It all begins today with the National Football League's Wildcard games. This is the year that the Minnesota Vikings exorcize their demons one week at a time. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Joe-Kapp-600x405.jpg I'm calling it right now. The Vikes are going to erase the memory of past failures every time they take the field in the postseason. Think about it... what are arguably the biggest disappointments in Minnesota Viking history? For my money, I'd list them t
It's too early for this. It's too early to be looking at which of the hundreds of minor leaguers currently a part of the Minnesota Twins organization might take the field at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids this summer. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/LewisWatkins17-600x400.jpg Tommy Watkins is moving up to AA Chattanooga to manage in 2018, but Royce Lewis could be back in Cedar Rapids to start the new season (Photo: SD Buhr) It's definitely too early to
If you're a Minnesota Twins fan, you're probably already well aware of the allegations that independent photographer Betsy Bissen went public via Twitter a couple days ago with her #MeToo experience involving Twins star Miguel Sano. I won't go into all the details but you can easily find them with a quick browser search. (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com) http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/metoo-300x169.jpg In a nutshell, Betsy's account i
A whole LOT of sports stuff has been going on over the past week or so. Whether you're a Twins fan, a Vikings fan, a college football fan or a fan of one a team in one of those sports leagues I don't really give a crap about like the NBA and NHL, there's been so much stuff happening, that you could spend almost all day reading stories on every major sports site, just to try to understand all of it. Who has time for that? Well, I do, of course. I have time for pretty much anything. For me i
Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc. What, you didn't take Latin in school? That's no excuse for not knowing the English translation of that phrase. After all, it played a pivotal role in an episode of the Aaron Sorkin political drama, "The West Wing," only a couple of decades ago. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/LewisWatkins17-600x400.jpg Manager Tommy Watkins and Royce Lewis (photo by SD Buhr) Fine, since most of you still probably have no clue, I'll provide the tran
Heading into their four-game series with Midwest League Western Division leaders Kane County on Thursday, the Cedar Rapids Kernels were one game under .500, trailed the Cougars by two games in the standings and were tied for second place in their division. (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com) After trouncing Kane County 11-2 in the series finale on Sunday to earn a split of the four-game series, Cedar Rapids was one game over .500 (at 9-8), trail the Cougars by two ga
There were differing opinions concerning who won the dance contest held in the Kernels' clubhouse prior to "Meet the Kernels Night" in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday, but the players and coaches who were brought in to talk to the media were in agreement on one thing. They all expect the 2017 Kernels season to be fun. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/KernlesFans2017-600x400.jpg Kernels players meeting fans on "Meet the Kernels Night" in Cedar Rapids. (photo: SD Buhr) In fac
With the 2017 Minnesota Twins season set to open up on Monday, it's finally time to try to predict what this team will do over the next 162 games. (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com) Looking at the Opening Day roster and comparing it to what we saw a year ago, making a prediction that doesn't have the Twins once again at least flirting with 100 losses takes a combination of considerable imagination and pure hope. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/20
The Minnesota Twins once again included Cedar Rapids, the home of their Class A affiliate Kernels, in their Twins Winter Caravan tour and last night's event was entertaining and about as enjoyable as any such event put on by a 100+ loss big league organization could be. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/DSC_0857-2-600x400.jpg Kris Atteberry emcees the panel of Trevor May, Byron Buxton, Tommy Watkins, Thad Levine and Brian Dinkelman The venue was one of several new as
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Granted, it probably wasn't anywhere near the "worst of times" for Stuart Turner and Mitch Garver, but the excitement of learning they had been drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the June, 2013 Amateur Draft had to have been at least slightly dampened with the realization that the Twins had drafted both of them. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/GarverAFL16ae-600x400.jpg Mitch Garver (Photo: SD Buhr) Going into th
Yeah, I really should have looked at the Surprise Saguaros' schedule before I reserved my hotel for this trip. After Saturday night's Fall Stars Game and Monday afternoon's Surprise game, the Saguaros (for whom all of the Minnesota Twins AFP prospects play this fall) have no more home games while I'm in town. The game today was the first of four games that Surprise is playing in some other distant part of the Phoenix area. Just means I'll be doing a lot of driving between now and Friday. Live
For the third year, I've made the trip top the Phoenix area to watch a little November baseball in the Arizona Fall League and, while I have no pearls of wisdom to pass along, I thought the least I could do is share a few photos during the week. The AFL consists of six teams that each use one of the Phoenix area MLB spring training sites and each big league team sends six or seven minor league prospects to participate. Representing the Twins this fall are pitchers Stephen Gonsalves, Randy Rosa
There really isn't a "category" here at Twins Daily for a post of this type (and maybe it's not appropriate here at all), but I posted this over at Knuckleballsblog.com this morning and thought I would share it here, as well. Just a few reflections on this, the 15th anniversary of 9/11. It's incredible to think that there is now almost a complete generation of Americans who have little or no direct recollection of the day the United States was attacked and thousands of people lost their lives
Every year, a number of Cedar Rapids Kernels players and coaches spend one of their off-days sweating on a golf course with a bunch of people willing to shell out a couple dollars (actually a bit more) for the pleasure of sharing their company as they knock a little white ball about 6,000 yards around a local golf course to benefit the organization’s childrens’ reading program.http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/CordyMiller-600x400.jpg - Max Cordy is slightly taller than
