Will Paraskavedekatriaphobia End the Streak

The game of baseball has a storied history of superstitions ranging from team curses to player rituals. Whether it is jumping a foul line, not shaving, wearing the same item of clothing if amidst a streak, or one of the most famous (which Mariners announcer's did not abide by Wednesday night) which is not talking about a no-hitter or perfect game. All these superstitions play integral roles into the psyche of a ballplayer.

Baseball is not alone in its celebration of superstition. Society has several in its own right. These include but are not limited to walking under a ladder, a black cat crossing in front of your path and the number 13. Paraskavedekatriaphobia however, is one superstition that is talked about quite a bit and specifically today. Paraskavedekatriaphobia is the fear of Friday the 13th. The thought of Friday the 13th being a day of bad luck and or being evil dates back several centuries to English Folklore.

With the Twins battling the Devil Rays and the 24-game Dome winning streak of Johan Santana on the line tonight, do the members of Twins Nation need to be fearful of tonights game? In addition to all this history and superstition facing the Twins and Santana tonight, the Devil Rays are throwing a pretty quality pitcher in their own right with Scott Kazmir taking the hill.

Myself, being a believer of sports superstition, but not everyday superstition, am not overly afraid of the Friday the 13th potential. Being a statistician, I believe more in the numbers and how things play out that way.

Here are a five reasons why Paraskavedekatriaphobia will not intimidate Johan Santana, and the Twins Dome winning streak will reach 25 tonight:

1. The Devil Ray offense have a paltry career batting average against (BAA) off Santana of .167 (or 9-54), while the Twins offense have a BAA off of Kazmir of .277 (or 10-36)

2. Santana is 3-1 with a 2.50 ERA in 10 appearances against the Devil Rays while Kazmir is 0-2 with a 4.15 ERA in two career starts in the Metrodome.

3. Momentum. The Twins won in heroic fashion last evening on a walk off HR by MVP Justin Morneau putting them on a high, while deflating the momentum of the young Devil Rays.

4. 13 is a lucky number for the Twins tonight. Offensive starting lineup jerseys(1+8+7+5+33+48+16+11+18) add to 145. Johan goes 7 innings, Rincon 1 inning and Nathan seals it in the ninth (Jerseys 57+36+39 = 132). Offensive lineup of 145 - Pitching Lineup of 132 = Lucky 13.

5.The best living pitcher is throwing in the Dome for the Twins.

Outbashing the Bombers

As the Twins return to the Metrodome for a three game series with the Bronx Bombers, they are catching the Yankees at a good time. Injuries to key personnel are plaguing the Bombers and potentially the reason they are off to a slow 2-3 start.

An injured hamstring has started the Yankees best pitcher last year (Chien-Ming Wang) on the disabled list. Without his services, the starting rotation of Carl Pavano, Andy Pettitte, Mike Mussina, Kei Igawa and Darrell Rasner have started the season with a 9.97 ERA in their first five games. The starting rotation is averaging a minuscule 4.1 IP per start. The top half of the rotation who will be facing the Twins during the homestand (Pavano, Pettitte, and Mussina) have thrown 12.1 innings and compiled an ERA of 8.78. In contrast, the Twins starting rotation has thrown 31 innings and has compiled an ERA of 2.61. The three arms that will be facing the Bombers (Ponson, Bonser and Ortiz) have thrown 13 innings (Ponson first start tonight) compiling an ERA of 2.77.

In addition to the pitching woes for the Yankees, starting LF Hideki Matsui was placed on the DL with a hamstring injury. Center fielder Johnny Damon has not started in the field since opening day while nursing a strained right calf, and Captain Derek Jeter fouled a Adam Loewen pitch off his right foot Saturday evening and is dealing with a severe bruise on his middle toe. Even with all these injuries to their starting lineup, the Yankees lead the American League in runs scored with 33 in five games. The Twins in their five games have managed to put only 20 runs (thanks to a lack of offense in frigid Chicago) on the board.

Minnesota's bats will have to be on display as they were last week in the Metrodome where the Twins averaged a little over 5.5 runs per game if they expect to bump off the hot hitting boys from New York.

Whether the Weather Can Be An Advantage

With the frigid temps overtaking the upper Midwest, it is playing havoc on the early baseball season. Yesterday, the Tigers and Blue Jays were postponed due to the frigid wind chills, and snow flakes were falling as Andy Pettitte made his return to Yankee Stadium. Today, there have already been three snow delays during the Tribe and Mariners match up at Jacobs Field in Cleveland. Most notably though was the early morning cancellation of the Twins and White Sox game on the South Side of Chicago. Why is this the most notable of the baseball weather events you ask? It gives Ron Gardenhire and Rick Peterson the opportunity to deliberate on the rotation for the Saturday and Sunday match ups. The weather is not supposed to improve much over the weekend so the two of them should take a couple of things into consideration when making their decision.

