Quoting

Friday: Twins 12 - A's 2
Saturday: Twins 2 - A's 3

"You have to take the good with the bad." ~ My Mother-In-Law

But why? The good is so much more fun to take than the bad. Friday's win made me feel all happy and cozy and glad. Saturday's loss made me feel like I had just been punched in the gut.

Looking back on this road trip, however, the Twins need to finish up with more good than bad in order to maintain balance. And it's pretty annoying that I have ask for balance when I really prefer asking for mostly good.

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"A single play does not decide the outcome of an entire game." ~ My friend G.V.

That may be true -- the Twins did waste a few scoring opportunities to increase their lead, and Joe shouldn't have plunked Emil Brown -- but that E-1 pretty much came as close to defining the whole game as any single play could. It almost felt like the Baseball Gods were goofing around and made all that chaos happen for their own amusement. Too bad they can't tell the umpires, "Haha, just kidding. We didn't mean it. The Twins really won."

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"As any athlete knows, momentum is the most unstoppable force in sports. The only way to stop it is if you get in your own way, start making stupid mistakes or stop believing in yourself." ~ Rocco Mediate

The Twins' momentum on this road trip feels a lot like trying to start an old car in the dead of winter. "Come on...yes...ugh...come on, come on...there you go...nope...come on, now...you can do it...come on...no...please..." Optimism to hearbreak to optimism to heartbreak again. And so it goes.

Come on, guys, build your momentum and go with it. Please?

Missing

Twins 2 - Oakland 3


Name: Run Support
Description: Scoring enough runs so that your pitchers can relax and your team can win. Especially useful when your pitchers are performing well.
Last Seen: August 22, 2008 in Aneheim, CA

If you see, or know the whereabouts of, Run Support, please contact Nick Blackburn c/o The Minnesota Twins.

Just Shy of Embarassing

Tuesday: Twins 2 - Mariners 3
Wednesday: Twins 6 - Mariners 5

Well, at least we didn't get swept. That's something. Of course, we all expected better, but I guess we'll have to take what we can get. Oh, and we're back to one game back, so that's something too (thanks Orioles).

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How much do we love D-Span and Red Dog today? If not for that strong, accurate throw, and the block, catch, and tag, things may have been very different. And did you see their faces after that play? They were both so happy, it was adorable. However, I'm a tad disappointed that Eddie got everyone in that situation to begin with. I'll just leave it at that.

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I was so into being crabby the last couple days, I totally forgot to say "so long" to Mike Lamb. He had been pushed so far down to the end of the bench, I kept kinda forgetting about him. In fact, I kinda figured it would've been Boof or Everett let go because Lamb never occurred to me. Well, I do hope he hooks on somewhere.

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Hey, what do you think of my new computer? Well, it's not really new; it's new to me. I gave up my 10 year old laptop for a 5 year old laptop. It is a lot faster, which makes me happy. Doesn't it make my blogging look better? Too bad it can't make me a better writer.

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So the A's are next. I'm not going to make any predictions or demands. The Twins already know what I want. So guys, get to it and battle your tails off.

Buzzkill

Twins 2 - Mariners 4 (11)

Gag! I was so happy that the Twins got Eddie back. I was even happier that he pitched. I was thrilled that he pitched a tidy inning for a hold. Then...

Then Nathan gave up that double, but I was still ok. Then...

Then Punto booted that ball. Ugh! Nicky, keep you eye on the damn ball! The runner was going to third anyways, so you didn't need to be looking over at third base. You needed to field that ball and get the out!

Everyone's going to say that the bullpen blew the game. I don't buy it. The defense blew the game -- AGAIN! Their first two runs were the result of errors. If not for those, the Twins wouldn't have needed to go to Crain in the eleventh; the game would have been over with Nathan in the ninth.

And the offense didn't help much either. They were up there flailing at pitches like they were completely over matched.

Come on guys! You have to play like you actually want to win. Especially now. I didn't see any of that tonight.