With less than 40 games left in their 2017 campaign, the Cedar Rapids Kernels need a strong finish to clinch a Midwest League playoff spot, something they’ve accomplished every season since affiliating with the Minnesota Twins in 2013. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/MauerGuzman900.jpg Kernels manager Jake Mauer and infielder Manuel Guzman (Photo: SD Buhr) The Peoria Chiefs and Clinton Lumberkings finished one and two in the Division’s first half standings, automat
Since it was so late when I got home after last night's Midwest League All-Star Game, I was too tired to get all of the photos included in my ASG post that I would have liked to. (Sure, the margarita or 5 that I had at the game MIGHT have had something to do with my drowsiness, but there's no hard evidence of that, so I'm going with 'I was just tired.') Anyway, I decided to post several more pictures from the ASG festivities over the past couple of days in Cedar Rapids. Now, here's the thing
The Cedar Rapids Kernels and the city of Cedar Rapids hosted this year's Midwest League All-Star Game festivities and all four Kernels players on the Western Division roster played big roles before the festivities concluded. The Eastern Division stars notched a come-from-behind 11-10 victory in what could only be described as an entertaining ballgame. Kernels pitcher Sam Clay got the start for the West stars and notched a 1-2-3 inning in the first inning, completing it with a strikeout. Ce
Here I am On the road again There I am Up on the stage Here I go Playin' star(s) again There I go Turn the page http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Molitor2011-429x600.jpg It has got to be lonely being Paul Molitor these days. About the only thing separating him from the tortured Bob Seger that penned “Turn the Page” back in 1972 is that he isn’t subjected to riding a bus somewhere east of Omaha with locals at truck stops making snide remarks about his long hair. (T
Most of the work that Sam Clay and AJ Murray did together during their shared time at Georgia Tech was confined to the bullpen, but this season the pair of former Yellow Jackets have played critical roles together for the Midwest League Western Division-leading Cedar Rapids Kernels. Clay, a lefty who was the Minnesota Twins’ fourth round draft pick in 2014, carries a 3-1 record and a 1.10 ERA into his Wednesday night start at Burlington. He has averaged more than a strikeout per inning in his
The Minnesota Twins lost this afternoon. Ordinarily, I’d say things have reached the point where another Twins loss falls into the “dog bites man” category. It’s not exactly news. But this loss had a couple of things going for it that gave me cause to put pen to paper (figuratively, of course). (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com.) First of all, I actually watched the game on television. Between attending Kernels games and being blacked out by MLB’s “local market”
There's nothing like having a really bad product at the Major League level to focus fans' attention on prospects in an organization's minor league system and that's exactly what has happened in Twinsville over the past several years. Many Twins fans that have turned their primary attention to the club's prospects have, for the past couple of years, been somewhat underwhelmed by the stat lines of pitcher Kohl Stewart and outfielder Travis Harrison, to the point where I mentioned in my offseason
So this season has certainly de-escalated quickly, hasn’t it Twins fans? Ask any group of Twins fans what went wrong and you’ll get a wide variety of responses. Of course, there’s no shortage of I-told-you-so’s going around out there, either. Haters gonna hate and nothing makes haters happier than when things go badly and they can loudly proclaim how smart they were to hate in the first place. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Facepalm-600x351.png The thing is, I
It was a minor story this week. Minnesota Twins (and former Cedar Rapids Kernels) pitcher Tyler Duffey was one of a handful of Major League ballplayers that have come to agreements with a firm by the name of Fantex to “sell” a share of their future earnings in return for an immediate sum of money. You can read the AP story here and, for a description of how the investments in the players actually works, you can click this link to a year-old Fortune article. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-
Twenty games into their 2016 season, the Cedar Rapids Kernels find themselves right in the thick of the chase for the Midwest League’s Western Division first-half title race with an 11-9 record. They sit just one-half game behind Division co-leaders Kane County and Clinton. The Kernels are a combined 4-7 against the front-running Cougars and Lumberkings. If you look strictly at the club’s offensive numbers, you’d be hard pressed to figure out how the Kernels have managed to keep aloft in the
As the Cedar Rapids Kernels begin a stretch of seven consecutive "commuter" games (those where they bus to the away game and back home again after the game each day/night) this week, they are off to a 7-4 start to their Midwest League Season, good enough for second place in the MWL's West Division, a half-game behind Kane County. (This article was originally posted at knuckleballsblog.com) Early on, the Kernels' offense was riding on the shoulders of LaMonte Wade and Chris Paul. Paul was pro
I really hold back what I would like to say about then payroll arguments here. The fact that people don't accept the amount taken in dictates the amount going out requires one of two things. Extreme financial ignorance or fanatical bias that prevents the acceptance of something some basic. I did not change the argument. It's the same idiocy over and over. Do you really want to be on the side that suggests revenues does not determine spending capacity?
At this point in the pre-season, I’m just so happy to be seeing games again, I don’t care about the Twins record in 2023. I think they’ll win it all, unrealistically speaking 🙂
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I really hold back what I would like to say about then payroll arguments here. The fact that people don't accept the amount taken in dictates the amount going out requires one of two things. Extreme financial ignorance or fanatical bias that prevents the acceptance of something some basic. I did not change the argument. It's the same idiocy over and over. Do you really want to be on the side that suggests revenues does not determine spending capacity?· 0 replies
