At 2:05 a pitch will be thrown and the baseball season will be opened. The contents of what is inside will slowly spill out and bit by bit the contents will be revealed. We don't know the contents right now. We assume what the contents are but we really don't know.

I'm hoping it's sunshine in a can.

It might be dog crap in a can... I don't know... But I do know this.

You open this can... it is certainly not a jack in the box that will surprise you.

It comes out slow... It takes a while to identify it.

Here are some things to think about!!!

 

1. Opening Day - Every Opening Day I type on this game thread opener that Opening Day should be a national holiday. So... I'm just typing that to get it out of the away and keep the tradition going. I am completely sincere! Opening Day should be a holiday! I promise to type it again next year on opening day. One thing that makes opening day special is that it's the only game of the 162 game schedule that is named... Only opening day is called opening day. None of the other 161 games have a name like that. Game 162 isn't called closing day for example. Anyway... it's opening day and to celebrate... I'm walking around the house just opening stuff. I've opened doors... our luggage... cans of soup and whatever the stuff in the Green Giant cans were. I opened the curtains... A couple of Christmas gifts still in boxes after we unwrapped them and said "Thank You... This is Fantastic... We love it... you know us so well". Yep... I'm opening stuff because today is the day to do that and with this thought #1... I also officially open the opening day game thread opener.


2. Twins 2016 -- Personally... I don't spend a lot of time looking for potential regression candidates. If you show me that you can play this game for one hot month... I"ll continue to believe in that player and believe that that player can get back to doing it... no matter how hard they regress and almost everybody regresses so I choose not to search for it prematurely. This is why I believe in Arcia and Santana. They have shown me that they can do it and it's this belief in Arcia and Santana that causes me to love the Twins depth and it's this depth that makes me believe that 2016 could be special. If Molly chooses to utilize that depth and play the hot hand when the hand gets hot.

Yeah... I'm positive about the Twins but I wish they would have acquired a big name bullpen piece... really really big and I wish we were in the National League so we could play the Phillies, Braves, Brewers, Reds, Padres and Rockies.


3. Orioles 2016 -- My thoughts on the Orioles are pretty simple. They need better starting pitching but they are trying to overcome that with more power than anybody else in the majors. 1 through 8 are capable of going deep on any pitch in almost any wind condition. Murderers Row is a lot longer in Baltimore. Davis, Schoop, Hardy, Machado, Alverez, Trumbo, Jones and Weiters... Back to Back to Back to Back to Back to Back to Back to Back. Keep the ball down Ervin!!! On a positive note... These teams built on crazy power... rarely win it all. It's been tried before because it's fun and it looks good on paper. In reality... You still need a little speed for a little balance to win a little.


4. Baltimore Parking-- I went to Camden Yards last summer and it's a beautiful park. Maybe a month prior... I had arranged for parking through ParkWhiz or Parking Panda or someplace like that online.... I should remember who it was because they have been sending me emails every day to let me know of every parking deal that happens in Baltimore. If I should get the urge to get in my car and drive to Baltimore to take advantage of 5 dollars off a parking ramp tomorrow... I am now fully aware of every possibility because I provided my email address when I booked a parking space. I was once offered a 75% off deal and I decided that was too good to pass up. I just got in the car and drove to Baltimore for the parking. Had some crab cakes and drove back home.... my hub cabs disappeared but it was really good crab cake. Thank You ParkWhiz.

5. Will Do -- You may not realize this but "Will Do" sounds a lot like "Mildew". There really isn't an easily thought of context where any human should confuse the two in any simple conversation but... my wife asked my to take out the garbage and I responded "Will Do" and this sent her running over to the garbage container which she immediately lifted up. She got down on all fours and scanned the entire kitchen and didn't find anything before she asked exactly where it was. Now this misunderstanding was funny until I realized that my wife obviously now believes I've become so lazy that I can't be troubled to speak an entire sentence when describing the mildew situation.

--------------------
Lineups:

TWINS
Dozier 2B
Mauer 1B
Sano RF
Plouffe 3B
Rosario LF
Park DH
Escobar SS
Suzuki C
Buxton RF

Santana P

ORIOLES
Machado 3B
Jones CF
Davis 1B
Trumbo RF
Wieters C
Alvarez DH
Hardy SS
Schoop 2B
Rickard LF

Tillman P

Umpires: HP - Winters, 1B - Wegner, 2B - Foster, 3B - Muchlinski
Game-time forecast: 69 deg, overcast with a 50% chance of rain (with that percentage rising through the afternoon), winds from the west at 3mph.

