Archived Game Threads

Let me explain the ALDS thus far... No there is too much. Let me sum up: Episode V (III, sir!) The Empire Ks It is a dark time for the Twins Fan base. Although the Bomba title has been claimed, Imperial troops have driven our Rebel forces from the Yankee Stadium and pursued us across the country. Evading the dreaded Imperial TV network, a group of freedom fighters led by Nelson Cruz are entrenched in Target Field in the remote ice state of Minnesota. The evil Pinstripes look to dash the hopes of the upstart Twins, and silence the mighty bomba stick, the last hope for order and peace in the MLB…. (John Williams wasn't available so this wiil have to do) …

Welcome to another exciting game thread experience at Twins Daily and game #2 in the ALDS series against the Yankees. After last nights game and the disappointing results, I'm calling an audible and doing an entirely different introduction than what I intended to write yesterday. The theme for today is simple: GET. READY. TO. FIGHT. While there were some questionable calls, plays and managerial decisions made during the game yesterday, did anyone of us think this would be easy? Playing New York at home in the playoffs is difficult for almost every team in the league. The Twins know this and that's why I think they will come out swinging hard today. I liked what I…

A few years ago, when the Twins inadvertently made a playoff appearance, I was notified, that, should the Twins progress, I would have the honor of introducing a play-off game thread. Then, the Twins bombed in the Bronx, following up that loss by then limping to a dreadful conclusion of the 2018 campaign. During a busy, yet head-scratching, off-season, the FO signed new players, coaches and a manager, trying to bolster a team that clearly wasn’t getting the job done. Amazingly enough, the FO put together an excellent team, a team that set both team and MLB records, setting the stage for one of the best seasons I can remember since the 1987 Squad won it all. Which br…

Welcome to the game thread for last game of the regular season! Since we clinched a few days ago, I've sort of been on coast mode. I signed up for this day weeks ago because I figured there'd be plenty to say and I'd have lots to say. But I don't, not really. I just want to get this thing started! (By 'thing', I mean ... playoffs, baby!) But ... one last regular-season game to go. Do the Twins make it to 102 W? I don't really care. Do they take and hold the single season home run record? I don't really care, and, well, given the Yankees are in Arlington, they do have the advantage, so, it is what it is. At the start of this season, I never thought we'd be here, looking …

I go down a lot of rabbit holes when it comes to this game we all love. Inevitably, when I was researching those Chip Hale and Jeff Reboulet hit streaks, I came across the name Walt Dropo. Moose was the AL rookie of the year in 1950 for the BoSox and, although he never matched the promise he showed in that first campaign, went on to have a solid career. Alvin Davis, Eric Hosmer, and Sixto Lezcano are some of his comps. All that said, Walt Dropo is best known for getting twelve hits in a row, the major league record (Pinky Higgins also singled in twelve straight ABs but mixed in a pair of walks). But I’m not here to talk about all that. It’s just how I got started. Drop…

Today is a momentous day, in that I bid farewell to regular season game thread duties. Hard to believe, 159 games later, it's time to move on, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2D6xSDffm6c and look forward to the playoffs. Yes, the playoffs go through "those guys" in a town memorialized by the "Chairman of the Board:" *Frank's voice is decent but the big band behind Frank makes the song. This season has been one heck of a ride: And the ride couldn't have ended in much better fashion. Well, the regular season ride, anyway. But, one last stop in KC, taking on the Royals and this series also represents the swan song for Mr. Ned Yost. It's going to be …

So this game is meaningless. At the beginning of the season, all I hoped for was for the Twins to be playing meaningful games in September. And then this happened. We can't win enough games to catch the Yankees for home field advantage. We've already won the division, so losing games now doesn't matter. We're now playing meaningless games in September -- just as I had feared. I signed up to do the opener for a meaningless game because, of course I did. And I sense many of you also feared this would happen. So much thought and emotional energy has gone into doubting this team: The front office didn't do anything to address our bullpen in the off-season.The front offi…

The Twins visit Detroit in the second game of a three game season with only five games to play. Their magic number is two. Any combination of two Twins wins or Cleveland losses wins the Central for Minnesota, their first division championship since 2010. Detroit is wrapping up a terrible season, they are 46-110 and they have talent commensurate with their record. They have hit pretty well against the Twins, but lack power. The Tigers will face Twins folk hero Randy Dobnak today. Dobnak has climbed from independent minor league to the major leagues and has pitched very effectively, first as an opener and in his last two starts as a legitimate starter. Dobnak started 201…

