Royal Pain

I am fully aware that the Twins have been horrible. Lost the first game with the Royals because of little mistakes on the base paths and a few fielding flaws. It sucks to lose these close games because of our own mistakes. It has to be frustrating for the players to, they need to do a better job picking each other up!
There were some good plays like Jason Kubel's throw to home and Scotty Baker actually pitched pretty good.
Gardenhire must be losing his mind with so many injured players and then those little mistakes. Ordinarily he might be pulling a few of those guys but with such a short bench he really has little choice. If Alexi Casilla doesn't get his fielding together he will be gone as soon as they are full strength, Who knows maybe they will make the move sooner but those AA and AAA teams are going to run out of pitchers and players!
I still believe this team will be leading the division in August. I would rather have this craziness happening now then in August. As I said before this team will crawl out of the basement as they have in years past. They will make fans forget the month of April!
Keep the faith!
GO TWINS!!

Stung by the Rays

Went to the last game of the series hoping to see the Twins rebound from a horrible afternoon game. I got wonderful dugout box seats on the third base line. Amazingly close to the action! Unfortunatly the game was not so good.
I went to the game with my brother Greg who is a great fan of the Twins. He cheered loudly with me and kept the faith until the last out. We were really hoping they could make a comeback but those bats were silent.
I can't wait for April to be over! Hopefully April showers will be bring us May WINS!!
Keep the faith!
GO TWINS!

clickclackcliktyclack...

The sound of the Twins train picking up speed. Still time for all of you bandwagon fans to jump on. I know we are still below .500 but theres still a week left in April and 5 games which could push us over.
The team seems to be coming out of its quiet bat funk. Case in point Alexi Casilla got two hits for the second game in a row! Jason Kubel, Justin Morneau and Jim Thome also have hot bats!

I have been told that Gardenhire doesn't get on the players enough doesn't have enough fire. Often these same people (my brothers) bring up Ozzie Guillen as a supposedly better manager. Well the White Sox are also starting off slow too, lets see which team gets out of the hole. Manager who criticizes his players in the press or the one who talks to his players in the clubhouse. I prefer Gardy's style and feel like he gets the best out of his players.

Go Twins!

Gettin on a roll...

After playing several games missing three of our biggest hitters the Twins seem to be getting on a roll. Having Justin Morneau back in the line up was definitely a boost. The other guys having doing their best to warm up and score some runs. Saturday against the Indians Alexi Casilla not only shined in the field defensively, he gets things going in two innings with singles.
Love the base running today with Denard Span stealing second in the 6th as well as Repko running through the stop sign by Steve Liddle. Looked almost like Liddle was signaling it to slow up the outfielder rather then Repko.
Though I love to see Thome knock it out of the park him getting singles and doubles is a beautiful thing! Now all we need is Delmon Young to get healthy followed by Joe Mauer and Tsuyoshi Nishioka and this team will cruise. Better to get all this sickness and injury out of the way early in the season.
Brian Duensing was great getting them to hit into outs, going 7 innings. Seeing Joe Nathan Throw some accurate fast moving pitches was a relief. He really looked good and the ball seemed to be snapping out of his hand. Not such a great outing for Dusty Hughes, makes me wonder how long he'll stay up with so many options in the minors. We have had many more roster moves this spring then usual, seems likely they will keep doing that with pitchers. Especially as Kevin Slowey heals up.
Keep the faith and enjoy the games!
Go Twins!

Barf....

So it has not been a good start to the season and this virus that seems to be decimating the team is doing us no favors. I missed several games last week working in the deep wilds of South Dakota unable to find an AM radio(seriously who doesn't have a AM radio especially if they have no TV) so I missed several games. Perhaps I can take some blame because they won on Sunday when I watched and Monday I saw the game Tues after they were up 4 runs already so I wasn't much help.

Seriously though it has to be frustrating for the whole team to not tie together a string of wins. I know I would not want to be on the road fighting this flu bug. It will take even longer to get back to HEALTHY with all the travel and such. I know they stay in posh places but there is nothing like your own bed and toilet when you are sick!

Lets hope everyone starts to get on the mend and that the freakin snow is gone when they get back home! Also send good thoughts to Joe for his legs, I am seriously worried that this is a sign of something far more complicated!

C'mon everyone say it loud to boost the boys...

GO TWINS!

sunnyside, silver lining or count our blessings...

I am choosing to focus on the positives, this is my right as a fan!
The best thing in the last couple games is how well Delmon Young has played! Especially in the outfield, I have been super impressed by his defense. If he keeps that up and hits close to how he was at the end of last year he will be an All Star!
Just as spring is beginning to pop in the Twins Cities so are the Twins bats.
The Twins had 10 hits Sunday. They were kinda spread out so they did not result in runs until the 8th. Lets hope the possible coming snow does not freeze their swings.

Justin Morneau is starting to get the bat on the ball. Going 3 of 4 Sunday. Wish one of those hits was in the 8th, (though he did sacrifice in a run) we could of used another runner on base and an extra out.

Jim Thome getting his first homer of the season at home. He made the game exciting at least. It is really nice to finally have a homer kinda guy on our team instead of watching him come up to bat for the other team.

Lets hope the weather holds out and we do not return to snow cover. Our boys of summer are starting to warm up and I want to see dominate the Royals and git the road HOT!!

(sound of deflating balloon)

The last game in New York was disappointing. Not only losing the game but also losing Tsuyoshi Nishioka. I don't think the slide was dirty but maybe a little excessive he was pretty wide of the bag. I was surprised that it happened didn't the coaching staff prepare Nishioka for this? Japanese baseball is different then MLB, they rarely intentionally slide into second to break up a double play. The coaching staff should have stressed that with Nishi, they had to have seen that in spring ball. That slide wouldn't have hurt him if he had jumped like any other second basemen would have. Hopefully the break isn't too severe and he can return soon. Of course this will put him back at square one just when he was getting into a rhythm. His parents have come over from Japan for the home opener, perhaps they can keep his spirits up.

Wednesday before the game was called I heard a lot of rumbling about Joe Mauer not being in the line up. Today I read an article by Bob Sansevere complaining that he should at least DH. Its not rest for his legs if he has to run the bases. Sansevere thinks Joe should play a different position to save his legs. I get that people want to see Joe play and he is an amazing player and not having him in the lineup is a blessing for the other teams pitchers, but he is a catcher. Not a first basemen, not a left fielder, a catcher! Having been a catcher I would contend it is the best position in baseball. It is fun to be catcher, everything happens out in front of you, your the field general. Joe doesn't want to be anything but the catcher. If he played another position he would lose a huge part of himself, the joy would be gone and so would a lot of what makes Joe so special. I trust Gardy is doing the right thing and late in the season it will mean Joe is in the lineup not the training room. Just saw that Nishi is going on 15 DL...promising! GO TWINS!

No New York New York tonight!

Really fun game tonight! I only got to watch from the 7th inninng on so I think maybe my cheering was what got them going! Sounds like Duensing had the rough first two innings I said not to have but he got into his groove and did great! CC of course was dominant off the mound for the Yanks but our suspect bullpen did way better then their all star bullpen. Seriously Rafael Soriano looked like he was going to cry when he went to the dugout. We were due to get some lucky bounces which usually go to the Yanks. My nephew and I chanted Tsuyoshi Tsuyoshi Nishioka! KA-TOE-BA-SAY! Hit it Hard!(find more Japanese phrases here http://www.foxsportsnorth.com/pages/nishioka ) After two failed bunts he comes up with an amazing hit! Think he has shaken off the jitters and will continue to blossom.

Carl Pavano will pitch better then he did in Toronto. The whole team is going to be feeling good and carry it into the game. Winning the next two games would be so sweet and a great way to come home for the opener.

Nemesis!!!

Tonight we face CC Sabathia and Brian Duensing hits the mound. I think Duensing is going to be our rock this year! Hopefully he wont have any innings like the Baker last night and just settle down into a groove.

We looked more like the Twins last night, once Baker settled down he pitched much better and our hitters seem to be waking up. Th 4th inning was fun with Morneau getting a double with two outs and Delmon getting on to all be brought in by Jim Thome. I love watching Thome get doubles I think its good for him to run a little. Of course the next hitter would need to hit a home run to ensure Thome scores. Jason Kubels next at bat was a good one, he made the pitcher throw a lot of balls to get him out.

Catch of the year was that dive by Delmon in the 4th, this kept us in the game! Love to see Delly do that in the field! I tend to close my eyes and cringe when I see the ball going his way. Also love seeing Alexi Casilla hit the ball for a double(his second I might add(are you paying attention Reusse?))! Nishioka looked good at the plate for his double in the 5th maybe he is starting to settle down.

I look for the Twins to keep improving with every game. Morneau is getting his swing back and the rest will keep falling into place. Keep the faith!

GO TWINS!!

Sweet!

Alright got the first win under our belt! Welcome back Joe Nathan thanks for making it exciting!

GO TWINS!

Ouch - 0-2

Well not a good start but hopefully we will turn it around before we head to New York. As I stated our starting pitching needs to keep games close and go into at least the 6th inning. Our bats have not woken up yet this will change.

Our middle infielders are obviously still working on their communication. This will come with time and patience. Gardy knows they can do it and the problems are obvious but fixable. Seems the entire team is overexcited and needs to just settled in and play ball!

I will finally get to watch a game and am very excited. I am looking for a better game today. Keep the faith!

GO TWINS!!

It Begins...

and here is how I think it will go down...

So I have decided to make my prediction for the Twins season then review this mid way through the season and at end of season. I noticed the fine Patrick Reusse predicted our beloved Twins would only get third in the AL central. And of course he referred to the "likelihood of going through a handful of shortstops before September". I get it he doesn't want to come off as a homer but me I am through and through a HOMER! SO I shall present my optimistic and hopeful prediction for my MN Twins.

Much like last year we will start out steady winning most of our series. I think it will take Justin Mor"yes" a little will to get in the groove with his bat. Joe Mauer will be our steady hitter all year and be complimented by heavy hitting from Jason Kubel and Delmon Young. Young should carry on with his success of last year and maybe even exceed it hitting. He will probably move up in the order. Jim Thome will be used much like last year to pinch hit and sometimes DH and get his 600th by mid season.
Our defense will be strong in the infield and decent in the outfield, perhaps a few speedsters like Ben Revere will come up mid season, at the very least just to give a little rest to Denard Span. My areas of concern are Span and Michael Cuddyer, Span needs to improve on last year, hopefully a little rest will be what he needs. I think we need Cuddy to stay healthy and again be one of the consistent guys in the lineup he doesn't need to carry us. His cannon of an arm in right is a huge plus. We can get by with Alexi Casilla hitting in the mid .200. His defense will outweigh that negative, I believe that he has figured out how to be an everyday player and will put the doubters to rest. Matt Tolbert is going to be like Punto a great utility player but with a little more pop in his bat. If he can stay healthy I can see him racking up doubles and triples whenever he gets into a game. Tsuyoshi Nishioka will find a way to get on base and let the M&M boys bring him round.

Our pitching will be decent not spectacular but as I said before they don't need to be they just have to keep it close. If they can get in 6 to 7 innings it will help the bullpen stay strong. I think some of our minor league pitchers will come up and fill in more then adequately. Brian Duensing will end up being our Ace and Kyle Gibson will be up by the end of the year.
If major injuries can be avoided we should win the AL Central walking away. This team is hungry and knows what it takes to get through a long season and will pace themselves to finish strong. It will be nice to head to the end of the season with both the M&M boys healthy!

I realize I am being idealistic but I know if someone isn't performing that there are young guys who will come up to take their place. This seems likely in the outfield as we would benefit from some of those speedsters in Target Field. I love that we will be playing more small ball stealing bases and setting up the horses for RBIs. Our big guys can hit and now they know at home to take advantage of the outfield space and let the little guys run.

Let me know how you think it will go down.

GO TWINS!