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The Twins head to St. Louis for a doubleheader against the Cardinals. St Louis will be hungry after winning a series in Chicago against the Cubs, seeking revenge from earlier in the season against the Twins. It has become evident that the Cardinals are one of the tougher teams coming out of the NL Central. Having home-field advantage against the Twins is critical, Ballpark Village is no joke. The pitching match-ups are interesting, as Carlos Martinez squares off against Jose Berrios, and Daniel Ponce de Leon looks to prove himself against the once Uber driver, Randy Dobnak. Dobnak holds a 6-2 record this season, defying the odds as a pitcher in the MLB. In conclusion, this is another critical series for the Twins, it is unfortunate St. Louis is not throwing Jack Flaherty, Adam Wainwright, or Kwang-hyun Kim. However, with home field advantage, and a hot lineup led by veteran Yadier Molina, no one is safe against this St. Louis Cardinals team. The Cardinals should split this series, but I do not think that will happen. It is time to separate the boys from the men, the Bomba Squad comes alive tomorrow. Twins take both.

I finally gave up on finding my 2009 pictures of Busch Stadium and finished the NL Central write up. I've made my peace with not finishing the 30 active stadiums this year, so writing about visiting baseball is still the best option until I can go see it again. And without further whining, here's the next division... National League Central Chicago Cubs Wrigley Field What if I told you if you would watch a club volleyball tournament with friends in the Dells for two days you’d get to go to the Twins at Cubs to finish out the weekend? What do you do? Well, of course you go watch volleyball and then go watch the Twins. In 2009, when I saw the Twins would finally be in Chicago for the first time since 2001, I knew I had to go. I checked in with old friends who are Cub fans only to discover they were booked for a volleyball tournament in the Dells. Some schedule shuffling ensued, Cubs tickets were acquired, and next thing I know I’m cheering for volleyball then listening to Joe Nathan get the save in the second game of the series as I’m driving past Mt Olympus on the way to Chicago. The Twins were 32-32 after the Saturday win and were three games back of the Tigers after the Pirates and Zach Duke had beaten them 9-3. My friends lived in St Charles, so we left from there on Sunday morning for a 1PM game. Fortunately, I wasn’t driving and didn’t have to figure out parking. I’m not sure it’s any easier now, but in 2009 we ended up parking in some guy’s alley driveway. I don’t remember what we paid, but our car wasn’t blocked in so I’m sure it wasn’t cheap. We walked past the McDonalds near Wrigley which I think is gone now, or at least the surface lot parking is, and even they were selling spots in their lot. Wrigleyville on a Sunday afternoon in 2009 was nuts. I can’t fathom what it must have been like for a night playoff game in 2016. We made our way into the stadium... and well… it was before the rehab and enhancements. The bathrooms weren’t very good. The concession stands were limited. I don’t remember it smelling as bad as Oakland, but there was a scent I would describe as less than pleasant in the concourse. I didn’t take pictures then like I do now. I wish I had so I could validate the memories. We made our way to the seats. We were in the lower level on the 3rd base side under the upper deck so we did have a couple of beams to look around. The field itself was lovely. I’d never been to a park with plants lining the outfield wall. The manual scoreboard in center field was novel. Once the game began, I realized how much data I wasn’t getting because Wrigley just didn’t have the same number of screens and boards, even compared to the Metrodome. Nick Punto bunted for a hit in the top of the 2nd allowing Gomez to score (don’t tell Parker). Scott Baker would give the run right back in the bottom of the 2nd and another run in the bottom of the 4th. Carlos Gomez hit a solo homer off Ted Lilly in the top of the 6th to tie the game. He probably bat-flipped and annoyed someone, but I only remember cheering. The game remained tied until Jesse Crain and an unfortunate series of hits and an IBB lead to a walk-off single by Ryan Theriot. Twins lost 3-2. The Twins still won the series, but my one and only game at Wrigley was a Twins loss. And I got in “trouble” for eating ketchup on my hot dog. I eat mustard on them