Quick Notes: Jan. 2, 2011

Happy New Year, everyone! I really enjoyed the last two weeks of the year. I was able to spend some time with family while keeping things low-key and setting some time aside to relax. I hope you were able to do the same thing.

I'm about 97.6% certain that Bill Smith was able to do the same thing as well, because nothing is happening with the Twins. Ok, I don't really know that; he could be going on 3 hours of sleep and staffing the phones right this minute trying to complete 14 separate deals. Do you doubt that? Yeah, I doubt that too.

I'm crabby because I just want something to talk about and it's really boring that there isn't. *sigh*

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Remember all those years when the Twins organization was trying to get the Minnesota legislature to chip in for a new ballpark and they kept trying to prove their point by griping about how crappy the Metrodome was? Well, the old Humpty Dump found a way to not only stick it to the Vikings for all their complaining, but it also figured out how to give the Twins one final "up yours". The air-less balloon that used to be the roof won't be fixed for a few months, not nearly in time for Twins Fest, scheduled for the end of January. Way to go Dome, that'll show 'em.

Fortunately, the Twins were able to relocate to the National Sports Center in Blaine. That's a nice big facility, but I really don't know if Twins Fest will be as grand there as it usually is. I'm sure it'll be fine, and it's great there is a place to go on such short notice.

Twins Fest is Jan. 28 - 30.

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On Thursday, Dec. 30, I was one of a cast of thousands starring on Seth Stohs' SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins special 2-hour, year-end special podcast. Ok, there wasn't really a cast of thousands. It was more like a cast of 17. But, still, pretty impressive. We talked about our favorite memories of 2010, what we think of the off-season, and what we're looking forward to in 2011. It was a really fun show with a lot of great guests -- and me.

My favorite memory of 2010 was the Home Opener in Target Field. The park is one of the best in the majors, and I think it contributed to the success of the team in 2010. The crowd was full, and abuzz, nearly every game, and the players must've appreciated a nice field to play on and nice facilities to be in. I also like how they incorporated the great players and memories from the past throughout the park, from the photo murals all around in places like the Legends Club to the glass on the Metropolitan Club with a definite nod to old Met Stadium. I was glad to be there to help open it.

My thoughts around the off-season revolved largely around acquiring a veteran starting pitcher who can give us 200+ innings a season -- namely Pavano. I think that now that the bullpen features a lot of inexperience, an iron-man type starter who can go deep into games would be a valuable asset. I'd also like to see Jim Thome back in a Twins uniform because I like him and he makes me happy.

I'm looking forward to the return of Joe Nathan in 2011. I have a gut feeling that by June, our Joe will be the formidable Joe Nathan again. And I can't wait to see it happen.

So anyway, check out the podcast here. I come in at about the 34-minute mark, but I really encourage you to listen to the whole show; it was a lot of fun.

Also, listen and learn why my boss has put the kibosh on any designs I had on doing voice-over work.

Thanks, Seth, for inviting me to be on your show with all those other great guests and thanks for being a friend of this blog over the past year.

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In the on-going, captivating saga of the crocheting I'm doing to spend the vast amount of time until baseball starts again, I present this cute little sock monkey I made.

Of course he's a Twins fan. We haven't decided on a name for him yet. Perhaps Hubert.

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And finally, I'd like to express my prayers and good wishes for Harmon Killebrew. He announced earlier this week that he's battling esophageal cancer.

I don't remember too much about his playing days, but I always been aware of his presence with the team. Seems like he's always around during Spring Training, Twins Fest, and other events. He always seems so proud to be associated with the Twins, and Twins fans are grateful to have him around. My mom had the thrill of shaking his hand a few years ago at Twins Fest, and he was very gracious to her.

I hope Harmon, his family, and his doctors can find a way to get him through this battle and on to a full recovery.

Short Notes - Apr 6

Happy Opening Day! I know, I know, it was officially yesterday, but since the second Twins game hasn't started yet (as I write this), it's still a valid greeting.

I'm so happy it's real baseball with real consequences and real results. Happy happy happy.

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So, in case you haven't been here during the regular season, or in case you forgot, let me explain how I do things. I usually save my thoughts about the games until after the whole series and then do a recap -- unless something special motivates me to write, like Jason Kubel hitting a homerun on my command. Of course, when the final game of the series is a late one and there's a game the very next day, like with this upcoming Angels series finale, it gets difficult.

This is because I absolutely refuse to blog while a Twins game is on. It's not that I'm so in to the games that I can't multi-task; it's that it happens to be very bad, horrible luck for the Twins. Turns out, I can't even so much as think about blogging without risking disastrous performances by our boys. For example, you'll notice in that Jason Kubel post I referenced above, I talk about a ninth inning clown show. That's when the Twins bullpen coughed up buttload of runs in the 9th (after leading by 9 or 10 runs or something like that), and it's all because I was writing while the game was going on. True story. I won't let it happen again. And, yes, I'm really that superstitious -- probably even more.

So I'd better get going here; tonight's game is going to start soon.

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Happy Birthday Bert Blyleven. Only 365 more days until your next one.

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You'll notice a new little section in the upper-right corner. I love all the cool, crazy words and sayings baseball offers, so I thought I'd feature a new term every week -- that is, if I remember to do a new one every week.

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So hey, my blog's all grown up. I went out and got it its very own domain name...

kbrobaseball.blogspot.com proudly presents...

www.kbrobaseball.com

Ta da!

Ok, it's not really that big of a deal. If you go there, you just wind up here. And the blogspot.com address still works, so you don't have to change your bookmarks or blogroll or anything if you don't want to.

But, when you're telling all your friends about me, won't the new name be easier to remember?

~~~

Podcast updates - some news on my favorite podcasts.

New! DW the Great of Twin-Keys and Joe Bronk of Joe's Little Big League started the Twin-Keys podcast a few weeks ago. Be sure to check it out. In fact, about 5 minutes ago, I agreed to be a guest tomorrow at 7. So now you really need to check it out.

New! Bloggers Julie DiCaro from A League of Her Own (a Cubs blog) and Caryn Rose from Metsgrrl (a Mets blog) started the Throwing Like a Girl podcast to discuss baseball from a girl's perspective. Check it out, because our friend Jen from Lipgloss and Baseball was a guest on their first episode.

Improved! I've mentioned this before, but it deserves repeating. Seth Stohs (SethSpeaks.net) started a zippy new web-radio program called The Show with Seth Stohs (try saying that five times fast). As always, it's good stuff. I have only one eensy, weesny complaint: Dude, when are you going to put it on iTunes? Anyway, it accessible through his site.

[EDIT (4/7 9:00 AM) -- This happened after I wrote this last night, and I just found out about it this morning.]
New! Seth Stohs and Travis Aune (Travis Twins Talks) have teamed up to produce the Twins Minor League Weekly. Both Seth and Travis are excellent resources on prospect information; this podcast will be great for everyone who want to keep up on the farm system. The first episode was posted on Seth Speaks Blog Talk Radio program, but they indicated that might set up a new link for future episodes. I'll let you know as soon as I know.

Hmm...

A few notes on a couple of things that kind of made me scratch my head.

The Twins signed all eight of their arbitration eligible players
This is good. I've heard that neither the teams nor the players want to go into the arbitration room. The team tells the player how awful he is so that they don't have to pay him as much money as he wants, and then when it's all done, they have to convince him how much the love him. Can't be good for anyone.

So it's great that everyone (JJ Hardy, Carl Pavano, Delmon Young, Pat Neshek, Jesse Crain, Matt Guerrier, Francisco Liriano all for one-year contracts and Brendan Harris for a two-year contract) signed so quickly -- all done on the very day when figures were exchanged. But it's curious that it was indeed that fast. The Twins and one other team (I forget which, Dodgers maybe?) were the only ones that had that many arbitration eligibles. So it would have been understandable if a few of them had taken a day or two.

Now, I haven't really followed Twins contract activities in the past, so I'm not sure about what to think of this. But I seem to remember when Cuddyer was arbitration-eligible, he and the Twins came to a "hand on the doorknob to the mediator's room" agreement.

So it seems odd to me that they'd knock off all eight in one swell foop. What does it mean? Are they opening the wallet freely? Are they just trying to get it over with and just saying "whatever" to whatever the players wanted? Were all the players extraordinarily reasonable with their demands? Huh?

The Twins are seriously interested in signing Jim Thome
Um, ok. The White Sox announced earlier this evening that they're not interested in him, so speculation is that he's deciding between the Twins and the Rays.

Now Thome's great. He's the kind of player you hate, only because he always beats you. I always like him a lot better when he's in the National League.

He's been described as the nicest guy in baseball. And that came from Mike Redmond -- after Thome cracked his skull when he forgot to hold on to his bat.

But, despite all that, the curious part is: why? We already have a left-handed, and much younger, DH in Jason Kubel. And it's not like we could put Thome out in the field to rest some guys.
I know the bench is a bit thin, but I seriously think they have other needs to address first. I don't know; bringing him in is like bringing beer to a wine tasting -- really good beer, but it still doesn't quite fit.


Ok, this is a no-brainer
The estimable Seth Stohs is planning a super-duper, action-packed, star-studded, pre-TwinsFest extravaganza podcast tomorrow (Tuesday) evening. Ok, I exaggerate, but it's still going to be great.

