Just Like A Banana…Split
Although the Twins didn’t win this 4-game series
against the Orioles, they sure played a couple great games Saturday
night and Sunday. The bats for the Twins just seem to be quieted on
Thursday night, none able to score any runs against the worst team in
MLB. Carl Pavano didn’t pitch poorly at all either in Thursday’s
outing. He only allowed a total of 2 runs (both earned) in his 8
innings of work. Why can’t the Twins muster up 2 measly runs or more
to give poor Carl Pavano a little support. This season, so far, Carl has
only allowed more than 2 runs in one of his six appearances. I think
this speaks very promising of the kind of pitcher Carl will be for us
for this season.
On the note of having a bad day, boy did Justin Morneau seem to have a
bad day at the plate on Sunday. When that man has a bad day, he goes
all out! He struck out 4 of 4 times during the game. Only 1 other game
this season has he struck out every time up to the plate (this one
was his season high so far, the other was only 3 at bats, and the other
game he struck out 3 times, he also paired that with 2 walks). I do
find this season a bit humorous for Justin, he uses “Rock and Roll
Ain’t Noise Pollution” for his at-bat music. The last time that Justin
has this song for what he entered to, was the year he was MVP. Do you
think he’s trying to regain that title again this year and take it away
from his buddy Joe Mauer, who’s got it the last two seasons?
Yesterday as well seemed to have a feel like I was in an episode of the
Twilight Zone. Alexi Casilla was one of the best hitters of the game.
He went 2 for 4, with a double and an RBI. This is not a regular thing
for Alexi. He hasn’t had more than one hit in any of the few games he’s
played so far this season, yet Gardy still prefers to play him over
Brendan Harris (while JJ Hardy is out).
Brendan Harris was also another great asset for the Twins yesterday, he
went 3 for 4 with a double, he wasn’t able to get any RBI’s, because it
didn’t seem like the guys who were in the line up before him could get
on base to give him the opportunity. I’d honestly like to see more of
Brendan Harris at 3rd (or short stop when JJ is unable to play).
I think Brendan has a great throwing arm, and he’s willing to dive for
the ball and make some great plays in the field. I think Gardy has a
tendency to put Brendan on the shelf and not use him, for what reason,
I’m not entirely sure.
This season, there seems to be a lot of smack talk
about Timmy (Scott Baker). Sure, I know, his first few outings
could have gone better. But after seeing him pitch, in my opinion, his
best outing of the season on Saturday night, I think he’s shown us the
kind of potential that he is capable of. He only allowed 1 earned run
in 8 innings pitched, which is the second time this season that he’s
only allowed one run. That run was a home run given up to Luke Scott in
the 5th inning (a solo shot).
Next (provided the rain stays away long enough to not interrupt or
post-pone the games), the Twins face off against division rivals,
the Chicago White Sux. It’ll be the first series (though a only two
game series) that I will miss seeing any of the games. So far, I
have been to 8 games, and all 8 of the games I have been to, the Twins
have won. I like being on this winning streaks and I think my “luck”
will truly be tested at the Yankees game I go to at the end of this
month. Let’s hope my luck continues and I do prove to be a good luck
charm for the Twins. It’d be nice…maybe I could get some free tickets
as a result. I definitely wouldn’t mind, nor pass those up.
Now enjoy some more pictures during this gloomy off day the Twins have
today. (pictures are from Saturday night and Sunday’s games)
(nope, Justin wasn’t looking for a ball, just
day dreaming)
Congratulation, Tigers, You Suck
Well it was a great day for baseball! Sure it was
a little cool and windy outside, and occasionally it liked raining on
us, but I couldn’t complain. I got out of work to go see the Twins to
help the win the final game against the Tigers! I now have a 6-0 record
when attending Twins games. I think I need to find out who to talk to
about getting free tickets since I am the good luck charm. I ended up
finding fabulous seats for cheap for the game yesterday. We were a mere
10 rows up in section 121. For the price we paid, we should have been
sitting in the 3rd level (the area behind home plate).
