Curve For a Strike

Well ... THAT Happened

2011-05-04T07:00:00.000-04:00

There's a lot of caveats to how amazing the game was last night -- but why would you ever dwell on them? In the midst of the worst start to a season that I can remember, Tuesday night's game against the White Sox was the kind of game you need.

Liriano wasn't dominant, but he made history. And that's all that matters right now. I'm going to try to hold off on the griping and complaining about this team for awhile and just tip my cap. Well done. Well done.

The End of Optimism... and also Ribs Are Amazing

2011-05-02T00:01:00.001-04:00

It's difficult to find anything to praise in this team right now. I keep looking for the silver lining and they keep handing out plasticware. Looking up at not even just the rest of the division, but the rest of the entire collected teams of Major League Baseball is a tough pill to swallow -- especially for a team coming off a historic season like 2010. Right now the only consolation I can think of is that we're getting to see Rene Tosoni and Luke Hughes get a shot at sticking in the Majors -- two fun players who are probably a little over their heads playing so regularly but could be capable role-players on a team that was actually functioning.

You can only imagine how long the Alexi Casilla experiment is going to go on, two meaningless triples after countless bonehead plays doesn't buy that much. $7 million for JJ Hardy (despite the fact that he's injured) isn't so hard to justify for someone who can actually hold their own in the field and at the plate on a somewhat consistent basis. Not that JJ Hardy would have been the savior of this team, but in a broader sense, looking ahead to the future -- which is about all I can do at the moment -- we have no realistic options at short unless Trevor Plouffe suddenly puts it all together (and I know he's not doing half bad at AAA but I'd like to see it for a full season).

It was both oddly entertaining and also oddly terrifying seeing coolheaded Carl Pavano trashing the Kansas City visitor's dugout with a baseball bat. I kind of hope all of them are feeling that angst. At least Jason Kubel is increasing his mid-season trade stock for us to hopefully net a decent prospect or two for next year, even as Francisco Liriano continues to piss away every amount of confidence he gained by last year's performance.

The person I feel worst for right now is Jim Thome, the ultimate good guy looking to break 600 career homeruns on a championship caliber squad being relegated to burning up roster space on a team that will eventually be needing to start some youngsters for experience once they're knocked out of contention. As they say, you can't win your division in April but you can certainly lose it, and the Twins are doing everything in their power to lose it.

9-18. I have to resist the urge to vomit looking at those numbers. I have to imagine that they'll at least finish at or just above the .500 mark, and while that's still feasible of course, it's going to take a lot, A LOT of ifs to make that happen:

- if Francisco Liriano can start to step up and post numbers like last year...

- if Michael Cuddyer suddenly realizes how to hit again...

- if Joe Mauer returns and can actually do something other than ground into a double play -- while staying healthy...

- if someone in the bullpen other than Matt Capps can show signs of reliability...

- if someone in the combination of a healthy Nishioka, Puntoesque Tolbert, Cuddyeresque Hughes, boneheaded Casilla, and questionable Plouffe can form a keystone combo...

- if Morneau and Young can become the power threats they need to be in order to bulk up this lineup...

then maybe we can get back into contention. But if those things don't start to fall in place by the end of May I think they'll be way too far out of the running, despite the fact that the Central is still acting like they're stuck in hibernation and letting Cleveland and Kansas City get all their nervous energy out of the way now.

Despite the fact that I can hardly consider my outlook optimistic, I got to go to one of the best events I've ever been to this past Friday. The MLB Fan Cave is an awesome new media guerilla marketing technique by MLB to connect with the modern age -- taking two "Ultimate Fans" and making them live and breathe baseball for an entire season. They've taken the old Tower Record space in the Village on Broadway, and converted it into the ultimate baseball playhouse. On Friday night they invited people wearing Twins garb to show up and enjoy a night of baseball with the ultimate fans, and since I live two blocks away from the Fan Cave and pass by it almost every day on my way in to work, I thought I'd accept the offer the check it out myself.

When you walk in there's a huge catwalk above you where they walk up and "change the score" adding a game every time they watch one and taking down a number from the other side of the board in their countdown to the postseason. There is a HUGE wall of televisions, 15 to be exact, where they can have every single game on. Next to the televisions is an electronic map depicting aerial views of every MLB stadium in the country, which light up when a game is being played.

This is the front of the house/seating area

Behind the the bank of televisions is a playground for baseball addicts. A 3D tv station is set up for games broadcast in 3D (yes, those exist), as well as airhockey, shuffleboard and pool tables all decked out with the MLB logos, a beaded portrait of Jay-Z (over 10,000 beads), an electronic graffiti board, a giant statue of Willie Mays, a bank of Macbook pros where the MLB is building every single player's favorite playlists so you can check out your favorite player's musical predilections, and so much more I can't even name.

The electronic graffiti board, ready for the Twins party

They have a huge wall mural where people stop by and autograph and leave mementos when they come to visit -- one is a picture of Huston Street in a jersey that says "Huston Street" -- they apparently decked him out in that jersey and brought him two blocks away to New York's Houston Street (pronounced "House"-ton) and had him ask for directions there -- people kept telling him it's pronounced House-ton and not Huston until finally somebody stopped and said, "Wait a second, you ARE Huston Street!" There were tons of other stories like that, and the place just sounds like a blast.

That night, Lou Bavaro and his wife were serving us the infamous Michelbobs Ribs, and for those of you who aren't aware of the joy that is Michelbobs ... for shame!

Me, Lou, and his wife with Michelbobs ribs

LENIII always mentions it in his spring training guide and I've tried to hype it myself whenever I go down, but they have the most succulent barbeque you'll ever taste, with ribs that literally fall off the bone as you pick them up. They now serve them at Target Field and are also connecting to a bunch of grocers where you can buy them in the store, but for the real experience you need to go to Naples and check out the restaurant. I've had my share of Michelbobs over my life but it was a treat to have Lou and his wife making the ribs themselves, and especially to enjoy it in NYC watching the Twins with some other Twins fans. MLB tried to prepare a banquet to go along with it, and did a pretty good job of stuffing us with mac and cheese, hush puppies, okra, and Budweiser, but the star of the night were those ribs and I think I helped myself to a few plates to save up for next spring.

Probably my third helping, can't remember...

Losing Is a Disease (and other thoughts)

2011-04-11T00:01:00.000-04:00

All I can remember from playing baseball -- or other organized sports for that matter -- is that when you get in a funk, it's really tough to break out. It seems like all the breaks go the wrong way and that there's no way to build momentum.

(Link) View more Frank Carpenter Sound Clips and The Natural Sound Clips

It reminds me of that therapist they brought in to speak to the Knights in The Natural -- one of the greatest montage sequences I can think of and it perfectly sums up how everything seems to go wrong during a slump. (I'm not suggesting the Twins bring in any team therapists for positive reinforcement, but at this point, something has to help them.)

We're a whopping 9 games into the season, and it seems like whenever we get any steam that something comes along to take the wind out of our sails. But there are a good 153 games left to play -- it's why we're not cheering for a football team -- and we still haven't even had a whiff of the AL Central yet.

How the Twins perform against the AL Central is going to determine the course of the year, and what better way to start it off than against our favorite whipping post: The Kansas City Royals. I don't think anyone in Kansas City is making plans for the postseason yet, and for that matter, neither are the Indians. This time of year the standings get a little topsy-turvy, and I fully anticipate that towards the middle of May we'll be able to start sifting through the wheat from the chaff and see who really wants a seat in the division.

THOUGHTS:

- Nishioka's injury was unfortunate. I was there with a couple of friends and honestly my attention was focused on the throw over to first and I missed the collision. It sounds like it could have been a lot worse, but watching Ryo and the team doctor help Nishi hobble off the field was a depressing sight, made slightly worse by the sympathetic Yankee fans who admirably gave him some applause as he made his way off the field. This of course opens the door for Luke Hughes to make a statement, but it appears that until the Twins can find some semblance of an offense that Gardy might be trotting Cuddyer out at 2B in order to get as many big bats in the lineup as he can. I think the Nishi injury actually could help him out a little bit, I don't see any way that he comes back without a rehab assignment and it might be good to let him play for a little bit in the minors and start to figure out the strike zone a little better.

- Thome hit 590 Sunday. If the injury bug keeps forcing him into the lineup on a more consistent basis I think we see 600 at just about the All-Star break and he passes Sosa before the end of the year. That's my eternal optimist, but there's got to be something positive to think about right now.

- Morneau and Nathan are encouraging. The fact that they're playing at all is something to be thankful for, and I'm not really that concerned about either of them. Nathan will perhaps never be as dominant as he was before the injury, but his velocity is better than I expected and he always liked to make things interesting at the end of games anyway. Morneau is connecting well, it's just not getting many results. I think his performance Sunday against the A's which included a few bleeders and bloops means that things will start to even out a little bit for him and hopefully some of his more solid hits will start to drop. All it takes is that first homerun and I think we'll see the power floodgates rip open for him.

- Our bullpen is actually alright! I think when Slowey comes back healthy that will be a huge boon as he could really thrive in a short relief role. (Of course I think he could thrive as a starter again too, much honestly he gives me more confidence out of the pen than most of the people on our roster.) Capps/Nathan is one of the better tandems to end a game, and Mijares and Perkins have both looked rather solid as well. I'm reserving judgment on Manship because I think he is what he is for his role in the 'pen, Hughes I'm still a little wary of but he's looked just fine -- especially getting out of that jam on Saturday night.

- It's a little disappointing having already had the boys in my neck of the woods and not being able to see them again for awhile. They've rescheduled the rained out Yankee game for a TBD date in September, which I guess gives me something to look forward to then -- but right now I'm just looking forward to Fenway and finding an excuse to fly back to Minnesota for a little bit. Local fans don't know how lucky they have it.

Interview with a Wart

2011-03-29T00:01:00.000-04:00

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to chat with a new addition to the world of Twitter, @cuddyerswart -- someone who has some insider knowledge of Michael Cuddyer and the travails he's gone through to get in shape this Spring Training. I thought it would be interesting to hear his side of things and get a new (albeit awfully low to the ground) perspective.

CURVE: Mr. Wart, thanks for taking the time to chat with me, I'm sure you've got a particularly busy schedule what with Spring Training winding down.

WART: Not so much my schedule, I just hang around for the most part. It's Michael doing all the work, he's the real star. I'm just along for the ride.

CURVE: Well put. Tell us a little bit about your relationship with Michael, how things got started...

WART: Wow, that's a loaded question. I honestly don't remember how things went down -- it was just after getting knocked out of the playoffs, things weren't going too well. I think Michael was in a little bit of a funk. It was just one of those things -- two people in the right place at the right time, we kind of grew attached to each other. Perhaps some sort of a post-partem depression from baseball.

CURVE: I don't think I heard about your presence in his life until sometime during the Winter Meetings? I think we were all a little caught off guard in Twins Territory?

WART: I can see how that would happen. I think Michael actually wanted to let go at that point. Looking back perhaps I was becoming too clingy, it's one of those things seen a little easier in hindsight. But things went on a little longer than they should have, no one wants to be alone for the Holidays and all. In fact, I think the longer our relationship went on, the harder it was for us both to walk ... walk away I mean.

CURVE: What was the deciding factor for parting ways?

WART: He's kind of career driven. I think that was part of it for me at least. When the Twins front office stepped in and decided it was time to sever our relationship it was a little tough to say no. They basically just told him to cut me off. Freeze me out of his life. I was a little shocked, and I think he was too. It seems like it left a hole in both of our lives and we each sought out things to fill it. For him it was bandages and gauze, for me -- drugs, alcohol, and cheap pimples.

CURVE: Have you stayed in contact with Michael at all?

WART: These things linger on, they don't die quickly. We've had infrequent contact, only recently over Twitter. That was a defining moment in our friendship, I think, the fact that we can still stay in contact and let bygones be bygones.

CURVE: Do you have any complaints about your time together?

WART: Not complaints, per se. I think there's always things you'd want to change looking back on things. I think I held him back a little bit. Personally I hated how he would always wear tennis shoes after practice. We were in Florida, it was humid, I just wanted to breathe, I felt smothered. But really, if that's all you can find to complain about -- the guy's a gem, Claudia's a lucky lady and I really hate to think I ever might have got between them.

CURVE: Why a baseball player? Do you ever ask yourself that?

WART: I've always been a baseball fan. Sometimes I look back on the greatest moments in baseball -- Curt Schilling's bloody sock comes to mind -- and I think: that ... that's my future ... that's what I want to be remembered for. Blood on a sock in a baseball game. I guess it just wasn't meant to be.

Again, I'd like to thank @cuddyerswart for taking the time to answer these questions and being such a good sport!

The Rationale of Tolbert over Hughes

2011-03-28T00:01:00.000-04:00

To be clear, I'm a big proponent of Luke Hughes being ready for the Majors. He's shown he can hit, and spending any more time in the minors isn't going to make him Gold Glove material, so you might as well throw him to wolves and give him a place on the 25-man roster. But there is no reason that Hughes should break camp with the club right now instead of Matt Tolbert.

Luke Hughes had an amazing spring, and combined with his track record both in the minors and his short stint with the big league club last year has solidified that he won't be in Rochester for long. But the way that this team is currently assembled there isn't a place for him right now. The only possibiltiy for giving him a spot on the 25-man roster right now would be by trimming our bullpen, and with the uncertainties prevalent there that isn't going to happen.

1. Strength of the starting 9

Who are you going to pinch hit for in our starting lineup? The only obvious choice is Alexi Casilla -- and we have one pinch hitter already (either Thome or Kubel, whoever is sitting that day). I wouldn't hit Hughes over anyone else in the lineup. The lineup for the Twins is one of the more formidable and talented lineups from top to bottom, and consequently, the roles on the bench this year are very defined: speed and defense. The problem with the current construction of the team, and it's only a problem in that it limits our roster space, is that both Kubel and Thome are retaining essentially the same position. Neither should see such much if any time in the field, and both are left-handed power threats. Ideally, one of those spots would be filled by Luke Hughes, but I don't think anyone in Twins Territory is advocating removing Kubel or Thome from the roster to make room for Hughes.

2. Hughes needs to get playing time

At this point in his career, Tolbert is what he is. He can handle not getting many starts and only filling a few innings here or there, but Hughes should continue to get his work in. He was injured for most of last year, and in fact, he's had a slew of injuries that have hampered him from making much of an impact at the Majors until this point. I'd rather let him continue to get back in shape by playing regularly at AAA until a spot opens up for him than by letting him waste away on the bench and see a few at bats every week. Hughes can hit, and there's a very good chance he could be a capable everyday player at a corner infield or 2B position but he's not going to enhance those chances as a limited role player.

3. This means Cuddyer and Morneau are healthy

Believe me, if Cuddyer and Morneau aren't ready to go, Hughes would be coming north with the team. At this point, Hughes could take over 1B or RF and no one else would have to slide around positions. But regardless, I would rather have Cuddyer and Morneau in the lineup and playing than Hughes. This is a good thing. It means we're healthy and that the injury bugs that plagued us all of Spring Training are finally subsiding.

4. Hughes will get his shot

On the flipside, someone is going to get injured. It's bound to happen. Even if that someone is Tolbert.

I thought only Nick Punto could go horizontal like that

Hughes is only a phone call away and unless he literally falls off the face of a cliff, he will likely be the first call from Rochester. At the very least, when rosters expand in September, Hughes will be here. We don't have many other major-league ready right-handed power threats with the upside of Hughes waiting in our system, and as soon as he gets his shot I have to believe that he's going to want to prove that he shouldn't get sent back down -- similar perhaps to Danny Valencia's quest to stay in the Majors after getting his shot last year.

A Crash Course on Jeff Bailey

2011-03-23T00:01:00.002-04:00

First off, please note the re-design of the website -- I got a little sick of the cheesy old blogspot format and the nondescript banner at the top of the page. I used to think of it as elegantly simplistic and eventually just realized it was lazily underwhelming. New banner courtesy of my awesome co-worker, Mike Moreno, who is kind enough to help me with design work in his free time. Background image is still something I'm mulling over so feel free to veto and I'll try to find something else.

Spring is winding down -- sadly -- and rosters are starting to take shape. The inimitable Seth Stohs has a great piece on who remains in camp and their likelihood of seeing any big-league action, and I encourage you all to read it although I imagine you've already done so.

Amidst his deductions of people having slim to no chance of cracking the 25-man out of camp, he spends a little time mentioning the likelihood that we will all become familiar with Jeff Bailey at some point this season, and I agree wholeheartedly.

This is Jeff Bailey

During the offseason, Bailey was one of those names that I simply glazed over during what seemed like 4 long months of signing AAA filler, but I think we were all a little remiss in dismissing him so quickly. My eyes were set on names like Troy Glaus and Derrek Lee so naturally Jeff Bailey faded quickly in mind.

To be honest, it's tough to really consider Jeff Bailey a prospect at this point, and I'm not arguing that we do so. He's bounced around enough (Marlins to Expos to Red Sox to Twins) that he hasn't really been able to latch on, but at the same time he did experience a respectable showing with the eastern powerhouse Red Sox between '08 and '09. In '08 over a miniscule sample size of around 30 games he hit a solid .280/.390/.460 with a couple homeruns in less than 60 plate appearances.

While it's tough to judge from such a small sample size in the Majors, at least he's shown that he can fill in decently when needed -- and his minor league numbers are solid. In fact, I'd find him oddly comparable to Garrett Jones, a guy who could never latch on anywhere despite being given a few chances at the majors, but who tore up the minors. Jones is about 3 years younger and spent 3 fewer years bouncing around farm systems, but Bailey has a better slash line in the minors (.276/.380/.478 as opposed to .258/.312/.450) so perhaps Bailey just needs to find his groove at the majors. He's got the pop in his bat to justify a position at 1st base or corner outfield -- in fact like our Spring Darling, Luke Hughes, Bailey hit a homerun in first MLB at bat and it was also against the Tigers.

Also Jeff Bailey again

Perhaps it's time to back off, I don't want to be known as the Bailey advocate of the Twins blogosphere -- for Bailey to crack the roster would likely mean that both Morneau and Cuddyer are not ready to go, and we don't want to imagine that scenario. Though with the fact that Cuddyer is just now about to start playing in his first real Spring games, and that it's taken Morneau this long to play in back-to-back games, we have to consider the possibility that one or both might not be ready at the get-go of the season (which THANK HEAVENS is less than two weeks away!).

Of course if Bailey sticks around the minors with us this season, puts up something similar to his career numbers, and there's room on the 40-man I can't see how he wouldn't get a September call-up. At that point, with a beat up and weary roster we could probably use an extra corner infielder/outfielder with a little veteran pop from the right side of the plate coming off the bench.

I'd say that chances are greater than not that we see Bailey getting at least a cup of coffee this year, and while I know he might not be the next big thing, he should be able to hold his own if he gets a shot and hopefully he's able to use it as his chance to stick like Garrett Jones did.

Spring Training Part II

2011-03-10T09:42:00.007-05:00

Instead of making our way up to Sarasota to check out the game at Baltimore, Seth and I decided to take in some morning workouts from the people who stayed behind. We made the trek up in time to hopefully see the bus leave but got there just a little bit late. We were hoping to see if Joe Mauer got on the bus in case the Twins were going to pull out a surprise like they did with Morneau and get him his first game action away from the fans, so instead we just kept an eye out for him at the complex (I saw him being carted around on one of the golf carts, so that settled it, he had stayed behind).

We wandered down to the minor league area for awhile and saw some of the younger players working out on their own on one of the fields -- we got a great view getting to wander right up to the fence behind the catchers as the caught some unofficial bullpen sessions. Eventually Tommy Watkins wandered out with a bunch of people from near the minor league batting cages and called everyone over for some live BP.

While they went to get everything ready for BP we went back to the major league area and saw some pitcher's fielding practice, which is always kind of fun to watch. Even though not much action goes on, you get to see a large variety of pitchers going through some basic drills at the same time.

I then wandered over to the batting cages under the stadium and saw Jim Thome hitting off a tee while Tony Oliva and Delmon Young watched. Meanwhile, Ben Revere was hitting next to him with Carew and Jason Repko watching him. Eventually Revere and Repko wandered away and Carew joined Oliva, Young and Thome. Thome started talking to Delmon and I could just hear pieces but he was talking about how the difference between being good and being great is consistency, and that that stems from finding consistency in your swing. It was great watching him just start pontificating and sharing his years of knowledge like that and I can only imagine how he drops little insights like that throughout the course of the year to his teammates.

Eventually everyone left the batting cages under the stadium and went for some live BP.

I will admit, most of my pictures are over people's rear ends. Ugh. I've got to work on my photography. But that's Oliva, Carew, Young, and Morneau -- pretty good collection of players leaning against the fence.

Big Jim!

I watched a few rounds of BP, and if you go over to Seth's site you can read a little bit more about some funny tidbits from there.

Eventually Tom Kelly told everyone to head to the stadium to keep working out. This is one of the moments, moving from that practice field to the stadium that all the players walk in front of a short little fence that everyone leans over and hollers for autographs. Everyone usually waves and acknowledges the fans if they get hollered at, but if they have some place to go and are in the middle of practice, it's not very likely that they can stop and sign for a long time at that fence.

Joe Nathan was one of the last people to wander over to the stadium and of course everyone was calling to him. He waved and ended up setting his stuff down and coming over to sign autographs for fans for a long time -- and actually I had seen him do the same thing the day before. He's really a great ambassador to the fans and takes lots of time out of his schedule to connect with the people who follow him, which is a great thing and will surely be missed if he doesn't come back after next year.

I hung around outside the stadium while Seth went inside to call into a radio show and watched players trickle out from the locker rooms one at a time. Ben Revere walked by and I congratulated him on the his great catch from the day before. Someone else went up and got an autograph from him and you could see the scuffs all over his hands from the diving catch. I'm definitely glad he's OK enough to play because I can't reiterate enough how amazing that catch was, he definitely could have come away more banged up than that.

Anthony Slama also walked out on his way to the parking lot and you could see some sort of a large butterly looking bandaid or bandage taped up on his right elbow -- Seth had noticed earlier how during PFP he was still going through the motions but was the only one not throwing an actual baseball. Hopefully he comes back and is able to play soon because he could be a valuable addition to an already questionable bullpen.

Finally we left the stadium and spent the rest of the day at the Sunset Beach Bar in Naples, drinking and walking along the beach, and eventually ended the night by meeting up with Steve from Gear Up For Sports and Twitter (@MNTwinsGUFS) and his friend who are both down here for Spring Training as well. We ended up eating at Michelbob's, a staple of LaVelle Neal's Spring Training dining guides and one of the best BBQ restaurants with ribs that just fall off the bone, perfectly smoked pork, and amazing peanut butter pie and key lime pie. If you come to Southwest Florida you need to make the trip there.

Spring Training, Part I

2011-03-08T23:00:00.006-05:00

***Ok, it's been awhile. It's been quite awhile. In fact, every day it gets harder to figure out something to write because it has to be perfect as a re-entry into starting to write again. This is why I stopped trying to be a screenwriter ... writer's block. So easy to just put down the pen. And you know what ... this post isn't anything special. But I don't care because I just need to start writing again, and nothing gives me the urge to write more than actually watching a baseball game, which is what I got to do today...

Spring is here. I don't think I officially realized that until I stumbled out of the car and walked like a man in a dream over to Hammond Stadium on Sunday. It was raining all morning and the drive from Naples to Ft. Myers was as grey and overcast as I've ever seen it, but I had to get my fix.

Walking up to the practice fields I saw how empty it was. Fans were milling around aimlessly, waiting for some sort of action, but due to the rain (and the fact that the MLB Player's Association was having their annual meeting as I found out later...) no one was out on the fields. The biggest draws were a shuffling little Wayne Hattaway, Dick Bremer in sandals and some sort of golf visor, and Roy Smalley walking around in a salmon color shirt that screamed Florida golf courses.

I did notice the Japanese media -- wandering around with tripods and cameras -- I can only imagine how many are going to be showing up to Target Field over the course of the year. There were also a lot of fans, walking around in Ichiro jerseys namely. At one point a Japanese man in a flashy suit and a nice head of hair snuck out from the Stadium restricted access area and fans immediately started crowding around him asking for autographs -- he obliged halfheartedly -- but it was not Nishioka. He was a reporter or likely a TV anchor of some sort, and I don't think anyone realized that for awhile. At the first sign of a Japanese man in a nice suit they just reacted. Kind of funny.

Eventually though the rain cleared and the players took to the fields for some practice before their game with Baltimore. I didn't have tickets but I needed to see some sort of baseball so I stuck around to watch practices until everyone filtered back into the stadium for the game. Some of the things I noticed:

- Joe Nathan looks great. It's great to see him moving around and smiling and happy... I think he's psyched to be back playing baseball and I wish him the best

- I don't know what everyone's worried about with Mijares and his weight. I saw him doing sprints on a backfield with Nathan and he was keeping pace pretty quickly. I've seen him much heavier previous springs, he actually looks like he could've lost some weight.

- Dmitri Young was walking around and it took me until reading notes from the Star Tribune and Phil Mackey to realize it. I knew he looked familiar and he was getting a lot of love from players as he walked around but I didn't put two and two together.

