Still The Loyal Twins Fan

What a week!

2008-08-03T20:32:00.002-05:00

I was psyched for this past week of Twins baseball. A four game series with the White Sox... at home! Another 3 with the lowly Indians. Best of all, with my new cable package, I was able to get a handful of White Sox games. Which meant I had a great seat to Tuesday and Thursday night's victories.

Both ended up very similar. Twins down 4-0 by the fifth inning. Both times coming back and usually at the hands of Mauer and Morneau. With an added spice of Kubel.

Speaking of which, I saw the best sign ever at the game Thursday. "I've got a FEVER, and the only prescription is more Ku-bel." Brilliant.

The Twins ended up standing pat at the trade deadline, though it seems as they tried and got no bites. Afterward, the Twins let go of some dead weight in Livan Hernandez and Craig Monroe. To replace them they brought up Ruiz and some guy named Liriano. Apparently he's been doing fairly well in the minors. :-)

After two 3 chances in 4 days to get first place failed, the Twins were finally successful on Sunday. Was it any coincidence that it happened the same time the Twins finally put Liriano in the rotation. It's almost poetic.

The Twins have a difficult August coming up. They've got a home series with the Yankees, and a lot of games against the West. Including a brutal road trip that includes Oakland, Seattle, Los Angeles and Toronto. The more ground the Twins can gained now, the better.

I'm hopeful that the Twins can do it this year... and best of all, they didn't need to acquire a washed-up (albeit Hall-of-Fame calibur) CF to do it.

Two very different teams

2008-07-26T22:26:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, the Twins and the White Sox both let their opposing teams score 5 runs. Both teams came back in some capacity. However, the Twins couldn't quite finish the job, and lost 5-4. The White Sox meanwhile did finish the job and won 6-5. Heartbreaking.

Just a few days ago, the Twins were half a game out of first. One week later they're 3.5, and if they're not careful, they could be heading for worse than that. The only good news is that while the White Sox are winning, they're doing it against the Twins next biggest threat, the Tigers.

I felt good coming out of the All-Star break being only a small margin out of first. However, that good feeling fell sharply when the Twins lost 3 blowout games in Yankee Stadium. That killed 'em. Now there are just a few more days until the trade deadline, and the big question is, can the Twins finish the race... ahead of the Sox.

This upcoming series with the Sox is going to be crucial. Four games. That can potentially have more consequence than a 3 gamer. While a 3-gamer guarantees some change in standings, the risk is a little more with the 4-game series. It'll be Slowey, Perkins, Livan and Baker. And I sure hope that they'll be able to tame that offense.

The Sox have played very well this season, and certainly deserve to be there. But that doesn't mean I'm gonna root for them.

Oh yeah, and since I just got cable... and I live close to Chicago now, I will be able to watch some of these games.

Go Twins.

Mother May I?

2008-05-12T21:02:00.002-05:00

There are certain points in a season where I become a believer... or a cynic. After this weekend's megaseries with Boston, turn me into a believer... for a while. For the Twins to come home and take 3 of 4 from the defending World Champs, including 2 very close one-run games, is astounding. There are certain teams that you always feel good about beating. White Sox, Tigers, Yankees, Angels, Athletics, and the Red Sox. One was a comeback, another a hold-off. Either way, taking 3 of 4 is good news. The Twins are in first. For what seemed to be a rebuilding year, they aren't doing half bad. There's still a lot of work to do, but so far, I have been pleased indeed.

There's a funny correlation with Mother's Day and Twins games. Living outside the Twin Cities (well... at least the Minnesota version) I don't get to see games much. Worse, I don't subscribe to cable, thus I don't get ESPN. But my mom does. Now I just need her to move closer to me (darn slow market). This past Sunday was Mother's Day, and it seems like I remember the Twins playing on ESPN a lot on Mother's Day. Particularly because my wife is not a baseball fan, and I distinctly remember one such year where this was the case, and she was not pleased that I wanted to stay at her folks house and watch the Twins game. Fat chance that happening again this year. Oh well, they won anyway, and my wife had a wonderful Mother's Day.

I've dreamed of this blog being bigger than this. I've also dreamed of starting other blogs on various subjects, such as TV shows, video games, and politics. However, I have enough trouble keeping this one afloat. I hope to keep this going, but it does help when the Twins do particularly well, like they did in June of 2006. I'm behind right now because of an exam, but I hope to keep it rollin' very soon.

Thank you, and GO TWINS!!!

Fantasy and Reality

2008-04-02T05:45:00.002-05:00

Fantasy: I want to keep up this blog on a regular basis.
Reality: Work, Family, and Church really make that hard.

Fantasy: The Twins 3-2 victory on Monday shows that this team can still compete!
Reality: Tuesday night. 9-1.

Monday night featured two new Twins who really contributed to the Twins victory. Carlos Gomez, who was picked up in the Santana deal (I miss him), and Livan Hernandez who was hired as a semi replacement.

Hernandez went 7 innings giving up only 2 runs. One article compared his line to Santana. Both went 7 innings and gave up 2 runs. The report called them very similar. But that's only if you ignore the rest of the line. Santana had 8 K's, Hernandez 1. Hernandez gave up 7 hits, Santana 3. Sure, Hernandez didn't walk anyone while Santana walked 2, but these lines hardly make them similar. If anything, Hernandez looked more like Carlos Silva on a good day, than Johan Santana. Unfortunately, I think the rest of the season will play that out.

Gomez dazzled with speed and hitting. I was not able to watch the game, but looking at the comments on SBG's site, a lot of people were impressed with him. Except for the head-first slide.

Delmon Young has started off well too. He is 5 for 8 with a double and 2 runs scored in the first two games. If one thing, it appears that our outfield is starting off in the right direction.

Our infield on the other hand... ouch. Morneau is hitless. Mauer only has 2 hits, and our new left-side infielders only have one each. Say what you want about Lamb and Everett, I only see them as replacement-level players. Will Everett do as well as Bartlett? I'll be curious to compare their stats this year.

The pitching rotation is a shell of it's former self without Santana. Hernandez did well, but I'm expecting no better from him than another Silva. If he proves me wrong I will be a happy man. With Slowey's strong spring, I'll be curious to see how he'll translate that into regular-season success. Blackburn also intrigues me as I'm not too familiar with him, but to get a nod to start the season, he had to have been good. Baker is Baker, and Bonser is Bonser. Neither have been consistently impressive, but have had their share of good games.

The one thing I take from this is that our Ace is still up our sleeve. Liriano is starting the season in the minors, developing and refining his arm so that he can be at his best when he comes up. He could make a huge difference for this team, and I hope he's ready by late April, early May.

The Twins have come out and said this is NOT a rebuilding season. Okay, sure. If you say so. There's a lot of work to be done on this team. A lot of fresh, unfamiliar faces. It will take a while to find the groove, and more than likely it will take longer than a few months. However, I see some real promise in players like Young, Gomez, and Slowey. And as many know, the Twins are always a better threat when no one is expecting them to do well.

Go Twins!

Totally jumping on the bandwagon.

2007-10-01T20:59:00.000-05:00

Well, the Twins bandwagon has pulled in and the engine has been shutoff for another winter. Only a week ahead of last year (sadly). So, now that the playoffs are starting, it's time to look at who's bandwagon I'm going to hop onto.

Normally I don't do this. I have my Twins. I used to cheer for the Cards since I was in Redbird territory. Now that I'm in Central Illinois, I don't feel so obligated to do that. Not to mention they didn't make it this year.

A lot of times I will cheer for the AL, simply because that's where the Twins are, and I have a sort of loyalty to them. This year, I will indeed be cheering on the Indians in the AL playoffs.

But the NL is where all the teams are. First of all, the Mets are gone and the Phillies are in. I'm not a great fan of the Phillies, but I like them better than the Mets. The D'backs are a nice fresh new face, but again, they just won 6 years ago, so I'd like someone new to win.

The Cubs are in it also. I am in Central Illinois... but I have too much St. Louis in me. I want them to lose, not so much because I dislike them, but because it's so much fun to watch the fans. 2003 was priceless, as was 1998. And besides, if they win, I'll hate them like I do the Red Sox now. So they have to stay the lovable losers.

The Padres are a good tough team that remind me a lot of the Twins. Great pitching (Peavy is the NL's Santana). Decent lineup. Been to the playoffs but couldn't quite do it. But alas, they are not the team I am going to follow this winter.

It's going to be their opponent tonight.

I'm totally jumping on the Rockies bandwagon. Back in 1993 when this team started out, they were my new favorite team. I have always loved Colorado as a state. The skiing, the scenery. I've wanted them to be a good team for a long time, and only 1995 has stood as a playoff season. I also heard a story last year how the clubhouse has a Christian atmosphere at times. I really like that.

I might try to follow them a little more after this season, no matter the result. I guess now that I'm in neutral (sort of) territory, now's as good a time as ever.

So good luck to the Rockies, and if they don't do it, the Indians, and if they don't do it, the Padres, and if they don't do it... I guess the Cubs.

Just not the Yankees, and not the Red Sox. Please, anybody but them!

So long 2007 Twins

2007-09-29T22:46:00.000-05:00

I'll have more later about the playoffs, but I wanted to use this post to wish the 2007 Twins farewell and good luck this offseason. It was an unfortunate year of injuries and players not quite playing to potential. It was a year without Liriano and not much Mauer. It was however a year of great playing by Hunter and Santana, and even Morneau. It was a year in which Silva wasn't quite so bad. It was the year the Kubel broke out and started to look like a force on this team (though you wouldn't know it the way Gardy plays him).

I'm sad that the Twins couldn't do more this year to make the playoffs, especially considering the run they had last year. But I do have hope. Next year we'll have Liriano, and I have reason to believe that Baker, Garza, and Slowey will improve on their seasons. We may not have Hunter, but we may very well have some other good bats depending on how our new GM uses the money that Hunter wanted.

The Twins have a lot to improve upon. I can seriously say that I see this team either dominating next year, or falling to last. It's all going to depend on the postseason, but we can talk about that more later.

For now, let's relish the good moments, realize that the bad have come and gone, and remember this season as an unfortunate missed attempt to carry the magic from last year. It's someone else's year, but the Twins still have hope. May next year be better, and may they learn from their mistakes.

Go Twins!

New Low

2007-09-08T22:39:00.001-05:00

Okay, I thought when the Indians left town for the last time, this team would finally relax a little and try to finish the season with a little dignity. However, Friday night I guess they had other plans.

Here's the weird thing, I didn't find out about Friday until Saturday night. I had noticed that the Twins scored 6 runs in the top of the 9th, but I went to bed figuring they had it won. When I checked the recap for Saturday's game and saw they lost, I noticed in the recap that they had lost 6 in a row. "That wasn't right, I thought. I knew about the 3 to the Indians, and the one to the Royals before that. But last night they were up 10-4, don't tell me they lost.

They did.

It's one thing to give up two runs to tie it against a first place team like what happened on Tuesday. But to score 6 and then give up 6. That's a whole new level of anti-clutch.

What the F happened to this team. Seriously. MVP and batting champ. Cy Young winner. Manager of the year runner up. How the hell could this team have fallen so far so damn fast. It's ponderous. It's f'in ponderous.

Two weeks ago we had just taken the third of four from Baltimore and the Twins were still hopeful to make a run for a playoff spot. Two weeks later the Twins have gone from contenders to a joke. I thought I had typed my last entry for the year. That they would just cruise along until the end. But this... this is something that can't be ignored.

This team needs a closed door meeting. Something. This is a freakin' joke. Who let this happen? Ryan? Gardy? Who? Pohlad? This team needs a kick in the pants, and quick. Ending the season like this would be tragic and pathetic. I certainly hope that something better happens quickly, because I don't want to head into the 6 months of offseason with this last month in my memory.

Surrender

2007-09-04T23:03:00.000-05:00

Holy cow, have the Twins quit or what? I check the score this evening about midway through and the Twins are up 5-2. I check in again toward the end, and the Indians had tied it up. I knew, just knew, that the Indians would end up winning. Heck, they had won the last 4-5 games against the Twins. The end of our games against the Indians can't come fast enough.

I'm happy for Cleveland though. They've put a lot of work in that team and they have fought very hard for about 3-4 years. If anyone deserves a shot at the playoffs, they do. I wish them the best of luck. After all, someone has to beat the Red Sox, Yankees and Angels.

Speaking of, the blankety-blank Yankees are in the Wild Card lead. Again their cash has allowed them back into the race. I'm so freakin' sick of this team!!! Give them a payroll like all the other teams, and they wouldn't be able to compete. Because of them, the Red Sox are also overspending. This pretty much locks out Toronto, Tampa and Baltimore. And it drives up prices. Although to be fair, it's the record contracts to Zito and A-Rod (done be teams other than BOS and NYY) that really do it.

