Francisco Liriano

Wow. I'm still not sad we got rid of this guy. If he still were a Twin, we'd have made him pitch differently, made him mad, and we still wouldn't see how good he could be.

Pittsburgh, on the other hand, is really happy that they signed him for...one million dollars. (Key Austin Powers) The guy has been incredible this season. He gave up just two hits and NO runs last night in eight innings against the Cardinals as the Pirates have now moved into a tie for the division lead with St. Louis.

Liriano is now 15-6 on the season with an ERA of 2.57. With just a little more run support he could be 18-3 at this point. His best season ever is leading the Pirates to a division title. Good for him. Go Francisco!

No-Hit Through Six, Twins Win

I'm really starting to like Chris Herman. I know he's only hitting .219, but he has a way of using his hits to make them count. Last night was no exception. He hit a two-run, game tying home run in the seventh. Morneau followed with another home run and the Twins went on to snap their five-game losing streak.

Hendriks picked up the win for the Twins giving up just ONE earned run in 6 innings. In a season where it's hard to see any bright spots, one shines through every once in a while. Last night we had a couple.

I'm still hoping for a strong month of September.

One quick Twins note: With the expanded roster, Joe Mauer says he'd like to play again in September and does not want to sit out the rest of the season. Since the Twins have enough catchers, he'd probably just DH and play first once in a while. He's going to avoid hits to the catchers mask for the rest of the season at all costs.

Squeeze Play

The Vikings won their last preseason game last night. Marcus Sherels, who is fighting for a roster spot, had a 109 yard kickoff return.

The Gophers started horribly against UNLV at The Bank last night, finding themselves in a 13-0 hole early. But UNLV has lost over 20 road games in a row so when the Gophers rallied and won big, most were not surprised.

Sam Deduno is experiencing some pitching arm problems. He left after three innings last night having given up three earned runs. Gardy was tossed again. The Twins only scored one run, a Brian Dozier homerun in the sixth. It was the Twins fifth straight loss. The Twins are now just ONE game ahead of Chicago for last place in the division.

Johnny Manziel

The NCCA did not find any clear evidence that he accepted money from promoters for signing his autograph at sports shows. They did decide to suspend him for the first half of this Saturday's game because he "allowed" the promoters to use his name in advertising for those sports shows.

Of course he had NO WAY of stopping these men from using his name, and they made out like bandits for selling stuff HE autographed.

Texas A&M decided to accept the penalty just to get the whole incident over with, though both they and Johnny felt that "Johnny Football" did nothing wrong.

Manziel was the first ever freshman to win the Heismann Trophy last season. IF no other penalties are discovered in the NCAA's ongoing investigation, he is the odds on favorite to win it again this year.

College starts their season this weekend and I'm looking forward to several weeks worth of really good Saturday match-ups. I don't like college football in general, but I do LOVE it when number one ranked teams get beat on a seemingly weekly basis.

Those games are important and that's what makes it fun.

This is the last season of BCS standings. Next year, there will be a playoff series determining who will be number one at the end of the season.

And at that point I'll stop watching college football. All of the regular season drama will be gone. NONE of the early season or regular season major match-ups will matter. And college football will become as dull as every other college sport.

I'll just have to enjoy this season all the more.

And I can't believe those who pushed for the playoff are fans of the sport at all.

Twins Set Rcord

The Twins set a franchise record last night. With 31 games to go, they have now struck out more times than any other team in Twins history. That's 1,127 times for those keeping track.

Andrew Albers was not bad. He only gave up just three runs in six innings of work. The bullpen once more collapsed giving up FIVE more runs in the remaining three innings. The Twins scored their ONLY run in the ninth inning.

Another horrible performance by a horrible ball cub.

Dugout Celebration After Homerun

http://uberhumor.com/the-best-handshake-ever

Our First Public Service Announcement

Kevin Correia GREAT in Twins Loss

Does everybody remember early this year when the Twins starters couldn't pitch and the bullpen was always really good.

Well those days appear to be over, especially when Jared Burton comes into the game. Correia gave up NO runs in seven innings last night. Easily one of his best performance of the season. Just like Mike Pelfrey on Sunday, he pitched very well in the time he was in there.

But Burton continues to falter, as does the Twins offense. The Twins are seeing some pretty good pitching as of late and it's definitely affecting what was just recently a pretty potent offense.

The final was 6-1. I'm glad I missed most of it. I'll have an opportunity to miss their next game tonight as well.

Packers Lose Top Running Back

DuJuan Harris has a tendon in his knee that simply isn't the way it's supposed to be. Though not torn, it moves around more freely that it should. Surgery will be required and he will miss the entire season.

The Packers have not had a regular starter at running back for several years now. Because of injury and ineffectiveness they are constantly looking for the right backs for their system. Even Harris only became their "top back" late last season. This season he was going to be part of a two-back set with rookie Eddie Lacy.

The search for a "best back" will continue.

Lighter Side

http://uberhumor.com/kid-accidently-dunks-himself-in-basketball

Jerome Felton Suspended

The NFL has always been tough on PED use. But something caught me by surprise yesterday, Jerome Felton, blocking back for Adrian Peterson, the man who just signed a 3-year deal worth $7.5 million a year was suspended for THREE games because...

...he was caught driving drunk in June of last year.

FINALLY.

The league has just recently started enforcing a more detailed substance abuse policy, and getting caught drinking while driving now carries a suspension almost as great (3 games versus 4 games) as being caught using PEDS.

I salute the NFL. I've been on their case for FIVE years of blogging saying they do not do enough to stop drunk driving among players.

This is a great first step. Adrian's predicted 2,500 yard rushing season most likely just went out the window. (He probably won't even come close to approaching 2,000 again.) I'll have to get used to the name Rhett Ellison, who will be replacing Felton for the first three games of this season.

I'm guessing the Vikes were already going to have a disappointing season anyway, so their hopes of success just got much dimmer.

But I'm really glad the the NFL at last officially recognizes DUI as a serious crime. Even more surprising? The ORIGINAL charge of DUI was legally reduced by the courts to reckless driving, but the league knew alcohol was involved so they went with the stiffer penalty.

Let's see all the other major league sports jump on this bandwagon. A DUI is serious business. It's time to get drunks off the road, even if they are star athletes making millions of dollars a year.

Lighter Side

When you are at the sports bar and you don't want to miss a minute of the game:

And you're not picky where the beer comes from.

Lighter Side

How I felt before last night's Vikings game:

How I felt AFTER:

Why Bother?

The Vikings without Adrian Peterson should not even bother fielding a team. His backup fumbled on the first drive yesterday. And everything about the Vikings offense without Peterson is subpar.

How are players supposed to get ready for the season when the offense you are running has no ability to move the ball or get into a rhythm?

This isn't baseball where almost any player can be replaced at any time. Having a team on the field that can't get any real timing down because moving the ball depends on a running game gaining large chunks off yardage, and then having NO ability to get those yards, makes both the offense and defense look horrible.

And did anybody else notice that Ponder was back to being a pocket passer again? The only success he had last year was when he was allowed to rollout and bootleg. I thought the Vikings coaching staff had finally figured that out. He was also best in the shotgun formation.

Yesterday, he was under center more and never moved.

I take back everything I've said about how the Vikings should be better this season than last.

If Peterson doesn't get 2,000 yards rushing again this year, I predict the Vikings will be lucky to win any games at all. Ponder is back to square one. So are his coaches.

That was one pathetic team I saw on the field last night.

