rogrulz30

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!!!

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/page/12531franchisedraft/espn-franchise-player-draft ESPN has the franchise mock draft going today, you get the entire major league rosters, you get to choose in a draft style who would you take, money isn't a hinderance. If you look at the site, the first 3 players taken by "the experts" are Kemp, Tulo, Kershaw I would love to start my franchise around Matt Kemp, this guy is fun to watch. The Dodgers came to MN last year, my friend and I were able to watch Kemp take batting practice, I could watch him all day take BP, seems like a perfect guy to start your franchise around. Who would you take???????/

I love Grantland, this was an article I would have liked to read as an outsider, on the reality of fixing the Twins, but there is no insight at all, and yes they are the worst team in the AL, if you write an article how to fix the Twins, then write "how to fix the Twins", this isn't, I was disappointed.

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.

This is ridiculous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is about all I have to say about that. UniWatch, or whoever you are, to give someone grief for putting small initals in a pitching mound from someones biggest loss to there life. I can see if it is a fricken banner, or was on the front of the mound.

I hope Cole does well on Thursday, I am def rooting for him. If the Twins win today, I hope it isn't another rally killer Jason Marquis type of performance, I was hoping Duensing would have been the guy, he probably deserves it the most at this point. I would really like to see another good performance by a callup. Go Twins!

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!!

If I had to fire somebody it would have to be Vavra for one reason, the entire organization needs Mauer to learn to hit for more power with his contract. I know he can learn, I think it is up to Vavra to teach him, he hasn't done it. We can say the same for Anderson not getting Liriano on board, but he isn't a psychologist. We need both the players, we need Mauer more.

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!!!

He is only worth that if he is a full time catcher, he isn't and won't be every again, which makes his value very very poor, unless he starts hitting for power.

I am nuts. I can be, as I said miraculous scenario, why not??

I wanted to take a look at some points that have been hot topics for the last couple weeks. I wanted to look at the best way to improve the teams performance right now, and as the homer would say right the ship. At this point being 10 games back and being 15 games under .500, I am not giving the Twins much of any chance of doing anything, but I can talk about it. I also want to mention some Joe Mauer topics that have been a non stop thing the last couple weeks. Joe Mauer is healthy!! Joe Mauer is also a slow starter, it is only mid May. Joe Mauer is starting to get boring to watch. We have seen this before, except now it is in spots where it doesn't make much impact in the games. I am going to throw out a couple of scenarios: 1. To make Joe Mauer worth the 23M he will be making he has to learn to hit the ball for power. There is no question his value is a lot higher in the #3 spot in the lineup, then the number 2. If he doesn't hit for power we really need to suck it up and throw Mauer in the 2 spot. This is the main reason why I think we need to unload Vavra. The worth of Mauer is worth more than keeping Vavra around. Yes I know this may not be the be all for him to hit for power, but it wouldn't hurt at all at this point. I have watched the same thing from Mauer now and it isn't spectacular. I am sure Mauer wants to do more, I am not sure he knows what to do at this point. I know he is smart enough to give the team a chance for him to hit the ball out of the park. If we are not going to change, then lets change the lineup. I really think we are going to get the .298/5 HR year from Mauer. YES! great spot batting #2, not worth the 23M a year unless he can catch more often than he is now. I was a proponent for the deal, I probably always will, but if we have to be stuck with the performance, lets put him in the places he needs to be. Lets say we can right the ship this year, Yes it is a long shot, but what the hell else is there to talk about at this point. Move Vavra, bring in somebody else, we need a change for some of the reasons I mentioned above. Span, CF Mauer, C Doumit, DH Willingham, LF Morneau, 1B Plouffe, 3B Dozier, SS Carroll, 2B Revere, RF Casilla Utility Butera Bench Yes, this would have to happen I think Pavano Diamond Hendriks, Liriano to replace when he gets the confidence back Duensing Blackburn The rest of the bullpen has been very surprisingly good. Eliminate Capps from the "closer" role and go by committee. I don't care what that looks like, we just can't have Capps close games, or out there in just "save" situations or tie game situations in the 9th. The main changes would be Vavra gone, Mauer batting #2, keep Diamond up, bring Hendriks back up, put Duensing in the starting rotation, eliminate the closer role. If Morneau can swing the bat, the lineup just gets soooo much better. Once Valencia got sent down, and Morneau is healthy the offense gets a lot better. The team gets a lot better. Let me be the homer we all are and just hope something miraculous happens. If I was the front office, I would do these things on May 17th in the middle of the AL Central part of the schedule. After all said and done, I can't watch Blackburn/Marquis pitch anymore, we have 0 chance of winning with them on the mound unless the Twins put up 8 runs in a game. We are stuck with Blackburn, the Twins are going to have to eat the 3 million from Marquis. Lets change that up so I can watch games that the opponents don't have 4 runs by the 4th inning.

