Moneyball

I'm probably the last baseball fan in America to see this movie. I have loved Bill James sabermetrics applied to baseball for a long, long time. I have loved baseball for over 40 years.

I just don't care much for baseball movies.

The Natural just wasn't very good. The comedies like Bull Durham and Major League don't even count. Parts of them were watchable, but they got the baseball wrong, and quite frankly were too crude for my tastes.

Field of Dreams was more a zen experience that a baseball movie. But at least they erred on the cool side of baseball.

The Casually Viewing Wife and I FINALLY had a Sunday afternoon open yesterday. We watched Moneyball.

I now have a favorite baseball movie. 8 or 9 scenes were so cool that it made me want to watch the movie again right away.

Bill James and his books have told me for years that players should always work the count and wait for walks. His books have told me that you never willingly give up outs as sacrifice bunts. His books tell me that most old-time philosophies about how to play the game are just simply wrong. The MATH of baseball plays the odds like a professional gambler plays poker in Vegas. In the long run, over a long season, the odds will always win out.

This movie showed why baseball is so stinking great. If you understand it, you can win. If you don't, you'll be a cellar-dweller even with a high-priced roster.

The best part? Even while doing everything right, you can lose to a good team in a short series. The team that destroyed Oakland's dream at the end of the movie. MY Twins. How could this not be my favorite baseball movie?

Willingham

It's kind of weird. I've watched Mauer and Morneau for years in Twins uniforms. Mauer, when hot, has one of the smoothest swings you ever want to see. Morneau, even when hot, has an awkward swing that always looks like he's lunging at the ball. But they never LOOK like they command the plate.

Josh Willingham, on the other hand, looks like he's going to hit a rocket somewhere every time he comes to the plate. Yesterday, he did.

I have no idea if the Twins will turn this season around. I'm guessing their pitching just isn't good enough to make it happen. But the Twins offense, led by Willingham's bat, should at least make many of the games watchable.

Span's bat looks good. Mauer is looking like his old self. He slaps the ball just enough to get some singles. He's not a quarter-billion dollar player and never will be, but at least he's getting hits. Valencia's bat looks like it might be waking up as well.

But it's Willingahm that will keep me watching this year.

Baseball

I'm actually glad the Twins got rained out yesterday. I needed a break from the losing. What's odd is that it didn't really rain that much. Downtown Minneapolis got about .30 inches over a few hours yesterday afternoon, or about the same type of rain we got yesterday morning.

Calling the game off when it was barely raining seems fishy. Yes it was cold, but it was still reasonable baseball weather. That they called it off so soon was just baffling. It was mostly done raining by 2:00 p.m.

In other baseball news:

I like how good the Washington Nationals have suddenly become. I realize that may not last, but their pitching has been really solid.

Even if they revert to old form and start losing again, the fans can look forward to watching two great prospects over the next several seasons. Stephen Strasburg is back after Tommy John surgery and he looks just as good as ever. They've also called up "The Phenom" nineteen year-old Bryce Harper to be their third baseman for the the foreseeable future.

I've talked a lot about those two in my old blog. They make baseball fun to follow even when the local team is in the dumps. Baseball is great even when you have no hope with your own team. I just have to remind myself of that once in a while.

More Draft

I'm less aware of most of yesterday's draft picks, but they did address some needs. I kind of like the idea that they drafted another defensive back from Notre Dame who played so well with one of their first round picks, Harrison Smith. Chemistry is so important for secondary and the guys have gotten to know each others habits for four years at Notre Dame.

I also like the idea that they took a virtual unknown tight end who is a good blocker and has soft hands. He's also good friends with our OTHER first round pick, Matt Kalil. These guys will be rooting for each other and those type of friendships might make the team better. I'm surprised they took him in the fourth round since he wasn't on anybody's radar, but maybe the Vikes know this kid well enough to take a chance.

What's weird is that they did the same thing at wide receiver. They took two very good teammates from Arkansas who have also been best friends all of their lives. Camaraderie and chemistry. The things that usually occur over time are built right into this Vikings draft. I like this philosophy a lot. It has the chance to pay big dividends right out of the gate.

Other pluses? The Vikes got an accurate place kicker with a strong leg knowing Longwell cannot go on forever. They did get a good prospect at linebacker as well.

The Vikings really look like they improved themselves in this draft. That's a step in the right direction. I'm going to start looking more closely at some of there other signings, now, to see if anything else stands out.

KIng

From ESPN:

Minnesota Vikings running back Caleb King was arrested on suspicion of third-degree assault in the beating of another man outside a birthday party, the Anoka County sheriff's office said Saturday.

King, who signed with the Vikings as a rookie free agent last year but didn't play in a game, was jailed but hasn't been charged.

The victim was a 22-year-old from Coon Rapids. King is accused of punching him repeatedly and throwing him headfirst to the ground. The man was hospitalized in serious condition with skull and facial fractures, as well as with cuts that required more than 50 stitches to close, Sheriff's Cmdr. Paul Sommer said.

The man "may have a very serious brain injury," Sommer said.

MyTake:

Jerks are everywhere. I'm just glad he's not currently in the Vikings plans.

Observations

Former Twins outfielder Delmon Young got into a drunken brawl Thursday night while Detroit was getting ready to play the Bronx Bombers. While brawling he let out an anti-semitic remark which automatically upgraded his fight to a hate crime. If convicted he could get up to a year in jail.

As I've mentioned in the past, (and will continue to dwell on as long as I still have free speech) I have to caution everyone who thinks that "hate crimes" should be punished worse than their "non-hate crime" counterparts. If you do something horrible you should be punished for it. Your possible reasons for doing so should have no bearing on the outcome of the penalty.

If you burn a someone's house down on purpose, you should go to jail. You start a fire in someone's yard to scare them, you should go to jail. You beat someone up so badly that they die, you should go to jail. The list of crimes is endless, but the punishment should be swift and just.

Adding the word "hate-crime" to the event just gets more people riled up on both sides of any issue while blurring the issue of the real crimes. It also makes drunk people look even more stupid than they already are.

What Delmon did BEFORE slurring his words horribly should be enough to get a conviction if he really did do something bad.

The Supreme Court has ruled that "language to incite" is not protected by the constitution. Speech isn't free if it can be limited. All it takes now is the continued broadening of the phrase "language to incite" to stop people from freely talking about their deepest held beliefs.

You know the ones that are truly important to them. The ones that NEED to be protected.

And don't believe it's not already happening.

Stadium Bill Moves to Senate Floor

I'm not hearing great love for this bill. There's still many reservations from a vocal group of lawmakers who do not want to see gambling expansion in Minnesota.

I can't say I disagree with them.

But I do want the new stadium, NOW.

I'm just glad I'm not he one voting on it. I've offered lots of better plans in the past.

No one listened to me, however.

More Picks

The Vikes have loaded themselves with draft picks in the next two rounds. Unless they do some more trading, they have THREE more picks in the fourth round and TWO picks in the fifth.

There's a ton of talent still out there. I'm hoping for at least one more offensive lineman and hopefully a big, athletic linebacker. A huge defensive lineman for run defense would be cool as well.

I think Speilman is doing a fantastic job so far. I sure hope he keeps it up.

Third Pick

I'm actually getting excited about the Vikings defense. Their secondary was possibly the worst in football last season, (though Green Bay giving up over 400 yards a game was rather telling, too) now two of their first three picks were studs who are great on college pass protection.

Round two went to the top safety in the draft, Harrison Smith. Yesterday the Vikes nabbed the fastest cornerback in the combines. Josh Robinson runs a 40 in 4.33 seconds and he has a 39 inch vertical leap besides. I hope these guys can stay healthy and play at the pro level. The Vikes needed a rebuilt secondary and now it appears they've actually done that. With Chris Cook's legal problems behind him, the Vikes now appear (on paper) to have one of their strongest secondaries in years.

Robinson left school after his junior year and is only 21 years old. He may need some "learning time" but his potential is second to none.

Beleaguered Twins Now Behind Pathetic Royals

Yep, it's going to be that kind of a season.

Stat of the Day

Twins starters now have a combined 7.09 ERA so far this season with only THREE quality starts in 19 chances.

The Draft

Thanks to the movie "Blindside" most sport fans now know how important that the position of left tackle is for a football team.

The Vikings did some great maneuvering yesterday. They traded their number three pick and still got Matt Kalil as the number four pick. Barring injury, he should cover the Vikings blindside for the next decade or so.

In the process they picked up a few extra early round draft picks as well. I can't believe Spielman pulled this off. They got who they wanted and the possibilities of a whole lot more. They got another first round pick late because of all that maneuvering. The 29th pick ended up being safety Harrison Smith from Notre Dame.

If the Vikings want to rebuild they need a much better offensive line and a better secondary. In just one round yesterday they managed to fix much of what ailed them. The picture isn't rosy just yet, but it sure isn't as gloomy a picture as we had a couple of days ago.

Remember a few days back when I mentioned that the Vikings may be interested in running back Trent Richardson as their number three pick? It was all a ruse. Cleveland was afraid we'd take him so they traded up for the number 3 spot.

It was simply a game of poker and Spielman got Cleveland to blink. Masterfully played Spielman. I've had nothing but bad things to say about you for so long, that this comes as a very pleasant surprise.

There are plenty of good receivers available in free agency, but great left tackles don't come around that often. Nice job!

I actually can't wait to see if you come up with some more gems today.

Pro Bowl Gone?

It certainly seems so. The league realizes the poor quality of  the game and will most likely suspend it starting this year.

There will still be Pro Bowl selections due to contract incentives, but from now on they will just be honorary.

That's the best sports news I've heard in a while. No football fan really liked that game, and the players (rightly) treated it like a joke. It was time to kill it.

Observations

As difficult as it's been to watch the Twins this season, I thought I'd look at worse things in the world of sports.

The KC Royals won last night, but that snapped a TWELVE game losing streak. As bad as we are up here in Minnesota, for the time being at least, KC is actually BEHIND us in the standings.

How would you like to be the Angels? They invested a quarter of a billion dollars in the greatest free agent of all-time this off-season and he (Albert Pujols) hasn't hit  ONE homerun for them yet this year.

Albert Pujols is hitting .222. He's homerless through 18 games and 72 at-bats. He has fewer RBIs than Chad Tracy, who has started one game all season.

Pujols is supposed to be feared, the baddest dude on the planet, The Machine, built to punish baseballs. Pitchers aren't afraid of him right now. He has fewer walks than Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Michael Brantley, Mark DeRosa or George Kottaras, who is Milwaukee's catcher.

Their BACKUP catcher...

Boston Bats Bomb Beleaguered Blackburn

Not much to see here. Move along.

Twins Lose to Hapless Red Sox

They also loss versatile Luke Hughes on waivers to make room on the roster for pitcher Jason Marquis who was also hapless last night.

Luke Hughes may be an average player, but for a team that lost 99 games a year ago, average may be just what they are looking for and it's better than what we have left.

Hapless and hopeless.

That's our Twins, get to know 'em.

Vikings Considering Future With NO Peterson?

I hate to speculate, (Good one, huh?) but there are still rumors flying around that the Vikings are thinking of trading their projected number three choice (and all-universe) left tackle Matt Kalil so that that they get more picks, including the number FOUR pick.

What's odd about this is that the name most associated with the number four pick is Alabama running back Trent Richardson. Richardson would demand top dollar as a pick and that would mean the Vikes would at least have to consider (or are already considering) departing ways with Adrian Peterson. NO team can afford two backs of that caliber.

Sadly, without a tackle like Matt Kalil, neither will probably perform well for the Vikings this season. It wouldn't surprise me if current Viking management (Rick Spielman) did this, I'd just be more disappointed in the Vikings chances than I already am.

I don't mind dropping Adrian, I just don't want to lose the chance at Kalil.

Current Twin Francisco Liriano

Liriano went five innings, allowing five runs, three hits and four walks. The left-hander has given up 22 runs, 25 hits and 13 walks over 16 1/3 innings this season.

For those good with baseball math that means his ERA is a tad over 11.00

No comment. Just the facts.

Former Twin Phil Humber

Remember when the Twins traded Johann Sanatana?

One of the pitchers we got in the deal was Phil Humber. We finally got rid of him after years of bad pitching performances.

Last night he became the 21st pitcher in MLB history to throw a perfect game.

He did it for the Chicago White Sox in a 4-0 win over the Mariners.

The Twins lost 4-1. Willingham kept his hit streak alive and got the team's only RBI.

Nashville Predators in Stanley Cup Final

I didn't even know that was a team until last Monday.

I guess I've kinda' lost track of the NHL.

Trivia

The New York Yankees had a different name 100 years ago.

Select below to read their original name:

Highlanders.

NFL Spanking Working?

The NFL bigwigs showing up yesterday in Minnesota got a bill lost in committee through that committee yesterday.

It's a small step but it's the only way to get this deal done. I have a brother in California who can't wait to see HIS Vikings every week. He'll probably get that wish if something doesn't happen soon in Minnesota.

Rumor has it that while the NFL bigwigs were in Minnesota yesterday, Ziggy was in LA looking at two potential stadium sites BOTH of which already have money and approval to be built. They are just waiting for a team to commit. ANY team. Ziggy will have no problem getting permission from the league to move at this point. He just needs this bill to fail and he could easily be off and running by next season. (Not THIS season.)

Twins WIN!!

The Twins are doing something sneaky to make me watch them lately.

They are winning. And sometimes they rally late to do it (which means I have to keep watching or I'll miss it.)

Yes, they got swept by Baltimore and Texas already this year, but they did beat the Angels in a series, split with the Yankees, and now win their first game at Tampa Bay.

Liam was great again last night as his only bad inning was a direct result of bad Twins fielding. I find this hard to type because the Twins NEVER used to have bad fielding.

Willingham is running away with the Twins MVP early in the season. The only thing he's not great at? You guessed it. Fielding.

ESPN Preseason NFL

I was watching First Take on ESPN yesterday and they had the "Top 5" Teams in the league this coming year. It does not bode well for the Vikings chances.

1. San Francisco

2. Green Bay

3. Detroit

4. Chicago

5. New Orleans

Three of the top four are in our division. Remember how Lurch in the Addams Family used to make that sighing/growling noise every time he was disappointed. That's the noise I made yesterday when I heard their predictions.

Fenway Park

100 years old today.

Some old things DO get better with age.

Observations

I noticed the news last night was all abuzz with NFL/Viking Stadium bills. I'm realizing even more why nothing is being accomplished. Three different stadium bills are in three different stages. Each of these bills are different enough from each other so that none will get the support they need.

Our government at work.

I decided to continue watching the news last night just to see what else was going on in the world of government in Minnesota.

Did you know the State Capital Building is LITERALLY falling apart and that it needs a major remodeling. Estimated cost? $226 million.

By the time it's all said and done we are looking at a quarter billion dollars. It got me thinking. Why would we WANT to remodel/renovate/fix this old building when we could just as easily be progressive and build a NEW one for a fraction of that cost. And why weren't ANY of our current legislators suggesting this. We ARE NOT TIED to our history that way. Let's nor saddle ourselves with this old building forever just because everybody else has always done that. Let's set the example and build something leaner, better, and smarter.

Do we need a huge concrete dome? Thousands of stone/marble steps and huge columns that represent a bye-gone era that's an inefficient monster to heat and cool?

We decide we aren't going to build a Vikings Stadium that will literally pay for itself while at the same time we are figuring out HOW to spend countless hundreds of millions of dollars fixing up an old building that is worse than worthless. It's a money pit that will keep demanding more from us every time it needs renovation.

My proposal? Build the Minnesota State Capital Building/Stadium Complex. Set the standard for the WORLD. And build it for the same cost as the current Viking Stadiums plan. EVEN if you end up spending $200 million MORE, it will still be cheaper than renovating a building that would best be demolished.

Win-Win.

You say that the state capital is in St. Paul? WHO CARES? If they have a great modern place to meet that will last for decades and decades who cares if you have a place that's 25 minutes away from the current capital building.

This is about economics and doing the right thing. Let's SET THE STANDARD.

GRRRRRanderson

Why would Swarzack pitch the very same sweet-spot pitch to Granderson three times in a row?

Answer: He's not good enough NOT TO. I have to remember, we are not very good.

Splitting with the Yankees at New York was still okay. And Doumit finally hit a blast out of the park.

NFL Sick of Vikings and Its "Fans"

The NFL has now warned MInnesota if something isn't done with the new Vikings stadium deal now, the fat lady will start signing in Minnesota within a couple of weeks. We won't have another year (Like Governor Dayton suggested yesterday) to get the deal done.

Minnesota will sell, pack up and go.

As demonstrated and documented by many posts in a previous blog column, the Vikings will actually pay for themselves in taxes over the next 30 years. It's one of those deals where if the state pays $400 million to get the ball rolling ALL of it (plus more) will come back into the state's economy because of the economic impact an NFL franchise has in an area.

I can't believe that a no-brainer like this can't get bipartisan support.

For crying out loud, let the Native American casino (WILLING to pay the state's share) pay the bill. The legislatures need to do their job. NOW!

I think the Vikings and their organization stink when it comes to actually putting a good team on the field, but that's no reason to penalize all the the Vikings fans who support them.

We'll never get another franchise if the Vikings leave. It's time the Minnesota taxpayers stop being stupid and give those in power a mandate to get the deal done.

Twins Beat Yankees in New York AGAIN!!

The Twins have not beat the Yankees in a series there in over a decade. IF they win today, that will all change. Going into this series the Twins have been 7-34 there (including playoffs) since Gardy became manager in 2002.

Just beating them twice in one series is pretty cool. The Twins haven't been very good so far this season, but you know what? Neither have the Yankees.

Jason Marquis looked just awful in the first, and I'm thinking, "Oh no, not another worthless pitcher." But the Twins had an even bigger first themselves, so that that point it was still good. Marquis settled down. Morneau hit TWO more homeruns. Mauer and Carrol both had doubles and Willingham continued his hit streak.

If the Twins are going to be bad for a long while, I'm going to have to learn to celebrate the "big wins"(or what passes as big wins) as they occur.

I'm celebrating. If the Twins win this afternoon, I'll be celebrating even more.

It's weird. I'm forcing myself to enjoy something that a little over a season ago was second nature to do. Last night's win was fun, just like baseball is supposed to be.

So hoping for more of that in the coming weeks.

Observations

Willingham is as good as Liriano is bad.

The Vikings won't be getting their stadium this year. If they have another bad season former fans will help them move to L.A.

Scott Baker discovered a new tendon in his arm when he woke up from surgery. He'll probably miss more time than originally expected.

Jamie Moyer at 49 became the oldest pitcher to win a MLB game last night and he looked good doing it. Twins pitchers should watch video of that game as a requirement to stay in the majors.

Crystal Trophies

I was never quite sure why the National Title in college football was made of crystal.

Alabama might be thinking the same thing right now. A father of one of the players on Saturday tripped on a rug beneath the podium. When all was said and done, the $30,000 trophy was nothing other than tiny shards.

There's a life lesson there. And this is one of those times I don't think I really have to spell it out.

Perkins

At least there appears to be a reason that he pitched so poorly last time out. He's being examined (in Minnesota) for an inflamed forearm.

How often does a pitcher sign a long term contract with the Twins and then develop arm trouble?

sigh

Twins BEAT the Yankees AT NEW YORK!

This is a headline I don't really get to use often. It was a fun game once you get past Pavano's first inning. Morneau hit another homerun. Mauer went 3-4. Jamey Carrol had a couple of hits and Matt Capps had a good ninth.

If I don't worry about the season as a whole, I can still enjoy the individual games.

Observations

The Twins lost again yesterday. Much as good teams manage to win more than they lose throughout the season, bad teams manage to lose. Perkins looked like the pitcher of two seasons ago when he ended giving up three runs in the eighth. Nathan picked up the save, but since he's on the OTHER team now, that really didn't help.

Bright spots? (I'm going to TRY and find one of those even in a loss.) Hendricks pitched great in his first start and Clete Thomas hit a homerun in his first game as a Twin.

I said I wasn't going to dwell on losses with this new blog and I am going to try to do that.

I've recently re-discovered that playing basketball in way more fun than watching basketball at any level, high school, college, or pro. In fact there is no comparison.

The unseasonably great weather we've had lately has made it possible for me to play pick up games in the park several days a week. Saturday alone I ended up playing for over three hours straight. That kind of intense play does have it's drawbacks when you are in your 50's though. When I woke up yesterday, both my back and my knee would not bend properly.

As the day progressed, everything loosened up quite nicely. There's very few things in life that I actually enjoy doing for three hours non-stop. I guess I found out basketball is now one of them.

How good am I? Let's say as an athlete I've never gotten better than adequate. But competing at any level beats sitting home and watching your favorite baseball team lose on television.

I'm looking forward to more basketball as the weather warms up again in a few days.

Did I mention the Twins will be playing at the Yankees the next four games? I'm hoping that the weather warms up real fast. I'm going to need to play more basketball to avoid those games.

Free Speech

The Twins lost yesterday. This isn't really a surprise. They had the bases loaded three times and failed to score. They failed to score on a wild pitch with a runner on third. Mauer, Morneau, Carrol, Casilla, and Doumit all have horrible batting averages.

The Twins have also moved Ben Revere to Rochester so that he can play every day. Clete Thomas from Detroit will become the Twins extra outfielder.

Instead of dwelling on a bad Twins team, I'd like to talk about Ozzie Guillen and free speech instead. Ozzie was quoted as saying he "admired" Fidel Castro last week and is now serving a five game suspension from baseball.

There was more to his interview, and I can understand why the large Cuban-born population of Florida was angered by Ozzie's remarks. BUT what really bothers me about all of this is that Ozzie was suspended by MLB for expressing a non-popular, poorly thought-out belief.

Ozzie, when given more time, expressed himself much better, and apologized for some of his remarks.

But the question remains. Should someone be suspended from their job just because he has an unpopular opinion? What if Ozzie really did mean what he said originally, should that be enough to get him or anyone else suspended (or even fired?)

This is still America, right?

It wasn't really hate speech. (Another term that I'm starting to loathe.) He was actually saying he LIKED someone. That this person has brought misery to many others is actually, believe it or not, beside the point.

Personally, I have many deep-seated beliefs that are becoming less and less popular. At the same point I don't consider myself an extremist. I don't believe that name-calling is appropriate in any situation as it really does escalates hate and violence while making dialog increasingly difficult. Calling people who exhibit that activity by increasingly vulgar names isn't going to help the situation so I see a need for discussing issues more rationally. But if I think a certain form of behavior, for instance, is wrong, I should be able to discuss that openly shouldn't I?

Am I allowed to point out hate speech myself even though its currently acceptable?

Let's find out. The occupy Wall Street movement has evolved into a nationwide occupy movement. People are breaking laws nation-wide to protest something they believe in. What do they believe in? As far as I can tell they HATE rich white people. And the more they speak, the more vile their speech becomes. If hate speech is not allowed in America, then why is the occupy movement allowed to grow? Because someone, somewhere has decided that it's okay to hate people they believe are (in their minds) somehow hurting them. In other words, they are expressing poorly thought-out beliefs. Are these people in the majority? As far as I can tell from polls, the answer is no. Which means it's also a non-popular belief.

Go back and re-read the beginning of this article and you'll discover that's the same thing Ozzie was SUSPENDED for.

Except that these people are expressing their hate with venom while squatting illegally.

Tell me WHY one of these things is okay, while another is not.

Freedom of speech has always meant that you are free to express unpopular opinion. Freedom of speech has always meant that you are allowed to say things that may actually upset others. Speech that is popular doesn't need to be protected because the majority have no problem with it.

But we are slowly, incrementally, changing what free speech means here. We lost true freedom of speech in this country years ago. We continue to lose a bit more every year. Let's not be afraid to mention it when we see it. Otherwise there will come a point n the future where we will not be allowed to mention it.

Ozzie has already reached that point. Eventually most will, and we won't even know when it happened.

Sadly, I don't believe most will care.

Harvin Still Hasn't Had Surgery

Percy Harvin continues to delay the necessary surgery he needs that will clean up some bone spurs in his shoulder. Even though it will be a "relatively simple" procedure and he's known he should do it for more than a month now, he hasn't done it.

His latest "reason" (excuse) is that he now has a family emergency to deal with. I don't doubt that he needs to do something for his family now, but I'm not quite sure why the surgery wasn't done weeks ago before the emergency arose.

This is starting to remind me of the Sidney Rice surgery delay a couple of years back. Sidney kept putting off the surgery so long that he missed most of the season. Simple procedures should be done as soon as possible so that maximum healing time can take place before training camps begin.

I'm talking about this now because I have a bad feeling that this is going to cause problems later. The longer surgery is delayed the longer it will be before the Vikings have Percy's services.

Imagine if the Twins had taken Scott Baker's arm problems more seriously after LAST season instead of waiting for the beginning of this season. There's a time to heal, it's called the "off-season" for a reason.

Two Plays

I watched the first half of the Twins game last night which turned out to be most of the scoring. It's amazing how you notice things when paying attention. I think this is one of the reasons I don't like watching sports like I used to. I've mentioned in the past that one or two plays a game determine the outcome of most games. In the same way, one or two official calls a game can have the same effect. Once you realize that, most games just aren't as much fun to watch.

Case in point last night: The Twins had runners on second and third with Luke Hughes batting. He had two strikes and whiffed at a ball low and outside to strikeout and end the inning. IF he had gotten a hit there the Twins would have had a 3-0 lead.

A couple innings later, Anthony Swarzack, who pitched a great game, tried to field a ball hit to his left and effectively killed an easy double play ball to Luke Hughes. Instead of two outs and the bases empty, there were two on and nobody out. The Rangers then scored 3 runs and basically won the game right there.

I'm not blaming anybody. That's just an example of how two relatively minor plays turn games around.

It would be foolish to think that good teams always get those breaks and that bad teams get them less. The better teams get those breaks because they play better. Before he struck out last night, I told The Casually Viewing Wife that the pitcher was going to throw Hughes a ball low and outside and that he was going to swing at it and strike out. THEIR pitcher was good enough to throw that pitch, and it was the right pitch to throw in that situation. Luke Hughes wasn't good enough to know what to do with it.

Which brings me to the philosophy of the two teams. There's a reason that Texas is one of the best teams in the league. Nolan Ryan, a grizzled veteran of the major league wars KNOWS what teams need to win and his team reflects that.

He grew up in a era when teams had a four man rotation and when 250 innings a year was expected of each of them. He's conceded the five man rotation, but he still expects his starters to go seven innings. He's loaded his ball club with pitchers who can do that. Because of that he has FIVE very good starters. Actually, two of his guys in the bullpen would also make very good starters for most teams. In effect, he's made it almost impossible not to get a good pitching performance every night from his rotation.

The reason that Texas won last night wasn't just Luke Hughes striking out in a critical situation. It was because every one of those Texas starters could throw that very same pitch to Luke Highes in that same situation.

Good teams win more games than bad teams because they are just plain better.

So how did the Twins beat Texas 9 out of the last 10 times at Target Field before last night?

This column is long enough for today. We'll tackle that question some other time.

Wolves Eliminated

Kevin Love didn't play because of his concussion and with 6 games to go in the season the Wolves have officially been eliminated from the playoffs.

No word on how many games Love will miss, but with 6 games left and the Wolves eliminated, maybe it would be smart to give him the rest of the season off either way.

Liriawful but Twins Hitting Great

Let's face it. A team is not going to win many games when their starting pitcher puts them in a 6-0 hole early.

But yesterday, the Twins big boys came out to play. Mauer, Morneau , and Willigham all had out of the park blasts. Denard went 4-4. The Twins had 20 hits and even though Matt Capps had what is best called a "shaky ninth" he still got his 2nd save of the season.

I missed the whole game because I forgot about it. That's okay. Even if I had been watching I would have turned it off by the time they were down 6-0.

I've watched the highlights over and over though. Yes, I still like baseball. But days like this make it easier to look for the next game.

Willingham now has 4 homeruns. I've got something to watch for even if the Twins end up as lowly as most expect.

The Joy of Throwing the Discus

34 years ago this month I was starting track practice for my senior year of high school.

As a high school athlete I was best described as "adequate."

I wasn't quite as tall or quite as fast as the jocks, but I was way better than the kids who never went out for sports at all. That left me sitting the bench and rarely playing.

One of the things I loved about track is that there were so many events that the coach could always find SOMETHING for me to participate in. I had a twin brother who could beat anybody in anything at any time. I liked his success in the discus and tried that event for myself as well.

How good was I? Adequate. I placed in most of the smaller meets, but never did much of anything in the larger meets. As I like like to say, "I participated" in those events.

I consistently threw the discus 100-105 feet and was quite pleased that most couldn't do that. The winners, like my twin brother, were consistently in the 135-150 foot throw range. Those distances were good enough to compete at state.

So why am I bringing this up?

Something really fun happened this morning while I was out for my early morning walk. A little background, over the last couple of years I've lost somewhere in the vicinity of 100 pounds. I'm not sure how much exactly because after a while I just stopped weighing myself. I've become a little more dedicated about getting back into shape again so morning walks (that sometimes turn into short wind sprints) have become part of my normal routine.

This morning, while out for my regular morning stroll, I saw a discus laying by the track here in town. One of the Sleepy Eye guys must have left it out last night after practice.

It's been 34 years since I threw one of those things and it beckoned to me. 6:30 in the morning. All is quiet. It's just me and the discus. I'm 18 again.

The first throw felt a little off. The next dozen felt magical. It's as if I'd never stopped. The distances weren't great (around 80-85 feet) but that didn't matter. I was doing something I thought I'd never EVER do again and I was feeling great doing it.

I had to stop. As any discus thrower will tell you, your pointer finger on your throwing hand will get rubbed raw or blister if you throw too much when you're not used to it. That rubbing pain came back by throw ten or so. I threw a few more knowing I might never get the opportunity again.

My finger is sore as I type this. I am happy. I was adequate.

An Elbow to the Head

Kevin Love, the last remaining Minnesota athlete that I actually enjoy watching regularly, got an elbow to the head last night.

The game was stopped for several minutes as he was tended to. Yes, it was a concussion.

I think one of the reasons it's harder follow sports now than when I was younger is that I notice the injuries more. Justin Morneau has had two concussions in two years and it has severely affected his life and play. Denard Span was incapacitated for more than half a season last year with his own concussion syndrome. Baker's elbow finally conked out as well.

Now, Love has been added to that list (in my head) of players who may not be the same because of injury. Injuries have always been a part of sports. I hate noticing how these injuries affect lives, teams, and careers. Before it was all about wins and losses. As I'm beginning to realize that now, I've become less interested in sports because injuries decide winning maybe even more than officials.

How sad is it that the performance of the team or player rates so low as the reason for who actually wins or loses a contest? I guess that's why you pick a player (like Love or the Twins's Willingham) and wait and see how they do and root for them to do well individually, knowing winning isn't something even the best teams can control.

We all wait and see if Kevin Love recovers while wondering if it's even possible.

Baker Lost for Season

In a previous blog experience, I mentioned several times that Scott Baker and his elbow problem was more serious than than anyone was talking about. The Twins organization said it was just "typical early season Baker."

Sadly, I was proven right yesterday. Baker needs surgery and will miss the entire season. The bright side? The Twins probably aren't going to do anything this season anyway. Mauer and Morneau have time to recover their form and the Twins can start seeing what they have available in their farm system. At some point you have to start building for the future. I guess that time is now for the Twins.

Watching games this year is going to be more of a chore. I'll even miss many of them. But, I still enjoy the game of baseball. I'm learning not to obsess. I can still root for Willingham to hit more than 34 homeruns this year. It's about time someone does that again for the Twins.

Twins Win!!!

Up until last night, the Twins had only managed to score 6 runs the entire season.

Last night they matched that total in ONE GAME.

Willingham had another homerun, and Jamey Carrol got his first two hits as a Twin. Chris Parmalee added a seventh inning, two-run game-tying triple and Matt Capps converted his first save opportunity of the season.

Is all right with the world now? Of course not. But winning once in a while sure beats losing.

Welcome

I used to write a daily sports blog about Minnesota professional sports. Since any real fan will tell you that the words "Minnesota" and "professional sports" no longer really fit together very well, I got the idea of starting a new blog.

This new blog will no longer be devoted (almost exclusively) to coverage of the local teams. Instead, I'll mention local teams and their performances briefly on days when they are performing well and primarily focus on other issues in sports and how it reflects on what's going on in real life.

I have no idea where this is going but I do know it's going to be way more fun than typing the headline, "Twins Lose Again" every single day.

For my sanity, I need to try something different.

There's more to life than sports.

If nothing else, two years of the Vikings and Twins losing has taught me at least that.