And another thing: I'm getting really tired of hearing about how long this road trip is. (Well, to be fair, it's really the reporters complaining about the road trip.) If you think about it, it's only longer than a "normal" road trip by one series. So, as of today, it hasn't been a long road trip yet. Stop playing like you're exhausted; you're not.

Ok, sorry if this was a little harsh. But I'm more than a little crabby about the whole thing.

Ed-die, Ed-die, Ed-die -- He's Back!

I'm writing this at work, so I have to keep it brief, but I can't contain my excitement.

Twins bring back Guardado to help bullpen. I ♥loved♥ Eddie. I missed Eddie. I am tickled pink that he's back. He always seemed like a great guy to out and have a beer with. And I always loved how he would make me really, really nervous whenever he pitched, but he always managed to get the job done.

Welcome back, Eddie.

More on my excitement later. It'll be interesting to see who gets sent down to make room.

Hey, I'm Back

I've returned from my business trip to San Francisco. Fortunately, the meetings scheduled for Friday were canceled. My colleagues scattered to do their own things, which afforded me the opportunity to go to a Giants game. I had a great time, and AT&T Park is a beautiful ballpark. I was especially excited because Tim Lincecum pitched. And the Giants won 5-0.

Some things I learned about AT&T Park:

• Tickets are very expensive. The lower level seats range from $75 to $85. I'll take a $26 upper level seat, thank you very much.
• No one comes to the game early. I got there about an hour and half before first pitch, and I had the concourse all to myself. I pretty much had my section to myself until about 15 minutes before first pitch. It finally dawned on me why after I had been sitting there about 45 minutes. It's cold there.
• When the fog rolls in off the bay, and the wind whips up (which I think it does every night), it gets pretty bone-chilling in there. Luckily I brought a sweatshirt, so even though I was a little chilly, I wasn't terribly uncomfortable.
• All the staff members I talked to were very friendly and helpful. More so than I'm used to.
• The hot chocolate and coffee vendors outnumber the beer vendors.
• The churros vendor has a beautiful baritone voice. He should sing opera.
• The fans adore Tim Lincecum. And he was brilliant -- 8 innings, 4 hits, 0 runs, 3 walks, 8 Ks.
• Bengie Molina and Pablo Sandoval are so big and slow that when they reached, the Padres didn't even bother to hold them on first.

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What Did I Miss While I Was Gone?
So the Twins took care of the A's on Wednesday, so that was good. And they took the first two from the Angels to re-take the lead in the division. Too bad that they just gave it back as I write this.

I said before the Angels series that I would be satisfied with a split. However, I'm less than satisfied that the bullpen coughed up the lead in today's game. Come on!

We need to sweep the Mariners, and we need the Orioles to beat the White Sox multiple times. Let's get that division lead back, and keep it!

A's is for ...

Monday: Twins 2 - Oakland 3
Tuesday: in progress (final: Twins 13 - Oakland 2)

Yesterday, I really wanted to give Nick Blackburn a hug (ok, I can't really think of a time when I don't want to give Nick Blackburn a hug, but even more so yesterday). It kind of sucked that his first pitch was smacked for a homerun. I can imagine that put him in a bad mood from the get go. I know it put me in a bad mood from the get go. But he wound up pitching pretty well, and went eight innings. A little more run support would've been nice.

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I have to keep reminding myself that yesterday's loss wasn't the end of the world. For some reason, some losses are harder to take than others; I don't know why that one was. Was it because the A's are so awful that we really should win? Was it because I disagreed with the umpire for about three-quarters of the game? Was it because the Twins looked so blah? Was it because the White Sox were playing, and beating, the Mariners to take the lead in the division? Was it because I think I can play left-field better than Delmon Young? Was it because Brendan Harris really needed to take the stinking bat off his shoulder?

Yeah, pretty much all that.

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Well, crappola. Here we go again with giving up a lead-off homerun again. STOP IT!

