That Was Deflating

After a nice sweep of the Evil Uglies earlier in the week, the Twins and their momentum deflated pretty quickly, and they became the dustbunnies. Oh, and they're below .500 again.

Recap:
Friday: Twins 5 - Angels 11
Saturday: Twins 6 - Angels 11
Sunday: Twins 4 - Angels 13

(52 - 53, 3rd place, 3 games back)

Ga! It's awful having to type all those double-digit numbers for the opponent. You'd think that scoring four or more runs in a game would at least keep the Twins close. Nope.

So, not only was the entire series a big pthpthpthtphptht, but every little thing was a slow leak. Every time a positive thing happened for the Twins, the good feeling immediately floated away because of a much larger negative thing.

On Friday:

• Joey hits a 3-run homer, Nicky hits an RBI triple, and D-Span hits an RBI double; Blackie and Matty combine to let them tie it up.
• Matty and Nathanator do a nice job keeping it a tie game through the 9th and 10th; Keppel, Crain, and Dickey combine to allow six (!) runs in the top of the 11th, with help from Brendan's tangled feet at the worst possible time.
  

On Saturday:

• Red-Dog and Go-Go hit RBI extra base hits to tie the game; Swarzy allows four singles and three runs in the next half-inning.
• R.A. pitches two nice innings to keep the Twins within two; then starts his third inning of work with a single, a throwing error, a walk, and a homer -- and then Keppel relieves him and quickly gives up two homers.
  

On Sunday:

• D-Span makes an awesome grab for the first out in the 4th; Perkins allows a base-hit to the next batter who eventually scores.
• O-Cab hits his first homer as a Twin; Perkins coughs up 5 runs in the next half-inning.
  

The whole thing felt like trying to blow up a balloon with a hole in it. It gave me a headache.
~~~

Up next:
An off day, then a road trip through Cleveland.

I don't recommend taking the Indians too lightly. Their team has been devastated by a bunch of trades, so the young guys starting are hungry and fearless -- they have nothing to lose. And, they just took 2 of 3 from the Tigers (and the one they lost was in extra innings).

See, It's Not So Bad

For the first time in a really long time, the Twins are two whole games above .500. And for the first time in a really long time, the Twins have completed a winning road trip. The Royals series wasn't easy, but it turned out all right.

Recap:
Monday: Twins 2 - Royals 4
Tuesday: Twins 2 - Royals 1
Wednesday: Twins 5 - Royals 1

Some observations, in no particular order:

• For some reason, I don't get to see Nick Blackburn pitch very often; I don't think I've seen a first-pitch of his yet this season. Why is that?
  
• For some reason, when I'm listening to a day game, some stupid situation that puts my boss into a panic happens...never happens any other day.
• I thought it was funny that MLB's Gameday pitch-by-pitch site kept telling me that R.A. Dickey was throwing changeups. Um...no; those were knuckleballs.
• Nicky Punto needs some bubble wrap and Advil. After coming back from a bruised rib injury, he now has back spasms after someone (I don't remember who) slid hard into him trying to break up a double-play. The radio guys made it sound like it was a dirty slide; they said he wasn't even close to the bag.
  
• Mike Redmond will dent, but won't break -- he took a foul tip off Mitch Maier's bat to the forearm. But his bruised arm will probably be ouchie for a few days.

~~~

Dan Gladden answered a question during today's broadcast. The listener wanted to know what typical ball players do while on the road, whether they have routines such as going to bed at a certain time, and if their routines are different than they are at home. To this, Gladden replied, "it's none of your business what time I went to bed, and it's none of you business what I did out on the town!" He was joking, of course, but it got the guys talking about partying and curfews and carousing and watching TV in the hotel and such. They wouldn't really give any details to what our boys did though. So I imagine they do the following:

• They might go back to their own hotel rooms to watch ESPN or re-runs on TV Land.
• They might go out and have a meal at a cozy little diner.
  