now, please hold the pitchforks. I’d like to go back now and see the updates they’ve made, especially to give it a fair comparison to Fenway which has done a very nice job of keeping the history and yet having decent restrooms. I didn’t make it there for the Twins in 2018. Maybe next time. Cincinnati Reds Great American Ballpark In July of 2016, life took me to Cincinnati while the Reds were in town, so it was time to get another ballpark off my list. Great American Ballpark sits right on the Ohio River on the edge of downtown Cincinnati. The state line with Kentucky is a few feet into the river, so in theory, a hitter could launch a ball into the next state and it not be hyperbole. To get to the ballpark you can either go by land via Johnny Bench or Pete Rose Way or if you have a boat or live on the Kentucky side you can take a river boat shuttle from the Hooters in Newport, Kentucky. Taking a boat to take a boat to a baseball game was a first for me. GABP is faithful to the team name and had all red seats so the green grass of the field is quite a contrast. Red seats also help hide attendance issues. The announced attendance for the game that Sunday afternoon was 23,085 (GABP capacity 42,319), but as we all know that’s tickets sold, not bodies in the seats. The team was 34-58 at that point in the season so it’s not terribly surprising attendance was light. GABP opened in 2003, but it felt more than seven years older than Target Field. Scouts Alley was a bar/tunnel area with exclusive access from the Scout Seats around home plate. It’s since been remodeled which is good, because it was dark and had limited amenities compared to other club areas I’ve been in. The main concourses have a good selection of food and there’s a bar with a huge list of beers. The most remarkable thing about the ballpark is location, location, location. It’s all fine, but the position on the river with access by boat in a city that has a huge boating community is really the most remarkable thing about the park. The game was against the Brewers and was an eight hit pitchers’ duel between Zach Davies and Dan Straily. I did get to see a Joey-from-Canada hit in the bottom of the 4th so the game wasn’t a total bust. The Reds would finally break the 0-0 tie with a walk-off passed ball by Jonathan Lucroy that allowed Billy Hamilton to score. Reds win 1-0. Milwaukee Brewers County Stadium I happened to take a couple of pictures with a film camera during my visit to County Stadium or I honestly wouldn’t have recalled the date I was there. I remembered who I was with. I’d started babysitting for a family in high school. They moved around after I was in college, but we’d stayed in touch and they were going to be in Milwaukee to visit family. I missed the kids, so I booked a ticket to see them. We ended up going to a Brewers game, my one and only game at County Stadium. The Brewers were still in the American League in 1997, but it would be their last year without forcing their fans to watch the crime of making pitchers bat. They were also in the midst of building the airplane hangar that would eventually be known as Miller Park, I mean American Family Field. I honestly don’t remember much about the park other than the posts for the upper deck near our seats and a long walk to where we parked thanks to construction starting on Miller Park. The box score tells me the Mariners won 6-5 and the Brewer’s Jeromy Burnitz hit a homer so Bernie Brewer must have taken the slide down to his beer mug (when it still got to be a beer mug). If I’d had to testify in court without Baseball Reference to check the details, I’d have been in trouble. The family would eventually move back to the Chicago area and one of the kids would play volleyball in the Wisconsin Dells before I got to see Wrigley Field for the first time (see above). The kids are grown now and County Stadium was demolished in 2001. Time flies. Miller Park (soon to be American Family Field) Oh, Miller Park… What can I say about an airplane hangar masquerading as a baseball stadium? I never made it to Miller Park in the Metrodome years, but starting in 2012 I had to travel to Wisconsin and Illinois for work, so it was finally time. The Twins were slated to be in Milwaukee in July that year. I plotted out my work meetings and managed to squeeze in my first trip to see the Beloit Snappers, the Twins low A affiliate at the time, spend a few days working, visit my niece and nephew, and get to a couple of Twins games at Miller Park. I will admit I’m not much of a