And to top it off, the freaking Cardinals (the Yankees of the NL (in playoff terms, not money)) are in the playoff hunt again, and they have no better a record that the Twins! What I wouldn't give to go back in time and send the Twins to the NL Central instead of the Brewers. Then of course, I would've gotten to see many more Twins games over the last 10 years.

Back to the Twins. I'm so disappointed. This team is better than this. Better than rolling over for the Indians. Better than losing this many one run games. They had both the MVP and batting champ last year, and their biggest problem is offense? Sheesh.

TR, you got your work cut out for you. We have pitching. Plenty of it. We don't need another Ponson or Ortiz. Or Rick Reed. We need a 3B. We need a CF (let's face it, Hunter's gone). We need a DH the likes of Pronk, Thome, or Thomas. We need some bats in that lineup. And we need them NEXT YEAR. At least for the Twins, there is next year. But not so sure after that. No telling what will happen with Santana and his contract. And that man deserves a WS championship with the Twins.

Sigh. Lots to get off my chest. Lots of frustration this season. And finally I can get interested in NFL again, after so many years of still being interested in baseball playoffs at this point. Too bad I'm so out of it that I didn't realize Addai of the Colts was one of the top RB's. Maybe I should do what I need to be doing, and that's studying for my next actuary test. Or spend time with my children. Or get a Wii. Or play more tennis. Or this or that...

Twins... I love you guys. But it's time to finish gracefully, and prepare for a 2008 that will blow everyone away.

Out.

2007-08-30T05:40:00.000-05:00

Ya know Twins, you're making it really hard to hold out hope for you guys.

Three days ago, the Twins were 5.5 games out of first with 32 games to go and a chance to get at Cleveland directly. Best case scenario was that they could get within 2.5. Unfortunately, that did not happen. Much like the Detroit series in July, the Twins got swept while coming close much of the time. Back then, the Twins lost all three to Detroit by one run. This week against Cleveland, the last two were one-run affairs. Those hurt, especially at this stage in the game.

Now they're 8.5 games out with 29 games to go. That's quite a daunting task. Especially when you can't beat the team in front of you. But alas, like many others, I'm beginning to give up hope for this season.

I know, I know, just last week I was pushing off the naysaying and trying to restore hope for this team. But after this last week, it's clear that the Twins do have a lot of work ahead of them in the next few months.

What bothers me most about the Cleveland series was that the problem was less of the offense, and more of the pitching. In the beginning of August, the Twins scored 6 runs in a four games series and they were still able to split the series 2-2. This time they score 11 runs, and 0 wins. Not even the mighty Santana could hold the Indians back. In fact, he went 0-4 against them this season.

So, do I throw in the towel yet? Well, nothing's over until the math confirms it. So yes, they still have a chance, but hope is certainly running short.

Blah! Naysayers

2007-08-25T18:45:00.000-05:00

I read an article on FoxSports.com talking about the Central Divisions for each League. Of course they mention the Tigers and Indians. On the NL they even mention of the Cubs and Brewers, AND the Cardinals. But no mention of the Twins? Even Fox sports power rankings count the Twins out of it at six games out of first.

What's funny about this is that the Twins are as close to first NOW as they were at this time last year. And we remember what happened last year right?

Maybe I'm a little overly optimistic (okay, I'm a LOT overly optimistic), but the Twins still do have a shot. After the Orioles series, the Twins play 25 of their last 32 games against the Central Division. If ever there was a time to put destiny in their own hands, this is it.

Okay, the offense has been horrid since the All-Star Break. But slumps do come to and end, and Morneau's due to have a hot streak. Anything can happen, and with this pitching staff, the Twins are certainly in good position to make a run for it.

Naysayers can talk and talk, but I still have hope. I know the probability is low (and I'm an actuary now). But these Twins aren't done yet. I can feel it. I think they could surprise a lot of people. In fact, I hope they do!

In or Out

2007-08-23T05:44:00.000-05:00

I keep going back and forth on whether I think the Twins still have a shot this year. Every time they win, I have hope again. Every time they lose, it gets shattered. But I looked up something today that gave me more hope. Right now, they are 6.5 games behind the Cleveland Indians for the Central Division lead. Last year at this time, they were 7 games behind Detroit. That's right. They are closer to the lead this year than they were last year.

They would finish 23-14 and overcome the Detroit Tigers. This year, they'd have to go 24-12 just to get to 87 wins. But really, at this point, the number of wins is irrelevant, it's the games behind. The other thing to consider (to land back in realityville) is that the Twins are NOT the team they were last year. Last year they were a juggernaut, a winning team with a winning spirit that could not be stopped. A freight train that started full speed in June and didn't stop until they hit a brick wall in Oakland in October. This year, I just don't see that team. But I don't think they're gone completely, I think they're just asleep.

Morneau's been in a monster slump lately, and one has to wonder that if his bat woke up, what could this team do. This team already has a great pitching staff, one that's 4th in the AL (10th overall). Unfortunately, they're run production is 2nd to last in the AL (ahead of the White Sox) and 23rd in the majors. This is a team that had last year's MVP and batting champ, and yet the offense is this bad? Well, that's because the other 7 are in question.

I'm not quite ready to give up on the Twins just yet. Maybe that's because they won yesterday. I had a dream last night that they won the divisional series, and it brought back memories of 2002 when they got past Oakland. I think after last year's playoffs, I'm more hopeful that the Twins can do something in the playoffs considering the Cardinals won after going 83-78 on the season.

This is the week to do it. They have 9 games left in August. Four against Baltimore, Three against Cleveland, and then 2 against Kansas City heading to October. They have to take 3 in Baltimore. This is a team they have to beat to make it to the playoffs. And then the Cleveland games are a chance to take destiny in your own hands. Something the Twins did well last year, winning against Detroit down the stretch (and the Sox). Looking further ahead, in September they have 5 with KC, 6 with the Sox, 6 with the Tigers, and 3 more with the Indians. To round it out they have 3 with Texas and they finish in Boston for four. From this point on, it's all teams either in the basement, or ahead of you in the division. Except for Boston. By then, hopefully they'll have clinched the East and they'll be avoiding the big arms to get ready for the Divisional Series.

I have hope. The Twins are closer now than they were last year. Morneau's bound to break out of the slump eventually. The teams are getting easier. And hey, anything can happen. The Rangers just scored 30 runs. Why can't the Twins win 30 games? All they have to do is battle their tails off!

Bears vs. Vikings?

2007-07-07T09:48:00.000-05:00

A couple of football scores showed up in yesterday's double header. If you would have told me that the Twins would have allowed 14 runs in the first game, I would have thought it a loss. But alas, no. They scored 20 of their own to win the first game with a softball like score. The greatest was getting into my car when the score was 14-8, but the end of my short 10-15 minute commute, they had increased their lead to 17-8. Listening, it sounded like the most effortless 3 runs they've scored all year.

I was worried that they had wasted all their runs in the first game, but apparently that was just the Sox. Matt Garza pitched 6 solid innings without giving up a run as the Twins won the second game 12-0. Morneau hit 3 home runs against newcomer Gavin Floyd to get his total up to 23. Anyone think he could get to 40 this year?

Two more games and they're both on TV that I can watch. Only 11% of the markets are getting the Twins game on FOX, and mine is one of them (YES!) Living closer to Chicago has its perks. The game will also be on WGN on Sunday.

Folks in the Twin Cities don't know how good they have it, getting to watch most Twins games. Us out-of-towners have to catch them when we can, but I appreciate every time they are on. Here's hopin' for a winner, and an inch closer to Central lead.

Looking ahead

2007-06-26T22:53:00.000-05:00

After witnessing (through Yahoo's fine play-by-play) the Twins beat Toronto in extras, I decided to look ahead and see what the Twins get to face until the All-Star Break. I didn't realize it, but the Twins have probably the toughest road of anyone. Here's what the schedule looks like.

2 vs. Tor
3 @ Det
4 @ NYY
4 @ CWS (in 3 days)

Making up a game from back in April, the Twins have 13 games in the next 12 days. And these aren't just piddly teams. We're talking about the American League Champs, the New York Yankees (always a menace no matter what the standing say), and our friendly rivals in Chicago.
Just for fun, let's see what the Indians and Tigers get to face

Indians:
2 vs. Oak
4 vs. TB
3 @ Det
3 @ Tor

Tigers:
2 vs Tex
3 vs TWINS
Day off (lucky b******s)
3 vs Cle
3 vs Bos

The Indians get the Devil Rays, who after showing some spunk against the Twins, are now fighting Baltimore for the basement. Then they get to go on the road for some fun against Detroit and Toronto.

The Tigers, aside from staying home until the break, get a day off besides. However, they get to face their biggest competition this season with the Indians and the Twins, and they get to finish it off against Boston. Tough teams, but at least they're at home.

Right now the Twins are only 5.5 games back of both the Indians and Tigers. Not bad considering they were double digits back this time last year. The Twins were right in the middle of an 11 game winning streak this time last year, and as a result of their close to .500 play, they aren't making up much ground on that. But anyway, to the season at hand.

PREDICTIONS:
I think the Twins will split the remaining games against Toronto. The Blue Jays are a good team, and the two games so far have been closely fought.

Detroit is freakin' on fire right now. But the Twins will have Santana. But they'll also have Slowey and Baker. I want to give them 2 out of 3, but I'm calling only 1.

New York's a toughie too. The Twins seem to fold against them, especially in the house that Ruth built. But New York is struggling this season, and especially right now. If it were a 3 game series, I'd pick the Twins to win 2, but being a 4 game series, I can't say I'd give them 3. 2-2.

Finally, for Chicago. One hitch is that if everything goes as Scheduled, Santana will not be able to pitch during the series. Unless it's on short rest. However, I'm still giving the Twins 3, because the White Sox are only 2 games in front of the Royals. For them, that's bad. Very bad. This team is looking more like the 2003 Tigers than the 2005 Sox or 2006 Tigers. I think the Twins will take advantage and make them pay.

Overall 7-6. That would put them at 4 games over .500 at the All-Star Break. If this were last year, this would be a tougher schedule. This year, it's a little easier due to the down seasons of the Yankees and Sox. (Two teams I couldn't wish any better luck on). If the Twins can go over .500 for the remaining 13 games, they'll be in good shape. If they revert back to .500 (5-8), they'll be okay, but hurting. Any worse than that, and we might be seeing Torii go bye-bye sooner than we hoped. Any better, and we could have a real shot at a 5th playoff in 6 years.

Just one year ago

2007-06-07T06:19:00.000-05:00

I remember it not so fondly. A horrible west coast road trip. 2-7 before salvaging a finale in Seattle. Spirits low. The Twins were 11.5 games back of the surprising Detroit Tigers. If you would have told me at that time, that the Twins would overcome that deficit and end up AL Central champs, just one game behind the best record in baseball, I would've doubted, and doubted hard.

On one hand, everything the Twins accomplished last year was amazing, and it gives me hope for this season. After all, they're in a better position this year, at .500 instead of 7 games under, and only 6.5 games out instead of 11.5.

On the other hand, that was last year. In no way can I expect the same to happen, nor should I. I fall in danger of being very disappointed. However, something that should be expected (at least) is that the Twins won't fall out of this race yet. The Twins have more than just last year working for them, they have a history of coming through in the later parts of the season to take over. After faltering late in 2001 and dominating in 2002, the Twins have remained patient, and have tended to get better as the season went on. So while winning 20 out of the next 22 seems unlikely this year, keeping up with the Indians will be no problem.

An ugly pattern

2007-06-04T23:03:00.000-05:00

I've noticed a strange pattern among the recent series that the Twins have played. The reason I call it ugly, is because as it stands now, the Twins stand to get worse unless they can get swept.

Let me explain

The month of May was unfortunate for the Twins. After coming off a series victory against Detroit to end April, the Twins started May by dropping 2 of 3 to Tampa Bay. They went on to lose series' (but not swept) against Boston, Chicago and Detroit. Finally, they came upon the surging Indians, who swept the Twins.

But then a tide turned. After that sweep, the Twins took 2 out of three in Milwaukee. Then it was 2 out of 3 in Texas. After that we took 2 out of 3 when Toronto came to town. To top it off, the White Sox came to town, and with four straight balls Torii Hunter completed a sweep.

And again the tide turned.

Uh-oh.

Sure enough, after taking the first game against Oakland, we dropped the next two. Now the Twins are set to lose the first game of the Anaheim series (8-1 at last I looked). It seems the pattern is facilitated by sweeps. Granted, this means a sweep by Anaheim would put us in fine position to start having fun with the NL. But mainly, I'd like this pattern to stop because I don't like Twins sweeps meaning we're heading for a losing streak.

