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Statistics |
| Unique Visitors: 0 |
| Total Unique Visitors: 3184 |
| Visitors Out: 957 |
| Total Visitors Out: 2015 |
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| Twins beat the Brewers in a thriller! |
| 2008-06-28 16:23:37 |
I attended last nights game against the Brewers. The game was very exciting and the back and forth nature made the game was everything that I could ask for in a game. I want nothing more than to be able to go to a game that is compeditive and to see the Twins win!
A few [...]...
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| Twins sweep Nats |
| 2008-06-19 16:01:54 |
The Twins continued their rollercoaster ways today by taking the last game of a three game series against the Washington Nationals. This after the Twins took 2 of 3 from the Brew Crew last weekend. It seems as if the Twins can not make up their minds… It’s either feast or famine with this club. [...]...
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| Twins take it to the Sawx |
| 2008-05-13 13:26:28 |
Last night Livan Hernandez improved to 6-1 on the season with a solid pitching performance. After an unsettling first inning where Manny being Manny hit his 498th career homerun, the Twins were able to get out of the inning only surrendering 3 runs. After the first inning, Livan had much better control over his pitches. [...]...
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| We have a DH! |
| 2008-05-12 09:57:54 |
After several years of mediocrity from the designated hitter position, I can now say with confidence that we have finally found ours. His name is Craig Monroe. Last night Craig, was huge hitting 2 homeruns including a shot in the 2nd inning against the always tough to hit Tim Wakefield. Craig followed by hitting another [...]...
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| Twins Shut Out |
| 2008-04-24 10:44:08 |
Dan Gaudin is the second coming of Tom Glavine… Well, not really but last night it looked as if he would be a 300 game winner. Gaudin had no problems finding his spots as he painted corners and used his slider to keep the Twins batters out of sync. Once again the 2008 version of [...]...
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| The Craig Monroe Show |
| 2008-04-23 11:46:36 |
It’s about time… Last night Craig Monroe gave us a glimpse of what he has historically been able to do at the plate. Monroe had a very good night with 3 RBI including a double and a homerun. The season thus far has not been kind for Monroe. Prior to yesterday’s game he was batting [...]...
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| Off Day |
| 2008-04-21 15:14:09 |
The Twins have an off day today… The Twins will need to cherish this day — their next day off will be in a week when the Twins finish a 6 game road trip that includes the Oakland Athletics and the Texas Rangers.
Given the Twins current 9-10 record, Twins faithful can be fairly optimistic [...]...
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| DQ Hat Day |
| 2008-04-19 13:32:10 |
It’s a cool and clowdy day in Minneapolis. This afternoon i’ll be making my trek across downtown to the Metrodome. I chose to attend todays game for a few reasons:
#1 - DQ Hat Day… The first 20,000 fans will be getting one of these:
They typically are not great hats but I kind [...]...
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| Lirano sent to Minors |
| 2008-03-28 17:06:14 |
This afternoon the Twins announced that Fransisco Lirano will start the season pitching for the Class A Fort Myers Miracle. In my opinion, this is a good move by the front office for several reasons.
1. He’s rusty. Lirano has shown some signs of regaining the form that he had in 2006 but for the most [...]...
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| Statistics are a funny thing |
| 2008-03-25 21:35:57 |
Ron Gardenhire announced this week that Carlos Gomez would be the opening day center fielder for the Twins by sending Denard Span and Jason Pridie to the Minor League spring training complex. At first glance it seems that Gardy has lost his mind. It has been written over and over that Gomez has [...]...
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| A Florida Smackdown |
| 2008-03-13 08:37:34 |
It appears that there is at least 1 Devil Rays player who is happy that Delmon Young is gone.
Carl Crawford.
This week during an interview he was asked about Delmon Young. Carl stated that he is sick of Delmon’s constant yapping and that he should “Shut up and play baseball”. He then went on [...]...
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| Will the real centerfielder please stand up? |
| 2008-03-12 10:39:27 |
During my morning search for Twins related content, I found this interesting video on the StarTribune website. In a nutshell its an interview with Jerry White and each of the three centerfield candidates – Carlos Gomez, Denard Span and Jason Pridie.
Check out the link here: http://www.startribune.com/video/16538031.html
Since the trade that sent Johan Santana to the Mets, [...]...
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| Spring Training: When Hope Spring Eternal |
| 2008-03-10 10:15:51 |
I can almost smell the freshly cut grass. Looking out my window just now I can see that there are still several inches of snow that are covering the great state of Minnesota. I won’t let that get me down. Why you ask?
Let me tell you…. Yesterday I saw my first (of many) innings of [...]...
