Starting Rotation
You've probably heard by now that Gardy determined that Scott Baker would occupy the final spot in the rotation and Kevin Slowey would start the year in the bull pen. This isn't terribly surprising; Baker was the Opening Day starter last season.
I still think I'd prefer to see Nick Blackburn in the bull pen with Slowey in the rotation. It makes more sense to me to have the Slowey, the strikeout pitcher, start in the first inning and to have Blackburn, the sinkerball pitcher, to be long relief. Also, when Blackburn first came up, he was a reliever, so he's used to it.
However, all this is pretty inconsequential. One of the starters is likely to get hurt or become ineffective. When that happens (of course, I hope it doesn't), it's good to know Slowey will be right there to slide in. And, from what I've read, he seems like he's got a pretty good attitude about it.
~~~
A Note to Mother Nature
Dear Ms. Nature:
Would it be all right if I called you Mother? Yes? Good.
Mother, remember last year, when Target Field was due to host its very first baseball game, and the national media was all worried and hand-wringy and all about the weather, and they all said that it was dumb to not put a roof on the stadium, but we knew it wouldn't make sense to put a retractable roof on such a beautiful facility, because the weather in Minnesota isn't really any worse than Chicago, and no one's clamoring to get roofs on those stadiums, so I begged you to show all those blowhards, because I just knew the ballpark was an absolute gem that didn't need a bunch of unnecessary bad press, and you obliged by giving Minneapolis absolutely glorious weather for a vast majority of the season?
Yeah, I remember that too. Could you do that again this year? And, could you hurry up and get started on that right away? Things aren't looking too promising right now; there are only 16 days until the first Twins home game.
~~~
Wally is Free
So, you may have heard that Wally the Beerman was acquitted of charges of selling alcohol to a minor. I'm thrilled for Wally.
Now, to be clear, I don't ever think it's cool to sell alcohol to minors. However, Wally has a terrific reputation spanning several years. He's a pro. I think a sting operation in the chaos of Target Field is a little unfair. I also think some big-headed hotshot decided to bring down a legend in order to feed his ego. Seems as if the jury saw it that way, too.
It's still unclear whether he will sell beer again at Target Field. I sure hope so. And if not, I hope he'll be all right with selling something else -- I just want him back. Although, "Wally the Ice Cream Man" doesn't have quite the same ring, does it?
~~~
Big Announcement
Remember a while ago, I gave a shout-out to a new network of sports blogs written by women called G-9 Sports? Well, they've since changed the name to Aerys Sports. They still have all the same great blogs (actually, more by now); they just changed the banner.
And, now for the announcement...
I'll be joining Erin and Katie on the From the Third Baseline blog as the Rumor Report writer. Be sure to check over there for Twins rumors.
Don't worry. I'll still keep up my regular nonsense here as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment