Archived Game Threads

Astro – the term means “relating to the stars, celestial objects, or outer space” For many years the Houston Astros were floating around in outer space caught in a baseball orbit that saw them flailing around hopelessly and unable to gain any traction. Today’s Astros are no longer in orbit but have gently landed in first place in the AL West. Thanks to years of #1 picks they have become the team to beat in the AL West. A couple of notes to ponder: Astroturf – It seems to be a contradicting term. I mean, grass in outer space. C’mon, it hardly grows in my yard and certainly won’t grow in space. However, Astroturf is simply a brand name. The original AstroTurf brand …

My ten years as a stringer – a freelance sportswriter for The Associated Press – spanned two distinct baseball eras. During the first, 1983-88, stringers dictated stories by telephone to the New York baseball desk and most of the players were somewhat ordinary in size and shape. I left Minnesota for five years and, when I returned in 1993 for a second tour of AP duty, it was all about laptop transmissions and ginormous players. Depending on assignment, the job entailed some combination of scorekeeping, hunting down postgame clubhouse quotes from players and managers, and writing three stories: a bare-bones gamer, an alternate account including quotes and, finally, a fea…

Back in the early 1980s, one of my college roommates became an All-American goalie the year after I’d graduated with a journalism degree. We each had a big problem: He was Division II with no real path to the pros and I was jobless. So I wrote a feature about his plight and walked it, unsolicited, through the front door at the Strib. They declined – but sent me across the street to The Associated Press. As luck would have it, the Minneapolis AP sports department was a one-man show. He bought the story and, not long after, called to ask if I'd be interested in working some Twins games. Thus began a 10-year stint as a stringer – a freelance sportswriter – covering everyth…

Good Morning Twins fans! Get ready for punch number two today. On the mound this morning (Minnesota time) is the now fearsome pitching phenom Jose Berrios. He is part of the now pitching one two punch of Minnesota's starting rotation of Santana and Berrios. The game last night was fantastic. Twins are still in first place and Santana threw his second shutout of the year (only major leaguer to do that so far this year). I'm expecting a great showing today for the young Berrios. I think he is going to thrive after Santana's performance last night. They say hitting is contagious but I think pitching can be too. It's an early game today for us Twins fans back home…

Good afternoon and welcome back to the Minnesota Twins baseball Game Thread! After watching the game last night it got me thinking about the direction this team is headed...Still in first place after May 22nd and it looks like we're only getting better. If Ervin and Jose can keep throwing well and Mejia steps it up the season could get very interesting during the late summer months. The youth and energy on this team is fun to watch! I read a few Game Thread posts last night about people still not "believing" in what this team is doing right now. Yes, we have holes to fill but try to sit back and relish what these guys are doing right now. After living through last …

After the fiasco of 10,000 and 1 Game Thread ideas, I thought I'd look for another source to crib from, I mean, another way to come up with an opener for a game thread. As luck would have it, I ran across the “Dwight Yoakam” method and decided to give it a whirl. As I was using the “Dwight Yoakam” method, (“face a white wall and beller”) My wife poked her head through the door, gave me “the eye” and asked why in the world I was making all that racket. I tried to explain and she said that while she was sure that game threads are important, she was equally sure the neighbors didn't appreciate me hollering at the top of my voice at the moon at 3am, no matter how much it mi…

I recently received a message from RB accusing me of holding his book, 10,000 and 1 ideas for Game Threads, for ransom. What RB calls “ransom” I prefer to think of as “storing safely for a small fee.” Anyway, to defuse any sort of thread polarization, I thought I'd offer a transcript of the conversation I personally recorded when I called RB to ask him when he was going to pay up, I mean, chat with him about safe storage of aforementioned volume. Me: beep beep boop boop boop beep beep (briiinnnggg!) Che RB: Hello? Me: Yo, RB? Che RB: No, this is the downstairs maid. Did you wish to speak to the master? Me: Downstairs maid? Really? Okay, well, sure, I'd like to speak …

I attended today's Twins-Rockies game and watched our hero Erv Santana lit up for 5 runs, and the game seemed over pretty quickly. It was supposed to be Jose Berrios but alas, that ship sailed into the night game tonight. The weather was refreshing out at Minnie & Paul's where we were so lucky as to hear from an usher about his marital problems and his attempts to pick up young, drunk women at the game. Needless to say, we didn't finish watching the game from there.....yikes. I digress....I wrote last night's game thread starter for the inevitable rainout. I stupidly assumed that it would serve as the game thread for today's game since it was the same SPs, same l…

Rain out make up throwing a spanner in the spokes... Just getting something up before the game gets away from us... There is an ancient saying... Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life. I am not sure, how it applies here. I just figured i'd try to get discussion going as we're already down 1-0 in the first and i figure, well, that should light a fire under us... or something. Rockies German Marquez (R ) 1. Charlie Blackmon (L) CF 2. DJ LeMahieu (R ) 2B 3. Nolan Arenado ( R) 3B 4. Mark Reynolds ( R) DH 5. Carlos Gonzalez (L) RF 6. Ian Desmond ( R) 1B 7. Gerardo Parra (L) LF 8. Alexi Amarista (L) …

Well, here we are, an interleague game on a Wednesday evening in Minneapolis with the getaway game scheduled for tomorrow....and the weather ain't looking fun tonight at all. The beat writers aren't confident at all that a game will be played. Which really sucks, since the wife is out of town and I'll have nothing else to do. Ah, but maybe, just maybe, we'll have a delay and a late start. Read: after the 4-year old goes to bed. Hope springs eternal. If the game is postponed, since it's interleague, I'm guessing the players will grumble through a doubleheader tomorrow and the Rockies will fly out to Cincinnati without their requisite night of rest. In any case, it'…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJiI58nmO9c ANNND Welcome Back! To Minnesota Twins Whine Line: Mother’s Day Edition! It’s HAPPENING!! The Twins are on a 4 game winning streak, thanks to our new HERO, Jose Berrios. Dude threw on his Superman shirt and cruised through 7 innings NO PROBLEM! Today is the last game of this series in Cleveland… Before we talk about moms, let’s talk weather and lineups. Still a little too chilly for my taste! Sunny and 58 degrees at first pitch. Real feel of 60 degrees. SWIRLING winds out of the WNW at 12 MPH. Good thing Sano doesn’t need swirling winds to knock one out of the park! Minnesota Twins (19-14): P – Hector the Kollector (…

http://www.austinrollerdisco.com/uploads/6/8/0/0/6800356/9792750_orig.jpg ANNND Welcome! To Minnesota Twins Whine Line: Roller Disco Edition! I am your host and FUNKY DJ for the next two days, Vanimal. Happy Jose Berrios Day! It sure is nice to talk about him instead of pretending to care about Adam Wilk starting a game! The Twins are squaring off for game 2 against Cleveland, and who knows.... Maybe this game will be good! Before we get down to some funky beats and randomness, let's talk weather and lineups.... It's a bit chilly today in Cleveland! Sunny and 59 degrees at first pitch. REAL FEEL of 65 degrees... Winds out of the NW at 7 MPH. Minnesota Twins (18-14…

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_SbyEJgwuAs/Tf9-avqhcmI/AAAAAAAAL28/dEu0bz-LzHE/s1600/1000.png Good afternoon and welcome to another Twins Daily Game Thread extravaganza! 1,000! This is my 1,000th post on Twins Daily. For over 4 days I've avoided posting anything so I could make my Game Thread introduction post number 1,000. Do you know how hard it was for me not to jump in on the whole Adam Wilk conversation yesterday? I read that entire thread with my fingers twitching. Almost caved and posted an obscene comment but didn't want to get a warning point and lose my 1,000th post on something so obnoxious. When I started following Twins Daily I was just a bystander. To…

Miguel Sano is back and the Twins are coming off yet another road victory as we enter Wednesday night's game against the White Stockings. We've got Phil Hughes (4-1, 4.32) against Derek Holland (3-2, 2.02). The Twins are 8-4 on the road this year, how about that? I missed last night's game due to being on the road myself, stuck in Miami International airport for 10 hours. Lucky for me, I found the Miami Airport Hotel, a hotel IN THE AIRPORT that rents rooms for half-days. Best $50 bucks I ever spent, every airport should have one of these things! Speaking of airports, here are some quick random thoughts on some airports I've experienced: 1. Singapore's Chang…