I'd rather watch the Twins.

Speaking of which. How does a team get nine hits (including THREE doubles) and three walks while the other team has FOUR errors and you only score ONE run?

Pelfrey went five innings yesterday only giving up one run himself. It's just that the offense looked anemic.

Again, how can you possibly score one run when the other team has FOUR errors? FOUR!

I'd rather watch the Vikings.

Speaking of which...

Man. Minnesota sport teams seriously stink.

Liam Hendriks Stinks Up the Place

SEVEN earned runs in a little over 4 innings.

But those sweet straight pitches over the middle of the plate sure looked good to Cleveland batters.

Vikings tonight. It will only be good if ALL the starters play. Otherwise, it's just another practice.

Vikings Squabble With Officials and Financing

Governor Mark Dayton decided to have an independent committee look into the Wilf's finances after they were found guilty of fraud in a New Jersey land deal that took place 20 years ago.

Well, while the state has decided to do that, Ziggy and his family have decided NOT to continue pursuing all the other stuff that needs to be done to get the stadium built, until THAT investigation is finished.

That actually could mean a delay in getting the new stadium built by the beginning of next season.

And now the state officials are in a huff because they say the Wilfs aren't giving them all the information they need to audit the big stadium deal properly. The Vikings say that is nonsense.

You know what ticks me off more than anything? These delays could end up costing Minnesota tax payers tens of millions of MORE dollars than expected. And if this fight gets real ugly Ziggy still might take his team and go elsewhere citing breach of contract with the state.

The Wilf are BILLIONAIRES. The land deal happened ages ago, and the general consensus was that even though they were found guilty, it was more a matter of the Wilfs being so rich that they could afford to pay their now broke partners the money, even if they did nothing seriously wrong (or wrong at all.)

If THAT decision had not been made, nobody would even CARE about the current deal the state has with them. It's just like every other stadium deal that every other owner has with every other state. The problem is that once more government got "concerned" in a way that did not matter. As a result, people on both sides of the issue have decided to make an ugly fight out of it.

I'm so sick of politics that I could scream.

And did I mention that the liberal congress in our state raised our LOCAL property taxes to give more money to schools even though LOCAL voters decided that was not necessary for our local district? They overruled the will of the people to satisfy the liberal inititiative to make us even more dependent on government.

And now EVERY child in the district will be given a free breakfast every morning, even though the vast majority are also being fed at home. To "solve" the problem of a few parents not providing adequately for their children, they have decided to spend over $100,000 this year for a meal most do not need. And the latest polls in America show that the number one problem for children in America is not hunger, but obesity. Now all of these fat kids are going to get an EXTRA meal every day. AND they will be required to eat THREE items from each breakfast menu. They will not be allowed to choose just one or two things. New Ulm has decided to do the same thing.

All of this extra government grant money can't go to waste, not when we can have even fatter children waddling around our streets and neighborhoods.

And the next step? I'm pretty sure that everyone will be taxed more, and our health insurance rates will go up as special initiatives are put in place to give obese children additional mandatory support and programs for their increasing medical problems.

You read it here first.

Deduno Solid

The Twins have now won three out of four from teams ABOVE them in the standings and they have done it without Joe Mauer in the lineup. Samuel Deduno, who has been having some arm/biceps problems in his throwing arm, looked uncomfortable in the first, but he only gave up ONE run and three hits in six innings. He was wild again, though, issuing four walks.

The Twins continued to pound the ball last night. Even though they had NO homeruns, they did produce FIVE doubles. They lead the entire league in extra base hits in August.

I know we are not going anywhere this season, but it sure is nice to see good pitching and good hitting from the team we currently have on the field. Doing it against top-caliber opponents is pretty sweet as well.

Liam Hendriks, who pitched well in a loss last time out, gets his second start of the season today. He's auditioning for NEXT'S years squad, so let's hope he can become the pitcher the Twins though he would be when they drafted him.

Deduno, Albers, and Hendricks might give the Twins a fighting chance at a real rotation next season. The jury is still out on guys like Gibson and Worley. And even though Correia and Pelfrey have looked better in the second half, only Correia is signed for next season.

Cole Devries never recovered from his forearm injury this season, and last season's ace, Scott Diamond, is struggling in the minors. That's our pitching prospects for next season.

Maybe five of them will be good enough for next season, though I'm thinking the Twins will go after another guy like Pelfrey for next year. Who that will be is anyone's guess.

Lighter side

Congress Forced to Intervene on NFL HGH Testing

Between the NSA monitoring every e-mail we send and listening to every phone call we make, I'm getting a little less comfortable with big government.

Yesterday a few congressman mentioned that if the NFL players union doesn't do something soon about getting HGH testing started, that Congress would be "forced" to do something about it.

You know, like the hundreds of millions of dollars the government wasted getting involved in the Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens steroid investigations.

I get that they may have concerns, but like I've said SO MANY times in the past, HGH is not illegal. It's prescribed by doctors every single day to people who benefit from its use. While drunk drivers are busy killing 10,000 people EVERY single year, Congress is thinking about acting and stopping limited HGH use among pro football players. One is a danger to every driver and passenger on the road, while the other MAY be hurting their own long-term health.

The problem you see, is that many lawmakers have alcohol and drug abuse problems of their own (this is documented in a variety of other places, do the research yourself) and they don't see THOSE drug problems as a big enough deal to be concerned with. BUT they do want to assert THEIR will on other businesses who are taking the time to do drug testing right.

Baseball isn't "cleaner" because Congress got involved with steroid problems in baseball. Football isn't going to GET cleaner just because Congress decided to waste even more money investigating HGH use. The steroid hearings were, quite frankly, a joke. There were lots of testimonies by concerned people who THOUGHT that steroid use MAY have contributed to some ailment that they or their kin experienced, but no real evidence or studies demonstrating actual detrimental side-effects was ever introduced.

Congress wanted a chance to grandstand with unsubstantiated opinion, and that's all they did. As a result, they didn't come close to educating the public on anything of substance. If anything, they simply magnified the accepted myths of steroid abuse, further perpetuating the problem.

Let football solve their own problems. Get illegal drunk drivers off the road. And stop grandstanding.

And stop doing drugs yourselves. It's affecting how you think.

Notes

The Twins took the series from division-leading Detroit. Albers was pretty good until the sixth, but the "relief" he got from Josh Roenecke cost him the game. Chris Herman's homer late gave the Twins the win. I watched most of it, but those last 3 innings were tough.

The Vikings play another preseason game Sunday night against the Niners. Usually I don't get too excited about preseason, but this one is different. The THIRD preseason game is the one every team tries to win. It's the dress rehearsal for the regular season. Most of the starters will play the entire first half just to get the feel of a real game and then take most or all of next week off.

I think the Niners are the best team in football so I'm really anxious to see how we stack up against them. Colin Kaepernick is just getting started. IF the Vikings defense can slow him down, I think it will be a pretty good indication of how good this team's defense might be. On the other hand, if he runs all over us, it'll also let us know what we can expect when the real games start.

I'm not sure if Adrian Peterson is scheduled to play at all in preseason. The Vikes want to protect him at all costs for games that matter. If he doesn't play, it really won't be much of a Vikings game either way. He has been so much of our offense since he has became a Viking that without him, nothing about the game will be very easy to judge. If we punt a lot without him, our defense won't stand a chance. Without a sustained offense, the defense will be on the field way too much.