I was a little nervous, to be honest, about going
to the game yesterday. I didn’t want the Twins to lose (the sweep
was on the line, along with Kevin Slowey getting another win!) and I
didn’t want to tarnish my record and have any games in the loss
column. Thankfully the Twins took an early lead of 2-0 in the first, (which
for those who didn’t know, they are the first team since the 1971
Yankees to do so in 6 consecutive games) and got off to a great
start. The only runs that the Tigers scored were on home runs, and
there was only 2 players getting these home runs: Avila and Cabrera.
Thankfully the Tigers had no base runners on, and thankfully Jon Rauch
was plagued by Avila as well when he faced him.
Overall, this series was good to sweep! It pushed
the Tigers to 3 1/2 games behind us and it made us look like a force to
be reckoned with! I would’ve wrote about the game on Tuesday night (I
was at that one as well), but the little bit of time I had before
the game yesterday afternoon didn’t allow for me to get anything
written! I was very impressed with Nick Blackburn and his complete game
that he pitched. Sure, I’d like to take back that home run he gave up (the
tying run in the 9th inning), but hey, at least JJ Hardy pulled
through for us with not only a diving save (which lead to an out),
but also a great plate appearance, scoring the winning run on a wild
pitch. I’m sure Detroit would like to have that game back. It was
awful for them!
I am tired of seeing Kubel not be able to hit the
ball to save his life. I know that FSN was calling his ONE HIT
good, but one hit does not make you a good player. He got out both
times that the Twins had the bases loaded for him. Last year, Kubel
would have knocked that ball out of the park and made the bases loaded
haunt the other team. This year, it’s our version of Kryptonite, it
just kills us and the other team makes it out of the inning without any
more harm. So far Target Field is like how the Metrodome was to Matt
Garza, he just can’t play the best there. Which is sad, and I would
love to see change going forward.
I did find it funny that Nick Punto plays a Phil Collins song for his
at-bat music. That man has some strange taste in music, that’s for
sure. I guess it’s better than him playing “Satisfaction” by Benni
Benassi. I guess hearing Phil Collins every time Punto is up to bat is
better than seeing Jon Rauch naked on the large video screen (mainly
his tattoos, but he’s at least 1/2 naked). The Twins’ twitter
person asked what people thought of the video, I responded. “It’s
gross. I don’t want to see Rauch naked, or even partially.”
Being that the Twins WON the series on Tuesday night, and swept
yesterday, your beloved 3 Stars of
the Series:
3. Michael Cuddyer (his 3 run blast got him 3 more bags of
Skittles, he almost threw Cabrera out at first base, on what should’ve
been a single though Cabrera ran slowly, and Cuddy was all-around great
this series!)
2. JJ Hardy (he went 2 for 4 in both games of the
series that he played, had the winning run on Tuesday and made some
outstanding defensive plays as well!)
1. Denard Span (he was rocking Detroit and hitting at least
.500 in every game. It was fun to watch him get on base every game!)
Now, I present some more pictures from the game yesterday! Enjoy:
Gracias, Ramos!
Last night’s win was a well deserved win! It was
great seeing Scott Baker pitch well and the players remembering how to
hit the ball and score runs (even with RISP!) There’s been a lot
of mean comments made lately about Scott Baker, which I know he hasn’t
had the best outings so far, and he is our ace, but how do we know that
he isn’t seeing these dirty remarks about how he shouldn’t be our ace,
etc and that is what’s been causing him to be a slight head-case when
he’s pitching. He’s been having a tendency to over think his pitches,
which results in the ball being left up over the plate. Maybe after
this performance some people will cut him some slack. I understand that
people have bad days and they really are a hit to confidence and
self-esteem. I want Timmy to do better! I want him to prove that he is
the ace of our staff and that he can indeed get the job done.
I did find it highly amusing (and kinda sad) that when J’Michael
Cuddyer hit his 3-run home run that after anxiously awaiting the balls
landing, the first thing that came out of my mouth was “SKITTLES!” (for
those who don’t know the background story behind Skittles…Katie last
year started promising Cuddy Skittles for every home run. At the last
baseball unplugged, she actually GAVE Cuddy Skittles. This year, I’ve
helped her modify it slightly. Cuddy gets Skittles (+1 for solo hr, +2
for 2-run, etc) for his home runs, but he loses 3 Skittles for every
strike out.) I think this either means I’m hoping Cuddy gets out of
the negative for Skittles, or that I hang out with Katie too much. I
can’t decide! I find this stat funny: Michael Cuddyer has hit all of
his home runs at home, and Justin Morneau has hit all of his on the road
so far this season! We need Justin to start hitting some at home! See
how far he can send the ball flying!
