rogrulz30

Overall I am not a big fan of Dan Gladden, the biggest reasons Bonnes suggested as I don't know what is going on after the ball is hit. All of a sudden it could be over the fence with no excitement either way. Gladden knows baseball, but doesn't have all the words to go with it during plays. Overall I give Gladden about a C-, I think he can get a lot better by adding more words. Bremer I have always liked, he is likeable, funny, has good chemistry with the person he is in the booth with. He is just very consistent!! I think that makes him good, I think the biggest thing he may lack compared to other TV guys is a little more excitement and opinion. I give Bremer a B

I have consistently said good things about Scott Diamond. He has been the pitching MVP for the Twins this year by far. I have enjoyed watching the games he has pitched as he hasn't lost his "control of the game" at all this year in my opinion. He is very consistent in the strike zone, doesn't give up walks, and lets the defense get outs for him. He reminds me of a young Steve Avery from the Braves. I have continued to tell a buddy of mine that he has impressed me. Of course as a Brewer fan, "and a Minnesota hater" he has to tell me all of the things he doesn't do, and that it has been luck that he has as many wins as he has, and his ERA is so low because of where the balls have been hit, and the amount of players left on base is going to start going the other way. I am a big fan of sabremetrics, but when you watch somebody in control like Diamond vs Liriano I don't think the stats tell the entire story. That being said, the Twins are 15 games under .500 I took a wager that I have the Twins win in Diamonds starts against the losses of Diamonds starts. I think I have the good end of the stick. I could be wrong on this one, watching tonights game in the bottom of the 7th I would be 1-1 since we took the wager. This is the first year in my lifetime that John Gordon hasn't been in the radio booth. Cory Provus from the Brewers took over and I have been able to listen to games when he is on, on my way from work and away from a TV. I have also been very used to listening to Dick Bremer and Bert Blyleven. With Blyleven taking a lot more games off this year we have had a mix of Tom Kelly, Roy Smalley, and Ron Coomer. I have really liked listening to different people, along with the different takes on each one. If I had a choice of someone to pick if Blyleven left this is how I would go. First I want to rate Cory Provus as I have listened to enough games now to get him, and adjust to listening to someone else. 1. Excitement C+, I don't always get the excitement of what is going on with Provus yet, even though it will come. This is the first year of doing the Twins broadcast and it has to be tough gaining the excitement level. 2. Color (what is going on) B I think he does a great job of letting us know what is going on that I can visualize it. From what a pitcher is doing, or a hitter at that, even when the play isn't happening and there is a lull. Every time I listen I can get a feeling of what is going on. 3. Teaming with Gladden C I think it is very tough trying to work with Gladden as Gladden does not have good color or excitement, Gladden gives us a little understanding of the technical side of what they are trying to do, but it is hard transitioning and I don't think that is Provus' fault. 4. Knowledge B I think he understands the minor league system as much as he can, as being a first year announcer. He asks good questions to other managers/coaches. He understands the system and starts to learn the players in the system. I am impressed with the baseball knowledge, and doesn't seem to give us blanket statement which we all hate. Overall B I have to say minus the excitement and the buy in so far he has done a good job, and I really like the choice the organization made. 1. Roy Smalley- If I had a choice to choose a person to take over for Bert it would be Roy Smalley. I know he overstates a lot of players abilities, especially Mauers. But I really like his insight of the game overall. I like the experience he brings, and the stories he can tell. He compliments Bremer very well and I can hear that in the broadcast. I give him an A- 2. TK- I really like TK in the booth in small increments (e.g. 3 game series 4 times a year) He was obviously a smart manager. He prides himself and others on hard work. I really think he has fun in the booth. He knows he isn't there for long, and makes sure to have fun. I think if he would be there for an entire year he would run out of things to say. I have always had the upmost respect for TK, and I really do like listening to him. B- 3. Ron Coomer- Way tooooooo much of a homer. Yes I am a homer, and most of us are. He has too many good things to say about players and not enough of things they have opportunities on. I find it frustrating sometimes that he doesn't say the truth when the player is struggling. I like Coomer when he is in the stands/ takes over for Incmikoski. Bremer really does a great job exploiting the stregths of all of them. I think if Coomer learned more about the other team, or the minor league players the Twins have, he could be better. I really think Coomer lacks work ethic in the booths. C-

I have consistently said good things about Scott Diamond. He has been the pitching MVP for the Twins this year by far. I have enjoyed watching the games he has pitched as he hasn't lost his "control of the game" at all this year in my opinion. He is very consistent in the strike zone, doesn't give up walks, and lets the defense get outs for him. He reminds me of a young Steve Avery from the Braves. I have continued to tell a buddy of mine that he has impressed me. Of course as a Brewer fan, "and a Minnesota hater" he has to tell me all of the things he doesn't do, and that it has been luck that he has as many wins as he has, and his ERA is so low because of where the balls have been hit, and the amount of players left on base is going to start going the other way. I am a big fan of sabremetrics, but when you watch somebody in control like Diamond vs Liriano I don't think the stats tell the entire story. That being said, the Twins are 15 games under .500 I took a wager that I have the Twins win in Diamonds starts against the losses of Diamonds starts. I think I have the good end of the stick. I could be wrong on this one, watching tonights game in the bottom of the 7th I would be 1-1 since we took the wager. This is the first year in my lifetime that John Gordon hasn't been in the radio booth. Cory Provus from the Brewers took over and I have been able to listen to games when he is on, on my way from work and away from a TV. I have also been very used to listening to Dick Bremer and Bert Blyleven. With Blyleven taking a lot more games off this year we have had a mix of Tom Kelly, Roy Smalley, and Ron Coomer. I have really liked listening to different people, along with the different takes on each one. If I had a choice of someone to pick if Blyleven left this is how I would go. First I want to rate Cory Provus as I have listened to enough games now to get him, and adjust to listening to someone else. 1. Excitement C+, I don't always get the excitement of what is going on with Provus yet, even though it will come. This is the first year of doing the Twins broadcast and it has to be tough gaining the excitement level. 2. Color (what is going on) B I think he does a great job of letting us know what is going on that I can visualize it. From what a pitcher is doing, or a hitter at that, even when the play isn't happening and there is a lull. Every time I listen I can get a feeling of what is going on. 3. Teaming with Gladden C I think it is very tough trying to work with Gladden as Gladden does not have good color or excitement, Gladden gives us a little understanding of the technical side of what they are trying to do, but it is hard transitioning and I don't think that is Provus' fault. 4. Knowledge B I think he understands the minor league system as much as he can, as being a first year announcer. He asks good questions to other managers/coaches. He understands the system and starts to learn the players in the system. I am impressed with the baseball knowledge, and doesn't seem to give us blanket statement which we all hate. Overall B I have to say minus the excitement and the buy in so far he has done a good job, and I really like the choice the organization made. 1. Roy Smalley- If I had a choice to choose a person to take over for Bert it would be Roy Smalley. I know he overstates a lot of players abilities, especially Mauers. But I really like his insight of the game overall. I like the experience he brings, and the stories he can tell. He compliments Bremer very well and I can hear that in the broadcast. I give him an A- 2. TK- I really like TK in the booth in small increments (e.g. 3 game series 4 times a year) He was obviously a smart manager. He prides himself and others on hard work. I really think he has fun in the booth. He knows he isn't there for long, and makes sure to have fun. I think if he would be there for an entire year he would run out of things to say. I have always had the upmost respect for TK, and I really do like listening to him. B- 3. Ron Coomer- Way tooooooo much of a homer. Yes I am a homer, and most of us are. He has too many good things to say about players and not enough of things they have opportunities on. I find it frustrating sometimes that he doesn't say the truth when the player is struggling. I like Coomer when he is in the stands/ takes over for Incmikoski. Bremer really does a great job exploiting the stregths of all of them. I think if Coomer learned more about the other team, or the minor league players the Twins have, he could be better. I really think Coomer lacks work ethic in the booths. C-

Very fun post. I also miss the excitement of opening up a pack of baseball cards. After reading this I did want to go and buy a pack, and I think I may look on ebay so I don't have to go anywhere.

Your comment about the players that have contracts that sit is alarming when you look at Casilla, Valencia, Toshi, Thomas, Blackburn, that is a lot of money tied up in absolutely nothing and it really adds up when those guys hold a big chunk of money. We will never give up Butera, I just have to thank god they re upped Doumit. As far as the Liriano thing, if he pitches well the second half I don't see why we wouldn't offer the 12 mill contract for him next year.

