tooslowandoldnow

Monday the Twins traveled across the state to Jupiter, Fl. to play the Cardinals. Tommy Milone and Mike Leake pitched 4 innings each in 45 minutes with no score. Leake struck out 6 while Milone was getting lazy fly balls and ground balls to short. The Twins scored 2 runs in the 5th with singles by Park, Escobar, Keplar, and Polanco. The Cards got single runs in the 5th, 6th, and 9th innings. The Twins scored in the 7th and added 2 more in the 9th. Final score 5-3. Polanco had 3 hits and 2 rbi and Keplar had 2 hits and is now batting .333. Rosario started in center field and was followed by Sweeney who is batting .300 this spring. I've noticed Molitor has been using Sweeney in center field for a few games lately. In the fifth Polanco hit a foul to right that went completely out of the park and followed it with a one hopper off the chest of the first baseman. Plouffe is hitting .400 and hit one against the fence that the left fielder caught and then dropped for an error; Rosario headed back toward first, then was thrown out at 3rd base. Molitor argued that the umpire blew the call, but to no avail. Jim Edmonds was the color guy and he talked about when Rod Carew was his coach he doubled on a 3-2 pitch and when he got to the dugout Carew asked why he only fouled off the 2-0 pitch. "You should have put a better swing on that one!" Carew complained. The Twins have an off day Tuesday and then a night game against Big Papi on Wednesday at Hammond. Later

I went to the Twins vs Orioles game on Saturday. Perfect weather; 75 degrees with partly cloudy skies. Dozier got things going with a leadoff homer, the Twins scored 8 runs in the 6th inning (very sloppy fielding by the O's) and won 13-2 (it was a split-squad team for Baltimore). Also homering were Rosario and minor league catcher Juan Centeno. I was looking forward to seeing Santana and Berrios pitch the first 4 innings. Santana was done in the first after only 7 pitches, but the second started with a bobble by Dozier. From the stretch Santana seemed to have control trouble (pitches looked good but the man in blue wouldn't raise his arm). Escobar made a great sprawling stop and glove flip to Dozier for a forceout that saved a run. Buxton made a great throw to home plate that barely missed the runner from second. Both Mauer and Dozier made over the shoulder catches of shallow fly balls in the first few innings. Berrios was throwing at 95 mph, but was wild; walked 3. Strike out with the bases loaded to end the 4th. He gave a little smack of the glove after the strike out (reminiscence of Juan Berenguer). Nunez, Sweeney, rookie shortstop Vielma, and Centeno each had 2 hits for the Twins as the bench players did the damage. Joe Benson pulled a solid rbi double down the left field line. The crowd was announced as a little over 8000 happy fans. Later

The first action took place on Tom Kelly Field with TK working with Mauer, Park, and Vargas and Gene Glynn working with the middle infielders on fielding grounders and looking toward base runners. Vargas with his trimmed down look is much more agile around first base. My first prediction of the year; Vargas with start the year at DH with Park being sent to AAA to learn the "Twins Way." Things were like yesterday with pitchers warming up in the pen and then alternating between Hammond and the main practice field to throw against live hitters. I watched these guys in the bull pen; Gibson, Jepsen, Pressly, Pat Dean, Taylor Rogers, Logan Darnell, Brandon Kintzler, Milone and Mason Melotakis. Melotakis is a lefty who throws in the mid nineties, but was out all of last year with injury. He threw hard, but pretty wild. Next, to the batting cages where Tom Brunansky was working a lot with Ryan Sweeney, a 31 year old journeyman left handed outfielder with a 276 lifetime avg. Tony Oliva was working with the infielders; Escobar, Dozier, Nunez, Polanco and D. Santana. When these guys left Joe Mauer (he wore sun glasses while hitting on Hammond field) worked with Bruno and Park with Tony O. When practice ended Mark Rosen was interviewing Neil Allen in the bullpen and Perk from Kare 11 was interviewing Byung Ho Park (#52) with his interpreter by the dugout at Hammond. I left the park at 1:15; temperature was 81. First game is tomorrow at Jet Blue Park and Thursday nights game with the Red Sox at Hammond is on MLB network. Later