What a night again for Wilson Ramos. He’s gonna win the fans over
quickly at this rate. It’s really good to see him have another good
night at the plate. Now, I’m sorry, but I do understand why he was sent
down to Triple-A Rochester at the end of Spring Training. This kid should
be hitting and playing every day. He’s too good to have sit on a bench
and only play once a week (maybe). I think what we all should
do (along with the Twins) is enjoy Ramos while he is here. Once
Joe returns to the line-up, I’m guessing that he’ll return to
Rochester. I think Ramos is going to make his case to become some very
good trade bait for the Twins in the future.
Well today, I want to send out a Happy
Birthday to Kevin Slowey! Hopefully his team can pull
out a win for him, and the clouds and rain can stay away for the game
tonight. Here’s hoping for no thunderstorms during game time (for
partially selfish reasons too, since I’ll be at the game tonight).
Gardy Has A Man-Crush
I think I’m going to get this sweatshirt for Gardy
since he seems to have man crushes on a few different players.
(sweatshirt on Zazzle).
It’s pretty obvious who he tends to favor and who sits in his doghouse
frequently. It’s like watching Jacques Lamaire coach the Wild again and
knowing the guy who gets the 5 minutes of ice time, or frequently is
the scratched player (even when they are a top prospect). It’s
also kind of frustrating at times.
So I really loved watching Wilson Ramos’ performance in yesterday’s
game! It was clear that he’s an overall better player than Drew Butera,
but to play fair, I think it’s also kind of a blow to Drew that Gardy
said that Ramos will be the “starting” catcher while Joe is out. (Which
by the way, if Gardy says Joe is “week to week”, why aren’t they
putting him on the DL? It’s killing my fantasy team too!) I think
it could potentially make Drew lose even more confidence than he already
has (having poor at-bats and a low average). I think Gardy
needs to trust in some of the decisions he makes, and back them up.
Don’t get me wrong, I think at this point Ramos is a better starter, I
mean how can anyone really argue the day he had yesterday in his first
MLB start. He didn’t look like a 22-year old and a rookie at that. He
looked like a professional and if he was nervous, he sure didn’t show
it. I however am not going to base my like/dislike (I’m Swiss right
now, aka neutral) on one games’ performance. I think you need to
consider overall, and roll with that.
I wish I would’ve been able to catch Saturday’s game (even though the
Twins lost), but I unfortunately had to work. Work’s been busy, so
that’s why the blog has been a bit dim this past week. I promise to
try and be better from now on.
I think the Twins did alright on Friday night. Sure, Kevin Slowey had a
meltdown and had a hard time getting through 5 innings. I think he’s
been doing a little too many hanging out with Scott Baker. Scott Baker
needs to up his game. I still love him, and I feel bad that he’s had
such rough outings, but I think it’s more of a mental thing than a not
being able to pitch good thing. It was great seeing Justin go deep in
the first inning, I always enjoy those kind of starts.
Saturday’s game was disappointing to watch ESPN update the score on my
phone, only to see Matty G squander our 2-run lead and then the Twins
ultimately lose in extra innings. Boys, this is not like hockey. There
are no points for losing in extra innings. If there were, we’d have
more than a 1/2 game lead over Detroit. How the hell did they get so
close to us in the standings?!
Sunday’s game, well I missed the top half of the first inning, and I
missed Orlando Hudson getting a 2-run jack. Yesterday was the day of me
missing every home run that the Twins hit. I ran to get gas for my
car, and in the meanwhile, I missed Thome and Delmon’s blasts! I wished
I would have been able to see all of them, but I’ll survive missing
them. I’m just glad that the Twins won, Liriano was decent in his
outing, and Jesse Crain (Crain-wreck) didn’t screw us over big time.
