"Border Battle" and Other Interleague Silliness

Or..."A Rant Against Interleague Play From Someone Who Likes It"

As a fan, I like interleague play. I really do. I admit that I'm one of those fans who doesn't really pay much attention to the National League, other than to keep a scanning eye on certain teams that friends of mine support. So, really, the only time I get to watch some NL teams is when the Twins play them during interleague play.

What's all the hype over this Jason Heyward fellow about? Is this Ubaldo Jimenez guy really all that? How's Chutley's hair doing these days? Is Johan still beautiful? These are questions I only learn during interleague games. Plus,I am amused when our pitchers have to hit. Admit it, you are too.

So, interleague play must be good, right? As one of Bud Selig's brainchildren (is that a word?), it must be awesome, right? Well, maybe it's awesome for generating revenue, but it's not awesome for baseball.

These games count, and thereby, they'll potentially have an impact on the standings at the end of the season. So while the Twins were struggling and dropping two games against the division-leading Braves (and their 37-27 record), the Tigers were sweeping the Pirates (23-40). Ok, so that kind of stuff happens - it's a long season, and things tend to even out. Even though the Tigers will face the Braves later, sadly, the Twins won't face the Pirates. My point, however, is that the Twins and Tigers, while locked in a division race, do not face the same teams. During their entire interleague schedule, the Twins face above-.500 teams for four series (ATL, COL, PHI, NYM) and the same sub-.500 team for two series (MIL). The Tigers, on the other hand, split above- and sub-.500 teams at three series each (LAD, NYM, PHI and PIT, WSH, ARI respectively). And two of the Tigers' "easy" series feature much worse teams than the ones the Twins play. Of course, this unfairness is present within all the divisions in both leagues. This unbalance could have implications within divisions for the championships and within the leagues for the wildcards.

k-bro's note: Honest, I wrote the previous paragraph before I read this post from Bill over at The Daily Something. Great minds...blah, blah, blah. You should read what he wrote too, because he explains this whole mess with much more detail -- he has charts and everything. Ok, back to my own drivel...

And why don't the Twins get to face the Pirates or the Nationals like the Tigers do? Because they've got a "natural rival." Which is the biggest line of bull ever -- at least for Minnesota.

When this whole interleague thing started, MLB decided that certain teams should have natural rivals to make things interesting for fans of teams that are close to one another. So they decided to group a couple teams and make them play each other for two series at home for each. I can kind of see how it would be fun for the Yankees v Mets, White Sox v Cubs, A's v Giants, and Dodgers v Angels because those teams are within the same market, and fans for both teams live near each other. But, really, do the Mariners and Padres have a rivalry? Boston and Philly? Whatever. It's really odd that not all teams have one. And what even more crazy is that Kansas City and St. Louis usually are natural rivals, but not this year.

As far as the Twins v Brewers goes, it's dumb. I ain't got no beef with the Brewers. In fact, if the Twins didn't have to play them twice a year every year, I wouldn't really think about them much at all. Milwaukee's nice and all, so why would I feel any kind of rivalry toward their team? (Keep in mind that I consider myself a Vikings fan, but I'm probably one of four who doesn't have a beef with the Packers either. So, yeah, take that for what you will.) I do admit that it makes for some fun road trips, but it's not really a rivalry.

Finishing Interleague

Saturday: Twins 1 - Brewers 5
Sunday: Twins 5 - Brewers ZIP

Twins win series 2 - 1


"Can't Win Them All":
Yeah, that's what hubby told me a number of times Saturday night. In fact, he said it every time I yelled or swore at the TV. Turns out he said it a lot. Oh well, he's right. I don't know why I was so upset as I was watching it; I knew we were going lose even before the game started. I don't know what it was -- because Livan was starting, because Alexi and Cuddy were injured, because winning the 11th (a prime number) in a row on the last Saturday in June when the moon is waning is generally bad carma -- but I felt the loss before it happened. I don't know why I even bothered to watch, but I didn't really have anything better to do. Fortunately, I didn't have that same feeling prior to Sunday's game.

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

Cuddyer on DL with Another Injured Finger:
What? When did that happen? How did that happen? I want answers!

me: Cuddy honey, how did you hurt your finger?
Cuddy: I'm not sure.
me: Really? You really don't know? How do you not know?
Cuddy: Really. I don't know how I don't know. I just don't know.
me: Surely, you can't be serious.
Cuddy: I am serious. And don't call me Shirley.

(Ok, sorry. That was lame. I couldn't resist.)

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

Who Da Man?

Kevin Slowey, You Da Man!! Stellar pitching is sexy. Complete game shutouts are very sexy. Hee hee. Thanks for the thrill.