Still, the Twins are doing much better to start this year than their start last year. Unfortunately, we don't have Liriano coming up in June to help us out!

Not too late for the party I hope?

2007-05-29T22:57:00.000-05:00

Oy!

Moving takes a lot out of you, especially time. But now I'm more settled in, and now that Lost, Heroes and 24 are over, I have a lot more TV and internet time to devote to the Twins! Not that I'm jumping on the bandwagon when the finally get over .500! (woo-hoo)

Yesterday I had the privilege of watching the Twins and White Sox on WGN. Santana pitched, and I knew it was going to be a good game. The stars aligned themselves just right. The wife was out of town. The kids had their nap. And Daddy had a couple diet pepsis and a Twins ball game on his new HDTV (not in HD though :-( ).

Best moments were the pirahna attacks in the second and sixth innings, capped by a nice shark bite in the form of a 3-run double by Redmond (Joe who... j/k). Hunter's chop gave the Twins the lead in perhaps a most unusual way. The Twins made the White Sox pay for their mistakes.

I know some deal was made about AJ stepping on Justin's shoe, but seriously do we need to get into that? I still kinda like AJ, although now that he's on our rival team, I love to hate him (and the team). But I'll still cheer for them when their playing the Yankees.

That brings up anoter big cheering point for me this season. The Yankees are tied (you read that right) tied for last place in the East with the Devil Rays. Granted, it's early, and no Twins fan is about to say the Yankees are out of it, and I certainly don't believe the Yankees will finish last. But by golly, wouldn't it be nice to see the Yankees OUT of the post-season this year? I wonder who FOX would show for their primetime games? Probably the Mets to keep the New York edge. (stupid networks).

I'm now half the distance to Chicago that I was before, which means Twins/White Sox games are a lot easier to catch, especially on the radio. I can sometimes get 1500 if the winds are just right and the planets align and strawberries are in season. However, I could get 830 a lot easier last year. It's a shame I can't hear them on that station anymore.

Anyway, I've rambled on enough. I'm happy to be back, and hopefully I'll be posting at least once a week (hopefully more). With the retirement of batgirl (www.bat-girl.com) there needs to be some Twins fans to take up the slack. I hope that I can provide a little of that.

Still the Loyal Twins fan.

One down

2007-04-03T17:06:00.000-05:00

100 more to go (crosses fingers)

I got to watch last night's game since it was on ESPN2 'n' all. I went to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch it. Apparently there was another game on, some meaningless basketball game, that everyone else was paying attention to. Pfft. Oh well.

The Twins game started out great. Santana struck out his first batter. Mauer got the first hit for the Twins. Morneau got the first homer an inning later. Hunter, not to be outdone, followed suit with a blast of his own. But more surprising was Rondell White's amazing catch in Left Field. I thought it was going to be down for sure, but he surprised me with a very nice grab.

The White Sox AND Tigers both lost. Good news. But Cleveland won, and I think they're going to be tough this year.

On the horizon, the Twins will be on Fox this weekend (as long as St. Louis doesn't black it out for NL ball) and back on ESPN on Monday for the Yankees.

The season is underway and I couldn't be more excited!

Let's go Bonser!

Edit: I hope Morneau apologized for that slide. That was horrible to watch. Scary. Oh, and his hit on Bako was bad too. Kudos to Bako for taking one on the chin and getting the out. I hope he's okay.

The beginning of a new season.

2007-03-22T20:26:00.000-05:00

Ah, I can smell the hot dogs already!

Only a week and a half left until the first game of the season. It's time to reflect one last time on the magic that was last season.

Note: This will be the last time (okay, no it won't) that I will bring up how wonderful last season was. Best regular season ever. Okay, they sucked in the playoffs, but I forgive them. They came back from double digits after the all star break to not just take a wild card (puhlease) but win the division. Of course, the wild card team did go to the Series, but I digress.

I know this season won't match up to last season. But I remain hopeful that they will still play good ball and that they will still have another chance at the postseason. Santana, Mauer (edit... just found out about the stress fracture... dangit), Morneau, Bartlett, Hunter, Nathan, and the gang will propel this team much better than last year. I just feel it.

The Central Division is going to be tough, and I wouldn't have it any other way. It ain't worth winning if it ain't special! Detroit is going to be hanging around. They've got spectacular young talent. The White Sox are always a threat (and so much fun to beat). The Indians are due for a run. And Kansas City... well they're used to playing spoiler by now.

So here's to the upcoming season. Change of scenery for me. Hopefully change of postseason success for the Twins.

GO TWINS!

Name Change coming soon.

2007-02-04T08:38:00.000-06:00

In a few weeks, I will no longer be able to call myself a St. Louis Twins fan. But not because I'm renouncing my team!

I'm moving to a different set of Twin Cities. Bloomington-Normal, IL. Not sure what the new name is going to be, but the site will definately remain Twins baseball related.

Thanks to those who have left comments. Sorry they haven't appeared, I haven't been checking the site very much since baseball season ended. Also, I didn't realize I had to publish them manually. I'm going to try to fix that so they can publish to start and I can delete the spam afterward.

Go TWINS!

The Icing on the Cake

2006-11-21T19:53:00.000-06:00

Okay, in June, the Twins started playing like a good team again. By the end of July, we had caught up to the Wild Card race, and I was thrilled to just be in hunt. By September, we were close enough to possibly win the title, and then on the last day of the regular season, the Twins jumped into first place for the first time all year, and became the Central Division Champs.

A dismal October followed when the Twins were swept 3 straight by Oakland, but once all the champagne had been cleaned up in St. Louis, it was time for the awards.

Of course Mauer got his batting title. Hunter then got his Gold Glove (by default?) Then, as expected, Santana got his second Cy Young. No surprise considering he led in all three major categories (tied in wins, but so what.)

But today's announcement is icing on the cake of a wonderful season. Even as a die never Twins, I didn't realistically think that Morneau could take the top title for a solo player in the league. There was just too much competition. Jeter, Ortiz, Dye (who I thought was better), not to mention his own teammates, Mauer and Santana. But by some miracle, Morneau came out of the pile on top... by only 14 points over Jeter.

Okay, we didn't win the Series, but this accomplishment by Morneau caps off an unbelievable season that will never be duplicated by any team anywhere.

Congrats Twins
Congrats Mauer on the batting title
Congrats Hunter on the Gold Glove
Congrats Santana on the Cy Young
And a big Congrats to Morneau for winning the American League MVP!

The bitterness continues...

2006-10-19T23:23:00.000-05:00

Twins: 96-66, AL Central Champions, amazing comeback season from 12.5 games back, lost in first round.
Tigers: 95-67, AL Wild Card Champions, lost division on last day, in World Series
Cardinals: 83-78, NL Central Champions, worst record of all playoff teams in 2006, in World Series.

Yes... I'm really bitter right now.

ALDS Game 3: Oakland 8, Twins 3

2006-10-07T09:04:00.000-05:00

I don't wanna talk about it :-(

Okay, I will.

About the time of the third error, I started to realize that this team did not DESERVE to be going further. 5 errors in 3 games. Oh, and that does NOT include Torii's misplay on the inside-the-park homer. The A's didn't make mistakes, and they made sure the Twins paid for every one of theirs.

Radke was not sharp, giving up two home runs in the first 3 innings. Putting the Twins in a 4-0 hole early. Hunter started the comback with a home run, but then ended it when he was thrown out at home. Can't blame him for that though. I would have sent him as well. It was a good throw by Bradley, and a marginally bad call by the umpire.

Morneau's error in the 7th set up the finishing blow - a 3 run double by Marco Scutaro, who became the hero of the day.

Radke, tis too bad the final game was this way. I thank you again for a wonderful season.

Twins, I think it's time to work on the fundamentals during the offseason.

A's, congratulations, you played great baseball, and good luck to you and your quest for a title. You showed this fan how great your team is and how dangerous it is to take you lightly. We thought the A's would be easier than the Yankees, clearly, that was not the case. Good luck.

Tigers, so you DID throw those games in KC! I'm beginning to think that Ozzie let us win that last one :-) Good luck to you too.

Yankees, go to hell (j/k). Good luck, but I don't really mean it. I hope the Tigers beat you into submission and all that money Steinbrenner spent goes to waste.

Cardinals, how the bleep do you do it? 5 games over .500 to finish the season and you're about to get past the first round... AGAIN!

Anyway, right now I'm very bitter. I'm bitter that the Twins played so badly. I'm bitter that lesser teams are making it past the first round while our guys are going home. I'm bitter that the Yankees are the golden child of ESPN even though they spend more money than the government. I'm bitter that the Twins had such a great season, and ended on such a downer. It would have been one thing to lose the series closely 3-2, but they got stomped 3-0.

The day will get brighter once the Yankees lose.

Pregame: Game 3

2006-10-06T06:05:00.000-05:00

I'm prepared.

I thought about today's game this morning, and I'm prepared.... for a let down. I need to be, otherwise, when it does happen, I'll be in a worse mood if I don't prepare a little bit.

The A's have lost 9 straight games when faced with an opportunity to eliminate their opponent. The Twins have a knack for ending bad streaks for other teams. Plus, with Torii's play on Wednesday, I think a lot of the life has been sucked out of this team. So, instead of remembering 2006 as the Twins 3rd World Championship, we're going to have to remember 2006 has many other things.

- It was the first year the Twins had anybody hit 30 homeruns since 1987.
- It was the year we remembered Kirby Puckett after he died in March.
- It was Brad Radke's swansong, and he will be remembered for his guts and determination.
- Johan Santana's second Cy Young award.
- Mauer becoming the first AL catcher to win the batting title.
- Cuddyer's emergence
- Liriano's amazing rookie year
- Punto's head first slides
- Morneau's emergence as a power threat and RBI guy.
- An incredible regular season where the Twins found themselves 12.5 games back in June, 10.5 games back in early August. Took a share of the Central lead on the 159th game, and won the division on the last day of the season.

There's plenty to remember about this season.

Now, just because I'm prepared, doesn't mean I want the Twins to lay down and die this afternoon. I would be very disappointed if this became an early blowout. I want to see them keep winning. And I'd love for Radke to be the hero the pull this team from the mire. But I'm prepared for their fate. I'm going to take the pessimistic/realistic view point, and be happy if/when they turn it around and pull off a victory.

Good luck boys, and bring home a winner!

ALDS Game 2: Oakland 5, Twins 2

2006-10-06T05:58:00.000-05:00

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed.

Torii Hunter's outfield misplay of a single by Mark Kotsay turned into an inside the park home run that set the momentum clearly in the A's favor. Boof pitched 6 innings and gave up only 2 runs in another great outing by a Twins starter. Morneau and Cuddyer hit back to back homeruns in the 6th to tie the game. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough, and the Twins are heading to Oakland down 2-0.

Torii's play is going to be his "Buckner" moment. And I'm not sure the Twins are going to be able to recover. But it's more than just that play. Their offense has been stagnant. Three of their four runs have been solo homeruns. They are 0-14 with runners in scoring position. The offense has just completely shut down.

Punto continues to play good 3B, making another great catch that I first thought was a replay of the one he made in game 1. However, his batting and (first) base running leave something to be desired. He hasn't been able to do much with the bat lately, of course, neither have a lot of the Twins. When I hear of people saying they want a "real" 3rd baseman and move Punto to 2nd, I just think "Why?" Why fix what ain't broken. Punto is fine at 3rd. It's batting 2nd that I'd question at this point.

The biggest question mark for the Twins coming in was starting pitching. With only Johan, a rookie, and two shaky veterans, nobody thought their starters would be worth a darn. However, the offense, defense and bullpen, all considered strengths, have let the Twins down this series.

ALDS Game 1: Oakland 3, Twins 2

2006-10-04T04:40:00.000-05:00

For the first time in 36 years, the Twins lost the first game of a playoff series. Hard to imagine the Twins winning 8 straight openers, but they did. Yesterday, though, they were "hurt" bad by the Big Hurt, Frank Thomas. 2 HRs including a 9th inning blast that ended up being the difference in the game.

Great pitching performances by both Zito and Santana. Zito comes out on top for only giving up one run in 8 innings. Santana looked great even with giving up two runs, but the offense wasn't able to capitalize on good opportunities.

During lunch, I was able to watch 3.5 innings. The first thing I saw was a wasted opportunity. Punto swung on a 2-1 count at a pitch at his head, putting him at 2-2 instead of 3-1. On the next pitch, Castillo took off and was caught at second. Punto was elminated on the first pitch.