Today, the magic number stands at 3. Not 4, not 2, and 5 is right out. The number is three and three shall be the number. *I put in the whole thing because I can relate to the "soiled armor" bit what with some of the things that happened during the season. Now, the Twins head into Detroit and the Twins faithful are looking at this series, knowing things are counting down to the post-season. But, we are not counting our playoffs before they hatch, are we? The Twins head into Detroit and, if the past is anything to go by, they will exact their revenge on Detroit. (Well, okay, the Twins have been exacting revenge on Detroit all year....) And, with that,…

5 things to think about... 1. I got a friend who closed on a house earlier this week. So please forgive me if i have a one track mind. 2. Final regular season Twins home game. I hope we win. 3. Scoring runs by getting home. Sorry! That was too easy. 4. High Culture. See game thread title. 5. Pop culture, an incomplete list: "Slimey? Mudhole? My home this is!" Strong are we with the force, but are we yet Jedi? Kansas City 0. Jorge Lopez (R ) P 1. W. Merrifield (R ) LF 2. A. Mondesi ( S ) SS 3. Jorge Soler (R ) DH 4. Hunter Dozier (R ) 3B 5. Ryan McBroom (R ) RF 6. C. Cuthbert (R ) 1B 7. Bubba Starling (R ) CF 8. H. Arteaga (R ) 2B 9. Nick Dini (R ) C Minn…

Today is a special day. Not only do our Twins host the Royals on their push for a post season berth, but today is the first day of Oktoberfest. Now you may note that it's not yet October. There is an important distinction. Oktoberfest is the harvest festival held in Munich Germany. It's the largest beer festival in the world. On the east side of the Saint Croix River, we have a great German Heritage. Fantastic German restaurants, festivals, and of course, a hearty few of us Twins Fans! So next time you feel that urge to tease me about my great state, just remember, Wisconsin is as close to a German experience as you can get to from Minnesota without catching as flight…

The dog ate my game thread intro. I was stuck in traffic. One more donut won't hurt me. What are some other poor excuses? Go on, you can come up with better! Kansas City 0. Eric Skoglund ( L) P 1. W. Merrifield (R ) RF 2. A. Mondesi ( S ) SS 3. Jorge Soler (Rb) DH 4. Hunter Dozier (R ) 3B 5. Alex Gordon ( L) LF 6. Ryan McBroom (R ) 1B 7. Erick Mejia ( S ) CF 8. Nicky Lopez ( L) 2B 9. Nick Dini (R ) C Minnesota: 0. Randy Dobnak (R ) P 1. Mitch Garver (R ) C 2. Jorge Polanco ( S ) SS 3. Nelson Cruz (R ) DH 4. Eddie Rosario ( L) LF 5. Miguel Sano (R ) 3B 6. M. Gonzalez ( S ) RF 7. C.J. Cron (R ) 1B 8. J. Schoop (R ) 2B 9. Ryan LaMarre (R ) CF Well, my other gam…

The Twins took two steps forward toward the goal of winning the division during the series of games against the Sox. Unfortunately, after that second step, the Twins paused and, well, Cleveland decided they need to keep pace. It's hard to watch when one can almost touch or see the Twins with the division title. *So what if I had to reach a bit to fit in this song. On the upside, if the Twins keep trucking on they should win the division. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaQ8r-SwR2c Now, KC is in town and the Twin will need to keep moving on toward a division title. And, with that, another chapter in series game thread openers comes to a close. Please sta…

http://wolterskluwerblogs.com/mediation/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2015/05/magic-number-7.png Good afternoon and welcome back to another exciting game thread! After last nights win I'd prefer this game just go a standard 9 innings and we win by 10 or 12 runs. I can honestly say I stayed up until the final out was made and very glad I did. Entertaining game to say the least...Magic number now at 7!!!! Tonights game I think goes to the Twins. The momentum is there and I believe the Twins players can smell a division win just around the corner. If the Detroit Tigers had any pride in themselves and for the great game of baseball they should beat Cleveland tonight makin…

All rise! The right honourable Umpire is entering the stadium (do the get walk up music? if not, what should they have?) On the charge of waiting until the last second to write a game thread intro, how do you plead? Squirrel! Let the Jury take note that the defendent won't give a straight answer. Wait... who is in this jury you're talking about? Why, the contributors to this thread, naturally. Oh, for a moment you were making light of the injured twins, as being "in jury"... Hardly. That's how you see the world. Let the record show that the defendent thinks that Movie Quotes make a good game thread intro. Just settin' a good example: others s…

