Skip to content
View in the app

A better way to browse. Learn more.
Twins Daily

A full-screen app on your home screen with push notifications, badges and more.

To install this app on iOS and iPadOS
  1. Tap the Share icon in Safari
  2. Scroll the menu and tap Add to Home Screen.
  3. Tap Add in the top-right corner.
To install this app on Android
  1. Tap the 3-dot menu (⋮) in the top-right corner of the browser.
  2. Tap Add to Home screen or Install app.
  3. Confirm by tapping Install.

Knuckleballs - JC

A blog by Jim Crikket in Twins Daily

  • Entries

    84

  • Comments

    247

  • Views

    22,609

Entries in this blog

Twins Final Cuts: Much Ado About (Almost) Nothing

There seemed to be much consternation in some corners of the Twins blogosphere the last couple of days as the final roster decisions became evident.   Alex Presley began spring training as a competitor for the Twins centerfield job. He leaves spring training a member of the Astros after Houston claimed him from the Twins on waivers.   Lefty pitcher Scott Diamond and 1B/OF Chris Parmelee had inside lanes on roster spots entering camp, but neither made much of an impression on the Twins. In

Minor Leaguers Deserve Better

I haven't written much lately. Honestly, I haven't even read much lately. Not about baseball, anyway. There just isn't much going on that I'm particularly interested in. Sure, spring training has started, but they haven't even started playing spring training games, yet, so there just isn't much going on to capture my interest.   I'm pretty sure I'll get more interested when the Grapefruit League games get underway. I guarantee I'll be more than casually interested a month from now when I'll be a

Twins Caravan/Kernels Hot Stove

For the second straight year, the Cedar Rapids Kernels and Minnesota Twins joined forces Monday night, combining the Kernels’ annual Hot Stove Banquet with a stop on the Twins Caravan.   Pitchers Brian Duensing and Ryan Pressly joined new Twins coach Paul Molitor, Kernels manager Jake Mauer and, of course, TC Bear, in Cedar Rapids. The emcee for the evening was Twins broadcaster (and former Cedar Rapids sportscaster) Dick Bremer.   I had a chance to talk to Molitor, Duensing, Pressly and

ARod, Selig, Bosch, Yankees, CBS: Nuke ‘em All

I know, you’re tired of talking about Alex Rodriguez and his war with Bud Selig and Major League Baseball over his use of Performance Enhancing Drugs.   Me, too.   http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/nuke2.jpg   Still, we all knew we were going to have to go through another bombardment of stories about the subject whenever the arbitration system played itself out and a final decision (and I use that term loosely, because I’m not all that convinced this decision is “

Three steps toward fixing the HOF voting

In the aftermath of the HOF voting today, a lot has been written about how broken the voting system is, to the point where some even suggest voting should be turned over to the fans.   I posted the following in the comment section of the "Jacque Jones" forum thread, but then realized it got to "blog post length," so I'm re-posting it as such.   I think fan voting is a lousy idea. I don't think anyone wants to hold up the AllStar Game voting process as one to replicate.   I think the following,

The Hall of Fame Ballot Gets Crowded

It’s time. There are only a couple days left before Hall of Fame ballots are due in. Yes, those holy guardians of all that is right and just in baseball (voting members of the Baseball Writers Association of America) must soon stop writing about how hard it is to perform their duties as HoF voters and just vote, already.   As I’ve written several times, I don’t believe the writers have any business sitting in judgment of anyone else’s morality. If they would just vote based on players’ achie

Can Terry Ryan Truly Change His Stripes?

There’s a lot of chatter on this here interweb thingy lately concerning what Twins General Manager Terry Ryan’s next moves will be and should be. He came out of the gate fast this offseason, immediately setting out to shore up – if not completely rebuild – the Twins’ starting pitching rotation by signing free agents Ricky Nolasco, Phil Hughes and Mike Pelfrey.   But there’s still more than a little doubt as to whether this is truly a new Terry Ryan, willing to spend Pohlad money to make th

Winter Meetings and Expectations

I typically take a little business trip to the Tampa/St. Petersburg FL area in December and did so last week.   After years of hearing about how interesting baseball’s Winter Meetings are, this year I found myself within reasonable driving distance of those Meetings when they officially opened up. That being the case, I decided I would check the situation out for myself.   http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/dolphinresort-600x400.jpg The Dolphin half of the Swan &

What Are the Twins Doing... and Why?