• They might stay at the ball park to practice fielding drills.
• They might get together and play cribbage or gin.
• They might go shopping for a nice piece for their wives' snowglobe collection.
• They might go to the zoo or botanical gardens.
• They might go see a movie, but nothing racier than PG-13.
• They might log on to their laptops and check in with fans on Twitter...oh wait, never mind.
• They might head to the hotel bar and order a club soda with lime or a Shirley Temple.

Ok, I not really delusional. I'm fully aware that they're grown ups and will party as much as they want...well as much as they're allowed to. But I do imagine that painting the town red all the time might get old after a while. Actually, I don't really care what the do with their free time, as long as they play well the next day. Whatever it takes.

~~~

Up next: an off day, and then some tough series: Tigers, Yankees, then White Sox before the All-Star Game. At least the Twins are at home, so they can sleep in their own beds and stick to their favorite lucky routines.

Brewing Right Along

Well, to use a very cliched line in a Meatloaf song, two outta three ain't bad. But, oh, that one that got away....

Recap:
Tuesday: Twins 7 - Brewers 3
Wednesday: Twins 3 - Brewers 4
Thursday: Twins 6 - Brewers 4

Tuesday's game seemed to last for...ev...er. Liriano was effective enough, but struggled. And the misplays by the Brewers were great for the Twins. The game got better once the bullpen came in. It's good to see that they're getting things together. I even commented on Twitter that the more I see R.A. Dickey, the more I like having him around.

Wednesday's game was a stinger. Blackie did such a nice job pitching, only to be overshadowed by that one, painful misplay. Ouch. When I was watching it, I felt like I got punched in the gut! I can't even imagine how poor Nick felt. I hope he's got thick skin and can get over it quick. So, yeah, maybe I should stop talking about it.

On a side note about Wednesday's game -- there was a Brewers fan in my house (one of my son's buddies) for the last few innings, and he's a pretty intense sports fan. When that error happened, he cheered for his team, he said something about never seeing Jason Kendall getting hits like that, and that's it. No rubbing it in. No smack talk. No in my face. Just a smile for the team he loves. Maybe it was because I must have looked like I was about to cry, but he was super classy. And I appreciated it. He can watch baseball with me any time.

I spent Thursday's game driving. For my last birthday, hubby bought me an XM radio for my car. I use it every day, but it really paid for itself today because I didn't miss a moment of the Twins game while cruising through Iowa and Missouri. XM airs the home team feed, so I got to listen to Bob Uecker and the other guy. It's always fun to listen to other broadcasters, but I really got a kick out Uecker. He speaks in a choppy, staccato style, as if there's a full-stop after every word. But he's got a great sense of humor, and does great play-by-play (hint: he tells the score exactly often enough). He was especially amused when a foul ball screamed over Prince Fielder's head causing Prince to fall and flip a somersault (I can't wait to see video of that). But anyway, it was a good game for the Twins: Scotty pitched well, the bats made enough noise, and The Nathonator saved it. I liked seeing this in my car as I was driving (ok, I wasn't driving when I took this picture; we switched drivers in the bottom of the 8th):



~~~

So, you may be asking, "k-bro, why are you doing all that driving?" Well, let me tell you...I'm in St. Louis! See?



We came to see the boys in the new Busch stadium. We're going to Friday night's and Saturday afternoon's games. There might be a brewery tour involved as well.

As I'm typing this, the weather forecast came on. Yup, St. Louis knows how to do hot -- 94 Friday, and 99 Saturday (with a heat index of 110). So, I might be partaking in brewery products.

I'll have pictures when I get back. If you want to keep up with my random observations in semi-real time, follow me on Twitter (www.twitter.com/kbrobaseball).

Catching Up on My E-mails

After spending Easter with my family, I decided to catch up on my e-mails. Since it was a busy holiday weekend, I'll have to back-date some of them.

~~~~

Date: Friday, April 10, 2009
To: RADickey@mntwins.com
From: kbro@kbrobaseball.com
Subj: Sox (and Socks)

R.A.,
Admirable work, especially in that wind. It was a little un-pretty at times, but you wiggled yourself out of some jams. I hope you can stay on the team when Scotty gets back.

Oh, I love the high socks.

~~~~

Date: Friday, April 10, 2009
To: JMorales@mntwins.com
From: kbro@kbrobaseball.com
Subj: Catching the Knuckleballer

Jose,
Nice work. You did way better than I thought you would. Next time I see you, remind me to give you a pat on the back.

~~~~

Date: Friday, April 10, 2009
To: JCrede@mntwins.com
From: kbro@kbrobaseball.com
Subj: Your Homerun

Joe,
Thanks for remembering which team you play for now.

~~~~

Date: Friday, April 10, 2009
To: PABooth@uscellularfield.com
From: kbro@kbrobaseball.com
Subj: Joe Crede's "Walk Up" Music

Air Supply and Patrick Swayze? That was pretty funny.

~~~~

Date: Friday, April 10, 2009
To: ACasilla@mntwins.com; MCuddyer@mntwins.com; CGomez@mntwins.com
From: kbro@kbrobaseball.com
Subj: Your Cute Turtle Neck Hoody UnderArmour Things

Adorable! I'm sorry you were so cold, but you did look pretty cute.

~~~~

Date: Friday, April 10, 2009
To: batters@mntwins.com
From: kbro@kbrobaseball.com
Subj: Lots of Runs

I love lots of runs. I think all baseball fans love lots of runs from their home boys. But I fear you may have used them all up for the weekend. I worry that you may need them for Saturday and Sunday. I wish there were such a thing as a "Run Bank."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Date: Saturday, April 11, 2009
To: FLiriano@mntwins.com
From: kbro@kbrobaseball.com
Subj: Strike Zone

Franchise,
Dude! Walking in two runs in an inning is not a good thing. Everyone would prefer it if you pitched for strikes instead of pitching for power. Please work on that.

~~~~

Date: Saturday, April 11, 2009
To: BColon@chiwhitesox.com
From: kbro@kbrobaseball.com
Subj: Your Pitching Performance

Bartolo,
You looked great. But I'm afraid that had little to do with you. It seems that the Twins batters simply made you look good. Don't get used to it; it won't happen again.

~~~~

Date: Saturday, April 11, 2009
To: batters@mntwins.com
From: kbro@kbrobaseball.com
Subj: Runs

Guys,
Remember what I said yesterday about banking runs? Today would have been a good time to use some of them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Side note: I was not allowed to watch the Twins game on Sunday. I was told "There are 150-something Twins games left this season; there's only one Masters." Fair enough.

Date: Sunday, April 12, 2009
To: PMickelson@masters.com
From: kbro@kbrobaseball.com
Subj: Your Putting

Phil,
I really wish you were better at putting. I do enjoy watching golf from time to time, but I can't say that I'm really a fan of yours. However, none of that really matters. What matters is that I had an exhausting weekend, and I was taking a little snooze on the couch while the whole fam was watching the Masters. I don't get many chances to snooze, so when I do, it's precious. So, I was snoozing, and the family was watching, and you were golfing, and then you missed that stupid putt by this >-< much. Now, normally that wouldn't bother me. Except the entire family let out a collective OOHHH really loud, thereby waking me up and scaring the crap out of me. If you would've made that putt, everyone probaly would've nodded or muttered gently, which would've allowed me to sleep. Try to be more considerate next time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Recap:
Friday: Twins 12 - Evil Ugly White Sox 5
Saturday: Twins 0 - EUWS 8
Sunday: Twins 1 - EUWS 6

What the Hell Did I Do?

So, during my lunch hour, I sit down after warming up my Lean Cuisine frozen meal (or was it a Healthy Choice? -- I can't remember; it wasn't that good) and log on to Twitter and see this:

MN_Twins Scott Baker on disabled list; Liriano to start opener http://tinyurl.com/d4b5bl

"What?!?! Noooooo," I say out loud to no one in particular. I click on the link and see this:

There is word R.A. Dickey likely will start Friday in Chicago.

