Friday Links-N-Thinks

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan

Baseball is back!!!

It was great to get home from work early on Thursday to a ton of action already underway across the baseball universe. I flipped through multiple games because my cable company was nice enough to give me a free preview of MLB Extra Innings. It is very tempting to want to purchase the package for the entire year but I might have to settle for the free pass for the first few days of the season.

I checked in on the Nationals with Stephen Strasburg on the mound and Wilson Ramos behind the plate. Jose Valverde was a perfect 49 out of 49 in save opportunites last season but his first chance this year was unsuccessful. The Marlins had a short turn around after they opened their new stadium on Wednesday night in Miami and they had to be in Cincinnati for an afternoon game the next day. I ended the night by listening to the best announcer in the game, Vin Scully. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

Opening Day is the greatest time of the year. The Twins start their 2012 campaign in Baltimore tonight and they have their home opener on Monday afternoon. It's just a wonderful time to be a baseball fan. Here are some of the top stories I enjoyed from the past week. Have a great weekend with baseball back in our lives.

• Ron Gardenhire announced the Opening Day lineup for the Twins and the outfield defense could be scary.
  
• The Twins didn't have a game on Thursday but Scott Baker pitched for the Miracle and the news was not good.
  
• MLB released their annual list of the top 20 jerseys sold and there is one member of the Twins who made the list.
  
• Seth Stohs asked for a few writers (including myself) to project the top hitters and the top pitchers for the start of the Twins minor league season.
  
• Torii Hunter went from sitting on his couch one evening to having the police draw their guns on him.
  
• Have you ever wondered where walkup music came from?
  
• Andrew at Twins Fan From Afar got to spend an evening with Twins pitching prospect Alex Wimmers.
  
• Target Field unveiled their new food selections for the year and John Bonnes got to test out some of the new items.
  
• There are many reasons to be excited for the start of the new year but here are 100 different reasons to start your own list.
  
• There are a lot of tough jobs in the sports world but catching might be at the top of the list.
  
• This photo was floating around different websites on Thursday and I found it amusing.
  

• After one of the worst seasons in baseball history, Adam Dunn will start the year as the number three hitter in the White Sox lineup.
  
• Jim Crikkett from Knuckelballs blog got his call up to the big leagues by getting to write a post on the Star Tribune website about his time in Florida.
  
• What do you get when you mix Bert Blyleven and singing animal puppets? It's a little scary...
  
• Rod Carew makes this list of top 10 baseball legends and humanitarians.
  
• Former Twins ace Johan Santana returned to the mound for the Mets. If his results continue to look good, could the Mets try to trade him to a contender?
  
• Justin Verlander eats a lot of Taco Bell before each of his starts.
  
• Ramon Ortiz pitched 28 ineffective games for the Twins in 2007 and the Yankees just signed him this week.
  

My Weekly Rundown (Predictions Week):

• Sunday: A season of what could be
  
• Monday: 2012 American League Predictions
  
• Tuesday: 2012 National League Predictions
  
• Wednesday: 2012 Twins Award Predictions
  
• Thursday: 2012 Twins Minor League Projections
  

Video of the Week: The Twins have released some very clever commercials over the years and this newest one fits into that mold. In this Big Lebowski-themed spot, Kent Hrbek is asked to take on the title role of the "Big Hrbowski." Span leaves the team in a tough spot with the 7/10 split but Hrbek is called on to make the impossible shot.