Friday, December 26, 2008

Makes Me Wonder

First of all, I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. I did. And, I took vacation time for the rest of the year, so I'm looking forward to sleeping in, doing whatever I want, and being lazy. I can't think of a better way to spend the end of the year (unless of course, I was doing all that in a tropical location).

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Hey, there's finally a new Twin we can welcome (sound the horns -- or at least the kazoos)...

Welcome to the Twins, Mr. R.A. Dickey.

His name kind of reminds me of those attorneys who advertise on cable at three in the morning..."DWI? Bankruptcy? Theft? Bribery? Embezzlement? Ponzi schemes? Selling senate seats? Call the Law Offices of R.A. Dickey. Phones answered 24 hours a day."

But anywhoo, he's a knuckleballer, but not really the eighth inning guy fans are looking for. I don't really remember the Twins ever having a knuckleballer, and both LaVelle and Kelly Thesier mentioned that they've (the Twins, not the reporters) wanted one for awhile. So it kind of made me wonder who the last Twins knuckleballer was. (I looked around various blogs and articles for about five minutes, which is the true extent of my interest, but no one said anything.)

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So all that wondering made me decide to list a bunch of other things I've wondering about lately too:

1. I know there's going to be a new MLB Network starting on Jan. 1st. For something so cool, I haven't really heard much about it. I wonder what exactly they're going to talk about in January (let me guess...the Yankees).

2. I know they keep track of pitchers' walks and fielders' errors, and they can be kind of a big deal. But I wonder if anyone ever keeps track of costly walks or errors -- you know, the ones that actually result in runs. I mean, if the baserunner who reached because of a walk or error is stranded, then the walk or error shouldn't count as much than if someone scores because of it. I suppose they probably do keep track of that -- they keep track of everything. And I know that the costly errors get figured out in a way because it's an unearned run, and they need to know that for the pitchers' ERAs, but that's the pitchers' stats, not the fielders'. I also wonder why the heck I'm wondering this at all.

3. I know that baseball writers vote for post-season awards and for Hall of Fame inductees, but I wonder why baseball broadcasters don't. I imagine that John Gordon has as much access and knowledge about the Twins and baseball in general as Joe Christensen, but Joe's the one who gets to vote. I don't understand it.

4. I wonder how I could find a list of all active MLB players sorted by age. I ask because Jamie Moyer signing with the Pirates, and now Randy Johnson signing with the Giants, there are at least two players who are older than me. I'm hoping there are more, but I have my doubts.

5. And finally, I wonder if the Yankees will ever run out of money. And I wonder how delicious it would be if they were to miss the playoffs in 2009.

Monday, December 22, 2008

This Seems Oddly Familiar

Packers vs. Bears

Why does it seem like I've done this before? I'm settling down to watch a game and cheer for a division rival, that happens to be out of the playoff picture, to beat another division rival, that happens to be from Chicago, so that my team can win the division title because it blew the chance to take care of that itself. Hmmm. I just can't shake this deja vu.

Oh, and could someone please send a case of velcro, rubber cement, pine tar, whatever, to Mr. Adrian Peterson?

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Yaaawwwwnnnn!


Goodness, it's been a boring off-season, hasn't it? And it doesn't seem that it's going to get interesting any time soon. Especially for Twins fans. I mean, seriously, as happy as I am that they re-signed Nicky Punto, that's the only thing they've done, and it's not really a lot to talk about.

You know things are dull when I'm fascinated in Rafael Furcal's "I'll pick you. Wait -- no, I'll pick them" escapades. Wow.

In fact, I'm so bored, I started a whole new blog. I was inspired when I wrote that post a few weeks ago about the 10 Business Cliches that Need to Die. So, if you hate cliches as much as I do, check out The Cliche Slayer.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Little Things That Make Me Happy

On a crappy-weather night, I need to be reminded of little things that make me happy:
  • Getting my kids to do all the Christmas decorating
  • Being pleasantly surprised by a Vikings game
  • Eating dark chocolate
  • Getting my Christmas cards done
  • Remembering that I brought my work laptop home on Friday in case I don't want to drive in to work Monday morning
  • Watching The Santa Clause with my kids

Oh, and the biggest little thing that makes me happy is knowing that Little Nicky Punto will be playing for the Twins for the next two years. I know my friends in blogging, Twins Sisters and THOSE Girls, are happy. Kevin Slowey is happy, too. I'm looking forward to watching his slick defensive skillz.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Almost a Dime's Worth

A few random thoughts bouncing around in my head...

CC Gets the $$: Not surprisingly, the Evil Empire signed Sabathia to a 7-year, $160.1 million contract. With that kind of money, he should offer to bail out the automakers and save the taxpayers some dough.

The Former AstrosTwins Guys: Adam Everett signed with Detroit and Mike Lamb re-signed with the Brewers. Of course I wish them well, but if they wind up having stellar years next season, I'll feel ripped off.

