Tidbits

By M. Haas

Today is Tuesday. I just got back from St. Louis, and I was planning to do a ballpark review but I didn't take any pictures. I didn't even eat a hot dog! So I can't truly review it. Busch Stadium is big - I'll leave it at that.

So here are some thoughts I've been kicking around the notebook for quite some time. Most of them don't have anything to do with baseball.


- I went to the Black Keys concert at First Ave a couple of weeks ago. It was awesome! I would write a review, but I didn't take any pictures. I didn't even eat a hot dog! ha. Recently, I was searching for a set list of the show, and came across a really good recording of that same concert. I think I love the internet. If you'd like to legally update your live recordings and bootlegs, you should check out The Ultimate Bootleg Experience.

- The one year anniversary of Alright Hamilton is coming up on May 5th. Wow that's next week. I'm hoping for a very interactive celebration. We definitely need to come up with a name for the celebration, a signature drink, a kick-ass post and maybe some give-aways?

- Invisible cars? Terrible idea.

- The Target Center is getting a Green Roof. Sounds like fun. Well, not that much fun.

- Two funny things that I read everyday: Garfield Minus Garfield and Overheard in Minneapolis. Yeah, a lot of people read those everyday too.

- It seems to me that a lot of people these days are saying, "To each, his own" and "It is what it is" to describe whateverness. While I like the idea of not caring, these sayings are annoying. I prefer, "whatever floats your boat." In a thick Minnesota accent.

- If I started a Jeopardy! blog, it would be the best blog ever.
Oh, second best blog ever.

Liriano Expectations and other notes

By AH Staff

Fransisco Liriano only got two outs before being pulled from the game on Thursday afternoon. It seems like everyone has different expectations for the pitcher this season. Without citing any sources, I'm going to go ahead and say that it takes a whole season of pitching to get back from a Tommy John surgery. My expectations of him this year are zero. I'm not going to make any judgments about his career on anything he does or doesn't do this season.

- Carlos Gomez hit his first and last home run as a Twin.
Way to go, GoGo.

- If I ever win the lottery, I am definitely going to buy this.

- The Twins extended their contract with triple-A affiliate Rochester Red Wings through 2010. How many past Twins Triple-A affiliates can you name?

- Alright Hamilton recently took the Blog Readability Test. Check it out:



Not surprising. Everyone who reads this blog is a Genius.

- Question of the day: Who the heck is Bobby Korecky?

-Joe Mauer's permanent residence is in Florida. He's a real Minnesotan.

So Many Theories, So Little Time

By Michael Haas

With the Free Jason Kubel bandwagon past it's prime, I think it's time we take a look at some other movements surrounding Twins Fan thought.

Free Adam Everett

Everett is the all-glove, no-bat shortstop the Twins acquired from Houston. He is only 5 - 27 this season, and is currently on the disabled list with a bum shoulder. He is 31 years old with a career batting average of .247. He makes 2.5 million dollars. The Twins need to Free Adam Everett from his obligation to play for the Minnesota Twins. Thanks for AH contributor Soup for giving the name to this school of thought.

Free Carlos Gomez's Smooooth

Torii Hunter was smooth. Torii Hunter had smooth. Remember that commercial? He was so smooth, they even gave him a gold glove. He was smooth even when he struck out uglyly. Carlos Gomez is not smooth. Joe C. is even suggesting that he should go to Rochester to find his smooth. He swings and misses a lot. And I get annoyed when he fields balls in the outfield and throws it back in all dramatically.

Free Delmon Young

Delmon Young isn't hitting very well. Now I'm not sure what kind of hitter he can be or will be and, apparently, he didn't hit for much power in the minors. But he's obviously not succeeding as a Twins - style - slap - to - the - opposite - field - type guy. I'm probably have too high of hopes for him, and am getting overly anxious for him to start producing, but I think the Twins should let him swing for the fences. Or something. With most hitters, it's a good thing to spread it to all fields and to knock it opposite field, but I'm not sure Delmon is one of those guys. In other words, I hope the Twins discourage him from "hitting like a p@#!y" (as David Ortiz would say.)
Free Delmon Young's swing.

Sign Barry Bonds

Non-baseball fans subscribe to this theory. They think we could sign him because he's still really good and could bring fans to the dome. They also think Joe Mauer is a great power hitter, and probably can't name any of our starting pitchers.

Free Matt Tolbert

Not unlike the Kubelution, the Tolbert Revolt also argues to let the young guys get regular at-bats. He's a versatile player, and he certainly has a bigger chance of being a future impact player than Harris, Lamb or Everett.

Free Mike Lamb's Eyebrows

They are awfully big, bushy and scary. This school of thought was pioneered by OMGtwins. I'm sure Lamb could talk to his fellow third baseman Alex Rodriguez about grooming tips. Maybe Lamb could get some frosted tips too?


Free Pat Neshek's Diet

His ERA was 2.94 last season. He changed his diet this winter, deciding to give up meat and become a Vegan. His ERA is an even 5 this season. Maybe Neshek could just start with just a SIDE of meat? Get it?

Minnesota Twins Movie: Cast of Characters

There hasn't been a commercial motion picture featuring the Twins franchise since the 1994 flick, Little Big League. But few other teams have the sort of dramatic story line and colorful characters that the 2008 Minnesota Twins have.

The story about the Minnesota Twins team would feature a young pitching staff with a veteran ace at the helm.

Livan Hernandez would be played by Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson.

Jamie Foxx would play the young left-hander. Dubbed "The Franchise"
Liriano struggles to get back to the form he once had.

Boof Bonser would have been played by Luciano Pavarotti
if it wasn't for the language problem, and the dead problem.

The young Pat Neshek would be played by Matthew Perry.

Veteran closer, Joe Nathan would be played by Jerry Seinfeld.

Nick Blackburn would be played by Mötley Crüe bassist, Nicki Sixx.

Tommy Pickles from the hit show, Rugrats would take the
part of the baby faced Scott Baker.

The plot would not just surround the pitching staff, the young outfield corp, devastated by the loss of veteran center fielder and former face of the franchise, this rag-tag team of outfielders make spectacular plays on and off the field.

Jeff Daniels stars as Michael Cuddyer, the eldest
member of the OF struggling to teach the young outfielders
how to spot balls against the domed roof

Carlos "Go-Go" Gomez will be played by R&B sensation, Usher.

Venus Williams will star as Denard Span the
troubled yet talented outfielder.

The movie would feature a slew of other players including a majority of the infield. Best friends Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau struggle as they battle to get back to the form they had two seasons ago, while still making time for regularly scheduled "bro-dates."

Ashton Kutcher would star as the hometown hero, Joe Mauer.
He would have no lines in the movie.

Justin Morneau would be played by Mark Wahlberg.

Energetic Nick Punto would be played by
Justin Chatwin as he struggles to get a hit all season.

The film would also feature a bevy of characters from the front office.

Ron Gardenhire would be played by veteran actor Gary Busse.

New GM Bill Smith would be played by Walter Eugene "Radar" O’Reilly from M*A*S*H.

The climax of the film would feature a stunning performance
of Carl Pohlad by C. Montgomery Burns.

The young Twins might also get a visit by the ghost of Minnesota Twins Past.

American Idol Winner Ruben Studdard would play the ghost of Kirby Puckett.

That's about all the characters I could think of. Feel free to leave more information about the story line or other actors to play the Twins players.

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

[Editor's Note: I was supposed to add something to this post, but after hours and hours of thought, I still got nothing.]

Last T'Wolves Review of '08

Sorry for making the other reviews so long. I forget that not very many people are really into the most losingest franchise in the NBA, so I'll keep this one short. They finished 22-60, tied for the 3rd worst record in the league. We sucked, and need a bigger lineup and another scorer. The Wolves have a 13.75 percent chance of getting the number one pick in the upcoming draft. Now the Wolves have 2 huge needs: A PG and a Center. My top 3 would be Derrick Rose PG, Michael Beasley SF, Brook Lopez C. Any of these 3 players would automatically make us a better team.



Wolves Free Agents

Michael Doleac C - He sucks let him go.

Ryan Gomes SF/PF - Good, will be better if we can slide him to SF by obtaining a Center in the draft. Keep him.

Chris Richard C - Has shown improvement. Plays Defense already and can rebound. He would also be cheap to resign. Keep him.

Craig Smith PF - I love Smith because he is instant offense off the bench, but is too short to play defense. If his contract could be 3 million or less per year, bring him back.

Kirk Snyder SF - I like him, he's great, but doesn't fit in the grand scheme of things. Let him go.

Sebastian Telfair PG - He's fun to watch, but has a lot of holes in his game. He'll probably cost 4 or 5 million a year to resign and that's too much. Let him go.



Please Fire Randy Wittman

He sucks and we'll never win anything with him as our chess master.




My thoughts on McHale

He is still terrible at managing a basketball franchise, but has made a series of good moves over the past year. I would also like him to stick around one more year to help develop Jefferson, Richard and whichever big we get in the draft.



Next season Predictions:

Wolves will finish with 30-35 wins if they can draft any of the above three players. This team has never had luck with winning the lottery, so Brooke Lopez is more than likely going to be the player we end up with. Rose would be the golden ticket, but Lopez would help our size. This would be a realistic depth chart for next season if Lopez is acquired.

C Lopez/Richard
PF Jefferson/Smith
SF Gomes/Brewer/Draft player?
SG McCants/Brewer
PG Foye/Draft player?

Its been a long painful run, but Jefferson is fun to watch and will be an all star next season. I don't expect the Wolves to be a playoff team in 09, but they will be in 2010. This upcoming draft is going to be very big for the future of this team. If they get lucky and can land Derrick Rose then we will be a serious force for years to come. Keep your fingers crossed.

More Dumb Twins Mailbag Questions, Answers

We'll try it again. Over at the Twins official website, beat writer Kelly Thesier periodically fields questions from the fans. It can make for some informative baseball talk, but it's not exactly groundbreaking stuff. You see, Ms. Thesier works for the Twins, so she is required to tow the company line and remain optimistic about things. So I'm going to answer dumb fans questions from the biased, negative fans view. Click here to see the original Q and A.

Q: Why were the Twins willing to invest big money into Joe Nathan while letting Torii Hunter walk via free agency?
-- Maximilian S

A: Ugh, we've been over this. Torii wanted years. Many years, for lots of money. Now if you want to talk about the true value of a closer (vs a centerfielder), that is debatable. Here's a question for you: what kind of name is Maximillion?

Here's a quick question I missed from last time. I'm not even going to answer it, because the question is hilarious in and of itself.

Q: What are the chances that the Twins could get Barry Bonds? It seems not many teams are interested in him, and I think he'd fit good as another veteran in the Twins young lineup.
-- Donald W

Nice fucking grammar, Don.


Q: I was wondering if Carlos Gomez is still eligible for Rookie of the Year and if not, what is the cut off point?
-- Michael P

A: Ok, this isn't such a dumb question, although you could just as easily google it. I think Michael P just wants to see his name on the internets. Cool man. Gomez is not eligible for rookie of the year, MICHAEL P.


Q: Did the Twins front office ever think about giving an extension to Delmon Young while he is still inexpensive? Or is that on next offseason's agenda?
-- Anthony H

A: I don't understand how anyone could get that excited for Delmon freakin Young to actually suggest that he deserves an extension. Someone has been drinking the Delmon kool-aid. That's just disgusting.

Q: Is there a possibility that we may see Nick Punto demoted to Triple-A Rochester with his continuing struggles at the plate and no signs of any improvement? Could he possibly be traded during the year?
-- Scott B

A: Yeah, that's a good idea Scott. If the Twins sent down Punto, he could work..on...his...hitting. hahahaha, and uh, become a b- better hitter. HAHHAHAHAHHA. Okay, can't type that with a straight face. Insert your own joke about his... trade...value.
Wow.

The Hanson Brothers Would Be Proud

By TwinsWin83


In what might be a first here on AH! I am going to dedicate an entire article to Minnesota’s pro hockey team. I was already planning on writing an article on the Wild’s playoff series yesterday and prior to last night’s game my focus was going to be on a ridiculous article written by a Denver Post journalist named Mark Kiszla. If you haven't read it yet, check it out here. The moronic author of the article not only lampooned the Wild for being ‘goons’ but also ripped their jerseys and the very state they come from, calling Minnesota the land of “10,000 dead car batteries.”

Now I’ll admit I was a little upset as I read the article but tried to tell myself it was coming from a bitter sports writer who knew nothing about the sport or the rules of appropriate journalism and was upset that his team was down two games to one. I was planning on writing about what an idiot Kiszla was in order to rally AH! readers against any sports journalist who dares write such a preposterous article about our fair team and state. And then I sat down and watched Game 4 last night.

Not only did the Wild seemingly give up down 4-0 halfway through the second period but they reduced themselves to throwing down with every Avs player that gave them a dirty look. I’m all for a hockey game full of big hits, checks and even a fight or two, and I know players must defend themselves and their teammates, but for the final thirty minutes of this game every time there was a stoppage of play there was four or five players getting into meaningless scrapes.
People will say, “well they needed to show Colorado that they wouldn’t back down and that they can be physical throughout a seven game series.” I think all they showed was that if they get down early by more than a couple goals they get taken right out of playing their game. I know it was 4-0 eight minutes into the second period but that means there is still over thirty minutes to be played. Throw in a rebound goal and a power play score here or there and all of a sudden its 4-2 with an entire period left to play. Instead, the Wild resorted to ringing up 26 penalties for 111 minutes, completely taking themselves out of the game.

The question now is can they snap back into playing their style in Game 5 after removing themsleves from it for half a game, or will they be reduced to ‘goonery’ should they get down early again? The Wild did a lot of things right in the first three games of the series and they need to get back their aggressive, yet controlled, style of play or they will be heading back to Colorado for Game 6 staring elimination in the face.
As much as I would love to rip Kiszla for what is truly one of the worst sports articles I have ever read, it is hard to do so on the heels of last night’s game. But you should feel free too here if you'd like.

The Free Jason Kubel Movement Summarization

By Michael Haas

Editors note: the Free Kubel idea is nothing new to many learned fans. This blog takes zero credit for it, and we feel that it's a fine idea. But many Twins fans are still not familiar with the Kubelution, so here's an introduction to it.

There's been a lot of Jason Kubel hating going on amongst fans over the past few years. The feelings are understandable. He was a big hitting prospect through his time in the minors, but he got off on the wrong foot in the majors, committing the most brutal strikeout in the history of Twins baseball. And then Kubel promptly blew his knee in an Arizona fall league game. After missing all of 2005,his return to the majors has been a frustrating ride. Never a great fielder, his range and general athleticism cut down further by his injury. He's shown flashes of power and plate discipline, but hasn't been able to find consistent at-bats. Without the at-bats, Kubel hasn't been able to get that spark; or get on the fans good side.

But all that could change this year. Fans are pleading Ron Gardenhire to put Jason Kubel into the DH slot, every day. No one is saying that he'll be great. The Twins probably won't compete this season, and the other DH, Craig Monroe, is definitely not the future of this team. So why not see what Kubel can do?

Here's what Howard Sinker wrote on his Star Tribune blog:

Now, Gardy, the point is that Kubel should be in right field every day pending Michael Cuddyer’s return, and then your everyday DH thereafter. Craig Monroe will make a nice 150 at-bat bench player, kind of your Punto-with-a-bat. It’ll make your life a bit easier in a season when you have enough other things to worry about.

Here's Aaron Gleeman:

Cuddyer posted a .790 OPS as a 28-year-old and parlayed it into a $24 million contract extension this offseason. Kubel posted a .785 OPS as a 25-year-old, emerging as the Twins' top hitter for a huge chunk of the season, and apparently somehow managed to lose his job during the winter.

This is what the Free Jason Kubel Blog wrote back in early March:

I'm not saying Kubel is going to go out and put up a .300-25-100 season, but in a season where the Twins will not compete for anything but 3rd in the AL Central, what do they have to lose by giving a kid who was once one of their most promising prospects 550 ABs?

I got a fever! And the only prescription is More Kubel!

(Props to Nick and Nick for the More Kubel revolution/idea )




So stop the Kubel hate!

Well actually, you can hate him for his past failures, but give him chance.

A chance!

.

Tampa Bay Trade A Wash?

By M.Haas

Is it too early to call the Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett to Tampa for Delmon Young and Brendan Harris a wash? Of course. Is it a wash right now? Maybe.

Garza left his second start of the season after experiencing numbness in his throwing hand. That doesn't sound good. He was placed on the disabled list with radial nerve irritation. From what I understand about nerves, I can only guess that it's not good to irritate them. Kind've a bummer that their newly acquired young pitcher gets injured just a few weeks into his Rays career. But wait, he pitched with this condition last season too? Tampa Bay traded for a pitcher with a bum arm. Oh, boy. Looks like the Twins really pulled one on the Rays. Billy Smith is like a used car salesman.


But if Smith thought he was getting a brand new powerful Cadillac for the Mustang-with-the - bad transmission, he's wrong. Delmon Young isn't hitting bombs like he's supposed to. I've come to the sad (and premature) realization that it might not be Delmons fault - it might be The Twins Way Of Doing Things. For some reason, this organization is big on 'hitting it the other way.' Which is all fine and good, but for certain guys, I believe you should just let 'em swing. I remember a story that this former Twin told when he arrived on his new team. I'm really very paraphrasing here.

"There was a guy on 2nd with no outs, it was a close game. I came up and (somehow moved the guy to third base, while making an out) I came back to the dugout expecting high fives. The manager came over and asked what I was doing. I said that I had moved the guy to third. He told me I was here for one reason: to knock in some *@#% runs. That's when my whole philosophy changed. "

Who said that? You guessed it. David Ortiz.

Delmon Young is hitting every damn ball to right field. We'll get into the Free Jason Kubel movement next week, but for now, I'm saying Free Delmon Young. Swing for the fences, young padawan.

So while the Rays got a fixer upper of a Mustang, and the Twins have turned an exciting Cadillac into a Taurus, I sit here and wish for our economical and reliable Prius, Jason Bartlett.

Stadium....Cool!

ByMh

A lot has happened at the site of the new Twins ballpark since we last updated on the construction. Here are a stadium-related news items I found interesting:

The Twins chose a vendor for their concessions. The winner is some big company from Delaware. I am pretty sure that they are not tied to a specific hot dog brand, so don't rule out Hormel brand dogs at the games in 2010. I'm working to verify this. Having a good hot dog is essential to the stadium experience.

I was thinking about this the other day. I'm not sure how eloquently I can put this right now, but here it goes: I would think that all 2008 season ticket holders are under the impression that they will definitely receive 2010 home opener tickets. But since they sell a lot of these partial season ticket plans, in addition to full season tickets, I bet they have damn near 30,000 holders. I have a feeling some people are going to be mad.

After visiting Petco, I now have an official plea for the new stadium (besides the hot dogs)
I hope they have a really great Kids area, with good employees hired specifially to entertain them througout the game. The Padres have lots of kid friendly ground and entertainers/cheerleaders to keep them excited about baseball. It's a great way of hooking fans for the future. The centerfield plaza will have a kids zone, but I just hope it's not lame.

Potential corporate naming partner rumors continue to swirl. The corporations that look most promising: Allianz, Great River Energy, and Land O' Lakes. Better do some thinking on those.

Update in pictures:
(click for larger photo)

Then:
Now

2010

Bracket Challenge and other notes

Well, after the final results have been tallied, out of over 140 entries we have found our winner... (drum roll)... SOUP! Soup won the 2008 bracket challenge with 187 points. He just narrowly beat fellow AH! contributor Wuters. Even though Soup did not pick Kansas to win, let alone, reach the championship game, Soups steady diet of solid picks let him gain the points needed to take the AH! 2008 Bracket Pick 'Em Crown (pictured below) and 12 blog points.


Please congratulate Soup on his amazing accomplishment and his sweet hat.

In an unrelated story that I told Haas but never shared with the rest of you, I talked shit to AJ Pierzynski. That's right, this weeks AL player of the week and resident deusch bag, AJ Pierzynski.

Here is how the story goes.

So couple months ago on a Friday night I went to this bar called "The Store" after we had about 7 pitchers of Sangria at this restaurant down the street. When we got to the bar I immediately noticed one of my favorite games... Arcade Basketball. It was your standard Super Shot machine with moving back board (although the one pictured is a three-across model and the one at the bar was just your standard single shot) and I just so happened to have 18 one dollar bills in my pocket, due to the good people at McDonald's not having any fives or tens.

I first challenged this one girl to a game and I obviously crushed her. As we were planning our rematch a guy and a girl came up and asked us if they could play after us. I told them that we could make a friendly wager and which ever team scored the least amount of combined points had to buy the winning team drinks. The two agreed but not before the guy switched his girlfriend for another guy and we played alternating turns. We won, got our drinks and took on the next challengers. This continued on for about 6 more teams of two as a large crowd gathered around the Super Shot.

We finally lost to this small guy decked out in New England Pats gear that threw up a impressive 65 pts. Besting my nights best by 6. We were heart broken as I came back from the bar with two bottles of Coors Light (I made it look like a bought them, but I had a few left from the bounty I had already won) I got back in line to take on the team that had now won two in a row. After a good 10 minutes I was back up to challenge the same reigning champs that beat us. Just as I am putting in my dollar in the machine. I hear someone say "AJ says he's got next."

Eff that, who is AJ? I turn around and it's AJ Pierzynski offering $20 bucks to play the next game of Super Shot. No way am I letting this happen. So I told him that he can wait in line like all of us and that the integrity of the game can't be bought. I used the term duesch-bag somewhere in there but I can't remember exactly when or in what context. He walked away and started talking to some older blond chick at the bar. But not before I got a couple pics of him.

Here is the one from my cell phone. I am not sure why he wouldn't pose for me. It's obviously not very good but you get the idea. I had another from a friends camera but it I guess she deleted it because she thought it was just a picture of a random dude from the bar.

Neshek: Eat Meat Again, You Bum.

By Michael Haas

The Twins were playing the White Sox in their home opener yesterday, and somehow had the lead in the 7th inning, with Matt Guerrier on the mound. But he had just a one run lead, and put a couple guys on base. As I was falling asleep on the couch, I saw Pat Neshek come into the game. I assumed that he meant to strike Jermaine Dye out, but he didn't instead. And when I woke up it was 7 to 3. It was this guy:


Joe Crede? You kidding me?

His replacement at third base last season, Josh Fields, hit 20 homers. Now that kid is in triple-A. The White Sox aren't even good, but every one of their players can hit bombs, even the ones in the minors. I wish the Twins had that problem.

I cannot stand losing to the White Sox and their dirty bleached facial hair. What's the Twins magic number? What happened to magic number guy?

Also, I can't help but notice how different this team is from last years. Take a look at our lineup yesterday:

Gomez
Span
Mauer
Morneau
Young
Kubel
Harris
Lamb
Everett/Tolbert

Pitcher: Blackburn


The only real question out of these players:
Denard Span? Yes? No? Maybe so?

Southern California Ballpark Reviews and other baseball notes

By Michael Haas

A few of us boys went to Los Angeles last week for vacation, and check out some stadiums while we were in the area. Here are some thoughts:

Dodger Stadium:

Chavez Ravine and Dodger Stadium fits right in with the rest of Los Angeles: about 45 years old and built under the impression that everyone has a car. I feel like everything in L.A. was built in the 60's. But the stadiums architecture holds up pretty well, and it looks like they haven't had to make any changes at all since it was built in 1962. It's nestled in some beautiful green hills, or a ravine, so it doesn't feel too overpopulated and crazy like the rest of L.A.. We liked the stadium, and the game was entertaining, but the Dodger Dogs were not as good as advertised.

Petco Park:

This is the fourth season the Padres have played in Petco, and that ballpark is an absolute treat of a game experience. It's original, spacious but intimate, and fun. Kids must love it out in centerfield, at their sandbox and the "park at the park." They don't use ticketmaster, have public transportation to the game, and let you walk around anywhere in the stadium. I love the Padres. I can't understand why they are considered to be a good ballclub though.



Angels Stadium:

This place is exactly what you'd think of when you hear, "a 60's park with a multimillion dollar 90's renovation." It was baseball outdoors, but it was nothing special. The fans never cheered when there were two strikes with two outs, and didn't appreciate Torii Hunter. I hate the Angels.

Other thoughts:

- I'm starting to dig AH! contributor Soups prediction about the Reds winning the NL East. If I were a Cinci fanatic, I would be very enthused about Edi(n)son Volquez and Johnny Cueto. There's just something exciting about good young pitching.

- Matt Tolbert? Yes? No? Maybe so?

- The Tigers are winless. I think that's funny.

It's 61 Degrees right now

This is awesome.


























Best Blog Post Ever.

How Do We Gauge A Team We Know Nothing About?

By TwinsWin83

This will be one of the shortest posts I will ever make because I’m not exactly sure what I’m writing about to begin with. We are three games into this MLB season and I come to you a completely baffled Twins fan. As we sit the Twins are 1-2, but with that record comes so many questions that it makes the average fans head spin.

Opening night ended with an optimistic overtone none-the-less (and we can thank Mike for pointing that out). But since that BIG March win what have we learned? The offense was supposed to be the teams strong-point this season (and would in turn make up for our inexperienced starting rotation). Yet, the team has scored four runs over its first 27 innings. Blackburn looked great tonight and that in itself is a big positive but where are the bats?

If I had to give a review of this team over the first three games I would give a very pessimistic oversight. Our infield looks suspect and it seems as if no one knows where their place is. We were told that the changes at 2nd, SS and 3rd were going to be defensively sound choices yet with everyday ground balls it feel like they are anything but routine when they are displaced to our new additions.

Now I will forever support the ballclub in Minnesota, but I am continually getting the feeling that this is not a Twins team like we have come to love and respect over the last decade. If the defense, bullpen, starting pitching and offense is not there what are we left with?

It is time for the offense to step up or this is going to be a long season.

Sorry for the negative post but all the new faces have me scrambling to find a constant among this team. Morneau, Cuddyer and Mauer have yet to step up and lead this young team.

Thoughts?

Taking Inventory of my Stuff, Life

Monday night I packed up all of my belongings in a U-Haul and moved about a mile north to a newer-to-me, larger apartment on the Northside of Chicago. I am about 3 blocks north of Wrigley Field now and I am liking my new area. During the process of packing up all my worldly possessions I did some inventory on my stuff (read: crap) and have come to a significant conclusion. I am a loser.

Here is a list of possessions, in no particular order that explains my degree of loser-tude

• I have 4 bats in my apartment - None of them for baseball. Two slow pitch softball bats and two for wiffle ball.
• I have 3 helmets in my apartment. One for a bike that got stolen, and two for my moped.
• I own a moped.
• I have 4 guitars in my apartment - None of them actually play music, they are all plastic and plug into video game systems.
• I have all 3 current video game systems. Including a Harry Potter game where you sweep the floors using the Wiimote.
  
• I have a life size replica Master Chief helmet.
• My favorite kitchen utensil - this combo spatula/tongs/grabber thing.
• I have a favorite kitchen utensil.
• Every single piece of furniture I own can be disassembled and carried by one person.

Feel free to share anything that you are afraid to admit you own. Let it out. It feels good.

Overwhelming Positivity

By Michael Haas

Carlos Gomez. Livon Hernandez. Delmon Young.

Two weeks ago, these players could be differently described as question marks, liabilities, bad signings and rough talent. For at least one day, these guys were saviors. Hell, even Mike Lamb and Brendan Harris looked good.

Carlos Gomez is on pace to steal 324 bases. Delmon Young is averaging .500. Nobody has hit .400 since 1941. Look out Ted Williams.

It was a very fun game, with an announced crowd of 49,596, apparently the largest to see a regular season game in 15 years. It was miserable outside, but it was cozy in our dome. Torii Hunter recieved a warm ovation at the beginning of the game, and then went 0-4. Livon went 7 innings, and Neshek came on for the 8th and Nathan for the 9th. It was beautiful.

We had to get there early so we could get halfway decent seats. Us riff raff don't have fancy things like 'reserved seating'

They also debuted a countdown guy out in left field, indicating the number of games left at the dome. It was kind've odd today, since it was about 30 degrees outside, with brutal wind and wet snow. And just for the record: I'm glad the new ballpark does not have a roof.

The boys. We were the ones who ousted some drunk wanna be wave starter from section 205. That's a nice Second Annual Opening Day Mustache if I don't sayin so myself, and I don't.

I hate the wave. Especially in the 4th inning. Especially when the Twins are at bat and there are guys on first and third. And especially when it's attempted to be started by some wasted 20-year-old who's pants are falling down. But I love yelling insults at them. They can't do anything about it, and they deserve every second of it. Going to games with less than 25,000 people is ideal - room to stretch out, and not as many drunks.


That's a really bad picture of Carlos Gomez after the game. For some reason, he and some other guys went out and shagged flies for a while. Probably to get adjusted to our roof, but it was an odd site.

Tomorrow it's Boof versus Jon Garland. Myself and a few AH contributors will be watching the Dodgers play the Giants tomorrow night, but we'll be at the dome in spirit.