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Speaking of disagreeing with umpires, I have some things to say...

Last night: How do you call Joe Mauer out on strikes? Don't you know who he is? He's Joe Freaking Mauer! He doesn't take strike three. He knows the strike zone better than you do, moron.

Tonight: Wow! I respectfully request that you give my pitcher that call. I mean, if Justin Morneau can't reach it, and you're calling it a strike, I bet Kevin Slowey would appreciate that same advantage.

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So the Twins' preferred hand specialist must be enjoying the job security afforded him by the boys. Poor Adam "Adam" Everett got plunked in the hand by a foul ball while he was sitting innocently in the dugout. I'm telling you... Oven Mitts for everyone.

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Botton 2nd: Nice jack, BuschMan! And nice RBI triple, D-Span!
Top 3rd: And sweeeet play, Li'l Nicky!

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Will someone please cast a hex/jinx/spell/curse on the White Sox? I mean seriously, they aren't really this good, are they?

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Bottom 3rd: Run Randy, run! Good job, Randy. Now go get some oxygen.

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Bottom 5th: Ha! Go-Go hit a Ho-Ho!

(I hope that didn't come across too creepy. I meant it in the most innocent way possible. Really.)

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Mid 7th: So with all the hitting, and the running, and the scoring and everything, the superhero of the game is K-Slo. Twelve Ks in seven innings. Nice job, honey. And nice game, guys.

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Blog Update: I'm going on a business trip for the rest of the week. I'll be back Sunday. Dear Twins, please please please, take care of the California teams, 'k?

Way Too Difficult

Saturday: Twins 7 - Mariners 6
Sunday: Twins 11 - Mariners 8

Yikes. I'm glad we swept the Mariners and all, but sheesh, did it have to so gut-wrenching? I guess the lesson here is that the games are pretty exciting when both teams keep trying and no one takes anything for granted.

I can probably take responsibility for Saturday's near-choke. We were invited to our friends' house to go out on the pontoon and hang out. I watched the game before we left, and listened in the car on the way there. The Twins were leading 5 - 0 when we arrived, and hubby said, "they've got this game well in hand." After we said our hellos to everyone, I fixed a plate of appetizers, then promptly spilled barbecue sauce on my white Twins shirt. Ugh. As my friend was helping me clean it up, I joked, "I hope I didn't just jinx the Twins by staining my shirt." When we done getting the stain out, we walked back into the family room and looked at the score. NO! The Mariners had taken the lead. I guess I did jinx them with my BBQ wienie mishap. Fortunately, the Twins hitters decided that a stain on white shirt was not a good enough reason to lose the game, and came back to win in exciting fashion.

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Today's game seemed even more difficult than yesterday's. I guess I don't like it when the pitcher makes things so interesting. And it took forever to get through the last three innings. I had a bunch of errands to run (gotta love back-to-school shopping - not!), so I left after the sixth, with the Twins leading 10 - 4, thinking, "well, they have this well in hand." (Third time in the last two weeks I've made that mistake regarding the Mariners. You'd think I'd learn.) So while I was driving about, I was screaming at the radio.

I got to Dick's Sporting Goods in time to watch the ninth inning on their big screen. I was standing there watching the game while mini-bro was trying on football cleats. The sales guys were telling each other "this is why I hate the Twins; they always do this." I asked them why they said that and they told me that the Twins always give up the lead and wind up losing. I asked them if they've seen their record and their standing the division lately. They didn't say anything. Fair weather fans. I have a feeling that even when the Twins win, it isn't good enough for those guys.

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Ok, I can't go on any longer without talking about the Olympics. I am officially impressed by Michael Phelps. I watched the relay that won him his eighth gold medal, and I made my kids watch too. And I'm glad I did. The whole thing is very cool.

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Take That, Carlos Silva

Twins 9 - Seattle 2

Hey Carlos! We've got your homecoming right here! Whaddya think of that?