The first game against the White Red Sox went well. Okay, maybe not well, but it wound up in the "Win" column due to late inning heroics by Joe Mauer. Then, game II rolled around. And, as expected, the game was over early. And here we go: game three with Ervin Santana on the mound against Chris Sale. Should be a good one! Deep Thoughts 1. Why is a baseball diamond, which is actually a square, called a diamond? If you do the geometry, the bases are arranged in a square, with each base 90 feet apart. And the pitching rubber is 60' 6" from home plate. Which is just over halfway to 2nd base. I'm not sure if it was due to bad math or if the Pythagorean Theorem had ye…

http://www.rhinoden.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Good-Morning-Vietnam-robin-williams-30953060-2196-2136-610x400.jpg Goooooooooooood morning Twins Daily fans! Hopefully you could hear me through this post. It was my best Robin William's impersonation. Lot's to be excited about this morning: 1. Mauer's walk-off homer last night to beat the Red Sox, wow! 2. The Twins in first place in May, excellent. 3. Getting on a small fishing boat this morning to try and win the annual Ron Schara Minnesota Bound Crappie Tournament on Lake Minnetonka. 4. I will have my 1,000 post on Twins Daily today! As I casually mentioned last night during a Game Thread post, please c…

Good morning and welcome back to another fun filled Twins Daily Game Thread! I don't know if its because the Twins are winning baseball games or if its the beautiful spring day here in Minneapolis but I have a little bounce in my step today. This ball club is starting to look like the real deal. Yes, we all know the starting rotation has some issues along with the bullpen. However, there are some wonderful things blooming at Target Field. I see a team that's starting "gel"...Sano, Buxton, Vargas, Dozier, Kepler, Polanco, Ervin, et al. There is some deep talent within this club and it's just starting to develop. I'm truly enjoying watching this team play! Let's …

The unwritten GametThread into. 0. If you weren't paging attention, i cleverly left the word rules out of the title so it would actually be unwritten. I actually thought that sufficient as the entire intro, but would have understood if Chief and ChiTown disagreed. 1. No one can be told about the GameThread. You have to choose. Take the blue pill to continue on down the rabbit hole (yes, the sign says Eat Me on it. Please don't be offended) or take the red pill to continue with your normal. Media coverage. What? they're both blue? That can mean only one thing... You are already in the GameThread... It isn't so bad once you get used to our... 2. Hospitality. Yes, desp…

I figured that since things rarely go quite how you plan, i would just try to write a boring game thread intro. You probably aren't excited to read the creative processes that go into something like that. So i guess, um well then, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! Oh, since numbers are always borring... The number of the thoughts shall be 5. 1. Kansas. (as in Kansas City Royals) An ordinary plain state. But, well, it so happens we're not in Kansas any more. My head's just spinning trying to figure out if we were ever there to start with. 2. Problems. The Twins have some. It's a normal growing process. It's not like some sort of wizard is going to give…

Welcome to another fantastic Twins Daily Game Thread! It looks like our evening game has been postponed due to rain and thunderstorms. Since the game has been rescheduled I will not post my usual intelligent and stimulating introduction. In light of the current circumstances, I will instead fill in our gentle readers on the day I experienced...I was invited last night to participate in the Minnetonka Lions Club annual crappie tournament on Lake Minnetonka today. I arose out of bed this morning at 5:15am excited and ready to win this event. I proceeded to get my gear together and brewed a pot of coffee. After some coffee and a quick breakfast I made my way out …

And…. Welcome back to the nightly game threads this is your host diehard... er... Vanimal reporting live from Corpus Christi Texas where I have hija… er… borrowed the whine line studios for your listening pleasure. We have a top shelf baseball game on the hopper tonight where the good guys will be backed by Hector the Hero facing the goliath that is Cole Hammels. sounds of papers being shuffled and drunken mumbling No, not Kohl Stewart… He plays for the Twins. I don’t think Texas would take a Cole for Kohl swap because their first names sound the same. Good idea though Mr. Intern. sounds of more shuffling and then quiet whispering No, that’s a Beta max player.…

Nicknames! How many of you remember these words? “A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty Hi-Yo Silver! The Lone Ranger! ... With his faithful Indian companion Tonto, the daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains led the fight for law and order in the early western United States! Nowhere in the pages of history can one find a greater champion of justice! Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear! From out of the past come the thundering hoofbeats of the great horse Silver! The Lone Ranger rides again!” The most famous, but mythical Texas Ranger was the Lone Ranger who draws his nickname both from having once been a Tex…

