I'm pinch hitting here for brianS and I don't have a lot of time, so this will be short.
Man, was that game last night painful to follow. Almost four hours of rain delay, with about an hour and a half of baseball mixed in. When the Twins allowed three in the first, it became a game of trying to keep it from becoming official and the competing -- let's play this thing a half hour at a time to make it official.
To top it off, the Twins are scuffling right now. They should welcome a couple of games with Baltimore, might be the worst team in the American League.
Let's get this one, guys.
I just talked to someone at Camden Yard. He said it is sprinkling but should stop soon. The game should be fine.
I'm waiting for the rain to slow in DC so I can make a beer run. I absolutely refuse to use an umbrella which makes this harder than it needs to be.
yesterday, the liquor store in my local grocery store (after growing up in minnesota, i still can't get used to that) had their quarter-annual broken bottle sale. i guess if a bottle breaks, the wash off the others in the pack, put them aside, and sell them dirt cheap later. pretty decent too. the worst i got was sam adams. beck's was .75, and new belgium beers were .25. go figure.
That would be awesome, I wish the grocery stores around here would have sales like that.
That said, for what its worth, the best liquor store in Madison (IMO) is a grocery store. I love that idea.
I'm thinking that would lead to a lot more vandalism of bottles in the beer aisle.
that's not a bad idea...
Ballgame tonight!
This weekend I get to watch some kid named Matt Wieters play baseball. I wonder if he is going to be any good. I hear he is Mauer with Pauer.
I don't get this lineup. Cuddyer has the most walks on the team. Shouldn't he be batting like 5th or 6th? He's wasted batting after Crede and before Delmon.
I'd bat Mauer 2nd, Morneau 3rd, Cuddyer 4th, Kubel 5th, Crede 6th...
So would a lot of us, but most managers are bigger fans of conventional wisdom than actual wisdom. Gardy follows the old adage that guys do best when they know their position in the lineup and they think they'll fall apart if they're moved. Certainly, I'd endorse your lineup without much reservation, now that Cuddyer is performing.
And the Twins feed on mlb.tv is not blocking out audio during the commercial breaks. I hope that Bert "accidentally" drops an "F" bomb soon.
That happened once for about half the game about ten days ago...Dick prattled on about some things, but like a smart journalist, he spoke in the same manner he would when he's on camera. Bert either said nothing or his mic was cut between innings, which would be both hilarious and probably the best thing for everyone.
In college I had a roommate from Chicago, so we watched a lot of Cubs games on WGN. Sometimes, if the cable company hadn't sold their local ad spots, they'd just show the raw feed, usually a camera pointed to the outfield or scanning the crowd, and the booth mics were live. My favorite Harry line ever? As camera pans the crowd, stops, and zooms in on a busty lass: "Holy cow! Look at the gazongas on that broad. You won't find tits like that in Peoria."
Priceless. They used to consistently have the booth audio/default video in between innings on mlb.tv....those were the days.
Opening Day 2006 was fantastic. Jamie Moyer gave up a long homerun to Vlad (IIRC) in the first inning. Between innings, Dave Niehaus (longtime M's announcer) turned to his partner and said, "Boy, it's going to be a loooooooong season, isn't it?"
Just a phenomenal lack of optimism one half inning into the season. Especially when he was full of generic announcer optimism whenever the feed was live.
This is so awesome.
Do tell!
Really, nothing is happening. Some people were just talking to a camera guy briefly. I will let everyone know if anything of note happens.
Why are the Twins wearing their home alts on the road?
Probably got everything else wet last night and Baltimore is all out of laundromats.
Why would they even have them with?
I believe they scraped the road alts in the offseason and will wear these whenever they decide to go blue (like Tobias).
We are ... getting hits ... off an inexperienced pitcher ... in the early innings ...
:: faint ::
Taking the first lead is messing me up, but doing so against one of the AL's worst clubs is simply mystifying.
Manny Ramirez is "arguably" the Dodgers' best player?
It's a strong argument, for sure.
I'll take Matt Kemp for Dodgers MVP 2011 and beyond, but for now, yeah, Robby. I'd say Manny.
Wow did they clone John Miller to get the Os play by play radio guy ?
Is it still Joe Angel? He used to be in Baltimore, and I always thought his voice was similar to Miller's.
Yep, it's Joe Angel.
In our era we had hemorrhoids not steroids
ooookkkkkkkkayyyyyy.
That was the Bertiest Bert line I've ever heard. It seems like the right sort of humor coming from a guy who once wore an "I <3 to Fart" shirt.
It sure would be nice to have a lead for more than 30 seconds.
I'll bet that commercial break was AT LEAST 30 seconds.
I'm just glad the Twins had a lead for even thirty seconds. Been a few days.
I respect Marichal and the other HOFers for wanting to keep the HOF clean and all, but they really haven't thought this through. If David Ortiz and A-Rod retire in the same year, go on the ballot in the same year and the writers hold A-Rod accountable and drop him off the list while Ortiz gets in, what happens in ten years' time when someone comes out with a book about how Ortiz used steroids most of his career? I get that nobody wants to ignore steroids, but if we use them in the HOF decisions, it's gonna get ugly.
Are they going to take Gaylord Perry out of the Hall for cheating?
Or Ty Cobb for spiking the crap out of people? In fact, if "character" is an issue, Cobb needs to go altogether. But I don't think it should be about character whatsoever.
I can live with character being a tiebreaker, or something you take into account on borderline cases, but when someone has an overwhelming case, their character shouldn't matter that much. Also, when Bud Selig is banned from the HOF, then they can start keeping out the guys who were doing PEDs.
Character seemed to benefit Jim Rice, I'd say. I suppose I don't have a problem with great character helping a bit, but crappy character keeping a great player out is excessive.
As for Bud Selig, given all the problems on his watch, I would hope the voters will be too afraid of voting for him for fear of having their journalistic licenses revoked. Or their lives.
Oh man, it sure seems like Perkins is getting hit hard.
Punto has to be shaking in his boots watching Tolbert bunt like that.
Jeebus, Tolbert really laying it on thick with the sweet nothings to Gardy: a bunt hit.
In other news, ain't it sweet having Mauer - Morneau - Kuble behind two runners on base?
What is Joe Mauer made of, exactly? Good gravy.
Joe Mauer's blood is officially listed as a PED.
Frogs and snails and puppy dog tails.
Scientists have yet to classify his composition exactly, but they have ruled out the possibility that he is a carbon-based life form.
i'm not sure that hit him... did it look like that went of mauer's glove to anyone?
it sounded like it hit him, but it sure didn't look like it.
Okay, who had "Toronto" down as the first team to win twenty?
Hello all.
I'm back from rowing. Don't have any comments on the goings-on, except Cal Ripken's daughter is pretty cute. I wonder if she could perform as many nights in a row as her Dad.
and just to be clear, I'm referring to working, raising children, ya know
going deep in the hole, like her dad?
She's going to need an "Ironman" of her own.
oy.
At least the homers are being hit by home run hitters. That's something.
Why is it that every Twin who got off to a good start is regressing, but every Twin who got off to a crappy start is maintaining that level?
Murphy's Law?
With only the good starts regressing to the mean, I think your answer is pretty dead-on.
Cuddyer's actually been pretty hot lately: .345/.513/.621 over the last 10 games.
Delmon's been hilarious in his last 10 games: .333/.364/.333. Thanks for the power, buddy.
Crede's been acceptable (assuming good defense) in his last 10 games: .263/.317/.474
Gomez is hitting .400/.455/.550 in his last 10 games (6 starts.)
14.2 IP, 9.82 ERA -- Scott Baker's first three starts
14.0 IP, 8.36 ERA -- Glen Perkin's last three starts (through the first 3 IP today)
How do I rid myself of the ugly McHale mug?
Follow the link under the "Cup of Coffee" heading in the top right of this site. And welcome to the party.
or you could do that. But that's much more boring.
I did it your way initially, and I still have scars you-know-where. I want others to learn from my mistakes.
it involves fire, a chicken, and a bottle of tequila.
Bossman, thanks for having my back. My apologies to the Nation for bailing at the last minute. I've been humping to meet a deadline. Last night was the first decent night's sleep I've had in about 3 weeks, and I just plain forgot about the game log until earlier today. Unfortunately, I was in meetings 9-noon, 1-2, 2-3 and 3-4 today.
