Name: 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!


Recent Letters to the Editor
In Response to Cup of Coffee: March 18, 2010,
brianS wrote: Yea, Marquette did me no favors.
davidwatts wrote: I was very disappointed that the Mankato CBS station went to the Marquette game instead of sticking to the UNI game and my bracket is done blown up!
meat wrote: Cc to Andrew: I'm suddenly going to be in Dublin for a short weekend this summer (late June), any suggestions would be good as to where to stay / eat drink / be Irish.
spookymilk wrote: Boy oh boy, would most of those references be lost on my...let's call them …
twayn wrote: Danke! Bummer that there's no radio for Friday's game with the Mets. Slowey vs. Johan.
Klawitter wrote: Working in Century City. Living for the moment in Westwood, at least until I sell my place in DC this spring and move everything.
New Britain Bo wrote: How's this for script idea: At a planning session for an … a committee of twelve Indians (4 dot, 4 feather, 4 West) hires a crack director to run their event. He shows up at…
DK wrote: I missed this earlier today since I was apparently too busy … in the Nightmare thread, but I'd be down with this too. In fact, I'd probably be willing to contribute to coverage.
Milt on Tilt wrote: I'm picking up my puppy tomorrow. I couldn't be more excited.
spookymilk wrote: Oh, and Rhu: one of my challenges in this week's Survivor game was to do a six-word evaluation of Lew Zealand. These were the … flinger never flounders for puns. Better than Belladonna with fish…
In Response to Nightmares at WGOMville,
hungry joe wrote: i wasn't planning on going out, but two heavies from my company were in town, and they took me out for a crazy night (got home at 2, and i've been hating life most of…
spookymilk wrote: I instantly love the person who took that photo, hungry man. I'm sitting here drinking Bass; yesterday I went the nostalgia route with my St. Pat's choice, opting for a drink that reminded me of college…
hungry joe wrote:
Milt on Tilt wrote: hehe. Beer.
spookymilk wrote: To be fair, drama is kind of the world I live in. I'm prone to exaggeration. Plus, I'm drunk because this script is making me tense and I needed to take the edge…
Milt on Tilt wrote: Yeah, man. I wouldn't "disregard" it either, because it was truly a horrifying move. Oh come now. That's just being completely over dramatic.
Milt on Tilt wrote: O-Cab lead the majors in Outs as a batter in 2009. Call me … Jimmy Rollins actually did. But Cabrera was second, and first in the AL. Even so. I could use that same…
nibbish wrote: I don't know what to make of it. On one hand, Cabrera was made of suck. On the other, any shortstop we put in there was going to. I'd have to side with DK and…
spookymilk wrote: Yeah, man. I wouldn't "disregard" it either, because it was truly a horrifying move. 0-Cab cleared the bases for the team's best hitter over and over. I know it's nice to remember…
DK wrote: O-Cab was a baseball band-aid over a severed limb. Acting like doing that was a "victory" is what seems foolish to me.
In Response to Luna - 23 Minutes In Brussels (Tell Me Do You Miss Me),
E-6 wrote: Love me some Luna.
In Response to Cup of Coffee: March 17, 2010,
brianS wrote: I dunno. But we're not really talking about a legal argument so much as an ethical one, I think.
Moss wrote: The old "you can't have your coke and snort it too" … can't get a conviction on a … test...and is possession of any amount of coke a felony??
hungry joe wrote: tell me about it...
brianS wrote: It is hard to consume if you do not possess.