tailgater and that likely colors my impression of Miller Park. The stadium is about 5 miles from downtown has miles and miles of parking that fills with tailgaters, especially for weekend games. By the time I visited Miller, we’d had two full seasons at Target Field in downtown within walking distance of restaurants and bars. Miller Park felt like it was out on an island. The clamshell retractable roof gives the building an odd look since it doesn’t blend with the brick walls of the main structure. Once you’re inside, even when the clamshell roof is open, you never quite feel like you’re outside since the support structure for the roof is stationary. They also partially close it to manipulate the shadows so it feels even less like you’re outside when that happens. The field itself is nice and there are decent views from most seats. There are seats directly over the bullpens where fans can share their appreciation of the relief pitchers… probably. In County Stadium, Bernie Brewer lived in a chalet and slid into a beer stein. With the move to Miller Park, Bernie was made more kid friendly by having him live in a dugout and slide into a “home” platform. Yes, it’s lame, and yes, it’s ironic in a ballpark named after a beer company, but that’s changing next season. Ultimately, Miller is fine. It won’t have any rain outs. There’s always plenty of parking. But, it’s just not special for me beyond being the place where my niece and nephew saw their first MLB game. I got to see plenty of offense on Friday night as the Twins won 11-3. Scott Diamond was 3-0 with a 1.40 ERA after the game and would go one to have his best season in the majors. On Saturday, with my niece and nephew in attendance, the Twins would need six pitchers for an 11 inning 5-4 win. The kids were troopers and made it through the almost four-hour long game. Thankfully, Trevor Plouffe hit a homer off Manny Para in the top of the 11th or that might not have been the case. I fortunately skipped the Sunday game. It was a 16-4 mess of a loss where Jason Marquis gave up eight runs in 1.2 innings to start the game and Jeff Gray allowed five while recording zero outs in the 7th. Drew Butera got the 8th for his MLB pitching debut. He allowed no hits, walked one, and struck out one… Carlos Gomez, because of course he did. Pittsburgh Pirates PNC Park I’d been to Pittsburgh in 2003 for work and was fortunate enough to see Mario Lemieux play in the old Igloo back then, but didn’t get to PNC. By 2018, I was actively trying to get to all 30 active stadiums. I still needed PNC and Camden Yards in Baltimore. When the Twins 2018 schedule came out and they started the season in those two cities, I put the vacation days on the calendar. It was snowing upon arrival in Pittsburgh on April 1, 2018. April Fools! Or not… The next morning and 4 inches later, I was watching the grounds crew shovel the field via the hotel TV. It was the home opener for the Pirates so they were doing everything they could to get the game in on time. The temp was supposed to be in the low 40s at game time so I grabbed my blankets and parka and headed downtown. For those who haven’t been to Pittsburgh, downtown sits at the confluence of the Allegheny River and Monongahela River, which meet at Pittsburgh's Point State Park to form the Ohio River. Three rivers surrounding a downtown means there are lots of bridges. And there’s a funicular!!! The Duquesne Incline takes you up Mt. Washington on the south side and gives you a great view of the city and the many bridges. Near the ballpark is the Roberto Clemente Bridge which leads across the Allegheny from downtown. It’s closed to traffic for games depending on game time and becomes a pedestrian bridge. The center field gate is on the other side of the bridge. The lower concourse of the ballpark has a few different levels so you can’t walk the circle without stairs or elevators, but you can walk the full circle. The upper concourse spans foul pole to foul pole around home. With no high outfield stands, the view remains unobstructed. The view of the bridge and the skyline from inside the ballpark easily gives PNC the best view in MLB. Yes, St Louis has the arch and Oracle has the bay, but neither beats PNC in my view. They have a few unique food items like the pulled pork pierogie hoagie. The mascot race is between different flavor pierogies. Onion won the race for the second game. I missed which one won the race for the first game. I sat along the third base line for the first game a few rows up from the dugout. The