When the clock struck midnight, and Monday became Tuesday at Joe O’Brien Field, a rooster crowed loudly into the East Tennessee night. It was not a real bird, just a bit of fun concocted by the E-Twins promotion crew in the press box. It was a cheap laugh on a long night, but there was still baseball to be played. The scheduled double-dip got started on time, but rain was threatening from the moment the first pitch flew until the final outs were played. A crowd liberally numbered at 507 souls
With one swing of the bat, the whole complexion of a baseball game can change. Tonight consecutive swings solidified how important two members of the E-Twins are to the ball club. With Elizabethton holding a one run lead headed into the bottom of the third, Jermaine Palacios led off with a double, the second of his three hits tonight. Alex Perez singled to advance the lead-off man to third. Runners on the corners, no outs for LaMonte Wade. Wade stepped to the plate, and starting pitcher Dalt
The game was initially delayed thirty minutes for rain. It was a pitcher’s duel into the bottom of the sixth, when with Twins on the corners and no outs the rains came and the tarp was hustled onto the field. Geno Encina was ready to enter the game before the rain arrived and trotted out to the mound when the game resumed some 50 minutes later at just after 10 p.m. Encina had a rocky start. He threw a wild pitch that scored Alex Perez from third for Betsy’s first run of the night. With Chri
There were two outs in the top of the tenth. Johnson City Cardinals relief pitching had allowed just one hit since the seventh and the momentum of the game over the previous few innings had the small gathering of Twins rooters sitting on the first base side of the tiny press box just waiting for the next out and for Johnson City to take the game as they had the previous two nights. Kamran Young stepped to the plate to face Harley Holt. Young had struggled all night. He was 0-5, and had added a
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 🙂