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| And Monroe Makes 4 |
| 2007-12-12 08:48:22 |
Believe it or not, yesterday was a big day for the Minnesota Twins. No, the Twins did not make top story on ESPN by trading their ace Johan Santana. The Twins made a small move that I believe will help them (at least offensively) next season. Yesterday was the final day to either sign or release [...]...
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| Santana Watch 2007 |
| 2007-12-05 09:45:14 |
First of all, let me get something off of my chest. I hate the fact that a deal hasn’t already been struck. At first, the hoopla and anticipation surrounding Santana to [insert large market team here] was fun and it was fun to check to look for updates to Loony Lavelle’s or J.Christiansen’s Trib blogs [...]...
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| Santana Traded |
| 2007-11-30 09:21:05 |
I can’t help but wait to see the words “Santana Traded to [insert team here]” on the front page of the StarTribune in the next couple of days. At this point, it seems inevitable to me that the Cy-Young award winning pitcher will soon be leaving the friendly confines of the Metrodome for either Yankee [...]...
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| It was a nice run |
| 2007-11-23 13:55:08 |
It’s official. The sun has set on Torii Hunter and the Minnesota Twins. The 7-time Gold Glove winner will be leaving the not so friendly confines of the H.H.H. Metrodome in exchange for Edison Field in Sunny and traffic congested Anaheim California! Some of the reactions in the blog-o-sphere have been negative towards Torii and [...]...
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| Barry Bonds to Minnesota |
| 2007-09-28 10:36:55 |
While this season comes to a close, there is much speculation regarding the future of several current Twins…. Will Santana be traded? Will the Twins resign Hunter? One question that is just starting to surface…. Will Barry Bonds land in Minnesota?
Barry has publically stated that he wants to play for 1 or 2 more years. [...]...
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| Torii with two I’s |
| 2007-09-26 09:43:32 |
With this season coming to a close, I can’t help but think about the future of Torii Hunter. Over the past 10 seasons, Torii has been a rock in centerfield. With his acrobatic catches, robbed homeruns and mile-wide smile I must admit that I have come very attached to this player. To me and dare [...]...
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| Random Musings |
| 2007-08-08 12:25:56 |
The baseball trip is over. I was able to navigate my way up and down the entire state of California. 5 stadiums and Las Vegas… All in 9 days! What a whirlwind. One of the best baseball trips to date. A few quick notes about the stadiums.
1. AT&T Park is better in person than on [...]...
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| It all starts today |
| 2007-07-27 11:00:08 |
Today is the start of my annual pilgrimage that I affectionatly refer to as the “Big Trip”. Each year, myself and 4 other guys head out on the road. We map out a week and a half long road trip where we travel from baseball stadium to baseball stadium. This year we’ll be living it [...]...
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| Are the Twins Contenders? |
| 2007-06-18 15:16:49 |
It’s getting to be that time of year again. We are about one third of the way through the schedule and the Twins record sits at 34-33. This season can be summed up with one word: Inconsitency.
The Twins have shown inconsistency in hitting, pitching, fielding, base running. All aspects of the game have been hit [...]...
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| Twins lose two of three to Nats |
| 2007-06-11 14:10:28 |
This is not exactly what I was thinking of prior to the start of the second and final round of interleague play. The American League once again dominated interleague. The one exception was the Twins horrible performance over the weekend against the perennial National League doormat – the Nationals.
This was to be a series that [...]...
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| Mauer to bat second - Finally! |
| 2007-06-06 15:15:50 |
In a move that Ron Gardenhire hopes will jump start our offense, it appears that Gardy will put Joe Mauer second in the batting order once he returns for the homestand that starts this Friday. Over the past few years, it has been no secret that Joe is able to get on base. Over the [...]...
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| Twins killed by Angels |
| 2007-06-05 12:34:21 |
Up. Down. Up. Down. When does this ride end? I’ll be honest. My stomach is starting to get a little queasy. I loved the positivity that was coming out of the Twins camp over the last week. That was until we ran directly into the Oakland A’s and Anaheim Angels.
After winning the first game [...]...
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| Mauer still injured |
| 2007-06-02 23:13:16 |
Up until recently, whenever a discussion of Mauer vs. Prior comes up I have ALWAYS leaned towards Joe Mauer. He has all the skills. He can hit. He can throw. He is deceptively fast on the basepaths. All signs pointed towards Mauer and I always used to thank heavens that [...]...
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| The Minnesota Twins Play Dirty |
| 2007-06-01 20:33:05 |
Today I read an interesting article by Chicago Sun Times staff reporter Joe Cowley. You can read the article here.
The premise of the article is this: The Twins play dirty and are never called on it because they are the cute, loveable small market team from a fly-over state. As I read this article I [...]...