It has been a weird offseason for the Twins, hasn’t it?   I’m not complaining. mind you. It’s refreshing to see General Manager Terry Ryan being aggressive in the free agent market to address the team’s starting pitching needs. Signing Ricky Nolasco to a four-year contract with a fifth year vesting option was more than a little out of character for the Twins.Adding Phil Hughes on a three-year deal two days later was almost downright giggle inducing.   (This article was originally posted at

Getting Out of a Hole (a Parable)

A guy falls in to an eight foot deep hole while at work. His boss comes along and the guy says, “hey boss can you get me out of here?”   The boss says, “Things are pretty tight around here so we can’t afford to buy a ladder, but we have this old shovel sitting around. I’ll throw it down and you can dig yourself out.”   It takes a long time, but after a lot of trial and error (sometimes even digging in the wrong place and making the hole deeper) our guy manages to dig himself out of the ho

The Twins Way

How many times have we heard someone say, “The Twins need to get back to emphasizing the Twins Way?” Or, perhaps just as often we hear, “the Twins need to forget about the Twins Way crap… it doesn’t work.” Either way, “The Twins Way” has become a cliché and a pretty tired one, at that.   But what is The Twins Way? We have some vague idea that it’s about playing good defense, running the bases intelligently, moving runners effectively and, yes, “pitching to contact” (how’s that for using on

A Cautionary Tale in Cedar Rapids

Kernels fans and Twins fans, alike, can’t help but be excited about the number of highly rated prospects included in the initial Cedar Rapids roster this season. Of the 25 active members of the Kernels’ Opening Day roster, 14 of them received signing bonuses in excess of $100,000 when they signed their names to their first contract with the Twins organization. Altogether, those 14 players signed on for over $12 million in signing bonus money. Three current players received $1 million or more to

Kernels Arrive in Cedar Rapids, Baseball Soon to Follow!

We’ve moved one important step closer to having baseball in Cedar Rapids… the players have arrived!   The 2013 Kernels roster arrived at Eastern Iowa Airport shortly before noon Tuesday. It’s pretty safe to say the weather was just a bit cooler than it was when they took off from Fort Myers. (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com.)   Manager Jake Mauer said the trip went well, though he did mention that there was a long line at the security check in Fort Myers and a coup

Dear Twins: Show Me Something!

It’s Opening Day!   http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/openingday2013-600x375.jpg   Alas, we still haven’t elected a President with the balls to do the right thing and make Opening Day a legal Federal Holiday and mandate that everyone who doesn’t work in a sports bar must be given the day off (and those who do work in sports bars must be paid double-time just for putting up with the rest of us who would spend our entire day drinking beer and watching baseball at said spo

The Two Week Warning

You may not have realized it by looking out your window at the new snow Monday morning, but the Twins’ Opening Day is just two weeks from yesterday. That means it’s probably time to start taking a more serious look at how the team is rounding in to shape in Fort Myers.   This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com. Although Spring Training has officially been in gear for about a month, it’s usually pretty pointless to pay a lot of attention to individual performances during the fi

Baseball's Saddest Day

One of the people I follow on Twitter (I don’t recall who) called it “Baseball’s saddest day.” That’s probably an overstatement, but not by much. To put it bluntly, for baseball fans of my generation, Saturday sucked rocks.   In one calendar day, we lost two giants of the game. First came the news that we lost the man I always felt was the greatest manager of his time, Earl Weaver. Incredibly, a few hours later, came word that Stan Musial had also passed. Weaver was 82 when he passed away

Kernels Hot Stove & Twins Caravan!