Actually, when Carlos Silva was a Twin, I didn't really mind him too much. I never really liked him, but I didn't mind him either. He just trotted out for his turn in the rotation, and I didn't really care. Well, I cared if he lost, but otherwise, meh.

Now, I really don't like him at all. It's not because he left and signed with Seattle for an outrageous amount of money. (Hey, if someone were to offer me twice what I'm worth to do something I only do only reasonably well, I'd take them up on it.) And it's not because he's losing, although I'd bet the Seattle fans aren't real happy about it. It's because he's losing AND sniping to his teammates about playing poorly. Not really classy there, pal. I'm guessing all your teammates want to take a look in the mirror before you shoot your mouth off again.

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I'm pleased with Liriano's improvement so far since his return. Keep up the good work, honey. Oh, and nice tater Kubes to get the Twins rolling again. I liked it.

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A big hat-tip to the Oakland A's for rallying and beating the White Sox. Please keep it up.

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Totally not baseball related, but definitely worth passing on...

I stumbled across this blog the other day, and it had me laughing my head off. I literally had a sore gut and tears running down my face when I was reading the archives.

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

If you've ever ordered a cake that didn't quite come out as you expected, you can relate to this blog. And, not only are the photos hilarious, but the commentaries are deliciously snarky -- both by the blog author and her readers. If you need a giggle, I recommend this.

Shades of Victory

Tuesday: Twins 6 - Yuckees 9 (12)
Wednesday: Twins 4 - Yuckees 2

Too bad "moral victories" don't count. I mean, it was a moral victory Tuesday that the Twins scored three runs off Mussina. It was a moral victory to collect 12 hits off Yankee pitching. It was a moral victory to complete five double plays. It was a moral victory to give Mariano Rivera his first BS (blown save) of the season. It was a moral victory for D.Y. to take that cut fastball the other way and simply muscle it out of the park. Yup, it was a moral victory all the way. All the way to the top of the 12th when Matty Guerrier coughed up three runs. Then it was a straight up defeat.

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Real victories are much nicer, aren't they. And today's victory was real fair and square. Kevin Slowey did a very nice job keeping the Yankees off balance and in check. Thank you K-Slo, we needed that. (And thanks to S.Rail for the nickname.) And thank you D.Y. for liking to hit 3-run homers so much that you did it two days in a row.

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So j-bro asked me a question I'll pose to you...do the Yankees have a hall of famer at every position? Quick, do you know?

The answer is no. They don't have a third baseman or a left fielder that went in as Yankees. That kind of surprises me.

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Next up: Carlos Silva brings his Mariners to the Dome to face Franchise's Twins. Should be a good one.

Are You Tired of Reading About This Trip Yet?

Well, this is the last installment.

Friday: Twins 4 - Royals 1
Saturday: Twins 7 - Royals 3

We finished up our trip by meeting a bunch of our friends in Kansas City to see the Twins face the Royals. We all had a BLAST!

That stadium is fantastic, and they've made some upgrades since we were there last. First, there's the ginormous scoreboard. It's beautiful. They also improved the sound system to match the scoreboard. It was all very cool.

The games were pretty fun. I would say Saturday's was more fun than Friday's, but I liked that the Twins won both the games. The Twins fans in the crowd were certainly more rowdy on Saturday than they were on Friday. And there were a TON of Twins fans. But the Royals fans were very gracious and friendly towards us all, so it was great competition.

The stadium also has other fun things like wiener races, singing "Friends in Low Places", and fireworks after Friday games. And the ushers don't seem to mind if there are beach balls floating around. On Saturday, they handed out Larry Gura bobbleheads, and we each got one. I'll have to Google him to learn more about him. There is little honey pot on the pitching mound with him.

The tailgating was great too. Lots of food and lots of fun with our friends. We also found out that Saturday was unofficially "wife-beater shirt" night, so there were a bunch of people wearing their trashy tank tops and mullet wigs. In fact, there was a whole bus load of them partying in the parking lot. What a hoot!