As an example of how important the third game is you don't have to look any further than last night's Detroit-New England matchup. Detroit looked great. The Pats looked awful. And both teams had most starters playing the entire first half. Commentators were obviously looking at this game as a harbinger of things to come for the Patriots this season.

Vikings in prime time Sunday. The world will be watching.

Correia Good Through Six

I can't fault Correia in yesterday's game. He was great through six. The Twins gave up some unearned runs later and managed just ONE run themselves. The final of 7-1 doesn't reflect on how good the game was through six.

Mauer will be out for a few more games with concussion symptoms while Gibson has been sent back to the minors. He never should have been brought up in the first place.

Albers goes today against Verlander.

Pelfrey and Morneau

Mike Pelfrey made it 6 2/3 innings last night, giving up just three runs in the process. That he made it past five was great in itself. Justin Morneau looks like he's auditioning to be someone else's "go to guy" while on the waiver list. It also looks like he's finally comfortable behind the plate again after having concussion syndrome symptoms for nearly three seasons. He had four hits including a homerun and a double last night.

The Twins as a whole are still belting some homeruns. They've now hit 20 since August 9th. That's five more than any other team in baseball since that date.

Both Burton and Perkins struggled in relief last night, but neither crumbled and the Twins came away with a win over first place Detroit. I saw enough of the game last night to enjoy it. That's more than I can say about the last several games.

The Lighter Side

12 Left On Base

It's harder and harder to discuss the Twins and their horrible season. ALL of our starters are now struggling and the Twins left 12 runners stranded yesterday. I'm going to be skipping a few games.

There's more to life than bad baseball.

Dome Ball

Do you remember how outfielders used to lose the ball in the ceiling of the Metrodome and it would always cost teams wins?

Well, last night, that grand tradition returned to Minnesota. Both Clete Thomas and Josh Willingham lost balls in the sky allowing the Sox to score at least three runs. Did I mention that the Twins LOST by THREE runs?

Albers didn't give up any runs until the fourth, but that inning did him and the Twins in. No official errors were recorded, but the game could easily have had a different outcome without those two misplayed fly balls.

Fridays Sports Highlights

Joe Mauer hit a homerun in the first.

A team calling themselves the Minnesota Vikings "played" last night.

I'm having a hard time going any farther than that.

Sports Notes

The Twins had a nice come-from-behind win last night. Pelfrey put the Twins into an early 3-0 hole, but by the ninth, all hurdles were handled and the Twins ended up winning on a Herman pinch hit.

The Twins have been playing above .500 since the All-Star break. And I'm still watching.

Baseball did something radical and out of character yesterday. They did the right thing.

They decided that with the way technology is today that they can expand video replays on all sorts of plays including close plays at first base and safe or out calls at home plate. All details haven't been worked out yet, but it looks like each manager can have three challenges a game AND that replay officials watching in New York will be watching the replays and making the final decisions.

At this point that means it doesn't look like the umps on the field will have to all leave the field and huddle in the dugout looking at a monitor every time there is a disputed call. The game will continue much faster that way, especially now that managers won't have to stand around and argue every time something stupid happens.

In effect, this is EXACTLY what I've been asking for all along. I didn't want them to be like football and have officials leave the field, I wanted officials watching the game to make those critical calls to keep the game's pace going. This is way better than NFL and college football are currently doing.

Wow. I got another one right! Everybody (players, owners, umpires) still have to okay all of this, but most of the discussions have already taken place. No one expects there to be any problems with implementing all of this.

One caveat: It's still possible that the players or umpires could still squash all of this when final votes are taken. For some reason, both groups always hate change. Here's hoping they are open to a game where quarter-billion-dollar players determine the outcome of most games instead of buck-and-a-half umpires.

Adrian Peterson is in support of college football players making money off their own names which means he thinks Johnny Football should be able to sell his own autograph. He thinks most players at all levels would agree with him.

He went on to say that there is no reason that NCAA football players shouldn't be treated as well as Olympic athletes who get "paid" just by being top performers.

It's time for more players to speak out about this. At the same time, and this is critical, we can't have an NCCA system that starts bidding on high school kids services. Imagine Notre Dame buying the kid a $500,000 house for his family and then Michigan matching that but throwing in a couple of really nice sports cars to sweeten the deal.

What happens next is going to be interesting. What we are seeing now is about to change dramatically. If it doesn't, we might even see investors starting a whole new league, featuring high school graduates, playing for money competing against the NFL and the NCAA.

There are massive amounts of money being made off of these kids right now and these kids will someday figure out, for themselves, how to keep much of that money for themselves.

That's the free-market economy at work.

The Lighter Side

The Evolution of Brent Burns:

Local Sports Notes

Jerome Felton, the blocking back for Adrian Peterson's rushing records, had an emergency appendectomy last night. He's going to miss the rest of the preseason. The lingering effects may also cause some disruption of the early season. Normally, most people can get back to a regular schedule fairly quickly from this, but Jerome's "regular" activities are a bit more intense than your average person.

Remember when I said that Peterson should shatter the NFL rushing mark this season IF everything would go perfectly well? This is the first nail in that coffin of everything going well. If Felton isn't 100% this year, we WILL see it reflected in Adrian's performances.

And the season hasn't even started yet, much more could still happen...

Joe Mauer had FIVE hits yesterday including a bottom of the tenth game-tying home run. But as you already know, that was not enough to give the Twins the win. If it was, this story would have had it's own headline.

Also, Justin Morneau, who couldn't be traded before the trade deadline because no one wanted him, has been placed on waivers. He's been there for a couple days already but no one, as of this writing, has claimed him. He'll continue playing in MLB's version of the phantom zone until somebody does. Or just be a Twin the rest of the year if no one does.

I'm starting to think he's not going to be around next year. /s

NFL HGH Testing

The NFL has hit upon an ingenious plan. To determine a baseline test level for future HGH testing in NFL players, the NFL is going to (ON PURPOSE!) administer HGH to FORMER NFL players.

100 former players will take part in the test and only 2/3 of them will actually get the drug. The other 1/3 will get a placebo.

But isn't HGH use illegal you may ask? The answer to that, as I've said all along, is no. Many people take HGH regularly to help in rehabilitation and to simply feel better.

But isn't HGH DANGEROUS you may ask? Again, as I've explained previously on many occasions, not only isn't it dangerous, at doctors recommended doses and under their care, it has no serious side-effects and actually physically helps nearly all who take it. It's possible that if you take it from a very early age that long-term use may cause some hormone side-effects, but as far as I know, no real studies have been done in that area,


My guess is when the test is over, the placebo group will ask THEIR doctors to get them on HGH too so that they can get all the benefits that their HGH-taking counterparts will be getting FROM the test.

Another guess is that those who are taking it for the test will continue to use it long after the testing is done as well.

What the NFL will be producing in these tests will be 100 disciples who will now proclaiming how wonderful HGH is. In fact, instead of stopping HGH use in NFL players it will have jut the opposite effect in the long run. The HGH stigma will be lost when people from every walk off life start taking it to become healthier and to start feeling younger again because of this NFL testing.


There's a reason clinics like Biogenesis exist. Their patients, not just professional athletes, receive new leases on life by taking HGH.

I'll be curious as to the results of this NFL administered test.

Players are all willingly allowing themselves to be given drugs that the NFL tells players they should not use. If the results to players health becomes as good as previous tests have shown, I'll bet MOST former NFL players will start taking it. In might even become part of their health benefit package PAID FOR by the NFL.

Imagine that. The NFL providing HGH to all former NFL players to help in the recovery of their tough long-term NFL year injuries. The only stipulation is that they not use it while they are actively playing so that they don't recover from injuries too fast or feel better because of the rugged NFL lifestyle.


Imagine players retiring early so that they can start taking their HGH for lingering injury problems.


The NFL is opening a huge can of worms. Or a Pandora's box if you prefer. Either way, they currently have no idea what the long-term effects of all of this will be.

Imagine if you are a recently retired person seeking to feel better from life-long injuries or your body is simply wearing out. You can hear how good former NFL players are doing by the NFL HGH tests they received and now YOU start asking YOUR doctor if HGH would be right for YOU.


This is a scene that's going to be replayed over and over again in clinics and hospitals across the world from the moment the test results are released. And you'll have the NFL commissioner to thank for all of this.


And HGH will become part of nearly every athlete's regimen within a decade.


 

Twins Lose

Samuel Dedudo is starting to look more and more like an average Twins starter.

Yes, one of the runs he gave up last night was unearned, but his once tricky fastball has stopped moving and he's starting to walk batters again. That the Twins can't seem to score without hitting home runs is also more depressing.

I'd rather talk about something else. Why is it that switch hitters at the major league level are such a big deal? Now if you are Pete Rose and can hit .335 from both sides of the plate and end up with more hits than anyone else in the history of the game, I can understand the appeal, but what if you are Pedro Florimon instead?

Pedro bats pretty well from the left side of the plate. He's demonstrated good power there as well, but could someone, ANYONE, explain to me how he's MORE valuable as a switch-hitter? You see, he has this problem when he hits from the right.

That problem? He can't hit.

Literally.

Now technically we are ALL switch hitters. When playing softball I switch to the left side once in a while just to mess up the pitcher. But anyone who knows me, KNOWS I really can't hit from that side. I probably hit .600 from the right, but from the left, I'm lucky to even make contact.

That's how I feel when I watch Florimon hit from the right. Seriously, does GARDY really think Florimon has a better chance facing a left-handed pitcher batting from the right side? Personally, I'd end that experiment and take my chances with him hitting from the left instead. Every time. In fact, I'd eliminate every switch-hitter from my ball club if he's significantly worse from the right side.

Left-handed hitters have an advantage just be being left-handed. Since they are closer to first base, they have a better chance of beating out slow ground balls to the infield. I'd take THOSE odds over someone who can't hit from the right side any time.

Good switch hitters have their place in baseball. But if you aren't good at it, you really shouldn't be doing it. It's like sending an American League pitcher to the plate every time Florimon comes up from the right side.

I LIKE Florimon. His defense just keeps getting better and his homerun power was a pleasant surprise this year. But he shouldn't be batting from the right side of the plate any more than I should be batting from the left side.

At least I KNOW I'm not a switch-hitter. It's about time someone told Pedro, he's not either.

PEDs

I told myself that I was going to avoid the PED talk for awhile and just enjoy sports for what they are. The Twins recent performances made that a little easier.

But the dominant headlines on ESPN everyday continue to be about players and possible PED use. Los Angeles Angels superstar, Mike Trout, brought up the subject again yesterday. A big and muscular slugger himself, he said he thinks players should be banned for life if they fail even ONE drug test. He says the league isn't doing enough to get PEDs out of the game. He said IF they are really serious about the problem, there should be no tolerance of their use at all. He then went on to say that the "overwhelming majority" of players are clean and want those type of stricter penalties imposed.

You know what? I don't quite believe him. I don't think he's deliberately lying, I just think he's ignorant of how the system really works. You see, the player's union REPRESENTS the players and its wishes. IF the overwhelming majority of players really wanted stricter penalties for PED use, they would already be in place. The problem is baseball doesn't work that way. The league officials would love to have stricter rules concerning PED use. It's the players AND THEIR UNION that have STOPPED the possibility of stricter rules.

The problem is that  escalating SALARIES and current mega-contracts in baseball are directly attributable to the success of players who have used PEDs in the past. The homeruns of Bonds, Sosa, and McGwire made it possible for A-Rod to sign his first quarter of a billion dollar deal. THAT deal made it possible for guys like Mauer and Sabathia, and Pujols to sign THIER quarter-billion dollar deals.

The UNION, above everything else, wants players salaries to continue to climb. Without "dirty" players getting their megolithic long-term deals, other players would not be getting them either. The union simply will not allow those quarter billion dollar deals to go away. And if you think about it, Trout wants HIS quarter-billion dollar contract when he's eligible in a couple of years as well.

Let's say, for the sake of argument, that it was PEDs that allowed players to have 60 and 70 home run seasons.  If players today are back to the 40-45 home run totals of yesteryear are they WORTH as much to their teams, or baseball in general, if they AREN'T hitting 70 homeruns in their careers? The simple answer to that question is NO.

Looking at it another way. If Alex Rodriquez is worth a quarter of a billion because he may hit 700 home runs in his career, would/should Mike Trout be worth as much if he is probably only going to get 500 without the drugs?

The simple answer to that is also no.

And I think we are starting to see that. Joe Mauer's batting average is not worth $23 million a year. That's why Twins fans are booing Mauer more often even though he's having a good "Joe Mauer" type year.

You see, without the drugs, players are not worth as much, and should not be paid as much, as players who have had great success because of the PEDS.

If the drugs caused the current salary measuring-stick to rise, players without the drugs, should say they are willing to take much less money than their drug-produced counter parts.

Unless of course they PERFORM like their drug-produced counter parts.

And they won't. And they won't take less money. The union won't let them, and they want to make as much as the "big boys" even though they won't have the stats that deserve it.

You see, it is, and always has been, about the money. Players who took the drugs did it to get bigger contracts. Players who wish that the drug-use would go away don't want to settle for less money with their poorer performances.

You really can't have it both ways. Homeruns equal GREEN. That's why it's called moneyball.

Albers!

Andrew Albers gave up no runs on four hits in eight and one-third innings in his major league debut last week. So what did he do LAST night in his second start for the Twins?

He pitched a two-hit complete-game shutout, that's what. Over 17 innings into his major league career and he still hasn't allowed a run of any kind. From a team that leads the majors in ERA among starters, this is a very pleasant situation to be in.

The defense behind him was outstanding. Dozier, Florimon, and Thomas all tuned in web gems supporting the rookie hurler.

And the Twins streak of scoring on nothing but homeruns also continued. Minnesota's last 22 runs have all come off  homers. Dozier and Plouffe provided the long balls and RBI last night.

If Deduno can become less stressed, and Correia can become a tad more consistent, the Twins MIGHT have the makings of a good rotation for next year. With less than 50 games left, the Twins find themselves 10 games below .500. I'd still ike to see them finish strong enough to finish around .500 on the season. We're mired in third place in the division, and that spot is most likely not going to change either way. But a strong finish will keep Twins fans coming to the games, and also keep them watching on TV. If nothing else, the Twins right now are doing much better than I expected this year.  I'm even starting to develop an inkling of hope for the future.

Until Albers was called up, I didn't even have that.

Twins Win While Setting Unique Record

The Twins took three out of four games from the hapless White Sox this weekend. Yesterday, Kevin Correia had one of his finest outings of the season giving up NO runs and striking out seven in his seven innings of work.

The record? The Twins scored 19 runs in the series and ALL of them came off of home runs (11 total). It's the most runs ever scored by nothing but homeruns in one series in baseball history.

An odd record to be sure, but one of the few bright spots in a suspect season.


It's nice to see the Twins hitting home runs again, too. Perhaps the next month and a half will still be worth watching.

Super Steve's First Vikings Scouting Report This Season

Regarding Walsh's performance during practice. We have to remember that he has a new holder (Locke). Every kicker prefers a certain hold. Maybe Locke and Walsh just need more time together to get everything down just right.

As for Locke's punting. His kicks are higher and farther than I've ever seen in training camp. Booming is a good way to describe what I was seeing.

I really like Patterson. I hope he turns out to be as good as I think he is. He seems like a very good guy. He was very approachable for the kids to get autographs and he's always smiling like he's having the time of his life. As Mrs. Observer put it "That's how it's supposed to be."

Lighter Side

Morneau, Arcia, Pelfrey

Morneau and Arcia both homered again yesterday. And Arcia just missed hitting another one as the final out of the game.

Pelfrey was adequate through FIVE innings yesterday, but Gardy let him pitch his infamous sixth, and as has been his pattern, he lost it there.

Two teams going nowhere, jockeying for last place in the division, square off again this afternoon.

Vikings

When is an NFL game NOT an NFL game?

When it's preseason.

I did watch a lot of last night's game but it's kind of hard when none of the regulars are in there. Matt Cassel looked pretty good at QB except for his horrible INT. Ponder got just the one quick series that also ended in an INT. And those two guys in the second half made no impression on me at all.

I saw Webb make a catch in the second half, and I saw a whole bunch of running backs, who I did not recognize, make some pretty nifty runs and runs after catches, but I don't really feel like watched a Viking game.

Because I didn't. That was just a lot of guys wearing Viking purple, most of whom we will never see again once the regular season starts.

Oh, and I liked the new uniforms. Less flair and bling, more old-school sensibility, they we're a nice blend of old and new. Though I'm still not sure I like the font used for their numbers, I guess it will grow on me.

Twins sweep Sox in TWIN Bill

Let's face it, the White Sox are a horrible baseball team this season, so beating them twice yesterday was not the greatest of achievements. That the Twins could EASILY have lost both games without great defense and surprising home run power gives me have a bit of hope for the future, though.

In the late game the Twins scored all of their runs on solo homers including one by Oswaldo in the tenth to put icing on the cake of a great day of baseball.

The returning Josh Willigham had a monster blast as well. So did Chris Hermann.

Need more power? The Twins hit FOUR in the first game. Two by Morneau, including a grand slam in the seventh, A Colabello shot in the second that got things going, AND another Oswaldo blast in the eighth.

Both Gibson and the returning Hendriks did good enough jobs in their starts. The bullpen was solid.

The wins were nice to see.

And some of those catches by Arcia and Thomas were joys to behold. Good teams make plays like that all the time. I'm just hoping we get to see those types of plays more consistently. That would mean we are becoming a good team again.

Now if we could just get some consistent starting pitching. One double-header does not a pitching rotation make.

PEDs and Baseball

Former St. Louis Cardinals slugger, Jack Clark, was fired from his St. Louis sports radio show this week. Why? Because he accused Albert Pujols of being a PED user. Pujols immediately brought a lawsuit against both Jack Clark and his radio station employers explaining he was forced to do so in order to defend his character against these kind of reckless lies on the airways.
 
Jack Clark's employers, distancing themselves as fast as they could from Clark, fired him.

Good. For some reason, in this age of known PED use and abuse, everyone thinks its okay to accuse anyone of anything they want because they THINK they have the free speech right to do it. Well guess what Jack Clark? As you just found out, it's still illegal to tell LIES about people just to get ratings. Libel and slander are still very active laws in America, and if you don't have any real proof other than vaguely remembering a former trainer telling you ten years ago that Albert juiced, you really have to keep your big mouth shut.

That same trainer for years has continually denied that he has ever said anything like that.

Baseball fans are so quick to judge because media personalities are quick to judge. Maybe if a few more media-types wold start losing their jobs over incidents like this, we would see less sensationalist journalism in America.

Feel free to speak and print the facts. Keep your accusatory opinions to yourself. I'm hoping that bloggers and letter writers to articles on ESPN start getting the same treatment. There has to be a fire before you can yell, "fire." Anything else is just an unsubstantiated opinion. And some opinions can and should get you in hot water.

Responsible journalism used to mean more than over-hyped opinion. Sadly, now days, the average person doesn't even know the difference. Most folks don't even know what an informed opinion is, thinking anything they write is just as valid as anything anyone else writes.  Read letters to the editor on controversial news subjects on any website and you'll be AMAZED at the number of likes that uninformed opinions produce. It's not just the writers of those letters that bother me, no, it's the number of supporters that seem to gather around them.

THAT'S what Pujols is fighting against. "Opinionated Ignorance" should really be the first Horseman of the Apocalypse. That's the horseman that's going to bring about the death of civilization. And he's riding more and more proudly, higher in the saddle, with each passing day.

Vikings

There was a huge slate of NFL preseason games last night. I watched the Atlanta/Cincinnati game for about 30 seconds and realized I didn''t care yet. It'll be easier to watch the Vikings first half tonight, and maybe even more depending on if Joe Webb and Matt Cassel both get significant playing time.

I'm actually pretty pumped about the upcoming season. They shouldn't be WORSE than last season. Their draft was solid. Adrian Peterson is 100% and in his prime. And Christian Ponder was allowed to bootleg and rollout rather than just stand in the pocket in his last few games this past season.

Add to that a great kicking game (though Walsh is still getting some mixed reports from media people) and we actually could contend for the division title.

But this is football. All sorts of weird things happen every single week and officials have been known to miss obvious calls.  And I'm still not convinced that Frazier and his coaching staff know how to call a good game.

Going in, I say the Vikes should be 10-6  this year easy. If Ponder throws a few too many INTs early in the season, or if Walsh starts missing easy field goals, we could very well find ourselves out of the playoff race just a few games into. That's football.

The problem with judging this season is that we don't have enough history with the major players on offense to figure out what might happen.

And we still have to find out if Greg Jennings hands are as good as his mouth.

Pumped but guarded in my expectations, that's the only way to look forward to the Minnesota brand of professional football.

Vikings Leg Men

Blair Walsh is apparently having some timing issues in camp when it comes to spotting and placing the ball. As of yesterday, his kicking percentage has been nowhere near as good as last season. Since it's just camp, he has time to work those thing out before the season starts. But the Vikings and fans watching are starting to notice. He wouldn't be the first place-kicker to go south faster than expected...

The recently drafted punter for the Vikings is BOOMING the ball in practice. Jeff Locke booted one 65 yards in the air during team drills. Another had a boot of 90 yards total distance from the line of scrimmage. Locke was the best college had to offer last season and the Vikings drafted him expecting him to be their punter (and perhaps kickoff man) this season. Kluwe is long gone and it looks like Locke will be a great (and much cheaper) replacement.

Deduno Has Temper Tantrum

I can appreciate a player who is bent on winning, but its becoming more and more clear that when Samuel has a "bad" inning he lets it get to him WAY too much. Last night he gave up two runs in the fourth and had a complete meltdown in the dugout between innings. He's shown his "fire" after bad innings in the past, but someone needs to sit this kid down and tell him how to channel that energy and use it against batters instead of defenseless water coolers and dugout walls.

That he had to go out and pitch again in the fifth, after that tantrum, was just embarrassing. Grow up, Sam. And do it quickly. The Twins lost last night, but far worse was Deduno's attitude. Divas are a dime-a-dozen in this league and I don't want to have to watch one of those divas pout every time something doesn't go his way.

Play the game like a man and stop acting like a spoiled child. You are currently the best starter the Twins have to offer. A few more breakdowns like that and, before long, you won't even be pitching in the majors.

New T- Wolve Sent Home

The NBA sponsors a 4-day transition camp for 50 rookies in the NBA. It's basically a series of seminars letting them know what to expect now that they are NBA players. One of the rules? No women in their rooms at night.

Shabazz Muhammad, the Wolves top pick, broke that rule, was fined, and sent home. He'll also be required to retake the seminar again NEXT year.

I honestly have no idea how big a deal this is. It seems to me, he could easily violate the rules and be sent home next year with yet another fine. Eventually, they'll stop having him go to the seminars because he will no longer be considered a rookie.

AND not ALL of the rookies are required to go to this camp, so I'm not sure why SOME are.

Muhammad got in trouble before college when it was discovered a family friend helped him pay for his plane flights to visit top colleges. The money had to be repaid by Muhammad's folks before he was eligible to play for UCLA last season.

Is he a kid who just likes to have fun and isn't quite ready for NBA life OR is he going to be a trouble-maker that the Wolves will regret having signed?

Only time will tell. But like everything else concerning Minnesota sports teams, I'm never optimistic. He may not be much of a player, either. Since he's a Wolves draft pick, the odds aren't all that good.

Lighter Side

The Mannings:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn5zytfm9No


and nitpicker that I am, I notice Peyton says, "foam" instead of phone just past the 2 minute mark. I'm wondering if that will get corrected in the near future.

Former T-Wolve Arrested

Micahel Beasley was arrested for possessing and using pot when he was in Miami. He was arrested on the same charges while in Minnesota so the Wolves dumped him. He said his pot smoking days were over when he signed with Phoenix last year.

Except he was caught again last night by Scottsdale police while driving. I'm not sure how many chances the NBA gives in cases like this, but I think it's too many. He always gets caught doing this when he's driving. You know, when he's a real danger to OTHERS.

If it was a performance enhancing drug, one that may only be a danger to himself, he would be gone already. The NBA (and all other major sports) just don't take impaired driving seriously enough.

For me it's hard to be mad at a guy who is only trying to be as good as he can get, so that he can perform as well as he is able. That's why PED use doesn't bother me like it does some. I've documented in this blog in the past that the possible side-effects of these drugs has been greatly exaggerated and possibly downright FABRICATED just to get the general public to be against them.

As an example: How many athletes have died from steroid use in the last 5 years according to all medical studies available? ZERO. How many other deaths have been directly related to steroid use over the last 5 years. Again, the answer is ZERO.

Another example? "Roid Rage hasn't even been  PROVEN as a side-effect of steroid use. The term was coined in a criminal trial when criminals used steroids as their reason for going nuts while committing a crime. Never mind the fact that they were hyped on all sorts of drugs at the time. It was used as an excuse for their horrible behavior.

Is is possible that people who use tremendous amounts of ANY drug could become aggressive? Sure. But nearly everyone who has had documented steroid use does not experience anything like 'roid rage. What's amazing is those who were given PLACEBOS thinking they were given steroids, experienced 'roid rage on a regular basis when they were told that this might be one of the most noticeable side-effects.

In other words people WHO DO experience it, do so because they THINK they are supposed to. IF the term was never coined, it's possible very few, if any would ever have thought they had it.

I would love to document all of this for you, but this information comes from years of reading about the subject. If you want to find out more for yourself, just start looking online for serious studies about steroid use. You may be surprised by what you learn.

I'm not even going to get into HGH use, other than to say if we were ALL on it, there's a good chance medical expenses in America would drop significantly, especially among the elderly. It's a miracle cure for just about everything, including old age, and we treat it like its worse than crack cocaine.

Again look for the studies yourself.

Back to Beasly. He puts OTHERS at risk with his behavior. That makes me angry. That is the greater crime that needs to punished appropriately. And sports organizations need to start seeing that. Actually we ALL need to start seeing that.

Ziggy Wilf found GUILTY of Racketeering

Ziggy and his family were found guilty on civil charges yesterday stemming from a bad real estate venture made over twenty years ago with disgruntled partners. The NFL is not expected to take action on the matter because they knew of it when Ziggy bought the team.

It was also a civil matter between individuals and not a criminal matter.

In other Vikings news: Jared Allen hurt his ankle in practice yesterday. I don't have any update on how severe the injury is.

Super Steve, with the first preseason game just days away, do you have any Viking practice updates for us? Have you seen Matt Castle throw the ball? Do ANY of the receivers look good at all?

Feel free to update us if you have time.

Andrew Albers Shines in Debut

Is it possible that the Twins have finally found another starter for their ball club?

Last night Andrew Albers made a very impressive debut. He went EIGHT plus innings and gave up NO earned runs. And this was against the team that used the Twins for batting practice just one night earlier. The Twins, with mighty blasts from the bats of Dozier and Morneau, actually coasted to a 7-0 win in the process.

Hopefully, Albers becomes another reason to watch. The Twins NEED to start giving their fans more reasons to watch. Deduno, the only other reason, goes tonight for the Twins.

Johnny Football in Trouble

Texas A&M's Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel had been getting a lot of bad publicity lately. His most recent news story has him accepting  as much as $7500 for signing some autographs. Though there is video footage of him doing the signings of various football paraphernalia, there is none showing him accepting money. The autograph broker who signed him for the event is the one that supplied those details.

It was also that broker who made the video footage and he tried to sell it and his story to ESPN, and they (ESPN) broke the story.

Manziel has been accused of selling his autograph at events before.

If the NCAA's investigation shows any of this is true, Manziel would be suspended from the team. You see EVERYONE (the NCAA, Texas A&M, ESPN) can make money from Johnny Manziel's name. Everybody, that is, except Johnny Manziel.

The only real amatuer athletes left in the world of sports are those that participate for the NCAA in their sanctioned events. Everyone else, including Olympic athletes, can make as much money as they can promoting themselves.

The NCAA rules look more and more ridiculous as time goes on. BUT, and I do emphasize this. Johnny Football KNEW the rules and he agreed to them. He also ignored them.

He should accept any punishment given. And he, along with past NCAA players, should work to change the antiquated system.

Lighter Side

Too much heavy talk about Biogenesis lately and the Twins getting destroyed last night by KC left me searching for something lighter.

This is why I like hockey way more than soccer:

Biogenesis

Supposedly baseball is going to handout a boatload of suspensions today. Their primary target is going to be Alex Rodriguez. The threat to him right now is that he'll be suspended for the rest of this season and then all of NEXT season as well. In short, the suspension will be for at least 210 games. Baseball has done nothing like this before.

The Yankees are hoping it happens so that they can save $35 million in A-Rod's salary. If anything, its starting to look like THEY are very active behind the scenes trying to make that happen. They realized about a year ago that his current contract is an incredible money pit and they want to do anything they can to get out from under it. IF this suspension is successful, they'll have a year and a half to figure out how to get out of paying him the rest of his remaining contract. IF baseball bans him for life (which is what they are pressing for) they'll be free and clear of over $100 million of previous obligations. They made a bad deal and now they want to use MLB to help them get out of it.

I'm not going to argue about if A-Rod did anything wrong or not. I'm not going to argue about if he did anything illegal or not. I'm just going to talk about what Bud Selig is doing to "protect" baseball.

Right now, Selig and his people are demanding that all players on that infamous Biogenesis list admit that they were doing wrong and accept a 50 game suspension or be banned for life. Even if they want to appeal his decision, they'll will be suspended until the long arbitration process is over.

In affect they are telling ALL the players on the list "admit this or we'll do everything we can do to destroy you and your careers." In legal terms that is best described as extortion or blackmail. THIS is highly illegal. Baseball, in its haste to "get the situation behind them," is ignoring any sort of normal proceedings to MAKE it happen. It's simply been a series of closed door meetings where negotiations are being made to MAKE players accept the lesser of two penalties without any chance for them to prove potential innocence.

Before I go any further, I'd also like to add that baseball has NO LEGAL AUTHORITY to do what it's doing at the Bogenesis clinic. They threatened the owner of the place that they would go to the law if he wouldn't  SELL them his CONFIDENTIAL records. Another pretty clear case of extortion. The owner gladly accepted their offer because he needed the money and didn't want to face potential legal problems as the supplier.

What's funny is that baseball is accusing A-Rod of interfering with the investigation because he tried to BUY his CONFIDENTIAL records (you know, the one's he's entitled to because they are HIS). It's not even clear at this point if A-Rod is the one who tried to buy his records FIRST or if the owner sought out A-Rod to try and sell him his records in yet another extortion scheme. In other words, A-Rod may not have been the instigator. He simply refused to be blackmailed this way and as a result, the owner followed through with his threat and sold all the information to Selig and his crew.

What bothers me the MOST in all of this is that baseball, by doing EVERYTHING behind the scenes and out of the way of prying eyes, may in effect be promoting some very highly illegal activity, and covering it up at the same time. IF none of this ever goes to court, we will never know just how much illegal activities occurred by both the owner and MLB. Did the owner extort A-Rod? Did baseball extort the owner? These are serious questions. Far more serious than the drug scandal by the players.

And what role will or does the union play in all of this? The union is supposed to protect its players, that's why there is a union contract.

The current MLB drug policy, that was approved by MLB, the baseball team owner,s and the union states that it provides for a 50-game suspension for a first positive test, a 100-game suspension for a second positive test, and a lifetime suspension for a third positive. A-Rod has never failed an official union-allowed drug test.

According to the collective bargaining agreement, they don't even have the authority to do anything else in drug related matters unless they let Selig use his blanket and intentionally vague "in the best intertest of baseball" clause, one that would probably be shot down in a court of law. 


Yes, A-Rod failed baseball's FIRST confidential drug test administered in 2003, but that was just baseball trying to determine if there WAS a problem. ALL participants in that test were guaranteed (promised) complete and total confidentiality when taking the test. They were told their participation was necessary to help baseball going forward. They were also told they would be protected.

Baseball failed in that promise, and never sought out legal proceedings against those who illegally leaked the information. At this point, many are starting to wonder if league officials didn't "leak" the information themselves to ensure public outcry,  forcing the union to accept the current drug testing arrangement.

Again, if NONE of this goes to court, we will never know just how corrupt Selig or his cronies have been in all of this. This is mafia-like extortion, and MLB has manipulated it in such a way that the fans are only focusing THEIR attention on a few players who may or may not have done anything illegal. The greater corruption may be in MLB itself and I have not seen any media sources focusing on that.

Is it possible that with BILLIONS of dollars of revenue at stake that places like ESPN and Fox are simply ignoring baseball's role in all of this?

I know baseball and Selig want none of this brought out in open court. The depositions and testimony by the extorted players would be incredible. Imagine A-Rod telling his story explaining WHY baseball threatened him with a lifetime ban if he didn't knuckle under to their blackmail scheme. And also telling the court how baseball threw him under the bus in 2003 when they promised him anonymity.

Again, I'm not saying players did nothing wrong in all of this. I'm saying that MLB may have been guilty of so much more. Prosecutable, illegal stuff.

And one last point: When the legal system goes after drug crimes, they go after the suppliers and dealers, often cutting deals with the addicts and users so that they will testify against the BIGGER problem, those people supplying the drugs.

Baseball, in it's rush to prove that some players may have been users, are letting the suppliers get away with REAL crimes so that they can penalize the little guys who may not have done anything illegal. Baseball didn't even TRUST their primary witnesses ( the owner and the employee who leaked the information) until AFTER those two agreed to give/sell  them the information they NEEDED to make their case. They weren't recognized as CREDIBLE until after MLB (and they alone) determined the records were what THEY needed.

Notice I didn't say evidence? All they have are records from unreliable, and suspected drug dealers and suppliers. Until any of this actually goes to a courtroom, NONE of it is evidence. Evidence is produced in a court. Until an unbiased third party looks at this stuff, it's merely one side's opinion.

Opinions should not have the ability to ban players for life.

Twins Sweep Lowly Astros

It wasn't pretty, but any win is a good win. The bullpen got in four more innings of scoreless ball and recently recalled Oswaldo Arcia hit the game-deciding homerun in the seventh.

I found myself watching most of the game again. I guess watching a team that's winning games is much easier than watching a team that's always losing. Pelfrey struggled through 5, but he only gave up two runs in those struggles so I would have to put that start on the plus side for him as well.

Justin Morneau seems to be hitting the ball much better now that the trade deadline has passed. He hit his third homerun in the last eight games yesterday. MAYBE the old Justin is starting to come back.

It's hard to get excited, though, about a team that managed only FIVE hits against the worst team that baseball has to offer.

The Twins play at KC tonight and the Royals have been on a pretty good tear as of late. They just swept the Twins last week at Target Field. Correia is starting for the Twins.

Dozier and Bullpen

The Twins won again last night even though Kyle Gibson is starting to look more and more like Vance Worley when he pitches. Gibson looked awful again, so awful that he left after just three laborious innings.

The Astros and Twins are both horrible ball clubs, but the Twins have a couple of things going for them the Astros do not. The Twins have an unbelievable bullpen (just ONE earned run given up in the last two games over THIRTEEN INNINGS of relief) AND a guy who hits over .300 when runners are in scoring position.

Oddly enough, Joe Mauer doesn't qualify for that last designation. Brian Dozier, who may be playing the best second base in baseball right now has also become Mr. Clutch at the plate for the Twins. He did some amazing late inning heroics in Friday night's game that was documented in yesterday's blog.

He did it again last night. He drove in the tying run in the seventh last night and then scored the game winning run later in the inning. The Astros and their $13 million roster (it was $25 million when the season started but they reduced those costs once it was apparent that they weren't going anywhere this year) are a very, very bad ball club. The Twins aren't THAT bad. We all know they aren't good, but at least they aren't that bad.

And the Twins fans are unbelievable. The Twins drew over 100,000 with the KC series. They SOLD OUT last night against the Astros. Attendance is down from the first two seasons at Target Field, but the their total attendance still ranks pretty high among American League ball clubs.

I'm still watching, though Gibson made me turn the game off for awhile in the top of the the third.

The Twins have rearranged their roster again. Arcia is back up. Hicks is back down. Diamond has proven himself incapable and he has been sent down as well. I'm no longer optimistic about theis club's future. We got rid of last year's poor pitchers ro make room for this year's even worse starters this season.

And let's not forget that the Twins didn't even protect Deduno on the 40-man roster before the season started. ANY team could have had him, so it's not like the Twins have been good and selecting. noticing, or evaluating any of their current starters. Pelfrey gets the nod today. I'm not sure what to expect from him, either. He's obviously better than he was at the beginning of the season when Gardy used him poorly, but those last couple outings have not shown great promise.

And the Biogenesis scandal continues to brew. Suspensions are to be announced tomorrow and I'll have more to say then. The scandal is far more fascinating than the actual games right now. And what develops from that scandal will affect (and most likely haunt) baseball for a good long time.

Lucky 13

Brian Dozier had a HUGE impact on the Twin's win last night. He doubled and scored the tying run in the eighth. He then singled in the tying run once again in the bottom of the ninth because Perkins gave up the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth. Dozier then knocked in the winning run in the bottom of the 13th.

Deduno had a wild fifth in which he walked 3 batters before giving up a hit. He wasn't horrible, but that fifth cost him any chance for the win. It didn't help that the Astros stole second base after the first walk because nobody covered second base and Mauer had no one to throw to.

If you thought that last sentence was awkward, you should have seen Gardy in the dugout in the ninth. He accidently lost our DH (Colabello) in the ninth by having Jamey Carrol run for him AFTER Carrol had officially been added as a defensive replacement. Gardy is always ragging on the players for not following the fundamentals and then he pulled out a huge bone-headed mistake of his own. That was the most awkward "play" the Twins have had all year.

Basically that means that Kevin Correia had to enter the game as a pinch hitter in the 13th. He layed down a perfect sacrifice bunt before Dozier singled in the GW RBI.

I went to bed after the ninth wondering how Gardy could screw up like that.

Biogenesis

Baseball has decided to suspend players on "the list" 50 games. It would be as if they had failed their first drug test. IF the players accept the punishment, all is well. If they DON'T they will be banned for life.

Yes, they will have the option of arbitration, but they will be banned from playing without pay from their team until the arbitration process is completed. And the arbitration process will last much longer than 50 games.

A-Rod says at this point that he will fight the suspension and the arbitrary ban that will go with it. If he loses the arbitration, he could be banned for life.

Wow.

This is starting to get interesting. And baseball is setting itself up for all sorts of lawsuits. Imagine if you are a player who really did nothing wrong. Your choices are to admit you did do something wrong and lose 50 games of your career and have your reputation shattered...

...OR to be banned for life if you don't do as the league says.

I'm pretty sure that this is not going to end well for any of those involved.

And somewhere in all of this, due process got left in the gutter.

Just, wow.

I used to like baseball.

Pro Bowl

The NFL has decided to change the format of this game dramatically. It will no longer be AFC vs. NFC. The top two vote getters in the game will become the captains and they, along with some top fantasy fans, and some old hall-of-famers will DRAFT their teams one at a time to fill out the squad. That means Vikings or Packers could be on both teams. Who would YOU root for if you were watching?

And BOY does THAT sound like a lot of work. If I was a top vote-getting captain, I'd just let the top fantasy fans do the rest, they understand stats and value more than anything. And THEY would enjoy it. For everyone else, it would just be a chore.

What else is new for the game? I'm disappointed that the NFL has come up with so many convoluted rules when the ones I've offered in the past were so much better.

First of all, there will be NO kickoffs. The league is going to experiment with this game to see how new rules might work if they are implemented in the future. The ball will simply start on the 25 yard line for the team that wins the toss and they will alternate after scores the rest of the game.

I'm not going to get into ALL of the rules changes, just the DUMBEST one. There's going to be a  "two minute warning" at the end of each quarter to encourage teams to go for it several extra times a game. At the end of each quarter, the team on defense will receive the ball on their 25 yard line to start a new drive to start the next quarter. In other words, if you don't score in the final two minutes of each quarter, the ball goes to the other team.

Think about that a few seconds longer than the league did and you will see the big problem with that plan. If there's 5 seconds left in the quarter, wouldn't you simply PUNT the ball to the other team so that you'd get the ball back when the next quarter started? Or wouldn't you conveniently "fumble the ball" so that the other team recovered as the quarter ran out so that you'd get the ball back. Or wouldn't you just turn the ball over on downs with a couple seconds left so that the OTHER team is left holding the "hot potato" as the quarter ran out? It encourages the WRONG strategy and poor game play just so you WOULD get the ball back. To make the rule work, you'd have to ban punts, fumbles and INTs in the last two minutes of each quarter. Good luck with that. I can't imagine what the officials will be forced to decide if a rule like that made it through to regular season games.

I thought the suggestions I made last year were pretty radical, but those are nothing compared to that rule. Or as I like to call it "The Idiot Rule."

The ONLY fun I have watching that game at all is that I get to see MY Vikings on one of the squads perhaps winning. If you divide up Peterson and Allen, or see Allen tackling Peterson, where is YOUR enjoyment?

The whole plan is a disaster waiting to happen. And we get to see it happen live in January. Actually we WOULD if we bothered to watch it. Which we won't.

Morneau Homers and Deduno Starts Tonight

I'm so glad I missed yesterday's game. It was so bad that I couldn't even watch the abbreviated squeeze-play version at 7:00 in  its entirety.

I will probably watch tonight since Deduno is pitching. He has a winning record. Has a 3.15 ERA and has been pitching great as of late. I don't think I can say that about any other Twins starter.

Of course it doesn't help that we've been averaging less than 2 runs a game in our losses since the All-Star break. I can't imagine fans PAYING to see the Twins play the next two months.

Just the thought of going to a game now makes me queazy.

Peterson's Arrogance

I am a huge Adrian Peterson fan but his big mouth is starting to bother me. He's been saying he's going to rush for 2,500 yards this year and that he's also going to break Emmit Smith's all-time rushing record by the end of the 2017 season

Nevermind that either record would be mind-blowing let alone BOTH. It's just the WAY he's saying it. He could say something like, "if I stay healthy and my offensive line continues to do some serious blocking I still have a chance at beating Eric Dickerson's all-time season rushing mark. Man, if I stay healthy, I'd like to take a run at Emmit's record as well." He'd be SAYING the same thing, but he'd be saying it in a way that makes him look happy to be here rather than emphasizing personal records in a team game.

I think most fans believe that Peterson, IF HE STAYS HEALTHY and HAS MORE LONGEVITY THAN MOST PREMIUM BACKS does have a legitimate chance to break both records.

BUT this is football. Even at his current rushing pace, Adrian wouldn't be able to break Emmit's record until the end of the 2019 season. I know Adrian thinks he'll be getting 2,000 or more yards a season from here on out, but realistically that's just not going to happen. Too much happens to running backs who get older, and none of it is good.

How many times a game is Adrian tackled by someone just grabbing his trailing foot? As he gets a TAD slower each year, those types of tackles are going to happen more and more often, until some younger cheaper back comes along to take his place. And major injuries are just one quick cut or one bad tackle away.

I like Adrian. I respect Adrian and what he's accomplished, but some personal goals should remain private. Otherwise you look like you are full of yourself instead of just being confident.

And I fully expect him to shatter Dickerson's mark this season if he stays healthy...

...and the offensive line is sound, and our QB and coaches use him properly, and ...

... well you get the idea.

Butera Gone

The Twins traded defensive specialist Drew Butera yesterday. They didn't feel they needed any more catchers with the ones they have performing adequately. Everybody else is still with us for now.

And the Twins lost to KC.

Willingham is expected to come back healthy in about a week. Anybody else not caring about any of this right now?