Follow this link to listen live: www.BlogTalkRadio.com/SethSpeaks

Here's his tentative schedule (Central Time):

8:00-8:05 – Introduction

8:05-8:20 – John Sickels

8:20-8:35 – Pat Neshek

8:35-8:50 – Joe Benson

8:50-9:05 – Carlos Gutierrez

9:05-9:10 – Catch Up

9:10-9:25 – Kyle Gibson

9:25-9:35 – Open

9:35-9:45 – Denard Span

9:45-9:55 – Jeff Manship

9:55-10:00 – Wrap-Up

Be sure to tune in; it sounds like an awesome show.

Short Notes - Jan. 17

On Friday, Mike Redmond signed with the Indians. I don't have a problem with this; in fact, I think it's a great scenario. He's still in the division, so we'll get to see him a bunch, but he's still on a team I can tolerate. As far as division rivals go, the Indians are slightly less lovable than the Royals, but miles more lovable than the Evil Ugly White Sox.

I'll have to be sure to get tickets for a day game after a night game when Cleveland is in town. Oh, and I'd better not hear any boos for him. If I do, each and every person who does will get a personalized stink-eye from me. I mean it.

I already said my goodbyes. Twins Geek and A Voice From Twins Territory have nice tributes.

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On a related note, Friday was a bad day for the Twins backup catcher contingency. Apparently, Jose Morales needs wrist surgery and will likely miss a chunk of Spring Training and won't be ready for the start of the season. Bummer. I hope Buetera is up to the task.

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Did you notice that I did a little redecorating? Winter is beginning to bum me out (oh, you too? yeah, it sucks doesn't it?), so I added a handy countdown to Pitchers and Catchers Report.

I really, really wish I could go to Spring Training, but it's not possible this year. I am looking forward to reading reports and hearing about other fans' trips, so if you're going, please share.

Also, as if I don't have enough going on in the sidebar, I've added more. There are a few more blogs in the blogroll, and there's a new podcast section (scroll down a bit to see it). And please consider helping the Red Cross help Haiti.

If you're viewing this in a reader, be sure to click through and check out the new digs.

Short Notes - Jan. 11

Just a few quick thoughts on the Twins and baseball news over the past week.

Goodbye
Bobby Keppel is gone. He was released, and then immediately signed with a Japanese team. Good luck, Bobby. (And with that, that's the second time I initially typed "Booby" instead of "Bobby" and had to fix it. Perhaps my fingers reveal my true feelings of his pitching.)

Hello
To replace Booby (I just figured I'd go with it), the Twins signed Clay Condrey. They have a long tradition of signing pitchers I know nothing about. In fact, it's almost as if it's a contractual obligation. And with this, they've fulfilled their commitment. Just so long as it's not another Livan Hernandez/Ramon Ortiz/Sidney Ponson situation, I'll be ok with it. Welcome Clay.

Undies in a Bunch -- or Not
Right after Keppel got the axe, a rumor (which turned out to be true -- so it was a trumor {wow, sorry, I'm really tired, so lame jokes seem really hilarious to me right now}) started that the Twins offered a deal to Jarrod Washburn. A lof of the bloggers I know of aren't really a fan of that idea. I think it's a pretty silly offer; we've already got three mediocre lefties (Liriano, Perkins, Duensing), and they don't make that much money. Doesn't matter; he turned it down.

Cardinals News
Hey, the Cardinals signed Matt Holliday to a monster contract. This is significant not only because I'm a Holliday fan, and I kind of like the Cardinals (if I had to pick a NL team, it'd be the Cardinals), but also it be a blueprint for a potential Joe Mauer contract. Super-size it for Joey.

Speaking of the Cardinals
Ok, Mark McGwire admitted to steriod use. This is not a surprise, but it is sad. Speculation is speculation, and therefore, there's always a fine thread of hope that it's not real. But admission is real. I'm glad the truth is out; I do wish he'd admitted it sooner. But I'm still a fan of his, and I'm neither qualified to nor interested in judging him on this matter. 

Podcast Update
I've got a few more podcasts to add to my previous list.

• Travistalks Weekly Minnesota Sports - hosted by Travis Aune
• Baseball Prospectus Radio - hosted by Will Carroll
• And a special podcast, from my Twitter friend Lephio, Baseball e Musica from Italy. So if you know Italian, or want to learn it, check it out.
  

My Podcast Debut!

Hey, remember a couple of days ago when I was tell you about all the great podcasts I listen to? Well, I was lucky to be invited to participate in Fanatic Jack's podcast on Wednesday evening. We talked about Hall of Fame voting, blogging, guy fans and gal fans, photoshop, food drives, Joe Mauer, and hoping for the best. I had a great time doing it.

Oh, and I'm the opening act for the estimable Seth Stohs, so at least it ends well.

Be sure to check it out here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/jack-steal/2010/01/07/is-this-the-year

