Archived Game Threads

The other day, I was consulting my muse when my muse, who sometimes goes by the name “ChiTownTwinsFan,” sent me a message regarding my upcoming game thread. “Game thread?," I said “Did I sign up for a game thread?” Digital confirmation quickly followed. Which made me starting thinking about aging, guile and pitching, all in the form of “The Big Sexy,” AKA Bartolo Colon. We all know Mr. Colon has aged and, until recently, aged pretty well for a guy who pitches in the major leagues. But, we also know that with age, comes forgetfulness. Take this recent conversation, for instance: Catcher; “Uh, Bartolo, how many times are you going to call me out to the mound?” …

Game Thread: Twins @ Astros, 7/16 @ 1:10 CT Probable Starters: Kyle Gibson (5-7, 6.31 ERA) vs Mike Fiers (5-4, 3.84 ERA) -5 Thoughts- 1. An Interesting Flashblack I had a game thread with the Astros in August last year and I wrote this: “As I’ve been casually observing the Astros this season, I must say that they’ve had an odd year. They swept the American League by storm and nearly took the AL West. It seemed this team that had been in a complete rebuild was on the way up. But then they began 2016 tripping up and falling on their faces – though they were outdone by the Twins’ early failures. Similarly to the Twins, they had a torrid June and July, and Houston was b…

Game Thread: Twins @ Astros, 7/15 @ 6:10 CT Probable Starters: Ervin Santana (10-6, 2.99 ERA) vs Joe Musgrove (4-7, 6.04 ERA) -5 Thoughts- 1. Examining Joe Musgrove If the Twins are going to have any chance to beat the Astros for the first time this season, they’ll need to topple Musgrove. However, Musgrove has already been disastrous, allowing 27 runs (all earned) in 29.2 innings in his last six starts. In four of those starts, he’s given up 4 or more runs (including a 7 and 9 run game!). If the Twins work this right, they should be able to get him out before he throws five innings and start wearing down Houston’s bullpen. Musgrove has given up 10.7 hits per 9 inning…

Shouldn't it be the Non-All-Star break? If it is broke, how should we fix it? Granite! Get the jokes out of your system now. You'l need them when that one pitcher gets called up. Better done, than done well... Baltimore Orioles: P. Ubaldo Jimenez (R ) 1. Seth Smith (L) RF 2. Manny Machado ( R) 3B 3. Jonathan Schoop ( R) 2B 4. Adam Jones (R ) CF 5. Mark Trumbo ( R) DH 6. Trey Mancini ( R) 1B 7. Hyun Soo Kim (L) LF 8. Caleb Joseph (R ) C 9. Ruben Tejada ( R) SS Minnesota Twins: P. Kyle Gibson (R ) 1. Brian Dozier ( R) 2B 2. Robbie Grossman (S) DH 3. Max Kepler (L) RF 4. Miguel Sano ( R) 3B 5. Jason Castro (L) C 6. Kennys Vargas (S) 1B 7. Eddie Rosario (L…

1) Home. The batter starts there. And a run is tallied when they return safely. Why all the running about? Well, for one thing, it wouldn't be much of a game, i guess. Why's it called home? I don't know. 'Cause it's shaped like a house, leastwise as viewed from the field? The Twins' home is Target Field, and they have not had the best luck there. I could say something self-depricating about being gracious hosts or something, but that is neither here nor there. Feel free to discuss it, though. Twinsdaily hosts these here game threads. That doesn't quite do them justice. I think it is a better characterization to say this is their home. I am grateful for all the…

Tonight is Fireworks Friday at Target Field! Fireworks may have originated in China, but they are as American as baseball, apple pie, hot dogs, and the right to blow one’s fingers to smithereens with fireworks…at least in South Dakota where I’m from. In case you’re wondering, it’s tough to type this with the two bandaged fingers that I have left (kidding). When I was a kid, I would use fireworks as a way to destroy old toys and blow up ant hills. I watched my neighbors grandkids having Roman candle fights on the 4th and I couldn’t help thinking of all of the stupid stuff I did with fireworks and that somehow, miraculously, I managed to survive with minimal damage a…

Well, we’re back to real life after a good, long weekend. I hope we’ve shaken off our hangovers, at least gone through the motions of another workday, and are ready for some more Twins baseball. I had quite a lot of time recently to think about the Twins and what they mean to me. You see, I took an intercity bus ride yesterday afternoon that was supposed to last four hours and took nearly nine, all the while sitting in the seat directly in front of a woman whose voice was slightly more pleasant than a war crime. I made it through the ordeal, which is, incidentally, just about all that can be said for the experience of being a Twins fan the last several years. Knowing th…

