walden in blown saves, according to ESPN.com.
Capps has 13 saves as the team’s No. 1 closer, while blowing six and
compiling an ERA of 4.79.
Nathan, who earns $11,250,000, has saved
three games and blown two. While Capps has been shaky of late, Nathan
has been sharp in his last few games and lowered his ERA to 6.20.
Perkins earns $700,000 and has been
transitioning from a starter to a reliever but has been so impressive
he’s been called upon later in games now than earlier in the season. On
Sunday he took over for Capps in the ninth inning with two men on base
and only one out. He struck out two batters and preserved a 9-7 win
over Milwaukee. Last night he again replaced Capps, who had
already given up one run, two hits and a walk, and got the final out as
Tampa Bay left two runners on base in Minnesota's 3-2 win.
Minneapolis native Larry Fitzgerald Jr. is
among the best wide receivers in football and his contract with Arizona
is up after next season. The Vikings need receivers but he expressed
loyalty to Arizona during an interview with Sports Headliners.
“I don’t like to speculate on woulda,
coulda, shoulda,” he said. “I enjoy my time there (in Arizona). They
have been good to me there. If they want me back I would love to
continue to play there. …”
Fitzgerald is in Minneapolis each year
from late May until the end of July and has a home in the suburbs. “I
love it. It’s home,” he said. “It’s really nice to come back and see
the people that I grew up with.”
The Gophers’ recent weight room renovation
will benefit football and other athletes at Minnesota. Nebraska hired
the first college strength coach years ago and strength programs have
long been compared with those found in Lincoln. Gophers' head strength
and conditioning coach Eric Klein told Sports Headliners
that Minnesota’s resources are comparable and his program isn’t at a
disadvantage.
The end result for the Gophers, he said,
will be how hard everyone works. “Their (Nebraska’s) room might be a
little bigger,” Klein said. “They have maybe a little larger staff than
what we have. …”
The Gophers also renovated outdoor
practice fields at the Gibson-Nagurski football complex. The new Field
Turf will keep players cooler when practicing and also is
similar to the artificial surface at TCF Bank Stadium. Jarrett
Yehlen from the Athletic Department staff estimated that the
two-year-old surface in the stadium will need to be replaced in six years.
The total cost for the weight room and
outdoor practice fields upgrade is $1,135,488.50.
New Gophers football coach Jerry Kill
joked (I think) about Klein saying: “He’s got the toughest job in
America. He’s got to get those guys bigger, faster and stronger.”
Kill takes over a 3-9 team that is a near
consensus choice nationally to be the Big Ten’s first or second worst
team.