The other thing I saw too much of was Twins swinging at the first pitch. The reason Zito was able to go so long was because we kept making it easy for him. He walked Castillo twice and has had a habit of doing it. 99 walks during the regular season. Knowing that, the Twins should have been patient and waiting on the right pitch. Notice the Yankees/Tigers game went almost 4 hours. Why? Because the Yankees take 4-5 pitches before they see what they want and they usually do something good with it.

The big Twins highlight was Santana's pitching and Rondell White's homerun. Punto also made a fantastic catch in foul territory that could've been the Twins "Bartman" incident. But instead, Punto comes up with the ball and the Twins got a much needed out.

Today, they play other day game with Boof Bonser going against Esteban Loaiza. I'm not too worried about the 0-1 start. The Twins know all too well that winning the first game does not mean the series is over. Heck, the A's should know that as well. They've been up 2-0 twice and failed to close the series. The Twins also shouldn't feel out of it just because Johan lost. When the Twins went 7-3 on their latest road trip, two of those losses were Johan starts, the rest of the team went 7-1.

I'm not worried about the pitching (much). I am a little concerned, and have been for some time, about this offense. They do create lots of opportunities (singles and such) but many times fail to capitalize with a 2-out RBI, or a big home run. I think it's time to clear the sinuses and "smell that RBI."

Go Twins!

P.S. I freakin' hate the Yankees.

What a season!

2006-10-02T06:21:00.000-05:00

Unbelievable! You wanna talk about a photo finish, THAT was amazing. After struggling for the first 2 months, the Twins, down at one point 12 1/2 games, come back not just to match the Tigers, but to overtake them and win the American League Central. All year, I dreamed about them doing it. I hoped that they could pull it off, but all with a healthy skepticism that thought that realistically, there's no way they can actually pull it off.

They proved me wrong.

And a BIG thank you to the Kansas City Royals, who got hot at just the right time (after playing the Twins!)

Hunter hit his 31st home run, but fell just short of 100 RBI with 98.
Morneau became the first Twin to hit 30 homers in 19 years.
Mauer won the batting title!

Now the Twins get to play Oakland, more importantly... at HOME. The Twins went 5-1 against them at home this season, and 6-4 overall. The Tigers get the Yankees, and boy will I be cheering for the Tigers this week!

This has undoubtedly been the best regular season ever for the Twins. At least for the fans. It started out horrible, but the last 4 months cannot be beat. A stretch of games going 19-1. Coming back in July to tie the Sox. Taking the Wild Card lead by the end of August, and catching up with the Tigers, and never having the division lead by themselves until October. How do you follow that up?

With a World Championship?

GO TWINS!!!

Thank you Brad!

2006-09-29T05:22:00.000-05:00

I remember almost 10 years ago when the Twins first showed signs of hope in their dismal late 90's. There was a man who came through in 1997 to give the Twins some glimmering hope that things were soon to get better. His name was Brad Radke.

1997 brought about the first 20 game winner for the Twins in years. It gave fans a little bit of hope, even with Chuck Knoblauch going to the hated Yankees.

Thinking back, Radke was the difference of this team. At the time, high priced Twins were going elsewhere, like Chuck. Radke was a player that the organization wanted to keep, a player to build a team around. It was a mutually beneficial relationship. The Twins needed Radke to keep some stability. Radke needed the Twins to make good on their promise of building a good team around him if he stayed.

His presence brought much needed stability, for the Twins and the fans. In 2001, the Twins finally looked like contenders again. In 2002 they reached the postseason again, and even got to the ALCS.

Now the man comes back late in the season from a torn labrum and a stress fracture to start at least one more game for his team. I say "his" team with meaning. Yes, Joe Mauer might be leading in the batting average race, Morneau might be up for MVP, Santana for Cy Young, but Radke is senior.

Thank you Brad for 12 great years.
Thank you Brad for giving this team the stability that helped them get where they are right now.
Thank you Brad for pitching through pain.
Thank you Brad... for being a Minnesota Twin!

The fun has just begun

2006-09-26T06:01:00.000-05:00

What a ride!

25-33 at one point. 68-30 since. Possible batting champ. Possible MVP. Definite Cy Young. Best bullpen. Center Fielder going ape. Boof goin' bonkers!

I have not had this much fun following the Twins in a long time. 02-04 were great, but this year there's just something special about this team. 2 more wins and they will have beaten all their records from those three years in the playoffs. And even if they get those wins, they still may end up as Wild Card winners. Don't matter, we're still in the big show, and we all get to see some games into October.

White Sox... good show. You played hard and you made the race fun. Good luck next season.
Tigers.... here we come. We ain't done yet. And I hope we see you in the ALCS.
Yankees... third time's a charm.
A's.... Wear out them Tigers the best you can.
Mets.... Don't blow it.
Cardinals.... Don't choke.
Dodgers.... try hittin four against OUR bullpen.
Royals.... Get really mad... around Friday.
Red Sox... what the hell happened? You guys are in THIRD now.
Blue Jays... Hope Burnett was worth it.
Cubs... there's always next year :-)

Home Stretch

2006-09-25T06:39:00.000-05:00

Ah, the final week of the season. The Twins have managed 6 straight series wins... without a single sweep. Oh well, winning series is what it's all about. The Twins have done very well in that department.

Pretty much the only story this week will be the Twins and Tigers sprint to the AL Central finish line. A's pretty much have it wrapped up, they just need a couple wins this week. Yankees have been done for about a week now. Home field advantage will also be decided. The Twins have a tough road, being 1.5 games back. They need to overtake the Tigers completely in order to get the division, since the Tigers have the advantage in head-to-head play.

The White Sox are done (but not officially). They'll be playing spoiler this weekend. No repeat, no nothin'. Red Sox are done as well (officially even!). A new curse is dawning.

In the National League, the Cardinals are trying to make things interesting by getting swept by Houston, leaving their magic number at 5 and Houston only 3.5 back. But hey, they didn't lose it on a walk-off hit last night!

San Diego and Los Angeles are sparring in the west, for a division title and the Wild Card. Philly ain't out of it yet either, as they actually LEAD the wild card. Either way, it's all futile unless one of these teams can crack the armor of the mighty Mets.

I'm looking forward to some playoff action. The upside of the Twins playing the Yankees, is that the games will likely be primetime. I just hope the third time's a charm for the Twins.

Go Twins, Go Cards!

MVP

2006-09-21T06:42:00.000-05:00

Who the hell is this Jeter guy? And why the hell is he the top candidate for MVP?

Gammons was saying on ESPN that Jeter deserves to get MVP because of how he helped turned his team around, stating that at one point, they were 5 games out of first, behind the Red Sox, and that his leadership was the difference.

Wait a damn minute.

If you want to take that logic, how about looking at a player who did something very similar under much more challenging circumstances. The Twins were 8 games under .500. As far back as 12 games behind first place Detroit. One player, who struggled earlier in the season, started to find it at about the same time the Twins started their streak in June. He carried this team on his back and helped spark the offense to become better than it has in years!

Oh, and he's 5th in batting average, 2nd in RBI.

Justin Morneau.

I don't understand the logic of the baseball experts. You can't logically pick Jeter without strongly considering Morneau under the same circumstances. No, Morneau is not "captain" in name, but by and large his offense has helped carry this team like no other. In fact, I think his successful run at 30 home runs has also helped start an offensive renaissance in Torii Hunter, who's damn close to hitting 30 himself, including 13 in Aug and September.

The Twins were further out of first (and the WC), further below .500, with fewer financial resources than the Yankees, and in a MUCH tougher division. I know where my vote's going.

Every minute counts!

2006-09-21T06:40:00.000-05:00

For just less than an hour yesterday, the Twins were tied for first place in the AL Central.

Then the Tigers won. :-(

But no matter, the Twins have taken 5 straight from the BoSox this season, and they look to take the entire season series with Santana on the mound tonight. But, I don't want to get too boastful, after all, the Twins did lose in his last start, and he is going against Beckett, a decent pitcher. But I'm still confident that we have as good a shot tonight as we've had the past two.

Road Trip

2006-09-20T08:55:00.000-05:00

Last night, I was heading to Bloomington-Normal, IL for a small road trip. On the way there, I started listening to "Three Nights in August" by Buzz Bissinger. Interesting book on CD. I really liked some of the stories about LaRussa and Dave Duncan and some of the plights of the Cardinals. However, on the way back (I left around 9 central time), I paused the CD to listen to another great radio program.

I was able to get the Twins on CCO again, and with luck they were still on and in the eighth inning. Hearing about Morneau's 5 hits was quite a pleasure. Now, Morneau is 5th on the leaderboard for average. Huh? That's right. He's the fifth best hitter in the AL. If he catches up to Jeter, will that help his chances for MVP?

When they reported the Sox-Tigers game score, 7-0 Chicago, I clapped and cheered, knowing the Twins were now only 1/2 game out. But then I thought about it. Now matter who was winning, I was going to cheer. If Chicago lost, that meant a 5 1/2 game lead over the Sox, and that would be very nice as well. But knowing that the team's only 1/2 game out of first place in the Central, especially considering where they were the first game after the All Star Break (12 games out), is something amazing.

I do hope the Tigers get in, it would be a shame for them to collapse and let the Sox in. The Tigers have played tremendously this season. But I want THEM to play the Yankees.

Oh, and I heard a little birdie say that the Twins would be on ESPN on Thursday. Santana vs Beckett. I may just have to traverse over to my mother's house (I don't have cable) to watch the game with another Twins fan.

Go Twins! and *shudder* go White Sox

How's that for a series?

2006-09-17T20:27:00.000-05:00

That was probably the most unexpected way to take a series from Cleveland, with the only loss coming on a Santana start. But I'll take it. What makes it even better is the fact that Chicago and Detroit play each other next week, while the Twins take on the BoSox. If the Twins can put together 2 or 3 wins, they can make up some great ground on their two competitors.

After this weekend, the Twins have moved 4 games in front of Chicago, the biggest lead they've had this season in the Wild Card race. They are also just one game out of the Central division lead, which is the closest they've been since opening day. Not only that, the Twins are playing excellent on the road, going 21-8 since the All-Star break. They have finally pulled to one game over .500 for the year. And they still have the best home record in the majors at 50-24.

By going four up on the White Sox, they have now put themselves in a position, where if they carry the same record for the next ten games as the Sox, the last three games will be rendered unnecessary. Although, it would be kind of nice to clinch against them, which they may get to do as far as the Central Division if they're still in the race with the Tigers.

As for Santana's loss, at first I was bummed, but now I figure that if he had to lose one down the stretch, that one was okay. Plus, Silva picked the team up on Saturday, and Baker today. The biggest worry about the Twins a month ago, the rotation, has been able to do a fine job and keep these guys in the race.

The offense is starting to produce again as well. They do have hiccups like Santana's game and the finale against the A's, but overall, it seems like they're getting more runs each game. However, they're still leaving a ton of guys on base and hitting into too many double plays. It's like they get things started, but just can't finish it off. I guess they need to take Mike Redmond's lead and "smell the RBI."

13 games left. I can't believe what this season has brought forth. In June, I was just hoping for them to get back to .500 by the break, they got to 8 games over. In July they caught the Sox and I was just happy that they were in the race for the Wild Card. Now they're a game behind Detroit and fighting for the division. Heck, they're even close enough for a shot at home field, and maybe even best record (thanks Pittsburgh!)

There's just one thing I don't want - another subway series. The Mets can be in it, fine. But keep the Yankees out. They haven't been the story this year. It's been the Twins and the Tigers. They deserve the spotlight. The Tigers would be the only team I would be okay with the Twins losing in the playoffs. The Yankees, while doing well, have obviously won thanks to the pickup of Abreu. People say it's Jeter, but things started to turn around when Abreu came to them. Just another example of them buying their way through the season, and I'm sick of it.

The Twins and Tigers have won mainly on young talent and teamwork. I want to see them battle it out in the ALCS, just like in 1987. And of course, like 1987, I want to see them win in 5. And like in 1987, I'd like to see them win the Series. And... just because I'm in St. Louis, I'd love for it to be against the Cardinals, so I wouldn't have to travel 500 miles to see a game in person.

This is the year to be a Twins fan!

Momentum killer

2006-09-14T06:37:00.000-05:00

Wow.... just.... wow.

For the last week, Twins fans everywhere were ripe with anticipation in seeing Francisco Liriano come back and pitch for this amazing team. Wednesday, the hype became reality as he finally took the mound.

But then the third inning came and like that, the hype, the anticipation, the dreams... shattered.

Francisco Liriano threw a pitch that popped something in his elbow and ended his 2006 season for good. And Twins fans everywhere are all thinking, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

But I am here to bring hope. The Twins won their previous 5 games WITHOUT Liriano. They also got to where they are now (1 1/2 games behind Detroit, 1 1/2 games in front of Chicago) without his help for the last month. Yes, Liriano helped immensely durring June and July, and I want to take nothing from that, but I mean to say that this team is not built around him alone.