Monday morning found bright sunny skies, temps in the mid 70's, and lots of fans watching the workouts. Everyone was watching Tom Kelly Field where TK himself was putting the infielders through drills. There were a lot of guys switching off at first base; Park, Mauer, Carlos Quentin, Max Kepler, and a much lighter Kennys Vargas. Nothing much of note except when Dozier threw a double play pivot over the fence beyond first. On Hammond field the outfielders were fielding throws and throwing to the cutoff men. Keplar and Quentin joined them when the infield practice ended. It's really fun to watch Buxton glide over to make effortless catches. He reminds me of Griffey Jr. Later on the pitchers were warming in the bullpen and then going to the mound at Hammond to throw at live hitters. First was Santana; he made Mr. Park look lost; followed by Fien, lefty Mike Strong from Afton, Mn. by way of AAA Colorado Springs Brewers, Berrios, and Chargois (that kid really pops the mitt every time and he had Quentin shaking his head trying to hit him). I stopped at the cages where Tony O. was working with Park and Vargas. When the regulars began coming off the field Escobar was followed by Mauer and Dozier. Escobar signed a few and then started to head in and said,"I know! You guys are all waiting for Mauer!" Then some more guys hailed him and he resumed signing. I had my first look at Tori Hunter and saw Perk from Kare 11. They said Mark Rosen was signing autographs, but I missed it. I asked about Rod Carew; they said he came out quite early and didn't stay out long. Later

Wednesday's storms brought sunny skies, cool temps (low 60's) and strong winds to Ft. Myers. Got to Hammond a little later than usual (bad traffic) and pitchers were already into bullpen sessions. The first 5 pitchers I watched were Hughes, May, O'Rourke, Abad, and a lefty Pat Dean. As in other years Hughes' control is terrific and Abad is a big lefty, 6-1, 220 lbs. Neil Allen, Eddie G., and Latroy Hawkins were behind the mounds watching. The next 5 were Gibson, Jepsen, Brandon Kintzler (AAA Brewers) and 2 leftys Logan Darnell, and Mason Melotakis. Jepsen stopped a few times to talk with Eddie and asked his catcher about his pitches (perhaps working on a new pitch). I headed to the main field where the catchers were batting. Brunansky was watching Suzuki closely and talking with him in between rounds. Suzuki and J.R. Murphy are always together, talking, even when they are in the outfield shagging. I saw Dozier for the first time (he spent a long time signing autographs and taking pictures with fans). He is not a very big guy; it's amazing how much power he has. It's interesting to see how many fans are here with back packs and duffle bags full of things that they want players to sign. A lot of the coaches signed today (they usually don"t). Joe Mauer was with Dozier and spent a lot of time signing, also. I didn't see it, but they said Mauer was batting with sunglasses on, but wasn't too impressive. It was cloudy on Tuesday and he didn't wear any. A guy came up to me and asked if Rod Carew was there yet. I said that Oliva had said,he wouldn't be coming for a couple of days. The guy said he was a big Carew fan and I noticed he was wearing a faded Carew jersey. So naturally I had to tell him my Carew bunting lesson story. He loved it! Later,

A rainy day in Ft. Myers, but the boys still got their work done. The first 4 hitters on field 4 were the same as Monday; Buxton, Park, Arcia, and D. Santana. The second group was Benson, Escobar, Rosario and Mr. Joe Mauer. Buxton, Santana, Rosario, and Escobar were hitting line drives consistently. Tony Oliva was working with Arcia between at bats. Mauer looked very rusty at first, but during his last round hit the ball hard to right field. His last pitch one hopped the fence in right center field and Bruno said,"The way they play you, that's a triple!" Ho Park hasn't seemed too impressive as yet. I noticed him talking to Bruno after his turns and Bruno said,"That's okay, that's okay!" Then they started some infield practice. I watched Mauer and Park switch off handling ground balls at first. Pretty routine. I did not see Sano and no Dozier yet. I headed to the bullpen, but got there just as they were finishing up. I noticed that Nolasco has a "big boy" haircut--not as easy to recognize as before. The hitters left early and many of them stayed to sign. Four little boys got autographs and photos with Casey Fien. Our roster sheet has a pronunciation guide and rookie J.T. Chargois is pronounced shag-WAH and Berrios is ba-REE-ohs. Thanks for the update about Pinto. I knew that Herrmann and Fryer were gone. It is supposed to be windy and stormy tomorrow so I will head back on Thursday. Later