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OK, now let's catch up on what I missed while I was gone...

*The Twins dropped two of three to Seattle. Pthpthpthpth. 'Nuf said about that.

*Cuddy broke his foot during his rehab stint in Rochester. Good Grief. Cuddy honey, what is the matter? Stop breaking body parts, would you please? I suppose he's probably out for the rest of the season. I guess that answers the question about what to do with D-Span. Hmmm. Wait a minute. You don't think Denard is behind this, do you?

*While we were driving home on Sunday, we were listening to the Royals radio guys broadcast the game. Boy, do they ever have a love affair with the Twins. They were going on and on about how the Twins have great pitching and do all the little things right. And then the Twins proceeded to prove them wrong.

*Speaking of that dumb game, that's totally my bad. We stopped at Dairy Queen and the Twins were leading 4-2. Apparently, while I was enjoying my medium dipped cone, all hell broke loose with the "doing the little things right" and our otherwise stellar defense coughed up the tying run. The whole thing gave me a stomach ache; I should've ordered a small cone.

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Twins 4 - Yankees 0

*Way to go Glen Perkins -- both on the birth of your daughter and on pitching a gem against the Yankees. Good couple of days.

*Adam "Adam" Everett hit a homerun off Ponson? Hahaha. Well, that just what the Twins needed. Nice work. And a good way to make up for that throwing away the game thing Sunday.

*And the Red Sox just knocked off the White Sox, so the Twins are back in first place again. For now.

Lumberkings

Hey! I'm home now.

Sorry I didn't blog for the last couple of days. We met up with our friends, so I hung with them rather than my computer. So now I'm a bit behind.

On Thursday, we left Chicago and headed to Clinton, IA to catch their single-A team, the Lumberkings. They're an affiliate of the Texas Rangers, and they hosted the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers who are part of the Seattle Mariners organization.

The stadium is pretty nice; it looks like it holds about a thousand or so. However, we pretty much had our choice of seats because there couldn't have been more than 200 people there. We sat in the first row, right above the visiting dugout, which worked out well -- we used the dugout roof as a table for our beers. :-)

Speaking of beer, that was a great deal. It was Thirsty Thursday, so we got 24-oz beers for $3. What a bargain!

They have a pretty good team. I think they've clinched a playoff spot. But, not surprisingly, the players are young and raw; it's not the same as watching a major league game. In fact, all the players were born after I graduated from high school, so they must be really young (because I refuse to admit that I'm old!). Nonetheless, they played well and it was a fun game.

The home team won, but it was kind of sad that not many fans were there. It was a beautiful evening, the beers were cheap, and the baseball was good. I'm glad we were there.



It's late now, and the alarm won't be friendly in the morning. I'll get to the good stuff -- the Royals games -- tomorrow. I'll just say I had a BLAST!!! I love the upgrades they've made to the stadium.

Hey, Hey!

Go, Cubs, Go! Hey Chicago, what do ya say? The Cubs are going to win today.

That's the song they sing after the Cubs win a game. And Win they did -- 11 - 4! Wrigley Field is everything I expected it to be and more. It was old, and crowded, and magical. And the Chicago Dogs are fabulous.

Our seats were pretty good -- way down the first base line close to the foul pole. But we could see fine. We were lucky the weather was good -- it was hot but cloudy, so not too bad. And the fans sitting around us were really fun. Especially these four guys that must have been to a ton of games together and have been buddies for 30 years. They kind of reminded me of Saturday Night Live's Bears Fans Guys -- only Cubs "experts". They argued about everything, and you just know they always have. They were a real hoot.

The seventh inning stretch was just as advertised. I can't remember who lead it -- a former player who is a multiple all-star (I knew who he was, I just can't remember right now). Everyone sang it as loud as possible. When it was done, our four new friends started arguing about whether that player should go to the Hall of Fame. After about five minutes of that, hubby stirred the pot by saying that we think Bert Blyleven should be in the Hall of Fame. That started another 10 minute debate. Hilarious.