The Twins have the best pitcher in the majors in Johan Santana. They have the best average in Joe Mauer. They have a genuine slugger in Justin Morneau. They have the best bullpen in the league, including a very reliable closer. They have Cuddyer who's having a career year. And they have the pirahnas who never quit. As wonderful as it would have been to have Liriano back, I'm okay with him sitting out to get healthy. This team has done amazing things when they've hit the rough patches.

When their veteran offseason pick-ups didn't work, the Twins went with the young talent, and it worked. When Liriano went down, Radke picked it up. When Radke went down, Bonser picked it up. When they won 19 of 20 and only gained a game and a half, that didn't stop them. They have overcome Chicago, they have beaten Detroit, and now Oakland, without needing Liriano.

There is something magical about this season. I feel it. Every one of the players have had something amazing happen. From Bartlett finally getting his chance, to Radke's playing through pain, Punto's amazing year at 3B, Cuddyer's outstanding year in RF, Mauer's run at the batting title, Morneau hitting 30 HR, Tyner playing near everyday, and last but not least, Santana pitching a normal season for him... which beats anyone else's best season.

This ain't over. Far from it.

Pure Momentum

2006-09-12T06:33:00.000-05:00

I think the Twins won last night on momentum alone.

I love it how Frank Thomas hits a home run in the fourth, thinkin' he's all that. Then angry Cuddyer (I'm calling him Hulk from now on) comes up in the fourth to answer with a two run shot. Beautiful. Hunter adds another solo shot in the 6th, and the Twins offense shows up again for a 9-4 win.

God Bless Silva. After pitching 6 shutout innings against TB, he took himself out of the game for the good of the team, except the bullpen just happened to blow it that night. I think Silva realized after that game that this team does need him, and that they believe in him more than he believes in himself. Last night, he throws 7 innings and gives up just that Thomas home run. Boy did Silva find the perfect time to get back on track.

I was thinking about the season this morning, and I realized something. Since the Tigers beat the Twins 33-1 in their first meeting in April, the Twins and Tigers split their games 8-8 the rest of the season. In fact, since the All-Star break and the Twins renaissance, the Twins actually went 6-4 against the Tigers. They have also gone 7-2 against the Sox. When it comes right down to it, the Twins got down early in the season agains the Central, but since then they have come on strong and come out swinging. But yet they've had trouble with the Royals (except for that four game sweep).

I'm curious to see how Guerrier does tonight in his first start of the season. I hope they can keep this momentum going. I REALLY wish I was off on Wed so I could watch Liriano pitch. But alas, I'll have to settle for Gameday.

It just keeps getting better

2006-09-09T21:18:00.000-05:00

It doesn't stop.

It just keeps going.

This season can't get any better, can it?

THREE games back of the Tigers. The same Tigers that earlier this season were unreachable. The same Tigers that lead by 11 games at the All-Star break. (and 12 the first day back). The same Tigers that beat the Twins 33-1 in a weekend series earlier this season. The same Tigers that were 9-2 against the Twins in their first 11 games.

It can't get any better.....until you realize that Santana is pitching tomorrow.

I'm gonna need a minute to breathe this in.

Tomorrow afternoon, the Twins very well could be TWO games out of the Central division lead.

Tonight, Boof pitches an excellent game even though the offense wasn't spectacular. But it was enough, and the Twins are guaranteed a split, but are likely going to get a win.

Oh, and Baker's not starting on Tuesday, Guerrier is!

Oh, and Liriano is scheduled to be back next week!

Man, I live for this!

Something Positive

2006-09-09T11:15:00.000-05:00

So, looking through my archives, I've realized that I've been posting mainly when something bad happens. Today I'm going to break that. I'm going to rave about last night's game. Mostly because I was actually able to listen to the Twins go ahead.

For a couple weeks now, the offense has been frustrating. Not many runs. Hits, yes, but no capitalization. Last night, down 4-2, Morneau comes through with a big double to tie the game. Then Hunter follows up with a single to take the lead. My wife laughs every time something good happens and I pump my fist in excitement. Then she explains to our children that "Daddy's team is winning."

I'm excited also because with Santana pitching on Sunday, I feel fairly confident that this team can at least split, if not win this series. And the further this season goes, while the Twins stay in the WC lead, the more exciting this whole race becomes. But again, it's just so unfortunate that one of the great AL Central teams will not make the playoffs. It's a shame because each one deserves to be there.

I'm looking forward to following another great game tonight. Hopefully the Twins can pull out a victory and have a good shot at a series win.

Visual Stimulation

2006-09-08T06:09:00.000-05:00

Living in St. Louis, it's rare that I get to actually see a Twins game on TV. Last night the Twins were on ESPN2, so I had a rare chance to see my team live.

But why did it have to be this game?

I've been saying for almost two weeks now that this offense is just frustrating to watch. I can think of no better term. Last night I watched Castillo get picked off, and double play after double play after we start off right by getting the leadoff man on. Then to make things worse, I see two big defensive blunders, both involving Cuddyer.

On the first one, a single was hit to Cuddyer with a man on first. Cuddyer, who had made a brilliant throw earlier to nail someone at third, tried to go for the runner at third again. Big mistake. The throw missed the cutoff man and the batter got an extra base out of it. Runners on 2nd and 3rd. An inning or two later, a dome double was hit. High into right center field, and no one called for it. That's the second time I've seen that happen, and remember, I don't get to watch the Twins often!

Finally, I have to make a comment about Rondell White. I know he's a veteran, and a nice guy, but get him the hell out of this lineup. I saw two at bats in particular last night, and I couldn't believe this guy has a major league contract. The first one in question was about the 6th or 7th. Rondell struck out on a ball at his chin! How does anyone think that a ball like that is a) a good pitch to try to hit or b) anywhere near the strike zone. I was in awe that he could swing at a pitch like that. In the 9th inning, he did it again, making a weak pathetic swing that resulted in a "fly" ball to shortstop. Rondell looks terrible out there. Now that we have Nevin, and expanded rosters, there is no reason for him to be in the lineup as much as he is. Let Tyner play LF, let someone with an average higher than .224 play DH. Either Nevin or somebody. Hell, now that we have a third catcher, put in Redmond at DH and have him bat seventh.

Didn't the Twins learn their lesson about lackluster veteran talent early in the season? Remember Batista? Castro? Rondell White? This team has always done better this season with the young guys in there. It's time to "stop the insanity" (thanks SBG) and cut this guy loose.

A radio broadcaster made a good poing about the Cardinals that relates to this. He mentioned that Tony LaRussa is too dependent on veteran players believing in what they've done in the past, and believing that that's enough reason to keep using them. Hence, why he keeps going to Isringhausen when he's had 10 blown saves. Rondell White is not the same player he once was. He's past his prime, and he's bringing this team down. The Twins are in a pennant race, and they cannot afford to depend on a player because he was good 5 years ago. They need to depend on players who can get it done now!

With that said, the Twins managed to stay ahead in the Wild Card race as the White Sox experience much of the same helplessness that the Twins did last night, losing to Cleveland 9-1. It's the first time since the All-Star Break that the Twins didn't immediately lose the WC in their first game home. They're still on the blasted pattern though of losing home games after taking a WC lead on the road. Hopefully that will stop tonight. All we need is one of the pitchers outside of Santana to get us a win. This will be the Twins last good opportunity to make something happen in the Central race itself. It's time to stop piddling around and play like the home team we should be.

Silva's not the only one with an upset stomach

2006-09-07T06:42:00.000-05:00

Twins fans everywhere are reeling after a hard loss to the Devil Rays on Wednesday night. Heading into "Take Me Out To The Ballgame," everything looked golden for the Twins. 2-0 lead. Silva goes 6 IP with no runs. Neshek comes in. 15th straight against TB looked imminent.

Then the moon went full.

Neshek gives up a couples of bombs, and hence, the lead. And the offense, which apparently fell asleep thinking all would be fine, never woke up. And the Twins, let a golden opportunity to come to within 3 games of the Central lead slip away. Now I'm concerned they're going to start on their streak of losing the wild card lead despite going ahead on the road.

The Twins have now had the wild card lead four times. Every single time, they've gone into the lead on the road. Every single time, they've come home and lost at least two games before getting it back together. And now we have Detroit at home, for four games. It happened in late July. Remember, we swept the Sox to tie for the lead (until the Yankees won that night). Then we headed home to play the Tigers, and we lost two straight, and barely won the third.

It's bad enough that the Twins are missing Liriano and Radke, but to start to lose the offense that they rode all year long, and now to have the bullpen hiccup, those are not good signs. The last thing this team needs now is for their good legs to start buckling.

But yet, I still feel good about this series with Detroit. Three months ago, I couldn't have imagined being this close at this point in the season. Their destiny lies before them, and no better time to make a statement, than this week in Detroit.

Go TWINS!

Bad and Worse

2006-09-05T12:34:00.000-05:00

Okay, the last week, the Twins have played like dirt. They've scored more than 3 runs only ONCE, and have gone 3-4 in their last 7. The offense looks shabby and Silva looks worse. Yet somehow, in those 7 games, the Twins are still in the same place, 1/2 game in front of the Sox.

So, how bad are the Sox playing? Well, both the Twins and Sox lost 2 of 3 to KC. Thank goodness, because I was about to go crazy after the Twins lost 2 of 3, so it didn't feel too bad that KC did the same thing to our rivals.

Now the Twins have a nice set against TB. While the Twins have had a rough time getting by KC, they have had no trouble against the Rays, winning their last 13 against them. If they keep it up, and Boston can get back into the groove against the Sox, the Twins might be able to get a little bit of a lead.

And even more important, this weekend, the Twins will have a great opportunity to play some catch-up with the Tigers, as the kitties come to town for four. And which lucky pitcher is going to miss the series? Silva. Shucky darn.

If the Twins are up by the time Liriano gets back, I foresee the Twins staying in front until the end. Keep it up boys!

A loss we can't afford

2006-08-30T05:05:00.000-05:00

Last night, I kept up with the Twins game pretty soundly on Gameday on mlb.com. I have to say I am very disappointed in this team from last night. We lose to KC 2-0, meanwhile, the White Sox win against Tampa 12-9 to go ahead in the WC by 1/2 a game.

This was a loss that the Twins couldn't really afford to have at this point in the season. With their bullpen on life support, the last thing this team needs is their offense to defibrilate. When one of their "shaky" starters goes 7.2 IP and gives up only 2ER, that should be enough to garner a win. But not last night. The Twins' bats were silent.

I got some criticism from ubelmann on SBG last night for complaining about the offense. Ubelmann was quick to point out that the Twins are 6th in the AL in offense. Now, granted, that's in the top half, but not nearly that impressive as I think he made it out to be. The fact is, last night was the 12th time the Twins have been shutout. They were only shutout 10 times last year.

While this offense has made great strides this year, I'm still noticing some games where they just can't get it together. Let's face it, Mauer is not where he was earlier. He's batting .353, which is much less than the .370/.380 he was putting up earlier. I think he's starting to wear down a bit. Morneau seems to be cooling a bit as well, with only 4 HR in August. Don't get me wrong, they're still having great seasons, but lately I'm not seeing it.

The other thing that gets me is that the Twins seem to be allergic to the Wild Card lead, or at least the offense is. They've had three relatively brief stints in the WC lead, and each has been followed by faltering offense. In July, after sweeping the White Sox to take a share of the WC lead (for a couple hours anyway, until the Yanks won that night), the Twins headed home to host the Tigers, and promptly lost the first two games. Granted, we did score runs, but we lost the first game 3-2, and the second game we couldn't get enough offense to overcome the Tigers, and we lost 8-6. Now these games weren't terribly offensively, but then we come to the second example.

In mid-August, the Twins took the last two games of a three-game series in Detroit. Afterward, we were 1/2 game up on the Sox. We then come home to host Toronto, a team that lost 10 of 14 before this series. The Twins rattle off a total of ONE run in the next three games. Meanwhile, the Sox sweep Detroit.

Now we see it again. After taking a 1.5 game lead over Chicago on Saturday, the Twins score a total of one run in the next two games, and subsequently lose their Wild Card lead, AGAIN. Worse, the Twins are losing these leads while they are at home, and the Twins have the best home record in baseball! You wouldn't know it by the second half though. The Twins are 4-3 in series at home since the All-Star break, while they are 6-0 on the road. 14-11 total at home, 15-4 total on the road.

It's getting to the point that I'd almost with the Twins stayed in WC contention, just so that they can play on the road more. That seems to be where they're winning.

