Squirrel

Yeah ... I wonder what players say because a different runner it would be an out ... 'Oh, sheesh ... *that* guy' (or maybe a version less able to print )

I liked Gibson. I get why they let him walk ... but I wanted him back

ooooooohhhh ... don't give me hopes to be dashed later!!!

One announcement I forgot to make in the thread opening ... @Otto von Ballpark ... a poster formerly known as spycake. Give his new name a good, hardy welcome!

Well ... so much for Mahle being on a roll! Maybe I jinxed him!

Score early and often!

CRUZ!!!!! Wooohoooo ... first blood on the board!

Thanks. In the case of many of those examples, early detection was the key ... mom, sister, dad ... staying on top of your health is key. Even my friend recently diagnosed with melanoma ... early detection, hasn't reached her lymph nodes, so, that's really good. My Grandpa died in 1972 ... when they didn't have what now have available today. My sister's cancer ... she went in for her first ever mammogram at age 40 ... came back with cancer, early stage ... so ... the importance of keeping up with your medical tests!

I'm going to start this game thread on a serious note. Tonight is cancer awareness night at Target Field. I don't think anyone, anywhere hasn't been touched by cancer in some way or another. For myself ... my Mom and sister both had breast cancer, my Dad had prostate cancer, my grandfather died from colon cancer, my aunt had uterine cancer, my uncle died from an an acute form of leukemia, and the latest, a very dear friend of mine diagnosed recently with melanoma. It's everywhere in one form or another, so take care, get check ups, offer help where you can to someone in need, donate, volunteer ... nothing is too small or too great. That said ... onto baseball. Wow! Four in a row!!!!! I can't believe how exciting that is ... and I also can't believe that the reason for such excitement is because of a season of such despair. But ... I'll take what I can get ... in this season, nothing is too great, or too small. Okay ... well ... yeah, we could debate the specifics of that, but generally speaking. So, tonight ... we have J.A. Happ vs Tyler Mahle. I really don't want to say it, but, we may be reminded of our despair with this match up. Mahle is on a roll and Happ is rolling down the hill. I don't know how else to say it, but there it is. But, I'm liking the roster ... any roster is so much better looking with Buxton in it. And, I hate to say it, no Sano. If Happ can hang in there, I think we just might have ourselves a ball game. And since I'm into brevity ... play ball! Go Twins! REDS 1. Jonathan India (R ) 2B 2. Jesse Winker (L) DH 3. Nick Castellanos (R ) RF 4. Tyler Stephenson (R ) C 5. Joey Votto (L) 1B 6. Eugenio Suarez (R ) 3B 7. Aristides Aquino (R ) LF 8. Kyle Farmer (R ) SS 9. Scott Heineman (R ) CF Tyler Mahle, RHP, 7-2, 3.39 era, 90 SO, IP 74.1, WHIP 1.09 TWINS 1. Luis Arraez (L) 3B 2. Byron Buxton (R ) CF 3. Trevor Larnach (L) LF 4. Nelson Cruz (R ) DH 5. Max Kepler (L) RF 6. Jorge Polanco (S) 2B 7. Alex Kirilloff (L) 1B 8. Ryan Jeffers (R ) C 9. Andrelton Simmons (R ) SS J.A. Happ, 3-3, 6.12 era, 44 SO, IP 60.1, WHIP 1.44

I used to travel a lot for work ... one of my colleagues wore a mask on the plane and in airports because his wife was going through chemo and he didn't want to risk bringing home anything. When I was in Japan back in the early 90s, I asked my friend, whom I was visiting, why were people in masks. He said, 'Oh, they probably have a cold. That's what they do here.' It's just so not a big deal to me. But ... I'm maskless now except where I have to wear one ... on the bus, still a mandate, but I hardly take the bus anyway, unless it's raining, even in the public spaces at my work we have to ... it is what it is. I've complied ... and enjoyed fewer people out and about. (Remember, I live downtown Chicago ... so ... there are a lot of people around. They are out in droves now.)

lol ... I went out and about and did my thing ... but I didn't mind not being around people at work and I didn't mind it being less crowded when I needed to do things ... and I liked that my gym was pretty empty ... my comment was about ... fewer people around ... I like that

Good game guys! I can eat my chicken dinner in good faith tonight

Well, Cruz is famous for his naps, right? Didn't I read that somewhere?

These people will just never learn ...

neck tightness

If we lose, I'm blaming you for jinxing us ... just sayin' ....

Aaaaaand ... here comes Rocco

Okay ... enough of this

I'm not a Dad nor do I have a Dad any longer ... so ... here I am ... with few here watching If there's anything I learned from this pandemic ... it's that I really like my solitude

go twins!

I don't want to turn this into a Ramos trade talk topic, but the problem with that trade wasn't that they traded him, it was what they got in return. The idea was right ... to fill what we needed for the team that year. Capps was not nearly enough of a quality return. That said, I think it's too soon to part with Garver ... unless the price is right, and that price is WAY better than Matt Capps.

@Brock Beauchamp, I've been getting ads now that pop up and cover the entire screen. Of course I can choose 'close' and I'm back to where I was, but it's really annoying. It's not just a pop up covering a portion of my screen, i.e. across the bottom, and then it goes away ... these pop ups cover the entire screen. the photo below shows an example. I clicked to go into a story in one of the forums, then this appeared. I guess it's not that big of a deal because I can click 'close' and it goes away, still ... intrusive. I've been getting these on all my devices ... desktop, tablet and phone.

Okay ... now I can't watch ... let me know when it's over

So, @Vanimal46 ... what do you think of Astudillo's ponytail?

WOOOOHOOO! heh