I've been humping to meet a deadline
Last night was the first decent night's sleep I've had
You contradict yourself....
Heh.
I haven't faced THOSE kinds of deadlines in 20 years....
now what the hell was that?
That!...
Was Delmon Young, potential incarnate.
Fundamentally sound baserunning.
he felt bad for the catcher so he tagged himself out
Dinner's on. Grilled sirloin basted with garlic olive oil, boiled red potatoes, salad, and Diet Dr. Pepper. There's ice cream for dessert. :)
mmm. Now I have to think about the menu for tonight. What to do....
I think I'm picking up a roast chicken from Costco on the way home, to go with a big salad. Pyramid Hefe on the side.
Delmon Young makes ubelmann a sad panda.
He's testing even my unyielding optimism.
Delmon Young makes Homer something something.
"Go crazy...?"
Don't mind if I do!
I'll admit it, when the Delmon deal was announced I let my unchecked optimism fool me into believing that we got fair value in that trade. And then last year happened.
Testing.....testing.......1..2...3..
It works.
Do I know you from elsewhere online, or have I just seen that photo somewhere else before?
Thats more like it. Sheesh.....leave a site for a few months and look what happens..........
I don't know, I'm still seeing a picture of McHale...
Really? Weird...I've got his new one.
I forgot to include this.
Oh, jeez. I'm too tired right now. That's a good gag, too.
heh heh.
Oh. Got it. I've only been here since last August (and I missed the first few months of the offseason) so I'm still learning who's been here for how long.
that avatar still slays me, Geoff. I can finally make it out for what it is, but for some reason I always think Vorlon encounter suit
The name of the place ... Babylon 5.
bert was a few feet away from "calling it"
Even the announcers for this team have warning track power!
I had a friend back at school who got to know Adam Jones very, um, intimately when he played for the Tacoma Rainiers. It's going to prevent me from ever taking him seriously as a player.
uhh... that was supposed to be replied to you, new guy...
see, that's what i want to hear more about. he looks like such a goober that i just can't see it.
The goobers have to get freaky if they want to be noticed. From one who knows.
like this guy?
I don't know what you're talking about, but it's reminding me of a 300-pound girl in my acting class that apparently constantly showed off her breast-reduction scars to the others girls backstage, so that can't be good.
so, you're saying he's not a nevernude...?
See, that kind of stuff should be reserved for batting practice.
Yeah...beanball the guy just once, and he'll never pull a stunt like that again.
Kubel and infield hit should not be in the same sentence.
I'm guessing the near-errors like that are the only infield "hit" opportunities he'll ever have.
"important start for contreras, he's trying to hold on to his job"
nice try, dick. buerhle is pitching.
Some producer just constantly feeds him bad intel, I think. He's wrong about things like that way too often for it not to come from elsewhere.
Three runs on eleven hits. That crap drives me insane.
Even though we're only down by one it feels like way more
I've noticed that we are not overly efficient with our offense. Perhaps we should try hitting more of those home run things that are becoming so popular with the youngsters.
Pfft, if you sit around and wait for the 3 run homer, you might sit around forever.
The devil you say! Home runs are rally killers!
Saganaki in the bullpen.
Too obscure?
I felt I should get it, if that helps.
Warm cheese.
saganaki is greek? it sounds japanese...
OOOOOOOOOOPAAAAAAAAAAA!
Obscure indeed.
+one broken ouzo glass
Man, Perkins is getting squeezed tonight
Did Bert go somewhere, or did I just effectively tune him out for a half-inning? Am I going crazy here?
We're getting a lot of gift baserunners from lucky placement tonight. Time to cash in on more of them.
two things: jerry white almost got creamed again, and did robbie just say, "gru-rear"? seriously, can we get telly back?
Telly practically bragged about his ignorance of the Twins' farm system. These guys are six of one, half-dozen of the other. Though I admit Telly isn't flat-out creepy like Robby is sometimes.
If Tolbert keeps this up, he's going to find Gardy in the shower with him.
If Mauer keeps this up, he's going to find me in the shower with him!
Joe Mauer is so awesome.
Joe Mauer, Master of the Universe.
Go
Prior!Mauer!Mauer sucks.
Well, he sucks at sucking at baseball, I'll give you that.
nicely put.
This is a baseball super-robot. The real Joe Mauer is nursing his boo-boos somewhere.
And Bert is sure to credit that bunt. The world is spinning properly on its axis.
Hey Geoff, good to see you out tonight. How are things in the land of Salt?
Did you know you could dress your infant up as a slice of pizza? Yes sir, it's true. Oh the things you find out when you google "bunting."
Huh. It's really just adding an unnecessary step to cannibalism.
When Monty Python purposely set out to write the most offensive comedy sketch they could get away with on the BBC, they chose cannibalism as the subject.
yeah, that's not going to require and counseling later in life.
Tolbert looked pretty quick on that turn, but no DP.
Not hit hard enough, I don't think.
Now that was a terrible attempt at catching a foul ball. Of course, I'm also the fan who once had a homerun deflect off his leg back into the outfield...
As I walked down the stairs with a beer in each hand, a Raul Mondesi home run hit the floor a few stairs below me, bounced up and knocked one of the beers out of my hands. The ball got away, but I caught the beer as it came back down. I was convinced I'd be all over SportsCenter, but on TV they cut away to Gardy's reaction on what was the third straight homer.
nice work. as far as sportcenter/beer related replays, i remember seeing that guy at the dome catch a foul with his beer live, and then was quite pleased to see it made the top 10.
I hope Papa Smurf's family isn't watching.
Denard looking for some showtime there.
Where the hell is the infield on the play? Anyway, nice job Span
Punto was covering second on the steal attempt.
wow. tolbert and punto didn't even try to look like they cared about that.
Guerrier looked pretty damn good that inning
I almost worry for him when he's effective. That poor arm.
As appropriate as it is in this situation, I don't like the way Gomez is being used lately. Play him or send him down.
Play him, period.
Good eve gents. Don't let Joe near the kryptonite.
Bah, Joe would just smile, eat the kryptonite, and sh*t out diamonds.
While catching AND playing third. The Stribbies' heads would collectively explode.
Unfortunately, their hands would still be able to type.
why does punto always feel it's necessary for him to attend mound conferences?
The little schnookums just wants to be included.
Come on boys!
frick
AAAAaaaaaah crud.
Damn you, Chief Wigginton!
i saw a small lack of logic on that play...
wwweeeeeelllllllll, maybe it was a little closer than i thought.
Crap. It was hard to tell if Span had a chance for a play at the plate or if the cutoff was the right move. He seemed to take awhile to get a handle on the ball.
I think the cutoff was the right thing to do. Span's double clutch took too long.
Yeah, he didn't get a good grip on the ball out of the glove and double clutched. Replay confirms it was probably the right call by Crede.
sherrill sux. This game is in the bag for us.
/New Guy call
Hey, I'm on board with this!
i've got the white sox game going on the TV for some reason, and i saw this again. i have to admit, it's pretty good...
So Tolbert has been bunting the cover off the ball. Shouldn't Harris be pinch-hitting?
Is it just me or was Span's third strike clearly outside? (I say: Bad Call!)
agreed. high, outside, and checked.
I thought it was a strike, but I also thought about 10 more pitches of Perkins' were strikes, too
I think you would be correct in your assessment of the pitch location.
Oh, no! We CAN'T fall five games behind KC in the standings! Say it ain't so, Gordo!
Mauer has a pretty darned good eye.
i think his reputation has spread to the umpires as well.
Booooo!
admittedly, losing 2 out of 2 doesn't feel like a "sweep", per se...
I need a drink.
Death's Door White Whisky when I get home.
All those hits...aaaalllllll those hits...
Crap.
Somewhere, a tattoo artist put that on some poor sap who was being an ass during the tattoo process.
That was a good game though. Lets get em tomorrow
I agree with this sentiment.
I'm gonna go ahead and pin this loss on brianS.
Deadline schmedline. ;)
My bad. That's what happens when you rob a liquor store, I guess.
Justin Morneau got a non intentional walk tonight. That was his first one since April 28th. (he had an IBB on May 2)
He now has 8 on the year (3 IBB). This time last year he had only 12 walks (3 IBB). I thought he was a guy who looks at pitches and draws walks. I guess my gut was wrong.