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| Slowey to start against Oakland |
| 2007-05-30 17:10:57 |
A few thoughts before the Twins take the field against the WhiteSox.
Kevin Slowey finally gets his chance. In a move that has been talked about since spring training, Kevin Slowey will finally get his chance to make his MLB debut. This isn’t really much of a surprise. He’s throwing the ball very well for AAA [...]...
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| Pierzinski once again surrounded by controversy |
| 2007-05-29 03:59:10 |
We should have known. The catcher who was once loved by Twins fans once again found himself surrounded by controversy during todays game against the Twins. Should we be surprised? A.J. is doing the same things that we used to love about him. Only now the fans generally boo him when he comes to the [...]...
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| Chicks dig the long ball |
| 2007-05-09 06:23:34 |
Congrats Justin Morneau! Today you made Ozzie Guillen and the rest of the pale stockings pay for their mistakes. A solo shot in the 2nd wouldn’t be enough for you. No…. You decided to go long in the bottom of the 10th for a game winning walk off homerun. Congrats Justin! Once again… You are the man.
I love how this all played out. Just tonight I was reading an article in the StarTribune about Justin and the extra time he is spending with hitting coach Joe Vavra to go through film of each at bat. It’s funny that on the same day that article talked about not hitting for power and a horrible average with runners in scoring position, Justin launched two out of the park
In other news… Torii Hunter is still in his contract year. He extended his career-high 22 game hitting streak while hitting a sharp single up the middle to tie the game in the 8th inning. Closed circuit to Terry Ryan. Sign this guy. While we all know that he’ll cost an arm...
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| Fun With Numbers |
| 2007-05-03 23:09:29 |
If I were to show you the following line through the month of April, what would you say?
ABÂ RÂ Â HÂ 2BÂ 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BAÂ Â OBP Â SLGÂ OPS
95Â 19Â 32 14Â 0Â 6Â 20Â 6Â Â 1Â 3Â 16 .337Â .366 .674 1.040
What about this this stat line???
ABÂ R Â Â HÂ Â 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BAÂ Â OBPÂ SLGÂ Â OPS
86Â 17Â Â 29Â 3Â Â 0Â Â 6Â 19Â 0Â 0Â 24Â 23 .337 .487 .581Â 1.068
I’ll give you a hint as to who owns each number…
One is a line from someone who in past years has been talked about during MVP discussions. The other line is from someone who is generally thought of a “streaky” and known more for his glove than for his bat.
Drumroll…. The first stat line is that of Torii Hunter. The second line is that of Travis Hafner. Surprised much?
The stats don’t lie. Hunter is the winner in almost all statistical categories. This makes me wonder whether Hunter can keep this up. He’s on pace to his 35 homeruns and 142 RBI...
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| Twins head to Florida after taking two from Detroit |
| 2007-05-01 19:17:07 |
In a season where the Twins have looked anything but consistent, they travel to St. Petersburg Florida tonight to take on a very young and talented Devil Rays squad. Coming into the last series against the Tigers I had my doubts about this team… specifically our ability to score runs. The supposed weak spot of this team was their starting pitching rotation. While that seems to be shored up (Thanks Rick Anderson), we have been used to getting little production out of anyone not named Mauer, Cuddyer or Hunter. Having three guys produce in a lineup won’t allow you to win many games.
This all changed with a 1-0 extra innings victory over the Kansas City Royals. That momentum pushed us to win two out of three games against the Motor City Kitties. While we saw flashes of good team play the Twins will certainly try to continue their winning ways during the next week.
Sidney Ponson (1-3 8.44 ERA) vs. Edwin Jackson (0-3 6.10 ERA)
After taking two of three from ...
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| We’ve got a few problems! |
| 2007-04-24 19:16:12 |
The Twins have struggled their way through 19 games this season. Their record is favorable but it seems as if every game has been difficult and inconsistency has certainly plagued the offense since the beginning of the year.
I am not about to write off the 2007 Twins or their offensive capabilities but there are a few alarming trends that I have seen.
We are very inconsistent against lefties. Gardy does his best to try to mix and match lineups that are favorable but it seems that no matter who we throw out there we’re only marginally successful. As a team we’re batting .231 against lefties (and that is skewed because of all-world Joe Mauer who kills any ball that comes his way). Several key players to our success last year have not picked it up. Guys like Punto, Bartlett and Castillo are really struggling against lefties. It is obvious to me over the last four games that we have been handcuffed against mediocre lefties. What will happen when we get a tough lefty to...
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| Santana cruises and Cuddyer knocks in two |
| 2007-04-20 19:44:53 |
Generally people believe that in order to win a baseball game you have to have sound fundamentals: Pitching, Hitting and Defense.