Yay baseball! Go Twins!

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Now this misunderstanding was funny until I realized that my wife obviously now believes I've become so lazy that I can't be troubled to speak an entire sentence when describing the mildew situation.

 

Concur.

Happy Opening Day to you all! Really wish I can take the afternoon off to watch at a bar. I guess watching it on the second monitor at my desk isn't a bad alternative... 

Is this game going to happen?

 

Rain looks to be in the forecast quite a bit. Maybe a delayed start by a few hours?

 

Is this game going to happen?

 

Rain looks to be in the forecast quite a bit. Maybe a delayed start by a few hours?

What I saw was for rain later in the afternoon, looks like the game should start but might be a delay during sometime.

50% chance of rain for pretty much the duration of the ball game. Anybody know where the old Metrodome roof is to hang over Camden Yards?

I predict this game starts at 6pm EDT.

 

Wow. I gotta admit having game 1 on 4/4 is pretty clever.

 

Mildew can be pretty serious stuff. Just check out a summer camp lost and found bin.

 

Or rather, please don't. Just take my word for it...

 

How come it is called mildew? Is it found in mills? Or is there a stronger version called hot-ew or heavy-ew? Is mild-ish a thing?

 

But i degress. Hope they play! And i will try to think up good names for other games to rectify this nominal imbalance.

 

(And i shall call you squishy... perhaps not.)

Pumped! Hope it starts on time!

Sano hitting third? I thought traditionally your best hitter hit third, not your fattest?

 

Edited April 4, 201610 yr by DaveW

That's quite the critique of Sano's defense that you have Buxton listed as RF as well.

If there is a 50% chance it's going to rain, and a 50% chance it's not going to rain, what is the percentage that it will do one or the other?

You guys want to know who I think is going to win? 

Weather.com just scaled back their forecast from "expected rain" to "possible rain".

 

Weather.com just scaled back their forecast from "expected rain" to "possible rain".

Damn ... was hoping for a little leeway to get to the dmv and back before game time. Better quit my dawdling!

Did we win yet?

Nobody wants to know who's going to win? hmmm?

 

Nobody wants to know who's going to win? hmmm?

The Cubs, dummy.

Btw, in unrelated news, but did you guys know that Hawk Harrelson has scaled back his announcing to only away games? So that means, when I'm forced to watch Twins-Sox games on the local network, my Hawk listening time is now cut in half! Woohoo!

 

Did we win yet?

that depends ... define 'win.'

 

Nobody wants to know who's going to win? hmmm?

yes?

 

yes?

The fans. 

 

Btw, in unrelated news, but did you guys know that Hawk Harrelson has scaled back his announcing to only away games? So that means, when I'm forced to watch Twins-Sox games on the local network, my Hawk listening time is now cut in half! Woohoo!

Yeah, but Hawk provides such good thread fodder. (silver lining, baby, silver lining)

Edited April 4, 201610 yr by Blake

 

If there is a 50% chance it's going to rain, and a 50% chance it's not going to rain, what is the percentage that it will do one or the other?

Yes.

 

Make that Yes%

Edited April 4, 201610 yr by Craig Arko

Working on the west coast for the first time......really hard to do the time translations in my head.

Nobody wants to know who's going to win? hmmm?

"You guys want to know who I think is going to win?"

'Nobody wants to know who's going to win? hmmm"

 

I believe you misunderstood the lack of response.

 

It REALLY means that "Nobody wants to know" what you think.

 

"You guys want to know who I think is going to win?"
'Nobody wants to know who's going to win? hmmm"

I believe you misunderstood the lack of response.

It REALLY means that "Nobody wants to know" what you think.

Well, EXCUUUUUUSE MEEEEEE!!!!!

 

Well, EXCUUUUUUSE MEEEEEE!!!!!

No harm intended.

I went for the laugh, not for the money.

Which partly explains my lack of money.

Nah, i will find winning out in my own good time, and i appreciate seeing what folk think. (and post for that matter)

 

I just am not yet tethered to the game thread continuously, even if it seems that way sometimes...

 

More importantly though, i wanna know what i think, and sometimes chatting or scratchpaper or game threading helps me figure that out...

For the 6th time in 7 years, MLB starts the Twins on the road. 

 

Funny... Detroit never has had a problem getting opening day games at home, and their average high temperature, in early April, is 2 degrees COLDER than Minneapolis.

Edited April 4, 201610 yr by amjgt