I started typing this thread and, through the magic of hitting the wrong keys, managed to lose everything I'd written. My loss is probably Twins Faithful gain. The Twins, after taking two from Cleveland in Cleveland suddenly seemed to remember they were guests and promptly gave back a game. I'm not sure where Miss Manners comes down when it comes to sports etiquette but it seems to me that, in pro sports, guest or not, sweeping the leg is called for. Now the Twins return home and the lineup is slowly returning to health and starting to contribute that which we've missed these last few games. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q3uPysQaZY On paper, this looks to…

Good morning Twin fans! The Twins go for the sweep against Cleveland this afternoon. The Twins swept a day-night doubleheader to take a 5.5 game lead to give them a big edge going into the last two weeks of the season. Today Randy Dobnak gets the ball first for the Twins with the expectation that there will be many relievers. Cleveland counters with All-Star Shane Bieber. Advantage Cleveland, but they had the edge in the pitching matchup earlier in the series. The starting lineup features a couple of surprises--Araez at DH, Austudillo catching, Jake Cave (back!) in right field and Ronald Torreyes at short. Health remains a big concern for the club. Twins: Arraez dh …

The Cleveland Falcon I was holding down a barstool in a cheap dive just down the street from what used to be Jacobs Stadium, trying to nurse three fingers of the worst tasting whiskey I’d ever had the misfortune to order when she walked in. She had legs halfway up to her neck, auburn hair pulled back in one of those French braids that made her look… French and a figure you won’t find in any accountant’s office. “What’s a dame like you doing in a gin joint like this?” I asked her in my best Bogie impression. She coolly looked me over before claiming a seat three stools away. “I’m looking for a Tom Collins,” she replied, distantly. “Haven’t seen him,” I inf…

This is the city, Cleveland, Ohio. A city unlike any other, in that two titans of baseball will be meeting in a head to head contest. Some may call it destiny, that these two team would meet like this. Others would look to MLB and their scheduling gurus. Either theory is nice, but we deal in facts, just the facts. And the facts are: Cleveland keeps trying to catch the Twins, but the Twins, much like Road Runner, seem to find a way to avoid getting caught. But, in the end, there can only be two! *figuring both teams make the playoffs, natch! Now, for something completely different! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk-kQSz-Qv0 Okay, maybe not, as it's…

As all on these boards are aware, Justin Verlander’s third no-hitter was a pretty big deal. He joined a short list of all-timers. Nolan Ryan’s seven remain the benchmark. Sandy Koufax’s four had sat in the pole position for ten years before the Ryan Express tied that record when he blitzed the Royals, Tigers, Twins, and Orioles across a two year period in the mid-70s. With three no-hitters, Verlander joined Larry Corcoran, Cy Young, and Bob Feller on a short-list of six: four hall-of-famers, another hurler who is sure to join them, and Larry Corcoran. That last fella’s story is to follow. All of this came to my attention when Dick and [ex-ballplayer] were bantering bac…

The Twins are still up five games on the Indians, and we are almost halfway through the month of September. The Twins go against two great starters the rest of this series, and I wouldn't be surprised at all to see them lose the series 2-1. However, they did exactly what they needed to do last night to set themselves up for a victory. The Pitchers Stephen Strasburg (16-6, 3.50 ERA, 222 K's) vs Martin Perez (10-6, 4.75 ERA, 121 K's) This is the first time that Strasburg will have pitched in Target Field, and it will be a treat for the fans there, and watching on TV. Strasburg is one of the best in the game when he is healthy, and that is what he has done so far this ye…

Running a bit late here, as I didn't realize the start time was moved up a bit. Odd start time, but, this has been an odd season. This season has had more ups and downs than "Wild Thing" of Valley Fair fame! *No, I'm not about to bring Mitch Williams into the discussion! Oh, wait... But, and we're carrying over a theme here, it has been a magical season for the Twins faithful this year. *Yes, I'm reaching. Content is content! Even if it's youtube video! *Internet 101...cat videos, because, well, cat videos. Now, for some thoughts: 1. No matter how you look at it, Cleveland still struggled to win the last game against the Twins and the Twins were …

http://www.kidsmathgamesonline.com/images/pictures/numbers600/number14.jpg Good morning Twins fans and welcome back to another exciting game thread extravaganza! After last night's big win our magic number now stands at 14! If we can manage to beat up Clevinger and the Indians today our magic number would reach 12. Despite the nice win yesterday we still faced some unfortunate news regarding one of our better pitchers. Big Mike Pineda will be going away for awhile...a 60 game suspension is not something I really wanted to see at the moment but I think this team will prevail. If you're nervous and frustrated I posted a few soothing links that will put your mind at ease…