Last night was a wasted opportunity. If the Twins are going to make the playoffs, they need to minimize the games they lose while having good pitching on the mound. Hopefully we can turn it around tonight and have a chance at a series win.

Preparing for the worst

2006-08-29T12:21:00.000-05:00

The worst team in the American League, of course :-). The Kansas City Royals are headed to Minnesota for a quick three game series. Twins are flying in and out for this series, which is surrounded by 12 road games. It's almost as if the Twins are on a 15 game road trip.

The Twins should sweep this series. They need to. After all, the Sox are playing Tampa Bay, so any losses the Twins incur may drag 'em down a bit. On the other hand, the Yankees are playing Detroit, so that could turn out very well for the Twins. Hard to believe I'm actually hoping the Yankees win, but at this point, I've already conceded that they'll take the East, and that the Twins will likely play them in the first round. However, that doesn't have to happen if the Yankees can snipe the Tigers.

Then of course, the Yankees are going to play gracious hosts to the Twins this weekend. I wish that series could get some coverage. Unfortunately, the way the rotation is going, it looks as if Santana will either miss the Yankees or the Tigers. He's scheduled for Thursday, but if they put him of until Friday, that would mean he would completely miss the Tigers. Not sure where I want him more.

Anyway, looking forward to another good week. 5 weeks left. 33 games.

Can ya feel it?

2006-08-26T09:46:00.000-05:00

This season just keeps getting better.

Last night, after 5 innings of shutout ball, I was about ready to kill the Twins. They couldn't get anything going. It was ridiculous, the Twins were making Vazquez look like an Ace. I was tired of the sputtering offense that always seemed to get worse when behind.

So I voiced my frustrations on Stick and Ball Guy. And lo and behold, right afterward, Punto hit his first homer of the year. Good start.

I then posted another one urging the Twins to keep on going. Boom! Hunter goes yard, gives the Twins the lead.

After taking a little time to rub my wife's feet, I come back down to see the Twins and Sox still tied going into the 9th. So, I make another post on Stick and Ball Guy, telling the Twins to finish off the Sox. Five minutes later, Bartlett gets his RBI single.

I feel like I have some kind of mysterious power! And I had witnesses!

So with that, I now urge the Twins to win each and every single game left in the season. I'll even go on SBG's site to make sure it happens. Hey, superstition runs think in baseball. I must do what is right for the team!

On another note, we are FIVE back in the division. You can count that on one hand. Most teams look at that as impossible to overcome in just a month, but for some strange reason, I KNOW the Twins can pull it off. Even without Liriano.

It just keeps getting better!

The break we need!

2006-08-23T21:48:00.000-05:00

Jim Thome injured.

Now, I feel bad for the guy. I don't want to see anyone injured. But as a Twins fan, and in the whole logistics of it all, this is huge for the Twins. That bat is going to be missed about as much as Liriano's arm. I can think of no better opportunity than for the Twins to really turn up the heat now.

A little bit closer (week in review)

2006-08-21T06:46:00.000-05:00

After coming up short for my prediction last week, the Twins met this week's prediction spot on. Not only taking 4 of 6 overall, but winning both series. They also got closer to Chicago in the process, now only one game out.

The sad thing is, the two games they lost should have gone much better. First, Garza pitched a great deal better than his first start, limiting the Indians to only 3 runs in 5 innings, giving the Twins a much better chance of striking back. But Byrd was too good, and too efficient, and the Twins could only muster up one more run in the late innings.

Then, on Saturday, a game I was able to watch for a couple innings, the Twins let errors get the best of them. They simply gave the White Sox too many outs. Not only did the errors put the Twins in an early hole (2-0), but a lot of times, errors on the field can evolve to frustrations at bat. Therefore the Twins wasted a good pitching performance from Radke, and lost 4-1.

But despite all that, the Twins are now only one game out of the Wildcard again. Also, Detroit's been on a downturn, allowing the Twins to creep up to 6.5 out of the division lead, closer than they've been in months. However, I hope Detroit doesn't fall too far, because I'd rather have the Tigers in the postseason, than the White Sox.

I'll finish with news that Francisco Liriano is going to start throwing on flat ground on Tuesday. It still looks like it'll be a while before he starts pitching in games, but it's a start, and boy would he be valuable to have if we get to the postseason. That is, a healthy Liriano.

Way to start a tough series!

2006-08-19T14:20:00.000-05:00

Well, so far so good. The Twins are proving my initial "bad feeling" wrong for the first game. I hope they continue to do so.

As many have said, this was supposed to be the game to lose. With Bonser on the mound, our chances were much lower than normal. With Radke and Santana going the next two days, I feel like our chances are even better. Just gotta keep that offense going.

And hooray to Hunter for getting the lead back on that line drive homer!

I have a bad feeling about this.

2006-08-18T15:52:00.000-05:00

I don't know what it is, but I have a bad feeling about this weekend's series with Chicago. I have a feeling that Twins fans are not going to be pleased. I think it could be the weekend that kills our playoff hopes.

Don't get me wrong, I hope Mauer and company prove me dead wrong, but just something is looming over me right now that tells me that something bad is going to happen. I hope it's not that they run into an ambush with the Millenium Falcon while trying to destroy the death star.

Missed Opportunity

2006-08-17T15:37:00.000-05:00

After two fantastic nights, the Twins let a hard loss in on Wednesday afternoon. Going into the game, I figured the Twins would end up 2 games back of the Sox. I figured this because I couldn’t believe that the White Sox could lose 3 straight to the Royals, and with Garza on the mound, I didn’t want to get my hopes up.

However, the problem wasn’t Garza, as he pitched fair, going 5 innings and giving up on 3 runs. The bullpen even did well, keeping the Twins in the game and not giving up any more runs. However, the offense couldn’t capitalize, and we couldn’t stage a good enough rally. We almost had another prolific 8th, but starting the inning with two outs didn’t help.

I think two things are evident after Garza’s second start. First, he’s no Liriano. Second, he needs more work. The Twins have shown that they know how to manage good young pitching talent in the success that has occurred with Santana and Liriano (sans injury). I think the same approach should have been used with Garza. But I understand that this season didn’t go quite as planned, and who could have predicted Baker and Bonser blowing up right after giving up Lohse.

Next season I hope they keep Garza in AAA for a while. And I also hope that if Liriano does come back this season, that he takes Garza’s spot in the rotation and leave Garza to either start in AAA or throw out of the bullpen after September callups.

All in all, I think we have a great chance this weekend against Chicago. This is a big opportunity for them to show how good they are. A win from Bonser will help immensely as Radke and Santana will follow. Every win counts right now.

Ups and downs (prediction review)

2006-08-13T20:38:00.000-05:00

This week started with a large disappointment. Liriano loses a game against Detroit, but also ends up with an injury that might end up costing him the season (and rookie of the year, and Cy Young, but that's not important right now.) The Twins end up losing the opener and it appears that more misery may be coming from Detroit.

Despite the bad news about the "F-Bomb," Brad Radke comes in and gives the Twins a shot, and pitches brilliantly through pain, and the Twins win 4-2. Then Santana, despite a mistake in the 7th, pitches another beauty. Morneau gets him out of a jam with a 2 run blast that counts for his 30th homerun and 100th and 101st RBI. Not to mention, for a day, the Twins are your wildcard leader.

We leave Detroit and head home, with the best home record in baseball. We host Toronto, and the first game starts out well. However, Silva can't hold 'em forever, and the bats never find the ball at the right time.

Next day Garza comes in, hopes abound, but quickly crumble as he gives up 7 runs in 2 2/3 innings. Twins manage to score one run, but it's too little too late, and the Twins lose 2 straight. Offensive woes continue despite a much better start for Bonser, and the Twins get shutout for the second time in three days.

But then our old friend Radke comes in and changes the momentum again. Twins salvage the last one 5-0.

I set the standard at 4-3 this week, thinking it was low. The Twins managed to go 3-4, and certainly in a way I didn't expect. They beat the best team in the league, but then drop 3 to a future also-ran, who's race in the Wildcard resembles the Twins view in the Central. It's too bad, because Chicago swept the Tigers, and we coulda been holding pace while gaining ground on the division leader. Instead, we end 2 1/2 back of the Sox, and still 8 back of the Tigers.

This week, we're playing 6 with the Indians and Sox. I'm going with the easy button. The Twins MUST win 4 of 6. They have to take the two series. I'll allow them a loss in each, but they can't keep losing at home. That needs to stop now. Just when the find their wood on the road, they can't do it at home. After losing one home series all year for the first 3 3/4 months, the Twins drop 3 straight. 4-2. That's where we need to be. Now, let's get to work!

Right after the off day.

BIG victory

2006-08-10T06:27:00.000-05:00

Last night was perhaps the biggest victory for the Twins this season. At least it was the most eventful night all year.

Morneau hit his 30th homerun of the season. Doesn't sound like a big deal when you think about what Bonds and McGwire accomplished. But the Twins haven't had a 30 homerun guy in 19 years. That's big for this team. He also got RBI #100 and #101.

The homerun came at the right time. Down 3-2 in the eighth, with Detroit reliever Joel Zumaya in to help close the door, Morneau tackles a fastball and puts it away. Big hit off a big pitcher!

The homerun helped us win the game, and the series. Against the best team in baseball. On the road. In fact the Twins are now 11-2 on the road since the All-Star Break. Oh, and all those games were against division opponents. (2-1 @ Cleveland, sweep of the Sox, sweep of the Royals, and this fine victory).

The victory also helped push the Twins into sole possession of the Wild Card lead. Pretty impressive considering a month ago they were 9 games out of the race.

Call me crazy, but that homerun means more than just the Twins' first 30 homer guy in 19 years, it means that despite losing Liriano to the DL, this team is not done yet and they are not going to get down on themselves for one moment. It seems that every time this team encounters a setback, they answer with more heart.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. This is the most fun I have ever had following the Twins. This season is nothing short of awesome.

It CAN be done!

2006-08-08T21:13:00.000-05:00

Holy cow. The Twins can win in Detroit! 4-2 victory. 7 great innings by Radke. Rincon and Nathan come in to close it out. A nice insurance run in the 9th. Wow. And this with the news of Liriano going on the DL. But then again, maybe the news that Garza was coming up gave the guys a little more hope. This season ain't over yet! 50 more games to go. We're in the homestretch. Time to get Francisco rested and ready to go for the finish line.

Go Twins!

Well, that sucked

2006-08-07T21:46:00.000-05:00

I thought we'd have a little momentum going into this series with Detroit, but obviously that's not the case. Detroit takes the season series with a sure-handed victory against the Twins. Everytime we play these guys it's like we can't stop the bleeding long enough to start our own rally. Just as we get close (2-1, 4-3) they come out and beat our pitching. Francisco wasn't doing it, and neither was anyone else in the bullpen. The result, a lopsided 9-3 loss that looked good about halfway through (where I was sitting, behind my computer), but in the end was nothing but another miserable loss at the hand of the best team in baseball.

Oh well... we can still take 2 of three... right.... right?

Prediction for week of 8/7 - 8/13

2006-08-07T06:02:00.000-05:00

This is going to be a tough week. 3 at Detroit, followed by 4 games at home hosting Toronto. I've been going back and forth with this. I'm definately going to set the bar above .500 (because the Twins CAN do it). It's just a matter of how high.

For this week, since we're playing a tough Tigers team, I'm going to predict a one game salvage like the home series. I hate to do it, but I'm trying to be realistic. I think the Twins can take two, especially with their current road streak. But the Twins were doing well at home before the Tigers came along too.

For Toronto, it's another tough guess. If it was only 3 at home, I'd easily pick 2 out of 3. But with four, that extra game can throw a wrench in it. Split, or 3 of 4? I'm going to say 3 of 4, just because we're at home and Toronto is starting to slip a bit (lost last 4 series).

Total prediction 4-3. Now c'mon guys, prove me wrong and hit higher than that!

Prediction review

2006-08-07T05:58:00.000-05:00

The Twins need to go 5-2. That's the bar I'm setting. (from my 7/31 post)

After the first series, I wasn't sure the Twins would be able to pull it off. Then they scored 41 runs against KC to prove me wrong. Way to go boys! That also put the Twins within 1/2 game of the Wild Card. But... still 52 games to go. A full deck still ahead of us.

Week in review

2006-08-05T20:35:00.000-05:00

The week started out nice. Then our own Killer "B's" brought us down to earth. Now against the Royals we're looking like the June/July wonders again. I'm tired of the roller coaster, I just want to sit at the top of the hill and enjoy the view.

Games like Monday's, Thursday's and tonight's are nice. Ya know, the Twins get off to a nice start and it takes the pressure of the pitcher (which usually helps. Silva both Monday and tonight.) However, Tuesday and Friday, we had to really battle. We struggled to get going. I still can't believe Santana gave up four runs?

