Article: Game Thread: Twins @ Mariners, 5/25 @ 9:10pm CT

[Riverbrian]

The Twins kick off a 3-game series in Seattle tonight and I’m going to be serious for once in my life.

I’d like everyone’s attention as I ask for assistance and cooperation from all in order to achieve an objective together.

The Objective: Game threads will be a sanctuary from unmistakable hard-nosed negativity.

 

There is precedence for this objective because the game threads used to be a sanctuary from the overly disappointed and they used to be against the grain of some very painful (out of contention by June) seasons. So I believe it can happen again, even with a better baseball team to complain about. But it can’t happen without buy-in from the important contributors… which of course is all of you.

The reasoning for this type of sanctuary was that we had enough outlets for the disgruntled in every other forum topic on Twins Daily. If you wanted to express your displeasure with Kevin Correia, you could. There was probably an active thread where it was being discussed and if not, you could always start one and then there would be a brand new topic of discussion created (new content is actually healthy for any website). But… most importantly, it didn’t drag everyone else down when they were just trying to watch the game and didn’t feel like hating the team. By not allowing the 'overly doomed and gloomed,' it gave us (everyone) ONE thread… just one thread... that was “everything sucks” free.

We used to have this described environment and it was incredibly fun, but for some reason we let it slip away through a gradual eroding of what was always a blurry purpose. That blurriness makes it hard to define clear lines, so here we are today asking if we can get back to where we were before, with the understanding that it is indeed a vague request.

We used to describe the game thread experience as a bunch of friends in the left field bleachers just having a good time watching the game and talking about anything. If you remember the Randy Quaid character from the movie Major League, you’ll know what not to be. Nobody really wants to sit next to that guy. Randy Quaid wouldn’t want to sit next to another Randy Quaid because I’m not sure that misery loves company. Have you tried to complain to someone about your financial troubles who is busy complaining about his gushing head wound? Have you ever been the person who didn’t have financial problems or a gushing head wound, stuck in an elevator during that conversation?

With that said and for additional clarity, this is very important: Don’t take any of this to extremes.

This isn’t a request for blinders or dishonest discussion. I’m not saying that comments can only be “It’s OK, Sunshine” after someone boots a ball. I’m not saying you can’t express displeasure when someone strikes out with a runner on third and one out. Just keep in mind that the game is inherently loaded with failure so you shouldn’t have to bang your head into the wall every time it happens. It should be baked into the process by now because its baseball and failure happens every single inning without fail. We just need a collective effort to keep us all self-aware of the content we individually produce. You can criticize but if you want to tear something apart, take it to one of the other threads, pay attention to your heaviness, and try to dull the bluntness of it. I don’t know, pretend your kids are watching you lose your composure. Have fun if you can. These walls are going up around the game threads. They might take a little while to construct but they are going up.

The Mods have been discussing this and we don’t know how this will work because it is impossible to put in a neat, easy-to-swallow capsule. It was decided that the best place to start was with an appeal to all of you for help, expressly stating it as a common goal for those who would like to be a part of it.

With this… it has now been expressed.

Now, while important… I’m not sure that this should be the topic all the way until game time, so I’ve come up with 5 topics of things to think about for everyone to discuss if you’d like to get back to normal.

The Mariners had Cano and Dee Gordon. Now 2B is a hole?

Are there people who actually think Cats are better than dogs?

What would life be like sharing a one bedroom apartment with a mountain gorilla?

Romero vs. Paxton: Great matchup for such a late start.

Where was the Joe M conversation this week?
____________________

Lineups:

TWINS
Brian Dozier(R ) 2B
Eddie Rosario(L) LF
Miguel Sano(R ) 1B
Eduardo Escobar(S) 3B
Max Kepler(L) RF
Mitch Garver(R ) C
Robbie Grossman(S) DH
Ehire Adrianza(S) SS
Byron Buxton(R ) CF

Fernando Romero(R ) P

MARINERS
Jean Segura(R ) SS
Guillermo Heredia(R ) CF
Mitch Haniger(R ) RF
Nelson Cruz(R ) DH
Kyle Seager(L) 3B
Ryon Healy(R ) 1B
Ben Gamel(L) LF
Mike Zunino(R ) C
Gordon Beckham(R ) 2B

James Paxton(L) P

Game-time forecast: It doesn't matter. There's a roof on that airplane hangar.

Go Twins! Play ball!

Click here to view the article

[Craig Arko]

Good luck. Hope it works out.

Edited May 25, 2018 by Craig Arko

[Teflon]

The Mariners are  29-20 and in second place in the AL West, 3 games behind the Astros. The Twins, despite being 3 games UNDER .500 are only a game and a half out of first place in the AL Central. I call that relevant baseball. (Thank you, Cleveland!)

[Teflon]

PS - I promise my negativity will only be of the soft-nosed variety. 

[Riverbrian]

 

The Mariners are  29-20 and in second place in the AL West, 3 games behind the Astros. The Twins, despite being 3 games UNDER .500 are only a game and a half out of first place in the AL Central. I call that relevant baseball. (Thank you, Cleveland!)

 

I've been saying all along. "I Hand Cleveland Nothing". 

[ThejacKmp]

Cats are better than dogs. They don't hump your leg. They don't smell bad. They don't demand to take walks. They crap in a toilet box. They don't beg for food. You can ask almost anyone to take care of your cat when you're out of town. Someone has to really owe you or be related to take care of your dog.

 

Cats don't jump on you when you walk in the door but I see that as a good thing.

[ThejacKmp]

 

I've been saying all along. "I Hand Cleveland Nothing". 

 

Cleveland's lineup and bullpen just aren't as good as they were. That starting pitching is still really good but they're overrated. Twins have had just about everything go wrong and they're in it. They get Sano and Buxton hitting, Dozier streaking, Joe walking and Polanco back and this team could be a second half buzzsaw.

[Blake]

 

Cleveland's lineup and bullpen just aren't as good as they were. That starting pitching is still really good but they're overrated. Twins have had just about everything go wrong and they're in it. They get Sano and Buxton hitting, Dozier streaking, Joe walking and Polanco back and this team could be a second half buzzsaw.

I've long said "Play .500 ball until the All Star break and anything can happen."

[FunnyPenguin]

 

Cleveland's lineup and bullpen just aren't as good as they were. That starting pitching is still really good but they're overrated. Twins have had just about everything go wrong and they're in it. They get Sano and Buxton hitting, Dozier streaking, Joe walking and Polanco back and this team could be a second half buzzsaw.

This

The Twins have an incredible amount of talent at the Major league level, if it all started clicking, heck we'd make the Astros look like schoolboys

[USAFChief]

"The Mariners had Cano and Dee Gordon. Now 2B is a hole?"

 

A whole what?

[Han Joelo]

 I think one of the first lessons they teach in political science 302: How To Divide a Country is the one where they suggest dogs are better than cats.

[Blake]

 

 I think one of the first lessons they teach in political science 302: How To Divide a Country is the one where they suggest dogs are better than cats.

See, that's an argument I don't get, because dogs are clearly superior. Seriously, would a cat do this:

 

[MN_ExPat]

 

Cats are better than dogs. They don't hump your leg. They don't smell bad. They don't demand to take walks. They crap in a toilet box. They don't beg for food. You can ask almost anyone to take care of your cat when you're out of town. Someone has to really owe you or be related to take care of your dog.

 

Cats don't jump on you when you walk in the door but I see that as a good thing.

But... aren't cats inherently evil and plotting to take over the world... or watch it burn in the process?   They are cats after all.

[MN_ExPat]

Plus I'm pretty sure Romero is a dog person.   This would probably explain his easy going, but inner bulldog mentality.

 

Paxton on the other hand... He strikes me as a cat person, but then again that might be just because he is Canadian.   Not that I have anything against Canadians.   I ran into some exceptionally tough and talented Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan (hats of to those guys... especially for finding a way and place to play hockey in a high desert).   It's just that, well... I don't really have anything I just needed to find some way to make a really good pitcher seem like the bad guy and thus make him easier to root against.

 

So there... Paxton hates puppies and kittens and likes to yell at kids playing on his lawn.

[DocBauer]

Cats vs dogs? Can't we all just along?!

 

(But seriously, dogs are better. They are the one "person" who loves you and is overjoyed to see you no matter how crappy a day you may have had)

[Blake]

 

Plus I'm pretty sure Romero is a dog person.   This would probably explain his easy going, but inner bulldog mentality.

 

Paxton on the other hand... He strikes me as a cat person, but then again that might be just because he is Canadian.   Not that I have anything against Canadians.   I ran into some exceptionally tough and talented Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan (hats of to those guys... especially for finding a way and place to play hockey in a high desert).   It's just that, well... I don't really have anything I just needed to find some way to make a really good pitcher seem like the bad guy and thus make him easier to root against.

 

So there... Paxton hates puppies and kittens and likes to yell at kids playing on his lawn.

Except for the hating puppies and kittens part, you could be talking about me.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

I find it difficult to imagine a mountain gorilla would share anything with me.

[USAFChief]

Speaking of dogs...

 

When I was a young boy, we had a large, somewhat wild canine that, believe it or not, meditated.

 

...

 

 

...

 

 

...

 

 

We named him "Aware Wolf."

 

http://stories.barkpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/doglaugh.jpg

 

[USAFChief]

 

Cats are better than dogs. They don't hump your leg. They don't smell bad. They don't demand to take walks. They crap in a toilet box. They don't beg for food. You can ask almost anyone to take care of your cat when you're out of town. Someone has to really owe you or be related to take care of your dog.

 

Cats don't jump on you when you walk in the door but I see that as a good thing.

Cats are better than dogs???

 

Can they do THIS?

 

 

Case closed.

[nicksaviking]

 

Cats are better than dogs???

 

Can they do THIS?

 

 

Case closed.

 

Johnny Bench had him beat.

[TFRazor]

 

Cats are better than dogs. They don't hump your leg. They don't smell bad. They don't demand to take walks. They crap in a toilet box. They don't beg for food. You can ask almost anyone to take care of your cat when you're out of town. Someone has to really owe you or be related to take care of your dog.

 

Cats don't jump on you when you walk in the door but I see that as a good thing.

All of this is true. It's true because unlike dogs, cats don't care about you. They don't beg for food because they think you owe it to them. The little scamps wouldn't pee on you if you were burning.

[TFRazor]

 

 

 

See, that's an argument I don't get, because dogs are clearly superior. Seriously, would a cat do this:

 

That dog is defending his owners beer WITH HIS LIFE!!!!!!! Cat wouldn't do that

[TFRazor]

The real question is who loves you more? Your dog? Or your spouse?

 

There's an easy test.

 

Put them both in the trunk of your car.

Open it after 1 hour.

 

Which one is happy to see you?

 

Case Closed.

[ashbury]

[ashbury]

[Dantes929]

 

The real question is who loves you more? Your dog? Or your spouse?

 

There's an easy test.

 

Put them both in the trunk of your car.

Open it after 1 hour.

 

Which one is happy to see you?

 

Case Closed.

Reminded me of this one.

 

A man and a woman were discussing the worst pain that anyone could possibly experience. The woman said: “Without doubt, there is nothing more painful in life than childbirth.”

“Nonsense,” said the man, “a kick in the bollocks is much more painful. Ask any guy.”

“You’re so wrong,” maintained the woman. “Childbirth is far more painful.”

The man was not about to yield to her argument and announced: “I have proof that I am right.”

“What proof?” she asked scornfully.

“Because,” he continued, “a few years after giving birth a woman will say to her partner, ‘Do you want to try for another baby?’ But I have never, ever, ever heard a man say – even years later – ‘You know what I’d really like? Another kick in the bollocks!’”

[joefish]

A cat would not Want to do that.

[TFRazor]

 

Reminded me of this one.

 

A man and a woman were discussing the worst pain that anyone could possibly experience. The woman said: “Without doubt, there is nothing more painful in life than childbirth.”

“Nonsense,” said the man, “a kick in the bollocks is much more painful. Ask any guy.”

“You’re so wrong,” maintained the woman. “Childbirth is far more painful.”

The man was not about to yield to her argument and announced: “I have proof that I am right.”

“What proof?” she asked scornfully.

“Because,” he continued, “a few years after giving birth a woman will say to her partner, ‘Do you want to try for another baby?’ But I have never, ever, ever heard a man say – even years later – ‘You know what I’d really like? Another kick in the bollocks!’”

I've heard the same joke although in that version it was the guy getting kidney stones

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

See, that's an argument I don't get, because dogs are clearly superior. Seriously, would a cat do this:

 

Yeah, dog's are superior... without question...

 

though I might questions that dog's taste in beer.

[USAFChief]

http://wanna-joke.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/funny-picture-dog-cats-thoughts-food-gods.jpg