WJ

http://www.freep.com/article/20120427/SPORTS02/120427015/Delmon-Young-Detroit-Tigers-arrest?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CSports

Molitor. Thome's 25 HRs in 2010 for the million or so they spent on him was a pretty good deal.

Hey, let's put up Jim Thome's blooper reel while we're at it. Oh, that's right, Thome was never asked to field a position.

I don't think Gardenhire will move Morneau out of cleanup because he doesn't do that to veterans. Or move Mauer to no. 2 because that spot is reserved for a middle infielder. Two examples of Gardenhire managing with his heart instead of his head.

Willingham replaced Cuddyer. Willingham did not replace Cuddyer and Delmon. If you want to compare Willingham's stats with Delmon's, fine, but then you need to come up with a different replacement for Cuddyer's numbers.

That was an Guardado-esque save today by Capps!

Who was the last Twin to bat second that wasn't the shortstop or second baseman?

That is the last thing I would do. How about picking a line-up and then sticking with it for a week or two? No matter how bad someone does one day, he goes back out the next day (Gardy has no problem doing that with relievers, as he's demonstrated time and again). Let the guys play together and get comfortable. You want to shake things up? Get rid of Gardenhire. Once again he has headed north with a team that doesn't appear ready to play. We might not have started 0-4 before, but the Twins have not had a good start in years.

How many professional baseball players were banned for life by Commisioner Landis for involvement or knowledge of the conspiracy to fix the 1919 World Series?

Lost at Birth - Public Enemy or Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) - Jimi Hendrix

The power goes when the legs go. If Mauer's legs are 100%, and he finds the right technique or actually tries to hit for power, he'll hit for power.

Ryan won't fire Gardenhire and the Pohlads don't care enough about what goes on on the field to step in and do it themselves. I don't think he'll quit because that means his old Mets buddies will also be out of their jobs. I don't blame this 0-4 start on Gardenhire but I would fire him just to bitch slap the team into consciousness. His managerial skills are overrated. His motivational skills have yielded results that are there for everyone to see. He's been with one team a long time but he's far from a household name outside of baseball insiders. Nobody has asked him to host the Baseball Bunch like Tommy Lasorda.

They should also ban smokers from having a cigarette anywhere, including their own home or cars, at least 4 hours prior to arriving at the ballpark to ensure no smoke smell remains in their hair or clothing that might be noticed by other ballpark goers.

All-in-all this is a much stronger lineup than I figured the Twins would have back in November.

My advice to Gardenhire: 1. It is permitted by the rules of baseball for someone other than the SS or 2B to bat second in the order. 2. Thursday afternoon games count just as much as other games at the end of the season. Games in April count the same as games in September. 3. Try to avoid playing the Yankees, if at all possible. 4. Getting your lead-off man on base doesn't mean you automatically have to give up an out on the next batter. There's something called a "rally". 5. You are not playing in the National League and this isn't 1985.

*61 is a great movie. Billy Crystal used old Tiger Stadium to recreate old Yankee Stadium. Anthony Michael Hall, who is right-handed, played Whitey Ford, a lefty. So they put him in a uniform with the numbers and lettering reversed, filmed him pitching right-handed, then flipped the film to show him throwing left-handed.

I've been to Miller Park, Minute Maid Park, Wrigley Field, US Cellular Field, and Tokyo Dome. I really like the Cell. Minute Maid is a joke. Outside of Miller Park is great. Wrigley is a dump and its filled with Cubs fans.

Capps would get over 40 saves IF the Twins were in position to win enough games. Hard to get 40+ on a bad team.

Have you been paying any attention to the AL?

Ichiro is one Japanese player that HAD to come to the US. He was too good for Japanese baseball.

I say he's in. First ballot? That depends on who else is up for voting that year.

The Twins have Span here and Benson coming up. That determines Revere's value to the Twins. The trick is to find a team that doesn't have a Span or a Benson. A team without other options will overlook some of Revere's flaws.

Cobb and The Babe were absolutely horrendous. As was the Billy Bob Thornton remake of The Bad News Bears.

A really excellent baseball movie nobody has mentioned yet is 'Mr. Baseball'. This was filmed the year before I went to Japan, and is a very accurate depiction of how the game is played over there. One of the best baseball movies in my opinion. Others: Eight Men Out, Bull Durham, Little Big League (for its Twins connection), Summer Catch (Jessica Biel in a bikini!) Field of Dreams only had about 8 seconds of baseball in it.

Bringing Punto back to play for Gardenhire is like giving my 2 year old a loaded handgun to play with.