The Twins have a decision to make...

... And I think it's a pretty easy one. Right now the Twins have 13 pitchers on their 25 man roster. They'll also be starting their inter-league play in one week meaning there will be a lot more substitutions in the games and an absolute need for another bench player..

We've already run into trouble with the bench. in the final game against Baltimore Kevin Slowey had to pinch run for Mike Redmond so that Gardenhire's bench was intact for the final inning. Mauer had to come in as catcher for Redmond and because of that we lost our DH. Had Alexi Casilla not ended the game with a strike out Jessie Crain would have gotten an at-bat. The reason they have 13 pitchers right now is because Brandon Bass, Boof Bonser and Juan Rincon will have to pass through waivers if they're sent to Rochester.

Its obvious that Rincon should be the odd man out in this situation. For one thing he has absolutely no B's in his name... a necessity for long relief, which BB squared is capable of doing. The other reason is that Rincon hasn't been the same since he stopped hittin' the juice. Chalk Rincon's career up to the steroid era, maybe try to trade him for a couple of nice bats and move on.

Rincon was one of the best set up men in baseball. His ERA was 2.63 in 2004 and 2.46 in 2005. In May of 2005 he was suspended for steroids and his ERA began to creep up. 2006 wasn't horrible- his ERA was 2.91 but last year it skyrocketed to 5.13 and this year its hovering close to that. He gave up a home run against the Sox tonight and has been no help to his team... one hold in 26 innings just doesn't cut it.

I'm not entirely clear on the waiver process, but I believe that Rincon's veteran status will make it a bit more difficult to send him down and may force the Twins to pay the difference between the contract he signed with the Twins for 2.47 million and the contract that his new team would offer him but we've just got to eat it and move on. Rincon and Jesse Crain are the weakest pitchers in the bullpen according to Aaron Gleeman's adjusted WPA but Crain has a much better ERA and doesn't have that black mark on his record.

It's time to bring in a bat.

The Twins roster is basically set

The Twins signed Joe Nathan to a 4 year $47 million contract with a club option for a 5th year. I'm in favor of this even though I know its kind of controversial considering the Santana trade and letting Torii Hunter walk. We got Nathan at a major discount and his no-trade clause only allows for him to select 3 teams that he does not want to play for. That means we can keep him for all four years if our starting pitching surprises us and the line-up lives up to it's potential in the batters box or we can turn Neshek or someone else into our closer and get something very good in return for an all-star caliber closer with a discounted contract.

It looks like Carlos Gomez will be our center fielder on opening day. If nothing else we'll get some interesting quotes on a daily basis from the young Dominican. If he can figure out how to put the bat on the ball on a regular basis and not get overly excited on defense this move will be worth it. Hopefully he'll figure out the names of "the catcher and that other guy."

There were no other surprises in the starting lineup. Mauer will bat second and play catcher, Cuddyer will take right and hit third, Morneau will bat 4th and play first, Delmon Young will take Torii Hunters spot in the order and play left field, Kubel will DH in 6th, Mike Lamb will play third and bat 7th, Brendan Harris will play second and bat 8th and Adam Everett will play short and bat last.

Matt Tolbert staying with the team didn't make sense to me until I read in the Pioneer Press that Gardy feel comfortable plugging him into 7 of the nine positions on the field. Craig Monroe, Mike Redmond and Little Nicky Punto will ride the pine with Tolbert until their numbers get called.

Livan Hernandez, Boof Bonser and Kevin Slowey are locks for starting pitching and the other two spots seem destined for Scott Baker and Fransisco Liriano. The only thing that makes Baker questionable is his injury earlier this spring and a flu that just won't go away. The rumor was that Liriano would start the season in AAA, but after throwing a no hitter through 4 innings against Baltimore he may go north with the team. Baker's absence means that Nick Blackburn will most likely take the final starting role and Brian Bass will play long reliever. Hometown kid Glen Perkins didn't make the team, but he'll surely make his way to Minneapolis when the injuries begin.