I got to Hammond about 9:30 (temp was 73). The back infield was busy with pitchers (minor league guys I think) taking fielding practice. Field 4 had Tony Oliva watching over the guys doing warmup drills. Then they started hitting. Brunansky was pitching; the first 4 were Buxton, Park, Arcia (Bruno called him Archie) and Danny Santana. They all hit the ball fairly well; Arcia seemed to be trying to hit liners to left-center. The second 4 were Escobar, Sano, Rosario, and Joe Benson (He looked pretty good). Then I went to the main field next to Hammond where pitchers and catchers had jerseys with names and numbers on them. When I got there the pitchers left to another field and the catchers took batting practice. First 4 were Suzuki, Murphy, Alex Swim, and Juan Centeno (AAA Colorado Springs--Brewers). The second 4 had my favorite Stuart Turner (who hit a line drive home run). Murphy is #12. They have roster sheets made up and the #3 catcher is John Hicks from Seattle (AAA-Tacoma). I don't see Pinto on the roster. I haven't seen Mauer, Dozier, Plouffe, or Vargas yet. All of the coaches were there including Latroy Hawkins and Eddie Guardado who signed autographs for quite a while. I also saw Terry Ryan (briefly) and Lavell E. Neal. They were all off the field by 11:45 (temp 79). Lots of people watching, today. Later

Monday was a busier day at Hammond. A few more players and a lot more fans (school holiday). To explain this day to those who have not been to Ft. Myers I will give a little geography lesson. As I understand it Hammond Stadium is the ball park used by the Miracle and Twins during spring training. The rest of the facility is called Century Link Sports Complex. Hammond is in the northeast corner; to the south is parking lot; and to the west is where the spring training action takes place. To the west of Hammond is a full sized ball park. Spring training practices usually end on this field. There is a waist high portable fence that connects this field with the clubhouse at Hammond. At the end of practice fans can line up along this fence and players will stop and sign autographs. Continuing west past this field are 4 more fields back to back. Field #1 is a small infield sized field with enclosed batting cages where the outfield would be and a clubhouse (I assume). The other 3 fields are full sized. During these informal workouts the players use fields 3 & 4. As I approached field #1 I noticed an infield practice going on with 2 players at each base except first. I didn't recognize anyone, but noticed most of the fans were crowding along the first base fence; Byung Ho Park was fielding throws at first base. When this practice ended they all headed to field 3 for hitting. I should refer to this as the Adam Brett Walker III show. About every 3rd pitch went over the fence and onto Plantation Road. After Park finished hitting he went to centerfield. He is a sturdy looking man with Killebrew sized legs. I'm certain Mr. Buxton will never be beaten by Mr. Park in a footrace and he doesn't appear to have a strong throwing arm. He seems to understand English fairly well and is very personable while signing autographs. I heard someone mention John Ryan Murphy's name and asked to point him out. I never would have suspected him to be a catcher. He is built more like a middle infielder. After practice he gave a youngster his bat. I got autographs from Park and Murphy. Monday night was very stormy here and when I got to the park on Tuesday the fields were covered with tarps with water standing everywhere. I walked back to Hammond where Kyle Gibson was signing autographs with his wife and little girl nearby. Gibson is 6 ft 6 and his wife is quite petite. Three catchers were hitting underhand pitches in the batting cage; Murphy, Mitch Garver, and Alex Swim. Later