Time for perspective. Twins lost a heartbreaker yesterday. Would be great to get a win today before facing Clevinger tomorrow. But more importantly, it's a beautiful day, and I'm about to head out to coach my youngest son's Little League game. We've had one 1.5 hour practice. We have new uniforms (provided by the Washington Nationals baseball club), and it's likely that the whole team will have their glove for the first game of the season. We're ready to roll. Our team sponsor is a local dental practice, and the team cheer is "Don't forget to floss!" - followed by the kids doing the floss dance, of course. Here is our fearsome line-up of 7 and 8 year olds: 1.…

Today opens an important late season series for the Twins. And, this series also bring out the magic of the baseball season. For instance, the following: Of course, there is also another kind of magic But the true magic lies in a number, specifically, the magic number: http://twinsdaily.com/topic/34786-magic-number-thread/?do=findComment&comment=910891 *See above thread for the countdown. Of course, transportation to Twins games is important: I admit, at one point, maybe many points, I had a bit of this going on: Because I thought perhaps things weren't going quite as they looked. But, here we are, the Central title there for the Twins…

The Cleveland Indians were just beaten by the White Sox in a one hit game in which was a solo shot, and the Twins now lead by six games. They have a chance to extend the division lead back out to six and a half games with a win tonight against Boston, so please win Twins!! The Pitchers Martin Perez (9-6, 4.89 ERA, 120 K's) vs Nathan Eovaldi (1-0, 6.23 ERA, 46 K's) Martin Perez was not good his last time out against the Tigers in which he didn't manager to get through three innings, and gave up eight runs in that outing. However, prior to that matchup Perez strung together multiple good starts in a row, so lets hope that showing was just an off night for him. He did…

Good afternoon Twins fans and welcome back to another game thread party! We have a first place team and we beat the Red Sox last night. Great time to be a Twins fan!! Before starting, I need to make another call out to Hong Kong David for his great game thread introduction yesterday. I loved the story! Since his intro was so much fun I thought I would do something similar and relay a funny story told to me by my grandmother about 25 years ago. A few of you may have already read this from me before but since our web audience is so much bigger with the Twins winning I'm going to retell it...Apologies if its' a rerun for a few of you. The Twilight Zone car ride with …

Why I loathe Boston, and how I came to miss my Baby, by David in HK Greetings to all back in the World, and elsewhere. As the home town team embarks on a rather testing first half of September, I raised my hand to offer some thoughts, and grind a personal axe for this series at the same time. As many of you know who have followed these threads for the past few years, I'm in Hong Kong these days, (more on that later), having been on the China side of the water now since '09. And why I'm still here has a lot to do with Beantown. The shortest story version, but still long, so bear with me a little bit- ND native, Twinkie fan since my toddler days in '65. Living in t…

Whew. What a week. There was so much Twins news, our heads are spinning. There was good news. There was bad news. There were bombas. There were games (ok, game) without bombas. There were opposite field singles. There were lots of opposing team singles. It kind of reminds me of that classic children’s book by Remy Charlip, “Fortunately”: Fortunately, my friend lent me an airplane. Unfortunately, the motor exploded. Fortunately, there was a parachute. Unfortunately, there was a hole in the parachute. Fortunately, I landed on a haystack. Unfortunately, there was a pitchfork on the haystack. In honor of that timeless book and the head spinning Twins goings on, tod…

And the amazing technicolor game thread intro... Joe M conversation: Morgan: Why are there so many strangers here? Madden: September call ups. Give a lot of folk a cup of coffee and a chance to show their stuff in the big show. Mientkiewicz: Not all of us are even Joes. I shouldn't even be here. I got a minor league team to manage. Morgan: Don't we have something special today? Montana: Yeah, the annual I Spy championships. I have been training since May! Go ahead, try me! McCarthy: Alright. I spy with my little eye... something beginning with S. Montana: Sand. McCarthy: Got it one! Try this... I spy with my little eye something beginning with D Monta…