So the All Star game has come and gone, which also means the first half of baseball has come and gone, and most of us reading here get to see the Minnesota Twins 13 games under .500 11 games out of first in the AL Central. Since there aren't many sports going on right now, there are two things to talk about, the All Star Game, (what Twins should have got in), and of course the Wild signing Parise and Suter. I have to say I went back on a statement I made about Mauer not being our All Star. We talked about this after our softball game, saying Mauer shouldn't be the guy. My last blog I put 3 guys up there before Mauer. I have to take it back as I thought about it more, he is our "Baseball Fans All Star", not our MVP, even though that could be debatable as well. We also talked quite a bit about how the All Star Game is run, and should the winner get home field advantage in the World Series. First off I like the idea of making into a contest that is up for grabs for something that really means something. I think that puts a little bit more pressure on the managers to win, rather than the players getting playing time. In the Star Tribune they had a column that Mike Schmidt wrote about Bud Selig's tenure, and that the ASG is the "black sheep" of his tenure. http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/hall-of-famer-mike-schmidt-flawed-all-star-game-is-black-sheep-event-of-seligs-tenure/2012/07/10/gJQAkPtHbW_story.html Yes I agree that the tie game ending of the All Star game was quite ridiculous, but I understand he was in a tough spot, but for all those people who watched the game, here is the reality, baseball doesn't end in ties! I like Schmidts take on the ASG about how excited the players were to be on national TV, and face the unknown quite often. Inter league play does have some hurt to it, but on the flip side we all have access to MLB Extra Innings + Nationally televised games + our own outlet to watch all the games that they didn't have before. And lets face it there is a lot more money involved for these players. The one main point that I would like to see though is that big time matchup between Verlander and Matt Kemp, or Matt Cain vs Bautista. Those would be really cool matchups if they have never seen each other before. I also think that the best players should play more. I want to see the best players out there, like Schmidt said Willie Mays often played 7 innings in games. I tell you what if Verlander was throwing no hits after 3 innings I would like to see him pitch until at least he gives up a hit. The All Star Game should mean something, I like the fact that they play for home field, the one big thing that was transparent, which I really think will get changed is having your home team that is holding the ASG be in the home run derby. A couple weeks ago I went to the Twins/White Sox game, Nick Blackburn got smoked, giving up like 13 hits, during that time I was able to dabble into Surly's Cynic Ale, and if you haven't tried that it is really good. We were down 6-0 when Brian Dozier hits a solo home run to left field 4 rows up, right where I was sitting. http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=22630569&topic_id=players&query=type%3Djson%26player_id%3D572821%26start%3D0%26src%3Dvpp%26sort%3Ddesc%26sort_type%3Dcustom%26hitsPerPage%3D60&c_id=min&playerName=Brian%20Dozier My best friend ended up catching the ball, which was pretty cool, as I never thought that catching a home run ball would be that fun, but I have to say other than sending Danny Valencia back to the minors, was my highlight of the first half of the Twins 2012 season. The other reason I come to this is we stayed in the cities and met a friend who is really into soccer. In my life I have probably watched maybe a game and half, he wanted to watch I think was Germany vs Italy, not exactly sure, but the talk came up of how boring soccer is to watch, and yes it is boring. I did ask a lot of questions that I am sure he got sick of, but understanding a little bit more of why so many games end with a 1 goal win, it just seems lucky at some point when you play 90 plus minutes and a lot of games are decided by one goal. I tried to compare it to baseball, which a lot of people think is really boring to watch on T.V. But then it kind of clicked listening to Pete talk about the strategy, and the work that goes into it, and it really isn't that much different than "watching" baseball. Baseball is boring if you "watch" it, but if you understand the game, and learn all the nuances in the game it is soo much better to watch. Sometimes I have to take step back and listen and try to understand what I am "watching" and not make an opinion about how stupid/boring it really is. I have to admit I love Survivor, I absolutely love the show and I get heckled for it all the time. The thing is, people don't understand that it isn't people surviving on an island, it has soooo much strategy in every decision it is really intense to watch, and if people don't get that, they will never get the intrigue of watching a television show that I really love. Everybody love projections, whether they mean **** or not, it is always fun to go back and look to see what you thought may happen, and what really happens and I want to take a stab at the rest of the baseball season, and unfortunately for the Twins we are probably looking more forward to the beginning of the Minnesota Wild season to start. But here we go for fun. 1. Who gets traded? Matt Capps and Carl Pavano. Even though we don't have starting pitching, we do have players that only help us out unloading contracts/getting a player or two. I would be very surprised if Glen Perkins wasn't our "closer" by the end of the year. The names of Span, Morneau, Willingham just don't make much sense to unload in my mind, the only other player that is really a 50/50 but I think will end up staying is Liriano. 2. Record at the end of the year. I say they play 6 games above .500 the rest of the year which would put them at 74-88. I have to pick that still because at the beginning of the year I had them over 73.5, and they have played much better baseball. I really think Blackburn is done, I think the rotation is going to be Liriano, Diamond, Hendriks, Walters, ? by the end of the year. And one more to add on beat the Royals by 1 game to not finish in last place. 3. Willingham and Plouffe will get to 30 HR's, which will really be fun to watch. 4. Mauer will flirt with the batting title and end up 2nd, but will keep everyone watching to see if he gets it. Will end up at .331 5. Morneau has a break out second half which helps lead the Twins to playing 6 games above .500. Morneau ends with 25 HR's and is our 2nd half MVP. 6. Dozier gets a reality check and continues to struggle the 2nd half on defense and offensively, Casilla takes his spot some time in August. 7. With the ultimate turnaround to Adam Dunn, along with aggressive trade deadline acts the White Sox win the Central. This goes against everything I thought at the beginning of the year. 8. The Rangers are the most talented team in the AL, and will continue with that and win the AL Pennant. 9 The Rangers win the World Series beating the Cincinatti Reds. 10. There are too many positives for the Twins again, and making me look like a huge Homer, but hey aren't we all.