The game itself was great. Mark DeRosa hit a grand slam and Alfonso Soriano hit a three-run homerun. Very fun. When the Astros put in LeTroy Hawkins, our four friends heckled him greatly -- "He's a bum!"

After the game, the walk to the train station the train back to the hotel was so crowded. It seemed to take forever, but once we got on the train, we were happy we didn't have to drive. When we got back to the hotel, we were very tired. It was a blast, but it was exhausting.

Hello From Chicago!

Tuesday: White Sox 10 - Tigers 8 (14)

I must say I'm impressed with The Cell -- large concourses, comfortable seats, great atmosphere. It's a pretty nice stadium.

It was a nice evening, if not a little hot. But it could have been much worse. The giveaway was a Mark Buehrle growth chart. Let it be known that I despise Mark Buehrle! He's always such a brat, especially towards the Twins, as if he's some great pitcher or something (ok, maybe is a great pitcher, but certainly not as great as he thinks he is). Besides he's ugly and his mother dresses him funny. The last thing I need is a lifesized poster of him; I might use mine as a dartboard.

I was surprised by the number of Tigers fans in the stands. We were surrounded by them, so it was easy to not cheer for the White Sox. They said that it's really hard to get tickets to Commerica, so they just come to Chicago to see their team. In fact, some of the fans we talked to lived on the western side of Michigan, so it's easier for them to drive to Chicago than to Detroit.

The game itself was pretty fun. The score went back and forth most of the game -- Detroit had a big six-run inning, but the Sox tied it up 6 -6 in the eighth. I even blew Nick Swisher a kiss when he came in because they pulled Konerko out for a pinch-runner (just for THOSE Girls).

Unfortunately, j-bro and I both had pretty cruddy stomach-aches and a long train ride back to the hotel in front of us, so we left after the tenth. I know, I know, this goes against everything I stand for, but even baseball takes a backseat when stomach wellness is concerned.

When we returned to our hotel room, we turned on the TV to see Detroit had taken the lead 8 - 6. Then the Sox pushed across a run and had two on when Nick Swisher stepped to the plate. Well apparently, he viewed my departure as some kind of hate he could feed on and blasted a walk-off three-run homer to win the game. On a night the Twins lost, too. Sorry.

Here are some pictures for you.



Laptop batteries are running low. I'll get a post about the Cubbies game up as soon as I can.

The Start of a Lot of Baseball Watching

Saturday: Twins 1 - Indians 5
Sunday: Twins 6 - Indians 2

Twins take series 2-1, and thanks to the Royals, move into FIRST PLACE!

So I took j-bro (the teenaged son), mini-bro (the not-yet-teenaged son), and mini-bro's buddy s-man to the game Saturday night. I was surprised by the size of the crowd (over 40,000). It was pretty fun -- as fun as watching a losing proposition can be. Everything was lined up for a perfect evening: we got our hats; we were surprised with free Bizarre Foods t-shirts; I had my cinnamon almonds; the fans sitting around us were fun and knowledgeable but not at all obnoxious; the only time I had to stand to let someone by was during the seventh-inning stretch; and I got to hang out with my favorite kids. But, alas, it fell just short of perfection.

Because the Twins couldn't manage to win for me, I'd have to vote for singing Sweet Caroline as the best part of the game. We were all singing along lustily (by the way, isn't that a Fenway tradition?), and when they had to turn it off to start playing baseball again, we kept singing (by "we" I mean all 40,000 of us - or however many that were left by the end of the seventh). We had to get to the next set of Ba-Ba-Ba's. And then we were so proud of ourselves, we cheered when we were done. I saw that LaVelle put it in his column and did a pretty good job recapping it.

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Despite the fact that the pre-game show treated his return like the second-coming, Liriano's performance was nerve-wracking, but effective. Way too wild for my liking. In fact, I suspect it was way too wild for Redmond's liking, too. But he didn't allow any runs, so that was good. Let's just hope he had a case of the "Welcome Back Jitters" and does even better next time.