Thanks so much to Jack Steal of Fanatic Jack Talks Twins and Topper Anton of Curve For a Strike for inviting me to participate and being so kind to me.

Please forgive my nervous aahs, ums, and other such poor public speaking habits. I was a bit nervous. And, honestly, I don't think I do that annoying teenage-girl-style upspeak thing as much as it sounded like I did (sheesh). Although, I don't pay much attention to myself when I talk, so maybe I do.

The Wonderful World of Podcasts

I have a new guilty pleasure. I listen to podcasts. I listen at work. I listen at home. And I don't even own an iPod.

Podcasts are great. I like music, but I wouldn't say that I'm a music lover. And I can't listen to music all day. But I have to listen to something during work, so I discovered the great world of podcasts.

It works out great. I started an iTunes account and I download the podcasts to my hard drive. I plug my headphones right into my computer, and listen to my heart's content -- no iPod necessary. There are eleventy-billion titles available on iTunes, from sports, to education, to comedy, to ... whatever. Many popular radio programs re-air via podcast so you can listen whenever you want. And, of course, many are recorded only for downloading.

And the best part...they're free. (At least I haven't run across any that cost money.)

Since there are so many to choose from, I thought I'd share my podcast playlist.

Sports:
General Sports:

GoGameFace.com presents Game On
Hosted by Erica Boeke and Melissa Greenhawt

Their tagline is "the podcast by women who love sports, but not stats." Which is exactly why it's my favorite podcast. Erica and Melissa are knowledgeable, smart, enthusiastic, and fun. In addition to lots of great sports talk, they also discuss pop-culture. They have great guests (their most recent episode featured Masi Oka from "Heroes") and they conduct awesome interviews. It's a ton of fun.

Baseball:

ESPN: Baseball Today
Hosted by Eric Karabell and Peter Pascarelli

The good thing about stuff from ESPN is that you know it's great stuff. Updated daily during the season and weekly during the off-season, it provides top-notch updates and insight.

Twins Baseball:

Blog Talk Radio: Jack Steal
Hosted by Fanatic Jack Steal and Topper Anton

A nice podcast by blog writers of Fanatic Jack Talks Twins and Curve For a Strike. I enjoy this podcast because it's just a couple of great Twins fans talking baseball. Jack is quite outspoken and really wants this team to win (lately, he's been pretty frustrated by Bill Smith's lack of activity). His passion is awesome. Topper (who is a friend of this blog) lends a voice of calmness and reason. They complement each other nicely.

Blog Talk Radio: SethSpeaks
Hosted by Seth Stohs

Presented by the estimable author of sethspeaks.net, Seth gives great insight and analysis. He often focuses on minor leaguers and prospects, which is pretty interesting.

Other Stuff:
General Knowledge

CBC: Spark
Hosted by Nora Young

This is a podcast version of the Canadian Broadcast Company's Spark radio program. It's about technology and culture. I like it because it's very interesting but not overly nerdy or complicated.

Stuff You Should Know by howstuffworks.com
Hosted by Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant

I love this podcast. It's pretty much two really smart, yet kind of goofy, guys who thoroughly research some random topic and then talk about it. They've covered everything from totem poles to pirates to nuclear proliferation. Very cool, and very interesting.

NPR: Fresh Air
Hosted by Terry Gross

I've been listening to Fresh Air for years. And I'm thrilled that I can download it and listen whenever it's convenient. It has great interviews that cover arts, issues, and culture.

NPR: Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me
Hosted by Peter Sagal and Carl Kasell

I've got to be careful when I listen to this podcast, because I always laugh out loud and I don't want to disturb my co-workers. This quiz show about news and current events is hilarious.

The MannersCast
Hoted by Trent, Colin, and Derek

This fun podcast is about everyday manners for everyday people. It's pretty much three guys chatting about manners issues sent in by listeners. Their advice is great, but never snooty or self-rightous.

Quick and Dirty Tips

The Quick and Dirty Tips network offers a bunch of short (about 6 minutes), informative podcasts from a variety of experts. I have a few favorites, but they're all great.

• Grammar Girl - Quick and dirty tips for better writing
• Modern Manners Guy - Quick and dirty tips for a more polite life (hosted by the same Trent as The MannersCast)
• Nutrition Diva - Quick and dirty tips for eating well and feeling fabulous
• House Call Doctor - Quick and dirty tips for taking charge of your health

So that's about it. Sometimes I'll listen to others, but don't subscribe. But, hey, if you have some recommendations, let me know. I've got room for more (there are a lot of hours in the work week).

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I sincerely hope you have a fantastic New Year. I really appreciate all the readers who stop by this blog. Let's all hope that there will be some exciting Twins news very soon.