So the All Star game has come and gone, which also means the first half of baseball has come and gone, and most of us reading here get to see the Minnesota Twins 13 games under .500 11 games out of first in the AL Central. Since there aren't many sports going on right now, there are two things to talk about, the All Star Game, (what Twins should have got in), and of course the Wild signing Parise and Suter. I have to say I went back on a statement I made about Mauer not being our All Star. We talked about this after our softball game, saying Mauer shouldn't be the guy. My last blog I put 3 guys up there before Mauer. I have to take it back as I thought about it more, he is our "Baseball Fans All Star", not our MVP, even though that could be debatable as well. We also talked quite a bit about how the All Star Game is run, and should the winner get home field advantage in the World Series. First off I like the idea of making into a contest that is up for grabs for something that really means something. I think that puts a little bit more pressure on the managers to win, rather than the players getting playing time. In the Star Tribune they had a column that Mike Schmidt wrote about Bud Selig's tenure, and that the ASG is the "black sheep" of his tenure. http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/hall-of-famer-mike-schmidt-flawed-all-star-game-is-black-sheep-event-of-seligs-tenure/2012/07/10/gJQAkPtHbW_story.html Yes I agree that the tie game ending of the All Star game was quite ridiculous, but I understand he was in a tough spot, but for all those people who watched the game, here is the reality, baseball doesn't end in ties! I like Schmidts take on the ASG about how excited the players were to be on national TV, and face the unknown quite often. Inter league play does have some hurt to it, but on the flip side we all have access to MLB Extra Innings + Nationally televised games + our own outlet to watch all the games that they didn't have before. And lets face it there is a lot more money involved for these players. The one main point that I would like to see though is that big time matchup between Verlander and Matt Kemp, or Matt Cain vs Bautista. Those would be really cool matchups if they have never seen each other before. I also think that the best players should play more. I want to see the best players out there, like Schmidt said Willie Mays often played 7 innings in games. I tell you what if Verlander was throwing no hits after 3 innings I would like to see him pitch until at least he gives up a hit. The All Star Game should mean something, I like the fact that they play for home field, the one big thing that was transparent, which I really think will get changed is having your home team that is holding the ASG be in the home run derby. A couple weeks ago I went to the Twins/White Sox game, Nick Blackburn got smoked, giving up like 13 hits, during that time I was able to dabble into Surly's Cynic Ale, and if you haven't tried that it is really good. We were down 6-0 when Brian Dozier hits a solo home run to left field 4 rows up, right where I was sitting. http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=22630569&topic_id=players&query=type%3Djson%26player_id%3D572821%26start%3D0%26src%3Dvpp%26sort%3Ddesc%26sort_type%3Dcustom%26hitsPerPage%3D60&c_id=min&playerName=Brian%20Dozier My best friend ended up catching the ball, which was pretty cool, as I never thought that catching a home run ball would be that fun, but I have to say other than sending Danny Valencia back to the minors, was my highlight of the first half of the Twins 2012 season. The other reason I come to this is we stayed in the cities and met a friend who is really into soccer. In my life I have probably watched maybe a game and half, he wanted to watch I think was Germany vs Italy, not exactly sure, but the talk came up of how boring soccer is to watch, and yes it is boring. I did ask a lot of questions that I am sure he got sick of, but understanding a little bit more of why so many games end with a 1 goal win, it just seems lucky at some point when you play 90 plus minutes and a lot of games are decided by one goal. I tried to compare it to baseball, which a lot of people think is really boring to watch on T.V. But then it kind of clicked listening to Pete talk about the strategy, and the work that goes into it, and it really isn't that much different than "watching" baseball. Baseball is boring if you "watch" it, but if you understand the game, and learn all the nuances in the game it is soo much better to watch. Sometimes I have to take step back and listen and try to understand what I am "watching" and not make an opinion about how stupid/boring it really is. I have to admit I love Survivor, I absolutely love the show and I get heckled for it all the time. The thing is, people don't understand that it isn't people surviving on an island, it has soooo much strategy in every decision it is really intense to watch, and if people don't get that, they will never get the intrigue of watching a television show that I really love. Everybody love projections, whether they mean **** or not, it is always fun to go back and look to see what you thought may happen, and what really happens and I want to take a stab at the rest of the baseball season, and unfortunately for the Twins we are probably looking more forward to the beginning of the Minnesota Wild season to start. But here we go for fun. 1. Who gets traded? Matt Capps and Carl Pavano. Even though we don't have starting pitching, we do have players that only help us out unloading contracts/getting a player or two. I would be very surprised if Glen Perkins wasn't our "closer" by the end of the year. The names of Span, Morneau, Willingham just don't make much sense to unload in my mind, the only other player that is really a 50/50 but I think will end up staying is Liriano. 2. Record at the end of the year. I say they play 6 games above .500 the rest of the year which would put them at 74-88. I have to pick that still because at the beginning of the year I had them over 73.5, and they have played much better baseball. I really think Blackburn is done, I think the rotation is going to be Liriano, Diamond, Hendriks, Walters, ? by the end of the year. And one more to add on beat the Royals by 1 game to not finish in last place. 3. Willingham and Plouffe will get to 30 HR's, which will really be fun to watch. 4. Mauer will flirt with the batting title and end up 2nd, but will keep everyone watching to see if he gets it. Will end up at .331 5. Morneau has a break out second half which helps lead the Twins to playing 6 games above .500. Morneau ends with 25 HR's and is our 2nd half MVP. 6. Dozier gets a reality check and continues to struggle the 2nd half on defense and offensively, Casilla takes his spot some time in August. 7. With the ultimate turnaround to Adam Dunn, along with aggressive trade deadline acts the White Sox win the Central. This goes against everything I thought at the beginning of the year. 8. The Rangers are the most talented team in the AL, and will continue with that and win the AL Pennant. 9 The Rangers win the World Series beating the Cincinatti Reds. 10. There are too many positives for the Twins again, and making me look like a huge Homer, but hey aren't we all.

Summer in Duluth, MN is very short, as a retail worker I don't get many weekends off, and I don't get to spend enough time outside, I try to get as much sun as I possibly can, or clean up my house after horrible flooding in the city and my house. It really sucks trying to get ankle deep water out of your basement, on top of that at 1 a.m. trying to get someone to hire when every house is in the same boat. Thanks to a buddy that answered his phone at 1 am we saved as much as we could without getting too much damage. As I look outside right now on a day off, I get frustrated at it is supposed to rain and thunderstorm all day. I am back and want to make sure that I keep up with the rest of the year for the Twins, as I have continued watching them night in and night out. I first want to comment on the Tiger game yesterday where Scott Diamond continues to impress me. The Twins put up 12 hits in 4 innings and were lucky to score 3 runs. The Detroit Tigers are not going to win the central because of there horrible defense. You were watching one of those games where Roy Smalley put it best that they will need at least 5 runs to win this game. When you have Cabrera/Fielder back to back they are going to do some damage against the Twins, we can't get Cabrera out, so when we can't hit the long ball, or xbh's you just aren't going to outscore Cabrera alone. Again I am impressed with Diamond, I do somewhat understand why he was pulled, what I don't understand is this, I want to share a text I sent to a buddy who was watching the Brewer game, and knows Fielder obviously pretty well. "Tie game 1st and 3rd, Fielder up, don't u just walk him." 1 minute later Fielder hits a 3 run bomb. " Or u put in a guy who has 7 IP in career, and give up a 3 run bomb, fu@#$ng stupid" WHY WOULD YOU PITCH TO THAT GUY THERE, OR NOT AT LEAST PUT PERKINS IN TO FACE HIM RATHER THAN A ROOKIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I DON'T GET THAT AT ALL. I missed the post game, I hope they asked that question. I am sure he was waiting for the stupid f'n save situation, I HATE that stat more than any other stat in the world, SERIOUSLY!!! I know this has been talked about to its legth, but I wanted to add my opinion on Mauer being our All Star. First of all I get it! I get it is a exhibition game for the fans, I get Mauer has the best OBP in the league. The one thing I don't get is he gets a pass by not playing a position really. If I wasn't from MN I would want to vote him in, because I don't know another player on the team. As a Twins fan I would have loved to vote 3 different players in though. 1. Josh Willingham, he is our all star, he has been very fun to watch and the best overall value FA in the league. He has 9 Game Winning hits, he has 19 HR's, and has really helped the lineup stay in games. 2. Scott Diamond, Without him I don't know what Gardy would be doing with a rotation that after Sunday will have thrown out there 11 different starting pitchers. "11!!!" How do you have 11 different starting pitchers 84 games into the season, that is very difficult. He should have had another win on Thursday, he would be a very close 2nd to Willingham. 3. Trevor Plouffe- Mid may he was batting .132, he is now around .240 with 18 HR's, he has played very good defense, tied with the most HR's in June, this guy was one bad game away from being in Rochester for a long time and bringing back the worst Twins player in a long time Danny Valencia. I hope Plouffe keeps going because he is the best 3B potential we have had in a really long time. If he can continue doing well for a couple years, learn to play 2B or SS when Sano comes up, we could have a solidified infield. I would vote as a Twins fan those guys in that order, then Mauer. I am not dogging on Mauer, I think we have been able to get him in the lineup and use him as well as we can, but I am not sold on the All Star for our team without having the solidified C position. We have a lot to consider with Liriano!! I am as confused as anybody what is going to happen with this guy. Next year he has an option of 12 million, I am ok paying him that for one more year as of today. If he gets traded that team is getting 15 starts from a guy that could be very good or a horrible investment for probably 2 minor league players. I like the option for us on that on if they are going to be impact starters, which could happen for someone desperate, as starting pitching is rather weak right now. Otherwise let him go in free agency and get 2 compensatory picks, which isn't all that bad either. I have no idea what the best option is at this point. I want to see him do very well in his next 2 starts, which starts today, and maybe you get that bidder that needs someone and gives up too much, I think the Twins need that more than anything at this point. I think if anybody is really on the block it is going to be Liriano and Capps. We can only root for them to get us the most back Next year the Twins unload $30 million from the payroll. Greinke? Really, that doesn't happen for the Minnesota Twins, who opened up a great ballpark, have had the money to do something great, but probably won't get anybody better than a Willingham signing once again this off season. The Minnesota Wild just spent almost 200 million dollars on two players that may make the Wild relevant, which they should be in the state of hockey. I am a Twins fan first and foremost, but I do like watching the other 3 major sports. I was at work, checking Twitter Tuesday and Wednesday just waiting to see if a Minnesota team could land the unimaginable. It happened, and I am excited and so is all of Minnesota from Rochester to Ely. I live in a Hockey Town, and there was more talk about the possibility, than I have heard about anything since "are we going to sign Favre". I thought it was pretty sweet, I would love to see if the Twins can make some kind of splash this off season. Who would we really trade before the trade deadline, and why? Mauer, no. Doumit, no. Butera, no. C position is solidified. Plouffe, no. 3B solidified. Brian Dozier, no. SS good. Jamey Carrol, maybe? But what would we gain, nothing, and we have nobody that can take his position, so I am saying no. 2B good. Morneau, maybe? We have nobody that can take his spot yet, but if he can't hit lefties at all, we could really take a look again at Parmalee. 1B up in the air. LF Willingham, maybe? I can't see them letting the FA go here, and one of the Twins fans favorite players at this point. His salary doesn't hurt us that bad next year, I think he stays. LF good. Denard Span, maybe? His contract is so team friendly, we would really have to get impact players that could help us next year or the year after to make this deal, but if anybody goes it would be him. I just can't see that happening. Ben Revere, no. RF good. That doesn't leave us with much leaving, or worth trading. Our rotation we have 2 players that I can easily see leaving. Matt Capps #1, the fans don't like him, I think he has been someone I thought would pitch better this year, I can't see him as a true closer. I would love to see him go. Liriano, HUGE ?? I only want him to go if he pitches well his next 2 or 3 starts, because we would get max value for him. Otherwise I would like to see him stay, and the 2 options we have aren't bad at all at the end of the year as I stated before. I really don't think of the Twins as buyers or sellers at this point because I don't think a lot of trades make sense. We will see very soon, I hope if they do anything they set up the Twins to make off season moves in free agency.