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It was nice to see Juanie again. It was nicer to see D-Span hit that homer off him.

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Awww. The Big Sweat shaved off his chin-strap beard. I loved that beard; it made his face look even rounder than it already was, which I thought was adorable.

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Blog Update:

This week, my family and I will be embarking on a super-secret baseball scouting mission. Ok, it's really our annual vacation, but it will be all about baseball. How cool is that? =-)

Tuesday evening, we'll be heading for the The Cell to watch the Tigers take on the White Sox. I'll admit when we bought these tickets back in March, I didn't think the White Sox and the Twins would be battling for first place when this game took place. I figured the Tigers would be running away with the division so it would be easy to root for the White Sox. But now, I'm conflicted -- I want to be a good guest and root for the home team, but I don't really want them to win. Oh well, it's only one game. I've been to this stadium once before, back when it was called New Comisky.

Wednesday afternoon, we're off to Wrigley to watch the Astros visit the Cubbies. I was tickled to even get these tickets; I understand they're hard to get. I'm even more tickled that it's a day game. I hope it's not too hot or raining. It'll be my first time at Wrigley.

Thursday evening, we're travelling to Clinton, IA, to watch a single-A game between the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (and affiliate of the Mariners) and the Clinton Lumberkings (Rangers). Minor league games are always a hoot.

Then Friday and Saturday, we're meeting up with a bunch of our friends to watch our Twins at the Royals. I absolutely love Kauffman stadium. And I'm looking forward to the tailgating.

I don't know, however, if I'll have the Internet access or the time to blog regularly. I'll try, but I can't guarantee anything. I do promise to file a complete report when I return.

The Good, The Good Byes, The Hellos, The Floss

Twins 4 - Indians 1

Good job, Nick Blackburn. That was a hellava pitching performance. However, I was worrying at the beginning because that Sowers guy was turning in a hellava-er pitching performance for the first five innings. Thank goodness Brendan Harris was tired of it and hit that double to end the madness.

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I must admit that I'm a bit bummed to see Livan and Monroe go. I don't disagree with the decision, but I feel bad anyways. They both seemed like classy guys who really wanted to do well. It's just too bad it didn't work out. I sincerely hope they can hook on with other teams and have success.

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My very first impression of Randy Ruiz: "That's a biiig boy." But I loved watching him chug around the bases and scoring from first on Brendan's other double. He's pretty fast for a big fella. So far, watching him play made me smile, so that's good. I hope the pop in his bat matches his size.

I would love to see him plow into a catcher on a play at the plate. The catcher would have no chance -- no chance at all.

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I know everyone is tickled pink that Franchise finally made it here. Everyone except me -- paint me more a shade of cautiously optimistic. I don't dispute that it's time to give him a chance, I just don't think he's going to be the phenom he was in 2006. I'm hoping for solid performances out of him.

Dear Fransico, please feel free to go ahead and prove me wrong. Be the Phenom.

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So, I've made a spur of the moment decision to go to tonight's game. I wish I could go tomorrow to see Franchise, but I'm too busy. So I'll get to see Slowey tonight, and get myself a Dairy Queen Twins Cap. Not that I need another Twins cap, but it never hurts to have more than you need.

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I love Mike Redmond even more than I did before after reading JoeC's blog.

I asked Harris if anybody says anything like that on the bench.
“Red does,” Harris said. “He says, ‘Fifth inning’s a mother.’ ”

Ok, you just know that's not exactly what he says -- I'm guessing he adds another word to the end. Which makes that statement more hilarious, and accurate.

So what happened in the sixth?
“Rally floss,” Redmond said.
Yes, in a practice that dates to 2006, Redmond started flossing on the bench when it was time for the boys to rally against Sowers.

So, clearly, everyone needs to get himself/herself some rally floss. I think it should be the next stadium giveaway. It could be sponsored by the American Dental Association.