- The person I did notice was Jim Kaat. I had decided to get his autograph at Twins Fest this year and he was the first face other than Hattaway and Smalley that I saw, wandering out onto the fields before the players, decked out in Twins gear and obviously in some sort of supervisory role.

While I didn't get to see any baseball on Sunday, I ended up back at the stadium on Tuesday for the tilt against the Pirates. I dropped of Nick Nelson in the morning and went to go pick up Mr. Seth Stohs from the airport. Nick got there just in time to see Morneau, which I'm sure you can read about if you go over to his site -- the "B" game definitely seemed to have an A-list feel to it with the last minute addition of Morneau and the ability to see Slowey, Delmon and Kyle Gibson all on the same practice field, they had quite the crowd there watching some free baseball by the time Seth and I arrived.

Thanks to Nick Nelson's generosity and Parker Hageman's seating hookups we had some pretty awesome seats to watch the game...

I realize this is just a nice view of some umpire rear-ends, but believe me that's not what we were focusing on...

Pavano didn't look particularly stellar -- in fact outside of Kyle Waldrop there wasn't much to speak of in terms of pitching today. Pavano wasn't shaky really, but he didn't seem to have his best stuff, still feeling out some of his pitches and teasing his velocity. But he didn't look bad either.

None of the pitchers really looked bad -- Neshek was suitable in his inning but got hit pretty hard even though some of them went for outs. Outside of the long homerun to Overbay he had a warning track flyball that looked like a sure double until Ben Revere showed his amazing range and tracked it down for what would be a Sportscenter Top 10 play for sure if only they had been televising the game. He must've been sore after that, diving for it onto the dirt track, and got a rousing standing ovation on his way back to the dugout.

Danny Rams was the other star of the game for sure -- not only did he spook the hell out of me when he caught a pop fly right at the fence (all of us were staring up to make sure the ball didn't land at us over the backstop and when I followed it down he caught the ball right in front of my face). He also had some towering doubles that could've left the fence if they'd had just a little bit more carry. He's certainly got quite the bat, I can't wait to see where he ends up in the next couple of seasons because with the grasp for Holm and Rivera we could certainly use some strong catching depth and he's the one to watch in my book.

Nishioka also played in the game today -- the fans loved him, he's certainly going to be a treat to watch. He had a nice solid single and flashed a little leather over at 2nd base -- I feel pretty confident that he'll be able to at least hold his own in the Majors this year.

Unfortunately I couldn't get a good angle on him with the ump in the way...

It was good to see some of the other players like Tosoni, Benson, and Hughes as well -- all of whom I have some strong hopes for this year.

Anyway, look for some more posts to follow soon -- Seth and I are going to make an early morning trek up to the Lee County Sports Complex to catch some workouts from the people who stay behind on the roadtrip so hopefully we have some more pictures and stories to share soon!

(Definitely check out Nick and Seth's sites tomorrow as I see them writing as I'm going to bed and I'm sure they'll have some better stories to read -- I think you can find Seth's today at the Star Tribune Twins Centric page.)

My Christmas Wish List

2010-12-25T00:37:00.004-05:00

It's a Christmas miracle! I'm writing an entry on my blog! Unfortunately, the past few months have been so draining that I had absolutely no thought to write, much less do anything else. But now I'm on almost a 2 week break from work, back in Minnesota for the holidays, and I can already feel my batteries recharging. And what better way to recap the months of material that I've missed than to assess the state of my team in a manner befitting of the season...

MY CHRISTMAS WISH LIST (TWINS-RELATED)

Dear Santa,

I'm sure you're really busy this time of year, and I'm sure you way too many requests from Pirates fans and Royals fans and the like to give me much thought, but just in case you had enough time for people up in Twins Territory, I thought I'd give you a little checklist of things I'd like to see. Where to start?

1. I'd really, really, appreciate the front office hiring someone proficient in sabermetrics. They don't need to listen to him all the time, but at least check it out? It seems like every other team in baseball is at least venturing slightly into advanced metric stats and taking those into account when making decisions, why can't we? Perhaps if we had such a person they could help point out how Nick Blackburn isn't really a ground-ball pitcher and is due for significant regression, or how picking a pitcher simply because they have a low ERA and lots of innings under their belt doesn't always tell the whole story...

2. I miss J.J. Hardy. Can you undo this, Santa? I know it hasn't been a long time, and I know we have to say goodbye sometimes, but I was just kind of getting familiar with having him around. It was kind of nice to feel confident whenever a ball was hit to the left side of the infield. And it was really nice to see the 9th spot in the order roll around and not groan. Please help Alexi Casilla not suck too badly.

3. I'd really like for Jim Thome to mash his 600th tater in a Twins uniform. I know he might not be the the thing this team needs next season, but I can be a little selfish with one of the 25 roster spots, and I chose being selfish for Jim Jam.

4. Help Justin Morneau and Joe Nathan come back feeling 100% better. They are important pieces of our team and I'm scared to go into a season not knowing how well they'll perform. Morneau still not feeling 100% scares me, in fact it really really wigs me out. And at this point I'm kind of just expecting the worst from Nathan. If the two of them survive a full season on our roster without any significant setbacks, that will be a true miracle, and I could go for one of those.

5. Bless our farm system. It seems like every year that we do well, someone from the minors needs to step up. I don't really care who it is this year, but I am very excited that you've given us gifts like Kyle Gibson, David Bromberg, Deolis Guerra, Joe Benson, and Ben Revere, all of whom are probably very close to being unwrapped. Can't we just take a peek early? No, no, I know, that will spoil it.

6. Magically transport me to Minnesota so that I can get season tickets and enjoy my team all the time. It's tough living in New York sometimes, and knowing that if I want to see a baseball game on a random day that I either have to suffer through the pain of the Bronx, or sit out in Queens watching Johan in another uniform. When I can't get back to Minnesota, please help me make arrangements to roadtrip it up to nearby places like Toronto and Boston this year when our boys go there.

7. World Series? Please?

Something to Make You Feel Better

2010-10-07T08:00:00.000-04:00

Sometimes as a Twins fan in New York, it can be a little tough. I remember living in Minnesota and finding the stray Yankee fans out there and being immediately turned off by their obnoxious arrogance -- out here it's really no different except YOU are suddenly the stray.

The one thing to take solace in is that the majority of people around the world are on our side, even if I can't see them. And when you do find a couple other like-minded, sane, rational, down-to-earth people out here in New York who ALSO happen to despise the Yankees, there's an immediate bonding. Regardless of if it's a Red Sox fan, Mets fan, or anyone else.

I found a few of those at the bar last night, and I also thankfully had a cadre of Twins fans with me, although they all seemed to wander home after the 7th inning.

Anyway, I don't know about you, but I need a pick-me up this morning. And there's no better way to accomplish that than to make fun of the Yankees a little:

Jeter -- this is just completely inappropriate behavior on the field.

Focus on the game A-Rod! The game!

Dammit, I said focus on THE GAME!

I see vanity doesn't plague A-Rod alone. This picture makes me throw up a little.

I should be rocking one of these shirts more often...

Glad to know I'm on the Lord's side!

Lack of taste doesn't only extend to their choice in sports teams...

My wishes for their franchise. In pictoral form.

Twins vs. Yankees: Lineup Comparisons

2010-10-04T00:01:00.002-04:00

I'm psyched -- the Twins finally have a chance to redeem themselves against the Yankees and the postseason jinx they've put on us. My last experience at Yankee Stadium was the Kubel walkoff, and I'm hoping that I have a few more of those instead of what I had to deal with last year.

While I'm always nervous during the postseason, I'm not quite as edgy as I've been before. While last year I was talking trash with Yankee fans but secretly wringing my hands and hoping, hoping, hoping that we wouldn't screw things up, this year is a different story. The Twins can match up with any team in baseball this year.

To put that to the test, let's examine the two opposing lineups today:

Catcher:

Joe Mauer: .327/.402/.467, 9 HR, 75 RBI, 42 2B, 65 BB, 52 K

vs.

Jorge Posada: .250/.358/.458, 18 HR, 57 RBI, 23 2B, 58 BB, 98 K

Francisco Cervelli: .271/.359/.335, 0 HR, 38 RBI, 11 2B, 33 BB, 42 K

- I think this one is pretty clear cut and it's a nice way to start out. Joe Mauer is obviously the better catcher between the two teams. While Jorge still has the jolt in his bat, Joe Mauer is a hitting machine. He's also got the best plate discipline of anyone in the two starting lineups, being the only person to actually draw more walks than strikeouts. Advantage: Twins. And by a long shot.

First Base:

Michael Cuddyer: .271/.336/.418, 14 HR, 81 RBI, 37 2B, 57 BB, 93 K

vs.

Mark Texeira: .258/.366/.484, 33 HR, 108 RBI, 36 2B, 92 BB, 121 K

- Texeira has better power, plate discipline, and probably fielding skills as well. Although this isn't a knock on Cuddyer, who still shows solid numbers. Cuddyer doesn't have awful plate discipline, he's been serviceable in the field, and he has decent power and average. The advatage goes to the Yankees, but not by as much as you'd think.

Second Base:

Orlando Hudson: .267/.337/.372, 6 HR, 37 RBI, 24 2B, 50 BB, 87 K

vs.

Robinson Cano: .320/.382/.535, 29 HR, 108 RBI, 41 2B, 57 BB, 77 K

- Just like it was clear that Mauer was the better catcher, it's pretty clear that Cano is the better second baseman. Cano is probably the most complete player on the Yankee roster. Hudson's overall numbers have shown a drop in September, and he's clearly an upgrade over anyone the Twins have seen at second in a longtime, but they have a long way to go to match Cano's production. Advantage: Yankees. By a longshot.

Shortstop:

JJ Hardy: .269/.320/.396, 6 HR, 38 RBI, 19 2B, 27 BB, 53 K

vs.

Derek Jeter: .269/.340/.369, 10 HR, 66 RBI, 30 2B, 63 BB, 104 K

- This is a pretty tough call. Hardy's overall numbers are down by the lack of games due to injury, but he actually stacks up pretty evenly with Jeter. Clutch and leadership are not a factor in this decision, this isn't the MVP race... Hardy is a much, much, superior defender, and I think it comes down to that. They are about even at the plate and Hardy has the edge on defense. Advantage is going to the Twins, although not by a whole lot.

Third Base:

Danny Valencia: .314/.354/.453, 7 HR, 40 RBI, 18 2B, 20 BB, 45 K

vs.

Alex Rodriguez: .270/.341/.508, 30 HR, 124 RBI, 29 2B, 58 BB, 96 K

- Valencia is having a monster year. It's too bad he's only played a half season because you have to take his numbers with a grain of salt. Alex Rodriguez is typical Alex Rodriguez. There's no doubt that the edge is going to the Yankees, although the question is which A-Rod will show up this post season? The '09 version or the choke artist we've seen every year before. Advantage is to the Yankees, but the Twins don't have a slouch at third for the first time in a long time.

Right Field:

Jason Kubel: .250/.324/.427, 21 HR, 92 RBI, 23 2B, 56 BB, 116 K

vs.

Nick Swisher: .288/.358/.506, 28 HR, 88 RBI, 33 2B, 57 BB, 137 K

- Kubel is having a down year, and Swisher is going to be as annoying as ever. They are about equal in all facets. Kubel probably has more potential and he's shown he can be dangerous against the Yankees. Swisher is better in the field, and so he gets the nod. Advantage: Yankees, although slight.

Center Field:

Denard Span: .266/.333/.350, 3 HR, 58 RBI, 24 2B, 60 BB, 73 K

vs.

Curtis Granderson: .247/.325/.469, 24 HR, 67 RBI, 17 2B, 53 BB, 115 K

- It really depends on what you're looking for here. Granderson has the power and Span has the average. Granderson strikes out a lot, Span has better plate discipline. Granderson probably has a slight edge in the field. I think the edge actually goes to the Twins, Span isn't meant to hit for power but he can sure as hell get on base and that's what he's there for. This is a pretty tough one for me but it's hard to ignore that power disparity. Advantage: Yankees. I think...

Left Field:

Delmon Young: .299/.334/.495, 21 HR, 112 RBI, 46 2B, 28 BB, 81 K

vs.

Brett Gardner: .275/.383/.377, 5 HR, 47 RBI, 19 2B, 79 BB, 100 K

- No comparison. As pesky as Gardner is, Delmon is a beast and there's no denying the year that he's having. He might not be the best fielder, and Gardner has more of a penchant for walks, but Delmon will likely get MVP votes (even if unwarranted), Gardner will not. Advantage: Twins. Not close.

Designated Hitter:

Jim Thome: .280/.410/.625, 25 HR, 59 RBI, 16 2B, 60 BB, 82 K

vs.

Lance Berkman: .248/.368/.413, 14 HR, 58 RBI, 23 2B, 77 BB, 85 K

Marcus Thames: .288/.352/.495, 12 HR, 33 RBI, 7 2B, 19 BB, 61 K

- Thome is putting up a monster year. He's got the best slugging % of anyone on this list and also a killer slugging percentage. The job of the DH is to hit the ball, and Thome does that perhaps better than anyone on either roster. Hopefully the lefty duo of Sabathia and Pettite don't neutralize this advantage, but it is an advantage. Berkman and Thames are solid players, but they are no Thome. Advantage: Twins. Not really close.

Summary:

The Yankees are better at 5 positions. The biggest disparity is obviously the Cano/Hudson, followed by Rodriguez/Valencia. The margins between Texeira/Cuddyer, Swisher/Kubel, and Granderson/Span are not that big though, and the Twins are right there with the Yankees at those spots.

The Twins have the advantage at 4 positions, and 3 of them aren't even close. Mauer/Posada/Cervelli is a huge gap, likewise Young/Gardner and Thome/Berkman/Thames. The only place it's really even close is Hardy/Jeter.

Basically these are going to be some very competitive matchups, the likes of which we have never had before in the postseason against the Yankees. The Twins have 3 vastly superior matchups at positions, and the Yankees have 2. The other four matchups are going to be pretty close. It will be interesting to see...

Next up: rotation comparisons.

Twins MVP Award Ballot

2010-09-27T08:00:00.001-04:00

Seth Stohs has done a great job of keeping the Twins blogging community together, and this year he's invited a bunch of us to pool our collective minds to figure out our choices for the Twins MVP, Twins Top Pitcher, and the Twins Top Rookie.

Today he posted the collective results for the MVP and I'll release my ballot to the awaiting public. Unlike K-Bro's careful thought process, I feel like I'm the Keizo Konishi of this year...

1.) Francisco Liriano

I know, I know, I could've gone Mauer. But he set the bar pretty high for himself last year, and I guess I feel a little let down. He's been amazing, but I don't think anyone would put him in the top running for League MVP, unfortunately. Liriano on the otherhand has stepped up in a way above-and-beyond what anyone expected for him this year. He's filled a void on our team that has been absent since we shipped Johan Santana off to New York -- and I think for any team to succeed in the long-run they need a truly identifiable ace on their pitching staff. That guy is Liriano, and that deserves some MVP love in my book.

2.) Joe Mauer

Easy choice. If Mauer wasn't first on my ballot there was no way he was slipping any further. Mauer is too consistently good to fall any lower.

3.) Carl Pavano

This is a little crazy, perhaps, but I'll stick by it. For all the times I roll my eyes at the banter about needing that veteran presence on a pitching staff, Pavano may have just proved me wrong. There's something comforting about knowing that every 5 days he will toe the rubber and give us a shot to win.

4.) Jim Thome

I don't think anyone went into this season expecting such an explosive impact from Big Jim. What an amazing contingency plan, though! With Morneau's injury derailing him for over half the season, this team probably would've been doomed without Thome's ability to step in and contribute -- seemingly entering the prime of career at age 40.

5.) Delmon Young

Delmon carried this team on his back for the entire month of July, and he hasn't been a slouch the rest of the year either. Despite his obvious defensive shortcomings he's had a monster of a year, showing everyone exactly what we were hoping for when we acquired him from Tampa Bay.

6.) Michael Cuddyer

I think everyone can get caught up in how streaky and inconsistent his bat is, but I don't think you can put a fair pricetag on his versatility. There really wasn't any player in our minors who was anywhere close to being ready to man first base. Beyond covering 1st, Cuddyer has spent time at both second base and third base year -- running around and trying to plug holes wherever he can. I think it's apparent to anyone that Cuddyer gives an all out effort both on and off the field, wherever he may be.

7.) Orlando Hudson

O-Dawg has slowed down a bit over the last month, but I think it's not enough to devalue the presence he's brought to our team. Being able to run him out at second base and the second spot in the lineup day after day is a great asset to us, getting on base for Mauer to drive him in. This is something our team has been lacking for years and it's part of what put us over the top in 2010.

8.) Brian Duensing

This was a tough call for me. I'm already beating myself up for putting two pitchers on this ballot but a 3rd??? The amazing thing about Duensing is how he has done it both in the bullpen and in the rotation. When he was pitching out of the pen he was arguably our best reliever. Since stepping into the rotation his numbers have been ridiculous and unexpected. What was expected to hopefully be a stopgap move has given him a surefire right to be a starter in the postseason and the inside edge in a rotation spot in 2011. If the Duensing-in-the-rotation experiment hadn't panned out back then when our rotation was in complete disarray, we could've been in for a miserable 2nd half.

Post Season Roster Dark Horse

2010-09-22T00:01:00.001-04:00

UPDATE: I would have written a congratulatory article about the Twins clinching last night but I think enough voices out there have a better handle on that than me. It was great to watch though, and it's kind of surreal to not have to worry about the hunt for October when there's actually still baseball left to be played. Over at Baseballism, my buddy Francisco lends his congratulations to our squad for their clinch last night and reflects on what a great year the Twins have put together. He's one of the most lucid and intelligent baseball afficionados I get to interact with on a regular basis so be sure to add his blog to your daily reads!

There's been plenty of speculation around our blogosphere about who will and who won't make the post-season roster. Questions remain about who exactly will be cut to whittle down to the stated 11-man pitching staff. The biggest elephant in the room is obviously the health of Justin Morneau and whether he will be around as a potent bench threat for us in October.

The general assumption though is that if Morneau isn't back that Jose Morales comes off our bench as a pinch-hitting/3rd catcher option. I'm a little skeptical.

Morales has been on the backburner all year and except for Mauer's recent tweaked knee he's barely seen the light of day in a game. In the microcosm of the postseason there's no reason to waste a roster spot on someone who will never get in a game and a 3rd catcher who can occasionally get a single really doesn't do any good for us. Besides, as Seth Stohs pointed out on his Twins Centric column -- who in our lineup do you plan on pinch-hitting for anyway?

So who is the final bench spot going to?

Ben Revere.

***I'll excuse you while you laugh and disagree with me***

Think about it though -- our bench will not be made of pinch-hitters. It will be made up of defensive replacements and speedsters who will all come in late in the game pinch-running for our slow-plodding starters.

Look at that! Even the shutter can't keep up to him!

This isn't a new concept. In fact, the 2002 World Champion Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim followed the same formula with their fresh-faced rookie: Chone Figgins.

Figgins was a "September" call-up (end of August really) who was used in all of 15 games the last few weeks of the season and was almost unilaterally implemented as a late-inning speedster/defensive replacement. It didn't matter that his batting average was a miniscule .167 that season because he was simply there to wreak havoc on the basepaths.

In fact, the minor league slash line of '02 Figgins is almost identical to Revere's minor league slash from this year, except Figgins had a little bit more power.

Figgins: .305/.364/.466 with 39 SBs

Revere: .305/.371/.363 with 36 SBs

Revere is really the best pure threat on the basepaths that we have on our roster. We all know Span's baserunning gaffes and penchant for getting picked off. Punto is coming off a tweaked hamstring injury (and I'm sure we remember his baserunning blunders from last postseason as well...). And for how fast Casilla is he only has 5 SBs all season.

It was a nice story to call Revere up this September, something for people to get excited about certainly. But there had to be more of a reason to bring him up then just getting him a little playing time with the Major League club. We didn't need to exercise an option year yet or throw Matt Fox on waivers for someone we weren't planning on implementing.

September has been and continues to be an audition for Ben Revere's postseason debut. He is our dark horse and our secret weapon in October.

Centralized

2010-09-09T11:32:00.002-04:00

Since 1998 the Twins have been locked into a divisional dogfight with the Detroit, Cleveland, Kansas City, and Chicago. And since the Twins righted the ship this past decade, they have been a divisional powerhouse by slaughtering the other Central teams on a consistent basis.

In 2003, the Twins posted a solid 43-33 record within in the division en route to a playoff appearance.

In '04 we were even better -- posting a remarkable 45-29 record in the Central. Only New York and Boston could claim they bullied their own division more.

In '06 we finished 41-35 against the Central.

In '08 we were 43-30 (just barely behind the Game 163 winning Sox who were 44-29).

In '09 our domination of the division (46-27 against the Central) led us to our amazing resurgence in early October, coming from behind to overtake our divisional foe ahead of us.

And this year? How do we fare so far? 38-19 against AL Central opponents. That's good for a .667 winning percentage in our division. That is far and away the best divisional record -- the next closest perhaps being the Rangers who are 24-16 for a .600 mark -- or in the NL only Cincinnatti with a 40-24 (.625) record.

While it's true the season isn't over -- if we continue to feast upon teams within our division it has the added benefit of not only boosting our record but also crippling theirs. This philosophy -- demonstrated by the Twins in their successful pennant chases of the past decade -- is what secures a ticket to the playoffs, and it's what will secure our appearance in the 2010 playoffs as well.

Bring on Cleveland.

It's All About Depth

2010-09-04T20:31:00.004-04:00

Wow, looking at my last posting date it's been QUITE awhile since I've ventured around my own corner of the internet and helped contribute to our blogosphere. My apologies for being so remiss -- I suppose that's what happens when you have to balance a demanding day job on top of your passion but it makes me all the more appreciative of the guys out there who blog about our team nearly every day despite everything else going on in their lives...

At the outset of the season I had one concern about the Twins roster which I voiced several times in podcasts and posts. It was the question of depth. Unlike many years where the Twins were relying on guys from their farm to step into key positions from the outset or bringing in stopgap veterans, the Twins front office aggressively pursued trades and free agents to bolster the 25-man roster for the first year in their new house.

Gold-glove caliber All-Stars were brought in to shore up the SS and 2B positions, Thome filled a long empty power bat off the bench role, and almost every other player on our roster seemed primed for a solid year.

As we all know by now, the opening day roster for the Twins has barely been active together at one time since the first week. This was and always has been my biggest concern: what happens if the pieces we brought in and the pieces we already had ended up dropping out for extended periods?

Going into 2010, the Rochester Red Wings roster was full of unproven, unready, and uninspiring prospects for the most part -- and that demonstrated itself in the dismal season that's played out at Frontier Field. But what fans in Rochester haven't seen on display, the Twins have been fortunate enough to reap the benefits of.

Danny Valencia, one of the top prospects in the Twins system who many were clamoring for to break camp with the team (myself included) has stepped up heads above anyone else. Anchoring the long upheaval of names strolling through the 3B position on the Twins roster, Valencia has shown the Twins solid-if-not-flashy defense and a white-hot bat with a penchant for timely hits.

Trevor Plouffe, a potential middle infielder of the future and former first-round draft pick has survived a constant flux of shuttling back and forth between the big leagues and AAA to always be there when the Twins have needed him. While his learning curve of adapting to Major League pitching hasn't quite been as fast as we'd like, he's conducting himself like a pro and hasn't taken his offensive woes with him onto the field -- allowing one error in 70 innings.

Drew Butera has been quite a surprise. His even-keeled manner behind the plate and maturity and calm have helped keep our ever-changing pitching staff together. While his bat will never be anything to speak of he's still had his share of clutch hits, but it's his glove-work, gun, and ability to call a game that put him light-years above many 2nd string catchers around the league. And with a guy like Mauer in front of him on the depth chart, we don't need another .300 hitting catcher on the roster.

Alex Burnett was one of the more pivotal performers out of the bullpen at the start of the season. Making the quick jump from AA to the Majors when he broke camp, Burnett held hitters over the first half of the season to a .278 BAA. While the hits came more frequently after the first couple of months as hitters began to adjust -- Burnett has shown poise far beyond his years that will certainly help him out as he makes a bid for a bullpen spot next year.

Jason Repko has meant more than we could've expected. While at the beginning of the year I was clamoring for the Twins to add a bench outfielder along the lines of Endy Chavez, Angel Pagan, or Juan Pierre, the Twins never made any such move. Jacque Jones was brought in for some AAA depth (and I'm still hoping we at least see him once this September), but other than Span there was really no true centerfielder on the team. There were musings of Punto and Tolbert filling in as a backup outfielder (and look where that ended up) but eventually the front office made a move for a AAAA guy with spectacular defense and a career that had never really lived up to its potential in Los Angeles. Where would we be without Repko on the team? His dazzling glove in the outfield has made up for the lack of range elsewhere on our team and his brilliant putout on a deep fly Friday night likely saved the first game of this pivotal series against the Rangers.

There are countless examples. Matt Fox's solid last-minute debut. Key pickups like Capps, Fuentes, and Flores to help anchor an exhausted and depleted bullpen. Brian Duensing's light's out performance out of the 'pen translating itself as a starter. Luke Hughes brief but exalting moment in the spotlight with a homerun in his first AB.