Lunch Break: Boston Cream Pie edition

Boston, Boston, Boston. The Sawx are 8-0 in World Series games under Francona, The Pats are destroying teams and helping me out in fantasy (Thank you Mr. Brady) and The Celtics are about to open the season with possibly the best trio of all-star players ever assembled in history and with the man who has lead my team since I was in grade school. Oh yeah, and Boston College is still ranked #2 in the BCS.
Minnesota? We’re gonna lose Torri Hunter. Our football team has the most explosive back to hit the league running since LT, but no semblance of a passing game. Our basketball team is going to wreak (but we do have talent and draftpicks). Hell our college football team can’t even beat a team from North Dakota. At least our Hockey team is better than anything in Boston.

Kevin Garnett talks to Dime Magazine about his friendships in the association.

Glen Taylor gives two goll-darn interviews where he talks doody about anyone and everyone who is no longer with the team.

The Wolves have decided to pay Juwan Howard not to play for the team. (and probably end up as a member of the Celtics)

Do not hunt with this man and his dog.

Marrisa Miller has her own Fathead… which makes way more sense than an athelete.

UND is gonna get all PC, and still probably pound the Gophers for the next 10 years.

A-Rod won’t be playing for the Yankees, and Peter Gammons calls him out on his impeccable timing.

The Twins pick up Joe Nathan's option. Totally unexpected, totally.

FreeDarko (probably the best Basketball blog ever) predicts what every single NBA player will do this season. I wish that I’d had time to put up the Wolves roster because they are killer and spot on.

Holy Crap the Hawks won.

Congratulations Mike Bacsik!

You've just become immortalized as the answer to a Trivial Pursuit question that I'll never get correct.

Barry Bonds has hit his record breaking 756th home run and now stands atop the record books. I think he was cheating... I bet that bat was corked. I couldn't find a video of it on YouTube so here is a link to the Evil Empire if you want to see the monstrous swing.

As we all expected Bud Selig was not around to celebrate the achievement. Whether or not the man was on steroids I think the Commish should have been there to acknowledge the moment in time. This innocent until proven guilty thing should stand in sports as well as courts. I've seen his stats, hat size and rookie card and yes it all looks bad but people need to be given the benefit of the doubt.

Plus A-Rod is going to kill that record in a few years unless he gets caught with another boo-a-licious stripper and his wife kills him. Even if A-Rod doesn't it will be Ryan Howard, Prince Fielder or someone else who came out of the minors at an early age and began swinging for the fences immediately.
At least ESPN won't have to cut into another exciting installment of "Who's Now" every time Bonds comes to the plate.

Castillo Leaves State, Bracey Leaves Country

Yes, every one knows that Kevin Garnett is no longer a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves, but he was not the only sports figure to get a little time in our posts to say goodbye...

The Twins also traded one of their better players in Luis Castillo away for 2 prospects. Those prospects are Drew Butera a catching prospect and son of former Twin Sal Butera and outfielder Dustin Martin. The catcher makes me wonder because it seems like the Twins have a ton of catching prospects that are going to sit behind the All-star caliber and hometown hero Joe Mauer. This organization had better turn right back around and trade a couple of prospects (like their AAA catcher) or Rincon or Silva or a combination for a bat that works properly. The problem is that they have about a half an hour to do this.

Castillo's bat worked properly... he had a .304 average. We've lost the fastest man with a limp in the MLB, the man who stated they year with about 12 straight infield hits, the man who regularly beat out bunts and the guy who seemed to be the only one getting on base a while back. As far as defense goes it sounds like we'll be bringing Brian Bruscher in as the everyday 3rd baseman, moving Punto to second and bringing Alexi Casilla back to the bigs as a speedster and utility infielder to groom as our everyday 2nd baseman. As much as I dislike losing a 3 time all-star and 3 time gold glover this seems logical for the future... I'm just still thinking about the present.

As for Bracey, he recently signed with a greek team called Aris TT Bank. I didn't manage to look up the stats on Bracey's summer league stint with Denver but I can't imagine that they invited him back. Too bad, I honestly think the guy has enough talent to be a solid six or seventh man and possibly even end up as a starter. Of course this isn't the end by any means and there are tons of players who went to Europe for a couple years to hone their game before hitting the Association again. If I can find time between work and looking for a new truck I'll ask him about his new team and his thoughts on the KG trade. I know I've said that before, but seing as he'll be leaving the country soon and he is the only person I semi-sort-of-know with any insider information on the Wolves and the NBA so I'll make sure to do it soon. Good luck Bracey.

