BigSkyTwinsFan

Nice article, Parker. Your usual good stuff. What are your thoughts about his higher walk rate more recently. It seems significantly better than earlier this year, and somewhat better than his career rate. SSS or sustainable because of approach changes you note?

I really enjoy the writing and perspective you bring to this site, Mat. Keep it coming. Good luck with the season.

Really appreciate these kind of articles. Thanks Andrew!

Amen to that! Happy Easter.

Sounds like you've made your mind up with Seattle. Lots of good reasons already mentioned to follow the Mariners. I've been living the same dilema for the past 15+ years, located a couple of hundred miles north of your future location. I think you'll find more Mariner followers than Rockies followers in this part of the world. For me, the choice of which club to follow was mostly influenced by ability to catch a Twins game in person. Obviously, there are a couple of opportunities/year to catch the Twins in Seattle, and only infrequently in Denver. Also, retractable roof in Seattle ensures you will see the game if you travel. Also, it's nice to watch games where you have a high level of interest/knowledge of both teams. The most important thing, however, is that while you can follow the Mariners, you pull for the Twins.

I'm loving the game tonight - not the score so far, but the call. After reading this thread over the weekend I really listened closely to the game on Sunday and Gladden's approach (lack of approach?), trying to "see the game" based on his descriptions. Pretty tough. He's not very good. Guess I knew that, though. I'm doing the same tonight with Provus and Atteberry broadcasting. What a difference. I appreciate the occasional player-type insight that Gladden offers, but the overall experience of "seeing the game" based on the broadcaster's description is much more important to me. Give me Provus and Atteberry during the game and let Gladden and Morris take care of the occasional after-game talk/chat on the weekend.

As a partial answer to TwinsGuy55422's question, the article tagged below is about the new sports psycologist that the Orioles brought on board this year. The article states: "The Orioles are hardly alone when it comes to incorporating psychology. Though organizations aren't always forthcoming about officially having sports psychologists and other mental consultants on staff, more than half of Major League Baseball's teams have one in some capacity, with some having multiple psychologists, including for their Minor Leaguers." With the financial investment made in baseball teams today, it makes sense to me that a coach for the mind should be available to those players who will willingly take advantage of it. As for the original statement above - "Then there's Mauer, who hit 28 home runs in a shortened 2009 season, and who has hardly hit any since then. It's abundantly clear that the not-so-friendly confines of Target Field have gotten in his head" - I can't really agree w/ the premise. 2009 as an anomoly for Mauer compared to the entire rest of his professional career. A healthy Mauer will likely hit somewhere between 5 and 15 long balls based on his 10 other professional seasons. That is not to say, however, that he couldn't use some head help. Could be something he and many other Twins are already taking in - they just aren't likely going to advertise it. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120223&content_id=26829668&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb

My favorite is a Kirby-inspired moment. Sometime in '92 - can't be specific on the date. I had three young sons 6,4 and 1. The oldest two were crazy for Kirby and always talking about him, especially to the youngest. Imagine our surprise when our youngest's first words were "kirby". That was a cool moment for us all.