Despite the fact that the Red Wings have scuffled and fallen flat all season long, their team has contributed greatly to the success of the Twins and we owe it to the gutsy performance of these players to be seated atop the Central and fighting for the possible position of homefield advantage in the first round.

Foolproof

2010-08-02T00:01:00.000-04:00

The Twins have long been known around baseball for having one of the best relief corps, but over the past couple of years most Twins fans have watched as what was always one of our strengths had quickly turned into an Achilles heel.

Going into this season, the loss of our most consistent bullpen presence -- Joe Nathan -- left many of us wondering what kind of mess we'd be late in games once again. Arbitrarily, the role of "closer" was handed to Jon Rauch out of Spring Training, presumably because he had what was known as "closing experience", but most likely because he was just so tall he looked terrifying.

Amazingly enough, the Twins bullpen has made a resurgence this year to claim its once heralded place among the best in baseball. Going into today our bullpen is statistically dominant -- 2nd in MLB ERA with 3.11 behind only the Padres, 3rd in WHIP with (1.22) and a commanding 1st in fewest walks allowed: 82 -- the next closest being Tampa Bay with 88.

Despite all of our success in late game pitching this year, as a fanbase we've come to mistrust our team's bullpen management. The Save has become a statistic so meaningless and yet always sought after that we've thrown our most valuable trading piece away after the hope of gaining one or two more "saves". Players with numbers and track records screaming for recognition continue to sit in the minors while those we view as overrated or on the decline continued to pitch with the major league club.

But despite all this, our bullpen is in an amazing place -- and there's no way our manager or anyone else can mess this up.

The most consistent annual criticism of Gardy's bullpen management has been his reliance on having a closer and confining him to a role at the backend of the bullpen, despite the need to use him elsewhere. Understandably this is vexing and it was vexing for many years. But the only way that can be considered bad is when it's your best reliever is given this limited closer's role.

In 2010 any fan would be hard pressed to say who our best reliever is. I think even the team's management would have a hard time determining that. Without the presence of someone so statistically dominant in every category, our manager has just arbitrarily handed the role of closer over to someone with experience.

The only pitching category that Jon Rauch or now Matt Capps is more distinguished in than the rest of our bullpen is that of the Save. And the Save is a completely meaningless statistic.

Jose Mijares has the best ERA of any reliever on our team.

Matt Guerrier has the best WHIP.

Mahay and Mijares have the fewest free passes.

Capps only has one more strikeout than Jesse Crain.

Essentially the Twins have a bullpen full of quality pitchers, none of whom really have such overwhelming dominance that everyone in a room could point to them and say "Him. He's the closer. Put him in at the end of games." So while this might be a conundrum for someone like Gardy who has to have that anchor he only uses at the end of games, for fans that means that we'll always see someone reliable at the end of the game but that there are many other equally reliable options being trotted out there before him.

It's foolproof.

Baltimore Trip Recap

2010-07-28T00:01:00.001-04:00

You have absolutely no idea how hot it was. Perhaps the most uncomfortably hot I've been in my life.

Let me start over.

I've been trying to check out as many of the east coast ballparks as I can in case I decide to move from New York, and when I saw this year that the Twins would be visiting Baltimore for a weekend series it looked like the perfect opportunity to check out a ballpark I've heard so many good things about. Anyone I've spoken to who has visited Camden Yards has had nothing but good things to say -- and now I can see why.

Planning this trip I knew it was going to be pretty hot. After renting a car and reserving a motel just south of Downtown Baltimore, I checked the forecast for the weekend. Triple digits are never encouraging.

The temperature gauge on my car kept climbing. I needed photographic evidence.

Thankfully my motel was supposed to have air conditioning. And it did. But there was no way to adjust it and whatever the AC was set at wasn't going to get the job done this weekend. This kind of went along with the theme of the hotel, which included drug dealing and prostitution in one corner of the parking lot. Basically, what I was told to expect from Baltimore.

Camden Yards, however, was gorgeous!

I met some friends of mine who live in the D.C. area on Saturday night, and they were able to secure some of the company seats from Lockheed Martin for us, which happened to be about 10 or so rows back from the Twins dugout.

Besides being amazed at how inexpensive tickets of this quality normally are (sitting in these seats normally costs $48 -- the same price could maybe get you into the upper deck of Yankee Stadium...), I was also amazed at the vast amount of Twins fans at the stadium.

...and North Stars fans! Classic!

Twins fans turned out in droves for this series. I've seen a decent representation when I went to Citizen's Bank Park in Philadelphia or to Citifield and Yankee Stadium, but it almost felt like a home crowd.

The game Saturday night was great but seemed to drag on forever. This was primarily due to the fact that all of us were drenched in sweat. You couldn't lean against the back of your chair without leaving a big sweat mark on your shirt. We had stuffed all of our pockets with towels and napkins and were constantly drying off. Some of us also resorted to sitting with our beer pressed against our cheek or forehead like an icepack. Every couple of innings I decided to make my way to the bathroom and take a bum-shower in the sink by washing off my arms and face.

Moving around the concourse was much more pleasant, and so on one trip to the bathroom sink I decided to spend a little bit more time ambling around the concourse. I didn't get any food that night, just beers -- a microbrew that I can't remember for the life of me -- and I really don't regret not getting any food at the stadium. That's probably the only drawback I can think of about Camden -- nothing really stuck out in terms of signature food! There was an item called Boardwalk Fries that seemed popular and was labeled as a "Baltimore tradition" but they looked like normal fries. Everything else was pretty much standard ballpark fare of hotdogs and hamburgers and cracker jacks except for one stand I saw serving crab cakes. Maybe I missed something -- if anyone knows of a particularly heralded food item at Camden please let me know because I plan on going back and would love to try it when I do!

After the game we drove over to Fells Point near Inner Harbor and met up with some of my friends' coworkers who were on a pub crawl. We joined up with them at a pub called The Wharf Rat and I highly recommend it. It feels very colonial, almost like stepping back in time, and it's just enough off of the Broadway Market place that it doesn't get horribly crowded. Their selection of beers and ales is great and there's nostalgia practically baked into the walls -- it's like the bar you imagine your ancestors used to gather in as their local haunt. Hard to describe.

We followed this up with going to The Horse You Road In On Saloon which was much more crowded but featured some nice music and a decent amount of Twins fans. This bar was a little bit more on the beaten path and consequently more crowded, but there's soooo many nice places to get a drink in Fells Point that you can't go wrong just wandering around.

After some drinking we went to a late night pizza place on Broadway Market and because I was in Baltimore I had to try the Four Cheese and Crab Meat pizza, which proved to me that you can probably put crab meat on anything and it will still be pretty good. This capped off the night before I headed back to my seedy Baltimore hotel.

I left there as early as I could the next morning and parked in Downtown Baltimore, walking around in my lucky Rick Aguilera jersey to check out the city before the game. After wandering a few blocks I realized that there was no way I would survive in a baseball jersey in that heat and direct sunlight (pangs of sympathy for the guys who would be playing were also present). I picked up some 50+ SPF sunscreen and changed into a T-Shirt and continued my short tour of the city.

Eventually I wandered over to the ballpark to check out some of the things I didn't get to see the night before. I was supposed to meet Eric from Call to the 'Pen and his wife for the game and I had a little bit of time to kill before we were supposed to meet so I checked out their Sports Legends Museum which is pretty cool. If you hang around the outside of the ballpark near the Camden Street Gate H entrance, you will be right next to the Sport Legends Museum. Even just hanging outside they play classic sports calls over a loudspeaker system and it's fun to just sit there and listen to some of the classic moments in sports history.

Shortly after I left the Sports Legends Museum I met up with Eric and his wife and we headed in to go to a pregame picnic near the bullpen. The Minnesota State Society of Baltimore was having an all you can eat (and all the beer you could drink!) picnic with the purchase of a special ticket, and Eric was kind enough to find out about this and invite me along.

Not only was it great meeting him and his wife who are both instantly some of my favorite people to hang out with, but it was obvious what a huge Twins fan Eric is to make the trip out to a baseball game just a couple days before he had to take THE BAR EXAM!

Our seats were in centerfield with a great view of the whole ballpark but the unfortunate side effect of being directly in 100% sunlight with no shade or relief. Our dark green seats were scalding hot and the only relief we had from the constant heat beating down on us was occasional cloud cover passing by.

Thankfully the ballpark staff set up a free ice stand near the flagpoles in the outfield for anyone to go by and grab a cup of ice -- something I utilized many times that day. I don't think we were the only ones going delirious in the heat: Matt Guerrier kept wrapping a towel around his head like a turban and doing a Pharoah dance in the bullpen, and Ron Mahay started jumping around and waving his arms maniacally in the bullpen occasionally when we would look over.

The best thing about sitting in the heat was that the Twins rewarded us on the field. This was the beginning of their recent offensive onslaught and completely made up for the fact that we were roasting in the sun and baking in the heat for hours just to watch them.

Around the 6th inning the wind suddenly picked up and started blowing around banners in the upper decks and sending napkins, wrappers, and tons of other litter through the air onto the field and into the bullpen. The Twins relievers were all interested in the flying litter and ran out to get a view of what was going on just in time to see dark storm clouds rolling ominously closer to the ballpark.

We tried to tough it out through the rain, and it was actually somewhat relieving to be cooled off like that, but as soon as the game got postponed I knew I had to start heading back to New York in order to get home at a reasonable hour. Unfortunately my car was parked a little ways from the ballpark and I had no umbrella, so before I hopped into my car to drive back to the city I had to wring out my soaking wet T-shirt in the parking garage so that it was at least partially dry!

All in all it was a great trip -- Camden was a gorgeous park and everyone should visit it -- and Eric is an awesome guy with a great blog that hopefully you all read!

Mid-season Awards/Predictions

2010-07-16T00:01:00.000-04:00

It's tough to write about the Twins these days -- call it a lack of inspiration. So today is just a baseball-in-general post as I dole out completely meaningless mid-season awards:

MANAGER OF THE YEAR:

AL: Terry Francona, Boston Red Sox. Talk about a guy who has found a way to rally his team and field a winner despite unforeseen circumstances! Currently on the DL are Josh Beckett, Clay Bucholz, Junichi Tazawa, Manny Delcarmen, Victor Martinez, Jason Varitek, Dustin Pedroia, Jed Lowrie, Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Lowell and Jeremy Hermida. (And we're upset that Nathan and Morneau are there...) Not only does Martinez go down but so does his backup (Varitek). Not only does Pedroia go down but so does HIS backup (Lowrie). But they keep winning in the toughest division in baseball. It will be a travesty if Francona isn't rewarded.

NL: Buddy Black, San Diego Padres. Black has taken a team that was expected to be in complete rebuilding mode, including neverending speculation about where his star players like Adrian Gonzalez and Heath Bell would be traded to by the end of July, and shown us one of the best teams in 2010 baseball. With a team full of young talent like Tony Gwynn Jr., Kyle Blanks, and Mat Latos to name a few, he has harnessed their youth and given San Diego something to cheer about.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR:

AL: Brennan Boesch, Detroit Tigers. At the beginning of the year, this young slugger was on nobody's radar. He could barely sniff top prospect rankings and was unlikely to crack a Tigers roster already dangerously overloaded with youth for a team trying to compete. Boesch posted solid but unspectacular numbers over his career in the minors (but he did have 28 HRs last year in AA), and has taken the Majors by storm posting a .342/.397/.593 slash line over 65 games and looks to be a mainstay here to torment the Central for years.

NL: Mat Latos, San Diego Padres. 3rd in the NL in Wins and 7th in ERA, Latos is simply solid in every statistical category. 8.4 K/9 and only 2.4 BB/9 with a WHIP of 0.966 and only 9 home runs allowed in 106 innings. Not only is he my hands down ROY so far but he's in consideration for the Cy Young.

CY YOUNG:

AL: David Price, Tampa Bay Rays. Probably the easiest choice of any of these mid-season awards. Leading in Wins and ERA, Price is dominant across the board. With 100 K's in over 115 innings pitched, he is a consensus choice and leads a staff of talented Tampa Bay pitchers as easily the most dominant pitcher in the American League.

NL: Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies. This is a much tougher choice than the AL. Ubaldo Jimenez, Adam Wainwright, Mat Latos, Tim Hudson, Clayton Kershaw, Tim Lincecum and so many more are begging for attention. But Doc is the cream of the crop. 4th in ERA (2.19), 2nd in K's (128), and 3rd in Wins (10) is reason enough.

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER:

AL: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers. It pains me to admit it, but he is probably the best hitter in baseball this year. Tied for 1st in all of the Majors with a .346 average, 2nd in homeruns (22), and 1st overall in RBIs (77) you couldn't reasonably argue that anyone else is more deserving.

NL: Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds. This one isn't so clear cut. I was tempted to think someone along the lines of Albert Pujols or David Wright, but Joey Votto is really the only person consistently near the top of every statistical category. Wright is too deficient in the power game this year. Pujols is too deficient in average this year. Votto is having an amazing season and spearheading a great year by the Reds. He's the most deserving player in my book.

PLAYOFFS:

New York Yankees over Detroit Tigers

Texas Rangers over Boston Red Sox

Atlanta Braves over San Francisco Giants

St. Louis Cardinals over San Diego Padres

DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIPS:

Texas Rangers over New York Yankees

Atlanta Braves over St. Louis Cardinals

WORLD SERIES:

Atlanta Braves over Texas Rangers (4-2)

Jesse Crain Parallels

2010-07-12T01:00:00.001-04:00

Joining with all of Twins Territory in honor of another member of our favorite team, I'd like to examine the parallels between Jesse Alan Crain and the famous bird that shares his last name. One might wonder what kind of similarities can be found between a Major League relief pitcher and an aviary animal. The answer? Several, if you don't mind stretching your imagination a little bit:

Cranes are renowned for their migratory habits.

- Crain was born in Toronto, Canada but spent a good portion of his childhood living in Boulder, Colorado. Playing high-school ball in Colorado and college ball in Texas, Jesse plays professional ball for Minnesota and every 3 years migrates back to his Canadian team to represent them in the World Baseball Classic. He is a well-travelled man.

Cranes usually stay with the same mate all their lives.

- This has yet to be proven in Jesse's case (I'm referring to his mate as the team he is currently coupled with). Jesse has donned the uniform of only one Major League club, and that club happens to be the Minnesota Twins. Whether that loyalty is his or his mate's trait has yet to be determined, but as it stands neither of them is ready to give up on the other despite the hard times they've been enduring over the years. That's a solid relationship.

Cranes can be long-lived. 40-60 years in captivity, but some even longer.

- Jesse will not have a 40-60 year career, but his career does seem to have a long lifespan so far, it just isn't going away! Despite the fact that his career has seemed like it might be teetering on the brink of death, it still plows along. Resiliency.

Many cranes are becoming endangered, particularly the sandhill crane, the Siberian crane, and the whooping crane.

- One can't help but feel that the Jesse Crain might be becoming endangered too. More and more when he is released into the wild from the bullpen the hunters from the other team seem to target him and light him up. It can be tough to watch sometimes. PETA should intervene.

Cranes are opportunistic feeders.

- This was particularly true in 2005, when Jesse picked up 12 wins out of the bullpen. He was what the great Bert Blyleven kept referring to as a "vulture", showing up in relief to pluck up a win.

In some myths, including one told by Aristotle, cranes were thought to migrate with a "touchstone" in their belly. (Touchstones are a tool to help determine precious metals.)

- I get a pit in my stomach whenever I see him enter a close ball game.

In Celtic mythology, cranes are often an ill omen.

- This is usually why I get that pit in my stomach.

In Asian mythology, the powerful wings of the crane are though to be able to convey souls to the Western Paradise.

- Ok, not really sure about this one. But, if Western Paradise is being on base, opponents have a career .316 OBP against him? That's not awful I suppose, so I guess Western Paradise can be a rare place to gain entry to.

Many ancient Asian cultures also saw valuable lessons in the flight trajectory of cranes, from which the young could follow and learn.

- Sign a guaranteed contract early, because if you have arm problems and end up not doing as well as you thought, you'll still make a solid salary and your team will be less likely to let you go until you've been proven completely ineffective.

Check out Podcast tonight

2010-06-30T21:39:00.001-04:00

Check out the weekly Twins Talk podcast where I'll be co-hosting tonight along with Fanatic Jack! 9PM CST/10PM EST.

Starting to Worry?

2010-06-28T00:01:00.000-04:00

I've been lucky to have our boys in my neck of the woods the past two weekends in a row, but despite that pleasure, this weekend they decided to showcase some pretty lousy baseball (for the most part). Coming off a particularly horrible series against Milwaukee that I think everyone has done their best to forget, the Twins didn't look any livelier Friday night.

A couple ex-Minnesotan buddies of mine joined me for the game, and being about half an hour late due to work meant that I missed the only real highlight for us -- Span's leadoff homerun. That kind of set the expectations high for our Citifield experience, but the rest of the game quickly ran downhill.

Thankfully I missed witnessing most of the action firsthand. We were wading through lines at the beer garden when the Mets put their rally together and started beaning Slowey. Our lead of 1-0 quickly dropped to 3-1 about the time I made it up to the head of the beer line. That helped me decide to order two large beers and drink one of them right then and there.

We also made our way over to Blue Smoke, which apparently has a couple stands at Citifield. I had heard about Shake Shack's presence there, and while I didn't want to brave the lines there, Blue Smoke was much quicker and almost just as good. They are one of the best BBQ places in the city (outside of the famous Dinosaur BBQ under the GW bridge), and their pulled pork sandwich hit the spot. That was probably the highlight of the night.

The rest of Friday night was completely forgettable except for Mr. Met making an appearance in our section and tossing out some T-shirts. He's a lovable mascot, but it didn't help distract from the carnage on the field.

Saturday I was in slightly better spirits. I decided to break out the lucky Aguilera jersey (the one that was present for the Liriano/Hudson pitcher's duel at Target Field and also the amazing come-from-behind win against the Phillies the prior weekend). I was also meeting Shawn from On the Road with Shawn, and I think the two of us being in attendance together at a game bodes well ever since that Phillies series.

I met Shawn at McFadden's and we were soon joined by Nick Nelson and a number of his friends from the Battle Your Tail Off message board. I joined Nick and his friends as we headed into the ballpark and made our way up to our seats in the Promenade along the 3rd base line. Nick commented on how nice it is than in most all of today's stadiums their way of stacking the tiers on top of each other makes even the higher up seats seem like you're right on the playing field and I tend to agree. The Mets' new ballpark, for all of its quirks and the ridiculous amount of advertising present in the stadium completely buries Shea -- and probably even New Yankee Stadium.

Even the proximity to La Guardia and its low-flying air traffic as planes take off and land over the stadium is kind of fun. None are particularly distracting but can be quite fun to watch.

This game was significantly better, and I again think it has something to do with Shawn's and my presence and the Aguilera jersey. Pavano was absolutely fantastic, and it was nice to see a game where our pitching and offense both clicked at the same time.

Afterwards we met up with the Twins Geek and The Voice of Reason and all headed over to Forum, a bar near Union Square that is managed by former Twin Frankie Rodriguez. I wanted to introduce my fellow bloggers and it was fun to have him pull up a chair and just download about what it was like playing for the Twins, playing with Knoblauch, Radke, Aguilera, and in the huge concrete Metrodome (where apparently even the players were skeptical about the use of the air conditioning fans behind home plate). If you're ever in the city you should stop by Forum and chat with him because he's a great guy and always open to talking with fans.

Sunday was completely forgettable. I don't even want to talk about that game. I was getting so upset with our ability to put any sort of life into this team or any sort of momentum behind them. After great wins in Philly they fall flat against a significantly inferior Milwaukee team, and after a solid win against Santana, Baker and the offense both forget to show up ready to play.

I don't doubt our ability to win games or compete. We have a solid team, and I'm not suddenly starting to think that the sky is falling. But you can count me as starting to get a little concerned that there doesn't seem to be any spark or fire in this team right now. Gardy's post game comments are always the same, "We played some pretty good teams that are hot..."; "You can't do anything about it..."; "We ran into some pretty good baseball teams this year...". That's all well and good but the Twins are a pretty good baseball team. The Twins should be able to play with other good baseball teams and they need to. They can't expect a schedule full of visits from Kansas City and Baltimore every week, and the next few weeks before the All Star break aren't going to give them any reprieve.

Sorry for the little rant, but it would be nice if they'd shape up quick!

Podcast tonight

2010-06-23T20:16:00.002-04:00

Stop by at 10PM CST/11PM EST as I host the weekly Twins Talk podcast! Fanatic Jack should be joining live from Milwaukee after the game, and we'll also be joined by Shawn Berg of On the Road with Shawn and Maija of Kirby's Left Eye. Should be a great show so stop by!

Philly: On the Road for the Tenth Inning Stretch

2010-06-21T00:01:00.003-04:00

First off, be sure to check out Seth's Weekly Twins podcast from last night as I feebly attempted to run the switchboard for him while discussing baseball with Seth and Travis Aune...

At the beginning of the year I decided that as long as I currently live out on the East Coast, I should take advantage of my proximity to other Major League cities and notch a few ballpark visits under my belt. Thankfully the Twins were happy to oblige with their schedule by coming out my way a few more times than normal this year.

So as soon as I saw the 2010 schedule, I circled this Philadelphia visit in red, and these boys didn't let me down.

I couldn't make the Friday game, and I don't feel too bad about that. But early Saturday morning I made my way over to Penn Station to catch the first Amtrak over to Philly.

Note: the crazy guy in the yellow shirt ready to greet me.

The thing I still love most about New York is its proximity and easy access to almost anywhere. My train zipped along and in just a little over an hour we were pulling into 30th St. Station.

The plan for the day was to hang out in downtown Philly and explore until Shawn and his family got into town to start our day at the ballpark. I killed some time hanging out in Rittenhouse Square where I first noticed that the city is decorated in little Philly Phanatic statues just as we have Joe Mauers dotting Minneapolis.

I have to admit that downtown Philadelphia is gorgeous. The shops, bars and restaurants along Walnut and Chestnut street gave it a very Greenwich Village feel and I wish I had been able to spend a bit more time there.

or perhaps just get my hair done at my spa apparently?

I wandered over to the Mutter Museum and after about an hour or so of looking at dry-preserved and wet-preserved anatomy and medical anomalies, I had found more than my fill.

After looking at John Wilkes Booth's spinal cord I decided it was time for a drink. Thankfully there was a nearby bar called Drinker's Pub and I hung my hat there chatting with some friendly locals about Citizen's Bank Park until Shawn and his wife and stepson arrived. (It was then that I felt it finally safe to put on my lucky Aguilera jersey... I was actually a little more scared of being an enemy in Citizen's Bank Park than I am of Yankee Stadium.)

Shawn is an awesome guy (and his wife and stepson were just as cool) and I was looking forward to finally meeting him for the first time after reading his blog for so long! We had a beer and chatted for a bit before carpooling over to the park and finding a space in a Holiday Inn parking lot amidst a horde of tailgaters. The tailgaters were something my new friends from Drinker's Pub told me was a tradition and I can see why: with all the sports facilities and their parking lots adjoining each other it's the perfect expansive layout of concrete for people to set up grills and lawn chairs.

The stadium itself is amazing. Having just been to Target Field, which for me was like a dream come true, Citizen's Bank Park still managed to leave quite the impression on me. From the various bronze statues adorning the outside of their gates:

To the beautiful vista of their downtown skyline which I'm sure would look amazing lit up at night:

and my horrible Blackberry can't really pick up the skyline, oops... but trust me it's breathtaking.

I had found tickets at the last minute in the row next to Shawn and his family

and so I was lucky to be able to sit with them and have a little companionship in the sea of Phillies apparel out there. Thrylos made the comment that that day was the most representation of any opposing team he had seen at the stadium and if that's the case it must get very lonely and intimidating out there!

We found our seats, thankfully sheltered from the sun (which was making me regret wearing my jersey), and were able to strike up a nice conversation with some Phillies fans nearby.

This was our view

I think everyone knows how this game went. It started out wonderfully and we were in pretty good spirits, but by the time that Slowey had coughed up his early lead and I was getting angry (if still jesting) text messages from Betsy, I thought it would be nice to go explore the food.

Sorry Target Field, but Citizen's Bank Ballpark has food-fare that would blow you away. Their famous Chick & Pete crab fries and the amazing sandwich known as "The Schmitter" were enough to make me forget about the travesty I was witnessing on the field.

Though I don't know if I was sweating from the heat or from the ridiculous amount of food I was trying to eat.

I'm also not a big fan of hopsy beers, but one sip of the Flying Fish Summer Pale Ale and I was hooked. (Get it? Fish? Hooked?) They do a great job of showcasing their local microbrews and craft beers at the stadium side by side with a wide spectrum of delicious food.

During the later middle innings Shawn and I worked our way back to where Thrylos98 of The Tenth Inning Stretch mentioned his seats were and we tried to scope him out by the jersey he said he was wearing. The moment we popped up the stairs in his section we started getting heckled by a bunch of Phillies fans, and while Shawn kindly waved back at them I just ducked back into the concourse.

But it was enough time for Thrylos to spot us and come running down to the concourse to say hi! And yes, indeed, he does exist! We chatted baseball and anything to get our mind off the game for a few minutes before finally making our way back down to our seats for the last couple innings.