Holy Crap! Jason Tyner Hit a Home run

I. AM. SPEECHLESS.

All-Star Un-Weekend is Upon Us.

No matter what the sport there is always a stigma attached to All-star games. The Superstars never want to play, everybody thinks their guy deserved a spot and didn’t get it (*cough * Pat Neshek * cough*) and the games usually aren’t too defensive. Baseball has tried to remedy this problem after the debacle in 2002 at Bud’s own stadium, but all that has resulted from that mess was AL home field advantage in the world series for, oh… say the next quarter century. Of course, that doesn’t bother me with the Twins in the AL, all Pohlad has to do is spend some $ ching $ and keep Torii, Johan, Nathan, Cuddy and Morneau to long-term deals. I know he’ll never pay them all because owners are assholes but I can dream, dammit.

Anyway, tonight Dr. Morneau is gonna be crushing the long ball in the Home Run Derby. If I know my Morneau correctly he’ll be adding to his legend by becoming the first player ever to kill another when he accidentally knocks Eric Byrnes unconscious and he slips off his Kayak into McCovey Cove. I also wouldn't mind if he did the same to Kenny Mayne. The good doctor will have fellow Canuck and baseball smasher Larry Walker lobbing gopher balls in his general direction. Did he slight Scotty Ullger and Joe Vavra with his decision? Possibly, but putting two Canadians together in a lax environment and micing them can only lead to great sound bites. I’m probably going to petition to get a second Canadian into the NBA so we can listen to Nash say “Eh.”

Like I mentioned the other day Johan Santana, Torii Hunter and Justin Morneau will be playing in the big game, and like I didn’t mention Ron Gardenhire is one of the coaches on Jim Leyland’s squad. I hope Torii measured Barry Bonds’ head when the future home run king picked him up back in 2002 so that we can settle this steroid business. Oh yeah, and if you wanted to go the game but couldn’t scrape enough change together out of the ashtray some dentist managed to get permission from MLB to wear a silly-ass hat on his head with a camera so you can feel like you’re at the ball park. Drunken, obnoxious asshole blocking your view included!

The Legend of Dr. Mourneau

When Justin Morneau hit his walk-off home run last night, his 20^th of the season, it got me thinking about the Twins best power hitter since Harmon Killebrew. Through 67 games has 257 at bats, 48 runs, 72 hits, 20 home runs (3 are walk-offs) 54 RBIs, 30 base on balls, 39 strike outs and a .280 bating average. Little is known about the Canadian first baseman except that he won the MVP last year and loves and played hockey as a child. Because the Twins first baseman grew up in Canada and plays in Minnesota there is little media coverage and even less in terms of background information. The following, this legend of Dr. Morneau, was obtained through interviews with a friend of a friend of a guy who used to know a dude who played pee-wees with Morneau, the chick who dated Joe Mauer in 4^th grade and recently had a phone conversation with him and the oldest and drunkest man we could find in New Westminster, British Columbia.

Legend has it Dr. Morneau was born with a bat in one hand and a hockey stick in the other, this lead to a 43 hour delivery from his mother who immediately returned to catch her co-ed softball game in time to hit a walk-off grand slam of her own. Morneau’s godfather, Paul Bunyan, attempted to play outfield against a 4 year-old Morneau; The pair used Mount Seymour as the outfield fence, but Bunyan continually fell into Buntzen lake and eventually gave up citing “bad knees.” By the time he was 11 he was playing on the High School baseball team. His most notorious play came at the plate against Fraser Valley Christian High School when he sent the catcher into the 5th row. He was declared safe.

At the age of 15 Morneau had a very eventful camping trip in which he single-handedly hunted down the entire Bigfoot population in the area using only a Swiss army knife and gumption. Earlier in the day he arm-wrestled a Grizzly Bear to a tie. When asked about the tie Morneau said that he would have ripped the bear’s arm off, but he holds a special spot in his heart for the beasts. Also the bear’s wife was in the crowd and he felt no need to embarrass the Grizzly more than he already had.

As a Pee Wee hockey player the first baseman preferred to play sans helmet and take puck shots to the face prior to games to get “psyched-up.” Twins fans may have been surprised when Morneau continued playing with a broken nose but Canadians simply said, ” Yeah, that’s Morneau for ya, Eh.” On a side note Morneau’s great grandfather invented the word “Eh.” The origin came from the grandfather attempting to fight and hit on the slugger’s great grandmother simultaneously. He happened to be ending sentences as his foe landed kidney shots.

