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Game 5 - Everybody Wins.

Didn't listen to the Twins game. Had the chance to see the Timberwolves play, and I was lucky enough to see the game where Coach Adelman got his 1000 career victory.   The Twins won, too. In our social media world, you never miss the baseball game. My friend and I tuned into it on the radio on the car ride to the game, when things still seemed sluggish for the team in blue. I learned they had taken the lead from a Twins tweet texted directly to my phone, and I learned the game was tied up when
Axel Kohagen

Axel Kohagen

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Game 4 - Everything Awful Returns

A day after imaging a Twins path to the playoffs, everything awful I was expecting from the team showed up for 9 innings of baseball. Mauer didn't get a hit. The starting pitcher didn't go 5 innings. The bullpen gave out like a bad back.   To top it off, the sky filled with snow while the game was on. I didn't catch much of this one - just enough to give me the idea that Liam Hendriks might be a threat to my blood pressure this year.   Snow after opening day is like getting your Christmas list t
Axel Kohagen

Axel Kohagen

1

Game 3 - Spoon-Dug Tunnels.

As Twins broadcast signs off and repeats the 8-2 score, my thoughts turn to a Minnesota Twins playoff run.   Don't blame me. I tried to smother them in cynicism and reality.   The Twins just have to win games ugly and scrappy for this first third of the season. It's going to take cold weather, weird heroes, and relentless scrappiness.   In that time, they sort out their pitching staff. If they can come up with 3 above-average pitchers and then they can grind out some victories.   It's not much,
Axel Kohagen

Axel Kohagen

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Game 2 - These Things Happen.

I missed most of this game. I got into my car in time to hear Glen Perkins get all Mama Said Knock You Out on the top half of the ninth. My hopes went up, and Plouffe got on base right as I parked my car.   By the time I got inside and let the dog out, the Twins won on a walk-off double from Eduardo Escobar. I thought about tuning into the game for the post-game celebration but, when you miss the moment, you miss the moment.   From what I heard of the game, music at Target Field sounds like som
Axel Kohagen

Axel Kohagen

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Game 16/17 - To Talk About the Weather

Double-headers are perfect. Ideally, the Twins would play twenty-four hours a day and I could always listen to them on the radio. There's probably some silly reason that wouldn't work, though.   Heard about the Arcia home-run on a quick phone check, then listened to enough game to feel like the Twins had it ready to put in their pocket. Then I alternated snippets of radio updates and smart phone monitoring to realize the second game might stay close, but it was probably never going the Twins way
Axel Kohagen

Axel Kohagen

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Game 15 - Sunday and Everything's All Right.

Spent the day with friends I hadn't seen in far too long and observed the Twins cementing a victory, via my phone, on the drive home.   Plus, the sun is starting to smack back the zombie hordes of winter snowdrifts. Groovy.   There was another Twins fan present at our afternoon gathering, so I felt no shame about checking the score. There are those other times when you have to monitor the boys of summer without getting caught.   What's your strategy?   The sly peak into your purse or pocket?   T
Axel Kohagen

Axel Kohagen

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Game 14 - Nature and Human Nature.

Weather kept Twins baseball off my radio from the game ending Tuesday night until today's 2-1 victory over the White Sox.   In that time, the nation struggled to reclaim meaning from tragedy. Locally, winter weather kicked Minnesotan ribs while the state was still down from the last snowstorm.   Baseball would've helped.   Somehow, the Twins are at .500 again. I haven't looked at any stats, but my gut's telling me their at bats have a little more pep in them than last year. Keeps us going in t
Axel Kohagen

Axel Kohagen

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Game 13 - Automauerton

I'm ashamed to admit I used to complain about Joe Mauer five years ago. I was an impressionable baseball fan, and I think I allowed the tough dudes of sports bitchery to get too far inside my head.   I picture those men, the constant whiners, as if constantly huddled under bleachers and punching each others' arms to emphasize every point.   I think I'm older and wiser now, and I appreciate Joe Mauer a great deal. He's very good in his bad years, and a precision hitting machine when he's at his
Axel Kohagen

Axel Kohagen

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Game 12 - God Bless the Rules.

I'm happy the Twins won 8-2 over the Angels on a cold and snowy night. I'm even happy Brendan Harris got a home run for the Angels. I always had a soft spot for him when he was a Twin, even if he did find himself on the losing end of an on-field squirrel attack.   Mostly, I'm thankful that tonight there was a patch of my fair city where people gathered together to watch an ordered, fair, and safe contest. More people watched the event on their televisions, and other (like me) listened on the ra
Axel Kohagen

Axel Kohagen

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Game 11 - Monroeville Mall Field.