Summer in Duluth, MN is very short, as a retail worker I don't get many weekends off, and I don't get to spend enough time outside, I try to get as much sun as I possibly can, or clean up my house after horrible flooding in the city and my house. It really sucks trying to get ankle deep water out of your basement, on top of that at 1 a.m. trying to get someone to hire when every house is in the same boat. Thanks to a buddy that answered his phone at 1 am we saved as much as we could without getting too much damage. As I look outside right now on a day off, I get frustrated at it is supposed to rain and thunderstorm all day. I am back and want to make sure that I keep up with the rest of the year for the Twins, as I have continued watching them night in and night out. I first want to comment on the Tiger game yesterday where Scott Diamond continues to impress me. The Twins put up 12 hits in 4 innings and were lucky to score 3 runs. The Detroit Tigers are not going to win the central because of there horrible defense. You were watching one of those games where Roy Smalley put it best that they will need at least 5 runs to win this game. When you have Cabrera/Fielder back to back they are going to do some damage against the Twins, we can't get Cabrera out, so when we can't hit the long ball, or xbh's you just aren't going to outscore Cabrera alone. Again I am impressed with Diamond, I do somewhat understand why he was pulled, what I don't understand is this, I want to share a text I sent to a buddy who was watching the Brewer game, and knows Fielder obviously pretty well. "Tie game 1st and 3rd, Fielder up, don't u just walk him." 1 minute later Fielder hits a 3 run bomb. " Or u put in a guy who has 7 IP in career, and give up a 3 run bomb, fu@#$ng stupid" WHY WOULD YOU PITCH TO THAT GUY THERE, OR NOT AT LEAST PUT PERKINS IN TO FACE HIM RATHER THAN A ROOKIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I DON'T GET THAT AT ALL. I missed the post game, I hope they asked that question. I am sure he was waiting for the stupid f'n save situation, I HATE that stat more than any other stat in the world, SERIOUSLY!!! I know this has been talked about to its legth, but I wanted to add my opinion on Mauer being our All Star. First of all I get it! I get it is a exhibition game for the fans, I get Mauer has the best OBP in the league. The one thing I don't get is he gets a pass by not playing a position really. If I wasn't from MN I would want to vote him in, because I don't know another player on the team. As a Twins fan I would have loved to vote 3 different players in though. 1. Josh Willingham, he is our all star, he has been very fun to watch and the best overall value FA in the league. He has 9 Game Winning hits, he has 19 HR's, and has really helped the lineup stay in games. 2. Scott Diamond, Without him I don't know what Gardy would be doing with a rotation that after Sunday will have thrown out there 11 different starting pitchers. "11!!!" How do you have 11 different starting pitchers 84 games into the season, that is very difficult. He should have had another win on Thursday, he would be a very close 2nd to Willingham. 3. Trevor Plouffe- Mid may he was batting .132, he is now around .240 with 18 HR's, he has played very good defense, tied with the most HR's in June, this guy was one bad game away from being in Rochester for a long time and bringing back the worst Twins player in a long time Danny Valencia. I hope Plouffe keeps going because he is the best 3B potential we have had in a really long time. If he can continue doing well for a couple years, learn to play 2B or SS when Sano comes up, we could have a solidified infield. I would vote as a Twins fan those guys in that order, then Mauer. I am not dogging on Mauer, I think we have been able to get him in the lineup and use him as well as we can, but I am not sold on the All Star for our team without having the solidified C position. We have a lot to consider with Liriano!! I am as confused as anybody what is going to happen with this guy. Next year he has an option of 12 million, I am ok paying him that for one more year as of today. If he gets traded that team is getting 15 starts from a guy that could be very good or a horrible investment for probably 2 minor league players. I like the option for us on that on if they are going to be impact starters, which could happen for someone desperate, as starting pitching is rather weak right now. Otherwise let him go in free agency and get 2 compensatory picks, which isn't all that bad either. I have no idea what the best option is at this point. I want to see him do very well in his next 2 starts, which starts today, and maybe you get that bidder that needs someone and gives up too much, I think the Twins need that more than anything at this point. I think if anybody is really on the block it is going to be Liriano and Capps. We can only root for them to get us the most back Next year the Twins unload $30 million from the payroll. Greinke? Really, that doesn't happen for the Minnesota Twins, who opened up a great ballpark, have had the money to do something great, but probably won't get anybody better than a Willingham signing once again this off season. The Minnesota Wild just spent almost 200 million dollars on two players that may make the Wild relevant, which they should be in the state of hockey. I am a Twins fan first and foremost, but I do like watching the other 3 major sports. I was at work, checking Twitter Tuesday and Wednesday just waiting to see if a Minnesota team could land the unimaginable. It happened, and I am excited and so is all of Minnesota from Rochester to Ely. I live in a Hockey Town, and there was more talk about the possibility, than I have heard about anything since "are we going to sign Favre". I thought it was pretty sweet, I would love to see if the Twins can make some kind of splash this off season. Who would we really trade before the trade deadline, and why? Mauer, no. Doumit, no. Butera, no. C position is solidified. Plouffe, no. 3B solidified. Brian Dozier, no. SS good. Jamey Carrol, maybe? But what would we gain, nothing, and we have nobody that can take his position, so I am saying no. 2B good. Morneau, maybe? We have nobody that can take his spot yet, but if he can't hit lefties at all, we could really take a look again at Parmalee. 1B up in the air. LF Willingham, maybe? I can't see them letting the FA go here, and one of the Twins fans favorite players at this point. His salary doesn't hurt us that bad next year, I think he stays. LF good. Denard Span, maybe? His contract is so team friendly, we would really have to get impact players that could help us next year or the year after to make this deal, but if anybody goes it would be him. I just can't see that happening. Ben Revere, no. RF good. That doesn't leave us with much leaving, or worth trading. Our rotation we have 2 players that I can easily see leaving. Matt Capps #1, the fans don't like him, I think he has been someone I thought would pitch better this year, I can't see him as a true closer. I would love to see him go. Liriano, HUGE ?? I only want him to go if he pitches well his next 2 or 3 starts, because we would get max value for him. Otherwise I would like to see him stay, and the 2 options we have aren't bad at all at the end of the year as I stated before. I really don't think of the Twins as buyers or sellers at this point because I don't think a lot of trades make sense. We will see very soon, I hope if they do anything they set up the Twins to make off season moves in free agency.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:8048114 http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/page/caple-120615/a-plan-save-save-make-relief-pitchers-meaningful-again Jim Caple, Thank you. OK, I just want to say I wrote about this in a previous blog, John Bonnes had me post about this in the forum, http://www.twinsdaily.com/entry.php?789-Lots-of-Thoughts!! Now on ESPN front page we have some experts talking about the most annoying stat in baseball. The "Save" These guys make the same points I have been making, and I absolutely agree w/ what these guys are saying. It took Chapman to blow a 2 inning save to get this attention, and I don't blame Baker one bit in putting a guy like that in the game to win. The name of the game is to win baseball games not get your "closer" in there in a "save situation", It is soooo stupid and I just wanted to get this off my chest as I saw it on ESPN. I want to thank Jim Caple, (who I always have liked) to write a great article about the save.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:8048114 http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/page/caple-120615/a-plan-save-save-make-relief-pitchers-meaningful-again Jim Caple, Thank you. OK, I just want to say I wrote about this in a previous blog, John Bonnes had me post about this in the forum, http://www.twinsdaily.com/entry.php?789-Lots-of-Thoughts!! Now on ESPN front page we have some experts talking about the most annoying stat in baseball. The "Save" These guys make the same points I have been making, and I absolutely agree w/ what these guys are saying. It took Chapman to blow a 2 inning save to get this attention, and I don't blame Baker one bit in putting a guy like that in the game to win. The name of the game is to win baseball games not get your "closer" in there in a "save situation", It is soooo stupid and I just wanted to get this off my chest as I saw it on ESPN. I want to thank Jim Caple, (who I always have liked) to write a great article about the save.