Recently Morneau lobbied the MLB rules committee to allow him to carry Lew Ford and Nick Punto on his shoulders as he batted and ran bases. He figured that if he crossed home plate with the two on his shoulders he would score 3 runs automatically instead of having to wait for the two to get on base themselves. In an effort to get his rule passed he offered to rip Barry Bonds’ eyes out. Hank Aaron appreciated the offer, but Bud Selig said that the police would most likely have to get involved. Finally, there is much commotion about Morneau’s daily routine of a Jimmy John’s sub prior to each game. What is not as widely known is that the first baseman washes down the sandwich with an authentic Major league baseball eaten like an apple. Morneau says it helps with his “intestinal fortitude.” Morneau recently received an honorary doctorate in ball crushing from the University of Vancouver... Hence the title Dr. Morneau.

Unleashing My Inner Yogi Berra

So I’m outside on my smoke break watching the monster clouds storm the castle cloud and taking a drag off of my cigarette, hating every wonderful moment of it when I have an epiphany. I rub my recently fattened belly, which got that way after pilfering a raspberry loaf cake from the homeless via the Starbuck’s donation box, and it comes to me, ” Maybe if I stop smoking and start running I’ll stop smoking and start running.”

Genius! Why had I never thought of this before? If I stop smoking and start running, I’ll stop smoking and start running. I’d be dead sexy if I could pull this off. I’d finally have those abs that I’ve been photoshopping onto my pictures, I’d have a different kind of funny smell (maybe even a good one, I don’t know) and I could finally afford that drink I’ve been thinking about buying a lovely young lady for years. Best of all I could shout, “You’ll never catch me, coppers” and mean it!

I’m gonna try like hell to make this work, but its gonna be real hard. I’m one lazy bastard. I’ll probably have to pick up some running shoes and I just bought a pair so my thrifty side is going to tell me that this is an unnecessary purchase. I also hate being seen, I don’t want to hear, “ Hey tubby, I saw you running last Tuesday.” Stop stalking me A-hole; I don’t go around telling you what I saw last Tuesday… P.S. don’t call me tubby, its offensive. I also hate sweating; it’s unbecoming. Then there is the whole issue of smoking.

I think the last time I ran it was because I was out of cigarettes. Sometimes I don’t even know why I’ve left the house until I’m standing in line at the gas station blurting out “pack of Camel lights.” That is the epitome of an addiction. I don’t consider myself to be a heavy smoker, usually I can keep it between 3-5 when alcohol is not present, but I’m experienced. If smoking were a job I’d get it based on experience alone, no college degree necessary. I hate smoking, I’ve hated it for a good two years now, and I’ve been able to quit for a week here and there and even a month once. The problem is that after you’ve got a month in your pocket you regain your sense of smell, and when someone lights up that shit smells good.

I know that I’m going to need one to help with the other and vise versa. If I quit smoking and don’t run I’ll be a fatty fat fat and playgirl will never come knocking on my door looking for Mr. September. If I start running and don’t quit smoking I’ll never get anywhere and I’ll be a Chubby McTubster. I think I’ve made my decision. I’d like to have my taste and smell back, lose that nagging cough and most of all I’d like to bring out my inner sexy beast. I’m far too shy to approach most of the women I’m interested in and it would be fantastic if I were so fetching that they had no choice but to approach me. I’m glad I had a mind meld with the ghost of Yogi Berra today. I'll probably join the Lewis and Clark College track team.

LUNCH BREAK: Safe At Home Edition

In the past a road trip by one of the writers on this site would have been accompanied by photo like the one above, but nowhere near as sexy. If I have time later this week I may elaborate on the art of a CD case as a projectile. Until then stare a Sarah Silverman for a while and click on some of the links below.

Is your baseball team getting what it paid for?

A Fan’s View from Section 220 tells Twins fans that 2 out of three ain’t bad, but it’s not time to rejoice yet. Also, Dick Bremer can predict the future.

10,000 Takes has found the world’s tallest (and worst) Baseball player ever.

KG for Shawn Marion? I’m willing to entertain that idea.