That's when it all got interesting of course. When Thome stepped up to the plate and got his ovation was fun to see. We joked with our Phillies fans in the row about whether or not Punto was going to get the same treatment but they didn't seem to think so. Thome was actually very well represented in the Twins jerseys that we saw. It's clear that Philadelphians still hold a special place in their heart for him, and to watch him launch that home run and receive the rabid applause was amazing.

Hey, Parker! Your shirt in Philly!

As the Twins started to mount a threat the rest of the inning, you could sense the Phillies fans around you start to tense up. They saw this all last year in Lidge but had spent the better half of the 8th inning talking about how dependable he's been this year.

It just wasn't his day.

The Mauer shot sent chills down my spine. I was in disbelief, standing in my seat, high-fiving Shawn and trying not to lose my calm and get murdered at the stadium (apparently lots of people die at stadiums every year, now I'm paranoid, kind of).

Butera's homerun was almost just as surreal. I was trying to figure out how we'd stand a chance in extras with our bullpen so taxed and with only Butera available to come off the bench. I was even curious what it would be like for Rauch to just try putting his weight into a swing. But when our .175 hitting backup catcher launched one into the left field seats that completely floored me.

The Gload homerun was kind of a letdown. I know Rauch isn't perfect but that was just sad, and it didn't even look like a homerun. I didn't think that there was anyway our bullpen could stand much longer and didn't see how the ragtag bottom of our lineup was going to do anything against a mostly solid Phillies bullpen but this team never ceased to amaze me that day. I'm still not sure why they pitched to Delmon with an open base and Tolbert coming up but I'm glad they did!

After the game we met up again with Thrylos and hung around until they kicked us out of the stadium. We got high-fives and congratulations from scores of smiling Twins fans milling about while we watched all the Phillies fans stream out of the ballpark without any of them harming us! A miracle!

Goodbye Phillies fans!

Shawn and his family dropped me off downtown and I hung out around the 30th St. Station and had a few drinks near there, proudly displaying my lucky Aguilera jersey, while waiting for a red-eye Amtrak back to New York.

All in all a great trip, a lovely ballpark, and one of the more memorable games I've ever seen in person!

Dick & Bert (a guest post)

2010-06-18T15:01:00.004-04:00

My friend Alan sent me an email today I think everyone can enjoy. Alan is a New Jersey native and sometimes Yankees fan who I met in college. He started dating a Minnesota expat from White Bear Lake and consequently started to root for the Twins over the years. They live in LA now and I think his absence from the immediate Yankee media market has only increased this Minnesota Twins love of his.

Thank you Alan:

Topper,

I hope that you all in Minnesota cherish that Bert Blyleven fellow. I've been watching quite a few Twins games this year, and his ability to make a smartass comment out of nowhere is unmatched in the sports announcer world.

Here's one from the game yesterday that I enjoyed so much I had to write it down. Thought you might enjoy it, too.

Dick- Giambi had an interesting theory as to why the ball doesn't carry well here.

Bert- Does it have anything to do with steroids?

Dick- No it doesn't.

*silence*

Dick- Giambi said he had a couple uncles that were in the concrete contracting business

Bert- They're Italian, aren't they?

Dick- I presume. I don't know. And--

Bert- A couple concrete shoes involved in this story?

Dick- No.

Bert- Ok.

This is the end of the letter.

For more of Alan's and my exploits, you can check out our short documentary on the two competing Largest Balls of Twine in Darwin, Minnesota and Cawker City, Kansas. It's actually more interesting than you'd think.

Comments from the Peanut Gallery (TF Men's Room)

2010-06-17T00:01:00.000-04:00

I had the misfortune of attending the Sunday day game against the Atlanta Braves (you know, the one where Gardy had a mental lapse and though he could get by with trotting out 4 guys with .100ish averages at the top and bottom of his lineup...).

Naturally everyone at the stadium except for the obnoxious group of Braves fans sitting in front of me thought this was a little ridiculous, and as it turns out, it was. In the 8th inning or so, my Summits began to take effect and because the game wasn't really in the balance I decided to get my first look at the Target Field men's room. It was there in line, in that athenaeum of baseball knowledge which is a ballpark's mens room, that I heard a comment that's been nagging at me for awhile.

A man in a grey Cuddyer throwback jersey (beer in hand in the restroom...) was cursing to his friend about the misfortune of the game they were watching and said: "It's just not acceptable. They've got no excuse. They really need to just call somebody up who can actually hit the ball and help them out because this is ridiculous!"

I like that thought. It's admirable. That's a lot of faith in our minor league system that a lot of people likely don't have. In fact, it's probably coming from the standpoint that everyone in the minor's is just sitting there banging on the door and the only reason they aren't on the major league team is that our roster is just packed to the brim with people who really deserve to be there.

That is ridiculous.

Not to go off on a drunk Twins fan who probably doesn't spend a whole lot of time reading up on his team, but look around the major leagues and find a 25 man roster without a hole on it. It's pretty hard to find 25 guys in your system firing on all cylinders in a way that doesn't give a fan cause to gripe.

I don't want to let the Twins off the hook here. They've definitely got some dead weight. on the team.

But do they have answers in the minors? Their biggest question marks are in the middle infield and we've already called up our top prospects there in Valencia and Plouffe (Tolbert not a top prospect but easily the most major league experience of the bunch...).

Brian Dinkleman has an awesome name and is doing OK in AAA right now but he's not on the 40 man roster and to bring him up would raise even bigger questions, like who do you outright? Likewise Matt Macri isn't doing that bad in AAA right now but also isn't on the 40 man roster and his limited experience in the big leagues wasn't that miraculous. I don't think either of them are a solution. Luke Hughes is the obvious choice but is currently on the DL and not even playing in Rochester.

Unfortunately many casual fans are probably of the mindset that we have answers stockpiled away and that's probably because our minor league system has produced so well for us in the likes of Denard Span, Jose Morales and others coming up recently and playing well during their immediate stints in the big leagues. But the reality is that it usually takes even the top prospects some time to adjust to the new level of competition and chances are Plouffe and Valencia could be very solid major league contributors if given enough time. Hudson and Hardy were supposed to be our answers this year, and Harris and Punto should be playing at least at replacement level status. The fact that our two starters are injured (along with Casilla our primary backup) and our two fringe infielders are struggling so mightily is tough but it's the situation we're in. Valencia and Plouffe should just be icing on the cake, and when they do contribute -- and they have -- we shouldn't take it for granted that we've got more like them stockpiled away.

Sorry to go on a rant about a guy in the men's bathroom, but I think we're doing OK for now. If only Hardy and Hudson would come back soon...

Return of the podcast -- TONIGHT!

2010-06-16T19:01:00.002-04:00

Hey guys! I'll be back on the airwaves (internet waves?) co-hosting Fanatic Jack's weekly Twins Talk podcast which you can listen to here.

We will hopefully be joined by Maija of Kirby's Left Eye, an awesome new blog on the Twins Territory block (and she happens to a college buddy of mine from NYC!).

Starts at 10PM CST/11PM EST. Stop by and chat or call in with questions!

Reflections from a Target Field Newbie

2010-06-15T00:58:00.006-04:00

I've been deprived of Twins baseball for several weeks, missing more games than I consider acceptable all due to cosmetic beauty products (let's not go there). So to reward myself, I made my first journey to Mecca and finally got to see the glory that is Target Field first hand.

By now every Minnesotan reading this is surely finding their eyes glazing over -- Ugh, please, this is so April 2010. Get with the times. Target Field is passé, we all know how awesome it is, let's just get to October!

(Maybe I'm exaggerating.)

But I do realize that my expounding on how amazing Target Field is should probably be lumped in with my delayed posts about Mauer signing, the Yankees World Series win in '09, and many other things I should just leave in the past. So I won't dwell on the subject too much -- but just bear with me for a little while while I say this:

Twins fans. Your stadium blows the new Yankee Stadium out of the water.

Yes. It's true.

I'll be honest and admit that I haven't been to that many professional ballparks. Outside of the Metrodome and now Target Field, I've really only had the pleasure of attending games at Wrigley, Shea, and both Yankee Stadium v.1 and v.2.

Shea was a dump. Wrigley just can't be compared to anything. The original Yankee Stadium was an ugly lump of concrete in the Bronx with peanut shells crusted to the stadium seating, peeling white bunting all around the top, and the stench of warm beer assaulting you from every angle. But at least it had the history. The vibe that Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra had all played countless games on that grass you had the opportunity to see. Now? Well, now it's a slightly newer ugly lump of concrete in the Bronx and it doesn't have that history but at least the bunting isn't peeling and the peanut shells are swept up somewhat consistently.

Target Field is a rarity. A gem. It has that old nostalgia feel of a ballpark with nods to a franchise history in every crevice, and it also has all the modern amenities that even Yankee Stadium seemed to pass up! Let's focus on food for one second: if you scour Yankee Stadium concourses up and down I think you'd be hard pressed to find anything outside your standard ballpark fare. Brats, dogs, burgers, chips with gooey yellow nacho cheese. Chicken fingers. That's about it. I'm not saying they should add sushi (ugh, Citifield, really?), but what about a New York hot pastrami sandwich? Little things like that which tie your ballpark in to its surroundings.

That's a second point. Target Field is so perfectly slotted into the heart of downtown and you can feel its vibe from a mile away. The open plazas that you can walk up to at any hour of the night and just peer in to see the ghost of an empty stadium gives you chills.

Yankee Stadium? Well, you can catch glimpses inside through a tiny hole as you pass by on the subway. But walking up to it it's just a giant stone colossus. There's nothing open, nothing inviting, nothing beckoning you in.

And Tony Oliva just hangs out and chats with people! Seriously, where else do you find that?!?!

Ok, I'm being unfair to Yankee Stadium. Guilty. It's a magnificent ballpark. But Target Field blows it out of the water. Without a doubt.

Friday night I had the pleasure of meeting up with a number of fellow bloggers for my first ever game. Betsy from For the Love of the Game met me outside and showed me around. We ran into Andrew from Off the Mark who was there as a fan for the evening. Then I ran into Fanatic Jack and got to chat with him on my way to meet Emily from Chatter From the Cheap Seats. And we had amazing seats (perfect for my first game and for the awesome Liriano/Hudson pitcher's duel).

After the game, Emily and Andrew and I met up with the Twins Geek and The Voice of Reason up at Town Ball Tavern for a few drinks before heading over to Sneaky Pete's to hang out with Nick Nelson.

It was a great time, and the fact that the Twins won such an amazing game was a perfect cap to it!

I went on Saturday and sat in the left field bleachers out of the rain, and on Sunday I sat in the little garden box that juts over right field. Despite the fact that we lost my last two games it was an awesome baseball-filled weekend -- just what I needed and I'm already trying to figure out when I can make the trip back!

Yes I'm Alive

2010-06-06T21:49:00.003-04:00

Don't worry, I'm still around. And I haven't forgotten about you or the Twins. And I will blog again shortly.

A promotion at work a few weeks back in the middle of our busiest time of the season which ends this week has led to NO PERSONAL LIFE. I've been staring at and dreaming of lipstick and lip gloss and foundation and other beauty products instead of fastballs and homeruns and the now seemingly omnipresent perfect games.

Besides, no more internet doom and gloom about Seattle that I could have spouted was needed.

I'll be back with some positivity later this week (because I am flying back to Minnesota to attend my first ever game at Target Field against the Braves!!!!!)....

Dreaming of Roy

2010-05-24T00:24:00.003-04:00

Normally when you a see top tier trade target you can take the Twins out of the running, so when Roy Oswalt decided to declare his eligibility on the trade market (much to Houston's chagrin, I'm sure) it took me awhile to realize that we might actually have interest.

The Twins have set the standard high this year -- making sweeping moves in the offseason, locking up the best player in baseball to a record contract, and matching those moves with solid upper echelon play on the field.

The only thing lacking? A legitimate ace. Liriano could be that ace if he keeps that magic alive and forgets his last few starts, but it's not so often you see someone of Oswalt's caliber waiting to fall into your lap.

I could get into all sorts of stats that show that despite entering his mid-thirties he's still a better starter than anyone on our staff, but Gleeman is much better to read in that regard. Let me just sum up a few thoughts:

Negatives:

- Salary. We've committed a lot of money to the team we have and Oswalt's owed a good chunk of money this year and next. Sure, the front office has been willing to spend this offseason for a contender, but how much is too much? If we acquire Oswalt we could be stretching our budget at the seams, and that always leads to disappointment and payroll shedding.

- Who does he replace? Slowey's been a little ineffective this season but do you give up on him when we all know how good he can be? If not Slowey, I don't think that Pavano, Baker, Liriano, or Blackburn have done anything to justify demotion. Perhaps his acquisition would simply bump Slowey or Blackburn into something of a long-relief role in the 'pen? I suppose too many starters is a good thing but you still have to answer who doesn't take the mound every fifth day.

- What do we have to give up? I don't think Oswalt will command a king's ransom, but he won't be cheap either. Houston's top prospect is a catcher so I doubt Wilson Ramos becomes a trade chip. So what other top prospects do we build a trade around? I don't think anyone wants to put Kyle Gibson in a package, that would be shortsighted. Is Ben Revere blue-chip enough? Maybe something like Ben Revere, Alex Burnett and Jeff Manship? Or maybe Bromberg and Revere? Whoever we give up for Oswalt is going to hurt and it's going to be a risk. There's no way we send them Luke Hughes and Drew Butera...

Positives:

- He's durable and effective. Last year was a little bit of an off year for him, but other than that you could bank on 30 starts, 200 innings, and a respectable ERA, WHIP, and K/BB ratio. That's the kind of pitcher every team wants and someone I'm sure we would to.

- He'd be our ace. That would take a ton of pressure off Liriano, who everyone still looks to this year to carry this rotation. If Oswalt is here to take some of that pressure off, perhaps Liriano can find his groove with a little less spotlight shining on him.

- He legitimizes us. I think every national writer loves the Twins but remarks on how we don't have any established stud in our rotation yet. Oswalt being a Twin changes all of that, and we suddenly become a team that goes toe-to-toe with anyone in a short postseason series.

- He could also take Peavy out drinking whenever we face the White Sox and perhaps get him in trouble...

-----

All that being said, I think there's legitimate reason to pursue Oswalt if the price is right. I actually wouldn't be surprised this year if we winds up in a Twins uniform, but I don't think I'd be heartbroken if he doesn't land with us.

Thoughts?

I Saw The Lights Go Out on Broadway

2010-05-17T08:40:00.011-04:00

I've lived in New York for 7 years now -- and despite attending at least one Twins game in the Bronx every year, I had never seen a win. We might be playing well or leading into the 9th inning, but the results were always the same: Frank Sinatra blasting over the speakers about how amazing New York is and the smug looks on Yankee fan faces as I trudge back to the subway.

This year, I had the opportunity to go to all three games in the Bronx. I figured with one of the strongest teams we've ever fielded and with how well we've been playing of late, I was guaranteed to reverse my trend.

Friday I ditched out of work with a co-worker as soon as we could (he's a Yankee fan and thus acted as my bodyguard during my time in enemy territory). We missed the first inning as we hung out in line for our first beers and hot dogs of the season and by the time we made it to our seats I realized I hadn't faced one insult yet. I think it was either the fact that I had my Yankee "bodyguard" with me, or maybe they just realized how sad Twins fans must be....

View from our seats Friday night

This game actually started off great. We were playing competitively and I was able to forget about our complete ineptitude in the Bronx and actually imagined that we might, might stand a chance.

Then came the at-bat that still sends shivers down my spine. Guerrier vs. A-Rod. The place was in uproar. From the time A-Rod stepped out of the on-deck circle the cheering was so loud I wanted to shove forks in my ears. If we had actually shown any reasonable amount of success in the past, I might have been a little more confident (I didn't have the Guerrier/A-Rod career numbers in front of me...) but I knew this was the beginning of our decline.

Twins fans in front of me feel my malaise as well...

Let's just say it was a long walk home to the subway again...

One thing about coming back from Yankee Stadium is that it's always a surging mass of humanity on the way back to public transportation. You actually get home fairly quickly as they stack trains for you and fill each one up, but you still inevitably stand around on the platform surrounded by gloating Yankee fans whose eyes you can feel burning into your back as you try to remain as discreet as possible...

SATURDAY:

This time I was accompanied by both a fellow-Twins fan and a new Yankee fan "bodyguard" to protect both of us. We grabbed some brunch and cabbed it up to the stadium to make it in time. This was the day I was most excited about: I've been talking up Liriano's return to dominance to every Yankee fan I know.

My long march to disappointment...

I had my company seats today (which are awesome, and my work is quite generous to always remember when my home team is in town).

Sheltered from the sun slightly too so I don't get sunburned or rained on...

This game unfortunately just spiraled out of hand from the get-go. Liriano sure didn't look the part of the ace that I had been bragging about. While he actually didn't pitch that bad and ended up stranding plenty of runners, he still let those runners on and that was the tough part to watch.

As soon as the wave broke out for the second straight day I knew this game was over and began trying to distract myself...

...thankfully I couldn't see much of the field at that point because of some Yankee douche having fun on free hat day...

I could easily look into the press box so I spied on La Velle, Kelsie Smith, Kelly Thesier, and #StupidSouhan a little ... and I also got to watch Nick Swisher on some sort of cooking show? Because I guess the game wasn't interesting enough at that point?

My blackberry zoom isn't good, he's in the red hat. Don't know if the chef or the food would make me vomit first.

(Also I need to point out somewhere that I totally predicted Lookin' At Lucky to win the Preakness but I never made it to the OTB! He was #7, which is Mauer's number, and I was hoping we'd get lucky on Sunday.. in the bar pool though I drew Yahwanna Twist and kept trying to trade with the person who drew Lookin' At Lucky. But this is all besides the point...)

SUNDAY (GLORIOUS DAY)

I was a little worried about today. I was sitting up in the cheaper seats towards the top (which is the same area I sat in the playoffs last year). My buddy Tim took me to the game, one of the nicer Yankee fans I know, but I am of the firm belief that the rowdier and douchier fans tend to congregate towards the top of the stadium and thin out the further down you get. So perhaps my lack of verbal abuse was about to finally even out...

For being up high we had an awesome view!

I wasn't too encouraged about our chances going into this game. Despite the fact that the law of averages said we should win a game sometime, and despite the fact that we were going up against Sergio Mitre (my second favorite Yankees pitcher after Javier Vasquez), I knew we could find a way to lose if we really wanted to.

That being said, I tend to remain horribly optimistic. Even on Saturday I had hung around until the last pitch just in case we mounted a miraculous comeback. In the 8th inning as Joba began to struggle with control and our bats started to wake up a little bit, Yankee fans had completely forgotten to take us seriously. Half the stadium was back into the wave for the third straight day and was finally starting to get it traveling by the time Texeira made an Adrian-Peterson-like fumble to load the bases.

This seemed to wake everyone up a little bit. My pulse was racing as I saw Girardi come out to the mound and heard the first few chords of Enter Sandman start playing over the loudspeakers. It was like a maelstrom of activity between Yankee fans going crazy cheering, my phone vibrating with new text messages every 10 seconds, and my heart racing at the thought that maybe we might actually stand a chance.

That Kubel grand slam was the closest feeling to euphoria that I can remember.

It was like the air was sucked out of the stadium around me as Yankee fans everywhere collapsed into their seats cursing and groaning. It was beautiful. Not only did we end our drought against the Yankees and our drought of bases-loaded hitting, but we paid them back for all the times they slaughtered Joe Nathan and sent us home with heartbreak.

The tides have turned. That was the only way to come out of the Bronx that day with any sort of momentum or sense of success.

Now I can't wait to go back in October...

(leaving you with a ghost of old Yankee Stadium...)

Adventures in Left Field

2010-05-12T01:01:00.003-04:00

There is a third outfield position beyond that which is known to man. It is a position as vast as Safeco and as timeless as Fenway. It is the left-center ground between stadium lights and nightfall, between stats and gut managerial decisions, and it lies between the pit of fielders' errors and the summit of their web-gems. This is the third outfield position of natural baseball instincts. It is an area which we call "The Left Field".

The roar of applause as the Twins take the field. And it's a field now. Not something made of newly designed astroturf and concrete, this is actual Kentucky Bluegrass and you can feel it give under your cleats as you sprint through the infield on your way out to that vast territory -- that sprawling landscape encased on one end by the Budweiser Party Deck and on the other by that I Love Lucy-era cartoon billboard that lights up and shakes hands when you score.

So there's a certain extra weight on your shoulders now. You used to have that old excuse: It wasn't ever a field before. Not in Tampa; not in pre-outdoors Scandinavia. It was a dome, and things were lost in the lights, and the ball carried differently -- now it's just a normal ballpark: the kind you played in when you were a kid where you were the main attraction (only this time there's 30,000 some fans watching your every move).

No pressure. You were once thought to be the answer. Some franchise outfielder leaves and what's their answer? You. You. You. They even trade away a first-round talent (whose box score you try to ignore every 5th night) just to slot you into their offense, no big deal right?

Well there's that fact that you've never seen a curveball you didn't like to chase. The dirtier the better. Watching its nice leather skin get all soiled up around the plate as you swing your bat -- that's the feeling you've come to love.

But it's not your plate discipline (or lack thereof) that you're worried about tonight: it's the fact that you don't know how to play any defensive position other than DH. Nothing looks more comfortable than the pine over there in the dugout. It's understandable too, because when anything is hit in your direction you look about as awkward as a stuttering 8th-grader trying to read Shakespeare at the Globe ... in Chinese. Do you go left? Do you go right? Do you break towards the warning track or move in? Better wait until it gets closer and just randomly dive for it so you can look like you really exhausted your physical abilities on that play...

It's OK. Try thinking of the math. There's 3 outs every inning and 27 every game. There's also 9 positions on the field. So if you all get an equal share of the outs you're only responsible for 3 of them. 3 fly balls ... that isn't so tough is it? 3 balls per game on an average night? But that's 486 of them over the course of the season, it's like those baseballs are just seeking you out trying to make you run yourself to exhaustion and awkwardness.

Or maybe they're just seeking you out to hurt you...

A never-ending cycle of baseballs flying at you that pop out of the heel of your glove or travel to your right when you are angling towards the other direction. You'd better hope there isn't an alternate universe where Sports Center shows the Bottom 10 plays every morning, because you don't like attention...

***Crack of the bat***

Oh, s**t, what were you thinking about again? Wait, is that coming towards you? Can't tell! Hold on...

You'd much rather be waiting tables right now, wouldn't you?

Our Minors are a Major Help

2010-05-10T00:01:00.000-04:00

It's only been around 30 games into this season and our team has already been reaping the benefits of our bountiful farm system. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like the injury bug has been biting everyone on our team to some extent, and really testing our depth in several areas. While we haven't had any major, season-ending injuries yet (that happened before the season) all the nagging day-to-day injuries can start to rack up.

One of my primary concerns coming into the season was if we had the depth in our minors ready to step in and help out. Our major league team looked solid from top to bottom, but what if we needed to start filling in replacements during the season?

Well, whether it be rotation, bullpen, or positional players, we've answered everything thrown at us so far:

MANSHIP:

Filling in for a spot start to replace Blackburn, Manship came up and didn't miss a beat. Lasting 6 strong innings, and giving up only 2 runs and a walk while striking out 6 Indians, he looked every bit the big-leaguer -- and if I remember nothing more than the Cleveland announcers bemoaning our seemingly endless supply of pitchers in the minors.

RAMOS:

Other than giving us the catharsis of finally seeing out what we've been missing out on, Ramos has been a more than capable player over this stretch, despite being way above his head. Despite getting off to a record-setting start, Ramos has understandably cooled and shown everyone that maybe he isn't quite ready to take the majors by storm yet, but it's still been fun to see his name pencilled into the lineup everyday -- and I have to admit that I don't get nervous or upset whenever I see him walk up to the plate because you can see the potential brimming out of him.

BURNETT:

Talk about coming out of nowhere this year! Despite his obvious talent, I don't think anyone saw Burnett breaking camp with the big league team this year -- and I'm sure no one expected him to last this long. While his dominance from the minors hasn't translated completely, he by no means looks overmatched in a Twins uniform on a major-league mound. Averaging just over 1 strikeout per inning, he's one more reliable arm in our pen (which has been one of the best in baseball this year, despite the loss of Nathan). Obviously anything can happen but if Burnett keeps pitching at this level I don't see him heading back to the minors at all this year.

BUTERA:

Until my dying day I'll say that his reputation as a defensive whiz catcher is vastly overrated -- but I think people mean to say that he calls a great game. And THAT I cannot deny. He definitely looks mature and confident in the crouch behind home-plate, and despite the fact that he doesn't really know how to connect with the bat, he still managed to show up Mauer's return to the lineup against the Orioles. Obviously I'd rather see Morales or Ramos playing when Mauer isn't in the lineup, but to have 4 major-league quality catchers on your roster is something most other major league teams can only dream of.

HUGHES:

Sure, he only had a cup of coffee, but it's about time someone brought him up to get a look at the next level of competition. And how did he respond? How about a homerun in his first plate appearance! Ramos may have gone 4-5 in his debut, but Hughes absolutely jacked one in his first at bat. This is the kind of role-player production from unheralded sources that great teams can utilize.

