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!

So Much For That

Before I get into the Chicago series and in case you haven't seen it, the list has been put up for the 2010 walk up music for the guys. You can find the list here. There is quite the diverse list of choices this season for a few of the guys.

Okay, onto the game. First things first, not the smartest call by Scotty to send JJ home. We could have potentially tied that game with a single by Punto after, but no, we had to try and show "oh yeah, we can score." As a rule Scotty doesn't do too bad at third, but this time I think he wasn't thinking and I won't lie, it cost us that game. But what done is done and now it is time to focus on the home opener against the Red Sox.

I was impressed with how well our pitching stiff did this series. Timmy redeemed himself from opening day. Obviously he isn't going to be perfect every outting, none of the starters are going to be perfect, they aren't Mark Buehrle and even he isn't perfect every game. Nick also did decent today too, he went seven and two-thirds innings which is a good start for a starting pitcher.


And then we have Frankie. He was the one starting pitcher that I was the most concerned with and even though he may have only gone 6 innings, I thought he did really well. I'm glad he made the starting rotation and I'm glad he went out there and proved that he still has what it takes to be a starter in the majors. I just hope I won't be eating my words as the season goes on.

Oh and let me just say this, I know I said it last year when Joe Crede went back to the South Side, but I'm going to say it again this season. It was nice to see a good reaction from the Chicago fans when Jim Thome came in Friday night.

Tomorrow is the day that everyone in Twins Territory has been waiting for, the official home opener! I will be there along with Betsy from For The Love Of The Game. If you are going and would like to meet up just leave me a comment and we'll figure something out :-)

Tomorrow we have Carl Pavano against Jon Lester. Won't lie, I am excited that I get to see Lester pitch in person, I have always liked him.

Go out there and get it guys. We'll see you there!!

Tale of the Blackbeard

I could start this post with "Once upon a time..." but that's a little too cliche for me. The excitement of getting a ticket to the home opener was enough to keep me awake for the entire game last night (not sure that will happen again tonight, but we shall see). It would have been nice if they would have maybe broken it up a bit with today being a day game, but I am not in charge of scheduling so we just have to make the best of it.

It was nice to see our good friend Nick Blackburn back on the mound for his first game of the season and he seemed to be in fine form. I like to think the beard is still working for him and as long as he keeps it trimmed, we'll be okay. If not he'll end up on the "list" like Matty G did last night. Overall I was impressed with our pitching last night. Still trying to get used to Rauch as the closer and yes I did watch him pitch even though it pained me that it was him and not Nate.

All of my co-workers yesterday were pegging the Twins to lose again last night with Nicks' record against LA, but I was trying to keep a glimmer of hope that he would pull out a win and he did. It was nice coming in this morning and telling everyone "I told you so". I've learned my lesson to never count this time out, especially this early in the season. It's game two people, cut them some slack.

It was a night for the J's last night, with Joe, Justin, and JJ going long for the team. I wasn't home for Joe's and I missed JJ's (and the DVR wouldn't let me rewind to see it) but I was able to see Justin's and it's nice seeing this kind of ball again. I've read a few articles where people have said the Twins can't play the long ball, oh yes we can, they can play both long and small ball. We did it last season and we'll do it again this season.

Oh and before I forget, what is with the BS calls already this season? Cuddy was safe by a mile at second last night when the ump called him out. I know it's only game two, but I thought all the umps took refresher classes or something during the off season after all the screwed up calls last season. It's a little too early for this nonsense if you ask me.

I thought the rally monkey's were silly last season, but last night took the cake with the snuggies. Don't get me wrong, kuddos to them for setting the record and the fans had fun with it, but maybe it's just me. I don't get the whole thing with the snuggie, lol.

Perhaps they need snuggies for the rally monkeys? But then again, please no, that might be a bit too much.

Notes From Game One

Seeing how I didn't really even stay awake for the whole game (I HATE west coast games), I think it was about the 6th inning when I started to doze off and said "I give up." I can only really comment on what I saw and a little bit on what I heard and maybe everyone can fill me in on what I may have missed?

~Timmy had me a little concerned when the game started off giving up 2 walks right away. That was not what I expected to come from him, maybe Liriano, but not Timmy. When he finally settled down I was feeling a little bit better. I know it was the first game and I'm sure he was nervous, but all I can hope for is his next outing is better.


~Delmon Young, where the heck have you been hiding?! Not only did you lose the weight during the off season you apparently picked up a decent swing and the ability to run like hell! If this is the Delmon we get all season I think I will be a happy camper.


~The more and more I see J.J. Hardy, the hotter he gets. I think it's going to be a LONG season of distractions for me ;-) I think it must the Twins uniform because I didn't find him this attractive before, lol.

I know Timmy doesn't have the best record against the Angels and I know it's the first game and I've heard a lot of people saying it's going to be a long season if this is how we play the first game. But the Angels are a tough team and just because we lose the first game doesn't mean it's going to be a long season.

The road to the World Series has just begun, no need to jump off the bus already.

How Do You Like That One?

So I was all set to leave the game tonight after the 9th inning even if the Twins didn't get a walk off hit. I know, I know, before some starts yelling, you never leave a Twins game early, but I'm seriously still trying to catch up from sleep from this past weekend in Kansas City. This game seemed to take forever tonight, perhaps it was just because Betsy *thanks again Betsy* and I were at the game. Who knows.

What I do know is a lot of fans were getting a little restless with out sucky pitching. Does it surprise me, no, cause I was getting pissed off with it. I don't wanna say anything bad quite yet about the new guy. Could it have been nerves, yes, but I doubt it. Humber should have never been brought back up here. Way to walk in runs, you loser.


Luckie Strike (Sarah) asked me when I was going to pay up on the Skittles I've promised Cuddy... I was thinking the next Unplugged. That way he has time to add to his collection or I can take some away when he sucks lol Someone needs to hold me to this so I don't chicken out!

Now for the real star of the game.... get ready for it.... ready.... am I really going there??

Yes I am.

Delmon Young!

That's right. After all the shit I have talked about him through the season, tonight I am loving him (partly because with his walk off base hit I could go home). I wanted them to win so bad that I was fighting with myself if I was going to stay for the extra innings or not so thank you Delmon for letting me come home knowing that the game was over and that we won!

Keep the momentum going guys. We're tied for 2nd with Chicago... you CAN do this! Nickie... remember how to throw strikes and we shouldn't have a problem, k?

Mom, He Followed Me Home, Can I Keep Him?

Welcome to the Twins Carl!

Not only is he good looking (always a plus) but I was very impressed with how he pitched tonight. I knew nothing about him going in, but I like what I saw! I knew he was tough against Detroit, but that performance tonight was beautiful! It was nice to see a starting pitcher go deep into the ball game and give our bull pen a rest, although it was weird seeing Papa Perk warm up in the 8th and actually pitch the 9th.

I hope that the rest of our starting pitchers paid attention to Pavano's performance tonight and took notes. Of course the one that really needs it isn't even with the team right now, but we'll see how he does during his next start... if he actually gets it.

Not only was the pitching amazing tonight, the bats were blazing and the defense was on the top of their game. The 5-4-3 double play in the 5th inning was probably the best double play I have seen all season. For some reason I figured for sure Casilla would screw it up somehow, but I was pleased that he actually pulled it off and got the ball over to Justin cleanly.

I just hope and pray that by the Twins getting an ace like Pavano that this is the turn around and the boost that the team needs to push us into post-season. There was an interesting fact on Twitter this afternoon from TwinsNow that at this point in 2006 the Twins were 9.5 games outta first place... this season we are (as of right now) only 4.5 games outta first.

If any team can do it, it's the Twins. They just need a good kick in the ass to figure it all out.

We Need A Pitcher, Not A Belly Itcher!

I'd like to give a big eff you to the front office in this post.

Seriously? What gives? How is it that every other person in the state can see that this team needs a pitcher but the front office can't seem to figure it out? For the love of Pete, even the beat writers are making fun of the Twins because of their poor pitching. It just blows my mind. I don't understand it.

How many times have we all said Liriano has to go or he needs to go to the bullpen, something ANYTHING but start another game. It would be nice if Bill Smith would wake up and see what's going on because with pitching performances like tonight's, this team won't make it to post season and won't be anything more than a .500 team which I hate because they are better than that.

I'm not worried about Timmy or Nicky, they seem to be holding their own. Glen has his good days and bad, but what pitcher doesn't? Joe Nathan doesn't get every save when he goes out there. Frankie seems to be consistently bad every game he pitches. Dickey, Matty G, Jose, Brian hold their own, Jesse can be hit or miss and then you have Bobby (rolls eyes) I'm not even going to start on him because I could be here all night.

At least Tuesday nights game was a positive, it would have been nice if they would have saved some of those runs for tonight, but we don't always get what we want. I loved GoGo's little bat flip when he launched that home run (I missed it originally but watched online when I got home). I, personally, along with a few other people I'm sure, would love to see what happened Tuesday night happen more often.

Something needs to be done now or during the off season to fix the issue, that issue being mostly Frankie. If it means getting rid of him for someone different then so be it.

It's Really Getting Old

I'm pretty sure there is nothing worse then being swept at home after you sweep a team at home. What happened to the team that swept Chicago? Where did those guys disappear to? I just LOVE a weekend filled with missed plays, poor pitching, overall sloppy baseball by a team that knows better and can play better. Apparently tough love doesn't work anymore on this team, so I'm out of options on what to try.

It was brought to my attention by Erin this morning before the game started that apparently Gardy didn't want to send Buscher to Triple A. So it wasn't Gardy that was pissed at Morneau for the comments he made, it was the front office. Thank you Bill Smith. I don't understand why the managers don't have a say in who gets sent down? Apparently Gardy wanted Casilla (I agree 100%) or GoGo, which I'm not sure what the reasoning behind that one was, but whatever.

So that got me to thinking, if the front office doesn't listen to Gardy or Andy, how long will it be before Gardy or Andy gets fed up with everything, looks at the front office and says "see ya!". You can tell just by looking at both of them in the dug out or listening to Gardy during the post game conference he's getting pissed with how this team is playing, I think everyone in Twins Territory is getting sick of it.

It was also talked about by Joe C from the Star Tribune that the team is putting out an S.O.S. for pitching help. Uh, pretty sure we needed that a LONG time ago. I have a few in mind that we could get rid of to get some help in here. Number one on that list belongs to Bobby Keppel. Something needs to be done in that department if the team has any hope of making it to the post season this year or any year from here on out for that matter.
Tonight's gold star of the game has got to be Denard Span. I missed the play when it originally happened, but believe me as soon as I got home I found it online so I could watch it. So for those that missed it, GO HERE. I feel bad for Denard because so many people were saying he'd slump this season after last year, but I love how he has proven everyone wrong and had an absolutely fantastic season :-)

Now onto Cleveland... at least we don't have to deal with Cliff Lee anymore.

Oh it Gets Worse

You know, I didn't think things could get any worse after the Monday night debacle, but oh was I mistaken. Today's game, hands down, put Monday's to shame, it made Monday's look good. It was a crappy day at work and then to listen to the bullshit going on in California was enough to pretty much put me over the edge.

I will never understand how this team can go from having a good game one day and forgetting how to play the next. Missed defensive plays, poor pitching, again all around sloppy baseball. Our first two pitchers had a problem hitting the strike zone for whatever reason and in the end it ended up getting Mulvey sent back to Rochester and we get Crain back. I'm not sure how I'm liking that idea, but right now I think I'll take just about anything as long as it can hit the damn strike zone.


Apparently the reports are Perkins had a sore shoulder going into today and that's why he couldn't pitch. You know, my theory is excuses don't work, I understand if they are hurt issues are going to happen, IE Slowey, but lately this seems to be an every game thing with someone. I'm starting to feel like the Padres and Mets with as many people as we have hurt with some sort of injury.



Kudos to Justin on his home run, at least we had hope for a half inning and run to make it a little less embarrassing.

When this season started the only pitcher in our starting rotation I was worried about was Frankie, the bullpen was the least of my worries. Turns out I should have been worried about Perkins and 95% of the bullpen instead. I'm just hoping when Kevin comes back off the DL, he falls back into place right along with Nicky and gives our bullpen a break.

While I love this team and I always will... it's hard to stomach games like today and still hold hope that the playoffs will happen. Every Twins fan knows they can play better baseball then this, we all saw it last year.

Rest up guys cause LAA is on a hot streak and I don't think they are going to roll over and just let us win.

Meet me in St. Louis

Tonight's game = Wow

Glen Perkins = amazing

Joe Nathan = Words can't describe him.



I do have to say that his "catch" tonight was mighty impressive. I couldn't help but laugh a little when they showed him digging it out of his jersey, but at the same time I was hoping he was okay and didn't get hurt taking that one in the stomach. I know they said tonight during the game that Joe was in the running for the All-Star game again this season and I really hope he makes it so that way everyone has the chance to see just how good our closer is.

I think as a whole (and I'll probably regret saying this later) our bull pen has been pretty strong lately. It does help when lately our starting pitchers have been going 7+ innings every game. But our combination of Matt, R.A. and Nate seems to pack quite the punch. I don't wanna judge Bobby until I actually see him take the mound and Jose can be hit or miss. The only lemon is Henn, but I'm not even going there.

I did have to laugh tonight before the game when I was reading La Velle's post and he said that our home plate umpire tonight was Todd Tichner. Now for those of you playing along, Todd is the same home plate umpire that threw out Gardy, Red-Dog, Jason Varitek and Terry Francona. Everyone over at my house tonight for the game were taking bets on how many players would get kicked out with him back there, thankfully no one did.

Tomorrow: Slowey gets to take the mound tomorrow in a scorcer. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a good showing, as I won't be home for most of the game and a chance to pass Halladay in the numbers of wins this season. Hopefully the heat won't get to the guys and we'll be able to pull it off!

I received the best present ever today at work and that is tickets to the July 8th game against the Yankees. I must say free tickets are the best kind of ticket :-)

Random thoughts

I was so looking forward to a sweep this weekend, but I suppose since we were playing in the friendly confines of Wrigley we should let them win one, it's the Minnesota nice thing to do after all.

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There really is no theme to this series post, so here are some random thoughts that I have on the weekend:

* We said goodbye to Alexi (again) & Swarzy and hello to LNP & Jose (again). Alexi going back to AAA didn't surprise me, but after his performance on Saturday, saying goodbye to Swarzy is tougher then I thought. He has proven he can pitch against the best of them and I'm already set to welcome him back when we get extra roster spots in the fall (if not sooner).
* Joey's power and performance this season still amazes me. I'm not sure where it's all coming from (not that I'm complaining). I did have to laugh in Friday's game when they were talking about the garage door and the next thing I know I'm seeing Joey's ball go right over the garage door.
* I was impressed with all our starters for this series and our relief pitching had actually picked up a bit.

Now the guys get to come home for a week, they are all probably ready to sleep in their own beds, I know I would be!

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Random funny item for the weekend, I purchased the 2009 Official Team Yearbook today at the Pro Shop while out shopping and was reading Ernie's page (Justin) and he said his biggest fear was flying. I wonder how that works out for him?

We need a pitcher...

At least I'm not coming here going "And there went another losing series on the road." I was ready to be all excited over a winning series on the road, but alas, no such luck.

We saw some really good pitching by our starters on this series, Swarzy tried, again he's only 23 it has to be tough, Scottie was amazing, Frankie had some rocky moments but pulled through, and Blackie was hanging tough until the 8th inning (but he can't be perfect all the time, what fun would that be?)

Yet we went 2 for 4 in the series, it wasn't lack of runs (we had some homers, singles, just good base running), it was mostly the bullpen and a player, who shall remain nameless, but just got sent back to Rochester this afternoon to make way for LNP.

It would be nice if we could get some help from the pen and not have to rely on the same people every time we go to there.

Now it's on to Wrigley Field, I don't think I've ever been more excited for a series then I have been for this one, just because it's Wrigley Field.

Keep swinging the bats boys and the rest will fall into place.

I smell a draft...

I started working on this last night before that mess that was the 9th inning, so I'll finish what I started now and add a little to it :-)

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So seeing how this is the first year I've really tried to keep up with the draft (as much as a crazy day at work will let me), I decided tonight to sit down and do some research on some of the top guys that we drafted in the first two days.

~ 1st round: Kyle Gibson - RHP

I think he could make a good addition to a starting rotation. I heard so much about this guy when the draft talks first started and I was surprised to see that he was still available when we had our 22nd pick. Once his stress fracture heals and if he signs with the team, I think he could make a really good addition to our pitching staff. I've been reading good things about his fastball.

~ 4th round: Ben Tootle - RHP

I think Ben would make a good addition to our bullpen (which we all know needs some work) Everything that I have read has said his slider is probably one of his better pitches against right handed hitters. Now this the bug he had for a month has passed and he's getting back into his rhythm, he has a lot to show.

~ 5th round: Derek McCallum - 2nd base

A home grown guy coming out of the U of M and hometown of Shoreview. It's always a good feeling to see the Twins pick up some of Minnesota's talent. He was drafted by the Twins as a last round pick in 2006 I believe. He had a batting average of .291 in 2008 and 32 RBI and 3 home runs. He can play either shortstop or 2nd (as the Twins drafted him for)

~ 27th round: Eric Decker - OF

Yet another homegrown ball player out of the U, Eric comes from Cold Spring. In 2008 he had a .329 batting average, 28 RBI, 3 home runs, 9 stolen bases and an on base percentage of .439. He was also drafted before to the Milwaukee Brewers as a 38th round pick in 2008. He has decided though that he wants to play football at the U this coming school year before he makes his decision concerning his professional career.

Overall I love the number of pitchers the Twins are trying to pick up, as we all know our bullpen needs some work. Obviously most of these guys will probably never see the Majors, but it's nice to see the Twins trying to make something happen.

Tonight's what the heck moment brought to you by...

I was going to wait and do a post after this series, but after tonight's...interesting...performance, it's getting it's own post.

I was all excited and ready to come and do a "Yay Scottie Baker with the shut out" post, but oh no...we let it come down to a save situation with a 10-0 lead in the 9th *head desk* If my parents weren't already asleep I'd be going on a one women rampage. Thank God for Natey.

There were positives during the game today, yes it wasn't all so odd, it was nice to see some magic from the bottom of the lineup. We can’t rely on the M&M boys all the time to get the runs for this team, two people can’t support this entire organization, and we have some really good hitters that just need to find their rhythm. Example, Harris was really good tonight, it was nice to see Delmon get back into it as well.

I liked seeing some homeruns in there too…I thought for awhile we forgot how to hit those. Justin and Jason reminded me what those were again. Thanks for that boys :)

I end tonight's post with a question, with Little Nicky Punto coming off the DL Friday, what are your thoughts on what will happen with the lineup and the roster? Who will go back to Rochester and where will everyone play?

I have my thoughts on that question, but I'll save that for my post on Thursday.

Thanks for your support

It's a little odd doing this before the series is over, but tomorrow night will be spent packing for the wedding I have to attend this weekend (I'm in the wedding so I really have to go). Twitter girls...I'll be tweeting on and off via my cell so I'll be checking in for game updates Friday and Saturday!

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At least tonight's game wasn't a shut out, we got that going for us. This game was depressing to say the least.

~ Slowey's performance from last night was amazing as usual (even with the walk and runs). Swarzy tonight, poor Swarzy. So many people that I have talked to since his first start have been expecting that every game since. He's young, he's still learning. I still love him even though he had an off day today. It happens to the best of them, he can learn from this and move on to his next start against Oakland on Monday.

~ I'm not sure how much more of Ayala I can take and I really hope to God when Papa Perk comes off the DL, Ayala goes back to Rochester. I do agree with K-Bro, I miss the days when we had the best bullpen in the league. What happened to that team?

~ Homerun number 12 for the baseball boyfriend last night. I do love watching him hit those homers! I also love that I get a phone call from my nephew after each and every one going "Auntie Katie! Did you see Joe hit that one?!" Skyler wants to be Joe Mauer when he gets older, I think it's adorable.

~ Carlos Gomez, you are the honorary baseball boyfriend of the series. One with that catch you made on Tuesday. That was a work of art, simply priceless! Second for getting into it with the cocky Cliff Lee tonight (I really do hate that guy). You really should have just smacked him and I would have chipped in to help pay the fine. But also for getting that single off him the next time you saw him. Take that Cliff Lee.

~ Oh and I remember tonight why we sent Little Lexi down to AAA.

Overall tonight's game, we had no offense, no defense, no bullpen. It's like they just forgot to show up.

Boys a suggestion for you all...

Go home tonight and sleep. Actually remember to show up tomorrow, go out there and at least win the series.