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" -The Declaration of Independence May we all pursue happiness on this glorious 4th of July. And may the happiness of living in a nation that has a sport such as baseball be compounded by our favorite team winning again against that other team from the West Coast. May everyone survive the Fourth with all fingers attached. May all dwellings remain standing and not be turned into a large bonfire suitable for toasting marshmallows. May we all remain sober a…

Ideas, ideas, my kingdom for an idea. Or even a clue, for that matter. I was going to mail it in with this game thread, sort of like the Twins do when they play at home, but, since the Twins, when on the road, tend to go “Mad Max” I decided I best try to put up something coherent. (yeah, yeah, I know, first time for everything) I mean, seriously, what team gets clobbered at home then turns around and clobbers the team that just clobbered them? Okay, yes, the Twins do just that, but still, really? I've gotten to the point this year I look forward to the Twins going on the road. I cannot emphasize just how much fun this year has been. Baseball tends to be weird but the …

Ode to TD Baseball Threads: I sat reading through TD game threads, When a thought went rumbling through my head, (although at my age, it might have been something better left unsaid) My muse had returned to the marvelous Twins, And, even though the team is doing quite well with their wins, It seemed the team and front office must eventually pay for their pitching sins. Yet here the Twins are, in the hunt, playing KC as part of a road trip stay, A team with which the Twins had their way, Back when the season started early during the light of day. I wrestled with and discounted my thoughts of gloom, For Twins Wins have continued to bloom! But alas, I…

One If By Land, Two If By Sea Okay, our Twins won't have to go by sea, but they can take two from the Beantown Red Sox. I once dined on Boston strawberries and Arkansas wedding cake, washed down with Kansas sheep dip. And that’s no male bovine fecal matter. For those not up on their regional colloquialisms I’ll translate; I dined on baked beans, cornbread and sipping whiskey. No BS. Either with the meal or about the meal. I thought I’d throw that out there because you know, the Twinkies are playing in Boston which is awash in colloquialisms. Among other weird things. I was in Boston once. Spent a couple days there sight-seeing with the family and trying to learn t…

Today is a very important day, as it is my sister’s birthday. I won’t bore you with how old she is, and she doesn’t read this site, but I’ll simply note that I’m proud of her and wish her a happy **th birthday. With that out of the way, we need to discuss far more important things to think about today, namely regarding our Twins and a game against another good AL contender. My last set of things to think about centered around the 5 stages of grief, and considering how we got our ***es handed to us by our AL Central rivals, it seemed fitting. Of course, the good guys show all that grit and hustle that would make Gardy proud. They went to Cleveland and beat the snot out of …

Minnesota Twins: Pitching. Hector Santiago (L) 1. Brian Dozier ® 2B 2. Eduardo Escobar (S) 3B 3. Joe Mauer (L) 1B 4. Miguel Sano ® DH 5. Max Kepler (L) RF 6. Jorge Polanco (S) SS 7. Eddie Rosario (L) LF 8. Byron Buxton ® CF 9. Jason Castro (L) C Boston Red Sox: Pitching. Drew Pomeranz (L) 1. Mookie Betts ® RF 2. Dustin Pedroia ® 2B 3. Xander Bogaerts ® SS 4. Chris Young ® DH 5. Jackie Bradley Jr. (L) CF 6. Sam Travis ® 1B 7. Andrew Benintendi (L) LF 8. Christian Vazquez ® C 9. Deven Marrero ® 3B Gametime Forecast: 68°F • Drizzle • 28% PoP From weather.gov: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 11pm. Some of the storms could produce small hai…

Forty years ago tonight, my oldest niece was conceived. How do I know? Well, I was an impressionable 11-year-old boy from the farm, on my first trip to the big city with my sister and her husband of almost three years. We had a two-room suite at the motel, and I was to sleep on the couch in the “living room.” At some point, I got up to pee, so I had to go through the bedroom. Imagine my shock when I went in to the room and saw them in the same single bed, when there were clearly two beds available. “Dude,” they said in surprise. “You’ve got to knock!” Traumatized, I stumbled into the bathroom, probably misfiring from my anxiety. When I went back to bed, I likely l…

