Welcome Back!

If there is one thing I have missed this off season more then anything it's watching Kevin pitch. If you want to get technical, I've missed that since he went on the DL last summer. So last night I forced myself to stay awake to watch him pitch until he was done and I managed to actually do that (I actually made it to when they brought in The Weeble).

While it may not have been Kevin's best game and he may not have gone as long as Carl and Nick, I'll take what he did last night and smile about it. After not pitching since, what, June of last season, I thought he did a good job last night. I'm happy that he's back on that mound again.

Not everyone wanted to play last night apparently and yes I am talking about Cuddy. In all honesty I have lost count of how far in the hole he is with the skittle count, but if he keeps playing like he has so far, he'd owe me by the seasons end. I know these guys all have off days or whatever, but a whole series? Come on Cuddy...get with it!

And then we have the trio of home run hitters. Last night we saw a new group in Jim Thome, Brendan and Delmon (again!) All I have to say is, welcome to the Minnesota Twins Mr. Thome! You have earned your spot in the lineup, that's for sure. Sure he may not be the speediest runner, but he's giving Jason Kubel a run for his money.

And then we have Delmon! Who is he and what did he do with last seasons Delmon Young?! Whoever he is, I like this version much better then last years. He seems to be more comfortable out in the field and at the plate. Of course last year he did have a lot going on with the death of his mother, which I know was tough on him I'm sure. But I am loving this version of Delmon, let's keep it that way ;-)

Now it's off to the south side to visit our "friends" in Chicago. It will be interesting to see if Thome gets the same kind of reaction from the crowd that Joe Crede got last season when he went "home" for the first game.

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

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.

For the love of the navy...

So before I really get into last nights "recap" I just wanna say, Cuddy wanted that triple just to get to third base to give a big eff you to Mike Muchlinski for that blown call Monday night. Did anyone else notice it took him a while to actually call Cuddy safe? I think if he would have called him out, Michael would have gone postal.

Reading articles yesterday online while I was at work, I was reading the article about Gardy wanting instant replays and after the play, I have to agree with what he said. I know the questions are out there about "Where would you draw the line of when to use it?" but I think it should be left up to the manager to decide when to draw the line.

Gardy made the comment if the call is against you, your flag is taken away for the remainder of the game, which I think is fair because then it will stop the manager from making silly mistakes, so to speak.

Who knows, it may have helped us the other night or it may still would have worked against us, we'll never know.

I did have to laugh though, during the game when they showed the fan with the sign that said "Cuddyer was safe". Every news broadcast or radio station that I have listened to said the same thing, but that game is over... moving on.

I do love his smile :-)

It was discussed tonight that the starting pitching rotation is either sending a big get well soon message to Kevin or they left the grey uniforms in Texas or sent them ahead to LA, because the guys that never wear the navy uniforms have been wearing them a lot lately, IE Swarzy, not that I care because the navy uniforms are my favorites.

I don't think I have ever drove so quick in my life during the top of the 10th just because I wanted to actually be able to see the bottom of the 10th in person in hopes they would be able to pull out the win.

In ending, the Twins played better ball tonight, they brought their A-game (for the most part) and went out there and won which is what I expected. This was true Twins baseball, a pitching duel, small ball, and running smart. Now let's do it again tomorrow, alright guys?

All I know, is I'm thankful tomorrow is a day game... these west coast games are killing me!