Twins at Orioles: Love Letters

Recap:
Thursday: Twins 5 - Orioles 0
Friday: Twins 2 - Orioles 3
Saturday: Twins 7 - Orioles 2
Sunday: Twins 10 - Orioles 4

Record: 53-46 1 game back

That was a nice series. Even the one loss didn't feel demoralizing -- it was more a matter of Jeremy Guthrie and Luke Scott having a good day than any of the Twins having a bad one.

Usually I don't like to pin my mood on the results of my team -- I do have a life after all -- but this series was so nice, it improved my already content state of mind. So nice, in fact, I'm compelled to to write a few short love letters.

Dear Carl Pavano: I love complete games. I love complete game shut-outs. You're pitching so excellently that you're beginning to remind me a little of my beloved, Brad Radke. Please keep up this level of excellence. 

Dear Ty Wigginton, Juan Samuel, Idiot Fan Running on the Field, and Orioles Security Staff: Thanks for the laughs. No, really. Your performances gave me a good chuckle.

Dear Brian Duensing: Nice work. Really. You did exactly what you were asked to do. You kept the team in the game, and you looked pretty smooth. Keep it up kid; you may have earned a permanent spot in the rotation.

Dear Joe Mauer: Hi. That homerun you hit was really pretty. You know it was. Do that again. A lot. Please.

Dear Anthony Slama: Welcome to the big leagues, kid. Tough break giving up that homer to Luke Scott. If it's any consolation, it's not really an awful thing to give up a dinger to him -- he's a good hitter. Just ask Scott Baker. Oh, and keep rocking those stirrups.

Dear O-Dog: Get well soon. Again. 

Dear Scott Baker: Hugs. That pitching performance was very solid. Way to go. You know how much I love good pitching. Keep it up; we're all rooting for you.

Dear Jason Kubel: Boom! Oh yeah! You loves you some grand slam action. Next time I see you, I'll buy the Gummi Bears.

Dear Kevin Slowey: There you go, pal. That's the kind of pitching we like to see. In fact, you were doing such a nice job, Bert accidentally called you Brad Radke. Keep it up, and I'll love you almost as much as I loved him.

And, most importantly --

Dear Delmon Young: I'm thunderstruck, and I like it. You are on one hell of a tear, and it's beautiful. I mean, look at you at the plate. Sure, you still swing at a lot of pitches, but you're not flailing. You're making contact, and hitting to all fields. And, that power...ooh la la. Also, when the cameras catch you on the bench, you seem all happy and fun and stuff. I like seeing that. Let's face it -- you're good. Please sustain this good mojo, because everyone is beginning to love you, including me.

Eternally yours,
k-bro

Orioles at Twins -- It All Evens Out

Recap:

Thursday --  Orioles 2 - Twins 0
Saturday 1 -- Orioles 7 - Twins 3
Saturday 2 -- Orioles 1 - Twins 6
Sunday -- Orioles 0 - Twins 6

Twins split series 2-2
Record: 21-11

~~~

So, even though the Twins probably should have won more than just two of these, we all know it could've been much worse. All the bad finally got evened out with some good.

Thursday's was a snore-fest, made even worse by the fact that I was there (in a happy stroke of luck, I was sitting under the canopy really close to the heat lamps, so at least I wasn't uncomfortable). Pavano pitched well, but then the bats forgot to show up -- they must've been afraid of the cold. But, it did mark the television debut of the Target Field Fair Pole Kestrel. Which is more a sad commentary of the state of the game than it is a happy event for the bird. At least the bird got dinner.

Friday's of course was called due to crappy rain-slush-snow-blech. And, no, I still don't want a roof on the ballpark. Why is that when rain or cold hit Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, or anywhere else, no one says a peep about putting a roof on those ball parks? But, lo, if a Minnesota game gets called, all the wimps (and for some reason, the national media) come out of the woodwork and whine about the lousy weather. Get this all you weather-babies: 1) rain-outs are part of baseball; dealing with the weather is, and should be, part of the game; and 2) if there was a retractable roof on Target Field, it would block that lovely cityscape view (I've been to Miller Park -- you have to look straight up to see the sky).

Saturday's first game was another meh. Liriano pitched kind of ishy, but only a little. It was more of a case of the Orioles' hits just finding gaps and holes -- and a little bit (or maybe quite a bit) of defensive sluggishness. Not the best-played game of the year. At least it was over quickly.

But then, between those games, somewhere in the fancy-schmancy clubhouse/workout room/palace, the defense, the bats, and the pitchers woke up and decided to have some fun. They probably also realized that it would be embarrassing to lose any more games.

They carried their newly re-found good attitude to Sunday's game. And Mother Nature celebrated Mother's Day by evening things out with the weather. It was a lovely day at the park, and a lovely performance by the Twins. It was made extra-special because I got to spend the day with my mom (Hi Mom!), my hubby (Hi Hon!), and my kids (Hi Guys!). It was a perfect day. And it certainly made up for the mind-numbing game on Thursday.

See? It all evened out.

~~~

Speaking of perfect days and things evening out...

I'd like to buy a beer for...


Dallas Braden

If complete games are hot, and complete game shut-outs are hotter, ... etc., perfect games are...well, perfection. It's the single most beautiful thing a baseball player can do. It's baseball rapture. It's a gift directly from the baseball gods. And the scene of him and his grandmother embracing after the game brought me to sniffles.

This particular performance evened out the disturbance in the baseball karma that occurred when A-Rod ran across Braden's pitching mound a few weeks ago -- a violation of baseball's unwritten rules. When Braden protested in the papers, the ever-egotistical Yankee players rallied and replied with comments questioning his importance to the game (and thereby solidifying their own self-important pompousness). Well, who's important now?

And the evening goes a little bit the other way, too. Braden went too far with his grievances with A-Rod. So this defeat of the Rays winds up helping the Yankees.

This does make me feel bad for the Rays, though. They were also the victims of Mark Buehrle's perfect game last season. That's just not fair. Hopefully this wrinkle gets evened out sometime soon.

Oh, and by the way...I know this is the third beer I've awarded in a week, but this is an anomaly. This is really meant to be for special occasions. If this keeps up, I'll drain my virtual beer budget in a hurry.

Call For Arms

I wouldn't be surprised to see this hanging up at the dome in time for Friday's game:

Help Wanted
Pitcher
Energetic and athletic people needed to perform pitching duties for a Major League Baseball club. The ideal candidate would have a pulse, have strong leadership skills, and be able to throw a baseball 60'6". Ability to throw accurately preferred, but not required. Perks include travel to exciting locations, appearances on television, and working with Joe Mauer. Both full-time and part-time positions available. Salary based on qualifications. Contact r.anderson@pleasehelpthetwinspitchingstaff.com. Deadline to apply is 8/31/09.

Do you think they'd get any qualified applicants? The key word here being qualified.

~~~

Recap:
Monday: Twins 2 - Orioles 1
Tuesday: Twins 7 - Orioles 6
Wednesday: Twins 1 - Orioles 5

Yes, it's great that the Twins won the series. But the wins were so hard. And they're the Orioles.

~~~

Who's getting excited about the new stadium. Be sure to visit Betsy's blog for some groovy pictures of it.

~~~

I've mentioned before that I love the Cake Wrecks blog. This post is baseball related. And hilarious.

"World Class Excellence"

Ok, it's clear the Twins have to do something to get back on their horse.

Recap:
Wednesday: Twins 1 - Orioles 4
Thursday: Twins 4 - Orioles 5
Twins = Dustbunny

I don't know what they need to do. Maybe Gardy needs to hire a motivational speaker. Yeah, that's it. That's what he should do...

Hi, my name is Cyndi and I've been working for Motivations Specialists for 14 years. I can honestly tell you that I've never had a bad day at work. I love my job, and every single morning I wake up and look forward to going to work. And I want to show you that you can love your jobs too. I'm here to motivate you to achieve "World-Class Excellence."

First I would like to go ahead and do a little mental exercise. Ok, I want everyone to close your eyes. Oh, come on now...it'll be fun. Come on... come on, close your eyes. Everyone's eyes closed? You in the back -- the blond guy -- you too. Ok, good. Now I want you to imagine yourself in your favorite quiet place. Take yourself there now. Ok, good. Now imagine a nice gentle warm rain washing down over you.... What? What's the matter? Oh, no rain? We can't talk about rain? Why not? Bad memories of rain...oh...ok, well we'll move on.

Ok, so we'll try a team-building exercise. Ok? Oh, come on, it won't hurt. Remember, we're trying to achieve "World-Class Excellence." Ok, so I'm going to hand out these pieces of paper. Everyone take one. Ok, great. Now...I have this cardboard box. It has an address label on it. The address label says "Neptune." It used to say "Pluto," but since it's not a planet anymore, it's no longer accepting packages. And I would have addressed it to "Uranus," but I figured it would make you snicker. ...Hello? Is this thing on? There are a lot of blank stares out there... Anyone want to at least smile? No? ...Ok then...

Anyway...I want you to write down your single most damaging trait. It could be "a habit of negativity." It could be "resentfulness." It could be you've "checked out." It could be "giving minimum performance." It could be "lack of accountability." Anything. So I want you to write down one bad trait -- the worst one -- on the piece of paper, and then come up here and put it in the box. Then, we're going to ship it to Neptune so all that negativity and subversion and bad attitude will be far, far away. Come on, I know you guys can think of something to write. Come on, bring them on up and put them in the box. Everyone...

Do you think it'd work?

Nah...I don't either.