Welcome one and all to the inaugural Twins Daily Game Thread live broadcast! We're closing in on one hour to first pitch. I'll be keeping things brief in the intro this afternoon. Don't let that discourage you from checking in closer to game time, when you'll find a link at the bottom of this introduction that will bring you into the live broadcast. So, grab yourself a tasty beverage and find a comfortable seat, turn up those speakers and enjoy the game. A brief note: the site which hosts today's audio will offer a built in discussion board. Please ignore that and keep your discussion within the friendly confines of the Game Thread. Tigers Michael Fulmer ® 1.…

Game Thread: Twins v Tigers, 4/22 @ 1:10pm CT Folks, this weekend, I aim to steer our attention away from the tedium of Wins and Losses, WAR, fWAR, bWAR, xWAR, and other such trivialities. Today and tomorrow, we will instead pay our respects and devote our attention to the curators and folklorists of this great pastime: the broadcasters. You may be aware that I've recently relocated to Los Angeles, California. Around these parts, Vin Scully spent 58 years (and 9 years before that in Brooklyn) etching himself into the edifice of baseball immortality. 67 years of greatness without pause have landed the venerable Scully in every eligible Hall of Fame. He is a lifetime …

Good morning and welcome to the always popular, often talked about Twins Daily Game Thread! I'm feeling the pressure already building as I write this introduction. Unfortunately, yesterday's game was rained out. There is now a real pent up demand to watch Twins baseball and actively participate in the Game Thread today. Even though this game will be played over the noon hour and during most peoples regular work schedules, I'm confident the fans will be out in droves today. Yesterday's rainout got me thinking about days off and playing hooky. In a way, the rainout yesterday may have benefitted our ball club as they have struggled the last few games. I think the guys …

Looks like rain, oh well. In honour of the recent 28th anniversary of the greatest baseball movie ever made, and the it's connection to the Twins opponent, I bring you the Major League Game Thread. All discussion in today's thread must be in relation to the movie. If something happens in the game, only Major League references are to be used. Players will be referenced by who you think most closely resembles them in the movie, from both teams. For inspiration, here is a list of the funniest lines from the movie Lineups. Twins TBA Indians TBA Have fun

It's been a quiet week at target field. Unlike the opening series against the Royals, Chicago and Cleveland have not exactly been walking everyone in. And if they aren't beating themselves, why should we rub it in that we're the better team? They might do that in big east coast cities, but i like to think we are more civilized. This portion of the game thread introduction has been brought to you by Ralph's pretty good groceries. If you can't find it at Ralph's you're probably better off without it. Many have noticed Rosario has been laying off some of those outside pitches he used to occasionally deposit in the stands, but more often than not. We can attribute thi…

Tonight the Twins open their first series of 2017 against the defending AL champions, the Cleveland Indians. In a perfect world Riverbrian would be writing this game thread opener, but we do not live in a perfect world. 1. There is ongoing controversy about whether the Indians' logo is racist. Last week, baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred suggested that the Indians should phase out the logo. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mlb-commissioner-urges-cleveland-indians-to-eradicate-chief-wahoo-logo/ Above is a graphic that shows the current logo on the left and the prior logo on the right. In my opinion the current logo is marginally better than the prior logo, but still insulti…

ANNND Welcome Back! To Minnesota Twins Whine Line on a Sunday. How FUN was that game yesterday?! Erv listened to his favorite band Cake and Went the Distance against those poor White Sox. If you missed it, here's the highlights to catch up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAKsOScyITw Today we have the final game of this series, WINNER take all, as they say. Before we get into more fun and debauchery, let's talk weather and lineups. It's going to be a beautiful Easter Sunday! Sunny and 65 degrees at first pitch. Pretty breezy! 15 MPH out of the West. Maybe a Sano blast is in our future! Minnesota Twins (7-4): P- Hector Santiago (L) - REVENGE game against his fo…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOzjBO2dsmY ANNND Welcome! To Minnesota Twins Whine Line: WrestleMania Edition! I am your host for the next 2 days, Stone Cold Van from Austin, the TEXAS RATTLESNAKE... I'm here to TEAR S*** UP! Are you as excited as we are for a Royal Rumble featuring the Minnesota Twins and the White Sox?! You better be, or my fists will have something to say to you! Before we jump into the event, let's talk weather and lineups. Bark, toss me a beer or 3 and let's get it started! Looks like it's going to rain in Minneapolis! 80% chance of thunderstorms to be exact. If the game is played, they'll be in 65 degree weather... Minnesota Twins (6-4):…