-----

So who's next? We could see Hughes or Manship again before the year is out. And we'll more than likely see Ramos again at least in September after his more than certain return to the minors.

We still have top prospects about to arrive from Rochester in the form of Danny Valencia, Anthony Slama, and Rob Delaney. There's speculation that Revere, Tosoni, and even Bromberg might get to taste big league action if needed this season.

By no means do I want anyone on our major league roster to become injured or ineffective, but I must admit that I'm excited to see who gets called up next!

Bases Loaded and Nobody Home

2010-04-30T00:01:00.000-04:00

My work as a producer requires me to work with numbers to some extent, but by no means would I consider myself a mathematician or a statistician, so forgive my post, please. But I think the principle I'm harping on is relatively understandable even by those, like myself, who find their head spinning around numbers for the most part...

I really like to think that I don't knee-jerk in my reactions to a few bad outings or for underperforming. But, truth be told, this lack of hitting with RISP and bases loaded is actually starting to gnaw on me. I'm not sure I've been any less excited to see bases loaded than I am currently when watching a Twins game.

To be fair, I really don't think this can or will continue forever. But the one thing I'm going to draw the line at is that I don't believe this will necessarily course-correct or even equal out over the season. Currently the Twins are hitting a measly .143 with bases loaded. The 2009 MLB average was .279 with bases loaded.

Assuming the league average is a good bar to judge by, this ultimately means that the average team should have a 279/1000 chance of getting a hit every time a player steps up to bat. What it doesn't mean is if your team is currently hitting .143 that you will undoubtedly catch a string of good luck and by the end of the season will be hitting .279. If the Twins have gotten themselves off to a horrible start, those numbers will remain, and the next time someone steps up with bases loaded their chances aren't weighted, they should still have about a 279/1000 chance.

Say you roll a die and it lands on a 3. If you roll it again, you have just as much chance of it landing on a 3 this time as a 1, 2, 4, 5 or 6. The fact that you rolled a 3 previously does not change your chance every time you release.

While batting averages are useful in guesstimating future performance, it doesn't necessarily fluctuate your chance of getting a hit. Continuing to come up without runs in bases loaded situations is not a guarantee that we will get a floodgate of them coming soon. To expect that is unrealistic.

This isn't all doom and gloom though. If the Twins can get the monkey off their back and start hitting as calmly and patiently as they do for the majority of the game, they will undoubtedly see their average rise. I don't think it will necessarily rise to league average if it doesn't happen soon, we likely will end up below the median at the end of the year, but they just might catch a hot streak and things could even out -- it's just not a given.

The other good thing is the most obvious: The Twins still have been winning. Despite looking absolutely clueless with the bases loaded, they still pile on the runs and tally up the wins (Wednesday and Thursday regardless...). All teams have at least one weakness, but the good teams make up for their weaknesses and still find a way to win. I think that would classify us as a good team...

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Quick plug, if you haven't been to a Twins Centric viewing party yet, mark your calendar for the Saturday, May 15th showdown against the Yankees. It is being held at the Major's in Bloomington -- which happens to be almost right down the street from my childhood home!

You can use the opportunity to meet up with other Twins bloggers and fans and a fun game to play could be perusing the stands and trying to be the first person to spot the three Twins fans being assaulted in the middle level behind home plate... I will wear my bright blue Twins T-shirt and red Twins cap to try to make myself easier to spot against a sea of navy. My work was kind enough to again give me the company tickets to see our boys from the awesome seats that they have -- and hopefully this time we might actually come away with a win! So while I won't be there with everyone at the viewing party this month, I'll join them in spirit!

E:60 Mauer Special Tonight

2010-04-26T23:47:00.005-04:00

I pick on ESPN a little bit sometimes, perhaps unfairly, perhaps fairly.

Yes, Jon Miller, I'm looking at you.

But it's all in fun. Because any sports network is going to have their faults (especially the YES network), but the key thing is that ESPN happens to have many pluses that some of us cynics tend to take for granted. Example?

E:60 is one of the best regular sporting news featurette shows that I've ever seen. Combing the world of sports for interesting, inspiring, or scandalous stories they make an excellent weekly hour-long program -- and this week is certainly no exception.

Seeing as I'm now some sort of pre-eminent blogger (I'll excuse you while you laugh too), I've been fortunate enough to receive some sort of press release from said ESPN which I'd like to pass on to all of you...

...wait for it

E:60 has a special Joe Freakin' Mauer!!!!!! segment airing tonight at 7PM EST/6PM CST! And we all know how much we love Joe Mauer. How much we just want to bask in his presence. Every girl wants to date him and every guy wants to be his best friend and the rest of us really could care less which we get to do as long as it involves spending time with him.

Anyway, a press release wouldn't really be a press release without some sort of teaser. You can watch a video clip of the show here (click on the middle video with the picture of Joe's mom on the front). My favorite part is when Jake Mauer Sr. talks about walking into a Target with him and everyone trying to rip Joe's clothes off. Yeah, Joe, now you can finally empathize with what it's like for me to walk down Broadway at 1AM.

"Twins Bloggers: Get to Know 'Em" presents Eric of Call to the 'Pen!

2010-04-26T00:01:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it's taken me this long to have Eric do a Get to Know 'Em blogger profile! Call to the Pen wasn't one of the first blogs I discovered, but it's certainly one of the best. Eric's able to walk that nice line between satire and analysis that I've been getting tripped up on since my blog's inception. Not only does his humor strike a chord with me, but his being a fellow Midwestern ex-pat living out East enforces that sense of kinship.

I've quickly found that he's a great guy to read and also a great guy to get to know, so that being said I'll let you all have a chance to get to know him too:

Personal-

NAME: Eric Donald Olson. I haven't decided on my "law" name yet. Maybe I'll be E. Donald Olson. Or E.D. Olson. Or maybe I'll be Eric. Who knows.

WEBSITE: Call to the 'Pen (http://thetwinsdifference.wordpress.com)

BIRTHDAY: June 25th

HOMETOWN: I was born in Iowa City, consider Bismarck, ND to be my hometown, and live in Alexandria, VA.

WHAT KEEPS YOU EMPLOYED OTHER THAN BLOGGING: Right now, nothing. I'm writing about five papers at once so I actually graduate from law school, studying for the Virginia bar exam, and hoping that the legal market in the Washington, DC area recovers in the next, oh, day or so.

FAVORITE COLOR: I can't say I've ever had a real favorite color. When I was a kid, I was always afraid the other crayons would feel bad if I didn't pick them, and by the time I outgrew that (about age 8), I had figured out it didn't matter. If I had to pick, though, I'd probably choose some kind of forest green.

FAVORITE FOOD: Really anything that has pasta, sausage, and/or bacon as a main ingredient. My current favorite recipe is for a three-cheese homemade macaroni and cheese (romano, sharp cheddar, and gruyere), which I like to serve with grilled kielbasa and vegetables.

FAVORITE MOVIE: I can't really say I have a favorite movie. As of right now, the Tom Hanks classic Philadelphia holds my interest pretty well, but I have really fallen in love recently with the beauty and depth of story present in the Hayao Miyazaki animated films, particularly Princess Mononoke.

FAVORITE BOOK: The Oresteia, by Aeschylus. I would probably rate Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Notes from Underground and Gregory Clark's A Farewell to Arms are probably the runners up. Oddly, I have several thousand books, but own a copy of neither.

FAVORITE TYPE OF MUSIC: 90s rock, Grunge, Piano Rock, etc. I'm definitely a child of the 90's, music-wise.

FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH OTHER THAN BASEBALL: College Football. I'll watch the NFL if there's nothing else going on, but I get so much more out of watching the non-professionals go at it.

FAVORITE SPORT TO PLAY: Baseball/softball (corner outfield and catcher) and Soccer.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE VIKINGS/TIMBERWOLVES/WILD: Big fan of the pre-Favre variety/Couldn't Care Less about the NBA in general/Mildly Disinterested - Washington Caps fan. The Caps are the one team I've adopted since I moved out here.

General Baseball-

WHAT MAKES BASEBALL SO GREAT TO YOU?: SHS: Strategy, History, and Statistics. To me, those are the three things that separate baseball from the other major sports (NBA, NFL, NHL, etc.). Baseball has the longest and greatest history of any one of them (and it's not close), and today's game is still effectively the same as it was back in the humble beginnings. We still talk about the greatness of Babe Ruth and his records still mean something. In football, the rules have changed so drastically so many times that records mean nothing from era to era. Finally, the statistical background in baseball is absolutely phenomenal - you can watch the game, and then spend hours reading about why what happened, er, happened.

IF YOU HAD TO FOLLOW ANOTHER TEAM, WHICH AND WHY: Man, that's tough. As someone that has really tried hard to adopt the Nats, I can tell you that it really isn't easy (though that might be because the team is just. so. bad.) But if I had to follow another team, it would certainly be the Nats. I feel like they have drafted really well for the last couple years (at least, the draftees that signed were good), and they have a bright future, so long as they don't have another Bowden situation. I would say the Orioles, for all the same reasons (if they get rid of Trembley, that is), but I can't pick another AL team. After following the Twins for so long, following another AL team would feel too much (bizarrely, to be sure) like I was leaving my wife for her sister (I think I'm safe to say that, since she doesn't have a sister ;-) ).

BEST EXPERIENCE AT A BALLPARK OTHER THAN THE DOME/TARGET FIELD: Man, I love Camden Yards. The new Nats Park is nice, but it really doesn't compare to Camden. My best non-Dome experience would have to have been in the summer of 2008. It was a Fri-Sun series with the Twins and the O's, but the Friday night game was rained out, so on Saturday I took in a day-night doubleheader - and it was amazing. Not really my favorite kind of games, they both were both high-scoring affairs (Perkins got his ass handed to him by the ORIOLES, of all teams), but the Twins pulled off a victory in both! A full day of baseball in that stadium, with two Twins win, when they were in a playoff race? Just can't be beat, except maybe by Target Field!

OPINION ON INTERLEAGUE PLAY?: Man, I don't like it. I have tried to, but I just can't get into it. Basically, the simple fact that 18 games in the season have really no relevance to a given team's excellence relevant to the rest of the league, which is the team's competition for the post-season. Say we have the Twins and the Tigers competing to the end of the season, like last year. The Twins went 12-6 against the Brewers in 6 games, at the Cubs and Cards for 3 each, and at home against the Pirates and Astros. The Tigers had all the same teams, except for 3 against the Rockies instead of 3 of the Brewers games, but went 10-6. The Rockies were a much better team than the Brewers last season. Did that throw the division to the Twins? Unlikely, but it's possible. I'd be in favor of it if everyone played everyone, but there's no time for that, and I'd get tired of seeing pitchers flailing at the ball after a few weeks.

OPINION ON THE UNBALANCED SCHEDULE?: I don't love it, but it makes a lot sense, since teams are first and foremost playing the other teams in their division in order to make the postseason. A full round-robin schedule with semi-even distribution made sense before realignment, but not now. The argument has been made that teams should play outside the division more because of the wild card, but if you're playing for the wild card, it means you've already lost.

FAVORITE THING ABOUT MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL AS IT CURRENTLY EXISTS: I like that MLB is FINALLY moving in the direction of adopting instant replay, and even though it isn't there, I'm happy it's moving that direction.

THING YOU DISLIKE MOST ABOUT MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL AS IT CURRENTLY EXISTS: Two things, actually: First, the speed of the games. I know this is a fairly hot topic and a rather obvious choice, but it's just ridiculous. Yeah, there are too many manager mound visits and pitching changes, but those pitching changes are much longer than they need to be thanks to commercials. Also, today I watched Ryan Madsen (of the Phillies) pull the old "fake to third fake to first" move FOUR TIMES in three pitches. Each time, it stopped the game for a full minute or longer. I hate it that it seems like every third game takes 3 1/2 hours, whether extra innings or not. Second, I hate the seventh inning stretch. God Bless America is a horrible song, and I don't want it sung in place of Take Me out to the Ballgame. Call me unpatriotic, but it's a baseball game, not a political exercise. That and the actual music itself is bad.

FAVORITE NON-TWINS PLAYER IN BASEBALL HISTORY: I'd have to say that my favorite player is Mike Sweeney in non-Twins baseball, mostly because I have a long history with him. I lived for several years in Eugene, Oregon, and there is a Low-A short-season farm team there named the Eugene Emeralds, which are now a member of the Padres system, but at that point was affiliated with the Royals, and I remember that Mike Sweeney was just about the nicest guy ever. He was there for two years in 1992 and 1993, and he's the only player I remember from those seasons (and easily the best player on the Ems those years). Eventually, he left the Ems and I caught up with him when he joined the Royals. He's always killed the Twins, so we've occasionally been love-hate, but he was always a great guy.

MOST HATED NON-TWINS PLAYER IN BASEBALL HISTORY: I don't really get into all the AJ hate, but I've always really hated Frank Thomas. No real reason, I suppose, other than that he's always been good and I've never liked the teams he's played on, so I've always had ample reason to hate him.

DID YOU EVER PLAY BASEBALL/SOFTBALL, WHAT POSITION: I used to play, and I want to get back into it after I graduate law school. Corner outfield and catcher.

Twins Generic-

WHEN DID YOU BECOME A TWINS FAN AND WHY: My whole family is from the Midwest, so the Twins are definitely the family team. However, it took me a long time to get there, since I first was a Mariners fan (when we were in Oregon), and then a Braves fan, then the strike happened, I was a Braves fan for a while, and then I moved back to the midwest and rejoined Twins Territory. I didn't become what some might call a superfan until the magical 2006 season, which was when I started watching every game. I started the blog in 2008, during that fun season.

BEST EXPERIENCE AT THE DOME: Seeing Cal Ripken Jr. a couple years after he broke the record. That's a legend that I know I'll never see again in my lifetime.

BEST EXPERIENCE AT/PLANS TO GO TO TARGET FIELD: I wish I had plans to go to Target Field, but between the lack of a job and the distance to the Cities, I don't have any plans right now. Hopefully I'll be able to get there sometime this season!

EVER BEEN TO TWINS FEST? HOW WAS IT: Nope.

EVER BEEN TO SPRING TRAINING? HOW WAS IT: Nope.

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN CIRCLED BY BERT?: I don't know if it was me personally, but I went to a game at the Dome with about 200 other graduating Gustavus Adolphus seniors in 2007, and I know at least some of us were circled. He probably circled the ones that were utterly wasted, as it seemed about 180 of us were. Considering the Twins lost to the Blue Jays, they were probably having more fun anyway.

HAVE YOU EVER CAUGHT A FOUL BALL OR HOME RUN AT THE DOME/TF?: No, but, funny story, when I was at a Eugene Emeralds game back in '94, I managed to almost die from a bat that was thrown into the stands by a player for the Southern Oregon Athletics. I didn't even get to keep the bat, because it was a minor league game and bats are expensive and players still had to pay for their own back then, though I did get a cracked bat from the same player after the game.

Twins Player Specific-

FAVORITE TWINS PLAYER IN HISTORY: Hands down, Kirby Puckett. I don't think there needs to be any discussion about that. And I'm judging just his playing career, not the stuff that happened after, which is sad and tragic and in some ways horrible (like the domestic abuse stuff), but I think I can separate the Twins player, and the person he became after he left the game.

FAVORITE CURRENT TWINS PLAYER: Sideshow Pat! I really love Pat Neshek, and I don't know that anyone has rooted as hard for his successful return than I have (though that's sort of a big assumption). I think at one ill-advised moment, I suggested that he be anointed closer straight out of ST. Well, bad idea, but I'm still sort of attached to it! For me, it's about more that the way he plays the game, which is strange and interesting and really good. It's also about the way he interacts with all of us on his blog and Twitter, and the interesting choices he's made. How many vegan players are there in the MLB? I'm guessing one. And I hate that he got so much crap from all of us about it after the fact. I guess I'm on the hippie pinko liberal soap box here, but I guess I have a lot of stored-up irritation at everyone who was beating him up in 2008 when he was slightly less inhuman than he had been in 2006-7, then blamed his vegan diet for his injury, then blamed him/the Twins for the futher damage later in the season that actually led to the surgery, then became huge fans once again when it became clear he'd be back for this season. Bandwagon fans are not limited to the StarTribune website, it sometimes appears. Well, that's much more than the question asked. However, I don't care, because it seems I can't do anything in under 3,000 words or so, and this is now at 2,700.

FAVORITE OBSCURE TWINS PLAYER: I've always had a real soft spot for Rondell White, even if he did spend all of 2007 on the DL, and earn the respelling of his name, RonDL, every time an opposing player breathed on him the wrong way. Sort of the feeling of, "I really want you to succeed, but to succeed you have to play, and when you play, you suck, so I guess I really don't want you to succeed, but I'm sure you're a nice person!"

ARE THERE (WERE THERE) ANY TWINS PLAYERS YOU DISLIKE: Torii Hunter. I know a lot of people that have a lot of good feelings built up for him, but I've always gotten the feeling that he was a real dick unless he was the center of attention, and I really haven't seen anything to change my mind in the last 3-4 years (or heard anything from the years before I started paying real attention). Yeah, he does a lot of great charity work. But so do the heads of the big banks that just about destroyed the economy in 2007-08. Charity work and giving money don't make you a good person; they just mean that you have the money/time to be able to help others.

CURRENT PLAYER YOU'D MOST LIKE TO WATCH A GAME WITH: Jim Thome. Not only is he about the nicest guy you could hope to meet (despite my frequent insistence on my blog that he's actually evil), but he's been around long enough that I feel like he'd have more stories about and knowledge of the game than anyone else on the team.

CURRENT PLAYER YOU'D MOST LIKE TO GO TO A BAR WITH: I'm afraid that if I don't invite the Orlando Hudson (who I call "the" Orlando Hudson because I refuse to call him "the O-Dog" or any of its variations, but I'll grant him the "the" at the beginning of his name), because if I don't I'm afraid he'll imply that I'm racist to the national sports press. However, if I didn't have to choose the Orlando Hudson, I'd choose Michael Cuddyer. He just seems like a fun guy to hang out with, while most of the rest of the crew seems too stoic for me to want to go drinking with.

CURRENT PLAYER YOU'D MOST LIKE TO BE STRANDED ON AN ISLAND WITH: Joe Mauer, because with his new fortune we could build a raft of dollar bills and sail back to civilization.

YOU'D MOST LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH: I'm going to have to say Brendan Harris, because I think we'd have a good discussion of baseball and politics. And when I say "good discussion of ... politics," I mean we shout at each other for a while.

YOU'D WANT TO BE THE FRONT MAN OF YOUR NEW BAND: Jon Rauch. You really couldn't ask for much more than a giant with a neck tattoo who enters to hard rock music.

YOU THINK SHOULD BE A MOVIE STAR: JJ Hardy. He certainly has the looks for it. Also, he's not as overexposed as Joe Mauer - really famous people going from other jobs to acting tend to suck badly at acting. Case in point - the worst actors in Little Big League were the superstars - Randy Johnson and Ken Griffey, Jr. The random minor-leaguers that played the baseball players were great.

YOU'D ASK FOR HELP ON A SCIENCE LAB: I'm going to go with Craig Breslow, because I continue to delude myself into thinking the Twins didn't let him go for nothing, and that he's really sitting comfortably in AAA, waiting for Mijares to screw up enough to get him back to the majors.

YOU'D LIKE TO START A BUSINESS WITH: I feel like Jose Mijares knows how to make some really tasty and delicious food, so I'd open a restaurant with him. It's just a hunch, but I think it's borne out.

THOUGHTS ON WHAT YOU'VE SEEN OF TARGET FIELD: It looks beautiful and like a great place to watch a game. I suppose my main critiques are these: 1. Obstructed views. I mean, the designers had to have known that people in the right field bleacher seats might want to see center or right field. That seems like really poor planning. 2. I don't like how far up the first tier of outfield seats are in centerfield. I don't want something like Fenway, but the way it is reminds me of Progressive Field - the mistake by the lake. I know it's probably because they had to deal with the Interstate and the trains underneath, but I'm still going to complain, because it's what I do. Overall, though, it looks like it plays great; the way it's set up won't have the sun in the batter's eyes for early evening games; all the reports I have heard have it sounding amazing. I can't wait to go.

EXPECTATIONS FOR THE TEAM THIS YEAR: 1st in the Central, 94 wins.

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A huge thanks to Eric! He's a great guy to chat baseball with and runs one of the best blogs I've had the pleasure of reading! So make sure to check out Call to the 'Pen!

Podcast tonight!

2010-04-21T22:29:00.001-04:00

Tune in tonight to listen to the Twins Talk podcast as I join Fanatic Jack and our special guest, Andrew Bryz-Gornia of Off the Mark! 10PMEST/11PMCST after the Twins game!

Now THIS is a Good Team

2010-04-16T00:01:00.000-04:00

Quick side note: I passed my 100th post the other week and I passed my 10,000th visitor even further back and completely forgot to recognize it... Those were personal milestones I didn't really consider when I started this, and along with being linked to on the Star Tribune once or twice, making the featured article of the MN Gameday website a few times, and appearing on Seth's podcast -- along with meeting several amazing Twins bloggers that I've admired for the past couple years that I've been a reader instead of a blogger -- have made these past 6 months of blogging worth it! For what I still consider to be quite a fledgling blog, your support has made me VERY happy, so thanks to everyone who stops by here even on an intermittent basis!

I have a friend -- a Tiger's friend (shudder, don't ask) -- who doesn't even glance at the standings until we're at least 20 games into the season. He considers the first 3 weeks to be extended spring training, and perhaps he's right. Remember when the 2003 Royals team started off the season winning their first 9 games and 16 out of their first 20 before ultimately cooling off and settling into the middle of the pack where they placed 3rd, ultimately just above .500?

Hot-streaks happen in baseball, and so do cold-streaks. It happens to every team, regardless of if you're the Yankees or the Nationals (well, maybe not the Nationals quite as often). It happens to every player as well, regardless of if you're Joe Mauer or Nick Punto.

The start to this season has been excellent. The Twins are considered one of the top teams in baseball and riding high in the wake of opening their new stadium. Their offense is clicking, their defense is looking sharp, their starting rotation has kept them in games and their bullpen has been better than we could have expected.

It was easy to for the other teams to dismiss our hammering of the Angels on the road. They lost Chone Figgins, Vlad Guerrero and John Lackey and -- despite always being a solid team -- are not the same Angels that won 90+ last year.

It was even easier to ignore our dismantling of the White Sox. Sure, they were preseason darlings for being an AL Central contender, but they are just as likely to be bottom-dwellers if Ozzie Guillen's little washed-up-veteran-rehash-slap-and-run experiment can't take off (as has been the case so far...).

But you cannot so easily glance over our shellacking of the Red Sox. Despite not usually stacking up against them (or winning) in the past, we've consistently played fairly even games against them -- at least more so than against the Yankees. Yet these are the Big Boys of the East. One of the nation's favorite teams to either love or hate. 2nd highest payroll in baseball. A rotation with 3 starters who would be the ace of almost any other team.

If we go by the 20-game benchmark, we are halfway there and 7-3 after facing easily the toughest part of our schedule until our New York-Toronto-Boston road trip in the middle of May. With our upcoming series consisting of a home-and-away against Kansas City, a homestand against Cleveland and a visit to Detroit, we could very conceivably be 17-3 (yes I know, I'm optimistic, but come on -- it's Kansas City and Cleveland...).

You can discount early season games as much as you want, but it certainly behooves any team to get off to a good start. The Twins have done that in resounding fashion, and they've given us no reason to believe that won't continue.

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On another note, if you're looking for a fun, informative, interesting read, check this out. An account of the origin of every MLB team's name. Makes for some interesting bar trivia talk...

Bukowski on Baseball

2010-04-15T00:01:00.003-04:00

Not actually Bukowski. Just a butchering style.

Losses hurt the soul

I don't think I have a soul, but baseball tells me otherwise

it's kind of like how Chinese food reminds me of that ulcer.

You make a lot of effort to watch these games

nine innings is a lot of time

to sit in front of a stupid box and yell, especially when there's other shit to do.

Like work.

Leaving guys on base should be a sin. Not venial sin. A mortal one.

Canadians who can't hit the Japanese is like the story of my life

and Okajima reminds me of that island in the Pacific, can't remember why

but I know it's not good. And Canadians had no part in it.

I had a woman once, she was good, but she didn't like baseball.

That wasn't good.

Couldn't understand why I got so upset when we lost.

"Hank, you're in first place," she'd say. "Cheer the hell up and let's get some food."

Not my girl anymore. I think she doesn't like drunks who can't take perspective.

It's ok, I don't like women who don't understand.

You get over this but it takes time. Gotta blow some steam as they say.

Me?

I blow my steam at a bar. Bottle of beer. Shot of Jamison.

This bartender from Philadelphia who listens to my whining.

This guy from Boston I know is gonna bust my chops.

This Bronx jerk who doesn't know Minnesota is a state. Or has a team.

Probably some barfly from Kansas City doesn't give a crap about anything these days.

I'll take 'em all. Part of the routine. You grin, you joke, you talk about your loss,

but you don't talk about that soul hurt.

The soul you don't have.

Or so you think.

Then the next morning you shake off that whisky-beer cloud,

stand under some water

hit the street,

light a cigarette,

and crawl into a tunnel full of people

that smell like

sweat and

hope and

some faint odor of damp shampoo.