Roger Goodell’s NFL is Bass ackwards. Did they make Adrian Peterson do this?

The Wild plan on holding onto Backstrom (via 10000 takes)

Chipper Jones hates inter league baseball and Ozzie Guillen has anger issues.

Free Darko hates on the Spurs and gives us a James White video… I consider that a double bonus.

At this point I’d rather read about NCAA basketball than watch the eventual defeats of the Cavs and Jazz.

Morneau single-handedly proves that White Sox do indeed suck

After having to deal with Boof ball the Twins were able to pull out a victory in the opener of the Twins/ White Sox series in Minneapolis. After spending what feels like month without a homerun Dr. Morneau managed two. He started off the game with a solo shot, but the Sucks came back to take the lead. Somehow Boof managed to make it to the 7^th inning, which is great, but I wish I didn’t have to use the word somehow. His pitching wasn't even the problem, it was his errant throw to third that got him the ND.

A rally in the 8^th which started with a Bartlett double that brought Redmond home and ending with a Hunter single to bring the Bartman home. Hunter is having one hell of a season and is no doubt auditioning for a big payday from Boston or New York. The 10^th stared off with a double from the fastest man with a limp (Castillo) and the Sucks chose to walk Hunter. Justin Morneau came to the plate and smashed the hell out of the ball for an upper deck three run walk-off homerun.

Hopefully Ozzie and Co. have awakened the beast and sent him on his homerun tear/ .300 batting average. With Mauer on the DL we’ll need Hunter and Morneau to swing big sticks. Hopefully Cuddy’s back feels fine and he can begin crushing the ball. This is a nice start to 9 straight games against the upper echelon (AKA not the Royals) of the central division.

Belated Baseball

Neubie, Bez, Bits and I went to the game on Friday and something should have been posted yesterday, but I’m guessing most of us spent the day hung over and/or asleep. The day started early because Bits wanted to buy a jersey at the mall, and he is my chauffeur when I need to get to the city. After about three hours and some crazy good Chinese food we left the mall with a belt, some shorts and a silly-ass hat. Bits’ ladyfriend talked him out of the jersey and argued that the money would be better spent on her. I tried to explain the importance of owning a jersey to her, but to no avail. In fact it was I who almost left the mall with a Twins jersey- I found a Shannon Stewart one for $20 and I’m the type of asshole who shows up to a game with the wrong player on my back.

We hit up a bar before going to the game only to discover that there was no happy hour, which made us a bit unhappy. Bits, another friend and I sat in decent seats out in center field. Bez has season tickets so he sat in a different section. Neubie was just getting off work when the game started, so he was forced to iron his shirt on the light rail. Before the game got underway Morneau received his MVP award and I found out that Killebrew is the only American to have won the MVP in a Twins uni. I also found out that chicks from nowhere, South Dakota wear about an inch of make-up to a baseball game, I bet that dude tried to gnaw his arm off when he woke up yesterday.

Johan looked great in the first inning when he threw all of 4 pitches, but after that he looked a little shaky. Everybody knows that April is usually his worst month, and he is the best pitcher in baseball so there is nothing to worry about. I’m beginning to think that Akinori Iwamora is a damn good baseball player. That 5^th inning sucked balls and Crawford’s 6^th inning in the park home run came about 10 minutes after Bez nominated Josh Rabe for player of the game because he hates Kubel.

Not having the old guys in the line-up and no batting from the piranhas has hurt the Twins so far this year… oh course Bartlet did manage to get a hit yesterday and one in the game that we went to. We also caught Anthony Lapanta roaming through the section next to ours and stealing people’s signs, probably for “Circle me Bert.” Morneau’s blast went for a mile but it was futile. It sucked to watch Johan’s home win streak end but like he said he’ll just start a new one.

After the game we went out to catch the rest of the Wild game. A good number of people who sit in Bez’ section came with us. Eventually we left and Bez’ shoe broke, I danced with a lady, and Bits couldn’t get “a goddamn ham sandwich with cheese and alfalfa sprouts!” – no matter how many Jimmy Johns I tried calling.

Alfalfa sprouts??

God the White Sox are @#$*!!!!