Good Afternoon everyone! (well morning time where you are ) This is my first time writing up a game thread so I hope you like it. Also I just want to quickly say thanks to everyone that posts messages on this forum; you all seem like genuinely nice people and I am yet to see any viciousness on here A few thoughts on the Twins I’ve not been a baseball fan for very long at all (probably because I’m an English guy from London) and I honestly used to think it was a boring sport....how wrong was I?! The more I have watched the game and understood the rules the more I have enjoyed it. I find myself on the edge of my seat a lot during a game! What a yo yo team! Lol http…

I Have Heartburn So Bad It's Coming Out Of My Ears An enterprising scientist with time on his hands decided to explore the differences in verbosity between the human male and female. I’m not sure what his motivation was behind this new research project but I suspect he was Buxton-like when it came to picking up women; he struck out a lot. Regardless of his motivation, our word-counting scientist discovered the average female utters approximately 80,000 words a day while the average male gets by with around 14,000 words per day, approximately 25% of which are expletives (you ever wonder why Webster came up with a 10-letter word to define 4-letter words?). The fact …

The dog days of summer are already here as the Twins took their last off day of the month on Monday in which they get to travel to Cleveland to play as well as play the Red Sox, and of course today’s matchup with the White Sox. The White Sox are a the first “professional” baseball team to earn a Twins Daily word filter, though the filter does not quite bring back memories of Jerry Ryan or a gold glove second baseman with a .300 average… but I digress. They are not what I’d call a professional baseball team either, being the first and only team to throw a World Series as well as a team that proudly continues to employ Hawk Harrelson. While the latter is inexcusable, the fi…

For some insane reason, I decided that I needed a bit of deadline pressure so I signed up for the Twins/Cleveland game thread. Yes, I know it was a couple of weeks away when I signed up, but, remember those book reports that were assigned at the beginning of the year and due at the end of the Semester? (It was especially painful for Chief and I, because, as usually happened, we not only tended to be out of sharpened chisels, but our supply of stone tablets was also a bit low. It's not like we could run down to the 5 and Dime or local Woolworths for more stone tablets. And don't get me started on “chiselers cramp!”) Anyway, even with all that advanced warning, somehow, the…

Once More Unto The Breach I grew up in a baseball town. We had Little League, Midgets, Legion ball, a traveling town team, high school teams and a semi-pro team for adults. We grew up on baseball, probably would’ve grown up faster if they’d served mash potatoes and gravy with the baseballs, but we cut our teeth on baseball, lost a few, too. Teeth I mean. We had lots of dentists in town. All baseball fans. I think I set the record for being the tallest shortstop ever to play Midgets. The tallest midget. There’s something to be proud of. I stood 6’ 1” in my baseball socks. You might say I was head and shoulders above my junior high teammates who spent their time sta…

This afternoon is the final game of a four game series at Target Field. Twins will look to even the series before Cleveland comes into town this weekend. Start time: 12:10 CDT Weather: http://static6.depositphotos.com/1000366/543/i/950/depositphotos_5439919-stock-photo-rainbow-in-the-dark-blue.jpg Today's starting pitchers: Seattle: Ariel Miranda (6-2, 3.67) Minnesota: Jose Berrios (5-1, 2.84) Lineups TBA More on today's pitchers. Ariel Miranda: Other than a very poor outing in early May, looks like Miranda has pitched very well, pitching at least 5 innings and allowing no more than 2 runs in his previous six starts. Jose Berrios: We all know the B…

Today being Flag Day in the U.S., I had prepared a thoughtful 55,000-word game thread introductory essay on the complex relationships between flags, baseball, and modern society that I wanted everyone to read and discuss. You woulda loved it, trust me. However, this four game series with Seattle has gone completely off the rails. The high scoring is more reminiscent of football than baseball, with Seattle and Minnesota trading 14-3 and 20-7 victories. It's good that these are blowouts, and not close games of the 10-9 variety, and I will leave it at that. Anyway, game thread reinforcements are needed. A new, fresher game thread arm is necessary. Therefore, I have dec…

Disappointment seems to be the theme of the day around Twins Daily. I am personally disappointed in my game record, as I’m still winless. We are disappointed that the team is in first place, disappointed in our bullpen construction, disappointed in Joe Mauer because he’s not superman, disappointed in our first pick of the draft, disappointed that Kyle Gibson is starting tonight, disappointed in that abomination of a baseball game yesterday, and somehow even disappointed with the loveable TC Bear. So… let’s go for something different and talk just about appointed. Strangely enough, that carries a much different meaning, certainly not the opposite of disappointed. Lately…