view is still good, but the batter’s eye wall blocks part of the bridge and you can’t read the ivy “PIRATES” in center field as well as you can upstairs. I did have a great view of Lance Lynn giving up a first inning grand slam. The Twins would make some noise in the 6th, but would go on to lose 5-4. For the second game it was supposed to be cold and probably snow again so I went with a ticket in their version of the Legend’s Club. The PBC Level has a few pool tables, several bar and food areas, and some nice leather chairs in front of TVs when you’ve had too much of the cold and snow. The Twins offense showed up for 7 runs. Jake Odorizzi exited after two walks in the 5th, but Taylor Rogers, Hildenberger, and Addison Reed kept the Pirates off the board until Fernando Rodney came in for the 9th, ate some snow, and closed out the Twins’ 7-3 win. Pictures from the two games are posted on Flickr. St. Louis Cardinals Busch Stadium 2.0 This picture is not from the June 2009 games when I first visited the new Busch Stadium. I’ve given up on ever finding them. Either I didn’t take any or they’ve been lost to a crashed hard drive at some point. This picture is from a drive by of the stadium in December of 2012. It was definitely cooler when I took the picture than the Saturday day game in St Louis on the 27th of June, 2009. The box score shows the temperature at time of game was only 92, but it would rise to 99 after the noon start along with a heat index into the 100s. Family from Missouri and Illinois was supposed to be going to the game with me and my cousin was brining her boys to the game for the first MLB game ever, so of course the heat was the worst it would be all summer. Our seats were in one of the upper levels, but the canopy for the top level isn’t very wide and the orientation of the stadium means that the sun is pretty unrelenting during day games. We finally got shade in the later innings so fortunately, the boys didn’t melt and neither did their friends or my aunt and uncle. The game was terrible for the Twins. Kevin Slowey only went three innings and allowed five runs. Four of the five runs came on two separate two-run homers from a much younger Albert Pujols. My cousin’s boys were thrilled. St. Louis native Bobby Keppel went four innings in the heat after Slowey was done. The boys didn’t really care that Keppel was a local guy. They also probably don’t remember that Keppel appeared in 37 games for the Twins in 2009, most importantly in the top of the 12th inning of Game 163 and forever cementing his name in Twins Trivia history as the winning pitcher. Despite the Cardinals using SEVEN pitchers to get through the game, the only offense the Twins mustered was off Todd Wellemeyer in the top of the second. The Cards would go on to win 5-3. The weather broke a bit for Sunday’s game plus it started an hour later. My college friends I went with were smart enough to bring partially frozen water bottles and we got shade sooner. Liriano was the starter. He went seven innings and allowed only two runs. Justin Morneau hit a three-run homer in the top of the 1st. Joe Nathan got his 19th save of the year. The Twins won 6-2 in 2:50. A good time was had by all, except for the whole pitchers batting thing. My memories of the stadium aren’t very complete. I remember the arch and the old courthouse dome that can be seen from the stadium. I remember plenty of brick and polished concrete. I remember the old Busch scoreboard that hangs in one of the concourses. I don’t remember any food options that are unique. It was too hot to eat anything. Old Busch had been torn down by then, but the space that’s now a ballpark village area with Cardinals Nation and other restaurants and bars was just an asphalt parking lot in 2009. There’s also a Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum in that space now, so if the timing works out for me to go the next time the Twins are in St Louis, I’ll have something new to see. And maybe take a few pictures that won’t be lost since everything now gets backed up to the cloud. TCAnelle’s NL Central Rankings: PNC Park Busch Stadium 2.0 Wrigley Field Great American Ballpark Miller Park/American Family Field County Stadium

https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-18-036/?loclr=eanotw The library of Congress has given us a historical gift - the scouting reports of Branch Rickey. He was a vital part of baseball history, even beyond signing Jackie Robinson and this is where you can check it out. Here are some notes from the introduction and entries that struck me: Rickey’s 1963 scouting report on Hank Aaron, who broke Babe Ruth’s long-standing home run record of 714 in 1974. Rickey wrote "Surely one of the greatest hitters in baseball today. Can hit late with power, - good wrists. But in spite of his hitting record and admitted power ability, one cannot help think that Aaron is frequently a guess hitter." A 1955 scouting report on Roberto Clemente, who amassed 3,000 hits in his Hall of Fame career for the Pittsburgh Pirates A report dated March 30-31, 1964, on future National Basketball Association great Dave DeBusschere, where Rickey predicted that DeBusschere “should become a corking good major league pitcher.” For Hall of Famer Bob Gibson, Rickey noted on March 14, 1964, “when trying out young players… scouts and coaches would keep in mind Bob Gibson as a model for comparison and rate the prospect’s stuff accordingly.” About Richie Allen - “Rollie Hemsley at Indianapolis, Bill Adair at Toronto, Larry Shepard at Columbus, Kerby Farrell at Buffalo and Harry Walker at Atlanta all believe that outfielder Allen is the best major league prospect in the International League. A colored boy, very young, and belongs to Philadelphia. He has extraordinary power to all fields. Arm not great, but adequate. Highly desirable in any deal with Philadelphia. I am sorry not to have been able to see this boy in action, but rating give to the player by baseball men generally put him immediately as a regular in any major league outfield. I would risk a heavy deal to have the Cardinals Get this player.” Minnesotan Twins 2B Bernie Allen – “Tall boy from Purdue. Left hand hitter, has power and I believe he can outrun Rollins. I doubt if he is a .300 hitter. Hit .269 in 1962, Not hitting a lick this year…” Bob Allison – “A 275 hitter with exceptional power. Looks the part of a great athlete. Right hander all the way. He has everything it takes to be a long time major league regular.” Earl Battey – “A big colored catcher. Looks overweight, but has a remarkable action. Quick and has power at the plate, plenty of it. Looks like he likes to play. I can imagine him in a World Series.” Minnesota born, Yankee – John Blanchard – “If Blanchard’s habits were good and his team relationship satisfactory, St Louis could use him. I would not take him unless I were permitted to have a conversation with the player with results satisfactory to myself.” Harmon Killebrew – “A big right hand hitter with as much distance power as any man in the game. Strikes out a great deal. I would not be interested in obtaining his contract in any kind of possible trade. I don’t want him at the price.” It will take a lot of time to sort out everything, but this is a very personal glimpse into the game in the early 60's.

There were two outs in the top of the tenth. Johnson City Cardinals relief pitching had allowed just one hit since the seventh and the momentum of the game over the previous few innings had the small gathering of Twins rooters sitting on the first base side of the tiny press box just waiting for the next out and for Johnson City to take the game as they had the previous two nights. Kamran Young stepped to the plate to face Harley Holt. Young had struggled all night. He was 0-5, and had added a pair of strikeouts to his 43 previous on the year. But this at-bat was different, He singled, the E-Twins had a base runner but there were still two outs for LaMonte Wade. It only took one pitch, LaMonte Wade turned on a fastball and pulled it over the right field wall, a no-doubter. Elizabethton led and Kuo Hua Lo trotted back out for another inning of work. Lo struck out the side. Twins wins 4-2. It was the squad’s first win at Johnson City this season and the victory knotted the season series at five games a-piece. It also stopped Johnson City’s 5 game winning streak. Tonight’s game was another in the series between the two rivals that was so well played on both sides that extra innings were almost expected instead of forced. Several factors went into why tonight’s game was so important. But the fact that the rest of the division was idle because of rain that miraculously somehow missed the Baseball Grounds on Legion Street allowed the E-Twins to have a better appearance in the standings with the last place Bluefield Blue Jays coming to town tomorrow. Pitching, Pitching, Pitching Tonight’s contest was a good old-fashioned pitchers duel, fitting for a match-up between two of the longest continually affiliated clubs in minor league baseball. Sam Clay gets better each time he takes the mound for Elizabethton. He struck out eight, allowed Johnson City’s two runs but it was a quality start that kept the club in the game with Johnson City getting equally effective starting pitching. C.K. Irby was a solid middle man, ironic because he went into the tenth. C.K. yielded just one hit, striking out four. His replacement with two out in the tenth was Kuo Hua Lo, and again the Taiwan native delivered. Lo came in and got the final out of the tenth, fended off a Johnson City rally in the eleventh, and with a two run lead struck out the side to earn the win in the twelfth. Tonight was the first time I have seen Lo pitch with a radar gun displayed for all to see. Lo does not have overpowering stuff, but his off-speed selections are almost unhittable. Lo has only surrendered two earned runs on the year in eleven appearances. He leads the league in opponent batting average for a reliever at .115, he gave up a single hit in 2.2 IP tonight. He earned player of the game honors on the broadcast tonight after he earned the win. Timely Hitting Elizabethton hitters have struggled hitting with men in scoring position and with the bases loaded all season. Looking at the box score tonight, one might assume that tonight was another example of that phenomenon. The fact of the matter tonight is that the Twins hitting was so scattered that the team scored in every inning that they strung together multiple hits. The E-Twins created each of the four runs they scored. LaMonte Wade hit a one out double in the sixth, Chris Paul knocked him in from second. The team added a second run off a Jermaine Palacios single in the seventh, the team put Olsen into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. LaMonte Wade had a chance to hit his home run in the twelfth because Kamran Young got a two out single. The team took advantage of situations that Johnson City made mistakes, and while the box score says the team hit 2-10 with runners in scoring position the team made the most of the chances they got off Cardinal pitching. There just were not a lot of chances tonight. The K-Kings Despite the win, the team still struggled in one key statistic. The strikeout. Johnson City pitching was equally effective as the Betsy staff. Twins batters struck out ten times tonight, but the concerning part of that statistic is that Amaurys Minier and Kamran Young accounted for two each. Young redeemed himself with the single that allowed Wade to blast the home run, but Minier finished the game 0-5 to move his average to .189. Minier and Young have combined to strike out 93 times. That stat is good enough for 27.51% of the team’s season total of 338 strikeouts. Young has shown defensive worth, while Minier has showed the ability to blast the ball into next week. The problem is that Minier has not done it recently, and the team has other options. This will be a storyline for the remainder of the season, and I will be watching closely. Returning Home in a Better Spot in the Standings Elizabethton enters a three game series with Bluefield in a three-way tie for third in the division, 2.5 games back of Greeneville. This is largely because the remaining three teams in the division waited out rain tonight and never took the field. Tomorrow the team opens a three game set with Bluefield, two of which we will have on the network. Elizabethton won opening night in Bluefield. They fell the following evening after the Twins closer took the ball and walked the winning run in. I left town before the third game of the set, but the E-Twins fell again. The teams met in June, the calendar has turned to August. Elizabethton is a different club in many ways. Most of the faces from the starting line-up are either playing other roles or have moved on elsewhere. I hope any new readers we have on the blog that will be henceforth posted on Twins Daily enjoy my takes. I am invested in this club and hope all those interested in information on the club can get it. The Elizabethton Twins Radio Network will be on the air tomorrow from Joe O’Brien Field at 6:45 p.m. eastern with our Clubhouse Show followed by first pitch at sometime shortly after 7:00 p.m. eastern. We can be heard locally on WBEJ AM 1240, FM 107.9 and anywhere in the world online at WBEJ.com. There should be a link on MILB.com. I love Twitter feedback and I can be reached @ETwinsonRadio and on my personal account @EvanCEllis. I appreciate all feedback via comment as well. Thank you for your time. Until Tomorrow Night, Go Twins.