Zombies have already been mentioned twice on my Twins 2013 game-by-game blog. This should not surprise anyone. I mean, I'm not Mr. Cowboypants.   And I guess it's not surprising the Minnesota Twins had me thinking about zombies again, although not in the same way as the last few times.   The Mets' Matt Harvey took a no hitter into the seventh inning. He's a heckuva picture -- Aaron Gleeman's giddy obsession with the hurler reached photoshopping levels during the game.   That said, the Twins are
Axel Kohagen

Axel Kohagen

1

Game 10 - Back in Time.

With a ground covered by snow and flakes drifting down from the sky, yesterday made me wonder if spring is coming again and the Twins pitchers and catchers need to report to Florida soon.   A double dose of spring training couldn't hurt, right? I tuned into the game when I started in on supper, and Vance Worley had coughed up 10 runs by the time our meal was done.   I had a hankering to go to that game, but when I texted the wife to see if she was down for wintery baseball game, her exact words
Axel Kohagen

Axel Kohagen

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Game 1 - Slushy

When I sat down in my home office and turned on the Nationals game to hear how Denard Span did with his new team, the sun was friendly and my view was mostly free from snow. By the time I got in my car and tuned into the Twins game, all I could see were piles of snow and gloomy skies.   Gray is the official color of being down by two runs.   The Twins must have settled in after that, but when I got back in my car I listened to them waste a bases loaded opportunity. Duensing came in and I winced
Axel Kohagen

Axel Kohagen

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Full Tilt Failure!: My Baseball Story.

Whiffle ball led off my failed experiment at playing baseball. We owned two thin yellow whiffle ball bats and two big fat red bats. We hacked away with the yellow bats and eventually, after spinning around on strikeout after strikeout, someone would stomp into the garage and grab Big Red. It was the only way we could get a hit.   This was country ball. There were never many of us, so pitcher's hand rules went into effect. Bases were usually leaves, sticks, or scratched out portions of dust. Game
Axel Kohagen

Axel Kohagen

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Full Squads, Empty Hearts.

If my Twins blog gets any bleaker, it'll have to wear black eyeliner.   Not too worried. First Spring Training home run by a Minnesota Twin will have me predicted a World Series victory in six games. I'm like that.   Roger Clemens is threatening to become an obsession for me. He could go into the Ty Cobb Hall of Fame for players so completely unlikeable they've become loveable. I'd drive him there myself, as long as I didn't have to rub Icy-Hot on his groin area.   Saints preserve us, I'm starti
Axel Kohagen

Axel Kohagen

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Friends, GMs, Bloggers, and Fans: The Blogger "Controversy"

The following are my thoughts on the blogger versus journalist "debate." They are largely unresearched and completely subjective, but I hope they offer something to the public discussion.   1) It's not really a debate. This discussion is about the journalistic appraisal of the talent of the blogging community. I don't believe the discussion lends itself toward critiquing the journalistic community. Some mainstream journalists (Jon Heyman comes to mind) get more blogger abuse than others, but usu
Axel Kohagen

Axel Kohagen

3

Five and One, Baby.

It's Monday. The Twins aren't playing at the moment, but they're going to unload the war wagons and take on Detroit on their turf. The Twins have taken two series from divisional foes, and winning a third series would feel like a nice little start to somethin' somethin'.   Five to one. That makes me pause for a second to remind people to appreciate The Doors like they ought to appreciate them. If you're going to roll down your car windows and drive down a rural highway this summer, you'd better
Axel Kohagen

Axel Kohagen

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Feelin' Royally Screwed -- Twins at Royals (Games 54-56)

Twins at Royals   Salem’s Lot (Twins 3 Royals 0 - Game 54)   I started my day with a run. My Michael Cuddyer shirsey kept me company.   It’s funny how sturdy a fan’s heart is. After the announcement a beloved player will no longer be a Minnesota Twin, grief sets in. Then, when the season rolls around, you’re cheering for the players still in the dugout and you only pout when you hear former Twins’ names on highlight reels.   Sorta like breaking up with the person you kissed at summer camp.   I d
Axel Kohagen

Axel Kohagen

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Fall Guys (Twins versus Rays -- Games 146-148)

Voorhees: A True Dynasty (Twins 0 Rays 3-- Game 146)   On this Friday the 13th, I regret choosing Friday the 13th Part VIII - Jason Takes Manhattan as the film I watched. Jason Voorhees may be unkillable, but this lame hodge-podge of maritime hijinks and flimsy backstories sure signaled a sign this franchise had seen better days.   The Twins, another franchise that's seen better days, got blanked. If I had cable, I'd have been just as bored watching them as I was watching a guy in a hockey mask
Axel Kohagen

Axel Kohagen

0

Even the Dogs are Cringing (Twins versus White Sox -- Games 119-122)

(Twins 4 White Sox 3 -- Game 119)   Twins win on a walk-off hit from Chris Herrmann. That's a memory he'll keep in his back pocket forever.   Pelfrey made a game of it on the mound. Maybe there's something to him, but I don't know if I can take another season of wondering what's going to end up on the Target Field mound, and what pitch its arm will fall off while throwing.   What are the chances it's going to get better, though? I'm as optimistic about the future of Twins pitching as I was abo
Axel Kohagen

Axel Kohagen

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End of Twins, Beginning of Baseball (Twins vs. Indians 92-94)

No More All-Star Moments (Twins 3 Indians 2 – Game 92)   This is the story of the 2013 Twins, and there’s really not a whole lot left to cover in these remaining games. True believers will hold out for a miracle, a string of victories, and playoff glory. I love all things TC, but I can’t believe in this campfire tale.   If it happens, I’ll jump on the bandwagon and stand in the parade like I always belonged there.   The Twins came out of the All-Star Break plucky, like nobody told them the odds.
Axel Kohagen

Axel Kohagen

1

Donruss Commons

We used to bike to the Denver, Iowa, Kwik Trip (before it became Kwik Star) to buy baseball cards. I'd prop my dirt bike up on its kick stand, ignore it when it fell over anyway, and scramble into the store to buy packs of Topps and Donruss baseball cards.   I didn't really know baseball at the time, so every card boasting a name I'd heard of was pure gold to me. I thought I had a pretty sweet collection going until my friends told me all I had were a bunch of commons. I couldn't even pretend l
Axel Kohagen

Axel Kohagen

3
2022 Season Blog

Done Dirty in Detroit - A Twins Blog

In my last blog entry, I said the Twins needed a strong showing in Detroit to prove they were legit. During those five games, the Twins did not prove their legitimacy. Far from it. They looked bad out there, and they chalked up some injuries. Five games, and now success seems like it's falling out of reach.  This column's getting posted later than I'd like because life got busy for a bit. During that time, I didn't get much of a chance to follow those five games. The final scores popped up

Dimly Aware in Detroit: Twins at Tigers (Games 44-46)

Twins at Tigers   10 Pins Fall Down (Game 44)   I asked the score if I should watch the Twins game. The score said no, and I had no regrets about spending some time with my wife, my friend, and an awful movie called The Greenskeeper.   The formerly infamous John Rocker, pitcher, played the killer.   It’s on Netflix.   In the ninth inning, we watched our phones to make sure the Twins avoided getting no-hit.   Following a baseball team has very few real-life side effects. Getting no-hit can really
Axel Kohagen

Axel Kohagen

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Detroit, Out of Focus (Twins at Tigers -- Games 124-126)

Focal Point (Twins 6 Tigers 3 -- Games 124)   The Twins win, but do so with an albatross hanging around their neck. An albatross with a catcher's mask and sideburns.   Joe Mauer sat out this game and ended up on the 7 day concussion DL. This has the potential to be beyond bad. Mauer is the reference point that holds the Twins in position. If his efficacy is limited or destroyed by the lingering side effects of a concussion, down goes up and up goes down.   In these trying times, I watch the sco
Axel Kohagen

Axel Kohagen

0

Dancing in the Rain: Twins vs. Brewers (Games 49-50)

Twins versus Brewers   The Coliseum Cheers (Game 49)   I tuned into the game just before Sam Deduno got enough outs to put himself in line for a win. He’s like dynamite: The Twins get the exact perfect ratio of balls to strikes from him or everything blows up in their face.   The radio was all about the solid defensive performance from the Twins, but all the signals beaming out of Target Field amped up to 11 for a foul ball Chris Parmelee snagged, battling fate and gravity the whole way.   A gr
Axel Kohagen

Axel Kohagen

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