Yep, we're back to .500.

Fringe group says new Starbucks logo "has a naked woman on it with her legs spread like a prostitute." I'm not up on prostitutes, but I didn't realize that they had fish bodies. Do the ones with Walleye bodies get to charge more than the ones with Northern pike bodies? I'd like [...]

Bush envisions a democratic Middle East free of oppression. And I envision living on the Big Rock Candy Mountain. Which is just about as likely.

It appears that my car will be a total loss. The carriage did what it is supposed to do in an accident, namely, protect me. I felt no effects from the accident and I am fine, so that is great. The carriage, however, is bent and the repair costs are very high, [...]

Dustin McGowan vs. Glen Perkins
It's a nooner!
I haven't written a whole lot about the Twins' injuries so far this season. There are a couple of reasons for that:
1) I have no special insight into how healthy these players are.
2) They haven't been especially beset by injuries.
They're about 1/4th of the way through the season, [...]

This Toronto series is taking some of the luster off of that Boston thing.

The art world lost a giant. Rauschenberg, who bridged the gap between Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art, inspired a generation (or two) of artists while gathering praise and scorn in equal measure. He leaves this mortal coil to nearly universal acclaim. (E-6 stands and applauds.) He also created one of the great "baseball" pictures of [...]

Roy Halladay vs. Boof Bonser
.274/.338/.403 -- Michael Cuddyer, post-DL, 68 PA

Key words: 13-year-olds, credit cards, hookers, World of Warcraft, snack food, overlooked birthday, impersonating circus workers, xbox, fraud, political aspirations, lawyer. Need I say more?

Apparently, Jason Tyner really wants a chance to get back at the Twins for letting him go. Seriously.
“I thought I had earned my stripes (in Minnesota),” said Tyner, who signed a minor league contract with the Indians this offseason after the Twins elected not to re-sign the outfielder, following three years of service. “I [...]

Cali Supremes to issue gay-marriage opinion Thursday. You can listen to oral arguments or find other documents on the case here.

Hits the DL with broken fingernail.

Roman detained without charges for 10 days after attempting to visit his American girlfriend.

Ladies, if you want to get preggers, give your men lots of porn.

But, the Knicks are hoping and praying that he signs with New York in 2010 or 2011.

Happy 3rd Anniversary to Lucy and me.

Points taken off for being Sawks fans, but this one's kinda fun. For the kids...

Jesse Litsch vs. Kevin Slowey
Litsch has been pretty good so far this year. Slightly above average in ground balls, average K-rate, and outstanding walk rate. All combined together, he's sporting a 3.69 xFIP.
I'm not really worried at all about Slowey so far. 6.9 K/G, 0.0 BB/G, and 37% GB% are all better [...]

On my way home from work today, I was crawling down 35W about 10-15 miles an hour when another car smashed into the back of mine at a fairly high rate of speed. The back of my car was damaged, but I was able to drive it home. The other car appeared [...]

And started to sell T-shirts.

Goose Gossage takes issue with Joba Chamberlain's excessive celebration. "There's no one to pass the torch anymore, no one to teach the young kids how to act."

Immigrants of the past quarter-century have been assimilating in the United States at a notably faster rate than did previous generations.

In retrospect, losing a game to the Red Sox was a little embarrassing.

Rochester Red Wings
.327/.387/.584 -- Darnell McDonald, 2008, 101 AB
Congrats to McDonald for having one of the best stretches of his professional career, but he's been kicking around AAA so long that he was playing for the Red Wings when they were an Orioles affiliate 7 years ago. At age 30, his early season success [...]

Some nice photos accompany this one, too. A Jeff A pick.

Clay Buchholz vs. Livan Hernandez
Programming note: Beware the 6pm CT ESPN start time.
Buccholz has a 3.45 xFIP so far, to go with a ZiPS-projected 4.47 ERA. Lots of strikeouts (8.9 K/G), and an uspectacular/poorish walk rate (3.4 BB/G), and a decent ground balll rate (44% GB%). I certainly think he'll turn out to [...]

A new game, named Foldit, turns protein folding into a competitive sport. Mary Poppins would approve. "In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun, and - SNAP - the job's a game!"

Governor Pawlenty jokes on WCCO about not getting any from his wife with her in attendance. Oddsmakers are betting that the frequency will be going down after that remark.

A classic from Ken Tremendous.

For all you Andrew Bird fans out there who may have missed this.

O.J. Mayo on the take, like we all knew. Big time college sports is a stinking pile of dung.

That ninth run wasn't so pesky after all.

Blame Game: Who is most to blame here: Patterson, Ross, or Baker? (Or other?)

How much can they eat?

IP
Hungry, Hungry Hippo

51.7
Livan Hernandez

50.7
Nick Blackburn

46.0
Boof Bonser

33.0
Scott Baker

23.7
Brian Bass

But what does the food taste like?

xFIP
Hungry, Hungry Hippo

3.06
Scott Baker

4.41
Nick Blackburn

4.42
Boof Bonser

4.47
Livan Hernandez

4.85
Brian Bass

To a certain degree, Blackburn, Bonser, and Hernandez have all been approximately league average pitchers who have made every start and given the Twins innings. Baker's the closest thing they've [...]

Tim Wakefield vs. Nick Blackburn
I don't think I really have anything particularly worth saying today. I'm sure we'll hear about Wakefield's previous success in domes about 10,000 times during the broadcast.
Happy Mother's Day.

Happy Mothers Day, all you mothers. (Sons and daughters, call home.) Madison Square Garden, 1972.

Dice-K vs. Glen Perkins
Dice-K has 27 walks in 40.7 IP this year. Holy walks, batman. I've got a good feeling about Morneau vs. Dice-K today.
For all the same reasons I don't really believe that much in Jon Lester as a top pitching prospect, I have serious doubts about Perkins. Mainly, I just [...]

That ninth inning Friday night was mighty tasty.

Over Gomez's last 10 games, he's hitting .385/.429/.641. The kid's been hot. If he could consistently get on base at a .400 clip, he would easily be an All-Star. Barring a complete overhaul in his approach at the plate, he's not going to be able to do that, but he's got basically [...]

Jon Lester vs. Boof Bonser
Jon Lester is one of those pitchers I just don't "get." Or rather, I don't understand where all the hype comes from. In the minors, Lester had 203 walks in 486 innings, and holy crap that's a lot of walks. As one might reasonably expect, his walk rate [...]

I mean, yeah, it's Kelly Theiser, but it still seems like she could find a more legitimate story to put a positive spin on.

The woman died in a motorcycle crash that also killed a teammate. And ESPN has this poll question accompanying the story (the charge is a felony): Should safety Jamar Hornsby be dismissed from the Florida Gators football team for using a dead woman's credit card? Um, yeah.

Former IU player transfers to Detroit Mercy, which has as its coach one of Kelvin Sampson's former assistants at IU.

Biologist names spider species after Neil Young. Mebbe he's a Citizen??

Just so you know, playing great defense is another way to be a great basketball player.

“By the year 2015, the greatness of Argentinean wines made from the Malbec grape will be understood as a given. This French varietal has reached startling heights of quality in Argentina . Both inexpensive, delicious Malbecs and majestic, profoundly complex ones from high-elevation vineyards are already being produced, and by 2015 this long-ignored grape's place [...]

Kevin Slowey vs. John Danks
The phrase "numbers can't tell you (something that numbers can probably tell you" gets thrown a lot in baseball coverage. Well, I'm here to tell you that numbers can't tell you whether or not Kevin Slowey's bicep is pain-free, or whether his bicep is fully healed. But I sure [...]

Karl Malone impregnated a 13 year-old while in college, has refused any association with son. Said, while playing in the NBA that $125 a week child support was too much. Abandoned son now about to start NFL career. Watch out, "Dad", your son could put a hurt on you. And you'd [...]

This is about the funniest thing I've seen in a long while.

Hudson teens charged after displaying nude pictures of classmate that she sent to ex boyfriends from her cellphone.

It's not as if the newspaper is the only industry that ever changed or died when new technology created a paradigm shift. There are are political sites with professional writers gathering news. Gleeman is paid to write. There may not be a newspaper, but that won't spell the end of sports news.

Last night's game was just like the night before, except different.

Livan Hernandez vs. Mark Buehrle
I don't know what it is--perhaps a sort of "playing with house money" effect--but I can't help but be amused whenever Livan is pitching these days. My reaction when he gives up a big home run isn't so much "Oh no! How will we win now?" but rather "That ball [...]

Assistant College Basketball coach blows whistle on corrupt boss, pays huge price.

KG outscores LeBron, Pierce, and Allen, combined, by 12 points.

Frack. YouTube stole my pick. For what it's worth, it was the Pretenders doing a swell version of this at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. If anybody was allowed to cover this one, it's Chrissy Hynde. So, I guess Neil gets bumped to headliner... From The Johnny Cash Show, 1972.

Since April 14th:
72 PA, 61 AB, 24 H, 7 2B, 1 3B, 11 BB, 3 SO, .393/.486/.541
Thank you kindly, Mr. Mauer.

Nick Blackburn vs. Gavin Floyd
Floyd's peripherals were bad the last time we faced him, and they haven't gotten any better. Boof denied his unicorn last time, and now it's time for Blackburn to deny it yet again.
Random crap because I don't have much else to say about the pitching matchup:
- Jon Garland has but [...]

Wife: Rodriguez fainted during first daughter's birth.

The black wife of Richard Loving, a white man, their marriage was considered illegal in Virginia until the Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia struck down anti-miscegenation laws. That was back with the Supremes were interested in personal freedoms.

Connecticut boy finally takes off Favre jersey after years.

Let the Seis de Mayo celebrations begin!

Twenty games ago, I took a look at the Twins Through 10. I've really not had a whole lot of time to write here lately, and I have no illusions that I'll keep any recurring feature going. However, I've got a few minutes here so I thought I'd pump out a quick review [...]

I'm becoming a big Luis Gonzalez fan. "If I knew it was going to happen I probably would have ran out there a little quicker and jumped in front of Owen Wilson and grabbed the dog. I should have screwed that whole scene up. What were they going to do, kick me off the field?"

The latest and greatest in biofuels technology: growing fuel from jungle rot fungus.

This would have been a lot better idea when gas was $1.50 a gallon.

or weasel words to the same effect

That is, unless you have lots of cash yearning to be free.

Where are we now?

Team
W
L
PCT
GB

Minnesota
16
14
.533
-

Chicago Sox
14
15
.483
1.5

Kansas City
14
16
.467
2

Cleveland
14
17
.452
2.5

Detroit
14
18
.43
3

Up is down! Black is white! Various types of livestock have acquired the ability to fly!
Based only on season-to-date performance, how well might we expect these teams to be going forward?

Team
W3
L3
PCT3

White Sox
16.0
13.0
.552

Tigers
17.2
14.8
.538

Indians
14.8
16.2
.447

Twins
13.3
16.7
.443

Royals
12.4
17.6
.413

Huh, Cleveland has been pretty bad so far.
What does the playoff picture look like?

Teams
W
L
Pct3
Avg W
Avg L
Division
Wild [...]