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.

Thrown Away

Twins 4 - Tigers 5

Well, crappola.

It's waaaay more fun to come from behind and win than to go from ahead and lose. And I was planning on writing some cute and clever stuff, but now I just don't feel like it. I was going to say something about how adorable it was that after Go-Go stole third, he had to shake the dirt out of his hair. I was going to mention something about how bad Galarranga's control must be if he tries to hit Joe Mauer and misses -- twice (it's not like Joey's little or anything). I wanted to rip on the Tiger defense because they kinda looked like monkeys chucking the ball around. I planned on giving Denard a "welcome back" pat on the back for that nice defensive play and for hitting that double. Heck, I was even going to defend Gardy for arguing being warned because Glen didn't do anything wrong.

But alas, all my creativity and good will is gone. Jesse, Dennys, and Matty combined to throw it all away. I'm simply much too grumpy now. Is it possible for the bullpen to be too rested?

**Sigh**

Let's get 'em tomorrow, shall we? Please? I'd appreciate it.

Doesn't That Feel Better?

Twins 8 - Cleveland 5

See guys, isn't winning much more fun than losing? When you do things well, good things happen. Let's review:

Starting Pitching: Solid. Way to go Nick. You kept the batters from getting too comfortable at the plate (whatever that means). You got strikeouts and ground balls when you needed them.

Relief Pitching: Very nice, with one little exception. Jesse. you were brilliant getting those strikeouts. However, Dennys, you need to work on not giving up three-run homers (I'll cut you some slack, since it's the first homer you've given up this season).

Offense: Now THAT'S what I've been talking about. When there were men in scoring postion, you actually drove them in. Justin and Cuddy did a very nice job at the plate. Jason's homer was yummy. And Go-Go and Alexi are hot with their cute little hitting streaks -- keep it up.

Baserunning: Again, nicely done. Getting on, getting over, etc. Go-Go and Alexi stealing bases was also adorable.

Defense: Wow. Double-plays are hot. Cuddy making that catch was smokin' hot.

See how easy it is? Now keep it up.
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And finally the "I Almost Have That Sinking Feeling Again" moment of the game: So do you think that when Dennys gave up that homer and Cleveland got within one, Nick put his head in his hands and wept softly, thinking that his bad luck was going surface again and he wouldn't get the win?

Day at the Dome

Twins 2 – Orioles 3
Orioles take series 2 – 1

What a great day! The only downer was that the Twins lost. But we still had fun.
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When we first got to the Plaza, the first thing I noticed was that fabulous aroma of the Cinnamon Roasted Almonds was missing. What?!?!? Where are my Almonds? I must have those wonderful Almonds! It’s tradition. This could very well be the reason the Twins lost – they have a perfect winning percentage when I go to games AND have Almonds. **pout**
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We reached our seats in the Homerun Porch, way down in row 9. Very nice. As we were settling in, the pitchers were warming up. When Juan Rincon was finished, he chucked his ball waaaaaay up into the upper deck. Everyone there let it drop, and it bounced down past bunches of people and settled two steps above where I was standing. “Well, lookie here,” I said as I snapped it up. My kids were happy.

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Scotty Baker seemed a little shaky, even though he didn’t pitch too badly. He did throw a lot of pitches, and he seemed to take forever. The Twins hitters got a lot of hits, but didn’t drive very many of them in. So it was fun and disappointing at the same time.

Joe Nathan and Dennys Reyes running sprints



Scotty Baker warming up


Delmon Young playing outfield
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Dear Alexi,
I sincerely apologize for all the awful, rotten, confidence-bursting things I said to or about you last season. This season, you’re playing like a real major leaguer. Keep it up.
Love, k-bro
(Alexi went 3 for 5 with a run and an RBI)
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I see that the Twins drafted a kid named Shooter Hunt. How cool is that? If he makes it to the majors, he’s so totally making my Cool Name Roster.
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Nicky’s on the DL again? No! He had a great game today (2 for 3 with a walk and a run). How frustrating for him. Hope you get well soon, honey.
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And finally, the “Go to the Ballgame Because You’ll See Something You’ve Never Seen Before” moment of the game: In the eighth inning, Redmond hit a lead-off single. It’s not surprising that they would put in a pinch-runner for him. However, it is surprising who they put in to pinch run – Kevin Slowey. I don’t remember ever seeing a pitcher used as a pinch-runner. And yeah, he did look completely out of his element when he dove back to first on pickoff attempts.