Twins at Yankees: On Moral Victories, Actual Victories, and Big Losses

Recap:
Monday: Twins 3 - Yankees 4
Tuesday: Twins 5 - Yankees 4
Wednesday: PPD (Make-up game in September)
Thursday: Twins 3 - Yankees 4

Record: 2-4

I'm not sure if I should actually write a recap since the series isn't technically over. In fact, the Twins will have this whole there's-one-more-game-in-Yankee-Stadium thing hanging over their heads until September. But at any rate, it is slightly comforting to know the Twins won't get swept in this series.

At least this series wasn't terribly embarrassing. Baker and Duensing pitched well, except for those homeruns they dished up. But I am encouraged that they were able to settle down, make adjustments, and figure it out.

Of course, how much fun was it to see the Twins come back from a four-run deficit on Tuesday? It was absolutely thrilling to see Joe Nathan have a clean save. Sure, he still has more work to do regarding velocity and location -- and getting that slider. But, it's been a while since he's earned a save against the Yankees; he even had trouble when he was healthy.

The Twins seem to play the Yankees hard, and they're right there in the games. But yeah, the losing is getting old. These are winnable games. At least I don't feel demoralized by these losses; they're just like any other losses. I'm just annoyed.

HIGH FIVES:

1. Delmon Young, for his bases-clearing double on Tuesday to allow the Twins to come back and tie, and then go on to win.

2. Matt Capps, for pitching two clean innining on 8 pitches each on Tuesday.

3. Joe Nathan, for a better save on Tuesday than the last one.
~~~


DL Report:

The biggest loss, of course, is the injury to Tsuyoshi Nishioka. He suffered a broken fibula on a hard take-out slide by Nick Swisher.

Let's take a look at the Injury Paper Doll. Note that, according to Joe Christensen of the StarTribune, the break was just below the knee (I already had the paper doll made before I knew that and it's really a pain in the ass to fix, so just pretend that that red starburst is up a little).

There's no specific timetable for Nishi's return yet, but I've seen a number of reports that indicate that it might be a couple of months. And the pain may linger up to a year.

I didn't see Swisher's slide, but just about everyone who did said it wasn't dirty. The Twins, in fact, said it was fair. There's a replay here. Hard slides like that happen all the time in MLB. I'm not necessarily a fan of how Swisher's leg goes up like a kick. However, usually the infielder jumps or gets out the way. That style of hard slides may not be done in Japanese ball, and Nishi may have been caught off-guard.

It's quite unfortunate. Twins fans were very excited to greet him in Minnesota. And his parents flew in from Japan to see him at his home opener. Very, very bad luck.

I was glad to read that Swisher went to apologize to Nishi. Of course, Nishi apologized right back.

The Twins recalled Luke Hughes from AAA Rochester to take the roster spot.

Also Watching:

Kevin Slowey has been shelved for a couple days due to tenderness in his bicep. Hopefully it's nothing series and it feels better after rest.

~~~

Further Updates on the Charter Issues:

I received word from Eric, one of the Umatter2Charter non-bot humans, that Charter Communications has an agreement-in-principle with Fox Sports North to air the additional 44 games.

Yay! Thanks Charter! And thanks Eric!

See the comments section in my previous post to see his entire message.

A Judicious Response

Here is my totally rational, completely thoughtful, entirely balanced, extensively researched, absolutely discerning, fully reasonable, thoroughly examined, wholly intellectual, appropriately levelheaded, and copiously objective analysis of the Twins - Yankees series: ...


...


...


I effing hate the Yankees.

Yankees at Twins: Top Ten List

Recap:
Tuesday/Wednesday -- Yankees 1 - Twins 0
Wednesday -- Yankees 3 - Twins 2
Thursday -- Yankees 2 - Twins 8