I see where MLB Network is showing a Bob Costas tribute to Rod Carew next Tuesday at 8 p.m. This reminded me of a spring training game about 2 years ago. For those of you not familiar with Hammond Stadium the stands run along the 3rd base side to just past the infield. Then comes the Twins bullpen area and outside of that is a picnic area with concrete tables. Above this area is a concrete ceiling and above that is a big bar area with railings all around. As you stand in this bar area and face home plate to your left is the main field and to the right is a small infield size field called the Tom Kelly field where he conducts his famous "Good Morning, America" infield drills. This particular day Aaron Hicks and Pedro Florimon were both nursing minor injuries and were not scheduled to play. A few of us standing at the rail noticed Rod Carew take Hicks and Florimon to Tom Kelly field to practice bunting. Paul Molitor began feeding a pitching machine while the two took turns bunting with Carew talking softly behind home plate. About halfway through the basket of balls someone came to relieve Molitor who left. During this brief time out Carew took one of the bats and scratched a line in the dirt parallel with the 3rd base line and about a foot inside. We couldn't hear him but assumed he told them to either hit that line or bunt between the line and 3rd base line. They both batted left handed and used up the rest of the balls. Some bunts were good, some not so good, and some pretty bad. When they finished they picked up all the balls and refilled the basket then started to leave. Carew motioned to Hicks to hand him his bat. Carew walked to the batters box and just stood there without taking a hitters stance and motioned for one more pitch. He bunted the ball perfectly right down that line in the dirt and handed the bat back to Hicks. Hicks shook his head in disbelief as they walked off the field. We all wish Mr. Carew renewed good health and many more spring training appearances.

Not much happening at Hammond, today. The best hitter on the day looked like Plouffe. Arcia, with huge diamond (or fake) earings in both ears swinging upper cut high fly balls. Watched Byung Ho Park quite a bit. He has very wide stance, then brings his front leg back until both knees almost touch, then strides out to meet the ball. Reminds me of a right side Tony Oliva. Speaking of Oliva, lotsa talk about Sano moving to the outfield. Tony was not the greatest outfielder, either. He took long strides and it took him a while to catch up to fly balls. His throws were of the high arching rainbow variety. Also, Killebrew spent parts of 3 years playing left field. In the later innings they would take him out, move Lenny Green to left and put Bill Tuttle in center. I had a nice visit with a family from Burnsville, in fact I missed an autograph from Park, because he signed a few before the others left the field and we were talking. Later

I am lucky enough to get some updates from a friend who visits Hammond often, I bet there are a few on here that would enjoy them. Here is the first one of the year. Hi guys! I went to Hammond this morning. When I arrived Phil Roof was pitching to Byung Ho Park, Adam B. Walker, O. Arcia and someone I didn't know. Park has a nice smooth swing, hits line drives with little effort, and hit at least one that was way over the fence in left. Arcia did not impress; hitting ground balls and popups. Those of us watching were talking about Walker. Nice easy swing and the ball easily clearing the fence a few times. Then they switched and the 5 guys that were shagging came to hit, but I did not recognize any of them; They all looked very young. One lefty gave Arcia a good workout in right field. I wondered if he might be the new catcher. When they were done I got Arcia to sign a ball; told him he was my son's favorite player. He asked, "Is he here?" I said not today and he said tell him hello from me. Seems like a real nice guy. Then I got Walker to sign another ball. After he walked away from me Pat Reusse started talking to him about getting together for an interview. When they finished Reusse started toward a clubhouse guy; I said hello, Mr. Reusse, and he nodded toward me. When he left that guy he hollered at me,"What's your name; where you from?" I told him my name and from Cape Coral. Then he asked about the tornado and we walked together to our cars. He had the top down on his Solara. He said the club- house guy said there should be more guys coming in starting tomorrow. I plan to go over Thursday; got a coupla hot bridge games the next 2 days. The highlight of my day; I've always wanted to meet him down here. Later, guys!