There has been a lot of talk all year about MLB Umpiring. I have umpired baseball from little league to high school to softball. I personally like umpiring as it is as close to the game you can get without being in the stands. You are also part of the game, and a game that most umpires really love. You never want to make a mistake as an umpire because as a player you rely on what is right or wrong, and work hard at it. All umpires are going to make mistakes, I would say no umpire is trying to make mistakes. I hate to bring gambling into the mix of referees or umpires, but in lieu of the recent Pacquaio decision you at least have to wonder sometimes. There is a lot of money exchanging hands at any given time, on any given day. Umpires make good money, they do have to travel a lot and most of them have families to care for. The opportunity I know has to be there for any umpire to make a lot of extra money in any certain game, especially balls and strikes. I am not insinuating that the umpires are doing this in any way, but you can't be naive the the options that are available for umpires. The questions then become, do we keep the same options for replay, or do we start to move forward with technology? It is very tough in baseball to have replays on certain plays due to the fact that you then have to assume where runners would have ended up, but I am a big fan of the umpire getting it right. The game can be won or lost by inches, or seconds, umpires are never going to be perfect and they know that, so adding some sort of replay options wouldn't be a bad idea, but how far does that get taken? Think about this, if Cole De Vries is on the mound, pitching against Andy Pettite, who is going to get more calls? The answer is Andy Pettite, the answer should be, What do you mean? Is that fair, obviously not, a pitcher shouldn't just be able to earn a call, but it happens. It happens in basketball, (Jordan, Ewing) It happens in football (Brady), and it obviously happens in baseball. So does electronic balls and strikes happen, and would it happen in our lifetime? I don't want that to happen, the way things are going, and with better technology, it definitely may!! I wanted to toot my own horn around sticking with my guns with Trevor Plouffe, all of my friends know how I have been his biggest supporter since day 1 this year, and he is finally coming through, taking his average from .132 to .230 in a matter of weeks. He was one bad game away from being done in my mind, and now we have one of the hottest hitters in the league. He is on pace to hit 25 HR's after a historically bad May. Jim Thome in 2010 hit 25 HR. I am the biggest Plouffe fan, and I am definitely happy he is doing well. I now wanted to say I was wrong trying to jump the Gardy train too early, I have said I have never been a fan of just blaming the manager, but everyone knows it was getting really, really bad, in one of my posts I specifically said we need to clean house and try something new. Injuries or not, we put an unwatchable product on the field and it was disgusting, the Twins are the worst team in the AL, as far as record, that could change tonight as we are only .5 game behind the Royals. I am jumping back on the Gardy train, and at this point I was wrong to jump on the staff too early. Yes, the Minnesota Lynx our WNBA champions are going to get an insert in my blog. I will be the first to say I do not like watching women's basketball. I will have to say I watched the game when UConn lost to end there streak in womens NCAA basketball, and Dan Barreiro is on the undefeated train for the Lynx, I don't know how much more talented the Lynx are compared to other teams, but they are killing teams. I don't care what major sport you are watching if you go undefeated, it is historic. I may have to watch the Lynx on Friday to see if they can start the season 10-0. AND YES I LOOKED ON YOUR WEBSITE LYNX AND YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE STANDINGS ON THE FRONT PAGE, you have a horrible front page. I am just throwing it out there, I hope they keep the streak going, and yes I hope I have to watch the Lynx play in the playoffs as an undefeated team, because I will watch.

There has been a lot of talk all year about MLB Umpiring. I have umpired baseball from little league to high school to softball. I personally like umpiring as it is as close to the game you can get without being in the stands. You are also part of the game, and a game that most umpires really love. You never want to make a mistake as an umpire because as a player you rely on what is right or wrong, and work hard at it. All umpires are going to make mistakes, I would say no umpire is trying to make mistakes. I hate to bring gambling into the mix of referees or umpires, but in lieu of the recent Pacquaio decision you at least have to wonder sometimes. There is a lot of money exchanging hands at any given time, on any given day. Umpires make good money, they do have to travel a lot and most of them have families to care for. The opportunity I know has to be there for any umpire to make a lot of extra money in any certain game, especially balls and strikes. I am not insinuating that the umpires are doing this in any way, but you can't be naive the the options that are available for umpires. The questions then become, do we keep the same options for replay, or do we start to move forward with technology? It is very tough in baseball to have replays on certain plays due to the fact that you then have to assume where runners would have ended up, but I am a big fan of the umpire getting it right. The game can be won or lost by inches, or seconds, umpires are never going to be perfect and they know that, so adding some sort of replay options wouldn't be a bad idea, but how far does that get taken? Think about this, if Cole De Vries is on the mound, pitching against Andy Pettite, who is going to get more calls? The answer is Andy Pettite, the answer should be, What do you mean? Is that fair, obviously not, a pitcher shouldn't just be able to earn a call, but it happens. It happens in basketball, (Jordan, Ewing) It happens in football (Brady), and it obviously happens in baseball. So does electronic balls and strikes happen, and would it happen in our lifetime? I don't want that to happen, the way things are going, and with better technology, it definitely may!! I wanted to toot my own horn around sticking with my guns with Trevor Plouffe, all of my friends know how I have been his biggest supporter since day 1 this year, and he is finally coming through, taking his average from .132 to .230 in a matter of weeks. He was one bad game away from being done in my mind, and now we have one of the hottest hitters in the league. He is on pace to hit 25 HR's after a historically bad May. Jim Thome in 2010 hit 25 HR. I am the biggest Plouffe fan, and I am definitely happy he is doing well. I now wanted to say I was wrong trying to jump the Gardy train too early, I have said I have never been a fan of just blaming the manager, but everyone knows it was getting really, really bad, in one of my posts I specifically said we need to clean house and try something new. Injuries or not, we put an unwatchable product on the field and it was disgusting, the Twins are the worst team in the AL, as far as record, that could change tonight as we are only .5 game behind the Royals. I am jumping back on the Gardy train, and at this point I was wrong to jump on the staff too early. Yes, the Minnesota Lynx our WNBA champions are going to get an insert in my blog. I will be the first to say I do not like watching women's basketball. I will have to say I watched the game when UConn lost to end there streak in womens NCAA basketball, and Dan Barreiro is on the undefeated train for the Lynx, I don't know how much more talented the Lynx are compared to other teams, but they are killing teams. I don't care what major sport you are watching if you go undefeated, it is historic. I may have to watch the Lynx on Friday to see if they can start the season 10-0. AND YES I LOOKED ON YOUR WEBSITE LYNX AND YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE STANDINGS ON THE FRONT PAGE, you have a horrible front page. I am just throwing it out there, I hope they keep the streak going, and yes I hope I have to watch the Lynx play in the playoffs as an undefeated team, because I will watch.