Twins drop series 1-2

Record: 27-20

~~~

I am tickled pink that the Twins were able to stick it to the Yankees on Thursday. I love it that Jason Kubel decided to spank them proper. I just wish the Twins could beat the Yankees more often. A lot more often.

I make it no secret that I hate the Yankees. Among other reasons, I believe it's my moral obligation, as a fan of a mid-market team, to do so. When the Twins are playing the Yankees, I get a little ... um, unbalanced. A typical utterance in my household during these games goes something like: "Did you finish your homework? Oh, by the way, I hate the Yankees." It gets even worse when the Twins lose.

So, I present:

The Top Ten Distasteful Things I'd Rather Do Than Watch the Yankees Beat My Team

Number Ten: Eat a KFC Double Down "Sandwich".

Number Nine: Have Dionne Warwick's song I Say a Little Prayer for You stuck in my head. For...three...days.

Number Eight: Call a balk against Mark Buehrle (and then argue with Ozzie Guillen).

Number Seven: Kiss Joe West or Phil Cuzzi on the lips.

Number Six: Have lunch with the Burger King -- creeeeepy.

Getty Images

Number Five: Stand in Staples while some random guys shout "Wow! THAT'S a low price" in my ear.

Number Four: Figure out the TV show LOST (note: I never watched a single moment).

Number Three: Date Nick Swisher (über-creeeeepy).

Number Two: Sit in this every day.

Oh wait, I already do.

And the Number One Distasteful Thing I'd Rather Do Than Watch the Yankees Beat My Team:
Play third base with a crazed squirrel on the loose.

Two-For-One

k-bro's note: Hi. Yeah, I know I didn't do a recap of the Yankee series. I was tired/busy/uninspired. And since the Toronto series is over now too, well just smush them together into one short post. Cool?

Twins at Yankees: I Owe Jason Kubel Gummi Bears
Recap:
Friday -- Twins 4 - Yankees 8
Saturday -- Twins 1 - Yankees 7
Sunday -- Twins 6 - Yankees 3

Ok, so everyone said it would all be ok if the Twins just took one game of the series. And they did. I don't even want to think of the first two games. So I won't.

And the third game didn't look too promising in the beginning. In fact, I got so mad, I went outside and did some serious work with the Garden Weasel -- all while swearing angrily at the Yankees.

Then, by the grace of the baseball gods, Mark Teixeira dropped that ball. And Jim Thome took that 3-2 pitch for a ball. And Jason Kubel stepped to the plate. And he went boom. Off the Great Mariano Rivera no less.

So, I'd like to buy a bag of gummi bears for Jason Kubel. (Read this to find out why gummi bears and not beer. Although, I bet he'd like beer, too. Or both.)

~~~

Twins at Blue Jays: Extremes
Recap:
Monday -- Twins 8 - Blue Jays 3
Tuesday -- Twins 2 - Blue Jays 11 (!)

Well that was certainly a contrast wasn't it. Game 1 featured good offense, and adequate pitching. A nice win.

Game 2...well...game 2 pretty much reeked. It put the "ugh" in "ugly".

Am I Really This Predictable?

Before the World Series started, I had this very conversation on two separate occasions with two friends who don't know each other.

FRIEND: So who do you want to win the World Series?
ME: I don't care; I'm not going to watch it.
FRIEND: What?!
ME: Nope. I don't like either the Phillies or the Yankees. The Phillies won last year, and I don't like it when teams win back-to-back, and I just plain hate the Yankees. So I'm not watching.
FRIEND: Come on, it's baseball. You love baseball.
ME: I need a break. I'm not interested.
FRIEND: Oh, you'll watch. So you want the Phillies to win, right?
ME: I don't care! I'm not going to watch.
FRIEND (smirking): Yeah, you will; you'll watch.

Yeah, so I watched at least part of every game. Do I have smart friends or what?

However, I can't bring myself to say congratulations to Yankee fans. Before I joined Twitter, I didn't even know there was such a thing as a good Yankess fan -- every one I had ever met before was either a) not really a baseball fan and only liked the Yankees because they somehow thought it was cool, or b) a real ass. Now I know that there are three good ones. So, congratulations to them (you know who you are).

So, like I do every First Post-Baseball Day, I'll try to figure out how to get a life for the next five months. *sigh*

There's GOT To Be a Silver Lining Somewhere

Or at least a cheap, silver-colored electroplate lining that turns your finger green.

Recap:
Tuesday: Twins 2 - Yankees 10
Wednesday: Twins 3 - Yankees 4
Thursday: Twins 4 - Yankees

Twins dustbunny the series.

