TCAnelle

Despite my one-more-year campaign, Joe Mauer decided to retire after the 2018 season. After the surprise appearance as a catcher in the final 2018 season game, he packed up all his gear after it had been authenticated and handed the bag to the Twins curator, Clyde Doepner, so it could be shared with fans. Clyde hadn't decided quite what to do with the bag until he found out there would be a special white-glove tour with Joe auctioned off for TwinsFest.Clyde decided to have Joe unpack the bag and take the group through what each item was and talk about his career. We didn't know this when we bid on the tour and I suspect had folks known, it would have gone higher. This flickr album has all the photos with detailed descriptions. I wasn't supposed to video anything but recorded a few before I was scolded. The lady next to me took a bunch more so if you know her, you can hear more. I recommend looking at the album on a laptop or a tablet since the descriptions are more easily viewed on a full -size browser. They explain many of the markings in or on his equipment and give the details he shared about each piece. The bat and batting gloves are from his 2000th hit. I was at Target Field that night so it was special to get to hold them. He talked through how he chose his bats and explained how he listened to the sound a bat makes when tapped on the barrel. The higher the pitch the better. The 2000th hit bat had a pretty high pitch. Download attachment: JoeMauer2.png After holding the bat and lowering it to tap his shoes, as we've seen him do thousands of times, he explained the pre-at-bat ritual of raking the dirt with his cleats then tapping his shoes. It was so he was able to see precisely where his feet went during a plate appearance. It gave him an immediate visual clue if something was off. He also raked the dirt in front of home plate as a catcher to prevent a bad hop on a ball in the dirt. Same for the semi-circles while waiting on batters at first base. His process was all about doing every little thing he could to prevent as many 1-in-a-1000 events that might negatively impact his ability to make the play or get a hit. Download attachment: JoeMauer3.png Joe has given some less than engaging post-game interviews over the years, but he talked with ease Friday night and seems to be genuinely at peace with deciding to retire. I'm still in denial he won't take the field on Opening Day, but really enjoyed the hour hearing him talk about baseball. I'm so going to miss watching him play. Click here to view the article

To clarify on the knee savers, he didn't attribute any injuries to them. He said that his knee injuries were all related to specific plays, not the equipment, but the savers weren't always comfortable when he was trying to get low. To me it brought to mind the catchers we see more and more who are practically sitting their butt on the ground with one leg stuck out or even a knee on the ground in their setup, especially with no runners on. He even used the word guinea pig for the titanium masks. Not sure when they came out, but I can't help but wonder how his catching career may have gone if he'd come along later when better more protective equipment was being developed and more was known about concussions. I mean he had to ask for a catching helmet with more protection to be specially made, it wasn't just something they were doing as the new batting helmets were coming out.

Despite my one-more-year campaign Joe Mauer decided to retire after the 2018 season. After the surprise appearance as a catcher in the final 2018 season game, he packed up all his gear after it had been authenticated and handed the bag to the Twins curator, Clyde Doepner, so it could be shared with fans. Clyde hadn't decided quite what to do with the bag until he found out there would be a special white-glove tour with Joe auctioned off for Twinsfest. He decided to have Joe unpack the bag and take the group through what each item was and talk about his career. We didn't know this when we bid on the tour and I suspect had folks known, it would have gone higher. This flickr album has all the photos with detailed descriptions. I wasn't supposed to video anything but recorded a few before I was scolded. The lady next to me took a bunch more so if you know her, you can hear more. I recommend looking at the album on a laptop or a tablet since the descriptions are more easily viewed on a full size browser. They explain many of the markings in or on his equipment and give the details he shared about each piece. The bat and batting gloves are from his 2000th hit. I was at Target Field that night so it was special to get to hold them. He talked through how he chose his bats and explained how he listened to the sound a bat makes when tapped on the barrel. The higher the pitch the better. The 2000th hit bat had a pretty high pitch. After holding the bat and lowering it to tap his shoes, as we've seen him do thousands of times, he explained the pre-at bat ritual of raking the dirt with his cleats then tapping his shoes. It was so he was able to see precisely where his feet went during a plate appearance. It gave him an immediate visual clue if something was off. He also raked the dirt in front of home place as a catcher to prevent a bad hop on a ball in the dirt. Same for the semi-circles while waiting on batters at first base. His process was all about doing every little thing he could to prevent as many 1-in-a-1000 events that might negatively impact his ability to make the play or get a hit. Joe has given some less than engaging post game interviews over the years, but he talked with ease Friday night and seems to be genuinely at peace with deciding to retire. I'm still in denial he won't take the field on opening day, but really enjoyed the hour hearing him talk about baseball. I'm so going to miss watching him play.

Several parks I've been to have CLEAR lanes. They're super fast even with a bag. We also have the issue of how idiotic some of the searches are. Why are they unzipping my flat wallet that is too small to hold any weapon. Others have had them open pill cases and those tiny readers glasses cases. That's why it's so slow. Boston will have someone pre-checking bags prior to gate open and they put on a tag to show it was checked already so the initial rush is faster. There are ways they can improve it and still allow the same bags they always have. There's also the climate issue since we don't have a roof. I have a bag with blankets and extra stuff to stay warm. That stuff isn't going to fit in a small clear bag and I'm not interested in carrying it all loose to comply with a bag policy that isn't needed. Fingers crossed my rep was given good information and we aren't going to be faced with the stupid NFL policy. I mean they had it in place and two people still got in enough stuff to hang from the ceiling and unfurl a banner.

The NFL and now slightly modified NHL policy is discriminatory. It disproportionately affects women and hopefully MLB does not implement it. I went full code-red to my season ticket rep about the absurdity of the security theater and how clear bags won't make it faster and even if it did, they don't have to process 60K fans in two hours. The place holds half that and we haven't seen those levels except for special games. I reiterated my request for a STH lane. The information she sent back to me after she asked internally was this: "Here is the response I received back as of today. Given the nature of our sport and our fan base, we understand the importance of being able to bring a bag, purse, diaper bag, backpack, etc. into the ballpark. We will likely keep encouraging people to avoid bringing bags if possible, but there are no plans to change the bag policy, require clear bags, etc. at this time"

I think Souhan is a lazy writer that likes to stir the pot because it drives clicks and eyeballs to his columns. The Strib isn't going to discipline him for anything unless it crosses legal boundaries that open them up to issues because he drives clicks. Since the Strib is also a team sponsor/advertiser (see the permanent signage at the stadium), the team is also unlikely to say much as long as he doesn't outright lie about the team or expose something they want to keep internal. St Peter even retweeted the link to his column yesterday on the scout around the same time the blog response was posted. As far as access goes, I think it matters. The writers with access who use it appropriately and regularly give me context and make the players human. I want to know what the beat writers hear and what their impressions are of these people that I've chosen to spend many many hours and dollars watching. I like knowing that Escobar apologized for not being there post game because he took his family to dinner. It has nothing to do with play on the field, but it adds to the fun when he knocks one out and you see the smile on his face. I like reading about their families and off-field interests. They are people and without someone with access sharing these things it's sometimes easy to forget. I also appreciate the in-game insights from someone who really doesn't have a dog in the fight other than to tell the story of the game. There are also times these uninterested third parties drive out stories that matter for us to hear. Reporting on domestic violence, DUIs, etc. Those stories are delicate and I'm far more likely to seek a trained journalist for context and understanding of the impact. The beat writers build the relationships with the team and players to have the trust that when something bad happens in a game or off the field, the writer will handle it professionally and truthfully. You don't get to that point if you have no access. For those with some access that Souhan mentioned, I agree that Brandon and Seth are both good resources. Right now I view Brandon as attempting to start a new-media site but with a journalistic approach. I hope it grows and they're able to reach a point to afford to have a true beat-writer follow the team on the road for all the reason mentioned above. Seth, Jeremy, and Cody are unmatched with the prospect coverage, and I've seen Seth many times in March in Fort Myers building the relationships with the players as prospects. I still see Seth as a fan deep down, but that's not a bad thing. Access still matters here, but I don't expect the same type of coverage as a beat writer from Seth. So do I discount anyone without access? Absolutely not. But what I glean from a non-traditional or new media source without access to the team is usually different. I've learned a ton about stats and how useless the pitcher win is or that an RBI is a pretty useless stat and clutch hitting isn't really a thing all from reading non-traditional source writers. I've also enjoyed a ton of fan based writing too. And some is a mix of the two (e.g. Steve in Cedar Rapids). Instead of pushing Souhan to be a better writer, especially when there may have been a valid point to make, this has turned into a pissing match of access vs. non-access and that's so not the point. As a consumer, I need both. And we need the uninterested third party with access, not just the team version. If we don't have that, we're going to end up with a bunch of marketing stories that no matter how many "This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs." disclaimers are at the end are whitewashed to ensure the team never looks bad and they control the message entirely.

