Happy 4th of July Weekend, everyone! I am here today to discuss whether Independence Day (1996) or The Sandlot (1993) is the best 4th of July movie ever. Now I know The Sandlot is not a movie based around the 4th of July, but it's a movie about the heart of America and the 4th of July night game is a special part of the movie. Independence Day is clearly a movie based around the 4th of July and features one of the greatest movie speeches of all time. There's aliens and victory cigars. It's a tight battle.

To make my final decision on which is best I had to go to the quotes. The Independence Day speech is an all-timer. "We will not go quietly into the night!" gives me goosebumps every time. "Today we celebrate our independence day!" gives me the chills. That speech gets me ready to go fly a fighter jet into a spaceship! But I can't fly a fighter jet, and I've never seen a space ship (they're out there, though!), so I have to give the nod to The Sandlot in the battle of 4th of July movies. "You're killing me, Smalls" is a classic and I could use it everyday (maybe I do...). "He had kissed a woman, and he kissed her long and good" is a line that's harder to use in everyday life, but is a quality line. "It's about time, Benny. My clothes are going out of style." is a wonderful line and I'm proud to say I've used it in everyday life. I still call people L-7 weenies! (I would never call anyone on TD one, though!) I still use the slow-mo "For-Ev-Er" on occasion. "You play ball like a girl" would still make me cry (not that I don't know some ladies who are more talented than me!). And of course "Heroes get remembered, but legends never die." An unforgettable quote from the best 4th of July movie ever.

Oh, and there's baseball in The Sandlot so I guess that's cool, too. Speaking of baseball here's our matchup for today. Let's hope it's a little less dramatic than the last 4 games.

Pitchers:
Orioles: Tyler Wells 6-4 3.23 ERA
Twins: Devin Smeltzer 4-1 2.86 ERA

Hitters:
Orioles:
Hays
Mancini
Mountcastle
Santander
Rutschman
Nevin
Odor
McKenna
Martin

Twins:
Arraez
Correa
Polanco
Miranda
Kepler
Gordon
Sanchez
Kirilloff
Celestino

Welcome to the next installment of "Here's a Twin we dumped who is doing decently well but probably nothing to cry over losing except he's about to have the game of his life against us". Hopefully we can lie in the weeds again, let them think they are going to win, and then pound their bullpen into submission.

Go Twins!

Rule V giveth, and rule V taketh away...

And to the greater point...

 

Hmmm, never thought of July 4th as a theme for movies to consider..

 

Yeah, Independence day was written for that, as a big blockbuster scifi special effects movie. Though i'd almost assume one of them historical fiction movies of the revolutionary war might also be thematically in the discussion.

 

Or the musical 1776? Ya know, despite the buzz, i still have not seen Hamilton...

Oh, right.

 

Important things first before engaging in game thread and perhaps enjoying the game: laundry!

Be right back...

Wells is a success story for the Orioles. Good for him! The Twins seem to randomly have a good game no matter who the opposing pitcher is. I hope today is one of those days they won't really be contained. A perfect day would be plenty of run support for Smeltzer and two innings from the bullpen (Pagan & Duffey) in a comfortable Twins win.

Smeltzer has been incredibly tough at home, while Wells is pretty good/not great on the road.  Both pitchers have completely unsustainable BABIP Against. No Buxton for us; no Mullins for them.  I think this favors a Twins sweep, but that big E* word is what will decide it.

 

 

 

* Execution 

4 minutes ago, sampleSizeOfOne said:

Important things first before engaging in game thread and perhaps enjoying the game: laundry!

Yes, me too! For many years I have celebrated the sabbath by doing our laundry religiously on Sunday mornings! I took over the job years ago because I didn't like the way my wife folded my underwear, but that's another story!

I think there might be something wrong with this headline/picture. can you figure out what it is?

First time I’ve been at Target Field in damn near 10 years. Let’s get a win Twins!

Bremer reciting poetry with Holst for accompaniment. Don’t hear that everyday. 

Buxton would have caught that....

Celestino is no Buxton

38 minutes ago, sampleSizeOfOne said:

And to the greater point...

 

Hmmm, never thought of July 4th as a theme for movies to consider..

 

Yeah, Independence day was written for that, as a big blockbuster scifi special effects movie. Though i'd almost assume one of them historical fiction movies of the revolutionary war might also be thematically in the discussion.

 

Or the musical 1776? Ya know, despite the buzz, i still have not seen Hamilton...

Will be watching 1776 tomorrow (tradition), interrupting the Twilight Zone marathon and before the game in the evening. 

Nice job Smeltzer. 

So back to execution ... C'mon guys! Wake up!  Thank you!

- Devin Smeltzer

So on the tv broadcast they were just discussing the conversation the umpires were having with Hyde and Bremer said, “if the umpire had done to my dugout what they did on Friday I would have been ejected too.” But they never said what happened on Friday, only discussed that they heard about it later after the game. Does anyone know what happened and why Hyde was ejected Friday?

2 minutes ago, AstrosTwins said:

So on the tv broadcast they were just discussing the conversation the umpires were having with Hyde and Bremer said, “if the umpire had done to my dugout what they did on Friday I would have been ejected too.” But they never said what happened on Friday, only discussed that they heard about it later after the game. Does anyone know what happened and why Hyde was ejected Friday?

I still haven't seen anybody confirm what DeJesus said to the dugout, but Trevor Plouffe tweeted everyone will either find it offensive or funny. He declined to elaborate further. But DeJesus definitely said something that pissed of Hyde.

11 minutes ago, rwilfong86 said:

Celestino is no Buxton

A few more of those and we will have to get the ghost of Gene Mauch to administer his special Willie Norwood hot glove treatment.

11 minutes ago, rwilfong86 said:

Celestino is no Buxton

Trout is no Buxton .  In fact Buxton 2022 defensively isn't Buxton 

Odor stinks it up at second.

Perkins/Bremer are are pumping Correa to be selected to the All-Star team. Depending on circumstances, he might make it but the only lock is Arraez. I wouldn't be brokenhearted if there is only one Twin at the All-Star game.

28 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

First time I’ve been at Target Field in damn near 10 years. Let’s get a win Twins!

You heard it, folks. It's been a while for Vanimal. Give the man what he wants. 

8 minutes ago, Schmoeman5 said:

Trout is no Buxton .  In fact Buxton 2022 defensively isn't Buxton 

So far in the Angels series at Houston, Trout is 0-7 with 7 K’s.

28 minutes ago, Craig Arko said:

Bremer reciting poetry with Holst for accompaniment. Don’t hear that everyday. 

Classy

3 minutes ago, AstrosTwins said:

So far in the Angels series at Houston, Trout is 0-7 with 7 K’s.

And...  We're talking defense. And wasn't it may when Buxton was 2 for 35 

Wells looks decent. Shocking Falvey, the pitching savant, would make a mistake letting him go.

Pitchers duel so far 

1 minute ago, Vanimal46 said:

Pitchers duel so far 

Have they chosen weapons yet?