So, I'll try to find some good things about this series to think about...

Fact: Twins lost by 8 runs on Tuesday.
Cheap Silver Lining: Gomez made a nice catch to rob A-Rod of a grand slam (couldn't have happened to a nicer guy).

Fact: Twins lost by 1 run on Wednesday.
Awesome Silver Lining: Blog-friend Betsy's kick-ass sign made it on TV! See:


(I took this picture of my TV. I couldn't get that stupid DVR timeline off there because it was paused. I suppose I could've tried to take the picture while is was playing, but I didn't.)

Fact: Twins lost by 2 runs Thursday.
Cheap Silver Lining: Joe Mauer started the day officially leading the league in batting because he finally has enough plate appearances.

Fact: The Twins are 0 - 7 against the Yankees this year.
Cheap Silver Lining: The Twins don't have to face the Yankees any more this (regular) season.

Nope. Finding the silver lining doesn't really help much.

~~~

Ok, so I'll try a different approach.

Guys, gather around. Yes, you, Minnesota Twins players. Yes, over here. Yes, now! All of you. Hurry up.

Ok. Blackburn and Nathan, you are excused. You didn't play at all this series, so you may go. Oh, and Perkins, you need to go too -- you're probably still infectious or something. Ew. Slowey, what are you even doing here? Go rehab your arm or something. And Mauer, you're just awesome, so you can leave too. Nope, not you Morneau -- you just sit down.

Ok, listen up. That was embarrassing! EMBARRASSING! You played timid. You played silly. You played confused. You just plain played spooked.

Stop laughing back there. I'm serious! You were afraid of the strike zone. You were afraid of the basepaths. You were afraid to hit the ball. You were afraid of the Yankees. Yes, the Yankees are good, but that's all they are. They're not magical. Simply put, you were afraid to succeed!

Well, KNOCK IT OFF! The White Sox are in town, and they've been hot lately. They're ready to jump on any mistake, any flub, any weakness. You need to be smart. You need to be good. You need to be confident!

So shape up right now! If you don't, I might have to resort to swearing. I don't want to have to do that -- my mom reads this blog (Hi Mom!).

Ok. I'm done. You can go now.

~~~

Ok, back to reality here.

You've probably already saw on one of the many other awesome Twins blogs about Saturday's get-together, but if you haven't, I'll tell you here.

The lovely Jen from Lipgloss & Baseball and the lovely Sarah from Oh It's THOSE Girls have planned a most wonderful shindig before Saturday's game against the White Sox. Here's the info from Sarah's blog:

So...here's the Deal:

What: Twins Fan/Blogger/Twitter Party

When: July 11th, 2009 12:30-3:30pm

Where: Jen's House (please email parkavepirate@comcast.net for address and info)

Who: Anyone who wants to come! If you're reading this, you're invited.

This is pre-game before the 6:10pm White Sox game, which happens to also be the Twins Hall of Fame induction night for Brad Radke. It's pretty laid back. We're planning to hang out and meet some new folks who share a love of Twins Baseball. I'll be bringing some materials for sign-making and perhaps some Twins trivia. People are free (and encouraged!) to bring any outdoors-y, tailgate-y games they might have. We'll just be doing snack foods, so folks are welcome to bring a little tasty something to share if they're able. Some bloggers/tweeters have purchased (or are planning to purchase) cheap seat tickets to the game, and are going to be sitting together as a group. If you already have tickets elsewhere, or don't plan to go to the game (shame on you! Brad Radke!), you can still swing by pre-game for some fun and frolicking. It will be good times. I promise.

I'm planning on going. You should too. They mean it that everyone's invited! I'm really looking forward to it!

Compliment Super Club Sandwich

I love watching Family Guy. One of my favorite episodes is when Stewie (the baby) is Brian's (the dog) boss. Stewie calls Brian into his office for a chat.

Stewie Griffin: Now then, I’m going to do something I call the “compliment sandwich”, where I say something good, then talk about where you need improvement, and then end with something good.

Brian Griffin: Whatever you gotta do.

So let's do that for the Twins, shall we? Only this time, it'll be stacked really big.

Compliment: You kept yourselves in all four of the games against the Yankees.
Needs Improvement: You couldn't win any of them.
Compliment: The starting pitching on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday was quite serviceable.
Needs Improvement: The starting pitching on Monday could've been better.
Compliment: The batters hit more than the usual number of homeruns.
Needs Improvement: The pitching gave up more than the usual number of homeruns.
Compliment: The defense made some fine plays.
Needs Improvement: The batters left a total of 247 men on base -- 208 of them were in scoring position.
Compliment: You look like Snoopy, and that makes me smile.*

Recap (even though I hate to relive it):
Friday: Twins 4 - Yankees 5 (Nathan blows the save?!?! Walk-off single by Melky Cabrera)
Saturday: Twins 4 - Yankees 6 (11 Walk-off two-run homer by A-Rod)
Sunday: Twins 2 - Yankees 3 (10 Walk-off homer by Johnny Damon)
Monday: Twins 6 - Yankees 7 (no walk-offs this time)
Twins = Dustbunny

Up next: From the Evil Empire to the Evil Uglies -- the White Sox. Oh yay. We get Mark Buehrle. *rolls eyes*

*You have to have watched the episode of Family Guy I'm talking about to get this.

Four-Letter Fun

You know, it's bad enough to have to lose to the stinking, rotten, evil Yankees, but do they have to toy with us and make us believe that we've actually got a chance of winning? I guess the silver lining is that at least the Twins are keeping the games close -- at least the Yankees haven't blown away the Twins yet. Like I've said before, it's too bad moral victories don't count.

So, my dear Twins, let's stop playing the see-how-many-men-we-can-leave-stranded-on-base game and blow the Yankees away and get out of New York with one victory, shall we?

*sigh* This whole thing just makes me want to spew a string of four-letter words. I won't, because, well, I don't think it'll really help, and you probably know them all anyway.

But, speaking of four-letter words, let's have a little fun. My Twitter friend Mookie5 compiled a list of the active MLB players who have four-letter last names and sent it to me. I loved this; I get a kick out of fun or unusual names. I was really surprised to see how many there are.

Loux, Shane (Angels)
Blum, Geoff (Astros)
Buck, Travis (Athletics)
Cust, Jack (Athletics)
Camp, Shawn (Blue Jays)
Hill, Aaron (Blue Jays)
Rios, Alex (Blue Jays)
Ryan, B.J. (Blue Jays)
Diaz, Matt (Braves)
Lowe, Derrick (Braves)
Parr, James (Braves)
Ross, David (Braves)
Bush, Dave (Brewers)
Hall, Bill (Brewers)
Hart, Corey (Brewers)
Ryan, Brendan (Cardinals)
Berg, Justin (Cubs)
Fuld, Sam (Cubs)
Hart, Kevin (Cubs)
Hill, Coyie (Cubs)
Soto, Geovany (Cubs)
Drew, Stephen (Diamondbacks)
Pena, Tony (Diamondbacks)
Webb, Brandon (Diamondbacks)
Kemp, Matt (Dodgers)
Paul, Xavier (Dodgers)
Wade, Cory (Dodgers)
Wolf, Randy (Dodgers)
Cain, Matt (Giants)
Holm, Steve (Giants)
Roma, Sergio (Giants)
Sosa, Henry (Giants)
Winn, Randy (Giants)
Zito, Barry (Giants)
Choo, Shin-Soo (Indians)
Sipp, Tony (Indians)
Wood, Kerry (Indians)
Carp, Mike (Mariners)
Kahn, Stephen (Mariners)
Lowe, Mark (Mariners)
Pena, Luis (Mariners)
Vega, Marwin (Mariners)
Ross, Cody (Marlins)
Wood, Tim (Marlins)
Cora, Alex (Mets)
Kunz, Eddie (Mets)
Putz, J.J. (Mets)
Reed, Jeremy (Mets)
Bard, Josh (Nationals)
Dunn, Adam (Nationals)
Mock, Garrett (Nationals)
Baez, Danys (Orioles)
Bass, Brian (Orioles)
Hill, Rich (Orioles)
Huff, Aubrey (Orioles)
Mora, Melvin (Orioles)
Zaun, Gregg (Orioles)
Bell, Heath (Padres)
Geer, Josh (Padres)
Hill, Shawn (Padres)
Eyre, Scott (Phillies)
Hopp, J.A. (Phillies)
Park, Chan Ho (Phillies)
Ruiz, Carlos (Phillies)
Cruz, Luis (Pirates)
Diaz, Robinzon (Pirates)
Duke, Zach (Pirates)
Meek, Evan (Pirates)
Moss, Brandon (Pirates)
Sues, Jeff (Pirates)
Veal, Donald (Pirates)
Byrd, Marlon (Rangers)
Cruz, Nelson (Rangers)
Eyre, Willie (Rangers)
Jaso, John (Rays)
Pena, Carlos (Rays)
Bard, Daniel (Red Sox)
Diaz, Argenis (Red Sox)
Drew, J.D. (Red Sox)
Lugo, Julio (Red Sox)
Bray, Bill (Reds)
Cook, Aaron (Rockies)
Bale, John (Royals)
Buck, John (Royals)
Cruz, Juan (Royals)
Pena, Tony (Royals)
Rosa, Carlos (Royals)
Lyon, Brandon (Tigers)
Ryan, Dusty (Tigers)
Seay, Bobby (Tigers)
Inge, Brandon (Tigers)
Getz, Chris (White Sox)
Link, Jon (White Sox)
Wise, Dewayne (White Sox)
Cano, Robinson (Yankees)
Cash, Kevin (Yankees)
Coke, Phil (Yankees)
Dunn, Michael (Yankees)
Nady, Xavier (Yankees)
Pena, Romiro (Yankees)