First off, ace and one of the faces of the organization, Johan Santana, is a known slow starter, specifically on the road. With the frigid temperatures it makes it that much more difficult for a pitcher to get loose and risks for injury are increased. Cold temperatures also play into account for pitchers who use off speed pitches (curve and change up). With less feeling in your hands and fingers, it makes it difficult to get a good feel for the ball; a necessity for Johan's out pitch, the change up.

Secondly, the Twins return home Monday to face the Yankees in the Metrodome. As I posted here in an article entitled Dome Field Advantage prior to Santana's season opening win, the Twins and Johan are unbeatable in now 24 consecutive starts in the dome. By not throwing Santana in the frigid Chicago weather on Sunday, it would allow him to pitch 8 of his first 12 games in the Metrodome vs. an even 6 on the road and 6 at home. With the strength of the teams in the AL Central, those two extra games in the Dome for Johan could be very important in the Twins defense of the AL Central Division.

Piranha's Swarming Early

Two games into the young season, those pesky piranha's are starting right where they left off last season. In the fifth inning of Monday's opener, after the Orioles had just put three on the board off Johan Santana, leadoff hitter Luis Castillo singled to left. On the subsequent pitch, Nick Punto one hopped the center field wall putting runners on second and third with no outs. With the meat of the order (Mauer, Cuddyer, and Morneau) coming to the plate things were looking good. Mauer walked to load the bases, Cuddyer struck out, bringing up the reigning AL MVP Justin Morneau to the dish. A passed ball by Eric Bedard allowed Castillo to score. Morneau rockets Bedard's next pitch to right plating the second rally starting Piranha, Punto. The sixth inning saw Miguel Tejada take Santana deep and cut the lead back to two. Jeff Cirillo walked leading off the bottom half of the sixth. Another of the swarm came in to pinch run (Jason Tyner). Tyner went on to steal second. After a Jason Bartlett strikeout, lead Piranha, Luis Castillo picked up his second of three hits on the night, a bunt single. With runners on the corners, Punto lashes his second double of the evening plating Tyner. On a night that saw Johan not distributing his best stuff, the piranha's were responsible for putting three runs on the board leading the Twins to a season opening Win.

Continuing on from the opening night festivities, the piranhas continued to swarm. Trailing 2-0 going into the bottom of the fourth, Punto lead off with a single and later came around to score on a double play ground out by Cuddyer. Still down by a run entering the bottom of the fifth the Twins rallied to tie the score on Luis Castillo's fifth hit of the young season scoring Torii Hunter. After completion of a fabulous rendition of the 7th inning stretch by the Twins Nation, Rondell White lead off the bottom of the 7th with a four pitch walk. Speedy Piranha, Jason Tyner replaces White and after a Jason Kubel strike out, once again steals second. With Tyner now in scoring position, 2007's quietest piranha, Jason Bartlett, picks the perfect time to collect his first hit of the season. Tyner comes around from second giving the Twins a 3-2 lead. With six outs left to get to notch win number two, skipper Ron Gardenhire puts the game in the hands of MLB's 2006 best bullpen. Juan Rincon, Dennys Reyes, Jesse Crain and Joe Nathan bent (giving up three base runners over the last two innings) but did not break securing the Twins second win on the young season. A much better start to the 2007 season as the Twins did not pick up win number two until game seven last year.

New Twin Ramon Ortiz gets the nod in the finale vs. Baltimore tomorrow and Jaret Wright. Look for the piranha's to continue the feeding frenzy as the only piranha to have faced Wright is Castillo and he owns a .545 (6-11) average. Heading to Chicago for a big weekend series will be a much happier flight with the momentum of a three game sweep to start the year.

The Voice I Grew Up With

Twins Nation supporters as well as colleagues were saddened to hear the news when they awoke Sunday of the passing of Twins legendary play by play announcer Herb Carneal. Herb has been the "Voice of the Twins" since joining the organization in 1962. His smooth voice and picturesque descriptions of the great game are some of my earliest memories from baseball. My grandfather was a huge Twins fan and always had the game on the radio whenever I visited. My father was also a fan of baseball and the Twins and during the summer while at the lakes, always had Herb and the Boys of Summer on in the background. Myself, probably the biggest fan of the game and of the Twins would fall asleep each night as a boy in the 1970's with my radio on listening to the Twins and Herb.

This is the third season in a row that us Twins Nation Fans have lost a prominent member of our history. 2005 saw the passing of PA Announcer Bob Casey. 2006 we lost Hall of Famer and great man Kirby Puckett and now just one day before the start of the 2007 season our voice, Herb Carneal. They say things happen in threes so I guess the Twins suite is now full.

Kick back and enjoy the games Herb and thanks for all the memories you have given to us Twins Nation supporters over the last 45 years.