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Better Know A Citizen – ThisIsBeth

Andrew August 7, 2008, at 6:52 am 22 LTEs - (Sorry, but the time to add LTEs has expired) , , , , , , , , ,

ColbertName: Beth Miller
Hometown: Buffalo, Minnesota
Town I Currently Live In: St. Louis Park, Minnesota
Profession: Administrator
Bats: Neither
Throws: Like a girl
Positions: Scorekeeper. (In my brief career playing softball for my company team--about 25 games--they usually stuck me in right field. I had two games at catcher, and one game at 3B.)
Greatest Career Achievement in Baseball/Softball/T-ball: I got a hit once!
Hobbies: Sewing (quilts, crafts, and clothes), reading, writing, watching sports
What are you known for around the WGOM? Random appearances?
If you could have a nice, polite dinner with any 3 people - dead or alive - who and why? Ack! I hate these questions! I'm going to limit my answer to people alive, because I pretty much want to talk to anyone with historical significance, whether it be personal, scientific, political, or cultural. And I want to meet with Terry Ryan, Tom Kelly, and Jim Rantz, just to get their perspective on how the Twins organization is going.
If you could pick any 3 people - again, dead or alive - to go out and party (or if you're not the party type, go for martini's or whatever it is you do) who and why? There are so many people, I'm going to pick one group: I'd like to meet with some of the "stars" of baseball from the late 1800's. I'd like to show them what the game is like today, and have them explain differences from how the game was then. As the rules were evolving, I'd like to know how they decided to make the changes.
Sports Allegiances: Twins, Wild, Swarm
Favorite Books: Pride and Prejudice, Hitchhikers' Guide
Favorite Music: Generally pop, but my iPod holds a wide variety
Favorite Baseball Movie: 61* or For the Love of the Game
Favorite Non-baseball Movie: I don't watch a lot of movies, so of the limited ones I've seen, it depends on my mood.
Favorite Food & Drink: For simple pleasures, I really like a good hamburger. I don't drink alcohol. (Which means I watch all these games sober!)
Favorite TV Show(s): I never really watched TV, but I do enjoy The Simpsons.
Favorite Twins Player, historically: Tom Brunansky was my favorite player as a kid, but Kent Hrbek is the all-time favorite.
Favorite Twins Player, currently: Michael Cuddyer and Scott Baker
Best Twins Memory: Someone gave me good tickets to a Twins game for my 12th birthday, and Tom Brunansky hit a walk-off home run! That or Baker's near-perfect game.
Favorite Sport to Play: Tennis
Favorite Sport to Watch: Baseball
If I could live anywhere in the world, I'd live in: Somewhere near enough to attend lots of Twins games.
If I was commissioner for a day, I'd: I'd make Manny Ramirez cut his hair. It annoys me.
If I had Bill Smith's job I'd: I'd completely abuse my position to watch a lot of baseball from some really good seats. I'd like to go to Twins minor league games, but they're so far away (exception: Beloit). As for the work part of the job, I'd make sure all my assistants were giving me full reports from a scouting and statistical view.
Favorite Ballpark: Wrigley Field for the history, Kauffman Stadium for the ballpark
Favorite blogs: WGOM, Aaron Gleeman, Seth Speaks, the Strib/SPPP blogs
What is your take on Conan's discussion with old time baseball players? Absolutely hilarious. That's pretty much what someone with a time machine would look like if they went back in time (except the natives would probably not be so tolerant). I've seen the old-time baseball exhibition they do at the Dome every year, and while it's interesting, I'm really interested in knowing the thought process that went behind the changing of the rules. When did they decide that gloves were a good idea and allowed them (which would change the "catch on one bounce" rule), why did they decide on four balls for a walk, etc.
Why is your Buffalo better than FTLF's Buffalo, NY? I list it as my hometown! My parents property is oddly located with ties to four cities; the address is Buffalo and that's where I went to high school, so I usually go with that.
What kind of writing do you enjoy the most? Honestly, most of my writing these days are just e-mail messages to friends, blog entries, and stuff like that. I don't have the attention span to write anything longer.
Who do you credit with creating your interest in baseball? My parents. My mom loves the Twins because her father loved baseball, and listened to all the Twins games on the radio (he died in 1990), and before that followed the Minneapolis Millers. My dad loves all sports (his mother was a huge football fan; his dad didn't care about sports).

Map time!

Better Know A Citizen – cheaptoy

Andrew August 5, 2008, at 7:06 am 23 LTEs - (Sorry, but the time to add LTEs has expired) , , , , , , , ,

ColbertName: Cheaptoy
Hometown: Stillwater, MN
Town I Currently Live In: Edgerton, WI
Profession: Product Engineer – Homogenizers at APV in Lake Mills, WI (right near the Tyranena brewing company, for those lucky enough to have tasted their stuff.)
Bats: R
Throws: R
Positions: 2B, RF
Greatest Career Achievement in Baseball/Softball/T-ball: Getting out of the way of the SS as he completed a 6-3 double play in Madison rec softball. I also hit a triple in 9th grade, that was awesome. I’ve never hit a home run, though, not even in rec league.
Hobbies: Brewing up tasty beverages (I’m award winning, even), bowling (2007-08 league champions), disc golfing. Madison’s been a great place for all three hobbies.
What are you known for around the WGOM? Not sure, probably for helping to increase the length of game logs through brewing discussions with Meat. Also, health problems.
If you could have a nice, polite dinner with any 3 people - dead or alive - who and why? I’m terrible with these types of questions, so I just gave up.
Sports Allegiances: Twins and Vikings.
Favorite Books: Fantasy/Sci-fi stuff, tops being Lord of the Rings, A Song of Ice and Fire, Foundation series, anything in the Discworld series, Dune, etc.
Favorite Music: Heavy Metal. I’m pretty narrow-minded here, I have to admit.
Favorite Baseball Movie: Major League – though to be honest, I couldn’t really think of any other baseball movies that really stand out.
Favorite Non-baseball Movie: Lord of the Rings (I consider all three to be one)
Favorite Food & Drink: Beer, especially if I made it. (I admit to a bit of an ego on this one.) As for food, egg and ham breakfast sandwiches with Tabasco. I’d eat those at every meal if I didn’t think the cholesterol would kill me.
Favorite TV Show(s): Futurama, Deadliest Catch, Psych, Dirty Jobs, House, and Firefly even if it isn’t on anymore.
Favorite Twins Player: Hrbek, mainly because I fixed his laptop once and signed his baseball wallpaper. Also, he was playing Medal of Honor at the time, which was funny to see for some odd reason. (One of those, you had to be there moments.) Oh yeah, and I used a pair of his (unused) batting gloves when I played in 8th and 9th grade. (I use a pair that Gardy gave me now.)
Favorite Twins Player, currently: Neshek, for the perceived social awkwardness. (and the fact that he’s awesome.)
Best Twins Memory: The first time I convinced my fiancee to go to a baseball game. We went to Miller Park, tailgated, and the Twins kicked the crap out of the Brewers. It was made all the more awesome because some chick was leaving in the 8th inning, obviously drunk, yelling at us about how the Twins suck while they were up 8-1. That was awesome because my fiancée decided she enjoyed baseball games, and would go again. Otherwise, I was at the Dome for Silva’s 74 pitch CG against the Brewers. That was awesome, too.
Favorite Sport to Play: Bowling…. easily. It’s the one sport where I am better than all of my friends.
Favorite Sport to Watch: Football, with baseball being a close second. I also bore the crap out of my fiancée by watching bowling on Sundays.
If I could live anywhere in the world, I'd live in: Wisconsin, I love it here, man. Other than that, I’d probably find myself completely content living somewhere in England.
If I was commissioner for a day, I'd: Contract the White Sox. Man I hate the White Sox (and all Chicago sports teams, really.)
If I had Bill Smith's job I'd: Demote the entire big league team to Beloit so I could watch them in person more often.
Favorite Ballpark: I’ve only been to two, so I suppose it has to be Miller Park, although it really sucks without the chalet and beer mug. (which is at least still in Milwaukee at the Lakefront Brewery.) The ability to get beer from Lakefront or New Glarus makes up for that.
Favorite blogs: The WGOM, Gleeman, Fire Joe Morgan, Seth Speaks. I also check out the Strib blogs daily, and sometimes read the comments….. and I always forget why I decided to do that.
Can you give a quick rundown of some of your favorite home brews? Probably the best all around beer I made was a Belgian Triple using coriander seeds and cloves. I also made a California Common (Anchor Steam) that was amazing, a delicious Bavarian style lager, a very nice refreshing hefeweizen, and I won third place in a stout contest with a coffee stout.
Where were you when you saw Hrbek playing MoH? It was in his basement.
When and where are you and your fiancee getting married? We are having everything in the Wisconsin Dells at the Wilderness resort September 26th, 2009.
What's the best part about experiencing a game in Beloit? I haven't had a chance to get out to Beloit to take in a game. This is my first summer in the area, and with a new house and job, it's been busy. I'm hoping to get down there next weekend though, for a game against the Timber Rattlers
OK, this requires the unprecedented Phase III in BKAC questioning - Why were you in Hrbek's basement? I was at his house to fix his laptop My mom's significant other is fishing buddies with Hrbek. (he was on the show once or twice.)

Map time!


Click on map for larger image.

Sports Illustrated magazine cover (1982-07-05) – “BEST OF THE WORST” (Kent Hrbek)

Rhubarb_Runner June 11, 2008, at 5:30 am 10 LTEs - (Sorry, but the time to add LTEs has expired) , , ,

[contributed by: Rhubarb_Runner]

Sports Illustrated magazine cover - (1982-07-05) “BEST OF THE WORST”

Sports Illustrated magazine cover - July 5, 1982

"BEST OF THE WORST"
"Rookie Sensation Kent Hrbek of the Terrible Twins"


Click here to continue reading Sports Illustrated magazine cover (1982-07-05) – “BEST OF THE WORST” (Kent Hrbek)...

Better Know A Citizen – brianS

Andrew June 23, 2007, at 8:00 am 25 LTEs - (Sorry, but the time to add LTEs has expired) , , , , , , ,

colbert.jpg
Name: brianS
Hometown: Spamtown USA.
Town I Currently Live In: Warehouse City, NorCal
Profession: edge-a-kater
Bats: right. although I hit almost as well lefty in slow-pitch
Throws: right. but I throw a football better lefty.
Positions: mostly first base. I also pitched in "yoot" baseball.
Greatest Career Achievement in Baseball/Softball/T-ball: Drove in the winning runs in bottom-of-last-at bats in an intramural
softball playoff game in grad school. Once had a four home-run game in "yoot" baseball. All pulled over the LFer's head on a field with no
fence.
Hobbies: cooking, beer hunting.
What are you known for around the WGOM? co-VJ; NorCal scout.
Sports Allegiances: Minnesota Twins, Vikings, T-Wolves, Goofers, Nebraska Cornhuskers (yes, I'm a college sports bigamist; but considering that the Goofers usually suck in football, it's more like a sports sham marriage, with a True Love on the side; I come by my Husker affinity honestly, via both parents and birth within the state)
Favorite Book: probably Dune. I've read it more than anything else. Although I'd be hard-pressed to differentiate my appreciation for that classic from my rankings of dozens of other works. I'm a sci-fi/sci-fantasy fan.
Favorite Baseball Movie: Bull Durham.
Favorite Non-baseball Movie: The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzaii Across the 8th Dimension
Favorite Food: This is an unanswerable category for me. I love food. Thai, Indian, Vietnamese, barbecue, meatloaf, foie gras, bread, .... So I'll narrow it down to favorite foods that my mom makes: deviled eggs, lasagna, spaghetti, pizza, potato salad.
Favorite Foods to cook: Hmm. I have an Italian vegetable stew recipe that I love. That and a loaf of bread. I love making bread. Or maybe a Mario Batali-style bistecca on the grill.
Favorite Beverage: That would be beer. All kinds of beer. Well, not all kinds. I'd pretty much rather drink tap water than BudMilloors. Life is too short. Anyway, very, very high on my list of favorite beer-drinking experiences would be the Bell's Two-Hearted Ale, on cask. But if you had all day, I could come up with dozens of other "favorite" beer experiences.
A pint of Guinness and a dozen great oysters on the half shell is pretty hard to beat too.
Favorite Non-Alcoholic Beverage: it's hard to beat a homemade Chocolate Malt, using my buddy Spidey's recipe: milk, vanilla ice cream, malt powder and Hershey's syrup.
Favorite TV Show(s): Buffy the Vampire Slayer, followed closely by the spinoff series Angel, Star Trek:TNG and OS, the
original Mission: Impossible and Rocky & Bullwinkle, & Friends. As for shows still in production, probably Heroes.
Favorite Twins Player, historically: Carew, Hrbek.
Favorite Twins Player, currently: Joe Mauer
Best Twins Memory: Watching the Twins win the 1987 series in my future father-in-law's house. He's a die-hard Cardinals fan.
Favorite Sport to Play: I don't play sports anymore. I'm old and decrepit. But basketball was my favorite, albeit my weakest. Softball in my near old-age.
Favorite Sport to Watch: Twins baseball, with NBA basketball a close second.
If I could live anywhere in the world, I’d live in: Maui. 'cuz I'd be rich, right? If not, Portland comes to mind. What a great beer city! But where I live now doesn't suck.
Who would win in a fight and why - Kobayashi or Michael Jordan? Kobayashi, hands down. World's. Greatest. Athlete.
If I was commissioner for a day, I’d: eliminate the DH and shorten the season by a month. Do we really need "snow outs" at the beginning AND end of the season?
If I had Terry Ryan’s job for a day, I’d: find ONE significant, right-handed, power-hitting LF or 3b.
SBG - great on-line magazine, or greatest on-line magazine? Greatest. Of course.
If given the chance, would you sky dive? Bungee Jump? And death is not an option?
Favorite Ballpark (except the Dome, of course): JackMurphy. Oh. I guess that one doesn't count anymore. Umm. Raley Field in Sac! Great venue for AAA baseball. I also really like the Lansing Lugnuts' stadium. And the stadium in Seattle is be-a-you-tiful.
First MLB Game: 1968, either 6/21 or 6/22, old Met Stadium in Bloomington. All I remember is my dad saying "that's Mickey Mantle!" He drew a walk. I was probably playing with my Matchbox cars.
If you could have a nice, polite dinner with any 3 people - dead or alive - who and why? Michael "Beer Hunter" Jackson, Mario Batali, and PJ O'Rourke. First, I would get to menu-plan, shop and cook with Jackson and Batali. I love Batali's enthusiasm for food as well as his technique. Jackson is a legend in the beer-snob loop for his knowledge of and love for the subject. We'd bring O'Rourke in while we were cooking -- four guys shootin' the sh!t, drinking great beer and cooking. O'Rourke is probably my favorite political writer and would make damn sure that we had plenty to talk about besides fantastic beers and food. We would have a wide-ranging discussion across beer, food, politics and life. If not O'Rourke, I'd consider subbing in Stephen Jay Gould. Of course, he'd have to be alive to make it worth it. Gould and O'Rourke are probably my favorite non-fiction writers.
If you could pick any 3 people - again, dead or alive - to go out and party, who and why? I'm too old and too much the dad to "go out and party" anymore. I like my beer smoke-free (unless it is a rauchbier of course) and the music not too loud to converse about the beer or whatever else. If I were forced to go "party," it would be more of a food tour. So maybe (a clean-and-sober) Anthony Bourdain, Batali, and Mark Bittman. Bourdain would make sure that it was raucous and fun; Bittman would make sure we didn't get arrested or beaten to death or anything. I could see Batali egging Bourdain on, so I'd need backup when things got a little too wild.
Blondes, brunettes, or redheads? Well, blondes tend to be underhopped. I'm partial to Flemish Red Ales, although I wouldn't turn down an Oud Bruin (some even go so far as to argue that they are the same style!)
Do you believe the the works of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap? I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.
Can I get an amen? Ahhhhaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhmehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhheehhhhhhhn.
What's your shoe size? 10.5 wide on the right, closer to 11 on the left.

And now, let's update the map...

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