Doubles

Today’s game thread will feature one of my favorite aspects of baseball- the ‘game within the game.’ No, I’m not talking about the duels between pitcher and batter that drive the game. Nor am I talking about the proverbial chess match as managers attempt to match wits a la Bobby Fisher vs Boris Spassky circa Reykjavik, 1972. Stop at the gas station, grab your favorite carton of smokes, and head to your local VFW. It’s time to play a very special edition of Dick and Bert Bingo, aka DABGO. Dick Bremer has been the voice of Twins baseball on television since 1983. Whether games were broadcast on Spectrum Sports, TwinsVision, Midwest Sports Channel (MSC!), the ill-fated Victory Sports Network, or the current-day rights holder Fox Sports North, Dick has been the one thing Twins fans can count on. Following his Hall of Fame (elected in 2011) playing career Bert Blyleven joined the Twins broadcast team in 1996. Blyleven’s trademark “Circle Me Bert” bit was more popular with fans than perhaps FSN realized as a result of the backlash caused by Bert’s announcement via social media of the curtailing of CMB. Fans from all over the Midwest went to bat in support of Bert. Dick and Bert are like and old pair of blue jeans for Twins fans. Broken-in, comfortable, and you know what you’re gonna get from them. To that end, let’s celebrate the paring of Dick and Bert today. To borrow a cliché’, beauty is in the ear of the broadcast beholder. Grab your cards, and if you have any suggestions for naming any of the squares, please feel free to share. Twins 5-4, 1st Place AL Central Dozier 4 Mauer DH Rosario 7 Morrison 3 Escobar 5 Kepler 9 Buxton 8 Castro 2 Adrianza 6 Gibson 1 Astros 9-3, 1st Place AL West Springer 8 Bregman 5 Altuve 4 Correa 6 Reddick 9 Gattis DH Stassi 2 Davis 3 Fisher 7 McCullers 1

Jason ©Astro approves this Game Thread.

No, no, no! Coincidental! Bugged me for years on end that Alannis used the word 'ironic'. Song should've been titled, "Stuff That Just Plain Sucks." Then one day it dawned on me. The title "Ironic" is perfect, because the stuff mentioned in that song is not ironic. Makes perfect sense to me now, all these years later. As usual, the joke was on me.

Enjoyed this episode, great to hear more Twins talk. Especially now that the season has started. Gotta say though, I lose another shred of respect for Gleeman with every Souhan reference.

Only within the last couple of years did I come to grips with the use of "ironic" in that song.

Number 5 above had me going to Youtube to watch the Jane Fonda / Johnny Carson / Zsa Zsa Gabor incident, but that's a cat of a whole 'nother color.

Thinking the Twins are gonna have a much better chance against the M's bully. This Paxton feller must've gained some inspiration from the bald eagle landing on him pre-game.

Sano would be so much more dangerous with a big bopper in the lineup behind him.

40+ pitches so far for Gibson to get 6 outs. Yuck. Hated deciding not to go to the yard today. Would've hated the time spent freezing our arses off being dependent on Gibson even more.

Why teams get to look at replays before deciding to challenge is silly to me. Kinda takes the 'challenge' part out of it. Should have about 2.2 seconds to decide whether to challenge or not. And don't even think about @ me about yesterday's cluster of a review when Rosario should've been picked off.

FSN just showed it. Landed on the M's starting pitcher. Ha!

I swear somebody waits until the 9th inning to jack with the Fox Sports Go app just to get me going.

Welcome to The Ferando Rodney Experience, Episode Two. Buckle yourself in, enjoy the ride.

Managers typically are hyper-careful about using pitchers that haven't fully earned their trust yet. This would be a big win, especially on the heels of the home-opener tomorrow. And, keep in mind the weather is not exactly an optimal condition to pitch in today. Personally, I like the call to try to go for the jugular here. Plenty of time for Kinley, and anyone else, to earn their stripes.

Exactly! Few players have as many tools at his disposal as Rosario does. He'll make some of the best plays you'll ever see. Then he'll pull one that I'd make my Little Leaguers run over for days on end. As stated, mental errors drive me nutso. Not running out a pop-up? That's just plain lazy, and I find lazy impossible to defend.

A player putting himself in position to make a bad mental error irritates me only slightly less when he gets bailed out. Regardless of the outcome of the review, that was bad baseball.

Look, I'm aware I come across as having 'strong opinions,' 'am full of it,' or whatever you wanna say. Honestly, my opinions are mostly formed over more than one game, one AB, or one occurrence. I try to formulate my opinions over a stretch of time. Jerk, maybe. But I try really hard not to be knee-jerk. Rosario is nearly a five-tool talent. Not much on a beisbol field the guy can't do. But he drives me crazy with what I perceive to be a lack of focus, at times. Throwing to the wrong base, air-mailing throws into the seats, bad baserunning, and tonight, not running out a pop-up that could've been a hugely costly mistake. Physical errors, I can handle. Everybody makes those. I find mental errors inexcusable, especially by Major Leaguers.

"Mean mother, isn't he?" "Hey- he can't do that to our pledges!" "Yeah! Only we can do that to our pledges!" http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/neidermeyer.jpg

Summary of my Rosario reactions today: "Yeah! Way to go Rosie!" "JFC, are you kidding me, Rosie?" "JFC, are you kidding me, Rosie?" "Whew, Rosie. You lucky moron." Honestly, about what I expect outta him at this point.

Of course the day I rip on Sano he gets locked in. That was a dart.

My favorite coach always said 'Baseball's a game of inches. The six between your ears!'

What a moron

Do I know you?

Crazy how Rosario cutting down Polanco at the plate turned this game around. Also, had Dozier not been able to advance on the WP, Rosario's brain cramp would've been a double play, bringing up Sano with two outs & nobody on. Funny game, this beisbol.

That'd be me, & I'm glad to be wrong about that today. But that opinion wasn't formed over 4+ games worth of ABs, and a coupla great ABs today ain't gonna change it. Also underscores the impact between raking and striking out.