It was fun while it lasted...

It's been a great run writing on this blog, but work and life are just too crazy to keep up so until further notice this blog will be closed.

Thanks to those that read and commented. You are the reason I kept writing.

MIA

I know I have been MIA from the blog world for awhile, but life has gotten in the way a bit. Work has picked up quite a bit and with my nephews little league games, I miss at least 2 Twins games a week. Hopefully things will settle down soon and I will return. Until then be sure to check out the other amazing Twins blogs I have in the blog roll on the right hand side of the screen!

To Celebrate or Not To Celebrate

I know I missed the Toronto and Boston series, but Toronto wasn't exciting and I really didn't wanna talk about Boston so we'll move onto the next series which we all know was the Brewers.

It was a little disappointing that JJ wasn't able to play against his former teammates, it would have been nice to see (I'm just hoping he's back in time for my games on Thursday and Friday). We were able to see our old teammate GoGo.

I know this has been discussed in other blogs, but since I waited till today to do this and don't remember much from the series other than that marathon game from Saturday (did everyone else think that game would never end?) As we all know GoGo hit a home run against Nicky on Friday night and apparently that was a no no according to a few people. Okay the home run may not have been the no no but the celebration after was.

Everyone in Twins Territory knows how GoGo is and I have to admit it's nice to see he hasn't changed any. So he celebrated getting a home run. I'm sitting here watching the Boston/Tampa game and David Oritz hit a home run and pretty much acted the same way. You aren't going to see anyone making a big deal out of that tomorrow morning, so why did GoGo's have to be made into such a big deal?

Apparently people didn't like that his bat hit Mauer and something about his little hand movements after he reached home plate. He apologized after the game, but in my opinion he really didn't have anything to apologize for. He was reacting to hitting a home run just like any other batter would.

So that poses the question, should batters "celebrate" hitting a home run or not?

Finally!

I know I have been MIA in the blog world for a few days, life has just gotten the best of me. Doesn't mean I haven't been watching our boys play. But after today's game against the Yankees, a post is needed.

After the first two days of the series I wasn't holding out most hope for today's game. I didn't even watch most of today's game as I was out cold for most of it with a migraine, but I did tune in just time time to see the bases loaded walk to Thome off of Rivera! Rivera of all people, most people thought this guy was a machine, but today's game proved that he is indeed human.

And when that happened I couldn't change the channel. And with that said:

Jason Kubel I take back everything bad I have ever said about you. Please forgive me :(

I'm beyond excited that we finally beat those damn Yankees! That stadium has owed us for a long as I can remember and it was nice that it finally paid up.

Tomorrow we are off to Toronto to face the Blue Jays. It's Slowey (4-3) vs. Dana Eveland (3-2). Enjoy your well deserved win today guys and let's remember we CAN beat the Yankees when they come here the 25th through the 27th :)

A Tale of Two Days

First and foremost, congrats to Dallas Braden on pitching his perfect game. Only the 2nd in A's history and the 19th in the history of the MLB. Plus seeing him with his grandma on mother's day made me tear up a little. If you haven't seen the video, please go here and watch. It's heart warming and a good way to end your Mother's day.

Secondly, happy Mother's day to all the mom's out there that read my blog. I hope you all had a wonderful day with your loved ones.

I spent a good portion of my weekend at Target Field (which would explain the lack of post since the end of the Detroit series). Don't remember much from the Thursday night game, other than we lost, it sucked, end of story.

Friday night I was supposed to go to the game, thankfully I am able to say I had a ticket to the first rained out game at Target Field. I was no looking forward to having to sit outside in the nasty weather we had on Friday and if I would have had to I would have been so missing the Dome. I think that's the only time I will miss the Dome. So Betsy and I made the trek to Target Field Saturday night to take in the postponed game.

I will say that they really need to work on the whole only opening the gates an hour before the game. When we got downtown at 5:15, they were already lined up out on the plaza past the statues waiting to get in the gate and they didn't open until an hour before the game, which means nothing opened until 6 and once you got inside you got trampled on by all the guys waiting for their fishing lures (yes I did get one and yes I am going to be the nice sister and give it to my brother. He might as well use the thing).

It was a chilly weekend at the ballpark, that's for sure. Blankets, sweatshirts, and mittens were your friends if you were on the first base side in the shade! It may have been chilly, but it was a great weekend at the ball park (at least the two games that I was at). We saw two terrific outings from Timmy and Blackie, some wonderful defensive plays from Punto and Alexi and some not so wonderful plays that won't be discussed in this blog because of who was apart of it (if you know me you should know the play I am talking about if you saw the games or heard the games on the radio).


Today was my mom's first trip to the new field so we went down early so we could walk around and I could show her my new home away from home. She agreed it is a beautiful ball park and can't wait to go back for our mother/daughter game in July!

If you would like to see more pictures I have a whole album on my Facebook located here.

Enjoy your day off tomorrow guys! Tuesday and Wednesday our dear, dear friend Ozzie and the White Sux come to town for their first visit. It will be interesting to see what Ozzie has to say about our new home since he HATED the Dome. We need to give him a reason to hate Target Field too boys!

Oh and by the way, AJ, you still suck :)

What a Win!

I want to start out with this somber note, the baseball community lost a broadcasting icon last night. Ernie Harwell passed away after his battle with cancer. I remember watching his speech last year from Comerica Park thanking all the Tigers fans for all the years of memories he would always remember. RIP Ernie, I know the Detroit Tigers and their fans will miss you dearly.

I always say when the Twins bring in a new player from an opposing team that they have to earn my respect, so JJ Hardy was no exception. Don't get me wrong he had already earned it but last nights performance earned him a ton of respect from me. From the plays in the field to the bat in his hand, that guy was on point last night! I know a lot of fans were concerned with him coming over to the organization after the seasons he's had in the past, but with how he has been playing so far this season he has really left us no reason to not trust him with this team. Yeah he may have an off day here or there, but what guy on the team doesn't? Mauer's not perfect, Cuddy's not perfect, neither is Thome and Morneau, but when he's on, he's on just like everyone else.

Plus he's pretty easy on the eyes :-)

Plus that gave Dick and Bert their exciting walk off win that they had been talking about an inning before. It's like whatever comes outta their mouth jinx's us in some way, shape, or form. They should just call the game and not say anything else, lol.

Welcome back Nick Blackburn, a well deserved complete game (his 4th in his career). I know a lot of people said putting Nick back in for the ninth was going to be a bad idea, yeah he may have gave up the game tying home run, but you know what? It was his game to lose. He went out there and pitched a smart game and I think it was only fair that he got to pitch the ninth. I know it all comes down to pitch count and what not, but when you have a pitcher who pitches a game like Nick did and then Gardy pulls them and someone else goes out there and blows it, I can't help but feel bad for whoever started that game.

I think k-bro said it best in her tweet last night "Seriously y'all? If Blackie *hadn't* gone out for the ninth, everyone would be complaining about it with him only having 85 pitches."

I'm super proud of Blackie and how he pitched last night. He went 9 innings with only 95 pitches of which 67 were strikes. He had 18 groundouts and 5 flyouts. I was really pleased with what I saw from Nick last night. He looked relaxed and fresh. Maybe we need to send a few more pitchers to Oklahoma!

So I decided after watching Cuddy last night that he's getting a couple extra in the skittle count. He's getting a plus one for that throw to first trying to get Ordonez out and he's also getting a plus one for being 5 feet short of a home run. He needs a little extra help getting out of the negative, although I have thought about wiping his slate clean and starting fresh and really keep track this time, lol.

Today we have Kevin Slowey (3-2) against Rick Porcello (2-2). Follow in Blackie's footsteps Kev, please!

Taste The Rainbow

I have to laugh for just a second. For something that started off just as a joke and a dare between a few of us in the blog community last season, it has turned into a big deal this season. Most of you will be able to guess what I'm talking about by the title of today's blog, but last night after Cuddy's 3 run blast to left field, I got 5 text messages from friends all saying the same thing: "Skittles!". I do feel bad because I'm not even sure the exact number in the Skittle count and I'm sure that even if he did end up in the negatives at the end of the season, I'm sure I'll give him something anyway (maybe).

My mom has even been joking with it saying "Forget M&M's it's all about the Skittles". I'm glad everyone is having a good time with this whole thing. Seems to make the season a little more fun :)

I will admit last nights game combined with the game from Sunday pretty much made me go "Joe who?" Wilson Ramos is on fire right now. I realize it's only been two games, but to be on point like he has in only two starts is not something you see every day. I understand Joe is still our number one guy and I do still have a soft spot for Drew (meeting him only seemed to help that a little). I'm starting to wonder why they didn't bring Ramos up with the team out of camp? Even Justin said he seemed to be on point during spring training.

There are just some things this team does that I will never begin to understand.

Also I would like to wish Kevin Slowey a very happy 26th birthday :)

Tonight we welcome back Nick Blackburn (1-1) from the bereavement list as he faces Dontrelle Willis (1-1) and the Detroit Tigers.

What A Drag...

So since I won't be around for much of the game today I figured I would do a random post now with some highlights and low-lights from the weekend.

"Fancy meeting you here"

Highlights from Friday and Saturday:

~Denard got his first home run of the season

~ Justin came back into the lineup with a bang with a 2 run home run plus a mysterious home run that I don't even remember seeing on Saturday. Did anyone else see it?

~Jeff Manship pitched what I thought was a flawless 6 innings in his first start of the season.

~Drew Butera was on fire with his defensive skills (only to get screwed over that's for later)

~We finished the month of April 15 -8!


Low-lighs from Friday and Saturday

~We lost Nick Blackburn for at least 3 days due to being placed on the bereavement list. I really hope that everything is okay.

~We lost Luke Hughes to AAA Rochester with Punto coming back off the DL

~We lost Patty Neshek to the DL with what they are saying is "inflammation of the middle finger" I wonder how true it really is.

~We lost Joe Mauer with a bruised heel and he could end up on the DL

~News came in that Jose Morales may be out longer then expected with another injury to his catching wrist.

It also was announced today that if Mauer goes on the DL that Wilson Ramos would be the starting catcher. I don't agree with that at all. Yeah Drew may not have the best bat in the world, but he rates right up there with Mauer in being a good defensive catcher. My opinion is one player can't carry the weight of the team on his shoulders and one bat isn't going to make or break this team. There are 9 guys that bat on this team, if one can't do it, there are 8 other guys that can swing to.

Obviously I don't know enough about Ramos to judge him and I need to see him play first, but I feel bad for Drew. He's the one that made the camp outta spring training and he's still getting
screwed in the end.

Today we have Crisco (3-0) against Huff (1-3). I have faith in Frankie to go out there and get this series and for this team to get back on track.

One Big Crain-Wreck

I was going to wait and do this after today's game, but I have a few minutes at work before the owner comes in for a meeting so why not do it now?

I have never seen such a blunder of a game in my life. Bad outings by two guys I didn't think would have bad outings, Timmy and Patty. And a shitty outing by Jesse Crain. As soon as he came in last night I made the comment that "this game is over". I don't trust him, never have and never will. Period. I would love to send him back to Rochester and either call up Slama or Manship.

I understand these guys can't win every series, but when you have a lead like we did, it reminds me too much of the Oakland game from last season.

And then we have Denard. It has not been his series. First getting ejected from the game for "dismissively" waving off the home plate umpire and then last nights call *shakes head* I'm sorry but I don't care how many times they have to replay that, that my friends was an out. How long did he have to keep that ball in his glove? 5 minutes?

Apparently the umps still feel bad for Detroit after game 163 last year and felt they needed a "gimmie" win almost cause I think that game would have ended a lot differently if that call had been made correctly.

I do have one highlight from last nights game, well two if you include Cuddy trying to go deep twice last night (he gets a +1 on the skittle count for effort), but Luke Hughes home run was incredible! It wouldn't have happened for a better person. I'm just happy he got the ball back after. I was worried he wouldn't after Ordonez gave it to that kid.

My one question, can we please keep Luke up here? Can't Alexi go back to Rochester??

No Time Like The Present

IStock Photo 7870014 © Rob Friedman

I want to admit this first and foremost, if this is the Frankie that we are going to get all season, I want to take back every mean thing I have ever said about him. I know a lot of people were wondering if we would ever get the Frankie back from 2006 and from before he had his surgery and I think we have that pitcher and then some this season. I know at the beginning of the season he was the one starting pitcher I was the most concerned with after a few of his outings last season, but watching him this year, I apparently was worried about the wrong one!

I would have loved to have been a fly in the area of home plate tonight to either hear or see what Denard did to get thrown out of the game. I have never seen him get that mad before, he always seems so calm and collected even after a bad call, so I'm not sure what set him off tonight. Denard just doesn't strike me as the type of person that looses his cool easy, so it must of been something major during tonight's game. And of course since MLB is cracking down on the players tweeting, we'll probably never know the answer to that question.

With how well the team has been playing this season I know I shouldn't complain about a single thing, but after tonight's game, I need to complain. They left 12 runners on base tonight and were 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position. That's just horrible! All these games we lost by 1 or even 2 runs could have been won if the guys would have been able to capitalize on the guys left on base. Yeah a few guys need to be swinging the bat better I.E. Jason Kubel and even Denard, but when those guys to and get on base, everyone after them in the line up seems to freeze and forget how to bring everyone else home.

I think if they could get that worked out, this team could really be the team to beat this season. Not that I don't think they already are, but they are just stranding too many guys on base. Perfect example was Denard's triple tonight and they just leave him hanging there looking like a loser. I felt bad for him, after all that and then he just gets left there. Hopefully this is something they can get better at as the season goes on and if they do it's only going to get better from here.

On a final note, hopefully Justin's back isn't too bad and he'll be back after a day off and a little bit of R&R.

Can't Seal the Deal

It's been such a long weekend, to be 100% honest I don't even really remember what all happened in the game on Friday night. About the only thing I can remember is we won and Nick Punto go put on the disabled list, lol We had a strong start from Pavano with good innings from Matty G and Brian. And I don't care what anyone says the play by Cuddy would have been a home run regardless what would have happened, but that's for a rant that will come at the end of this post, cause I've had enough.

Saturday was a game I thought was never going to end! I'm not sure what Nicky's problem was during that game, but I hope he can figure out whatever it is before his next start which should be on Friday night in Cleveland. I would hate to see him go on the DL, but if there is something wrong with him and they can't figure out what it is perhaps it would be for the best and bring up someone like Manship or even take Duensing out of relief and put him back in as a starter with Manship in the pen. Obviously that will be Gardy and Andy's call and my opinion doesn't mean crap, but I can hope!

I was wondering how many games it would take for Rauch to blow his first save and last night we finally got to see it happen. I realize he did get us out of the jam and did get us the win, but it still doesn't make me a fan. Yes he can pitch, yes he can be good at what he does, but you need a decent personallity to make me like you and Oscar doesn't have it, period. It just makes me miss Joe Nathan even more. Baseball Tonight did a nice piece on Nate that can be seen here.

I thought Kevin seemed a bit off for his start today, but everyone has their off days. Matty G had his the other night and today was Kevin's. It happens, yes it sucks and I wish it wouldn't have happened, but what's done is done and we can't go back and redo the whole game. But this is what I was talking about when I said, the guys must of left their brooms back at the Dome during the move because we seem to have no problem taking the first two games and the series, but we can't seem to seal the deal on that third game to get the sweep.

Now onto my rant and I'm not just bringing this up because of the stuff that happended on Friday night with Cuddy but it does play a big part of this rant. Regardless if they would have replayed that call or not, the ball was out of the park and was a home run for DeJesus, it shouldn't have been ruled an in the park home run. What I'm sick and tired of is people ragging on certain players, but the minute their players get ragged on shit's going to hit the fan. I'll rag on Cuddy, I'll rag on Kevin, I'll rag on every player on the team when they screw up. But you can bet that I will defend them till the end when they get accused of something that was out of their control, ie the play Friday night with Cuddy.

I understand that everyone it entitled to their opinion, but I'm sorry. When game after game after game the same peaple rag on the same player it gets really old and it pisses me off. It just seems to be never ending and it's old. We're all old enough to know to just drop something after the first time, but when it gets drug on and on it makes you look like you are 12 years old. And now that I got that off my chest I will drop this and move onto the next series in Detroit.

No matter what, I still love Cuddy!

Tuesday night we have Frankie (2-0) vs. Justin Verlander (1-1). Enjoy your day off on Monday guys, after the marathon game on Saturday night you guys deserve it!

Short and Sweet

I think through the hustle and bustle of moving from The Dome to Target Field the Twins forgot to pack something very important. They forgot to pack their brooms so they can sweep another team. We seem to be able to pull out those first two games, but that third game just gets missed. I think it's lack of the brooms from the other side of town.

Yesterday was not the best game for the Twins, but hey, everyone has a bad day. I had one too and was going to take the blame for the game until Seth stepped up and said he would take it since he was at the game.


Tonight we are back to the K, someday I will get back to that beautiful ballpark, but Target Field is doing just perfect for now :-) Tonight it's Carl Pavano (2-1) against Gil Meche (0-1). Guys please remember what you did last fall when I was down there watching you play in person and do it again this weekend!

Chugga, Chugga, Choo, Choo!

I know it's only the third week of the season, but I don't think I have ever been so proud of this team in my years of watching baseball. To be as good as they are right now, all I can do is hope and pray that this momentum carries us through the entire season. I can taste the playoffs again after last season and I can taste a World Series even more and I'm pretty sure the 25 guys on the team can taste it too. To see this team with this much determination and energy actually makes me excited for the Yankee series next month, it makes me feel like we could potentially beat them! I know, I know, it's too early to say yeah we're going to the playoffs, but if this team keeps playing like they are, we are in for one hell of a season!

Before I get into the pluses from the game, I have to say it was really nice getting to see Red Dog play tonight. He always seemed to bring a positive attitude to the clubhouse and the dugout during the game. He was always one of the first guys to be there to offer up a high five after a good play or there to give advice when needed. I didn't think I would miss him as much as I do, but seeing him in a different uniform tonight, hit me kinda hard. This was a totally unexpected reaction, seeing Torii in a different uniform didn't even hit me like this. Perhaps it's the funny antics that Red pulled that I miss more then anything.

I would like to say a quick thing about our starting rotation. Can I just say LOVE them! Eight innings from Slowey, another eight from Frankie (and a shut out no less). I am seeing the Frankie from before his surgery and Kev from last year before he got hurt. It's defiantly nice for a change since we relied so heavily on the bull pen last year, those guys deserve a bit of a break. I can't complain with how our starting rotation has been so far. Our bull pen could use a little bit of work; i.e. The Crainwreck and The Weeble. But it's nice to have Patty back and Matty's been doing well.

And then we come to my Buddy Cuddy :) I realize he may have his fair share of missed plays and strike outs, but he's still such an amazing player. He tries to come through when it's needed the most, yeah he may not always succeed, but it doesn't mean I don't like him any less. I'll be the first person to rag on him when he sucks and yell at his when he misses a play, don't get me wrong. But you can also bet I'll be the first person to cheer him on loud and proud when he does something spectacular.

Tonight from the comfort of my home (I wish he would have hit that Tuesday night when I was there) I was cheering just like I was at the game, for that matter, so was my mom as Cuddy is her favorite as well. We're just a Cuddy loving family over here, lol

Cuddy skittle count stands at -8 after Tuesday and tonight's games.

Tomorrow we have Timmy (2-1) against Mitch Talbot (1-1). Timmy please follow in the foot steps of Kevin and Frankie and go the distance!

Slow Ride...Take It Easy

Last night I attended my first night game at Target Field. It was by far one of the best Twins games I have been too only because 1) I got to see Kevin finally pitch a game that counted in person and 2) it was outdoor night baseball! Until the times come when I have to sit in the rain to watch a game or a game is canceled because of rain, I don't think I'm going to miss the Dome. Baseball was meant to be played outdoors and last night couldn't have gotten any better.

Kevin pitched an amazing game last night! He went 8 innings and only gave up 1 run, yes it may have been a home run, but we still won and that's all that matters. We were hoping he would pitch a complete game (which would have made the night even better then it already was) or at least attempted the 9th inning, but alas Duensing came in and shut the door on Cleveland. Which now makes me 3-0 at games in the new park :-)

My buddy Cuddy apparently does not want any skittles this season as last nights two strike outs have now put him back at a -9 (if I'm keeping track right, this is kind of a guess calculation). I realize it's still early in the season, but I know he can swing the bat better then he has been. Perhaps last night both he and JJ were a little jealous that we were paying more attention to Kevin ;-) Boys I promise at my next game I will give you 100% of my attention, please don't be mad at me :-(

All-in-all I had a great time at last night game, the view was amazing, the weather was perfect and our guys were on top of their game. Rumor is tonight the Twins will see a former teammate on the field. I heard this morning that Red will be behind home plate for the Tribe. Welcome back Red (if that's the case)!

Here are a few more pictures:

Denard Span

First Pitch

JJ Hardy

M&M Boys

Buddy Cuddy

Beautiful Sunset from our seats

Seeing Double anyone?