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

Maybe the Twins Should Always Play the National League:

So the Twins finished interleague play with a 14 - 4 record. According to Dick-n-Bert, that's the best interleauge record. At least I think that's what they said. I just spent the last half-hour trying to find a source, but I couldn't find one (for the "best" part, I did find the "14-4" part). I'm sure by morning, someone will mention it.

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

Early and Often:

Ok, I don't usually participate in All Star Game voting. It usually seems like only Yankees and Red Sox players get voted in, regardless of how good they actually are. It's all very tiresome. However, this year, it looks like Joey and Justin actually have a chance to be voted in. That would be cool. In fact, Joey is leading catchers, but Justin needs a little help to pull into the lead. So vote.

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

Someone Make Up a Caption for This Picture:

Friday with Brewers

Twins 7 - Brewers 6

Now that was an exciting game. It's great that the boys didn't get down and they kept scratching back into it. You can tell that they're really having fun lately, cheering each other on and picking each other up. The bullpen did a nice job, as Bert says, "putting zeros on the board" and the bats did the heavy lifting. Even though we've been winning without hitting homers lately, it was fun to see some (well the ones by our boys were fun -- the other ones, not so much).

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

Joey, that was a nice jack to straightaway center. It's adorable that in your post game interview, you said it was because he threw so hard and it went farther when you hit it. Aw shucks. But in reality, Mota said that the pitch was up and in. So it was all you -- you didn't miss it and you hit it hard. It's OK to take credit when you do something well. Really.

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

Dear Nick B,
I knew it. I knew that the moment I professed love for you, the Baseball Gods would be sure to punish us for it. Your disappointing performance on Friday is totally my fault. I even asked for mercy, but to no avail. So, in the interest of your future and the team's success, I think we should break it off before it starts. It's not you; it's me. You're a great guy and all, but I just don't think it'll work out. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be able to find another girl who loves you and doesn't jinx you. We can still be friends.
k-bro

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

So mini-bro and his buddy (who happens to be a Brewers fan, but is otherwise a great kid) went to the game and they had a blast. What a great rivalry game to be at.

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

Weekend in Milwaukee

Saturday: Twins 9 - Brewers 4 (12)
Sunday: Twins 2 - Brewers 4

Well, to be honest, I didn't really watch a whole lot of either of these games. I was at the lake again, so I was hanging with the family and sending the kids on snipe hunts. Good times.

Since I caught the games in bits and pieces, it seems fitting to break out the bullet points.

• Thumbs up to Cuddy for the triple-with-an-error that looked a whole lot like an inside-the-park-homerun. That was a ton of fun.
• Another thumbs up for Brian Buscher for the timely hit that won the game on Saturday.
• A consoling pat on the back for Joe Nathan for blowing the save on Saturday. It's ok honey, you'll get 'em next time.
• A high-five for Scotty Baker for striking out FOUR in the third inning on Sunday. According to John and Dazzle, he's the first Twin to do that and only the 20th in the American League. (In case you didn't catch it, the second batter he faced, Prince Fielder, struck out but reached first because the pitch was wild).
• Speaking of Prince Fielder, watching him run makes me laugh. Like a bowl full of jelly.
• A little scolding for Brendan Harris to remind him that just because you ask for time while you're in the batter's box, doesn't mean you actually get time so you can step out of the batter's box. Although, it seemed a little like the umpire may have been kinda bratty about the whole thing.

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

And finally, this is pretty cool: ESPN is sponsoring a "Battle of the Bands" performing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" to celebrate the song's 100th anniversary. They have a nice mix of musical styles scheduled to perform, and viewers will vote for the best. Info here.

Jay Pecked

Tuesday: Twins 3 - Jays 5
Wednesday: Twins 5 - Jays 6
Thursday: Twins 2 - Jays 3 (11)

So if we get the broom out when we sweep the other guys, what do we get out when the other guys sweep us? The dustbunny? Ick.



Which pretty much sums up this series. In fact, it was pretty frustrating to watch/listen to. It just seemed like nothing would go right. Like a whole bunch of false-starts. And right when everyone was getting all excited about how well things were going. But that's all I have to say about that, because if I say any more, this will just turn into some kind of negative-fest. No one wants that.

---

I'm looking forward to the Colorado series. First of all, I love National League style play because I like it when pitchers bat. Also, I have a huge crush on Matt Holliday, and I'm excited to see him.

cutie

However, Matt honey, could'ya please just not play quite as well as normal? Just for the weekend? Thanks.

---

And to the Twins, don't get down, enjoy Colorado, and have fun.