I wanted to take a look at some points that have been hot topics for the last couple weeks. I wanted to look at the best way to improve the teams performance right now, and as the homer would say right the ship. At this point being 10 games back and being 15 games under .500, I am not giving the Twins much of any chance of doing anything, but I can talk about it. I also want to mention some Joe Mauer topics that have been a non stop thing the last couple weeks. Joe Mauer is healthy!! Joe Mauer is also a slow starter, it is only mid May. Joe Mauer is starting to get boring to watch. We have seen this before, except now it is in spots where it doesn't make much impact in the games. I am going to throw out a couple of scenarios: 1. To make Joe Mauer worth the 23M he will be making he has to learn to hit the ball for power. There is no question his value is a lot higher in the #3 spot in the lineup, then the number 2. If he doesn't hit for power we really need to suck it up and throw Mauer in the 2 spot. This is the main reason why I think we need to unload Vavra. The worth of Mauer is worth more than keeping Vavra around. Yes I know this may not be the be all for him to hit for power, but it wouldn't hurt at all at this point. I have watched the same thing from Mauer now and it isn't spectacular. I am sure Mauer wants to do more, I am not sure he knows what to do at this point. I know he is smart enough to give the team a chance for him to hit the ball out of the park. If we are not going to change, then lets change the lineup. I really think we are going to get the .298/5 HR year from Mauer. YES! great spot batting #2, not worth the 23M a year unless he can catch more often than he is now. I was a proponent for the deal, I probably always will, but if we have to be stuck with the performance, lets put him in the places he needs to be. Lets say we can right the ship this year, Yes it is a long shot, but what the hell else is there to talk about at this point. Move Vavra, bring in somebody else, we need a change for some of the reasons I mentioned above. Span, CF Mauer, C Doumit, DH Willingham, LF Morneau, 1B Plouffe, 3B Dozier, SS Carroll, 2B Revere, RF Casilla Utility Butera Bench Yes, this would have to happen I think Pavano Diamond Hendriks, Liriano to replace when he gets the confidence back Duensing Blackburn The rest of the bullpen has been very surprisingly good. Eliminate Capps from the "closer" role and go by committee. I don't care what that looks like, we just can't have Capps close games, or out there in just "save" situations or tie game situations in the 9th. The main changes would be Vavra gone, Mauer batting #2, keep Diamond up, bring Hendriks back up, put Duensing in the starting rotation, eliminate the closer role. If Morneau can swing the bat, the lineup just gets soooo much better. Once Valencia got sent down, and Morneau is healthy the offense gets a lot better. The team gets a lot better. Let me be the homer we all are and just hope something miraculous happens. If I was the front office, I would do these things on May 17th in the middle of the AL Central part of the schedule. After all said and done, I can't watch Blackburn/Marquis pitch anymore, we have 0 chance of winning with them on the mound unless the Twins put up 8 runs in a game. We are stuck with Blackburn, the Twins are going to have to eat the 3 million from Marquis. Lets change that up so I can watch games that the opponents don't have 4 runs by the 4th inning.

Mauer's value at this point belongs in the #2 spot, I have said this for 2 years now, he can't be batting the three hole the way he hits the ball. He isn't going to hit for power, or if he does, then move him back. HE has to learn to hit for power to right field. The Dome set him up for the contract. Span, Mauer, Doumit, Willingham, Morneau, at this point would. I don't blame anybody for booing at any time, since you have paid to come to the game, you have paid for the players salaries, do what you will at the stadium.