Posted at Twinkietown is my write up with pictures and videos from Thursday's AFL game between Peoria and Mesa.

Posted at Twinkietown is my write up with pictures and videos from Thursday's AFL game between Peoria and Mesa.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2261[/ATTACH] If anyone wants to see what KC's Kauffman Stadium looks like or just wants to see more baseball pics, I've posted my pics from game two from Saturday and the afternoon game on Sunday.

I'd hoped to do a longer write-up but after playing aunt all weekend, it's just a short note. Work sent me to Illinois/Wisconsin and I caught Wednesday's and Friday's Beloit Snappers games. They lost in 12 innings on Wednesday night, but I was able to take a few pictures and videos. Sano made a pretty slick defensive play at 3rd. The ball took an awkward hop off the edge of the infield grass toward him, but he was able to bare hand it and throw to first for the out. Friday night was a win, but my seven year old niece was with me so pictures were harder to get. I was able to get video of Rosarios HR (unfortunately behind the net). Best of luck to the Beloit Snappers who start the playoffs September 5th!

I'd hoped to do a longer write-up but after playing aunt all weekend, it's just a short note. Work sent me to Illinois/Wisconsin and I caught Wednesday's and Friday's Beloit Snappers games. They lost in 12 innings on Wednesday night, but I was able to take a few pictures and videos. Sano made a pretty slick defensive play at 3rd. The ball took an awkward hop off the edge of the infield grass toward him, but he was able to bare hand it and throw to first for the out. Friday night was a win, but my seven year old niece was with me so pictures were harder to get. I was able to get video of Rosarios HR (unfortunately behind the net). Best of luck to the Beloit Snappers who start the playoffs September 5th!

I spent a couple days watching the Beloit Snappers (including Twins Daily's own AJ Pettersen). My write up and picture links are up at Twinkietown.

I spent a couple days watching the Beloit Snappers (including Twins Daily's own AJ Pettersen). My write up and picture links are up at Twinkietown.

I haven't really kept track of the final scores of every game I've been to, but I'm fairly certain 19 is the most I've seen the Twins score in person. Lots of smiles as they came in and out of the dugout during this one.

I haven't really kept track of the final scores of every game I've been to, but I'm fairly certain 19 is the most I've seen the Twins score in person. Lots of smiles as they came in and out of the dugout during this one.

It's corrected, but here's the link to the other game.

I've posted pictures from the last two days from the Twins spring training games. I haven't edited at all so there are some that are blurry, duplicates, misfires, etc. 3-18 Pics from B game, minor league practice, A game 3-19 Pics from Twins at Red Sox from JetBlue

I've posted pictures from the last two days from the Twins spring training games. I haven't edited at all so there are some that are blurry, duplicates, misfires, etc. 3-18 Pics from B game, minor league practice, A game 3-19 Pics from Twins at Red Sox from JetBlue