Oh. So that's it. It's my fault. I stated multiple times that I wanted R.A. to break camp with the team, and this is what happens. I forget, I need to be very, very clear when I wish for baseball-related stuff. In fact, I need to be precise.

So, precisely speaking, here's what I want:

• I want Scott Baker, Twins RHP, and Joe Mauer, Twins C, to be healthy and playing baseball by no later than April 15, 2009. (If there are other men on the planet named Scott Baker or Joe Mauer, I want them to be healthy, and if they want to play baseball, that's ok too.)
• I want Boof Bonser, Twins RHP, and Pat Neshek, RHP, to be healthy and playing baseball by no later than Opening Day 2010.
• I want Justin Morneau, Delmon Young, Michael Cuddyer, Nick Punto and any other Twins player who has aches and pains to stop having any aches and pains for the entire 2009 season.
  
• In fact, I want everyone on the Twins 40-man roster, the Twins minor-league system, the Twins organization, and the fandom known as "Twins Territory" to be completely free from injuries, illness, pain, owies, anxiety, nervousness, bad moods, or any other unpleasantness until no sooner than the final game of the World Series.
• I want any other negative thing that I haven't thought of to never happen to any Twins player ever.

There. That should cover it.

~~~~~~~~~~

I have the TV on MLB network, and they just asked, Who has the most wild pitches in a single inning?

And then they showed our pal R.A., when he was with the Mariners, here at the Dome, throwing four out-of-control knuckleballs. Remind me again why I want him pitching in the Dome again...

Actually, I'm completely convinced that it was all his catcher's fault. Our catchers would never allow such chaos.

~~~~~~~~~~

When Bad Grammar/Misspellings and Baseball Collide:
From my favorite source, FoxSports Rumors page. This one is great because it made me laugh at two different things.

First of all, this is proof-positive that White Sox players are really Bitch Sox. Apparently, they'll complain about anything.

Secondly,...



Um, yeah. He may drink wine while he does it, but I'm pretty certain that he whines.

My Bubble Guy

Every spring training, the players fit into three categories: a) those who will very likely go to the majors, b) those who will very likely stay in the minors, and c) those "on the bubble."


I feel for the bubble guys. I'm sure most teams would like to be able to bring up more than 25 guys. In fact, I'm pretty sure Gardy would like to stock-pile all the relief pitchers and bench players he could. But he can't. So the bubble guys work their asses off so they can separate themselves from the other guys and look more like they belong in group "a" and less like they belong in group "b". I can totally relate - story of my life.

So, every spring training, I select one bubble guy that I root extra hard for. Someone catches my attention and I cross my fingers for him and say little prayers for him in hopes of giving him a boost.

Last year, it was Matt "Tigger" Tolbert. I liked him because I liked the idea of a guy who personified perpetual motion. And my support worked...well, until he got hurt.

This year my bubble guy is R.A. Dickey. I like the idea of having a knuckle-baller on the team. And I've seen a couple interviews with him, and he seems like a pretty cool guy.

So, R.A., keep working hard and I'll do my part. And hopefully, you'll be an "a" guy come April.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, hey, our boy Dennys signed with the Cardinals. Good luck, Big Sweat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Bad Grammar and Baseball Collide: (I should just make this a semi-regular feature)

As I've mentioned before, I like to read FOXSport's rumor page to catch up on the goings-on around baseball. Last week, I stumbled on this gem:



Ok, a pitcher funning around with some radio guys usually isn't news-worthy, unless the pitcher pitches for the Red Sox. But, even a Red Sox pitcher funning about dyeing, i.e. coloring his hair, at a young age still isn't news-worthy. In fact, it's almost cliche (see A.J. Pierzynski late last season). However, funning about dying young might worry fans.

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).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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.