Don't forget your taxes.

And you wonder if you lose again today and start it all over.

We'll win.

Podcasting

2010-04-14T20:58:00.002-04:00

Be sure to check out the Twins Talk podcast tonight as I join Fanatic Jack again at 9PM CST/10PM EST along with special guest Nick Nelson!

Yankees Fans Have Hearts

2010-04-14T00:10:00.003-04:00

I'm a little overly harsh on Yankees fans -- probably because I live around so many of them and probably because they usually have it so good. But let's face it, some of them can make it really easy to dislike the rest...

In the absence of Twins baseball today, I instead caught glimpses of the Yankees home opener against the Angels while at work. Of course, we all know who's now on the Angels:

I thought it would be really interesting to see how they responded to seeing Hideki Matsui again (really, click that link, it's worth it, if you don't already know this you'll never look at him the same), this time as an enemy of the pinstripes. And you know what? They gave him a standing ovation. Who would've thought?

Perhaps I'm biased because of how they react to other players who return to face them after so many years, but then again Matsui earned MVP of the World Series while playing for them while Pavano earned the snazzy nickname "American Idle" for not doing anything at all -- although if the Yankees want to throw money around like that it's going to bite them in the ass once in a while, so stop the whining.

Anyway, suffice to say that it was fun watching Matsui get some swings against his former team and I'm glad that the fans up in the Bronx treated him well after all he did for them. Now, tomorrow we'll actually get to watch some exciting baseball that I actually care about...

Thanks for the Day Games (and making fun of Waldman/Sterling)

2010-04-12T22:50:00.003-04:00

I hope all my friends had fun at Target Field! I made a point to step out of meetings and hang up on phone calls and everything I could to watch that game on ESPN in the living room at work. I caught the first inning, some great catches by Span, 2 Mauer doubles, and a Kubel homerun crushed into the right field porch, as well as the 5th Rauch save (and first at Target Field).

I'm sure the day games are beautiful, and I can't wait to go to my first one -- but I love how baseball makes you rethink your priorities. "Hmm, work vs. Twins home opener..." It's an easy choice for me and apparently the 40,000 people who packed Target Field today to see the first regular season game at their new stadium.

One thing: I was stuck watching this on ESPN. I really hate watching my home team on the Eastern Sports Package Network (warning, not what ESPN really stands for). Despite the fact that the announcers weren't quite as awful as they could be for a Twins game, I just wish I could've seen the festivities and blind homerism of Dick & Bert that FSN North probably offered to everyone today.

It's really easy to make fun of the Minnesota Twins play-calling duo, but you really don't know the half of what it's like to live with awful commentators.

Suzyn Waldman ladies and gentlemen...

Even John Gordon is better than what you get out here.

This is the cleanest rip of John Sterling I can find ... if you don't mind extreme foul language, you can hear more dissection of his call by clicking here...

So please, understand that while you might like to mute your TV and turn down your radio, I want to stick forks in my ears. Yeah, even the most loyal Yankees fans hate these announcers with a passion. If you couldn't get enough Suzy Waldman above:

Note: also a knock against Nick Swisher

This is all for tonight. I hope this helps you appreciate Dick, Bert, Joe Morgan, Jon Miller and every other guy you hear calling a game...

Minnesota: Hello/Goodbye

2010-04-11T23:03:00.005-04:00

Thursday night I decided I didn't want to be left out of the fun of the Twins Centric viewing party, especially because I knew I was going to miss opening day at Target Field. So, despite a couple people essentially getting me to spill the beans to them early, I was able to surprise a few folks with a cameo up in Blaine this weekend.

There is something awesome about watching baseball at a bar among a throng of Twins fans that I think I'm deprived of out in New York. I average seeing somebody in this city wearing a Twins cap perhaps 3 or 4 times a week and I feel an immediate bond with them -- so everybody at the Twins Centric party felt like long lost family to me.

Jack, Seth, John, Emily, Andrew, Kirsten, Betsy, Nick, Parker and even all the other people I didn't get to talk to definitely made that spontaneous trip worthwhile! (And Kirsten's brownies, which I had heard talked up SO MUCH, went above and beyond what I was expecting! That was worth it right there!)

The theme of the day for me was trying to recreate the famous "Seth eating nachos on national TV shot":

Me and Andrew doing our best...

Emily's attempt...

The Master reenacts...

And now for a few notes:

-- I'm tied for 1st place with Thrylos 98 in our Twoggers Fantasy League. Whoever wants to just concede to me now can do so anytime... (trash talk needs to pick up in our league...)

-- I decided to splurge and get a luxury SUV while I was in Minnesota for the day. Those things are like driving a tank. Trying to parallel park with it in Uptown took all of my New York driving mentality ... I think I'm sticking to sedans.

-- 5-2 would be a really awesome way to walk into Target Field except I think my taste has been a little soured by the way we ended that final game in Chicago. Or should I say the way Ullger ended that final game. I just can't believe he had the mental break that allowed such an unbelievable misstep. I can just imagine Gardy sitting in the dugout watching helplessly as Scotty Ullger completely abandons reason...

This video doesn't exactly relate but it's hilarious and will get that bad taste out of your mouth... thanks Alan.

-- I got to listen to the beginning of Sunday's game on the radio -- man do I miss John Gordon's calming voice, he's like my 3rd Grandpa. The rest of the game was watched at the French Meadow airport bar. In some ways I'm glad the game didn't go any longer because I kept glancing at my watch in the 9th and listening to the boarding calls. The game ended at the perfect time, just with the wrong result! The flight home was a little interesting... I had a connection in Philly and was forced into a little 10 row puddle jumper Dash 8-100 that looked like it should have been decommissioned about 20 years ago. If I hadn't eaten that Philly Cheesesteak in the airport before getting on the plane maybe it wouldn't have felt as uncomfortable, but that was probably the least favorite flight in memory.

-- I have way too much Twins apparel. And I made the ultimate impulse buy and picked up a Denard Span off-white retro Twins jersey in the MSP airport. I think I have an addiction to Twins clothing, people have started saying things too...

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That's about it! Try to forget about Chicago, we're sitting pretty after that tough road trip. Time to kick off Target Field in style!

"Twins Bloggers: Get to Know 'Em" presents Dan from Twins Jabber

2010-04-09T00:01:00.000-04:00

Ok, first off, I'm a little upset that my MLB Extra Innings package didn't show the Thursday night Twins/Angels matchup. That sucks. I wanted to watch Slowey.

Second, if you're lucky enough to live in Minnesota and are looking for some fun Twins activity this weekend, you need to get yourself over to the Twins Centric Viewing Party on this Saturday the 10th. It's a great opportunity to watch the game with like-minded Twins fanatics and also a way to meet and get to know some of the great bloggers along my sidebar that you are hopefully all reading! It starts at noon at Major's Sports Cafe in Blaine (10950 Club West Parkway). There's great food and drink deals if you go out wearing Twins gear and there's also plenty of giveaways. So get out there!

Now, speaking of meeting Twins bloggers, let's introduce ourselves to one of the great new Twins blogs that I've discovered...

This is a special in-season presentation of my Twins Bloggers: Get to Know 'Em series. Today I'm proud to feature Dan DiVincenzo of Twins Jabber, a great blog that I stumbled across awhile ago and have been following ever since I first set eyes on it. Like me, Dan's stuck out in the Empire State cheering for his team from the heart of Yankee Land. His proximity to the Rochester Red Wings lets him get a nice Twins AAA fix and also supplies him with an edge on everyone else as to what's going on with our affiliate out there. His blog is amazing, and has been running for awhile now so if you haven't already added it to your daily fix I highly recommend you do from here on out! Without further ado:

Personal-

NAME: Dan DiVincenzo

WEBSITE: http://twinsjabber.danieldivincenzo.com

BIRTHDAY: February 20th

HOMETOWN: Greece, NY

WHAT KEEPS YOU EMPLOYED OTHER THAN BLOGGING: I sit in a cube all day and develop software. I also do some freelance website programming on the side.

FAVORITE COLOR: Blue

FAVORITE FOOD: A Lo mein-like dish my grandmother makes. She's from Okinawa and it's delicious.

FAVORITE MOVIE: Major League

FAVORITE BOOK: I can't really pick one, but I'm a fan of Robin Cook's stuff.

FAVORITE TYPE OF MUSIC: Thanks to my fiancée, I'm now a big Country fan.

FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH OTHER THAN BASEBALL: Wait, there are other sports besides baseball? Kidding - I watch a little bit of football during the winter months.

FAVORITE SPORT TO PLAY: I'd have to save baseball/softball. I used to play baseball in high school, but I've been playing softball recently.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE VIKINGS/TIMBERWOLVES/WILD: Indifferent, I guess. I'm not from Minnesota, so I'm more apt to root for the Sabres and the Bills. Not that I have any malevolent feelings towards the Vikings or anything - I save those for New England and Miami.

General Baseball-

WHAT MAKES BASEBALL SO GREAT TO YOU: The strategy and the statistics. I love that we have a history of the game based primarily on numbers and I find it great that there are so many different ways to win. I'm digging what Seattle's doing this season and I'm very interested to see how their run prevention plan works out.

IF YOU HAD TO FOLLOW ANOTHER TEAM, WHICH AND WHY: I know I'm going to take some flak for saying so, but I'd have to say the Yankees. My fiancée and her family are huge Yankees fans. They're also the 'local' MLB team, so I'm able to watch all their games on television.

BEST EXPERIENCE AT A BALLPARK OTHER THAN THE DOME: Last summer, I took a trip to NYC with my fiancée and some friends to watch the Yankees play the Twins. Of course, that was the 'walk-off weekend' so the outcome wasn't a great experience. However, I did get to see Mauer crush a ball into Monument Park, and Morneau launch one over the right field wall.

OPINION ON INTERLEAGUE PLAY: I like it, but I think everyone should get to play each other. I'm not sure how the scheduling works, but it doesn't seem fair that one AL team could draw the Cardinals and Phillies one weekend, while another team gets to play the Nats and the Pirates. Maybe they try to break that up some how, but it's hard to predict with 100% accuracy before hand which teams will be strong or weak.

OPINION ON THE UNBALANCED SCHEDULE: I don't like it. Actually, I think it helps the Twins out but I don't think it's fair in regards to the Wild Card race. I think teams like Tampa Bay and Florida would have better records if they didn't have to face the huge market teams in their divisions 18 times a year. While the Twins get to face the Royals and Indians 18 times.

FAVORITE NON-TWINS PLAYER IN BASEBALL HISTORY: Cal Ripken Jr. I used to be an Orioles fan back in the day.

MOST HATED NON-TWINS PLAYER IN BASEBALL HISTORY: I don't like Cliff Lee at all. It probably started when he went after Go-go for trying to bunt on him. Unsportsmanlike and too whiny for my taste. Just seems like a jerk in general.

DID YOU EVER PLAY BASEBALL/SOFTBALL, WHAT POSITION: I was a catcher in High School, but I play third or short for my softball teams.

Twins Generic-

WHEN DID YOU BECOME A TWINS FAN AND WHY: It was around the time of the 2002 playoffs. Cal Ripken Jr. had retired and he was pretty much the only reason I was still following the Orioles. I hated how that team was run, and it seemed like the Twins had it figured out. The Twins also became the parent team to the Rochester Red Wings in 2003, so it was fun to see guys like Cuddyer, Morneau, Kubel, Baker, Garza, Slowey, Boof and others playing in AAA before they became regulars for the Twins.

BEST EXPERIENCE AT THE DOME: Sadly, I was never able to make the trip out.

EVER BEEN TO TWINS FEST, HOW WAS IT: I've also never been to Twins Fest. Hopefully that will change soon!

EVER BEEN TO SPRING TRAINING, HOW WAS IT: I'd also like to take a little vacation down to Florida for Spring Training in the near future.

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN CIRCLED BY BERT: Not to my knowledge. I was in the nose-bleed section at Yankee Stadium 2.5 so I doubt I saw much camera time.

HAVE YOU EVER CAUGHT A FOUL BALL OR HOME RUN AT THE DOME: Nope.

Twins Player Specific-

FAVORITE TWINS PLAYER IN HISTORY: Since my personal Twins history is pretty short, I'd have to say Brad Radke. That guy was nails.

FAVORITE CURRENT TWINS PLAYER: Jason Kubel is the man. He was an absolute monster for Rochester in 2004, before he blew out his knees. (I don't think he'll be stealing 16 bases again anytime soon)

FAVORITE OBSCURE TWINS PLAYER: Jason Tyner. Okay, maybe not terribly obscure, but I liked the fact that he has eight major league seasons under his belt, despite only one career home run. Runner up was Garrett Jones, but he's not really obscure anymore.

ARE THERE (WERE THERE) ANY TWINS PLAYERS YOU DISLIKE: Torii Hunter always rubbed me the wrong way, throwing teammates under the bus and all. He also took a swing at Morneau and punched Nick Punto instead. Two strikes in the matter of a few seconds right there. I've also lost some respect for Johan ever since he demanded a trade out of Minnesota. But hey, maybe he did the Twins a favor.

FAVORITE EXPERIENCE MEETING A PLAYER, PLEASE DESCRIBE: Not a Twins player, but the player that made the biggest impact on me was infielder P.J. Forbes. The Red Wings used to run clinics (maybe they still do) for Little League kids and Forbes always volunteered. He was a nice guy and good with the kids. Cal Ripken Jr. was also very tall and my favorite player at the time, so that was cool. My father actually has more interesting stories than I do: He once had a one-on-one conversation with Jason Kubel about the opposing starting pitcher. He also had an inning long conversation with Kevin Slowey's father, who had come to see Slowey's first AAA start.

CURRENT PLAYER YOU'D MOST LIKE TO WATCH A GAME WITH: Pat Neshek, definitely.

MOST LIKE TO GO TO A BAR WITH: Carl Pavano? Despite what Yankee fans say, he seems like a nice enough guy. Plus I'd like to hear some stories about what really went down in New York.

MOST LIKE TO BE STRANDED ON AN ISLAND WITH: I'm going to go with Glen Perkins. He sounds like he has a good sense of humor and seems like a redneck to boot. I don't think we'd have any trouble getting food.

MOST LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH: Toss up between Nick Blackburn and Jim Thome.

WANT TO BE THE FRONT MAN OF YOUR NEW BAND: It would be a country band and we'd have Jim Thome in a cowboy hat.

YOU THINK SHOULD BE A MOVIE STAR: J.J. Hardy has a great movie star name.

YOU'D ASK FOR HELP ON A SCIENCE LAB: With Craig Breslow gone, I'd probably go to Kevin Slowey. He seems like a smart guy. Or maybe Joe Mauer - he's good at EVERYTHING he does, so he must be a natural at Science too.

YOU'D LIKE TO START A BUSINESS WITH: Nick Punto. He'd work hard and never give up. I'd also like to imagine he'd slide headfirst down the conference room table to start off every meeting.

EXPECTATIONS OF TARGET FIELD: I think it's going to be beautiful, and I think it's going to be cold.

EXPECTATIONS FOR THE TEAM THIS YEAR: The top of the order will score a ton of runs, but I'm a little worried about the pitching. We saw last season how a couple of injuries could throw the staff our of whack, and they didn't really do much to address that. I wonder if losing Joe Nathan will make some of the younger starters less confident out there. Overall though, they should be at or near the top of the AL Central all season long.

-----

A huge thanks to Dan! If you haven't checked out Twins Jabber yet, do so from now on, it's a great site and Dan has excellent posts. Go Twins!

Things I Learned After 1 Game

2010-04-06T09:03:00.002-04:00

I try not to make it a habit to judge a team after 1 game. I also try not to make it a habit of judging a team too harshly the first 2-3 weeks of a season. But let's face it, we saw what we needed to see and the Twins are going to have an awful season:

1) Baker is a bum. Can't pitch his way out of a paper bag. Opening Day starter? Let's send him back to AAA to get some work in and call up Perkins.

2) Lookin' like we're gonna regret that Joe Mauer contract. Guy can't get a hit to save his life. He's currently batting .000, so I think you can let go of the hopes he'll hit .400, much less anything above the Mendoza line.

3) Delmon Young IS THE REAL DEAL. Talk about the only source of offense on our team. I can't believe why everyone's been bashing him! If you guys look back on the last 9 innings he's played, I think that's a pretty strong case...

4) Gardy has a man-crush on Harris. He won't even let this Punto guy finish out a game at 3rd.

5) The Angels are going to win the World Series. They're just too good. We shouldn't even trot out a team tonight, might as well save our energy and our efforts for the White Sox.

6) Let's trade Mijares.

-----

OK, maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit. But I'll admit, Baker did kind of ruin my plans of going 162-0 so I was a little peeved about that. I'll get over it, but that wasn't the best outing.

How about Jesse Crain? He held down the fort for a little bit. He didn't look nervous or overmatched or out of his element on the mound. I'd like to see some more performances like that!

I think the one thing I really learned is that the Mauer contract situation definitely isn't over yet. We'll be hearing about it every time the Twins play a game on ESPN, and I'll be hearing it every time I watch a game because I'm usually stuck with the out of market stuff on the MLB Extra Innings package. It gets kind of annoying listening to all the other announcers say the same things about your team over and over again like it's new material.

Anyway, now on to the quest of 161-1!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2010-04-05T00:01:00.000-04:00

I have this annoying habit of singing Christmas tunes to myself even in the middle of July.

That's not me, but I feel just as crazy.

People at my office are subjected to it more than most, and I sincerely apologize if it's annoying to think of snow in the dead of summer. I also now must apologize for subjecting you, dear readers, to their same fate.

But it's undeniable: this is the most wonderful time of the year. Christmas is lovely, but nothing beats Opening Day. Fans around the country can sit down and know that regardless of how awful their team is, they will at the very least get 162 opportunities to watch them in action. And even fans of the Royals and the Nationals can look at that clean slate and dream of 162-0 (emphasis on the dream).

Do you remember opening day last year? I'm not sure what it was like in Minnesota, I just remember it out here in New York. It was pretty rainy. Rainy and grey and there was a little chill in the air that forced me to wear a light jacket and keep my head down on my way to work from the subway. It was the kind of day where I get in, shake off a slight layer of dampness like I'm just another wet dog, and then hang my coat on the rack by the elevator to dry off.

But despite the grey, despite the rain, despite the chill, it was easily the best day of the year. It's tough to focus on bleak circumstances (not to mention work) when something that you wait for all year finally arrives. I've grown a little old for that childhood excitement I found in Christmas -- the kind that kept me cataloging a list of gifts I was going to ask for and then waiting up all night the eve before because I just couldn't get to sleep.

That doesn't really hit me anymore, I don't sit around all year and wait for Christmas because of all the fun presents and festivities.

No -- I sit around all year and wait for baseball. Opening Day is adult Christmas, the closest thing you can come to replicating that feeling of giddiness and irrepressible excitement from your childhood.

And just like you knew your parents didn't understand your thrill about that day, we look around at all the people out there who don't follow baseball and see them roll their eyes or exchange knowing smiles when they see us with our hats and jerseys and broad stupid grins on our face even despite the sometimes dreary weather we get on this day.

For us, birds are singing, bitter New Yorkers on a gloomy commute are just more people to smile at and spread the joy to, and beyond all that, more than anything, we can dream of a summer of possibilities on the horizon. 6 more months of that Christmas feeling. Of waking up in the morning and knowing that regardless of how the rest of your day is going, you get to watch baseball.

It's the best feeling in the world.

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

PLAY BALL!

2010 Predictions

2010-04-02T00:01:00.000-04:00

Upon the encouragement of the wise Josh Johnson, I've decided to partake in the Twins Blogosphere's 2010 Predictions. If you should (wisely) read on, I hope to do my best not spoil the 2010 season by letting you know everything that's going to happen -- but at the same time I hope to hold my esteem as being an amazing baseball mind that can predict such things as an entire season... in short, what follows is complete and utter (educated) guess-work:

Twins-Specific Predictions:

TWINS MVP: Well -- how could anyone say a name other than Joe Mauer? It's kind of hard to be a team MVP when someone else overshadows everyone else in baseball the way your catcher does. Look for this guy to have an off year and hit around .330/.400/.525 while single-handedly renewing the integrity of baseball.

TWINS TOP PITCHER: Joe Nathan. Oh wait, too soon. I'm going to say Kevin Slowey. I've had my eye on the guy for a long time, and not just because Thrylos98 is enamored. His pinpoint control and ability to miss bats even without overpowering stuff is incredible. And the poise he displays on the mound is something only grizzled veterans tend to display. Years of brilliance about to display themselves in 2010.

TWINS BEST ROOKIE: Anthony Slama. Really, the only other real rookie I see coming up and getting playing time this year is Danny Valencia, and in general I think it takes longer for hitters to settle in to the majors as opposed to pitchers. Even though Valencia has more long-term upside in my mind, I think Slama makes the biggest impact on this team in 2010.

TWINS MOST IMPROVED PLAYER: Francisco Liriano. Without a doubt. If that slider and even a hint of his poise is back, he'll be a formidable pitcher.

BOLD PREDICTIONS: Delmon Young doesn't make it to midseason before Jason Kubel and Jim Thome claim all his playing time. Danny Valencia takes over 3rd base after the All-Star break and runs with it. Everyone in Twins Territory is calling for the amazing rookie, Anthony Slama, to close out ball-games by the time he's entrenched as the 8th inning guy in August.

A.L. CENTRAL PREDICTIONS:

1. Twins

2. White Sox

3. Tigers

4. Royals

5. Indians

THREE KEYS TO SUCCESS FOR THE TWINS:

1. Lack of significant regression. Mauer, Span, Kubel, Cuddyer, and several others had amazing years last year. The Twins are banking on the fact that they can at least show a reasonably similar performance this year. If that isn't the case, the cogs won't fit.

2. Orlando Hudson. OK, we all clamored for him. Defense and offense at one of our traditionally weak positions. If he can stay healthy and get on base at a decent clip, our lineup will be one of the most dangerous in baseball and our infield defense will be iron-clad.

3. Rotation. Those 5 guys are holding a lot on their shoulders. Considering that our back-up options are all kids without significant major league experience and don't seem to be banging on the door at the moment, they had better hold up their own and live up to and beyond expectations.

Rest of the League Predictions:

AL MVP: I'm likely just clouded in my judgement, but it's really hard for me to see anyone other than Mauer winning this. I'm trying to think of teams that will be in contention and there just aren't any clear standouts on them. Who knows if Jeter will have a similar year to last, but anyone 1-9 on that team will be mentioned in the MVP debate whether they deserve it or not. Boston has a few options but nobody really stands out heads above the rest, and I just can't think of anyone on the Angels, Mariners, or even Rangers that is just screaming MVP. Mauer it is.

NL MVP: Chase Utley. Maybe it's just because he was my first overall fantasy pick, but he's ridiculously good and his team will be vying for the World Series again in all likelihood. Hard to pass up such a solid player.

AL CY YOUNG: Justin Verlander. Yuck, I know, ugh. But he's just soooo good and deserves to win it soon. I love Greinke but two years in a row is a difficult accomplishment, no one who pitches in Yankee Stadium half the time will post stellar numbers, and Peavy isn't all he's cracked up to be. Plan B is Felix Hernandez, but I think Verlander wins by a margin.

NL CY YOUNG: Roy Halladay. I really want to say someone fun like Tommy Hanson, but I think Halladay just has the clout and can really dominate in the NL as well. Big assumption is that he stays healthy, but if he does he'll mow through the NL East.

AL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Brian Matusz. One of the most promising pitchers I've seen and perhaps the only really bright spot this year for his organization.

NL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Jason Heyward. Please, somebody throw out another name. It's impossible. The talent brimming in this guy is undeniable and I think anyone would sell half their team to get their hands on him. Pujols Jr.

AL BREAKOUT PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Is this a real award? Ummm, I'm going to say Kevin Slowey. I think he's been good consistently but this is his year to finally shine. In 2011, no way does he slip below the 5th round of the draft, even if Thrylos98 isn't participating.

NL BREAKOUT PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Pedro Sandoval. Maybe he doesn't qualify, because he wasn't bad last year, but I think after 2010 he becomes a household name.

AL COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Francisco Liriano. After the first month he starts turning heads and doesn't look back. He won't be his old, old self, but he'll leave a wake of baffled hitters as he plows through the season.

NL COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Jose Reyes. He'll come back part-way into the season and start hitting with a vengeance, electrifying an otherwise lifeless and depressing Mets lineup with his OBP and speed.

AL PLAYOFF PREDICTIONS: Twins over Red Sox 3-1. Yankees over Rangers 3-2. Twins over Yankees 4-2.

NL PLAYOFF PREDICTIONS: Cardinals over Braves 3-2. Phillies over Giants 3-0. Cardinals over Phillies 4-3.

WORLD SERIES PREDICTION: Twins over Cardinals 4-1.

Podcast

2010-03-31T21:53:00.002-04:00

Join me and Fanatic Jack on our weekly podcast tonight! 9PM CST/10PM EST, check it out!

Gardy's Correspondence

2010-03-30T00:01:00.000-04:00

I just got back from the only dry county that I've ever been to -- and that I'll ever go to -- and when I arrived home I found a nice stack of mail waiting for me. After culling through the usual bills, store coupons, and letters from secret admirers, I found an interesting piece of correspondence that I think was somehow delivered to the incorrect address... I feel kind of wrong about sharing this with everyone, I know opening someone else's mail is a federal offense, but as Twins fans it's kind of hard not acknowledge this:

To:

Bill Smith

Target Field

550 3rd Ave North

Minneapolis, MN 55403

From:

Ron Gardenhire

Hammond Stadium

14100 6 Mile Cypress Parkway

Fort Myers, FL 33912

Dearest Bill,

I'm writing to you today in part out of consternation over the lack of a closer and in part out of justification in my choice of Alexi Casilla for our final bench spot.

I know the decision with Alexi was as tough on you as it was on me. Jacque is quite beloved in our clubhouse, and in my heart, and I'm sure it would have added to the joy of Target Field to come north with us. But really, we have no room on our roster for a slick-fielding outfielder and I think we all know the hopes we have for Delmon. It pains me to say, but perhaps Jacque just wasn't the right fit for us at the moment.

Alexi and I have had our differences in the past, and I'm sure we will in the future, any meaningful relationship always does. But I don't want to let you down in this regard. I know we've parted ways with some great infield prospects over time,

Abernathy, Brent

Rodriguez, Luis

Rivas, Luis

and we don't want to make the same mistake again. I've already learned from my connections around the league that the Kansas City Royals didn't think that they had enough light-hitting middle infielders, and there were rumors that the Yankees themselves were waiting to shove off that under-performer Derek Jeter so that they could try to steal Alexi off of waivers. In truth, 29 clubs around the MLB would be clamoring for his services if he hit the waiver wire. I know, I know, he's never lived up to expectations and this spring is representative of his entire career, but they all keep mentioning that fabulous 2008 year and I don't think we can make them believe it was simply an aberration.

If we lost Alexi on waivers, it would really come back to haunt us. Name one person from our minors who could come up and hit .240 off the bench while providing shaky defense and maybe I'll reconsider my position.

Besides, my faith in Alexi will either be proven right and we'll look like geniuses, or else he will fall on his face again and your hand will be forced to rely on Tolbert or someone else

Gardenhire, Toby

to fill his place on our bench. I think we are in agreement on this issue, so I'll spare my words and move on.

This is the hardest thing for me to write, and it really pains me to say, but I'd like you to sell our farm for a closer. I know, I know, there's no sense in being rash, but I've thought about this for the good two weeks that it's really been an issue, and I just have no faith in our bullpen or the depth in our system to fill the void at the back end of our bullpen. Perhaps I betrayed my position too quickly in saying "closer by committee". I know those are words you probably didn't want to hear from my voice and it pains me for you to see it from the Star Tribune first.

I can understand that these "prospects" have "potential". Ben Revere is fast and scrappy and plays great defense. Wilson Ramos has been popular for quite some time. But please, try to look at it from my perspective: they'll never see time on my team as long as I have established players ahead of them, so why not give them away in desperation for someone who might or might not be able to help us out in the short term?

Of course my preferences would be for Trevor Hoffman and Billy Wagner so that I wouldn't be the only person in the clubhouse chatting about grandchildren and hemorrhoids, but even one of those younger guys like a Heath Bell or anyone from Toronto would satisfy my need for even more activity this offseason.

I know what you'll say, of course, that Matt Guerrier deserves a chance or that Jon Rauch has experience or that Jesse Crain and Pat Neshek were supposed to be closers of the future, but let's face it, those are just words. Perhaps, instead of Jacque, we could bring back the familiar faces of Fast Eddie or The Hawk to be a closer and fulfill your desire for a little bit of nostalgia this year? I hear Jeff Reardon is even planning a comeback.

In short, there's no sense looking forward when we can always look back.

I hope you understand my position on this matter. I'd hate to resort to using Francisco as a closer just to prove my point.

Yours in All Sincerity,

Ronald Clyde Gardenhire

"Twins Bloggers: Get to Know 'Em" presents Adam from The Bat Shatters

2010-03-26T00:01:00.000-04:00

I'm off to Arkansas on an EARLY EARLY flight, so instead of my long-winded ramblings I'm going to leave you with a special treat: another special Get to Know 'Em from another member of our blogosphere!

The Bat Shatters is a blog I just recently discovered, and I'm glad I did. The blog (by several contributors) describes itself as two Twins fans and a Yankees fan -- and I was impressed right away that they can even get along! Besides well-thought out posts on our hometown team, they do one of the best jobs I've seen of any Twins blog in keeping up with all the other clubs around baseball -- not just Twins and Yankees fans, but well-rounded fans in general. So it's my pleasure to introduce Adam, 1/3 of one of the best Twins blogs out there:

Personal-

NAME: Adam (AK47)

WEBSITE: http://thebatshatters.blogspot.com

BIRTHDAY: 10/28/1983

HOMETOWN: Brooklyn Park, MN

WHAT KEEPS YOU EMPLOYED OTHER THAN BLOGGING: I'm a recruiter working in the engineering industry

FAVORITE COLOR: Blue

FAVORITE FOOD: A steak or anything Italian

FAVORITE MOVIE: Crash

FAVORITE BOOK: The Lone Survivor - Marcus Luttrell

FAVORITE TYPE OF MUSIC: Metal, Rock, Classic Rock

FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH OTHER THAN BASEBALL: Football

FAVORITE SPORT TO PLAY: Racquetball

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE VIKINGS/TIMBERWOLVES/WILD: I am a diehard Vikings fan, I was crushed when they lost to the Saints and I hate to say it, but I'm hopeful that Favre comes back for one more year, I think they can do it. As far as the Timberwolves go, they lost my interest when they traded KG. I know they had to do it, but he was the team. They have been so terrible since then, I haven't missed following them, nor am I much of a basketball fan in general. The Wild? I like them, I liked Lemaire, I liked Gaborik, but they just didn't seem to be able to put it together completely, now I feel they're doomed to a few years of no identity. I'm not a huge hockey fan either.

General Baseball-

WHAT MAKES BASEBALL SO GREAT TO YOU: To me, baseball is different than the other major sports in that it is endlessly interesting from a statistical perspective. When I watch football, I love the action, I love the big plays, I love the big hits, but that's pretty much it, the entertainment ends when the game does. With baseball, there are a million stats (almost literally) to play around with, and there is also a very deep history to look back on. Another reason I like baseball, and this may sound odd, is because it's one of the few sports in which you get a good look at the player's faces, mid-game. In football, the players wear helmets, in hockey the same, you can see the faces in basketball, but the players themselves are moving around alot. In baseball, especially if you go to the game, you can sit there with a pair of binoculars and watch the players faces and body language. I mean who doesn't remember the look on Puckett's face as he rounded the bases in Game 6 of the '91 series? It's something that makes baseball unique to me.

IF YOU HAD TO FOLLOW ANOTHER TEAM, WHICH AND WHY: Wow. That's a tough one. I would say the Cubs, just because I live here in Chicago now.

BEST EXPERIENCE AT A BALLPARK OTHER THAN THE DOME: I've been to Wrigley several times, it truly is a great ballpark. For me, I sit there and think about all the great players who have played on that exact field. If you go I recommend sitting in the bleachers in the outfield, it's a good time for sure.

OPINION ON INTERLEAGUE PLAY: I like it, especially since the Twins dominate.

OPINION ON THE UNBALANCED SCHEDULE: I guess I don't care one way or another, I think lots of division games adds intrigue, as evidenced by the last two AL Central races coming down to an extra game.

FAVORITE NON-TWINS PLAYER IN BASEBALL HISTORY: I think Ken Griffey Jr. is my favorite non-Twins player. I saw him hit a HR at the Dome once as a kid when he was still with the Mariners (the first time). The swing is beautiful and really, if it's true he didn't take steroids, he's one of the greats of all-time.

MOST HATED NON-TWINS PLAYER IN BASEBALL HISTORY: I hate A.J. Pierzynski, I know he used to be a Twin, but I've hated him ever since. I also strongly dislike Nick Swisher.

DID YOU EVER PLAY BASEBALL/SOFTBALL, WHAT POSITION: I played when I was a kid, Center Field and 3rd base. Hit one HR in my career, a grand-slam, other than that, I don't think I was very good.

Twins Generic-

WHEN DID YOU BECOME A TWINS FAN AND WHY: We're actually gonna be doing a couple of pieces on this in the near future on our blog. To answer simply, I was 11 years old when I started listening to/watching every game.

BEST EXPERIENCE AT THE DOME: It was a number of years ago now, but I saw Johan Santana pitch against the Rangers, strike out 11 and the Twins won 14-6. We were sitting in that section down the 3rd base line out in right field that actually points in the right direction...

EVER BEEN TO TWINS FEST, HOW WAS IT: Never been, would love to go.

EVER BEEN TO SPRING TRAINING, HOW WAS IT: Again, I'd love to go, but never been.

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN CIRCLED BY BERT: No.

HAVE YOU EVER CAUGHT A FOUL BALL OR HOME RUN BULL AT THE DOME: I wish, but no.

Twins Player Specific-

FAVORITE TWINS PLAYER IN HISTORY: It will always be Kirby Puckett.

FAVORITE CURRENT TWINS PLAYER: Joe Mauer

FAVORITE OBSCURE TWINS PLAYER: I throw my vote in for Chip Hale, pinch-hitter extrordinaire.

ARE THERE (WERE THERE) ANY TWINS PLAYERS YOU DISLIKE: I dislike that Gardy continues to throw Punto in there, but as far as personalities go, no.

FAVORITE EXPERIENCE MEETING A PLAYER, PLEASE DESCRIBE: Pat Neshek went to my high-school, and a few months ago he did an e-interview for us which was pretty sweet, I don't think I've ever met any Twins players in person though.

CURRENT PLAYER YOU'D MOST LIKE TO WATCH A GAME WITH: Everyone probably says this but, Joe Mauer. I'd love to know what pitches he would call, what he sees from a batter's perspective and just learn some of the nuances of the game that I never would have thought of.

CURRENT PLAYER YOU'D MOST LIKE TO GO TO A BAR WITH: Thome, he used to go to the same gym as my boss, according to my boss he's a super nice guy in person (which you'd expect), just seems like he'd be a cool guy to hang out with.

YOU'D MOST LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH: Pat Neshek, we'd have a lot to talk about, and he likes baseball cards too.

YOU'D WANT TO BE THE FRONT MAN OF YOUR NEW BAND: I wish Gomez was still a Twin because I'd use him for his energy, but in lieu of him I'll say Joe Mauer because he can sing and I cannot.

YOU THINK SHOULD BE A MOVIE STAR: Hardy's definitely got the looks...

YOU'D ASK FOR HELP ON A SCIENCE LAB: Don't all the pitchers, save for Liriano, in the rotation seem nerdy? I think I'd choose any of them.

EXPECTATIONS OF TARGET FIELD: I've actually seen Target Field and let me say, it's beautiful. My expectations are high, I'm a little bummed that Hormel decided to back out, meaning there will be no more Dome Dogs, but the food lineup looks great, outdoor baseball is as good as it gets and I'm excited to see what kinds of traditions develop over the first few seasons. I really can't get over how beautiful the stadium is and I absolutely can't wait to see a game there. I will say however, why didn't they put a retractable roof on it??

EXPECTATIONS FOR THE TEAM NEXT YEAR:

1.) At the very least, I expect the Twins to compete for the division title.

2.) I expect there will be a certain adjustment period to the new stadium for some of the players who have been with the club for the last few years getting used to the lighting, etc which is likely to reduce "home-field advantage" for the first few months

3.) One thing I have perhaps foolishly come to expect is that Liriano is going to look a little more like the Liriano of 2006. I'm not going all the way and saying we have the next Johan on our hands, but I at least expect that every 5 days he puts forth a solid effort.

4.) I expect that the Twins will struggle with the closer spot unless the go out and make a move to bring someone in, none of the three in-house options are very good (Rauch, Mijares, Guerrier) and a committee situation would be a bad choice.

5.) The last thing I expect is that the Twins start building towards a real chance to contend for a World Series title. Of course I'd be more than happy if they did it this year, but I'm saying at least winning a playoff series, etc. They are really moving into a unique period this year and next where a bunch of their players, particularly the pitchers, are moving into their prime (Baker, Blackburn, Liriano) and this, I feel, is the reopening of the window where they have a legit shot to win it all.

-----

A huge thanks to Adam over at The Bat Shatters for taking the time to fill this out! Be sure to head over to his site and check it out, it's certainly worth bookmarking!

Fantasy Draft

2010-03-24T23:00:00.000-04:00

First off, be sure to check out Jack Steal's and my podcast from last night, we were joined by none other than Seth Stohs and John Bonnes and had a great discussion!

Now, I'm going to follow suit from a couple of the other members in our Twins Blogger Fantasy Baseball League or "Twoggers" League (thanks for the nice nickname Eric), and post my thoughts from during our draft this past weekend:

Round 1, Pick 6: Chase Utley, 2B PHI -- I'm shocked Utley fell to me, but I was hoping I could grab a premium position player deserving of a first round pick. After watching Joe Mauer go 1st overall (duh) ---

Round 2, Pick 19: Mark Texeira, 1B NYY -- Again, very happy. But I think pitching is going to be at a premium here and I've got two strong bats with my first two picks. Thrylos grabbed SLOWEY 7th overall and just followed it up with Liriano. I sense a trend there. Halladay and Lincecum are also gone but I wasn't ready to take Felix Hernandez yet... I might kick myself for that later...

Round 3, Pick 30: Kevin Youkilis, 3B BOS -- I had Youk (and Tex) last year and they were great for me. But I feel a little weird cornering the market on first basemen right now. At least Youk has the position flexibility to play 3rd which I intend to utilize. But now I've seen Greinke and CC and Felix Hernandez go, ugh.

Round 4, Pick 43: Victor Martinez, C BOS -- I admit, I wasn't thinking that I already had a Boston player. I could've taken Santana here and gone pitching, but Emily Jipp just screwed me by taking Brian McCann who I really wanted and I think I caved and grabbed a catcher. He can also double as 1B. That's three 1B...

Round 5, Pick 54: Adam Lind, LF TOR -- I love Adam Lind so this was too hardto pass up. And Josh Johnson and Louie each just took the two pitchers I was looking at (Johnson and Gallardo). If I wait, a decent pitcher will fall to me at the right time.

Round 6, Pick 67: Mariano Rivera, RP NYY -- Emily saved me by taking Zobrist before I could. It forced me to grab pitching and I'm the first to take a closer. A rock of a closer. This is a good step.

Round 7, Pick 78: Ricky Nolasco, SP FLA -- Another pitcher, and one with lots of upside. We're doing a keeper league so I think that's a huge plus if he has a great year. Cole Hamels is still far enough down on the list and I've got my eye on him for my next grab.

Round 8, Pick 91: Wandy Rodriguez, SP HOU -- So Hamels is gone, thanks Emily. Eric grabs Kershaw and Eric Olson grabs Baker. I'm worried Emily is going to grab Wandy before I can but she takes Ubaldo Jimenez and I manage to steal Wandy and I'm happy as a clam. I also find out after this pick that this is not a keeper league.

Round 9, Pick 102: Hunter Pence, RF HOU -- I love Hunter Pence, don't care if it's not a keeper league. I'm also pretty thin on the outfield right now but my infield is almost built. I want to be well-rounded and Pence is the best available in my mind. Best available will be my motto from here on out, no worries about position I've got a solid core.

Round 10, Pick 115: Francisco Cordero, RP CIN -- I now have two dominant closers and I think I'll lead the Saves category pretty nicely. Wondering how I'm going to fill out my SS conundrum...

Round 11, Pick 126: Matt Garza, SP TB -- I had Garza last year and he was solid. I figure he can only get better, I'm surprised he's still around this far down.

Round 12, Pick 139: Julio Borbon, LF TEX -- Eric Johnson just grabbed Manny Ramirez and then Rich Harden, two pretty good picks this far along in the draft, great value. I love Borbon's speed and I think the Rangers will be great this year and he'll got on base plenty. Rolling the dice a little.

Round 13, Pick 150: Jered Weaver, SP LAA -- Another holdover from last year. This draft is surprisingly deep in upside pitching. I don't mind so much that I waited so long to grab pitchers.

Round 14, Pick 163: J.A. Happ, SP PHI -- I'm looking for Jason Heyward and realize Josh Johnson already stole him. Dang. I still manage to steal Happ who I love. All my pitchers are young (except Rivera) but that's fine by me!

Round 15, Pick 174: James Loney, 1B LAD -- Haha, I have so many people who can play 1B. But at least I have something to deal from if I ever need.

Round 16, Pick 187: Maicer Izturis, 2B/SS LAA -- I really needed to do something about SS dilemma, and Izturis isn't bad at this point. I might have waited too long but I wouldn't have sacrificed any of my other picks. I was hoping for JJ Hardy so I could have a Twin but Eric Olson just took him. Argh.

Round 17, Pick 198: Ryan Ludwick, RF STL -- Wow, my outfield's a little thin so I had to take an OF. Ludwick is pretty good for a 4th OF and he's on a great team so that's a plus. Of course Louie just took Martin Prado right before me and that's who I really wanted. Ugh.

Round 18: Pick 211: Mike Napoli, C LAA -- I need a backup catcher and Napoli isn't bad for that role. Hopefully he doesn't have to see much playing time on my roster. Andrew Kneeland took Frank Francisco before I could get to him because what I really wanted was another reliever. I'll fight another day though...

Round 19: Pick 222: Scott Feldman, SP TEX -- Feldman looked great last year and at this point I'm just hoping to catch some lightning in a bottle in the low rounds. If nothing else I think he can be league average and he's got a very solid team around him. Everyone's darlings seem to be Seattle but I think Texas has the make-up to take the West finally. I kind of had my eye on Orlando Hudson and Brandon Lyon but they were both just taken off the board consecutively by K-Bro and Brian Pietrzak.

Round 20: Pick 235: Colby Rasmus, CF STL -- Man, I just took another St. Louis outfielder without thinking. I might need to rethink that pick. I was a little shaken when Emily AGAIN my pick (Corey Hart), and then Thrylos followed that up right away by taking my backup (Joba Chamberlain). Really I was just grasping at straws here.

Round 21: Pick 246: Scott Downs, RP TOR -- So I really want another reliever and Toronto's guys always seem solid. Not much else in my mind on this pick.

Round 22: Pick 259: Marlon Byrd, CF CHI -- This is mainly about rectifying my Rasmus pick. Byrd isn't bad. There really weren't many pitching options out there -- Shawn Berg just took Brad Lidge and Erik Bedard and Eric Olson followed that up right away with Carlos Zambrano, so I'm looking away from pitching at the moment.

Round 23: Pick 270: Jhonny Peralta, SS CLE -- I feel kind of dirty taking him but there really aren't many good backup infielders left out there and K-Bro took Brett Gardner who I was kind of hoping would last until this pick.

Round 24: Pick 283: Alberto Callaspo, 2B KC -- Not on a great team and they have a glut at middle infield right now but I picked him up last year when Aviles went down for me and I didn't regret it one bit.

Round 25: Pick 294: Pat Neshek, RP MIN -- I kept getting all my favorite Twins players stolen from me and I NEEDED someone from my favorite team on my roster. So, it ended up being Pat! I'm hoping he grabs the closer role at some point and I have a steal. It was either Neshek or Slama with this pick and I just think Neshek had a better chance at making the team and getting an opportunity as closer more quickly. Hoping his arm holds up!

-----

Be sure to check out the blogs from the people in my league, great reads and they're going to be sure to provide stiff competition as they've all got some nicely built rosters!

Andrew Kneeland: Twins Target

Brian Pietrzak: BP's Baseball Blog

Emily Jipp: Chatter From the Cheap Seats

Eric Johnson: Undomed

Eric Olson: Call to the 'Pen

Erin M: Picked Off At First

Josh Johnson: Josh's Thoughts

Kirsten Brown: K-Bro's Baseball Blog

Louie Schuth: Hitting the Eephus

Shawn Berg: On the Road With...

Thrylos98: The Tenth Inning Stretch

Check out our Podcast!

2010-03-24T21:29:00.002-04:00

Tonight I'm joining Fanatic Jack, John Bonnes the Twins Geek, and Seth Stohs for a special Twins Talk podcast at 9PM CST/10PM EST, be sure to check it out!

What About Wilson?

2010-03-22T22:00:00.000-04:00

In all this hoopla about locking up Joe Mauer (and believe me, it's deserved and I'm involved), I can only help but stop and wonder what Wilson Ramos's reaction to this is. He knew this was coming, he had to -- but if one of our top overall prospects is a catcher on the cusp of being ready for the majors, where does that leave us now?

Ok, that's a real picture of him.

Regardless of what we end up doing with him, Ramos has proven that he's for real and that he deserves to play and not just be buried on a depth chart. He could likely be a starting catcher on almost any other major league team; the talent is just that thin out there (I just did a fantasy baseball draft, and believe me, the pickings are slim), and from all we've seen in his minor league numbers, the Winter League, and this spring, he's ready for a real challenge -- he doesn't need seasoning at AAA, maybe it would be useful but it's more about keeping his service clock from starting.

I've been advocating for him to be the backup to Joe, and while Seth Stohs obviously disagrees with me -- and we've discussed this once or twice on podcasts and disagreed as well -- we can't just shove him under a rug in AAA forever. You can already tell everyone else is asking this question because Joel Sherman of the New York Post is already sniffing it out. Ramos is going to be in the majors one way or another and the real question is if it's with us.

RAMOS AS TRADE BAIT

This is the first idea that naturally comes to mind. A top prospect at a premium position essentially ready for the majors, good with the bat and the glove. We could obviously get a closer for him to address our hole there, but that would probably be shortsighted -- why not reach higher? If he's dangled on a string just think of the suitors that come calling: Mets, Phillies, Blue Jays, Rays, Astros, A's, Mariners, I could keep going. Think about culling through their rosters or prospects and picking a pupu platter you like most.

I know what I'm getting for lunch.

But unless the incredible happens and the market for stud catchers suddenly dries up (not going to happen), these people will still be lining up at our door during the season and next offseason, so there's really no rush to be foolish and trade him away.

What if Mauer goes down with a serious injury and we're forced to rely on a platoon of Morales/Butera for the forseeable future? Or, what if instead of a serious injury Mauer just keeps getting hampered by small injuries that indicate he really needs to move out from the behind the plate soon? Having Ramos in your back pocket is essential. And if none of this happens and the right offer/need comes along, you can deal.

RAMOS STAYS A TWIN

But how? There's really only three ways that would work:

1. Ramos learns a new position. That's the obvious first alternative. You want a bat like his in the lineup every day so no way is he just a bench player. But where does he go? Corner outfield is a lot of ground for a catcher to cover and we've got plenty of outfield prospects that will bring up this conundrum once again in the next couple years. 3B? You need to be a cat over there and while he might have some quick reflexes from behind the plate, he probably doesn't have the side-to-side movement necessary for the position. Most people who have decent scooping abilities but aren't that agile would find themselves at 1B (see Sweeney, Mike; Giambi, Jason; and Thome, Jim for instance). But if there's a second position on this roster we've got someone fixed at it's 1B. This only presents itself as an option if Morneau gets traded or we don't re-up with him several years down the line. DH is the only alternative, but then you waste a great glove by not letting him see the field.

Look at those mad fielding skills!

2. Ramos is a bench bat. What a waste. Talent like this needs to play everyday. True he's there as a threat late in the game and when he spells Mauer our offense will still be quite potent, but enslaving him as a backup catcher is a complete last resort. He'd be more valuable being traded and bringing us useful everyday pieces that contribute in 162 games rather than 50.

3. Ramos and Mauer are both the everyday catcher. When your two best players are catchers, why not let them both catch "everyday". Especially when your concern over handing out a huge 8 year contract to Mauer is primarily hinged on the fact that he might get injured from the wear-and-tear from catching every day. Instead of having a back-up catcher, you can have two starting catchers and rotate them out frequently enough that they each catch only around 80 games a year, and whoever doesn't catch can DH. This is my pet option. It utilizes the fact that both of them have plus gloves, plus arms, and plus bats and also increases the longevity of both of their careers without necessarily limiting plate appearances. Just because this isn't a traditional roster recipe doesn't mean it won't work. Kubel will quickly become too expensive for us, and having two everyday fielders rotate the DH spot while the other plays behind the plate solves the DH hole (it's what the Angels tried to do with Hunter, Matthews Jr., Guerrero, and Rivera).

Your thoughts? (Or are you still just thinking about Joe?)

"Twins Bloggers: Get to Know 'Em" presents Cheap Seat Chronicles

2010-03-19T00:01:00.000-04:00

As promised, occasionally I'll post more Get to Know 'Ems throughout the year to highlight some of the many great blogs out there that I didn't profile this offseason. Today is the first such installment!

I actually discovered Jeremiah's blog, Cheap Seat Chronicles, in the Milwaukee airport when I was playing around with my new blackberry and as soon as I arrived at my destination I plugged in my laptop and bookmarked it. Not only is he a fellow Midwestern expat stuck out on the eastern seaboard in one of the two most annoying MLB markets to live in, but he still finds a way to write one of the best Twins blogs I've ever read despite being 2000 miles away from the team he discusses. That's ingenuity:

Personal-

NAME: Jeremiah Graves

WEBSITE: http://www.cheapseatchronicles.com

BIRTHDAY: December 5, 1983

HOMETOWN: Hartley, Iowa. Currently living in Boston, MA.