I’m happy the Twins are back home for a good long week +. I’ll be at
the game 3 of the 9 game home stand. It should be fun seeing the boys in
person again. They’ve been away too long.
One thing I am a little miffed about, the Pat Neshek situation. If Pat
hadn’t told the Twins that his finger still hurt, Dick Bremer said he
would have been on his way to Triple-A Rochester. They want to demote
Pat Neshek, but yet when Mijares, Crain suck, they get a pat on the butt
and another chance to blow things. Pat Neshek has one bad outing (in
all his times out this year) and he gets threatened to be demoted.
Sure I understand that they needed room for Wilson Ramos since Joe is
listed as day-to-day, but they had other options. They aren’t in need
of the extra bench player for reasons like inter-league play. They
don’t go to a NL teams place until June 18th. There seems to be enough
bench options to part with one while Joe is out…and if Joe is out for a
couple weeks, putting him on the DL would solve another problem. Maybe
we need to start another one of those “Pitch In For Pat” Campaigns…
Okay, almost forgot the 3 Stars of
the Cleveland Series:
3. Delmon Young (yes he
didn’t play in ever game either, but yesterday I think he showed us
what he really is capable of! I like it!)
2. Wilson Ramos (the
rookie only had one game to get on the list, and he deserved it. Let’s
hope he keeps this up!)
1. Orlando Hudson (he
was a power house and had 3 good nights at the plate.)
Welcome to the Freak Show
Last night it felt like I
was watching a three-ring circus. Okay, so maybe not entirely like
that, but it was an odd game. First of all, the Twins’ runs were not
scored on hits. Justin Verlander got the loss (which I’m thankful for),
though he allowed 0 earned runs. Denard Span got tossed quickly (though
none of us know exactly WHY he was tossed, I for one don’t believe it
was necessarily that he said anything. I think it was his action that
led to him getting tossed.) I was thankful that I was not at the
game, because it was have been a score keepers nightmare! Having to
move Cuddy from RF to 1B and then out to CF, and then Young in the game
to LF, Kubel from LF to RF and Brendan Harris from 3B to 1B. OY! What a
blunder.
Thankfully the inability to get hits with RISP did not bite us in the
butt last night. We capitalized on the errors the Tigers made and
scored our runs on their mistakes. The best entertainment of my night (besides
putting the TC logo on beads for a bracelet and earrings I was making),
was a tweet I received in response to saying this: “Wow with how
slow Jim Thome runs, I think I could run faster than him. And I don’t
run fast!” The response from Bennyc50: “Jim Thome doesn’t run,
the earth moves beneath him.“ I don’t think I’ve laughed so hard.
Not much else to say about the game last night, other than I’m glad we
won. I’m hoping we secure the series with a win tonight.
I’ll post a picture of the bracelet and earrings I did later.
‘Cause It’s Broken
Apparently the Twins have broken brooms and can’t
figure out how to sweep a team. I’m saddened with the fact that Kevin
Slowey took another loss in yesterdays game. Do I entirely blame him
for the loss? Absolutely not; and this is not my adoration for Kevin
talking, this is the fact that we left numerous guys STRANDED on
base. How many times were the bases loaded yesterday and no one could
get that “clutch” hit? With runners in scoring position, the Twins were 1
for 11!
I am pleased that the Twins have now won 6 series in a row. That’s a
great accomplishment and it’s never been done in Twins’ history. As
much as I would like them to win every game and sweep every team, I am
realistic and know that it probably wouldn’t happen (for any team
really). They’re just reminding us that they are not perfect, but
are pretty high up there!
I’ll give you the 3 Stars of the
Series before moving onto some highlights (and maybe some
low-lights) of the KC Royals series.
3. Justin Morneau (he’s been somewhat of a hero this who
season so far. I’m liking his offensive numbers, his home runs, and his
golden glove worthy sprawls)
2. Orlando Hudson (he made good defensive moves and had a
couple good nights at the plate)
1. Joe Mauer (baby Jesus has just been himself and produced
and played well each and every night he plays. He went 5-6 on Saturday
nights-game that would never end-bash.)