What got our team back into this race was our pitching. And as long as Silva is carrying us (did I just say that), hopefully we can get back into the groove with our lefties. This season ain't over yet, and the Yankees, White Sox, Red Sox and Tigers are still winning.

Side note, the first thing I noticed when checking tonight's game online, was that we had 11 runs and 9 hits (fewer hits than runs?). Then I noticed the walk count. Holy cow! 12 walks! And thanks to SBG comment board for noticing, none for Hunter. (Dude, take a pitch).

Welcome back Hunter!

2006-07-31T22:13:00.000-05:00

Okay, here's my plan. Take a struggling outfielder, put him on DL, and then when he comes back... BOOM! Hey, it's worked so far.

On another note, where was all that offense this past weekend? We coulda used some of that!

Punto is quickly becoming my new favorite Twin.

And yea! Tigers lost. Boo... Sox won. Both of 'em. (Gotta start watching everyone now).

And another 8 game winning streak begins.

The Week ahead (7/31-8/6)

2006-07-31T12:24:00.000-05:00

So, this week we get a bit of deja vu with a couple series against Texas and Kansas City, the two teams that schooled us just before the All-Star break. I have mixed feelings.

The Detroit series really humbled the team. After doing so well to start the second half (not that 13-4 is anything bad), the Twins lost 2 of 3 to the Tigers. I really felt that we could do better considering our performance against Chicago. But alas, it was not to be.

Now we get a Texas team (with the added bonus of Carlos Lee) fighting in its own playoff chase, and a weak KC team with nothing to lose. Both teams should be easy prey for the Twins, but as we saw earlier this month, they can be just as dangerous as Detroit.

To make matters worse, Detroit gets Cleveland and Tampa Bay, and Chicago gets KC and Toronto (at least Tornoto is in a race). New York also gets Toronto and a series with Baltimore. (Great, now I have to start worrying about what the Yankees do). Pretty soon, I'm sure I'll be following Boston more closely!

The Twins need to go 5-2. That's the bar I'm setting. They usually out play my predictions. However, the chances of the other teams letting us catch up does not look good. So, we need to keep pace. I said before the Cleveland series that the Twins would be well to go 5-4. They went 6-3, so they did well in the grand scheme of things. Now let's see if they can catch up for what they lost on the Detroit series.

Bummer

2006-07-29T11:16:00.000-05:00

Going into this series, I figured it was going to be a tough one. I think of Detroit very differently than Chicago. The White Sox are defending champs, but right now they're a little out of their element. They're struggling, and I think it has to do with the fact that right now, they don't "get it". I can't think of a better way to describe it. I think they greatly underestimated the Twins this week, and it showed. The Twins came away with a sweep.

Detroit however, did not take this team so lightly. They came in, played hard, kept pace with the Twins for 9 innings (or rather, we kept pace with them), then beat our great bullpen. I can't complain. They played great, both teams. What's scary is that Detroit was able to beat our best. Our best starter (arguably). Our great bullpen, at home.

I have a lot of respect for Detroit. I don't I have as much for Chicago. I think that has to do with the managers.

I highly respect Leyland. Guillen has lost a little bit this year with his antics. Don't get me wrong, the White Sox are a good team, and I respect their talent, but I think they've lost some since last year.

If the Twins can't go all the way, I certainly hope Detroit does. They remind me a lot of the Twins the past 5 years. Besides, it would be great to see a team come from nowhere to win, especially over teams like the Red Sox, White Sox and Yankees.

I think the rest of this series is going to be very similar to the first game. Close games, possibly extra innings. I look forward to the challenge, and I hope the Twins can come back and take the next two.

That's THREE!

2006-07-26T23:12:00.000-05:00

Holy smelly footwear Batman! The Twins just won 3 straight on the road against the World Champs!

Before this 9 game stretch against CLE-CWS-DET, I was thinking to myself, "Just get over .500, and we're still in this thing." They've just clinched .500, and now they can go for gravy. They've been doing that since June.

With one more game against the Bo Sox, I thought "If the Twins can just get to .500, that would be nice. I calculated it, they had to go 13-9 at that point. They went 17-5. I hoped that they would have taken 3 of 4 against the Tribe and Rays. They 1-uped me again.

After they won Tuesday's thriller, I started thinking, "Wow, that was a great game. We won the series at least." I fully expected a loss with Silva vs. Buerhle.

But then I thought, "Why can't we win? Why can't we sweep?" Screw the pitching matchup, it's not like Mauer and Morneau pay attention to the trend that Lefties don't hit lefties well.

Now I'm to the point where I'm going back and forth thinking we can get 2 out of 3 against Detroit, vs winning the whole damn series.

Why can't we? We've got our top 3 pitchers going out there. Our offense is doing well. We're at home. We beat Detroit 2 of 3 last time we played them at home, when we were bad. And besides that, we won with Silva on the mound, on the road, against the World Champs, and their best pitcher.

So why can't we seep them kitties? Huh? Why can't we?!

P.S. Leave it to the freakin' Yankees to let us do all the work while they take over the Wildcard lead! They don't know what they're getting into!

That's two!

2006-07-26T08:11:00.000-05:00

Last night I’m leaving Chuck E Cheese at about 9:40, so I flip on 830 to see if I can catch the Twins game (I live in St. Louis, MO). Sure enough, it’s on, clear as crystal. I hear cheering in the background. John Gordon mentions something about the Twins wishing White were not in LF because if a ball is hit out there, his arm is likely not good enough to throw out a runner at home. (Okay, that means it’s close anyway, but what’s the score?)

Gordon comments that Nathan winds up for the pitch. (Okay, Nathan is in, it’s near the end of the game, and it’s close, but what’s the darn score?) Is it tied, are we in the lead, I don’t know! Someone help me!

A.J. is up. He hits a fly ball to left field… Cuddyer coming on… still coming on…he catches it! Gordon says there’s two outs. Tying run on second, winning run on first (YES we’re winning). We pull into Wal-Mart, my wife gets out and takes my son with her so that he can go potty (he’s 3). My daughter sees them leave and starts to cry (she’s 1). I’m focused solely on the game on the radio. “I’ll see you inside honey, I’ll only be a minute.”

Cintron is up. Gordon reminds us of Bartlett’s homer that put the Twins up 4-1. Crede hit a two-run shot in the bottom of the seventh to make it a one run game. Strike one. Daughter is still sad, but getting over it. Foul ball. 0-2. Wife is probably halfway through the store now. Ball one… way high. Mauer had to leap to get that one. I’m tapping the steering wheel in excitement and anticipation. Ball two in the dirt. Come on… just one more strike. Close it out Joe! Here’s the pitch. Ground ball to Bartlett, and this one is over!
YES! (maybe a little too loudly) My daughter and I head on in to meet mommy and brother, singing “We’re gonna win Twins” in the parking lot on the way in. Absolutely awesome. Twins win game, win series. One game out of wild card. 4-1 on road trip (so far). Again, absolutely awesome!

That's one

2006-07-25T12:13:00.000-05:00

Ah, what a relief it was to see the Twins up 3-2 after I had left the computer saying White Sox 2, Twins 0. Then, to see that Mauer hit a 3-run blast to dead center field... priceless. Granted, it doesn't feel quite the same watching on the ESPN gamecast as it would seeing it live, but I'll take what I can get.

Radke had another great outing. 6 IP 2 ER. The 3-4-5 hitters performed to their best. And Jason Tyner... boy did he pick a great time to get hot. That's how you start a series! I'm glad we got to play the Sox when they decided to go slumping.

So far 3-1 on the road trip. 32-8 in their last 40 games. That's an .800 winning percentage for 1/4 of the season. That's huge. Too bad the freakin Tigers are matching us. Now the Twins now how everyone else in the PGA feels going against Tiger. Something about the name... maybe that means the Bengals will have a good season?

Next 9

2006-07-21T07:33:00.000-05:00

The next 9 games are going to be crucial for the Twins. 3 @ Cleveland, 3 @ Chicago, 3 against Detroit at home. The next 9 games are going to set the table for the rest of the season.

Cleveland by itself isn't a big deal, but rather it's the fact that it's on the road that worries me. In the Twins 3 big winning streaks lately, which combine for a total of 26 wins, realize that only 6 of them were on the road. Everything else was a win at home. Not to take anything away from their streaks, but one of the big places the Twins have struggled this year is on the road. In fact, save the Royals, the Twins have not defeated a division opponent on the road.

If the Twins want to prove their worth in this division, they need to go .500 or better on this road trip. In 1987 they were able to skip by with a winning record at home despite losing so much on the road. But this ain't 1987 (save the Tigers actually playing well). The Twins ain't gonna get by with this road record, and they certainly are not going to catch up to the Sox.

Speaking of which... 4 games. The Twins are only 4 games out of the Wild card. Despite going on a 20 game stretch making up no ground in June, the Twins have gained 5 games on the Sox in just over a week. If they keep struggling, the Twins might be able to make significant ground next week.

Now is the time. The Twins have not played a more important stretch than the next 9 games. They still have 68 games to play, but these first 9 are going to indicate which way the Twins are truly heading.

On one hand...

2006-07-20T07:51:00.000-05:00

That's how close we are to the White Sox. We can count on one hand how close we are. Thank you whoever makes the schedule for letting us play Tampa while Detroit and Chicago beat up on each other. The Twins win their 6th in a row and we get to finish the series with Santana. With luck, we could get even closer to the White Sox.

I have no illusions though. We are heading for a road stretch that could hurt us as much as the last week has helped us. Just before the All-Star break, the Twins showed their weakness on the road. Now, playing Cleveland I'm not as concerned, but that White Sox series could really be scary. Consider this: Liriano won't be starting in that series. Luckily, Radke and Santana will.

On the other hand...

Recent news about Shea Hillenbrand has produced some chatter about the Twins possibly seeking a trade for the 3B/1B/DH. The Twins could use a good solid power bat at 3B or DH, and he certainly isn't that far out of our price range. However, I think this would be a bad idea.

First of all, the reason the Blue Jays designated him for assignment is a red flag. If the guy takes offense to the front office not congratulating him for his adoption, I gotta wonder about his attitude. Now, I can understand his ire for the manager calling him out in a team meeting, but the whole situation makes me feel uncomfortable about him possibly disrupting our clubhouse.

Second, Nick Punto is doing a great job filling in at 3B. His hustle and heart has helped boost this team up in the standings. He's part of this team's success, and I would not want to mess that up by giving Hillenbrand the position that has helped Punto fit in. Granted, Punto doesn't produce for power, but so what! He's still hitting and getting on base. Could he do it from Center Field? Left Field? Perhaps. But remember what happened when Cuddyer got messed around. He found a niche in RF. Punto has found a niche at 3B. Keep him there.

The only way I would possibly accept the trade is if Shea would agree to DH for most of the time. And that was a complaint he had in Toronto. The Twins are doing quite well right now. Hillenbrand might benefit from a change of scenery, and he might be able to bring even more punch to this lineup, but I can't get around the red flag of just how he got into his position with Toronto in the first place. I would hate to see this team lose because of a cancer in the clubhouse.

Knock Knock Knock

2006-07-17T12:25:00.000-05:00

Hear that? That's opportunity knocking. Why do I bring that up now?

Because no matter what, there is a guarantee that the combined records of the Sox and Tigers this week will be 3-3. That's right, they are playing each other. So one of them is guaranteed to lose. This presents a nice opportunity for the Twins to sweep right in and make some ground.

It's the first time that any of the three teams have played each other since early June. And since then, things have gotten more interesting in the AL Central.

What punctuates this opportunity even more is the fact that the Twins are playing the joke of the AL East, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Granted, they're getting better, but they're still holding down the basement, with the Orioles close by. There is no reason the Twins shouldn't gain 2.5 games on the Tigers and White Sox in some combined fashion.

So who do we cheer for? Do we cheer for the White Sox to bring the division a little closer, or do we concede the division and cheer for the Tigers to punish the WC leaders. Personally, I'd like a little of both. How about the White Sox win 2-1. That way we make up a game on them and 2 on the Tigers.

Of course, this also means that we have to actually win against the Devil Rays, despite our outfield in total disarray. But if we can do it to the Indians, there's no reason why we can't do it to the DRays, especially when we have Liriano, Radke and Santana all going. But then again, this is the same team that lost 2 to the Royals and Rangers just before the break. Thank goodness we're home this time!

Review

2006-07-17T12:15:00.000-05:00

Okay, it's been a week, let's review.