ANNND Welcome Back! To Minnesota Twins Whine Line on a Sunday. How neat was that game yesterday?! The International Space Station captured Vargas' HR leaving our atmosphere yesterday! And Berrios did his best Catch Me If You Can impression to get the win. Today is Nik Turley day! Maybe you're like me and haven't heard of this guy until a week or so ago. We did some digging to learn more about him to prepare you for today... And we discovered he has a sharp looking beard who throws a bender! That's about it... Before we get into more debauchery, let's talk weather and lineups. Bring your jackets to the stadium again, because it's a chilly one. 63 degrees at first pitch…

ANNND Welcome! To Minnesota Twins Whine Line: The Thing That Should Not Be Edition. I am your host for the next 2 days, Vanimal. The Twins face off against the Giants, in a city where you can rent the equivalent of a closet for $3,500 a month! Before we get into lineups and weather, let's jam out to the only concert ChiTown and I would agree to see together. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ihv3OgzkYsg It's the best of both worlds! Chi enjoys the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, and I enjoy the HEAVY guitar solos! Bring your jackets, because it's a cold one in the bay. 63 degrees at first pitch. VERY breezy winds out of the W at 16 MPH. Becoming more windy during th…

http://www.ric.edu/commencement/publishingimages/commencementweb.jpg Good afternoon and welcome back to the Twins Daily Game Thread. I think tonight will be a lot more fun than the disappointment we experienced last night. I have written a few Game Thread introductions this year and I think my record is very good. I'm not really sure but I think my win percentage is close to 90%. Have faith people! Seattle is on a hot streak now but I think the Twins will shut them down tonight. Speaking about tonight, my oldest son graduates from High School tonight...If any of you have already experienced this it's kind of strange. It seems like just yesterday he was leaving…

On The Cutting Edge. Anybody remember the original “The Cutting Edge” movie? D.B. Sweeney, Moira Kelly, Roy Dotrice? I guess it’s probably considered a chick flick, but its got enough good laughs in it that a guy can sit through it without wanting to slash his wrists. And if you snuggle up to your wife during the entire movie, maybe make the popcorn, she just might feel like doing something other than slicing onions (sticking with our “cutting” theme) when it’s all over. Anyway, in the movie the father of this female figure-skater is looking for a “go-to-guy” to help his daughter win Olympic gold. Sweeney, playing the part of an ex-hockey player turned figure skater, …

Welcome to game thread #487! Okay, I made that up and didn't really count them all. And if you include ST threads, it's probably short a few. Then add on play off threads ... oh ... Anyway, I'm kind of at a loss of what to say. I had this thing all written up yesterday, then tossed it out. It started with the 'oh so clever' quote (aka trite), 'Ask not what TD can do for you, ask what you can do for TD.' I went into this whole thing how people could 'get involved' through Adopt-A-Prospect (a really cool and useful thing you should check out); volunteer to start a game thread (there are always dates to be had, until there aren't, so fill them up!); start a blog (hey, rant…

Welcome to the game thread. I’m going to use the traditional five-point format in which the five points may cover any topic that happens to come to mind. And keep in mind that this is dependent on the mind, the mind-set, and the state of mind of the writer. I hope you don’t mind what I write, and if you are of a mind to respond please mind your P’s and Q’s. 1. Where did the saying, “Mind your P’s and Q’s” come from? Here are three possibilities. One, it could have come from typesetters keeping track of the difference between the two lower case letters, as they differ only by being mirror images of each other. I’m not sure why it wouldn’t have been “Mind your B’s and D’s…

“Well I’ve never been to Heaven... but I’ve been to Oklahoma...” Apologies to Three Dog Night, but that could be me. I’ve been to Oklahoma lots of times but my chances of eventually being in Heaven are like the old baseball adage, “slim and none”. I’ve never been to LA either. In fact I’ve never set foot, or any other part of me, in California. At least not that I remember. Three dog night - that’s how the Aussies post the weather forecast Down Under. Apparently they judge how cold it’s going to be by how many dogs you have to sleep with in order to stay warm. Quaint. Though with the price of dog food today, it might be cheaper to buy some thermometers. Or an el…

Happy Wednesday everyone, and I do emphasize the happy, as there hasn’t been much happy around these parts of late, and to be fair, for good reason. Our Minnesota Twins along with something they call a bull pen will attempt to defeat the Houston Astros, who currently hold the best record in baseball and are up 2 games to none on this series. Before we continue with the tarring and feathering of the entire front office, the scouting staff, the players, and TC Bear, I should note with full disclosure that our Twins are 0-2 on game threads that I start. That means that I am clearly to blame as my win percentage in game threads is worse than that of the Twins pen… think ab…