We here at Some-Peoples-Kids have an utter disdain for the Chicago White Sox after a certain incident at U.S Cellular last August landed AdamBez at the first precinct station and myself roaming the south side of Chicago in Twins apparel, trying to find a ride home. Our abhorrence has manifested itself for most of the off season and now will be let out in a torrid of blog entries whenever our Twins play the Sox.

Tonight starts the first series of the season between the Twins and Sox at U.S Cellular and we should see quit the pitchers duel between Javier Vazquez and Carlos Silva. The Twins will hopefully continue to get timely hitting and pray that Silva lasts more than three innings. As for the Sox, they have been on the receiving end of Cleavland's offensive punishment and only squeaked out their first win yesterday when Cleavland's bullpen collapsed in the ninth.

Before the game starts we'd like to thank A.J. Pierzynski for being ok enough to con the Giants out of two little known pitchers by the name of Joe "the savior" Nathan and Mr. Fransisco "El General" Lariano. Quite frankly A.J. is a bitch and a dirty player, but he's not our problem. Actually hes a a big reason this team looks the way it does. We'd also like to thank Contraras for being 1 million years old... If we're thanking the White Sox for being old we might as well thank all of their sluggers, too.

Those bitches on the southside can't even properly bean someone. They all follow A.J.'s dirty lead. One of the best parts of their game may be "small ball" this existed in their World Series run and was then totally forgotten outside of talking to the media. The only reason they'll get more write-ups at SPK is an inexplicable disdain for the Sox, and everything either White or Sockey. Frankly we're more worried about the Indians and Detroit.

Any team that gives its best asian player a nickname that sounds like a woman's "southside" does not deserve the respect of a fine blog like ours. In fact the only person that doesn't get completely ripped apart during a Sox-Twins conversation is Ozzie. The man has said many things that he probably shouldn't have; but he speaks his mind, has a funny accent, swears like a sailor in television interviews, respects the Twins and always-always ends up chewing his team out by the third game of our season.

Have your baby Joe, we got this

The Twins came running into the season with a full head of steam and handed Baltimore their first sweep of the season. God I hope this team can keep up this pace for the rest of the season, 162-0 baby. Ramon Ortiz was able to get into the 7^th inning and walked off the mount without a homerun… if Silva can do the same I’ll be in heaven. I’m digging how fast Ortiz works a game; it means I won’t be tired when 4:30 comes around to kick me in the ass.

Luis Rodriguez has 5 infield hits this season so far… the fastest man with a limp is on pace to hit 270 of them this season. The Chairman had his first extra base hit of the season. Cuddy got 3 hits but took one off the face. Mr. White is still lacking in the hit category with one this game, but he’s been able to advance runners. If you were wondering Joe Nathan had a baby girl and most defiantly was not needed tonight. Nicky Punto had a CrazyGoNutz snag at the expense of Miguel Tejada in the 6^th. Bring it Chicago; we’ve got your broom right here.

My first game at the Dome (this year)

Before I get onto baseball, I know we said that we would be doing a live-blog of every Wild game until the end of the season, but I ended up going to the Metrodome to watch the Twins beat Baltimore. The Wild ended up winning their game 3-0 so it’s probably better that I didn’t watch… Like I said before I never seem to see a goal scored and that is doubly true for a Wild goal. In other Minnesota sports news the T-wolves lost to King James and his Jesters. I’m done with this team, maybe for good if they come back next season with the same roster. I pledge that my only Timberwolves related post from here until the draft will be an attempt at another interview with Bracey Wright to ask him what he thinks of his new team’s potential and some real dirt on his former T-wolves teammates.

This game was not quite as exciting as the opener, but none-the-less a victory is always a better game to watch than a loss. The varying play of the two nights shows the range that this team has and that they can play on the defensive weaknesses of their opponents no matter who they are. Yesterday when the Twins started the scoring off with back-to-back HRs, today it was Melvin Mora’s light up the scoreboard with a homerun. Boof had a tough inning, by the time the 3^rd was over his pitch count was in the mid-fifties and the Twins were down by 2.

The Twins played an NL type of game last night- they stole bases and advanced runners just like Ozzie has always claimed to do. We stole 5 bases, Mauer stole one and Tyner had an extremely embarrassing stolen base… the only thing more embarrassing than him coming up a good 5 feet short of the base was the fact that he managed to get to it without being tagged. To add insult to injury Tyner came home as the winning run moments later. If I ever get a hold of the video I’ll make sure to post it, it’s amazing. He should probably ask Troy Williamson about that Nike sight thing; there has to be something wrong with his depth perception.