Thanks Mookie5!

My First One!

Today, I am thankful for the technology that allowed me to "work remotely". I was too much of a wimp to head out into the snow and spend 4 ½ hours driving to work, so I emailed my boss and told him I was working from home. What I didn't tell him was that the Twins game was on TV. I'm so sly.

This is my first televised game since I started this blog, so I'm not quite sure what to do. But I am going to have fun.

I have a habit of talking directly to the television during games because I know they can hear me. They don't always listen to me, but they can hear me. Here's a recap of the conversations I had during the game:

1^st inning:
(To Rick Suttcliff when he's talking about Morneau) Morn-yo? Dude, it's not Morn-yo.

(To Derek Jeter when he's taking his sweet time getting a new bat and doing his usual "human-rain-delay" routine) Yes, Jeter. The camera's on you. Take your time and get your pretty face on air as long as possible.

(To Kevin Slowey) Striking out Giambi is a beautiful thing.

2^nd inning:
(To Brendan Harris when he missed that ground ball) Nicky would have got that. We should combine the two of you - Nickdan Puntis.

(To both ESPN guys when they're going on and on about A-Rod's previous at-bat) Oh, for crying out loud, he walked last inning. That doesn't make him God.

3^rd inning:
(To ESPN as a whole) Stop showing film of Johan. It's old now.

(To Gardy as he's being interviewed) You can sure tell it's spring training. You're usually much more uptight during the season.

(To ESPN as a whole) Heaven forbid you guys show a graphic or tell us who's up to bat. Who is that, Mike Lamb? Wait, no, it's ... hmm, got me.

5^th inning:
(To Garrett Jones)BOOM!

(To Joba Chamberlain when he beans Matt Tolbert in the ankle)Hey! Hey! Hey! A pox on your ankle.

6^th inning:
(To Justin during his interview) Hi honey. Nice to see you smiling so much in an interview. And you've been practicing avoiding all the "ums" and "likes". Nice job. Way to come out of your Canadian shell.

7^th inning:
(To the ESPN guy) It's "Pridie", NOT "Perdie"

8^th inning:
(To Alejandro Machado when he doubled and drove in two) ALE-JANDRO!

9^th inning:
(To Everyone) YAY! Twins win!

So that's that. Good Guys 7, Evil Empire 5


Cheers to: ALE-JANDRO!

Because you drove in the go-ahead runs, and your name is fun to say.

Boo-hiss to: Joba.

Dude, calm down. It's spring training for crissakes. No need to be plunking people just cuz someone hit a homer off you.