Growing up in a small town in northern Minnesota we didn't have that many options watching baseball, except on MSC and WGN. I used to love watching the Cubs play the day games. Cubs baseball always looked like fun. I was able to watch Ryne Sandberg, Andre Dawson, Greg Maddux, Shawn Dunston. I got to listen to Steve Stone and Haray Caray. I had fun watching the games, watching the fans, and listening to a senile Cubs announcer who loved his job, and was fun to listen to. I have always been a Cubs fan. I was excited when the Cubs got Mark Prior, we got Joe Mauer, my favorite two teams, two of the best players in the draft. I can see why these games sell out. I think a lot of people have some of the memories that I have, and for some reason the Cubs have a weird ora around them and you want to see them play. The Cubs are 19-37, the Twins are coming off winning their 7th in 10 series and are 22-34, still after that they have the worst record in the AL, but amazingly enough are 3 games behind the Tigers in the AL Central, which amonst everyone else thought would run away with the division. The Cubs are also 7-22 on the road, I am hoping the Twins can get the 8th/11 series wins starting Friday. On a different note Will Ferrell is probably my favorite comedic actor every, combining SNL skits as Haray Caray with Will Ferrell were some of the funniest skits ever. probably my favorite, if you haven't seen them, not sure where you have been, but they are hilarious. In 9th grade we had to write an essay on our favorite musical artist, at that time I really did, but we had to bring in an example of our favorite artist, I was able to write my about Haray Caray, as I could record him singing the worst/best renditions of Take Me Out to the Ball Game. Anyway, it seems as though I had an obsession, I didn't, but these are all things I remember about watching the Cubs and getting his autograph at Wrigley that same summer, and being at Wrigley and how great that place is. I am lucky to have seen 2 World Series Championships from the Minnesota Twins, I hope in my lifetime I see one from the Chicago Cubs. These are from http://www.baseball-almanac.com/quotes/quocaray.shtml "Aw, how could he (Jorge Orta) lose the ball in the sun, he's from Mexico." "Booze, broads, and bull****. If you got all that, what else do you need?" "Hello again, everybody. It's a bee-yooo-tiful day for baseball." "Holy cow!" "I figure I had no business being here this long anyway, so what do you care how old I am? I've been on borrowed time for years. You know my old saying: live it up, the meter's running. I've always said that if you don't have fun while you're here, then it's your fault. You only get to do this once." "I know it is the fans that are responsible for me being here. I've always tried in each and every broadcast to serve the fans to the best of my ability." "I'll tell you what's helped me my entire life. I look at baseball as a game. It's something where people can go out, enjoy and have fun. Nothing more." "It could be, it might be, It is! A home run!" "I think it's the greatest shot in the arm baseball could get. Once upon a time, all kids wanted to be baseball players, but nowadays a young kid dreams about playing basketball or football and making millions. I think it's great to see a man (Michael Jordan) who has reached the pinnacle of his career, and now he wants to go back and do what he wanted to do as a kid - play baseball." "It's the fans that need spring training. You gotta get 'em interested. Wake 'em up and let 'em know that their season is coming, the good times are gonna roll." "I've only been doing this fifty-four years. With a little experience, I might get better." "I would always sing it (Take Me Out To The Ball Game), because I think it's the only song I knew the words to!" "My whole philosophy is to broadcast the way a fan would broadcast." "Now, you tell me, if I have a day off during the baseball season, where do you think I`ll spend it? The ballpark. I still love it. Always have, always will." "Oh, I get a little tired now and then, but knowing my lifestyle, that's only natural." "They (Expos fans) discovered 'boo' is pronounced the same in French as it is in English." "This has been the remarkable thing about the fans in Chicago, they keep drawing an average of a million-three a year, and, when the season's over and they've won their usual seventy-one games, you feel that those fans deserve a medal." "You could tell he (President Ronald Reagan) was an old radio guy. He never once looked at the television monitor."

Growing up in a small town in northern Minnesota we didn't have that many options watching baseball, except on MSC and WGN. I used to love watching the Cubs play the day games. Cubs baseball always looked like fun. I was able to watch Ryne Sandberg, Andre Dawson, Greg Maddux, Shawn Dunston. I got to listen to Steve Stone and Haray Caray. I had fun watching the games, watching the fans, and listening to a senile Cubs announcer who loved his job, and was fun to listen to. I have always been a Cubs fan. I was excited when the Cubs got Mark Prior, we got Joe Mauer, my favorite two teams, two of the best players in the draft. I can see why these games sell out. I think a lot of people have some of the memories that I have, and for some reason the Cubs have a weird ora around them and you want to see them play. The Cubs are 19-37, the Twins are coming off winning their 7th in 10 series and are 22-34, still after that they have the worst record in the AL, but amazingly enough are 3 games behind the Tigers in the AL Central, which amonst everyone else thought would run away with the division. The Cubs are also 7-22 on the road, I am hoping the Twins can get the 8th/11 series wins starting Friday. On a different note Will Ferrell is probably my favorite comedic actor every, combining SNL skits as Haray Caray with Will Ferrell were some of the funniest skits ever. probably my favorite, if you haven't seen them, not sure where you have been, but they are hilarious. In 9th grade we had to write an essay on our favorite musical artist, at that time I really did, but we had to bring in an example of our favorite artist, I was able to write my about Haray Caray, as I could record him singing the worst/best renditions of Take Me Out to the Ball Game. Anyway, it seems as though I had an obsession, I didn't, but these are all things I remember about watching the Cubs and getting his autograph at Wrigley that same summer, and being at Wrigley and how great that place is. I am lucky to have seen 2 World Series Championships from the Minnesota Twins, I hope in my lifetime I see one from the Chicago Cubs. These are from http://www.baseball-almanac.com/quotes/quocaray.shtml "Aw, how could he (Jorge Orta) lose the ball in the sun, he's from Mexico." "Booze, broads, and bull****. If you got all that, what else do you need?" "Hello again, everybody. It's a bee-yooo-tiful day for baseball." "Holy cow!" "I figure I had no business being here this long anyway, so what do you care how old I am? I've been on borrowed time for years. You know my old saying: live it up, the meter's running. I've always said that if you don't have fun while you're here, then it's your fault. You only get to do this once." "I know it is the fans that are responsible for me being here. I've always tried in each and every broadcast to serve the fans to the best of my ability." "I'll tell you what's helped me my entire life. I look at baseball as a game. It's something where people can go out, enjoy and have fun. Nothing more." "It could be, it might be, It is! A home run!" "I think it's the greatest shot in the arm baseball could get. Once upon a time, all kids wanted to be baseball players, but nowadays a young kid dreams about playing basketball or football and making millions. I think it's great to see a man (Michael Jordan) who has reached the pinnacle of his career, and now he wants to go back and do what he wanted to do as a kid - play baseball." "It's the fans that need spring training. You gotta get 'em interested. Wake 'em up and let 'em know that their season is coming, the good times are gonna roll." "I've only been doing this fifty-four years. With a little experience, I might get better." "I would always sing it (Take Me Out To The Ball Game), because I think it's the only song I knew the words to!" "My whole philosophy is to broadcast the way a fan would broadcast." "Now, you tell me, if I have a day off during the baseball season, where do you think I`ll spend it? The ballpark. I still love it. Always have, always will." "Oh, I get a little tired now and then, but knowing my lifestyle, that's only natural." "They (Expos fans) discovered 'boo' is pronounced the same in French as it is in English." "This has been the remarkable thing about the fans in Chicago, they keep drawing an average of a million-three a year, and, when the season's over and they've won their usual seventy-one games, you feel that those fans deserve a medal." "You could tell he (President Ronald Reagan) was an old radio guy. He never once looked at the television monitor."

http://www.letsgotribe.com/2012/5/31/3056126/series-preview-minnesota-june-1-3#storyjump The preview is done from the letsgotribe site, I wanted to throw my opinion out in lieu of the story, again it is fun looking at the preview from the other side. We do get labeled the worst team in the AL once again. The Twins are going to be facing 3 straight RHP this weekend series, Low, Tomlin, Masterson Derek Lowe's last start was vs the White Sox, his line was 2.1 IP, giving up 8 ER, and 10 hits. He is 1-2 with a 5.19 ERA in his last 3 starts Tomlin's last start was at home vs the Royals his line was 5IP 4 hits 4 ER. He is he is 1-0 with a 4.42 ERA in his last 3 starts Masterson;s last start was 6IP 9 hits 7 ER vs the Royals. He is 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA in his last 3 starts. If I were Gardy I would be showing these stats to the Twins this weekend to gain even more confidence going up to bat. The Twins have won 3 in a row, the Indians are going to be without Hafner, and the Indians are going to be facing the most steady person in the rotation, along with 2 starters that have given 8 out of 9 quality starts in Walters, and Diamond. Looking at the comments from the letsgotribe blogs they are easily thinking 2 out of 3 games, or a sweep. WEll of course they are homers just like we are, but looking at the stats and lost confidence and injuries the Indians have had, I think the Twins should be looking to take 2 of three. Vegas doesn't think so, as the Twins are -140 in game one. I think this is a series that tells the story of the Indians. The Twins face RHP pretty well, Morneau has teed off lately vs RHP, with the healthy lineup in this weekends series I am hoping to take 2 out of the 3. I am excited watching a series for the first time in awhile. I am excited to watch Morneau as his swing is coming together, Mauer has been heating up, and with Willingham hitting 2 big HR the last 2 games, the lineup is getting a lot better, and I hope the Twins can continue hitting the Indians pitching like the previous 2 teams have. My prediction Twins win 2/3, Pavano and Diamond get the wins. Go Twins!!!

