sampleSizeOfOne

while it is still april fool's day, i'll submit my mild apocolyptic guess, namely that something drastic will cancel 10 games of baseball, just enough so every team winds up under... and to be mildly difficult, but keep my choices more clear to myself, i cut and pasted line by line, reordering by the line, rather than alphabetical. i loosely expect to submit an actual factual serious edit, and if caring about order is done, poke me, and i'll reorder for your convenience at that time... without further (more? greater?) ado... Philadelphia Phillies - 68.5 under. Arizona Diamondbacks - 71.5 under. Colorado Rockies - 71.5 under. Minnesota Twins - 71.5 under. Atlanta Braves - 73.5 under. Houston Astros - 75.5 under. Cincinnati Reds - 77.5 under. Milwaukee Brewers - 78.5 under. Tampa Bay Rays - 78.5 under. Texas Rangers - 78.5 under. Chicago White Sox - 81.5 under. Kansas City Royals - 81.5 under. Miami Marlins - 81.5 under. New York Mets - 81.5 under. New York Yankees - 81.5 under. Oakland Athletics - 81.5 under. Baltimore Orioles - 82.5 under. Chicago Cubs - 82.5 under. Toronto Blue Jays - 83.5 under. Cleveland Indians - 84.5 under. Detroit Tigers - 84.5 under. Pittsburgh Pirates - 84.5 under. San Diego Padres - 84.5 under. San Francisco Giants - 84.5 under. Boston Red Sox - 86.5 under. Seattle Mariners - 86.5 under. Los Angeles Angels - 88.5 under. St. Louis Cardinals - 88.5 under. Los Angeles Dodgers - 92.5 under. Washington Nationals - 93.5 under. Tie breaker 1: The two AL WC teams will be: Twins, Astros (close only counts in horseshoes and something else) Tie breaker 2: The two NL WC teams will be: Phillies, Diamondbacks

Oh, yeah, i coulda said that too. At the same time, i wanna be careful and not overspend my concurrency.

Yup. Nicely put. I admire your succinctness.

If gameday is to be believed... Nate Hanson is at 3rd Base (replacing Schafer in the lineup) And Chad Christensen Pinch Runs for Vargas, takes Right Field. The musical fielding positions to make that work: Herrman moves from Right Field to 1st Base to close the Vargas substitution loop. Nunez moves from 3rd Base to Left Field, and Robinson moves from Left Field to Center Field to close the Schafer substitution loop.

May they leave a heart in all our chests... Ya gotta have heart. (ducks, er, the action, not the water fowl) Oh, good to hear from ya, Gibby! Not to get too distracted though, the Wild are doin' pretty good, aren't they?

Followed by an opposite field single for Vargas Followed by an opposite field single by Vargas to chase Tanaka that inspires a bad joke to put in my back pocket for when it might be funny... How is syncopation different from that single? Syncopation shifts the beats. That single beats the shifts.

At half 4 (innings, that is) the game is tied once again at 1 run a piece. This has been a circus boy update... (Strange, why is there up in an update? Couldn't it be down? Like the low down? also, on the internet, ala cut and paste, no one can eat your paste)

One pick off by the Milone, and one stolen base by Schafer. Doin' okay at the run game, at least.

Circus Boy Report: Twins: 1 (hurray!) Redsox: 14

Was gonna watch an epic come back*, but... it's only spring training. Is there a good movie about? *-(They always start with a walk to Dozier, don't they? i forget.)

Leading by counterexample sometimes is important too... At least Vargas got to second, so it's more like we lost the trailing runner.

On the contrary, the score is 1-3 at this point, in favor of the Red Sox. Twins won the opening game 9-8 back on 3/5, and the Red Sox have taken the last 3, most recently on a 10 inning homerun. Leastwise according to the mlb schedule. But tonight's game, and 4 more exist before the cup is won. (Someone else may acquire merit by remembering the name of the cup) So the lead is not insurmountable... Anyway, i look forward to it.

Reed was pitching the 10th? Hey, that's pretty cool. Bummer to end it like that. Still i'm sure he'll value the chance.

Do they have a replica green monster in left field? Probably just smart (pulling right handed) ball players hitting it where he ain't. No, i don't really know what's going on, and for a moment thought i might be good at reading between the liners... Not so much.

Er, same goes for Hamburger! Show 'em what for! Don't make a jinxer out o' me!

C'mon Stauffer, Strand the bases loaded!

(Too lazy to start a thread, 'specially an inning in...) Game 22 against the vaunted cross town (at least for Spring Training) Rivals, being the Redsox of Boston and featuring the following players... (aka line ups) For the Twins: Tommy Milone Pitching Danny Santan at Shortstop Shane Robinson in Center Field Torii Hunter as Designated Hitter Kennys Vargas at First Base Trevor Plouffe at Third Base Oswaldo Arcia in Left Field Eduardo Escobar at Second Base Eric Fryer Catching Jordan Schafer in Right Field For the Boston Redsox: Wade Miley Pithcing Mookie Betts in Center Field Dustin Pedroia at Second Base David Ortiz as Designated Hitter Hanley Ramirez in Left Field Pablo Sandoval at Third Base Mike Napoli at First Base Shane Victorino in Right Field Xander Bogaerts at Shortstop Humberto Quintero Catching Have at it! And Escobar has (had at it, that is), giving the Twins a 1-0 lead in the second! Huzzah!

Ah, i like these sorts of boxscore mysteries... Two innings, a walk and a homer, and exactly once through the lineup for the Rays. 6 outs + 1 run + 1 walk = 8, but 9 have batted. hmmm. No errors... No wild pitch/passed ball strike outs... Ah. Turns out there was a fielder's choice which did not result in an out.

Now it's tied, with Nunez on second and Rosario at bat... Exciting, no?

A same-sided boom, at that.

Catchin' up... Graham saved Duensing's bacon (or valued metaphoric food products of your choice) And they seem to have found someone they can hit, especially Mr. Hunter, leading by example! I think that merits half a cheer... Hip Hip Who!

Sounds like a respectable outing. And i guess it isn't surprising that jinxes need to build up arm strength as well. They're probably like knucklers, that work best in certain conditions. One of those conditions is when things matter... Good to see Liam Hendriks doing well, even if it is at our expense for the moment. Oh, Nolasco gave up a run. Perhaps i spoke too soon.

(Assuming no one beats me to it...) Blue Jays Jose Reyes at Shortstop Russell Martin designated to hit for the Pitcher Dioner Navarro Catching Jose Bautista in Right Field Josh Donaldson at Third Base Justin Smoak at First Base Dayan Viciedo in Left Field Dalton Pompey in Center Field Ryan Goins at Second Base Pitching: Todd Redman Twins Danny Santana at Shortstop Brian Dozier at Second Base Joe Mauer at First Base Trevor Plouffe at Third Base Kennys Vargas designated to hit for the Pitcher Torii Hunter in Right Field Oswaldo Arcia in Left Field Kurt Suzuki Catching Jordan Schafer in Center Field Pitching: Ricky Nolasco And here goes a game thread... A lot of starter candidates, no? I hope we win...

Yes. Looking it up, the whole outfield changed. Hicks came out, Robinson went from right to center, Arcia from left to right, and Escobar moved back from 3rd to left.

Saw this also in an earlier game thread and commented on it. Thrylos said it's Molitor's way of doing things, giving the players he wants to see more of a chance to make an impression. (or at least that was my impression)