DRizzo

I had a chance to meet Kirby once in my life when I was a kid. My friend and I were playing basketball at the Edina Community Center and Kirby was there with his son doing the same. When my friend and I went over to ask him for an autograph, he smiled, asked his son to wait, signed the autographs and wished us the best. This story doesn't mean to excuse the information that came out against him but I appreciated his willingness to take the time to sign an autograph for some star-eyed kids and I wish I had been able to see him play in his prime.

I was at the game last night and it was more unreal in person. Thome-esk. It was even better because it was the special event night for Park so there was a large group of Korean fans at the park waving some giant banners and going nuts.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3rtyerfHZ1qir45xo1_500.gif

GarageLogic on ESPN 1500 just said that we traded Hicks to the Yankees for catcher John Ryan Murphy. Anyone else see this yet?

The season finale was a little odd but I enjoyed the first season overall. They definitely stretch the imagination/capability of the hacking they present but it's an interesting story.

It is a opportunity from the Twins presented to season ticket holders to volunteer for. There was 3 meetings this year during the season and they asked us for feedback on a couple different specific items. The ticket exchange program, Ballpark app and ticket renewal process were what we discussed this season. And the council members change every season.

Looks like something happened to Hughes and Milone is making the start now... (Credit ESPN) Anyone know what happened to Hughes?

Gotcha, that makes sense. Thanks Mike!

http://www.startribune.com/st-paul-to-host-crashed-ice-again-in-2016/328589931/ Has anyone been to this before? It always looked awesome but I never got a chance to go one. Just curious for more details or a story.

Would that only work if big dog is Matt Kalil? Wait... "big dog"... crap! Is he Matt Kalil?!?!? Anyways, first time long time. Question for you Vanimal. Now that Max Kepler got called up, do you think Joe Mauer develops a mysterious injury that makes him take time away from the team to make more Kemps milk billboards and lets Kepler play first base?

I know he crushed this one out that was about at his head level. But I don't remember if he has had more this year. http://m.mlb.com/cutfour/2015/08/15/143385998/eddie-rosario-goes-deep-on-impossible-pitch (courtesy of Cut4, credit Chris Landers)

MLB had a really interesting article today on Eddie (below, credit to Rhett Bollinger). I was really surprised at how his season is stacking up in history after reading it. Does anyone else think he might get some ROY attention? http://m.twins.mlb.com/news/article/150010706/twins-eddie-rosario-reaches-rookie-milestone

I don't think you're a bad fan. I think the feeling is one of the many results of the previous 4 years. We haven't really had a reason to care as much as we do this season because it was bad baseball. "Next year we'll be better." and "Sano and Buxton are coming, we'll be better in a couple years" was how most people felt about the team and now that they are here, along with other prospects, we don't know what to do. But it's great to watch and still fun to see them over .500 as we transition to thinking about the present, over the future, more regularly

Has anybody read anything about why Jeff Jones didn't get in the game against TCU? The Gopher site said he was dressed for the game so I can't imagine he is still academically ineligible.

Completely agree on these 2 being deserving. Seth, do you know who determines this team? Is it just the Baseball America writers?

In case anyone missed it, MLB.com has the video of Eddie's GS up now. Dude CRUSHED it! http://m.twins.mlb.com/min/video/v445953183/cwsmin-rosario-sends-grand-slam-to-second-deck (Link courtesy of MLB)

Looks like he got activated from the Minor League DL and got assigned to Fort Meyers yesterday. Does anyone think he can still play behind the plate? http://m.twins.mlb.com/news/article/143712588 (Link courtesy of MLB, credit Rhett Bollinger)

Looks like they moved Boyer to the 15 day DL retroactive to 8/9 and recalled Tonkin from Rochester... They are using duck tape!!!

How long before we see Sano hit one deeper than Stanton did at the 2014 Home Run Derby? Is it completely unrealistic to think he might HIT the scoreboard in left field one day?