http://www.letsgotribe.com/2012/5/31/3056126/series-preview-minnesota-june-1-3#storyjump The preview is done from the letsgotribe site, I wanted to throw my opinion out in lieu of the story, again it is fun looking at the preview from the other side. We do get labeled the worst team in the AL once again. The Twins are going to be facing 3 straight RHP this weekend series, Low, Tomlin, Masterson Derek Lowe's last start was vs the White Sox, his line was 2.1 IP, giving up 8 ER, and 10 hits. He is 1-2 with a 5.19 ERA in his last 3 starts Tomlin's last start was at home vs the Royals his line was 5IP 4 hits 4 ER. He is he is 1-0 with a 4.42 ERA in his last 3 starts Masterson;s last start was 6IP 9 hits 7 ER vs the Royals. He is 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA in his last 3 starts. If I were Gardy I would be showing these stats to the Twins this weekend to gain even more confidence going up to bat. The Twins have won 3 in a row, the Indians are going to be without Hafner, and the Indians are going to be facing the most steady person in the rotation, along with 2 starters that have given 8 out of 9 quality starts in Walters, and Diamond. Looking at the comments from the letsgotribe blogs they are easily thinking 2 out of 3 games, or a sweep. WEll of course they are homers just like we are, but looking at the stats and lost confidence and injuries the Indians have had, I think the Twins should be looking to take 2 of three. Vegas doesn't think so, as the Twins are -140 in game one. I think this is a series that tells the story of the Indians. The Twins face RHP pretty well, Morneau has teed off lately vs RHP, with the healthy lineup in this weekends series I am hoping to take 2 out of the 3. I am excited watching a series for the first time in awhile. I am excited to watch Morneau as his swing is coming together, Mauer has been heating up, and with Willingham hitting 2 big HR the last 2 games, the lineup is getting a lot better, and I hope the Twins can continue hitting the Indians pitching like the previous 2 teams have. My prediction Twins win 2/3, Pavano and Diamond get the wins. Go Twins!!!

I have to say watching the last 3 Twins games were fun to watch. 3 Things that got my attention in those 3 games. 1. Capps obvious excitement getting the save in the first game. I love seeing true emotion and he was very excited getting that save. 2. What a boring second game!!!!!!!!!!! Then turns exciting in about a 1/2 second cuz we all knew that Willinghams shot was going to be a walkoff, and the Twins needed something like that at home. 3. Liriano on the mound taking care of business. People like Matt Capps, I root for him to do well, reality is he doesn't have the stuff to put teams away. Capps is a good relief pitcher, he has velocity and hits the strike zone in good places, what I am hoping for is he continues doing well until the trade deadline and we trade him. I hear about Span, and Morneau, I think we should really look to unload "Cappsy". He will definitely have some value, as teams always need good bullpen help. It was fun watching Cole De Vries pitch on Tuesday. Another emotional game for him and his family. I am glad it was against the worst lineup in the league, normally teams eat up the walks, he was able to get double plays, and keep runners where they wouldn't be able to score. I think if De Vries is able to keep his breaking ball down, develop a little more movement on his fastball he could have a future. We would never get to see this guy if it wassn't for a depleted rotation, sometimes there is good in all of the bad, again I will be rooting for him for continued success. Josh Willingham has lived up to taking over for Cuddyer. I have said this before and I will say it again, Willingham was a steal of the offseason. He gives you the long ball chance all of the time, I don't think Cuddyer was thought about that in that way. Yes his defense is not good, but he makes up for it with good at bats. He is fun to watch at the plate. The walk off homerun on Tuesday was just a fun moment this year to see. I was excited watching Cole pitch, and pitch well, but the game was awfully boring until the big homerun. Fun to Watch!!! Liriano 6 IP 3 hits 2 BB, and 9 K's 0 ER. WHERE HAS THIS BEEN FOR THE TWINS THIS YEAR!! When you get starts like this, that creates momentum, I wish the Twins played tomorrow with Pavano on the mound. Everybody that roots for the Twins wants Liriano to pitch well, because he was thought to be our next #1. That has been an epic fail. Obviously this is encouraging, and we can continue seeing him try to be that guy. We all know the stuff he has, we all know the capabilities he has, it would really be nice for him to solidify, and help in the rotation. Going back on the Valencia comment on May 9th, I said the Twins would go 13-7 over the next 20 games, I was wrong, but they are 10-10, which is better than 8-22 recored with him. I know I may be the only one, but I still want to see Plouffe progress and stay at third. I think with the healthy lineup now, and a rotation that can give you a chance, the Twins can at least be competitive and not be labeled the worst team in the AL. I am going to take the bottom lines here and talk the homer in me. A lot of things can happen now in June. The Indians are starting to play poorly, and they lost Travis Hafner 4-6 weeks. The Royals still aren't playing to the "potential" they had, they aren't making any noise. The Tigers are way underperforming, and it doesn't look like things are going forward "yet", so we have the White Sox as the division leaders What???? Konerko MVP at this point in the season. What I am getting at is, June starts and the Twins start with there "Ace" in Cleveland w/o Hafner, they go to KC, then at home vs Cubs, Phillies, Brewers, then at the Pirates. Reality is they can win a few games, the teams lineup is healthy, Pavano, Diamond, Walters, De Vries (Blackburn coming back) and Liriano have at least been solid now. Hell they won 3 in a row, lets make it a few more and at least make things interesting after these next few series.

I have to say watching the last 3 Twins games were fun to watch. 3 Things that got my attention in those 3 games. 1. Capps obvious excitement getting the save in the first game. I love seeing true emotion and he was very excited getting that save. 2. What a boring second game!!!!!!!!!!! Then turns exciting in about a 1/2 second cuz we all knew that Willinghams shot was going to be a walkoff, and the Twins needed something like that at home. 3. Liriano on the mound taking care of business. People like Matt Capps, I root for him to do well, reality is he doesn't have the stuff to put teams away. Capps is a good relief pitcher, he has velocity and hits the strike zone in good places, what I am hoping for is he continues doing well until the trade deadline and we trade him. I hear about Span, and Morneau, I think we should really look to unload "Cappsy". He will definitely have some value, as teams always need good bullpen help. It was fun watching Cole De Vries pitch on Tuesday. Another emotional game for him and his family. I am glad it was against the worst lineup in the league, normally teams eat up the walks, he was able to get double plays, and keep runners where they wouldn't be able to score. I think if De Vries is able to keep his breaking ball down, develop a little more movement on his fastball he could have a future. We would never get to see this guy if it wassn't for a depleted rotation, sometimes there is good in all of the bad, again I will be rooting for him for continued success. Josh Willingham has lived up to taking over for Cuddyer. I have said this before and I will say it again, Willingham was a steal of the offseason. He gives you the long ball chance all of the time, I don't think Cuddyer was thought about that in that way. Yes his defense is not good, but he makes up for it with good at bats. He is fun to watch at the plate. The walk off homerun on Tuesday was just a fun moment this year to see. I was excited watching Cole pitch, and pitch well, but the game was awfully boring until the big homerun. Fun to Watch!!! Liriano 6 IP 3 hits 2 BB, and 9 K's 0 ER. WHERE HAS THIS BEEN FOR THE TWINS THIS YEAR!! When you get starts like this, that creates momentum, I wish the Twins played tomorrow with Pavano on the mound. Everybody that roots for the Twins wants Liriano to pitch well, because he was thought to be our next #1. That has been an epic fail. Obviously this is encouraging, and we can continue seeing him try to be that guy. We all know the stuff he has, we all know the capabilities he has, it would really be nice for him to solidify, and help in the rotation. Going back on the Valencia comment on May 9th, I said the Twins would go 13-7 over the next 20 games, I was wrong, but they are 10-10, which is better than 8-22 recored with him. I know I may be the only one, but I still want to see Plouffe progress and stay at third. I think with the healthy lineup now, and a rotation that can give you a chance, the Twins can at least be competitive and not be labeled the worst team in the AL. I am going to take the bottom lines here and talk the homer in me. A lot of things can happen now in June. The Indians are starting to play poorly, and they lost Travis Hafner 4-6 weeks. The Royals still aren't playing to the "potential" they had, they aren't making any noise. The Tigers are way underperforming, and it doesn't look like things are going forward "yet", so we have the White Sox as the division leaders What???? Konerko MVP at this point in the season. What I am getting at is, June starts and the Twins start with there "Ace" in Cleveland w/o Hafner, they go to KC, then at home vs Cubs, Phillies, Brewers, then at the Pirates. Reality is they can win a few games, the teams lineup is healthy, Pavano, Diamond, Walters, De Vries (Blackburn coming back) and Liriano have at least been solid now. Hell they won 3 in a row, lets make it a few more and at least make things interesting after these next few series.

I wish I would have looked at Floyd's stats vs the Twins before the game, but this is certainly worth seeing. " Caving in against Minnesota is something Floyd and the White Sox do. Floyd is now 0-8 with an 8.85 ERA over his last eight starts against the Twins, making him the first White Sox pitcher to lose eight in a row to one team since Tommy Thomas against the Yankees from 1926 to 1928 . There's some dignity in losing eight straight to the 1927 Yankees ... not so much with the 2012 Twins." Yes I am copying and pasting the Chicago White Sox blog because I thought is would be fun. In 2008, Joe Maddon and the Tampa Bay Rays made news finally for the franchise when, in spring training, they had a bench clearing brawl vs the New York Yankees. I remember this all over ESPN, I remember Colin Cowherd talking about it. This was the Tampa Bay Rays. What are they doing making a bench clearing brawl vs the high and mighty New York Yankees? They were making themselves relevant!!!!!!!!!! They were making a statement in the AL East. It worked. Since then the AL East was now a 3 team journey. Why is this relevevant to a Twins blog. Minnesota Nice!!! Tampa Bay made a stand saying we aren't going to take **** from these guys anymore, I think if the the Twins would have done what the Rays did before the playoffs, they wouldn't have been as intimidated. Moving forward today, I really think it is important that these new pitchers come in with a different Twins attitude. The score was 9-1, Walters on the mound and I believe he threw one inside and hit Rios. I am not saying that he was trying to hit him, in fact I am sure he wasn't, the fact that he was able to throw the ball on both sides of the plate kept the Sox off guard. I haven't seen that consistently from a Twins pitcher in a long time. The reason why I prefaced the Tampa Bay Rays, and why I paralleled that with Walters was I think that those things haven't given the Twins an edge against certain teams, and against certain players. When was the last time you saw the Twins in a bench clearing brawl? Or at least a heated one? I can't think of any. I know the Twins have struggled this year, the Twins have been decent for a decade, problem is they don't have that edge on teams that have been dominant, and have the swagger. Have the Twins ever had a swagger? No!! They need one. I understand the team is probably not going to do much this year, if that is the case I think that they need to develop some sort of swagger for years to come, and it starts with the starting pitching, it starts with not taking any **** from anybody. Gardy gets fired up, I think Gardy, (if he is going to be our manager for years to come) needs to acquire the fire he has and take a page from Joe Maddon. The Twins should do that the next couple days vs the Sox, consistently pitch in, hard slides, and continue the dominance they have over this team the last 4 years and hopefully that sparks the rest of the year and years to come, via what the Rays did.

I wish I would have looked at Floyd's stats vs the Twins before the game, but this is certainly worth seeing. " Caving in against Minnesota is something Floyd and the White Sox do. Floyd is now 0-8 with an 8.85 ERA over his last eight starts against the Twins, making him the first White Sox pitcher to lose eight in a row to one team since Tommy Thomas against the Yankees from 1926 to 1928 . There's some dignity in losing eight straight to the 1927 Yankees ... not so much with the 2012 Twins." Yes I am copying and pasting the Chicago White Sox blog because I thought is would be fun. In 2008, Joe Maddon and the Tampa Bay Rays made news finally for the franchise when, in spring training, they had a bench clearing brawl vs the New York Yankees. I remember this all over ESPN, I remember Colin Cowherd talking about it. This was the Tampa Bay Rays. What are they doing making a bench clearing brawl vs the high and mighty New York Yankees? They were making themselves relevant!!!!!!!!!! They were making a statement in the AL East. It worked. Since then the AL East was now a 3 team journey. Why is this relevevant to a Twins blog. Minnesota Nice!!! Tampa Bay made a stand saying we aren't going to take **** from these guys anymore, I think if the the Twins would have done what the Rays did before the playoffs, they wouldn't have been as intimidated. Moving forward today, I really think it is important that these new pitchers come in with a different Twins attitude. The score was 9-1, Walters on the mound and I believe he threw one inside and hit Rios. I am not saying that he was trying to hit him, in fact I am sure he wasn't, the fact that he was able to throw the ball on both sides of the plate kept the Sox off guard. I haven't seen that consistently from a Twins pitcher in a long time. The reason why I prefaced the Tampa Bay Rays, and why I paralleled that with Walters was I think that those things haven't given the Twins an edge against certain teams, and against certain players. When was the last time you saw the Twins in a bench clearing brawl? Or at least a heated one? I can't think of any. I know the Twins have struggled this year, the Twins have been decent for a decade, problem is they don't have that edge on teams that have been dominant, and have the swagger. Have the Twins ever had a swagger? No!! They need one. I understand the team is probably not going to do much this year, if that is the case I think that they need to develop some sort of swagger for years to come, and it starts with the starting pitching, it starts with not taking any **** from anybody. Gardy gets fired up, I think Gardy, (if he is going to be our manager for years to come) needs to acquire the fire he has and take a page from Joe Maddon. The Twins should do that the next couple days vs the Sox, consistently pitch in, hard slides, and continue the dominance they have over this team the last 4 years and hopefully that sparks the rest of the year and years to come, via what the Rays did.

http://www.southsidesox.com/2012/5/22/3035807/robin-ventura-white-sox-twins#storyjump I wanted to post this as it is hard to read this statement. " Now the Twins enter the mix, and how well the White Sox handle the American League's worst team could tell us whether the Sox can make anything more of their season." On the flip side of this, the Twins could keep the momentum going as they have won 4 out of the last 5 games. There is nobody better to play, based on the last 8 years than the White Sox. We will see how the Sox and the Ventura era work against the Twins that have dominated the Sox the last 4 years. http://www.southsidesox.com/2012/5/21/3034098/stuck-between-stations-a-minnesota-twins-preview It is fun looking at the Previews from the other side. As this author puts it: " Outlook: This is the worst Twins team in recent memory, maybe even dating back to the days when contraction almost wiped them out. That being said, they are still the Twins and will find a way to be annoying. Season series record of 12-6. No talent, no mercy. I personally love the White Sox/ Twins games. There is no reason for me to put numbers up as this blogger did that very well. For years you could throw the records out the window, these are series that made or broke a season, or renewed the rivalry. I honestly believed even 8 years ago neither team cared what the records were and they just wanted to kick each others asses. I hope tonight is a fun game to watch, I am hoping for a Twins win to keep momentum going. P.S. I live in Duluth, MN, across the bridge is the "Anchor Bar" in Superior, My wife and I had a burger basket with fries and a beverage each, total $14.25, I think it was the best burger meal I have ever had. Buffalo Burger add bacon, It was amazing, if you are visiting around here check it out.

http://www.southsidesox.com/2012/5/22/3035807/robin-ventura-white-sox-twins#storyjump I wanted to post this as it is hard to read this statement. " Now the Twins enter the mix, and how well the White Sox handle the American League's worst team could tell us whether the Sox can make anything more of their season." On the flip side of this, the Twins could keep the momentum going as they have won 4 out of the last 5 games. There is nobody better to play, based on the last 8 years than the White Sox. We will see how the Sox and the Ventura era work against the Twins that have dominated the Sox the last 4 years. http://www.southsidesox.com/2012/5/21/3034098/stuck-between-stations-a-minnesota-twins-preview It is fun looking at the Previews from the other side. As this author puts it: " Outlook: This is the worst Twins team in recent memory, maybe even dating back to the days when contraction almost wiped them out. That being said, they are still the Twins and will find a way to be annoying. Season series record of 12-6. No talent, no mercy. I personally love the White Sox/ Twins games. There is no reason for me to put numbers up as this blogger did that very well. For years you could throw the records out the window, these are series that made or broke a season, or renewed the rivalry. I honestly believed even 8 years ago neither team cared what the records were and they just wanted to kick each others asses. I hope tonight is a fun game to watch, I am hoping for a Twins win to keep momentum going. P.S. I live in Duluth, MN, across the bridge is the "Anchor Bar" in Superior, My wife and I had a burger basket with fries and a beverage each, total $14.25, I think it was the best burger meal I have ever had. Buffalo Burger add bacon, It was amazing, if you are visiting around here check it out.

My favorite thing that the Twins did in the last 100 games I have seen them play is put Valencia in AAA, my least favorite player for the Twins in over 10 years. I think Plouffe will be a good player, we can't send him down. Valencia was a selfish ass!!

The bullpen has played very well, well above expectations. I know Capps is 8/8, he has improved from the beginning of the season, I am personally not a "closer", "save" guy, I think we would do better by committee. As I stated in previous posts, if I have e.g. Cabrera, then Fielder, with a guy on up by 1 in the 8th, I would really have to think I am going to go Capps, then Perkins to get those guys out there, rather than wait and put your "closer" in, in a "save" situation, that is the stupidest saying ever, "Up 2, facing the 6,7,8 I am glad we saved our "save" guy for this rather than facing the best hitters in the 8th. Way overrated!!!