What a great night for baseball fans in Eastern Iowa!   In celebration of the new affiliation agreement between the Twins and the Cedar Rapids Kernels, the organizations combined to put on a terrific event Thursday night.   Every winter, the Kernels put on a Hot Stove banquet with proceeds going to their own charitable foundation. The event combines dinner, a silent auction and induction of the new Cedar Rapids Baseball Hall of Fame members. Tonight’s event, however, also included a local stop b

Prospects and Projects: Projecting the 2013 Kernels, Part 6

This is the last of this six-part series examining the players in the Twins organization that likely will spend part of the upcoming summer in Cedar Rapids during the Kernels first year as the Twins Class A Midwest League affiliate.   http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/KernelsTwins-300x168.jpg (Image: Kernels.com)   In the first five parts, we've covered all of the position players and the pitchers most likely to fill starting pitching roles. We wrap things up now by loo

Prospects and Prospects: Projecting the 2013 Kernels, Part 5

It’s no secret that the Minnesota Twins have issues these days with regard to their starting pitching rotation, but is there any hope for the future? The Twins acquired a couple of legitimate starting pitching prospects in trades this offseason, which bodes well for New Britain’s 2013 rotation, but what about here in Cedar Rapids?   http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/KernelsTwins-300x168.jpg (Image: Kernels.com)   After checking out the position players likely to s

Prospects and Projects – Projecting the 2013 Kernels, Part 4

We’ve worked our way around the horn in the first three Parts of this series, covering the catchers, corner infielders and middle infielders that could possibly put on a Kernels uniform in Cedar Rapids this summer. In Part 4 of our series, we’ll check out a number of outfielders that could take the field for Cedar Rapids at some point during 2013.   http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/KernelsTwins-300x168.jpg (Image: Kernels.com)   Obviously, we can’t know this early

Prospects and Projects – Projecting the 2013 Kernels, Part 4

We’ve worked our way around the horn in the first three Parts of this series, covering the catchers, corner infielders and middle infielders that could possibly put on a Kernels uniform in Cedar Rapids this summer. In Part 4 of our series, we’ll check out a number of outfielders that could take the field for Cedar Rapids at some point during 2013.     http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/KernelsTwins-300x168.jpg (Image: Kernels.com)       Obviously, we can’t know this

Prospects and Projects – Projecting the 2013 Kernels, Part 3

In preparation for the first season of the new affiliation between the Twins and my hometown Cedar Rapids Kernels, I’ve embarked on a series of “get to know them” posts. The intention is to give my fellow Kernels fans a little bit of information about the Twins prospects we may be seeing in Kernels uniforms over the course of the summer, understanding full well that it’s impossible to know exactly who will fill the Kernels’ roster several months before Opening Day.   (This article was originally

Prospects and Projects – Projecting the 2013 Kernels, Part 2

In preparation for the first season of the new affiliation between the Twins and my hometown Cedar Rapids Kernels, I’ve embarked on a series of “get to know them” posts. The intention is to give my fellow Kernels fans a little bit of information about the Twins prospects we may be seeing in Kernels uniforms over the course of the summer, understanding full well that it’s impossible to know exactly who will fill the Kernels’ roster several months before Opening Day.   http://knuckleballsblog.com/

Hall of Fame Flap Brewing?

Almost two weeks ago, I posted my take on this year’s Baseball Hall of Fame ballot. I listed the 10 players I would have voted for and then I predicted that none of the players on this year’s ballot would garner the necessary 75% support to be elected to the Hall by the actual voting members of the BBWAA this year.   Wednesday afternoon at 1 pm CT, we will find out if I was right.   (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com.)   http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/upload

Prospects and Projects – Projecting the 2013 Kernels. Part 1

Since we’ve officially turned the calendar to 2013, it means Spring Training gets underway in just a few weeks and before you know it, we’ll be getting ready for Opening Day!   http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/KernelsTwins-300x168.jpg (Image: Kernels.com)   With this being the first year of the new Class A affiliation between the Twins and my hometown Cedar Rapids Kernels, I’m looking forward to the opportunity to bring more Kernels-centric writing to Knuckleball

Account

Navigation

Search

Search

Configure browser push notifications
Chrome (Android)
  1. Tap the lock icon next to the address bar.
  2. Tap Permissions → Notifications.
  3. Adjust your preference.
Chrome (Desktop)
  1. Click the padlock icon in the address bar.
  2. Select Site settings.
  3. Find Notifications and adjust your preference.