Last night the Twins put their own twist on that philosophy. Trailing 2-1 in the 7th inning the Twins put a 5-spot on the board against Jarrod Washburn. The inning started with three perfectly executed bunts. Jason Bartlett’s drag bunt put him on first. Then came Alexi Castilla’s infield bunt. Nick Punto finished the job by executing a sacrifice bunt to move the runners to 2nd and 3rd base. Hometown hero Joe Mauer was walked and Cuddy smoked the ball to the gap to score two runs.
By the end of the inning, Washburn was replaced and the Twins put up 5 on the Mariners.
At that point, Santana was set up for the win. He was strong again last night where he pitched 7 innings giving up 2 runs on four hits while striking out 7. Typical night.
Other game notes:
Michael Cuddyer continues to swing a hot bat. He’s batting .339 ...
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| Hunter, Ortiz propel Twins to win |
| 2007-04-18 14:34:18 |
Did you see last night’s game??? I tried my best to watch most of it but I started dozing off around the 5th inning… Stupid West Coast games!
Even though I did not see every out, I do have some observations.
Ramon Ortiz will be a a decent pitcher this year for our Minnesota Twins. Ortiz gives all of his success to Rick Anderson but even so, Ortiz has done a great job in his first three starts. He has great control of all of his pitches and he is controlling the plate with his hard in, slider away mentality.
Luis Rodriguez isn’t too bad in the field. Last night during the middle innings, he put out seven batters in a row. Most of these were routine grounders but he did make one spectacular play to send Ichiro to the bench after a screaming grounder. From his knees he threw out Ichiro. The crowd gave a collective “Oooooh and Ahhhhh” after the play.
Torii Hunter is seeing the ball extremely well. He hit his 7th career Grand Slam last nigh...
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| Ponson gets the win! |
| 2007-04-15 04:00:08 |
Sidney Ponson had one thing on his mind. He wanted to come back from a less than stellar performance in his last game and prove to the Twins and their fans that he’s worth the $1 million that we offered him out of Spring Training. Ponson came out of the gate and looked very shakey. He did not attack the plate and the result of that was two runs in the top of the second. After the second inning things changed. Ponson attacked the plate, pitched inside and made it a point to throw first pitch strikes.
Once Ponson got rolling so did the Twins. The offense strung together hits in the 3rd, 5th, 6th and 7th. The most impressive inning was the sixth when the Twins had 4 straight two out hits which put up three more runs that really put the game out of hand. Things started to get out of control in the 7th inning when the Twins scored another three runs. Luis Rodriguez went deep over the right field baggie and Jason Tyner (who has never hit a homerun) sent one off the ve...
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| Game 6: Don’t blame Ponson |
| 2007-04-10 21:29:33 |
The easiest and most obvious reaction to last nights loss against the Yankees is to blame Sidney Ponson for a poor pitching performance. If you looked only at the box score, Ponson would look horrible. How could you not be upset when you see numbers like:
8 runs, 10 hits, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts all in only 5.2. innings pitched.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I wish that he would have fared better. He didn’t do well but I think that his numbers were somewhat skewed (especially his runs and hits). During the first two innings he gave up 5 runs (3 runs could have been prevented and 3 of the hits were “gifts” from the Baseball Gods…). The bottom line is this: The Twins (as a team) came out flat last night. They made horrible mistakes on the basepaths. They made errors in the field. They didn’t hit Carl Pavano (who hasn’t won a game in over a year).
Many of the usual sports radio hosts around town are ripping Ponson and calling for G...
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| In the category of creepy… |
| 2007-04-08 01:00:11 |
One of the fun things about keeping up a blog is that I have the luxury of seeing how people found my website. Many people find my blog by searching google. There are several searches that occur over and over again. Today I had the displeasure of having someone find my blog by searching for “Joe Mauer’s St. Paul address”…… When googling that exact phrase, I end up the first result on google. Normally, i’d relish being first on google but when someone is searching for Joe’s exact location….well…. that makes me more than a little creeped out!
Stay safe from stalkers Joe!
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| Too Cold! |
| 2007-04-07 18:39:16 |
Twins fans everywhere rejoiced last night when news came out about the postponement of yesterdays game. Why the excitement? Pushing Silva’s first start back (of course). Silva was skipped in the rotation to make room for Sidney Ponson.
Ponson will be facing off today against Javier Vasquez. I like this match up much more than Silva vs. the Pale Stockings.
The weather forcast for today is…. cold and windy. I’m not convince that the game will be played but if it is we’ll get a up close and personal view of our 1 million dollar man…. Go Twins!
****This just in…. Silva will start today’s game. Bummer*****
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