A few things that I noticed: Castillo already has 3 infield hits, Morneau is batting around .675, and Cuddayer is having trouble warming his bat up. I see no problem with Cuddayer yet because it is only the second game, but it’s the same way with Boof (and I’ll elaborate in a second). If the problem persists I’ll have to shit a brick, because last year was Cuddy’s breakout year and could easily be the career year, too.

As for Boof, the youngest member of the starting rotation threw way too many pitches in his first outing. He did, however, retire 10 of the last 11 batters and recover from that bad 3^rd inning. I bought cheap tickets to the game and as a consequence had to listen to someone from Baltimore root for their team, but in a way it was enlightening. I now understand why so many people have us picked to take 4^th in the division after winning it last year. The Orioles’ remarked that the Twins would do badly this year because behind Johan there was no solid starter- correct. What he failed to understand was that the bullpen is as good as a 2^nd and 3^rd solid starter… and they play every night. Boof gave us some quality innings, and handed over a tie game. One run later we had a win.

I’m kind of glad that everyone can overlook a team that can play ball in more than one way, has the best bullpen, a ton of prospects waiting in the wings if the starters falter, won the division 4 out of the last 5 years and has the reigning Cy young, MVP and batting champ.

I love baseball season.

They all laughed

Back in 2001 when the Twins took a high school kid from Minnesota as the number one overall draft pick people in the baseball world gave a little chuckle. They said that the Twins were looking for the hometown discount and missed out on a pitcher by the name of Mark Prior. Six years later the Twins’ Terry Ryan gives one of those evil genius laughs every time Prior’s name is uttered. ESPN is now saying that Prior will mast likely start the season in the minors after posting an 0-2 record with a 9.82 ERA. I think I may be in love with Terry Ryan.

Prior had one good season going 18-6 and spent pretty much the rest of his career on the DL. Chairman Mauer only became the second youngest player to win the batting title and the first ever catcher out of the AL to take it. I don’t foresee Prior winning the Cy young any time soon and I sure as hell don’t see him breaking 150 wins. Mauer, who is 2 years younger than the Cub’s pitcher, has a few batting titles left in him and his main competition may just be his good friend Justin Morneau. People can argue that he had knee problems and just had a minor leg injury… I say F that. We can put Mauer in the outfield or as the DH if problems persist. Try teaching Prior how to field and hit, Piniella.

When asked about Prior starting the season in the minors Terry Ryan offered this, “Prior? Minors? Meh, Heh, Hah, Hoo!”

Twins Pitching Odds

The Twins have a killer starting rotation… unfortunately most of those pitchers will start the season in the minors. The Pioneer Press in reporting today that the Twins starting rotation will look like we thought it would at the beginning of spring training. “El Presidente” Santana will be at the helm of this starting rotation followed by Ramon Ortiz (whom I am gaining faith in), Boof!, Carlos Silva and Sidney Ponson. The Twins sent down baseball’s version of Agent Zero, Kevin Slowey, on Sunday and Matt Garza and Glen Perkins are sure to follow soon.

I put complete trust in Rick Anderson’s ability to get the best out of his pitchers, but I think that Silva and Ponson just don’t have it anymore. Last year the Twins made a run (and captured) the division after dumping a few geezers off the side of the boat and infusing their infield with some youth. This year I see that happening to the starting rotation… its only a matter of time before something bad happens. At the moment I’m channeling the future in order to bring you the odds on what leads this pitching staff in a younger directions. Here it is from least likely to most likely… enjoy.

50:1 – No change is made to the starting rotation

25:1 – Silva hits someone in the head with his sinker ball (if it’s A-Rod, he may be promoted and given an award for shutting the guy up)

15:1- Ponson’s visa expires before the season ends

12:1- Ponson falls off the wagon and punches a cop while joyriding with Koren Robinson and Eddie “Hardwood” Griffin

10:1- Ortiz and Silva go 1-2 in home runs given up in the AL

5:1- Kevin Slowey has an ERA lower than 1.50 when he gets called up to the majors

3:1- Santana repeats as Cy young winner (its got to be a fluke if he loses)

2:1- Silva and Ortiz are gone by the ALL-STAR break (hello backup shortstop)

1:1- Bonser, Silva and Ponson get into an all out brawl over the last doughnut in the clubhouse (Dennys Reyes sits back chomping on said doughnut and laughing his ass of while Bonser puts the old guys in a double headlock)

R.I.P. Kirby

As a kid growing up in Minnesota Kirby Puckett was my idol, it was almost mandatory for Minnesotans who fall in my age group. His debut with the Twins was a little under a year after I was born and I feel a deep connection to the pudgy superstar with the infectious smile. One year ago today he left this world and ventured into the next. If I have any say in the issue my children, and my children’s children will remember him

Puckett was unlike any other baseball player I’ve ever seen, especially in a day and age where players demand trash bags full of money, act like prima donnas and run amuck when not in uniform. This was a man who loved the game, loved his team and would have played just as hard if nobody was watching. He could invigorate his team with a simple pep talk, that smile of his and the ever present twinkle in his eye. He did things unimaginable for anyone else with the same type of body. He was short and chubby, but that was never what you noticed when he was robbing someone of a home run in center field or outrunning a throw to first.

Some of my best memories involve Kirby. The man whose poster hung above my bed was there for my first baseball game and my first playoff game. I was too young to remember the ’87 World Series, but I remember the ’91 series. I remember my father letting me stay up extra late in the sixth game because it had gone long. I remember waving my homer hanky furiously in the eleventh inning, yelling for Kirby to knock one out of the park. The craziest thing was that he did it, and in my mind he did it just for me.

Puckett was an unbelievable ball player; I’ll run down some of his accomplishments. Between 1986 and 1992 he won 6 straight Gold Gloves. Between 1986 and 1995 he made 10 straight All-star appearances. He was the ALCS MVP in ’91 and the AL MVP in the ’93 All-star game. In 1989 he lead the AL with a .339 batting average and remains at #58 on the all-time list. He led the AL in hits from 1987-1989 and again in 1992. He had the most RBIs in the American League in 1994. Puckett was inducted into the hall of fame in 2001 along with Minnesota product and teammate Dave Winfield.

For Puckett, it wasn’t about the stats. Players need to think about that when they step out onto the diamond. Kirby knew it was a privilege to play baseball for a living, and he shared it with the world. Every single one of his post game interviews began the same way, “ I want to thank god…” sometimes he thanked the big guy for allowing him to play so well, other times he just thanked him for allowing him to play. As a fan you got the sense that Puckett never had a bad day in his life; he was always joking, always happy and always willing to go the extra mile for a teammate, fan or journalist.

If we had a million more Kirbys- not just playing baseball, but doing anything- the world would be a better place. I want to thank you Kirby. I want to thank you for entertaining me. I want to thank you for playing the game and playing it well. But mostly I want to thank you for being my hero and showing me the correct way to carry myself.

You will always be with me, R.I.P #34

Beisbol!!!

I’m totally stoked that pitchers and catchers report to spring training next week. Finally there is something worth watching and I don’t have to bite my fingernails in agony as the Wolves wait until the last second to beat a team with a 17 game losing streak. Even better, we locked down The Chairman (Mauer) for the next 4 years. I don’t want to put any pressure on my favorite team in the whole wide world but we should probably think about wining the World Series this year. Everybody and their mom knows that Torii Hunter and Johan Santana will be playing in New York or Boston as soon as the Twins decide not to shell out the cash.

The Twins have signed Nick Punto to a 2-year deal and Lew Ford, Juan Rincon and Justin Morneau to one-year deals. The only player still on his way to an arbitration hearing in Michael Cuddayer and I hope to god they sign him up for at least 2 years. If I were Terry Ryan I’d be trying to extend Morneau’s contract and con Johan into extending his contract. Do whatever it takes to get a couple more years out of the greatest pitcher to put on a Twins uniform send a hundred fire trucks to Venezuela if that’s what it takes. Still, this season we’ll have the lineup that should have been together from the beginning of last year. Punto and Bartlett will take the left side of the field, Cuddayer should take right field if all goes well and if Gardy and I have anything in common he’ll throw Jason Tyner in left field. I don’t care if he can’t hit a home run, that dude can catch anything and throw the ball a mile. I think I just creamed my pants a little bit thinking about baseball starting.