WHAT KEEPS YOU EMPLOYED OTHER THAN BLOGGING: I work in the Science and Engineering Libraries at the Massachussetts Institute of Technology

FAVORITE COLOR: Red

FAVORITE FOOD: Bacon Cheeseburgers

FAVORITE MOVIE: tie between "Field of Dreams" and "Bull Durham"

FAVORITE BOOK: Animal Farm by George Orwell

FAVORITE TYPE OF MUSIC: Country

FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH OTHER THAN BASEBALL: Professional Football

FAVORITE SPORT TO PLAY: Baseball, although I will settle for slow-pitch softball. At this point, my knees and back actually prefer it...

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE VIKINGS/TIMBERWOLVES/WILD: I love Brett Favre -- always have, always will -- so I guess I was a Vikings fan by default last season. If he comes back next year, count me in for another go'round. As far as the T'Wolves and Wild, I couldn't care less if I tried.

General Baseball-

WHAT MAKES BASEBALL SO GREAT TO YOU: The history and nostalgia of it all. The cold, tingly feeling you get on Opening Day. Ken Burns' "Baseball" series. Joe Mauer. Dome Dogs. Afternoons in the sunshine. Pennant races. $10 bleacher seats. $8 beers. The pop of a good fastball in the mitt. The suicide squeeze. Chase Utley. Headfirst slides. Vin Scully's voice. The memories. The bar talk. The debates. The stats. Cooperstown, New York.

IF YOU HAD TO FOLLOW ANOTHER TEAM, WHICH AND WHY: I suppose it'd be pretty easy to transition into life as a Red Sox fan now that I live in Boston. The problem is that Red Sox fans, like most east coast fans I've met are just too damn stuck up and un-educated about the game beyond the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry. If the Twins were to disappear and I had to wake up tomorrow and pick a new team, I'd go with either the Washington Nationals -- because I think they're going to get real good in a few years and it'd be fun to be on board for all of that, plus they have a gorgeous new stadium -- or a different Midwestern team to represent. I dig the Brewers and the Royals still have the most beautiful stadium I've ever seen, so either of those two could win my love. The White Sox and Cubs, however, still stand no chance.

BEST EXPERIENCE AT A BALLPARK OTHER THAN THE DOME: I'd say I've got two, both at Fenway. The first was in September of 2007 when my dad -- the reason I'm the huge baseball fan I am -- came to visit and I got to take him to a Yankees/Red Sox game that was Clemens vs Schilling. It was an amazing game and I'll never forget it.

The other would be Jon Lester's no-hitter against the Kansas City Royals in May of 2008. That was simply awesome. Making it even more special is that I will forever be on the highlight tapes of that game as I was sitting in the centerfield bleachers when Jacoby Ellsbury made the game's biggest play. I'm the pleasant looking gentleman in a Twins cap, in case you were wondering.

OPINION ON INTERLEAGUE PLAY: I was completely against it initially, but at this point I've come to accept it and deal with it. Plus it gives fans a chance to see teams they normally wouldn't be exposed to, so that's pretty cool. Additionally, the Twins tend to roll-over the NL, so that's a plus.

OPINION ON THE UNBALANCED SCHEDULE: Again, I've more or less come to deal with it. Living in Boston it annoys me that the Twins only come out this way once a year. I think in the end it's a better way to determine the division winners, so I'm cool with it.

FAVORITE NON-TWINS PLAYER IN BASEBALL HISTORY: Willie Mays

MOST HATED NON-TWINS PLAYER IN BASEBALL HISTORY: Jose Canseco in a landslide.

DID YOU EVER PLAY BASEBALL/SOFTBALL, WHAT POSITION: I played baseball up into college and was primarily an outfielder. I play slow-pitch softball nowadays and I pretty much play all over the diamond. I prefer outfield, because I love the feeling of tracking down a flyball and there is nothing I love more than nailing a runner at one of the bases with a rocket from deep center field.

Twins Generic-

WHEN DID YOU BECOME A TWINS FAN AND WHY: I grew up -- brace yourselves -- as a Yankees fan. My dad, who was born and raised in northwest Iowa, is obsessed with New York sports, so growing up I was too. When I got to high school and college I started to grow fond of the Twins and by the time I hit my sophomore year of college I was a complete convert and I've since become the biggest Twins fan that I know.

BEST EXPERIENCE AT THE DOME: I'd say my best experience at the Dome was a walk-off win over the Yankees back in the spring of 2006. The Yankees appeared to have the game won, but the Twinkies battled back and eventually used a broken bat single off of Mariano Rivera in the bottom of the ninth to win the game. Awesome stuff.

EVER BEEN TO TWINS FEST, HOW WAS IT: I haven't, which is unfortunate, I couldn't ever get anyone to go with me when I was going to Minnesota State and now that I live in Boston, I can't afford to fly back for it.

EVER BEEN TO SPRING TRAINING, HOW WAS IT: I haven't but it is definitely one of my goals. I'd love to try and head down there for a week or so next year, but money is always a little tight, hopefully I can swing it next year.

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN CIRCLED BY BERT: Maybe. My first game at Fenway was a Twins/Red Sox game and I brought the sign and someone from back home said they saw me, but couldn't remember if I was circled or not and no one I know taped the game. As such, it remains a mystery.

HAVE YOU EVER CAUGHT A FOUL BALL OR HOME RUN BALL AT THE DOME: I've had pretty solid luck with this. I've gotten a foul ball and I've had balls tossed to me a few times as well from guys in the bullpen.

Twins Player Specific-

FAVORITE TWINS PLAYER IN HISTORY: I loved the way Torii Hunter played the outfield and I thought he was always a consummate professional, so he gets the nod, barely beating out Johan Santana.

FAVORITE CURRENT TWINS PLAYER: I'd have to say either Mauer or Morneau. I like what JJ Hardy brings to the table and I've got no doubt I'll be worshipping at his altar by season's end. I'm also still really high on Delmon Young, I might be the only one left on his bandwagon, but I'll keep chuggin' along.

FAVORITE OBSCURE TWINS PLAYER: Lew Ford, no doubt about it...

ARE THERE (WERE THERE) ANY TWINS PLAYERS YOU DISLIKE: I don't like Brendan Harris. Nothing personal, I just don't think he's any good. He's got no range. He can't hit for power or average. Yet somehow he just landed a two-year deal?! I don't get it. Couldn't we have released him and signed Felipe Lopez for that money?!

FAVORITE EXPERIENCE MEETING A PLAYER, PLEASE DESCRIBE: Back when Matt LeCroy was with the team he and I chit-chatted about places to eat in Mankato, Minnesota. I found out he was a huge fan of Perkins. It was a lot of fun talking with him.

Michael Cuddyer lied to me that same year and told me to pick him up in fantasy baseball because he was going to have a big year and steal some bags. That was 2005. I think we all know how that turned out.

CURRENT PLAYER YOU'D MOST LIKE TO WATCH A GAME WITH: Joe Mauer, it'd be intriguing to see how he approaches the game from a fan's point of view.

YOU'D MOST LIKE TO GO TO A BAR WITH: JJ Hardy, that dude would bring in all the chicks. Plus he looks like a fun guy to chill with...

YOU'D MOST LIKE TO BE STRANDED ON AN ISLAND WITH: Hmmmm...I guess Jim Thome, that dude is country strong and could probably kill us plenty of wild animals for survival.

YOU'D MOST LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH: Orlando Hudson, that dude loves soul food and I think he'd know some kickin' places to get our grub-on.

YOU'D WANT TO BE THE FRONT MAN OF YOUR NEW BAND: I've heard that Mauer sings, so he'd be the obvious choice, but I'm going to go with Jon Rauch, because it'd give my band instant credibility.

YOU THINK SHOULD BE A MOVIE STAR: Denard Span. That dude is walking charisma.

YOU'D ASK FOR HELP ON A SCIENCE LAB: Joe Nathan, the dude is cool under pressure and if there's any place I want a dude to be really chill, it's in a freakin' science lab.

YOU'D LIKE TO START A BUSINESS WITH: Justin Morneau, he's Canadian and we could setup the company across the border so that we wouldn't have to play for healthcare for our employees. It's just good planning!

EXPECTATIONS OF TARGET FIELD: I think it's going to be gorgeous, but I think the Twins are going to find they miss the home field advantage (and consistent temperatures) of the Metrodome. Losing the 10th man atmosphere and the baggy and the dome and all that will definitely take away from the home field advantage that has been so big for the Twins for so many years, but I think the positives of opening a gorgeous new facility clearly out-weigh any nominal advantages.

EXPECTATIONS FOR THE TEAM NEXT YEAR: The team is built for a playoff run and if the pitching can live up to expectations, a deep playoff run. The AL Central isn't as open and shut as everyone wants us to believe. The Tigers and White Sox are still solid teams and could give us a run for the pennant. In the end, I see the Twins taking the AL Central and possibly making a legit World Series run. Lots of things need to go right before October for that to happen, so I guess we'll see in about eight months.

-----

A huge thanks to Jeremiah over at the Cheap Seat Chronicles! Be sure to check out my fellow expat and add him to your daily reads, it's well worth it!

Stupid Joe Mauer

2010-03-15T19:00:00.001-04:00

Dear Joe Mauer,

I hate you. Really. This is taking way too long. I bet Mr. Smith and Mr. Pohlad agree with me (Mr. Shapiro doesn't want to comment).

I wanted to think that you loved us too, that we'd start negotiations and show you how much we loved you by bringing in all your friends to help you get that World Series trophy and then waving a bunch of cash in front of your face the likes of which could feed and house all the unemployed and homeless in Minnesota for years and years.

But that wasn't good enough for you. You continue to flirt with us and tease us but never let us take you out to dinner.

Was it Nick Punto Day? Did our focus on him upset you? Because really, he means nothing to us, it was just one day. One day. And we spend 364 other days of the year focusing on you. Most people would be happy with that. Or maybe, maybe we focus too much on you. Is that it? Are we too needy, too clingy, too co-dependent on each other? Because we'll be better, really! We'll let you eat your lunch and go to your favorite barber shop in peace (and maybe just ask for one autograph instead of a bunch of them).

But we can still photostalk you right?

Seriously though, the longer this takes the more it hurts me. I'd just like to know if you feel the same or not. I'm not used to losing sleep over men, it's just not in my chemistry. This has to stop.

And while we're at it, why do you have to go promoting MLB '10 the Show. When I see you on the cover and when I see you in those commercials, I want to buy it. But I don't have a PS3, I only have access to my roommate's silly XBox 360. And all they have is MLB2K10 with Evan Longoria on the front, and who wants that? What, you couldn't be on both covers? Or you just want to punish me for not having a PS3. All I can think about is those lucky people with Sony boxes who get to spend more time with you than I do.

You even care more about the Wii than my Xbox! Agh!

Ok, I know you don't care. And my writing this letter probably only makes things worse. So let's just pretend we never had this talk, I just needed to vent to you and didn't have a diary because I'm not a 10-year-old girl (despite what this letter might lead you to believe). It just is reassuring knowing you heard me and that maybe, maybe, you might care enough to listen and just SIGN THE DAMN CONTRACT ALREADY! What's the frickin' hold-up, you want hot and cold milk taps in the clubhouse like you've got in your frickin' cabin you've never invited me to?!?!

Alright, enough. I'm not really angry. Just anxious.

Always,

P.S. And I met this awesome guy named Wilson and he speaks Spanish and he doesn't make me feel bad about myself! So I'm sooooo over you.

246?

2010-03-12T00:00:00.000-05:00

It's taken me awhile to get everything together since coming back to New York and catching up on all the work that didn't go away while I was gone (sadly ... it never does). Unfortunately while I was too busy getting my life straightened away to focus on blogging, some very meaty topics have arisen:

1. Joe Mauer apparently turned down an initial offer from the Twins and the two sides are still far apart. I don't want to speculate on this too much, there's always a lot of back-and-forth in contracts and we'll see what happens, I don't think Smith and Pohlad are going to just throw in the towel and trade him away in exasperation. A deal will happen, I have to believe that.

2. Nick Blackburn just got guaranteed about $14 million dollars over 4 years. Good for him. Not necessarily the smartest move by the team, IMHO but I don't think it's awful. Just doesn't make a whole lot of business sense. I don't think that through arbitration he would make more than that, so we're basically just guaranteeing his price for the next four years (even if an injury were to occur). Still $14 million for four years of a reliable everyday type of pitcher is nothing to groan about.

3. And this is the real meat of the post: Joe Nathan's "significant" UCL tear. I knew in my gut that something bad happened when I was at City of Palms watching him pitch, he couldn't get the ball over the plate and eventually was pulled. I still kept hoping for the best, but alas, barring a miracle he will be out for this year and more than likely next year as well.

Besides losing our best reliever (and, arguably the best reliever in the American League), this has to be a horrible personal loss to Nathan himself and to the franchise for what this year would have meant for him. Nathan's career saves as a Twin stands at 246 -- a meager 8 saves shy of the team record set by Rick Aguilera. Which means if this hadn't happened, we probably would have been crowning a new Twins record holder by the end of April or beginning of May.

I'll make no secret that Aguilera is hands down my favorite baseball player ever, I grew up as a pitcher, fancied myself a closer, and so Aguilera was my hero. More than anything I want him to be enshrined forever in the Twins record books, but by this point I had come to terms with the fact that Nathan was going to be the face of Twins closers from here on out. It was inconceivable that he wouldn't be. Now, in my mind Aguilera's record will still stand for many more years.

I just don't see Nathan coming back from this if he has Tommy John surgery. Nathan is 35 years old and has already more than likely been on the decline of his career (though that decline would have been slow and steady and likely taken him through the end of his 4 year deal). We will be eating salary for 2010 and more than likely 2011 as well, and there's no telling what he'll be like pitching in 2012 when he starts the season at 37 years old coming off two years away from the game recovering from an arm injury.

The Twins will need to find an answer for the closer's role if they hope to compete, and these next three years would have been spent looking for Nathan's successor even if he hadn't had this injury; it's only speeding up the process for the team. When Nathan gets back in 2012 most likely, chances are we will have a new established closer and he will at best be a set-up man if he's still on the team and can pitch to some form resembling his old self.

Barring some team nostalgia to let him close out just enough 3-run lead games to get him in the Twins record books, I don't see how he's going to make up those 9 saves in a Twins uniform that he'd need in order to supplant Aguilera.

I don't mean to be all doom and gloom. And I'm horribly sad both for Nathan and for the dilemma the team finds itself in. Nathan is a great teammate and is an amazing closer so I would have been perfectly fine with him being the Twins' all time saves leader, but I'm skeptical it's going to ever happen. We'll find a good young player in their prime in these next two years who will lock down the closer's role ... and I don't want to imagine what will happen in these next two years if we don't.

Podcast!

2010-03-10T21:09:00.001-05:00

I'm back in New York after a nice time in Florida and I'll be joining Fanatic Jack on our weekly podcast tonight along with special guest, Eric Johnson of Undomed! Check it out!

Florida Finale (First Row Seats woohoo!)

2010-03-07T00:12:00.014-05:00

SATURDAY, MARCH 6th

We had the memorial service on Friday (thus my lack of posting), and I'm flying out Sunday, but Saturday was my last visit to Spring Training.

Again, the Twins were at City of Palms Park in Ft. Myers, and while the Red Sox had a split squad with half their team on the road, the Twins brought many of their A-game players along, which I was happy to see.

We were much closer to the field this time... forget about standing room, I could almost touch the players!

I went with my Mom so we could have some bonding time away from the family (I don't get to see her much now that I live in New York). Even though we were in the first row though, she had a little bit of a hard time seeing the mound and the plate because the 1st base ump and the 1st base coach were kind of in the way, but it was still a great view!

Also that guy kept leaning forward all the way and obstructing our view. Grr.

It was fun experiencing both a night game and a day game while I was here. The sun was definitely beating down on us and we weren't shaded at all. The cold beer was much more effective today than in the chilly evening game.

My initial reactions beyond the box score:

1. Orlando Hudson. It was great to be able to see him play in a game for the first time. He didn't do much offensively that I saw (I'm used to that out of second base, but I think that will change with him down the line...), but he made an amazing pickup on a short-hop line drive that had the whole stadium "oooh" in amazement.

2. Jacque Jones is the smiliest man alive. They let him DH today, I wish I could have seen him in the field. His bat wasn't much to speak of although he did hit a nice line drive late in the game. He and Kubel took a lot of time during the game to sign for kids over on the lawn along the sideline, and if I hadn't been boxed in to my seats I would have tried to go over there and meet him (he was always one of my favorites, and my Mom loved his bat flip after the homeruns, she kept hoping he'd hit one today so she could see it live).

3. Liriano looked great. He appeared a little rusty for awhile, falling behind some hitters and beaning one. He also looked a little uncomfortable on the mound at first, pacing around, banging his cleats against the rubber either because he couldn't get good purchase or the clay was caking in his spikes. But he settled in and his slider was on point, and had everyone swinging at the dirt and coming up empty. He got a lot of chases on the pitch and made people look silly. I think once he shakes off a little more rust that he'll get his confidence back up and be ace-like.

4. Brendan Harris played with some more confidence today, he had a solid single on a sharply hit ball and he looked a lot more comfortable in the field. I think it's great he's had two of the starts so far -- not quite sure, maybe it's Punto's wrist problems that have been holding him out, but hopefully Harris takes advantage of these opportunities he's getting.

5. Delmon hit some deep drives that looked nice until they died at the warning track. In fact that was kind of a recurrent theme between he and Morneau and Kubel (and later Parmelee and Singleton joined in the fun). It kind of shows me that concern about how we don't want to live and die by the long ball necessarily. If our guys are only swinging for the fences that won't work, we need a balanced attack. But he sure looks thin!

6. Nathan, oh poor Nathan. He kind of fell apart and had to struggle his way through even Mike Cameron. I hope it's nothing to speak of, he didn't look particularly off, he just didn't look comfortable and kept missing the strike zone. He was followed by Perkins who didn't really do anything to either solidify his trade value or a place on the roster. He just looked completely overmatched out there. Manship also got knocked around a little. His first inning was solid but then he wiggled into a jam he brought upon himself and couldn't fight his way out before surrendering a bomb to Tug Hulett (of all people).

7. Wilson Ramos had a beautiful RBI double that of course showed up in the recaps I'm sure, but the at-bat before when he struck out he still managed to work the count and battle pretty well, fouling off some good pitches. He definitely looks like he can handle major league hitting, and he was fine behind the plate too although I wish I'd have been able to see his arm throwing out a runner.

8. Ben Revere is a stud. Despite not doing anything with the bat today he still showed off his glove in center. And I know I said I agreed with all the reports on his weak arm based on what I saw Thursday, but today he made a nice throw on a rope to home plate that was very close to gunning down a runner tagging up. I can't wait to see him get some more seasoning, he's special.

Revere is on the left, Jair Fernandez the catcher is on the right.

Just an FYI for people visiting City of Palms Park or spring training in general. You'll notice the players get pulled from the game early and then maybe do some sprints along the warning track during the game to wind down (or on the back fields at Hammond if I recall correctly from last year). If you're trying to get their autograph, leave the game and go wait for them there because most people don't, that's the best time to catch them! I remember last year being the only person watching Liriano doing some running exercises after pitching at Hammond and after he was done he came over and he signed a ball and took a picture with me with no one else around.

At City of Palms Park, the players leave the clubhouse by exiting a door in the concourse under the stands on the visitor side and walking along the concourse about 30 feet to a gate leading out to their parking area. They stop and sign autographs in that 30 foot jaunt for anyone aware enough that they're there! So if you're at City of Palms, look for the starters down in that area of the concourse right after they get taken out because they don't hang around until the end of the game, they'll just go hope in their care.

This is Toby Gardenhire peeking out that door in the concourse...

At Hammond the best place is along that little waist-high gate near the indoor batting cages because when they're done with the game they go walk past the hometeam bullpen over to the first practice field and tend to jog along there. Then they'll walk along that little waist-high black fence to get back to the clubhouse and shower off. They'll stop for you along there though before they go into the clubhouse.

That's about it, I'm back off to New York and I already miss it down here! Agggh, baseball! Here's a few more random pictures though that I couldn't work in today:

Kubel jogging out towards the warning track to do some running.

Mijares walking by during pre-game warmups.

Danny Valencia being awesome (and aiding and abetting me in a fun surprise for a friend...)

Florida, Day 6 (Standing Room Only)

2010-03-04T23:10:00.012-05:00

THURSDAY, MARCH 4th

This morning was the visitation for my grandfather before the funeral tomorrow, so it wasn't really a baseball day -- even if I had time to make it up to Ft. Myers afterwards I don't think it was in me to make the trip.

Thankfully it was a night game to kick off the season for the Twins so I was able to relax most of the afternoon before we made the trip up Tamiami Trail to City of Palms Park. I felt this kind of nervous giddiness the whole way -- this wasn't just a baseball game, this was the first game of the season. True it was about as meaningless as you could imagine (unless you really really want the Mayor's Cup), but there's just something exciting about baseball season starting, and the fact that it was outdoor night baseball is just magical.

But it makes my pictures blurry.... I need a new camera

We had four standing room only tickets, and so I drove up with my brother and two of my cousins to stand around in the cold and watch baseball. Thankfully, I remembered to bring a jacket. Unfortunately this time I wore shorts and sandals. One of these days I'll put all the puzzle pieces together on the same day.

By now you all know that the Red Sox won 2-1. This obviously means absolutely nothing. Half our starting lineup didn't touch the field, and we held the lead when we subbed in all our AAA players while the Red Sox kept most of their starters on the field until they took the lead.

Jacoby Ellsbury got way too much applause. So did Pedroia.

I really don't have much animosity towards Red Sox fans. For the most part they're all pretty nice and they're too obsessed with hating the Yankees to really have any vitriole towards my team so they're OK.

So, if you want to know play-by-play I'm sure you'll check out the boxscore, and my pictures aren't going to much of anything because I've just got a silly little camera, so I'll just give you my impressions from what I saw:

1. Our first five innings were dominant. The pitchers who pitched our first five innings were Blackburn, Slowey, and Neshek. When things went downhill was the 6th inning when Mike Maroth entered. So the important thing to me here is that our pitchers vying for an actual spot on the roster all were in top form tonight.

2. Blackburn was solid. There's not much to speak about there, he went about his pitches effectively and efficiently. Slowey seemed to take his time a little bit. He let the hitter get ahead of him a few more times than I would have liked but this can easily be attributed to plain rust. He was fooling hitters and working the strike zone which was what I wanted to see.

3. Neshek was quick and effective. It was great seeing that funky delivery out on the mound again. He had good velocity and good movement on his pitches and he was able to keep the hitters off balance. While they did connect their hits were primarily weak pop-ups.

4. Brendan Harris was manning the hot corner to start off the game. Unfortunately the first ball that came his way made its way through his glove. Sure he had to do a diving slide for it but he could have come up with that ball. It was the first inning of the first game so I'll cut him some slack, but it looked a little slow and lazy. We got out of the inning so it didn't matter in the longrun, but for someone battling for that 3rd base job it was a knock.

That's Harris. My zoom sucks.

5. Casilla and Tolbert were both up the middle, and neither are guaranteed a spot on the roster. They both were fine in the field so I can't really speak much to my impressions of them. They had a pretty light day the few innings that they were in. The guy who made a couple nice plays was Jacque Jones. He really showed some wheels out in left and took great routes (something I haven't seen in left for a couple years...). I really like the guy and I'd love for him to make the roster, but hopefully at least he sticks around in Rochester and can be a September call-up for us or something.

6. Ben Revere is a stud. A pure stud. When he trotted out onto the field I was so excited to see him play. I was telling my cousins all about him and how much potential Revere has. Then the announcer said that "Zack Davis" was entering the game for the Twins and I stopped and for the life of me I felt like such a fool that here I was talking about Ben Revere and it was this guy named Zack Davis who I had never heard of! Two batters later the announcer corrected himself and I was justified. Revere can cover some ground. I can see what the worry is about his arm. The ball doesn't really zip from his hand the way it does from Cuddyer or Young, it seems to float a little bit longer. Not really going to speculate how that happens, maybe his wrist is a little loose when he throws? I know he's not a power hitter either, but he sure drove the ball to the warning track in what looked like a sure home run until he was robbed at the track.

Those are the main things that stick out to me from the game.

Oh and cotton candy.

One thing that really sticks out is how many people leave the game after the 5th or so when all the starters get pulled.

It's a veritable exodus.

The stadium was so packed there was no room to stand along the wall for our standing room only tickets, but by the 5th there were seats and tons of spots along the wall opened because everyone had streamed out. We were able to stand right behind home plate!

But we were still standing. And it was still cold.

Here's a couple other random pictures that I took which I couldn't work into this entry but also kind of came out non-blurry:

I'll hopefully have some better shots during Saturday's game. I'm going to be sitting in the first row along the Twins' side of the field so check back for that post. Friday is the funeral and reception and a family dinner at the Naples Yacht Club so it will be baseball-less. But stop by later to find out about Saturday's game (I believe Liriano is starting?!?!?!).

Random shot of me in my lucky Aguilera jersey, my new Facebook profile picture to get me through Spring: