At Least I Came Home With A Hat

This post is three days late, but I figure I would just give a few notes of the Twins game on Saturday night.

4:00pm - Arrive to the Metrodome by light rail with my friend, Ernie. Two hours before the game and the light rail is kind of crowded. Must be a lot of anticipation. We bought our tickets. Gates do not open until 4:30pm, so we walked around. While the food outside of the Dome is usually very expensive, there was a small Mexican stand that was reasonably priced. I bought a pork tamale and a Jarritos fruit punch. Later, walked past another stand with the biggest corn dogs I'd ever seen so I bought one of those.

4:30pm - I buy a Twins magazine and scorecard outside, knowing full well that I won't be able to keep score during the game. Gates open, we go in and we get this:



Once inside, I get the Dome Dog, chips and a large drink... a Twins game tradition for me. We take our seats... 26 rows up in lower left field.

Pre-game - The Royals are taking batting practice. I count only two balls flying over the outfield walls... maybe a precursor of things to come?

Written in left field is...

DIXIE
DY 21

I know what "DY 21" is. Don't know about "DIXIE".

Later, is the Softball Home Run Derby. The first three batters leave with no home runs. TC hits 5.

Game Time - I will follow with a series of thoughts throughout the game.

* Jason Kubel is not in the starting line up. Normally, I would not think it a big deal except the Royals' starting pitcher, Brian Bannister, is a righty.

* I tried to keep score on my scoreboard, until I realized in the second inning that I missed a single hit by Jose Guillen in the first.

* Scoring throughout the game goes back and forth. Glen Perkins had a tough first two inning, but looks great in the next three. Then, in the sixth, he gives up another three run. After six, game is tied at 5. At least the Twins are providing some run support.

* You can count on Luis Ayala to try to lose the game for you. In 1-1/3 innings, Ayala give up two runs. Jose Mijares bailed him out in the eighth inning and the Twins score two to tie at the bottom of the eighth.

* Delmon Young hit 3-for-4 in the game with 2 RBIs. After his single in the bottom of the eighth, with the game tied, Carlos Gomez is sent in to pinch run for him. Some have questioned about replacing Young after hitting so well during the game, but Gomez is many time faster and Gardy was trying to go for the win. Buscher singles to left and moves Gomez to second. With Punto, Span and Casilla up next, you'd think one of the would try to bunt to move Gomez to third. Punto and Span pop-out. Casilla ground out to third.

* In the 11th inning, after Breslow walks three straight, R.A. Dickey is brought in. Walks one run home. Gives up a two-run single and then finally get out. Good thing because Dickey was the last reliever.

Twins lost 10-7 and the game was over at 10:30pm. Usually, I wait until traffic at the light rail dies down, but I think we left as fast as we could... I was missing my wife and kids at this point.

Even though the home team lost, it was still a fun game.

Twins Game Tonight

I will be heading to the Metrodome for my first Twins game of the season. (Depending on finances, it could be my last game at the Dome.) In honor of tonight's starting pitcher, here are a few gems from the collection.









Win Twins!

The Minnesota Twins of Minneapolis

I haven't written much about this year's Twins since the season started, but I'm very happy about the Minnesota Twins sweep over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Angels have been one of the teams that Twins have had a hard time to beat over the past few years, so a sweep feels so much better. Unfortunately, I didn't get to go to a game this weekend and I certainly missed out on Joe Mauer Bronze Statue night.



In addition to Friday's 7-run eighth, Glen Perkins eight innings on Sunday or Delmon Young taking a walk two games in a row, the biggest highlight this weekend was Jason Kubel. Kubel hit for cycle on Friday, including a grand slam in the eighth inning. The Twins organization has waiting for a long time for Kubel to show his superstar stuff. Does this look like we are starting to see it?

Opening Day Thoughts

It's a great day when the baseball season starts again. The players play for real. The stats start to count. The drama begins.

Every year, I always catch Opening Day on TV. When the Opening Day game is a day game, I either skip class or leave work early. Fortunately, this year the Twins' Opening Day game was at night game.

The big story the Twins organizations is pushing is that this is the last Opening Day in the Metrodome. Not sure if it should be that big of a deal since the Twins having been trying to get out of the Dome for more than the last ten years.

Although the Twins lost, here are some of my Opening Day thoughts.

* The Twins are attempting to juggle four outfielders. Out of the four outfielders: the one who had the best Spring Training is also the one who is riding the bench.

* Denard Span caught a pop foul in deep left in which Adrian Beltre tagged up and ran home in the second inning. Say what you want about Delmon Young's defense, but there is no denying he would have thrown him out at home.

* Michael Cuddyer struck out... three times... looking.

* With two out and one runner on, Mike Redmond was substituted at the plate for... not the hotted hitting Twins outfielder riding the bench... but for Jose "will never be more than an injury call-up" Morales who proceeded to ground out.

* For Opening Day, the Twins wore their retro 1982-style uniforms. In 1982, the Twins lost 102 games... the most of any season in the Metrodome.

Sunday Afternoon Baseball

Yesterday, I finally had my first look at the Twins in Spring Training. (I only have basic cable so I am only able to catch Twins games when they are broadcast on local WFTC 29. Sunday afternoon games are normally broadcast on local TV while the majority of games are broadcast on cable Fox Sports. Not sure how many Spring Training games have been broadcast, but this was the first one on local TV.)

The Twins have just been one big winning machine all Spring Training, but I happen to watch the one game they get beat... and to the Yankees. Even in Spring Training, the Twins can't beat the Yankees.

Just some thoughts about the game:

* The Twins have been given Brian Buscher playing time at first base. He had a couple of miscues defensively, including a dropped ball to first. Since the signing of Joe Crede, I think the Twins are trying very hard to find a place for Buscher. It's not so much of an issue with Brendan Harris, who is a pretty flexible back up at third, short and second.

* Nick Blackburn looked very solid in relief. He pitched the fourth and fifth innings. I guess he hasn't pitched much in Spring Training because of an injury.

* Denard Span seems to be playing left field well. He's now hitting half a Menzoda line this Spring.

* I finally got to see a view players that I've only seen on Bowman baseball cards. Luke Hughes started at third. He had become a home run threat in the minors last year, but has struggled defensively since changing positions. He will start the season at Rochester.

* Trevor Plouffe, another player I've only seen on Bowman cards, played at short. He will probably start in Rochester also.

I think I may head to the Twins Pro Shop during my lunch break and get tickets for Opening Day.

Four in the Outfield

With my blog, I also wanted to write, not just about baseball cards, but about the team. This post will be a first in a number of season previews. Though, the preview will not be about where I think the Twins will stand in the Central Division after Game 162 (because we all know I'm going to say they will be first), but just some of the aspects about the team.

First, we have four starting outfielders where there is room only for three: Michael Cuddyer, Carlos Gomez, Denard Span and Delmon Young. Cuddyer is coming back from injuries that caused him to miss most of last season. Gomez at first surprised opposing teams with his quickness off of bunt hits and his range in the outfield, but was figured out when teams figured out he would swing at every bad pitch. Span, who started last year in Rochester, but was called up after Cuddyer's injury and secured a spot on the Twins roster. Young, the former #1 pick traded from Tampa Bay, disappointed in the field and at the plate early in the season, but established himself later on. There has been talk of simply rotating all four equally throughout the season, but I'm not sure any player, or fan, wants to see a rotating outfield.

I am most anxious to see how Delmon Young will bounce back from his first season in a Twins uniform. Part of the reason was because I was at one of the games in 2007 when the Twins played the Devil Rays. The Twins won that game 12-5, but Young was a beast in that game. He hit 2 for 4 with a double. But, from right field, he has a cannon for an arm making triples into doubles and doubles into singles. During this series, Young his .294 with a HR and 2 RBI. Young was third in the American League in outfield assists in 2006; Michael Cuddyer was first.

After, Young was traded to the Twins, he became the starting left fielder. Despite the slow start at the plate and a number of blunders in left, Young ended the season with a .290 average and lead the Twins outfield with 11 assists.

However, I'm hoping comments made by manager, Ron Gardenhire, in the offseason has lit a fire under him. Young is having a hot spring and it's looking like he is ready to earn a starting outfield spot.

Michael Cuddyer, of course, is coming back from injuries and is looking to get back into form. Some fans and sports writers have suggested moving him back to third to clear up the outfield, but I don't know how you can see how well he plays in right and how horrible he was at third in 2005 and say that with a straight face. However, since his breakout 2006 season in which he drove in for than 100 runs, we haven't seen that production in 2007 or 2008. I really like Cuddyer, I even had an autographed Michael Cuddyer baseball, and I would like to see him get back to his form.

Carlos Gomez was exciting to watch at the start of last year with the Torii-esque plays in the outfield and those bunt hits that would catch pitchers by surprised. However, teams started to figure him out and found out he chased about every bad pitch. Still, he has a lot of upside. If he can get past the mental lapses in center, Gomez can become a Gold Glove outfielder. If he can start watching his pitches, he can become one the leagues best lead-off hitters. There's also talk that he has home run power to harness. Gomez is also off to a hot spring hitting .313.

Denard Span, the Twins #1 pick in 2002, was called up to the big leagues in 2008 after the injury to Cuddyer and showed that he deserved a starting spot in the outfield. While he played right field and center field last year, he has been playing some in the left field this spring. However, Span has been pretty cold at the bat hitting only .111. Did we see the best of Span last year or is this only a minor slump?

However, the outfield turns out, I'm hoping all four can improve from last year.