I am a fan. Not a player. Or a coach. Or a manager. Or a GM. Or an owner. I am a fan. I played my last organized (non-pick up/wiffle ball) game of baseball in 2003. It was in a 'I-can't-play-for-my-high-school-team' league and I remember that we needed one more win to get into the playoffs. I was playing 3rd that day so me and a teammate were on the field so I could take some throws to first when our last teammate finally showed up. In basketball shorts. Without a glove. We lost the game. The reason I bring this story up is I remember getting into the car with my mom after and telling her "I don't understand how someone would show up so unprepared to play. Why would you even come?" I can't quite tell if this was how I felt about the Twins. I rode the high of the first half of the season like all of us. "Holy crap, this team can play!" "How is Torii hitting like this??" "Good lord! Is this the same Mike Pelfrey??" "Terry Ryan is finally moving prospects up instead of AAAA players!" I got to see the team I love riding a huge series win against the Tigers into the All-Star break. Heck, Dozier finally got some national attention and got into the All-Star game! Through the last 4 years, I couldn't remember feeling like this. I was actually going to Target Field to watch baseball, not just to hangout in the summer while drinking some beer and looking for beautiful women. (No shame on that one, that was a large factor) And now the 2nd half has started and I've started to think I'm one of the people I listed above. "Why is Danny Santana still playing SS?" "I'd so much rather watch Oswaldo Arcia wiff multiple times a week but mash one into the parking lot in right field than pretend Eduardo Nunez can take another a bat at DH." "Does Molitor even look at stat lines?" "How the hell is Blaine Boyer still on this team?" (Okay, that one is legitimate. Seriously, why?) Games have gotten back to being the background noise on my TV while I'm at home. I watch a couple innings but it doesn't have the same pull as the first half. I look at the box score everyday but it's more out of habit than passion now. But I finally remembered something last night. I am a fan. And that means I'm going to go through the same things as the team. I'll get into a slump. I will roll my eyes and sigh. I'll start playing with my phone in the 3rd inning and look up to see the start of the 6th. And that's perfectly normal and okay. This isn't to say I shouldn't be critical when the team doesn't play well or question front office moves but seriously, I'm a fan. And every team in baseball slumps at some point. Because I've remembered that, I'm disappointed the team is playing this bad but I don't feel anything like I did the last 4 years. And I am incredibly excited for what this team can do, the rest of this year and the coming years.

If the Twins trade Trevor May, I'm not renewing my season tickets... I just can't see the benefit to moving a guy who can be a solid 3-4 for the next 5-6 years given what the rotation will likely be following the season (ie. Pelfrey and Milone gone leaving a spot for May and Berrios). Just seems short cited to move a guy, who seems like he can be a critical piece, for a CHANCE to grab the last wild card spot this season. And he does Reddit AMA's along with this... http://m.mlb.com/cutfour/2015/04/12/117748036/twins-rookie-pitcher-trevor-may-has-an-alter-ego-named-dj-heybeef

I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet but, dare I say it, the Twins do something unconventional *gasp* and roll with a 6-man rotation? Completely agree with Nick that May needs to be in the rotation to start the year, especially given the stats Seth mentioned earlier about his turnaround. But I also think Milone really deserves a spot. Not only for the Twins to decide on him, but to also showcase what he is in case they want to move him (the fact that he was hurt at the end of last year didn't give anyone much of an opportunity to look at him objectively). We all agree his stuff isn't overpowering but if Pavanostache proved anything to Twins fans, it's that you can be successful with a 88-89 fastball. I don't think Meyer is ready to start yet for the reasons mentioned above. Too many walks, not enough innings, etc. Better in the Long Relief role. Rolling with a 6-man rotation would mean they don't sacrifice meaningful innings for May, see what Milone actually is and still give Meyer a shot up here in the Pen.

'This whole organization sucks' might be a little bit of a stretch. I hope everyone noticed that our minor league system did pretty darn good this year, in my opinion. Ft. Meyers won the FSL Championship, Cedar Rapids made the playoffs, and Rochester should have made the playoffs but they play in the more competitive division of their league that has strict playoffs. Plus, I feel like the organization moved a lot of guys around to give them chances at higher levels of competition. As for the Twins, yes it had been hard. If I'm driving, I throw it on the radio and I watch a couple innings each night at home but I don't listen/watch the whole game. It's definitely hard to watch but there somethings worth looking into still for the end of this year and how it will affect the start of next year (especially how the whole Vargas, Mauer, Arcia and Pinto 'who play's DH?' works out).