HIGHLIGHTS:
*JJ Hardy getting a homer on Friday night
*Jim Thome going deep Friday night as well (now you only owe us 54
more, Jim! Keep up the good work. I think you’re setting a decent pace.)
*J’Michael Cuddyer racking up a few more RBI’s bringing the total up to
17 for the season so far!
*Carl Pavano not having a meltdown and holding his run give-a-way total
to a mere 2!
*Justin Morneau going deep two games in a row. 1 game I asked for the
homer, the other, he just knew I wanted it.
*JJ Hardy getting a hit while my mom and I were talking a bit of smack
about him (it was out of love, I swear!)
*Orlando Hudson for selling that 3rd out at second base to end the
brutal 12-inning 4 hour, 15 minute game.
*The Twins for coming back and winning the 4 hour marathon game on
Saturday.
*Pat Neshek for being a bad-*** and coming out to save the day. (it
was unfortunate that Gardy didn’t use him more than just that one lovely
inning on Saturday)
*Jon Rauch blowing the save (yes, I’m not a fan of this, but it made
me laugh, plus the Twins won, so no one get their panties in a bunch.)
*The Twins running Gil Meche out by the 4th inning on Friday’s game.
*Pat Neshek for still having a 0.00 ERA.
*The Crain-wreck for not having a melt-down and giving up oodles of runs
against us.
*The Twins for being the Twins and being so much fun to watch.
*Winning 6 Series in a row!
LOWLIGHTS:
*1 for 11 with RISP
*1 for 13 with RISP
*Jim Thome only having hit 3 home runs this season
*12 inning games
*Games that last 4 hours and 15 minutes
*Leaving the bases loaded.
*Jon Rauch blowing the save and our lead.
*Bert and Dick continuing to jinx players with their “calls”.
*Bert’s “calls”. (they ALWAYS result in the player getting
out.)
*Losing yesterday
*Kevin Slowey getting the loss
*Being unable to sweep teams that we should be able to DOMINATE.
*Being told I spelled a player on another team’s name wrong (I
flopped two letters around) and being told it was a “major fail”.
*Never sweeping a team (so far).
Off day today…and Detroit Tigers
Tuesday – Thursday!
Meanwhile, this is totally off the subject of my blog, but I have a
prayer request (for those who pray). A friend of mine was shot
and killed when her’s and her husband’s house got broken into. I am
also good friends with Nick (the husband)’s sister Emily. Please
keep the family in your thoughts and prayers! This is such a terrible
tragedy. If you want to read about the tragedy, GO
HERE.
Couldn’t Pull The Trigger
So the Twins couldn’t yet again pull off a series
sweep of a team. This time the team that lucked out and seemed to
capitalize on this was Cleveland. For some reason the Twins just
couldn’t pull the trigger and get anything done yesterday. I’m not
going to lie and say that I was a champ and sat through that game (listening
mainly, watching only a little bit)…I didn’t. I went home for
lunch, watched about a half hour of the *** ******** and then decided
that a nap was more enjoyable to the game. When I went back to work (when
the Indians had the bases loaded with no outs), the Twins did not
go back on the radio. I left it up to Twitter to tell me the final
score (and when runs were scored in general). It was hard to
look at the box score and see that the Twins only had 4 hits in the
entire game, two coming from Justin, one from Drew Butera (his first
MLB hit! So congrats Drew!!) and one from Denard. From our offense I
would have expected a bit more. Is that being greedy or having too
high of expectations? No, I don’t think it is. I think the Twins have
set these expectations that every one is placing on them. They are
excelling more than most would have thought possible.
love you Timmy! (Scott Baker)
Wednesday night however was a different story. Sure they only had
two more hits than yesterday’s game, but Wednesday night their walks
seem to haunt a little bit more and hit the Indians where it counted.
You don’t necessarily need an abundance of hits, you just need the
clutch hits, the run scoring hits (or walks) to win the games.
As much as I loved
J’Michael Cuddyer getting a home run to give the Twins a 4-0 lead (at
that time), I didn’t like that he was in the lineup that my fantasy
team was playing this week. With Kubel hitting poorly right now (a
mere .180 after Thursday’s game) and being on my team. Currently
I’m sitting at the very bottom of 10 teams in the standings. Kubel’s
*** is going on the bench now for a while, and I’m going to give someone
else the opportunity to raise some hell, since he can’t do it.
Thankfully, Colby Rasmus
was a bad *** the same night as Cuddy went deep. Rasmus went deep
twice in the game, so that helped the blow I took from Cuddy.
the bag before Thursday’s game. It marked the first time that the
Twins have won 5 series in a row. This year is really starting to
become the year of firsts (obviously with the new field that opens up
a lot more firsts). What else will the Twins be able to make a
“first” of?
these few games. He’s gotten some clutch hits that we’ve needed and
seems to be one of the guys that’s been quite consistent with getting
hits back to back games.)
how he might pitch and went 8 innings allowing no runs. I’m not the
biggest fan of his, but I will give him credit. He pitched a great game
and got out of jambs that could’ve have been quite lethal.)
Probably a little, since I love him so much, but I don’t care! Kevin
pitched an outstanding 8 innings only allowing 1 run. I think Gardy
should’ve brought him out for the 9th, but at 97 pitches he turned it
over to Brian Duensing.)
sounds like the series this weekend against the Royals could be
difficult to play due to rain threatening. I won’t be able to catch
tonight’s game if played (due to a conflict that will keep me away
from TV and radio until probably around 10pm). I will however be
checking Twitter and ESPN for constant updates about the games’
progress! I think Carl Pavano has what it takes to dominate the
Royals. Thankfully this road trip will keep the Twins in our time zone (or
ahead of us) so that no one has to stay up until late in the night
just to catch the full game. Plus they will be facing division rivals,
which will give them a chance at gaining more of a lead in the AL
Central Division. I look forward to seeing how many games they can inch
ahead.
Rockin’ The Slow Ride
Last night marked game #4 that I have been at. I
am loving the new stadium, I am in full baseball mode and it’s great!
The Twins having such a hot game right now makes it that much better!
If our team was like…Baltimore (who are 2-13 this season so far)
I might not be flying as high on Cloud 9 as I am. Then again, the fact
that the Twins have by far THE best looking team in MLB. If you
want to try and argue with me, go right ahead and try. I’m not backing
down on that statement though.
How could last night’s game get any better? Watching Cleveland have a
meltdown (errors on the field and just all over bad fielding),
Kevin Slowey rocking their socks off and pitching 8 innings with only 1
earned run (I felt he should have came back out for the 9th and got
the complete game, but sadly Gardy didn’t think on the same note as I
did!), I didn’t have to see Jon Rauch pitch (which I’ve seen him
every other game I’ve been at), did I mention Kevin Slowey was
pitching?
Well my friends and I were all rocking Slowey shirts (jersey for me).
We were representing the Kevin Slowey Fan Club (sorry other Slowey
fans, I am the President and CEO of that club.) which we have
unofficially taken upon ourselves to start. Why not, right? We
probably were some of the loudest people at the game (sure we were
sitting up where our noses could have bled and the air was much lighter).
We probably even were some of THOSE fans that other people hate
because they cheer so much. But why not cheer at a baseball game?
That’s why we are there!! Plus now that we are outdoors, you have to
cheer louder to be heard.
We had seats in section 305, in the VERY last
row of the 300-level. What’s that view look like, you ask? See here:
It’s not as bad as it would sound if I were just
to tell you that we were in the very last row, close to the furthest
away you can get from the field/players, but it was really great. Sure I
couldn’t get the kind of pictures of the players that I like to get,
but it was a beautiful view and you could see EVERYTHING (with
the exception of the small foul territory in right field).
It was such a perfect night for outdoor baseball.
This is what outdoor baseball should always be like. The sky was
beautiful, the game was fabulous and we had a blast. I honestly don’t
think I could have gotten a better game to go to. I’m hoping that
Slowey and Co. prove me wrong and show me something (at a later game)
even more outstanding.
Some have talked about whether or not the Twins have faced a challenging
team yet this season (and that maybe they are doing so well because
they are facing the less difficult teams). I don’t really think
that this is the case. I think any team (minus Baltimore perhaps) could
be a competitor. It is only April still. Things can change, and they
can change quickly. I’m ready for a season of more firsts for the
Twins!