The Twins dropped the finale @ Texas with Santana on the mound. Liriano loses to A.J. in the fan poll for the last All-Star spot. Then he's in the game when Contreras drops out. Then he goes but never gets in the game. The travel then makes him lose his first game in like a month. Then the Twins come back and take the last three from Cleveland. Oh, but at the expense of the outfield. Overall, we're still 11 back of the Tigers, but only 6.5 back of the Sox (Thanks Yanks!)

And if the Twins just happen to maybe, possibly make the playoffs, they'll have homefield in the WS. Thanks Rangers! Note to AL manager next year, pick lots and lots of Rangers. They have the clutch hitting in the All-Star game.

TGIL

2006-07-09T07:46:00.000-05:00

Thank God it's Liriano!

That was just what this team needed. Some good pitching. For the last three games, I was beginning to wonder which team we had. They certainly lost something on the mound there for a while. But Liriano did not follow suit with the decline of Radke, Bonser and Silva. He showed that he is as consistent as he seems. Wouldn't that be something if he kept this up all season. I'm still afraid he might peter out toward the end. But let's hope not.

Bad news, Detroit won again. Still 11 out. Good news, Chicago's gettin' schooled by Boston, so were only 8 out of the Wild Card. Hopefully with Santana on the mound, we can get one more before break. Go Twins, Go Seattle, and Go Boston.

What the...

2006-07-06T12:02:00.000-05:00

Did the Royals and Twins switch uniforms? Are the Twins taking their All-Star break a week early? What was that display on Wednesday, it sure wasn't the same team that I've been keepint up with the last 3 weeks of June. They looked more like the Twins of April and May. Give me back my Twins!

Okay, let's take a step back. In the grand scheme of things, it's not that bad. Detroit also lost 2 of 3, so the Twins stayed even in that race through the series. The White Sox gained a game, but that can change with today's game against Baltimore. So when looking at a series aspect, the Twins are not in that bad of shape.

However, they missed a grand opportunity, which is something that has plagued them all year long. Detroit lost 2 of 3, but they did so against Oakland, which is a very respectable team. Meanwhile, the Twins were playing KANSAS CITY, a team they should have been able to sweep, or at least 2 of 3. Heck, they had trouble winning the game Santana started. In a situation where the top team is playing a good team, and you're playing a bad one, there should be no qualms that you should gain some ground in that time. The Twins failed to do that, and it's going to cost them.

Momentum is everything. It might have been different if the wins and losses were better aligned, but the fact is that the Twins, before yesterday, had a 9 game deficit, now it's back to 10. That's backward progress. It kills the momentum. Look what happened back in May against the Sox and Tigers. The Twins had their momentum killed by the Sox and lost 4 more games as a result. I just hope they don't get cold with their trip to Texas.

I wanted the Twins to go 7-2 for the last 9 games before the break. Now I'm just hoping they stay above .500. I don't have a good feeling about the next series against Texas. Sure we have Santana and Liriano going, but they can they be as effective, while the offense gets back into their groove? Or are they all going to take vactation early like they did in 2003?

In 2003 they stumbled into the break losing their last 8 games. They were 5 games under .500 and 7.5 back of first. The difference this year is that they are no longer trailing a weak Kansas City team, but very strong Tigers and White Sox teams. They cannot afford to just stay even on a series with KC. Because guess what, in August and September, the Tigers and Sox are going to take their series with KC while we're facing the Yanks and Red Sox.

It's a long road, and June made me a believe again. But the way July is starting off, I'm starting to wonder if everything was just an illusion. Or a flash.

All good things...

2006-07-05T12:16:00.000-05:00

Wow. Just wow. Eleven games, which was preceded by a loss, and then eight more games. 19 of 20. Just wow.

All good things must come to an end. But of course, I refer to the streak, not the season. Yes, it was unfortunate, but we all knew that it had to be eventually. At least it was on a day the Tigers lost too.

Now they don't have the expectation anymore. Who knows, maybe they'll go on another 8 game streak, or better yet, a 14 game streak! (3 more each time?). They still have one more with KC, then they go to Texas. After the break, they start with Cleveland and Tampa Bay.

The important thing to remember is that the Twins are 9 games out, which is better than just a few days ago. If you take things series by series, the Twins are still in good shape. While the Twins play Tampa, Detroit and Chicago can beat up on each other all day long. Then we'll get the leftovers at the end of the month!

My goal for them was to go 7-2 in the last week and a half. So far they are 4-1. Win tonight, then 2 out of 3 in Texas, and they're in good shape. And they can do it, too. They'll finish the series with Liriano and Santana.

They're just teasing us now

2006-07-04T09:19:00.000-05:00

Wow, after the Twins went down 5-3 last night, I thought that was it. Ironically, that was the same score as their last loss. I knew it was Kansas City, but I also knew that they were due. (But still... Kansas City?)

Then lo and behold, they pull out another one from their *censored*. I think the players asked Santana to blow one so that they could have a challenge. This team surprises me every single day. They can win blowouts, they can win close ones. They're never out of it. It's quite amazing right now. This is the best I have EVER seen this team play. This beats the 02-04 era. This even beats the 91 streak of 15 games. They are just that amazing right now.

On another fantastic note. The Tigers and White Sox BOTH lost last night, which means for the first time in probably a month, the Twins gained ground on both reaces. They are now 6.5 out of the wild card and 9 out of the division. It ain't over til it's over!

Welcome back Stewart!

2006-07-02T20:24:00.000-05:00

In a couple other blogs I commented on how the Twins should shop around Shannon Stewart for a possible trade this July, especially for a good third baseman. After his return on Saturday, I completely retract that thought.

Stewart went 4-4 with a walk in the 8th to take the lead. He even got an RBI double on Sunday in the Twins 8-0 victory to sweep the Brewers.

I originally thought that we really didn't need Stewart since we did so well without him in the lineup. Now I'm taking the attitude that Stewarts return is essentially picking up a bat from another team before the trading deadline, only we haven't had to give up anything for him (except maybe Rondell White).

If the Twins won 16 of 17 without Stewart, imagine what they can do now that he's back! Especially if he hits like he did on Saturday! He's the perfect answer for the Twins DH! Regarding 3B, I think we're doing just fine with Punto and Tiffee.

Also of note: The Tigers and White Sox were kind enough to lose one game this weekend, giving the Twins a slight bump in the standings, more than they had received the last 2.5 weeks! It should only get better. Chicago has Boston and Baltimore next, and the Tigers have Oakland and Seattle. I'm still hoping for another couple games before the All-Star Break.

A little help here please!

2006-07-01T17:33:00.000-05:00

So, while I was playing a little MVP Baseball 2005 on my PS2, I was checking in with the Cubs White Sox game. I started really watching when the Cubs were just one out from winning it. They walked Dye and brought up A.J. I liked A.J. when he was with the Twins, but I'm slowly starting to loathe him with the same fervor as the rest of the league.

A.J. does his impression of Jim Thome by blasting a 1-1 pitch over the right field fence, giving the Sox an 8-6 win. Another Sox win. Can SOMEBODY in the NL help us out?

The Cubs kept choking throughout the game. It started with Thome, and I think Konerko tied it on a HR. No wonder they kept chucking cubs on the field. If I were a Cubs fan, I'd be just as mad.

Anyway, looking forward to following the Twins on GameCast or some other Internet site. Let's get number NINE!

Short term outlook

2006-06-30T12:11:00.000-05:00

Going into this weekend, the Twins are 11 back of Detroit, and 2.5 back of Chicago. Only a week and a half before the all star game, and each will face 3 opponents before their vacation. 9 games for the Twins and Tigers, 10 for the Sox.

Series 1: 6/30-7/2

Brewers @ Twins, White Sox @ Cubs, Detroit @ Pittsburgh.

This is a cruel joke. Minus Houston, the central teams are facing off against each other... in the exact opposite order of each other. This has allowed the Cardinals to play the Royals and Detroit to play Pittsburgh. For the Twins to catch up, they're at a major disadvantage, because the Sox and Tigers are playing weak teams, both of whom were swept mightily by the Twins.

Tough battle for sure, but at least the Twins will have Liriano for the finally. And Pittsburgh is coming off that big victory against the Sox. Let's hope some momentum will carry over!

Series 2: 7/3-7/6

Twins @ Royals, Orioles @ White Sox, Tigers @ Oakland

That's more like it. Granted, Baltimore's not great, but the Tigers on the road against Oakland ought to be a good challenge. And the Twins get the Royals. The worst team in the majors. Not a bad way to bring up that road record.

Series 3: 7/7-7/9

Twins @ Rangers, Red Sox @ White Sox, Tigers @ Mariners

Another weekend of opportunity. The Red Sox are hot, let's hope they take a bite out of the White Sox (I'll call this series "laundry weekend"). And the Tigers will be on the road against a team that has won their last 5. Rangers have lost their last 5. Let's hope they keep it up.

Overall, it would be nice for the Twins to pick up some games. The first weekend might be a challenge, since they're unlikely to pick up any games, but as long as they keep steady, they'll have a golden opportunity to capture some in the last week. I predict that the Twins will need to go 7-2 to really keep up the pace. That's asking a lot, I realize, but considering their last 20 games, it's actually quite pessimistic. Ideally, the Twins will be in single digits for games behind by the All-Star Break.

2006-06-29T07:54:00.000-05:00

This is an imaginary conversation between Joe Nathan and Juan Rincon.
Juan:*hangs up bullpen phone* Well, Gardy told me to start warming up.
Joe: Hey, Boo, can I talk to you for a minute?
Juan: Sure, man, what's up?
Joe: Listen, I know this is a tough thing to ask, but I was wondering if you could do me a favor.
Juan: Sure, anything.
Joe: Now, it might hurt a little...
Juan: Joe, what ever it is, tell me.
Joe: Well, I haven't pitched since Saturday, because we've been winning by so many gosh-darn runs. I'm starting to feel rusty, and with tomorrow's off day and all....
Juan: Joe, don't worry, I got ya covered.

*Juan goes in and gives up a 3RBI double to Saenz*

Joe (from bullpen): Thanks Juan!

Nothin' like gettin' a little help from your friends. :-)

Turning Point

2006-06-28T05:13:00.000-05:00

Many have noticed that the Twins have turned their season around 180 degrees. But many aren't mentioning the biggest turning point in the season. Perhaps the biggest brick wall the Twins have faced all year. The weekend of May 12-15

Let me set the table, the Twins were 15-19, the White Sox 23-10 (Detroit 21-13). Twins were 8 1/2 back at this point, and had an opportunity to do some catching up against their rivals. The Twins opened up with Santana, and boy did they open up, winning the game 10-1. Next came Bradke, and an 8-4 win. At this point, we were 6 1/2 back, and closing in. We had the momentum, we had the drive. If we could take just one more, we could stay at 6 1/2. Even more daring, if we sweep, we're 4 1/2 out.

But then came Silva.

After spotting the Sox 3 in the 1st, the Twins answer with 7 against Buerhle. But poor ol' Silva can't use that to his advantage, giving up a run in the 3rd and 5 in the fourth to give the Sox a 9-7 lead. Worse, the offense, which was apparently potent in the first, had petered out, and couldn't bail Silva out.

After that, forget it. The Twins drop the finale. Not only that, but their next series against Detroit, swept. Santana even goes 8, gives up 2 runs, and the Twins give him no support.

Now, fast forward to today. We are 11 back of the kitties, and 9 back of the Sox. We carry that momentum, maybe we sweep the Sox, maybe we take one or two from Detroit. Maybe our road trip to the west isn't so bad.

Then again, if all that came true, maybe Silva doesn't get pulled from the rotation (allowing a shot for Liriano). Maybe Batista sticks around a little longer. Same with Castro. Hard to say, but it's nice to dream.

Still, the streak the Twins are on right now is amazing. I'm enjoying every minute of it. I just can't wait for the second half, when we get another shot at the top two, and we can make our own destiny. Those are the games that are going to mean something.

Pun, stltwinsfan

Can we keep playing the Dodgers?

2006-06-27T21:40:00.000-05:00

Joe Mauer is in heaven. He must really love the Dodgers. Four hits on Monday. FIVE on Tuesday. What does he do for an encore? I would absolutely love it if the Twins had the next .400 batting champ. But I suppose I'm getting ahead of myself.

Another brilliant outing by Liriano. 7 IP, 2 ER. I believe after his next appearance, he will be eligible for the ERA lead. How awesome will that be, seeing two Twins at the top of that category.

On a sour note, the Tigers and BSox won again. They're stealing our thunder dagnabit! And my hometown Cardinals couldn't help out the Twins. Now I get to lay the blame on Houston and Pittsburgh (although Pitt has had enough problems.)

And okay, explain this, how is a Pirate outfielder leading the All-Star voting?

And Joe Mauer isn't.

Please.