dcswede

Nice post! One quick disagreement, though: Sue Nelson and her limited, repetitive repertoire on the organ have to go. Even watching at home (~100+ games most years), her organ fills drive me up the wall. From all accounts, she is a lovely person, but I'm begging for a change.

Like the majority of posters, I have no real idea what to make of Joe or the change. Reading his interview/profile in the Strib, however, it mainly felt ... odd. I don't know if he's just awkward or actually delusional, but he seems like a guy rather desperate to be liked, and very eager to make friends. He certainly didn't come across as a clear-eyed and inevitable leader whose ascendance to the top of the organization will herald success beyond our wildest imaginations. It is hardly confidence-inspiring that his biggest achievement after so many years with the team was last week's "rebranding" and new uniforms. What I think we're seeing is Pohlad family inside baseball.

Justin Jefferson is good at football.

Here's my best Paul Wellstone story: Back in the early '90s I was working in Washington for a conservative Republican senator. Flying back to the Twin Cities for a week up at the lake during August recess, sitting next to me at the back of an NWA flight was Sen. Quentin Burdick (D-ND). As it turned out, Sen. Wellstone was up in first class. Sen. Burdick, who would die the next year at age 84, was having a difficult time of it - he couldn't get his jacket off, he couldn't peel the cover off of his yogurt container, frankly, he couldn't really even speak understandably. Though, he was certainly genial, and obviously grateful for the help I was able to give him, I'm pretty sure that I was the only person around me who knew this gentleman was a sitting United States Senator, and regardless of party (my, how things have changed), as a Senate staffer I kind of felt responsible for helping get him through this. Arriving at MSP, we all got off the flight. I was helping Sen. Burdick down the aisle when we reached Sen. Wellstone. They greeted each other warmly, and as we made it up the ramp to the gate there were several people there to meet Sen Wellstone - I don't recall if they were staff or family - but they began to move with him off to their destination. However, Sen. Burdick wasn't done. He still had to fly from Minneapolis to Fargo or Grand Forks, and he had literally no idea how to make that happen. Imagine your elderly grandfather, all alone. Having been put on a plane in Washington, and then was on his own from there. Sen. Wellstone looked at Sen. Burdick and then at me with eyebrows raised. I explained who I was, and told him I could figure this out for Sen. Burdick. But Sen. Wellstone smiled, shook my hand and thanked me, and then told his party to wait while he took Sen. Burdick by the arm and personally escorted him to his next flight. This may not sound like much to you. But in the 10 years I was on the Hill, I never saw another senator (or congressman) put himself at the utter service of somebody else like that. It was a remarkably humble and human gesture, and one I will always remember.

Let's say you're out at a bar, and somebody sits down next to you. Who do you want it to be: Patrick Reusse or Jim Souhan?

The "it's 2022" argument falls on the simple fact that there is a "pride night." If the topic is in fact done and dusted, as some suggest, then there would be no "need" to host any such event - we don't have a left-handed night, or a big ears night. So, clearly, the implication of "it's 2022" means nothing in this context. Here's the real equivalent to the Rays' rainbow patch: what if a team decided to have it's players wear a "life begins at conception" patch? Would you still argue that players should put their own morals and opinions aside and wear that patch no matter how they felt about the subject? If we're going to discuss the topic, let's at least argue honestly.

never, never, never trade with the Yankees.

Not to nitpick, but Jobu himself doesn't hit anything. He come, take fear from bats. So, hitting coach?

While Donaldson has not played many games this year, his most important impact on the defense has been the shifting Sano off third base. The domino chain from that has led to improved defense across the entire diamond. When Donaldson has been on the field... that's just gravy.

The Twins must take one game in each series against Cleveland. They do that, and the lead is 4-1/2 games. Anything better than that is gravy (delicious homemade, Thanksgiving turkey gravy - not the gooey, store-bought kind). Anything less - if Cleveland were to sweep either or both series - I'm not sure they could survive that salvo as they did the earlier passing.