So far I feel like I have been great luck (for the games I have been
at). I have an undefeated record of 4-0, so I feel like I’m on a
good roll. I guess the Yankees game in May will determine my true
“luck”. I’m hoping and praying my luck continues with the team…and if
so, I really think that the Twins should fuel my luck and have me at ALL
the Twins home games (heck, even road games) so that they can
continue to be on FIRE! Am I really this cocky and think that I
am the only good luck charm? Maybe…I guess I won’t divulge my
true nature. You can take it however you want.
Now enjoy some more pictures from the game (from the nose bleed seats).
Tonight, watch some Twins baseball and see Liriano take the mound.
Jesus for allowing him to get on base
sunset view we had
still in the sunlight
Target Field
the fence behind us
lighting up with the words “Twins” and “Win”!
Well Joe…They Say It’s Your Birthday
Well first I’d like to start off by saying Happy
Birthday to Joe Mauer, who turns 27 today. Happy Birthday Joe.
Okay, on to other Twins goodies. First, is anyone else as happy as I am
that we have won 4 series in a row now? This is the first time that
the Twins have done this! I think it’s an excellent start to an
exceptional season! Are there some quirks and kinks they still need to
work out? Obviously there is after the performance they put on
yesterday when they lost miserably to the KC Royals. With the exception
of the game yesterday, I think the Twins have handled all these teams
really well. Now the big quest this year will be beating the Yankees in
May. I think they have it in them to do!
Well Saturday I got to explore Target Field some
more. I got to show my parents and my boyfriend the field for the first
time. I felt like a tour guide, and I really don’t know the field all
that well yet, but I still knew more than them. I think they all liked
it and had a blast at the game. My mom kept telling people like Thome,
Justin and others to hit a ball to us! (We were in section 140…which
is in FOUL TERRITORY). I had to constantly remind her that
they ball would be foul if they did hit it to us.
I did ask Jim Thome to get a home run, right
before he hit the ball into the trees. It made me like Jim Thome a bit
more. I’ve noticed that no matter how many games we get into the season
(and the new field) the concourses and the main Pro Shop do not
seem to get any less busy. Hopefully that’ll change over the season
because quite frankly, it’s hard to get around the concourses before the
game.
Let’s move on now to the 3 Stars
of the Series (Against KC Royals):
3. Alex Burnett (he pitched great in yesterdays game. He kept
us in the game not allowing any runs.)
2. Jim Thome (loved
watching his 2-run blast Saturday!)
1. Birthday boy Joe Mauer (He’s easy look
over just because it’s unusual when he does poorly. Joe didn’t
though…he played well and had good numbers at the plate over the whole
series.)
warming up on the field Saturday
Last night I had the
privilege of going to the first Baseball Unplugged of the season (which
I learned that this year there will be a total of 6 of them, rather
than the usual 4). It was Drew Butera, Delmon Young and Michael
Cuddyer. I hadn’t ever met Drew or Delmon so I figured why not?! Here are some highlights from the night:
*Delmon Young looks MUCH better in person and in street
clothes than he does on TV (or at games) in his uniform.
*Drew Butera looks A LOT like his
dad (who was sitting near him at the event.) (SIDE NOTE: Drew can
walk around a huge crowd of people and no one questions if he’s a
baseball player. He did this and no one bothered him. I wonder if Joe
Mauer envies him.)
*None of these three players wear sunscreen…or as they called
it “sun tan lotion”. (A little girl asked them what SPF they wear.)
*Because of Cuddy’s response to the SPF question, I will now call
him J’Michael Cuddyer for more reasons than just the “He needs a J
name”. He said he wanted to look like that guy (pointing at Delmon
Young) so he doesn’t wear an “sun tan lotion”.
*I have WAY too many J’Michael Cuddyer autographs (if
anyone has something they want him to sign…find a way to get it to me
and I’ll get it signed for ya!)
*Delmon Young and Drew Butera are both single…and unattached to
a girlfriend.
*Drew Butera liked watching the Mets/Cardinals game on TV last
night.
*Drew Butera is HOT in person.
*J’Michael Cuddyer liked his skittles he got last year from
Katie!
*J’Michael likes wearing hats.
*The host from the event (not Cuddy) must
recognize me cause he walked past me twice (while I had my hand up to
ask a question) and never let me ask my question to Drew.
*I like Baseball Unplugged. It’s entertaining and fun to see the
guys in street clothes.
A side note not related to Unplugged…everyone can look forward to
pictures I’ll have after the May 27th Twins/Yankees game. I’ll be
sitting right behind home plate (Row 1, lower level), so I’m sure I’ll
have some great pictures to show for it! Hopefully my friends and I
won’t get kicked out of the game for cat calls, or making fun of the
Yankees too much. It should be entertaining for sure.
Here’s a little extra Unplugged love for
those who haven’t seen it yet. Last year I asked J’Michael Cuddyer to
do a magic trick for me (using cards). Watch the video (link
below) to see his magic trick and see if you can figure out how he
did it! Enjoy!
Don’t Wobble Too Much Weeble
On a day in baseball where you can get confused if
you don’t know players on a team (since everyone wears number 42 in
honor of Jackie Robinson) it was great to see the Twins power past
the Red Sox and take the series, not only with a win, but blanking the
Red Sox with 0 runs!
Did you know the last time they won three series at the start of a
season was 1987? (Thanks to Joe Christensen from the Star
Tribune, because I didn’t know this either!) 1987 was one of the 2
years (in my lifetime) that the Twins WON the World
Series? Anyone else see our 7-3 stars as a good omen? I sure hope
that’s what it is.
After Liriano was taken out, I was worried when I saw Jose Mijiares take
the mound. His “cataracts” are really starting to bother me when he
goes out onto the mound to pitch. The man is having “blurry” vision and
claims it’s because of cataracts. Did you know that cataracts can be caused
by corticosteroids
(among other things)? Not sure what those are…click on it to
read about it. My thoughts are this: Why doesn’t Mijares get surgery
NOW on his cataracts rather than wait until the end of the season to get
it done. This kind of surgery is not a season-ending surgery.
I’d rather have him take care of this obvious problem rather than
have it haunt us down the line when games are really important.
I’m really glad that Justin and Nicky Punto were finally able to pull
the sticks from their butts and get some hits yesterday! I begged,
while listening to the game on the radio, for Justin to get a hit after
they intentionally walked Joe Mauer. It’s nice to see that he made the
Red Sox pay for walking our MVP! I was also incredibly impressed by
Jason Kubel’s diving catch to snag a possible hit from the Sox. It
looked like his fridge (that he pulls behind him, or so it looks like
it) knocked him over just in time for him to grab the ball. Did
you miss that catch? You need to check it out! HERE
Here are a couple pictures showing the fantastic catch as well!
Since they won this series as well, here are the 3 Stars of the Series!
3. Denard Span (he had 4
walks on Wednesday, a couple on Monday and still managed to get some
hits during the series.)
2. Michael Cuddyer (Cuddy
was the second person to hit a home run in Target Field, and his home
run was superb! He also has had decent outings over the series.)
1. Jason Kubel (Not
only does this man make diving saves to catch a ball, but he bashes
balls out of the park (1 HR, 1st in TF) and also just gets on base.)
Tomorrow, Game 2 (technically 3 including the second of the two
exhibition games played at Target Field that I was at) for me at
Target Field! I’ll be slumming it again in section 140, so no pictures
are promised of the players at least. I’ll try to capture some other
fun sites at Target Field. Who knows, I may go early enough to check
out batting practice for the Twins. It’d be nice to see batting
practice in the new park (since I missed it at opener). If
anyone else is going to the game, let me know!
Shameless plug of the day: Know
anyone who would love a pair of earrings that are baseball/Twins
related? Or a baseball bracelet to wear on game days? Let me know…I
make jewelry! Here’s a couple pictures of the ones I’ve done so far.
Other shameless
plug of the day:
next Twins Centric Blogger/Tweet Up Viewing Party! Here are the
details!
Sports Cafe – Bloomington, MN
Normandale Blvd
mlblogsfottheloveofthegame
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