You Can't Be Serious - A Play in Two Lines:
Headline: Report: Scott Erickson seeks comeback with Minnesota Twins
k-bro: To do what?

A Book Review:

Kent Hrbek with Dennis Brackin. Kent Hrbek's Tales from the Minnesota Twins Dugout. Champaign, Ill: Sports Publishing L.L.C., 2007, 186 pp., $19.95

I received this book for Christmas last year, and I just finished it. Not that this book was that hard to get through -- I just kind of put it away and forgot about it for awhile.

Hrbek breaks the book into several disjointed short stories. It's a very easy read, and it seems that he stays true to his voice. It kind of felt like I was sitting with him over a couple beers talking baseball.

However, his stories were a little light. I felt like they would have been more entertaining if he would have gone into more detail. And some of the stories were a bit repetitive.

Overall, it's a fun book. It gives us a glimpse of a ballplayer's life; just don't expect too much substance from it. I'd give it a B-.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Winter Blahs

A few random thoughts on a wintry day:

Winter Meetings: Baseball's Winter Meetings start this week in Vegas. That's cool for everyone who's going -- at least the weather's not crappy there. But as exciting as it sounds, I'll be surprised if it'll be exciting for Twins fans. Remember last year's winter meetings? The Twins did absolutely nothing, and that's when Johan Santana was on the trading block. I could be wrong, but I just have a feeling that Mr. Smith won't do anything notable.

Much Ado About Molehills: A whole bunch of virtual ink has been spilled about the fact that Gardy said his preferred outfield would consist of Span, Gomez, and Cuddyer, which leaves out Young. Speculations have ranged from "the Twins are thinking about trading Delmon," to "Gardy's trying to light a fire under Delmon," to "they're trying to increase Cuddyer's trade value." I say, "whatever." Gardy said what he thought, but good fans know that everything is likely to change come spring training. Someone has to be the fourth outfielder, why not Delmon?

Kevin Slowey Interview: I have a subscription to XM radio online and I listen to the MLB channel at work. I usually only listen during the mornings, because they're usually quieter than the afternoons. However, Friday afternoon was unusually quiet, so I put my headphones just in time to hear the guy (I think it was Rob Dibble) say "and now, calling in is Kevin Slowey." Wow, that was lucky. He gave a great interview. He's living with his brother in Atlanta. He mentioned how great it was to watch Greg Maddux and how much he always admired him when Maddux would pitch against the Pirates. He also talked about how much Mike Redmond helps him out by talking about batters and situations, and just brushing his experience off on to the young guys. There was more, but he finshed by saying that he was going to lie around all weekend and watch the Steelers game.

Dude, That's Gotta Hurt: Speaking of XM radio, I was listening earlier this past week. During an update, the guy was listing the NBA games that would be aired that evening. And he said -- I kid you not -- "Chauncey Billups and his Nuggets take on the Spurs." My inner 12-year-old came out, and I literally said out loud to nobody, "did he just say that?" I figure no guy wants his nuggets to have anything to do at all with spurs.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Happy "Blog-iversary"

December 1st

One year ago today, I started this silly blog. It was just a few days after Torii Hunter signed with the Angels, and Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett were traded to the Rays. So, naturally, in my very first post, I worried about the downturn of the attractiveness of the team. And with the upcoming Johan trade looming, it was a valid concern.

When I started blogging, I had a lot to say, but a lot of people did. So I didn't really think that I could add anything interesting. But, it was the urging of a colleague and friend that changed my mind. He reminded me that, in addition to baseball, writing was a hobby of mine. What better way to keep my skills sharp, express my creativity, and have a little fun than to write about something I love. Thanks, A.D.

This blog has gone through some changes over the last year. In June, I switched blog hosts from Blog.com to Blogger. I did copy all the older posts over to the Blogger, so all the posts are together, but I never deleted the Blog.com account, so those early entries live in both places.

Switching hosts allowed me to track the traffic stopping by. It's kind of cool to see what Google searches direct people here. Apparently, when I wondered back in March what Tony Oliva said in that commercial featuring Delmon Young, I wasn't the only one who couldn't figure it out. That question, far and away, was the number one Google search that drove folks here. Fortunately, the brilliant Jen and Krissy answered the question for me and Googlers everywhere. The second-most asked question that guided people to my blog was why the Larry Gura (a KC pitcher) bobblehead had a honey pot on it. Unfortunately, I don't know that one.

I tried some things; some of which I may or may not continue: the "Moment of the Game", the "Go Sit in the Corner Corner", the "Congratulations Corner", etc. I guess I'll keep trying new things as they occur to me. Any ongoing writing project is an evolutionary process.

I'm still having fun, and I still have things to say, so I guess I'll keep going. Ok, there's not so much to say lately -- the Twins offering The Big Sweat arbitration is not exactly pins-and-needles stuff -- but when something finally does happen, I'm sure I'll have something to say about it.

Thanks for reading, and here's to many more blog-iversaries.