Still Critical of the Little Things

Bad: Michael Tonkin, dubbed "the Strand Man" by the Pioneer Press's Mike Berardino, was sent back to Rochester. Tonkin has a rather odd set of stats: just seven innings in 11 appearances, and a 5.14 ERA while stranding 10 of 13 runners. Basically, Paul Molitor was using Tonkin for one or two outs with men on base. Tonkin entered five games in save situations and departed having held the lead all five times. In short, he had a useful role.

Worse: Tim Stauffer remains on the roster, to what purpose none can tell. He came off the disabled list a week ago after several ineffective rehab appearances and went unused until getting a one-out mop-up appearance Friday, the ONLY place he may have a role.

Keeping Stauffer over Tonkin suggests Terry Ryan and Co. are more concerned with getting something for the $2.2 million the veteran will be paid this year than with giving Molitor a useful relief pitcher. It's a regrettable decision.

Another Win

It's still all so surreal. Even when the Twins lose, they break the streak almost immediately, by winning their next game, usually taking each series in the process. That's what winners do. I'm still waiting for the "big collapse," but I'm enjoying the season so much, I'm actually losing some of my cynicism.

Nolasco goes today so I'm expecting some of the cynicism will return tomorrow.

Adrian Peterson

Peterson's series of tweets about NFL contracts not being guaranteed brought a smile to many commentators faces over the last few days.

Yep, it's true. The NFL players association has negotiated these horrible contracts for you as part of the collective bargaining agreement. Teams aren't going to throw that much guaranteed money at you at the end of these contracts unless you are still able to perform.

IF you didn't WANT your current contract, you and your agent didn't have to sign it. But you DID!

You really should have complained about the contract four years ago before you were a broken down child-abuser. Be thankful the Vikings paid you last season and are willing to pay you this season as well.

Stop being such a whiny diva. Put on your big girl panties and deal with it. Like a man.

If you haven't put enough money away for the future with your past big money endorsement deals and past guarantees, it's really not our problem or the Vikings.

It's yours.

Stop blaming others for your mistakes.

From now on, you will be paid BASED ON YOUR PERFORMANCE. What could be more fair than that?

Chris Colabello

Former Twin, Chris Colabello, hit a two-run homer off Perkins in the ninth.

The Twins are one game back again.

The Twins did nothing after a four-run first.

Starting Pitching

I'm not here today to complain about the Twins starting rotation. Despite bad strikeout to walk ratios and horrible ERAs by some, the Twins staff is winning ball games. But the Twins ARE going to have a problem soon.

Tommy Milone, who we acquired from Oakland last year because he was a VERY GOOD PITCHER for the A's, is HEALTHY. He's given up a total of ONE run in his last FOUR starts in Triple A. We are paying him a big major league salary right now to pitch in the minors. AND Ervin Santana, our highest paid free agent acquisition in history, will be back soon from his drug suspension.

J.O. Berrios is cooling his jets in the minors waiting for his deserving call-up as well. He's the best young, major league prospect the Twins have had in quite some time.

That makes EIGHT starting pitchers who by all rights should be starting in the majors right now. The problem is, of course, that no team needs that many starters. Milone is not content being in the minors. He is potentially an ace. Santana will not be in the minors longer than his suspension allows, so the Twins have some decisions to make soon.

Mike Pelfrey is having his very best season ever, but it is not typical for him. IF the Twins try to extend his contract it will mean we have to trade someone else. Both Milone and Santana have better arms and careers. IF the Twins keep the wrong guys from the available surplus, it will have devastating affects for the organization long-term.

What's weird is that I don't think the Twins should trade anyone. I mean a sudden injury and Milone is in the starting rotation tomorrow. And Santana is still a month and a half away from returning...

But the Twins do have too many starters right now, starters that have incredible trade value for other teams looking to get a better staff. And good organizations have to know HOW to use that value wisely. Surpluses like this don't come along often or last for long.

IF the Twins trade one of those starters NOW and there's an arm injury a couple days from now, we suddenly will be having a very different problem. AND if the guy we trade ends up being great for someone else we'll all be angry for having dealt him.

I offer no suggestions. This is one of those times I'm very content NOT to be Terry Ryan.

I'll just have to be content in criticizing him later for making the wrong move.

That's what I do.

Fun With FIFA

First Place????? FIRST PLACE!!!!!!!!!!

Bada Bing!!

BADA BOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FIFA

There's an interesting story developing in the world of soccer. Indictments and arrests against every single top FIFA official started yesterday. It seems that the world governing body is getting rich off bribes from cities and sponsors for all the World Cup activity.

Up until now, no one has done anything about the organization known for its 20 plus years of political corruption. Picture them as the the mafia of sports. More details will be revealed in the days ahead.


With tens of billions of dollars at stake, and no accountability, the world is starting to see how much officials have freely skimmed off for themselves, to the detriment of youth leagues worldwide.

I can't wait to see where this goes.

And if Olympic officials are starting to get worried...

One Back

The Twins got two in the first from back-to-back doubles with two outs.

That's all Mike Pelfrey needed.

I am amazed.

KC lost to the Yankees again, and the Twins suddenly find themselves a game out of first with a 27-18 record.

It wasn't easy. Perkins was called on in the eighth with the bases full of Red Sox. One pop up later, it was looking pretty good again.

I was reading an article at ESPN yesterday that tried to explain the Twins incredible success this season. Their conclusion? The bullpen has been lights out from the fifth inning on. The Twins have only lost one game this year when they have a lead after the fifth. Perkins 17 for 17 in save chances is just part of the bullpen story, all the relief guys are doing their job.

Go Twins!

BOOOOOOOOOM!

Nolasco had control. Plouffe broke the game open in the second. And Hicks had his third great diving catch since being called back.

Two games back. Best record in the AL in May.

BOOOOOOM!

Adrian Peterson

Remember how Peterson fought to be reinstated early? Well, he told the Vikes, through reps, that he won't be at the OTA training sessions this week, which means that the Vikings still haven't seen hide nor hair of him since his reinstatement.

He wants out. The Vikings have him under contract for three more seasons.

Everyone is waiting to see who blinks first.

In the meantime, enjoy this video from Nate B. Nimble...

https://youtu.be/yZB3v-06bzg

Dozier, Gibson... BOOOOOOOOM!!!!

The Twins are in second place and three back. Nolasco (and his 6.00 ERA) is pitching today.

This season is sure a lot more fun than expected.

So far...

Dead Serious Fan

Patricia M. Shong was 72 when she died on Monday. Called a "beloved wife" and a "cherished mother," Shong's Auburn, Mass. Daily obituary also included one unique nugget: "She would also like us to set the record straight for her: Brady is innocent!!"

Now, THATS a fan...

Stephen Curry

Golden State made Houston look like the T-Wolves last night. Curry is as good as advertised. It's not just how well he shoots, but it's HOW he does it so smoothly off dribbles and passes. He's so fluid. It looks like it's gong to be LeBron vs. Stephen in the finals.

And I'm going to watch some of that series, too. I'm actually enjoying the NBA this season. Who would have thunk it?

Still Four Games Back

It's really fun watching the Twins win, but KC keeps on winning, too. They've now won 8 out of their last 10 games including TWO straight from the the best team in the NL, the St. Louis Cardinals.

We are in a tough division. KC is trying to prove that last year's appearance in the World Series was not a fluke. And they're doing a great job of that.

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that I can even write about the Twins contending, because I know that could change at any time. It's just that KC is wired for winning right now and they seem to know it.

When we win, it's still a bit of a surprise. Even Hicks' defense the last couple of games has been a pleasant surprise. Can the Twins keep on pulling a rabbit out of a hat game after game? I certainly hope so.

But KC right now IS the best team in the division and the Twins still have to figure out a way to catch them. A wild card spot would be nice at the end of the year, but the only thing you really want is a division title. That "one and done" wild card game is a travesty any way you look at it.

Go Twins!

Alex Meyer

Remember when the Twins traded Denard Span a few years back? They got 6 foot 9 inch Alex Meyer in exchange for him because they wanted a "power starter."

Well Meyer, now 25, is off to the worst start of his career at Triple A. His ERA is over 7 and he's averaging 5.5 walks per nine innings. The Twins have demoted him to the bullpen there. They haven't given up on him as a pitcher, just as a starter. They're hoping he can concentrate on just a couple of pitches and just rely on his speed. His career as a starter appears to be over, but maybe he'll make an impressive closer some day.

Perkins got great when he became a two-pitch (fastball, slider) pitcher. They're hoping Meyer will become that as well.

Four Games Back

Great game by Hughes last night. Horrible Result.

And KC continues to impress night in and night out winning their fourth straight game yesterday.

And Detroit has now won three in a row.

Still watching.

Morneau

Justin Morneau was placed on the seven-day concussion disabled list during the weekend. As I understand it, he dove for a ball and came up with what was initially diagnosed as a sprained neck.  A day or so later, the concussion list.

It is his life, his career, his paycheck. But once again -- because this same thought occurred frequently in his final, injury-plagued seasons in Minnesota -- I can't help but wonder if it would be best for him to call it a career. He's 34 now. That's fairly old for a baseball player, but pretty young for a human being, It would be nice if he had a fully functional brain for the rest of his life.

Concussions are serious things. Corey Koskie found that out first hand. He's still suffering from the effects years after retirement. And he's not that old either.

Graham

There was no hiding J.R. Graham Wednesday night. The Rule 5 power arm had to pitch in a tight game situation, and he did very well: three innings, one single, no walks, two strikeouts.

Paul Molitor has avoided Graham in important innings for more than a month. Wednesday was his first outing since April 13 (the home opener) that wasn't mopping up. His previous eight appearances finished games with a margin of five or more runs.

Graham probably has the best stuff on the staff. He also may be a better fit right now for the minors. But as a Rule 5 guy, he's got to stay on the 25-man roster or the Twins will likely lose his rights. I expect him to stick, but if the Twins are indeed going to contend this year, he'll have to contribute some these type of meaningful innings.

Like he did on Wednesday,

People are asking how the Twins are contending this season. It's a lot of little things that seem to be falling into place. Aaron Thompson and Blaine Boyer, Molitor's favorite set-up men, didn't do the job Wednesday. All of the sudden, Graham unexpectedly DID.

And stuff like that is happening in more games than not. What's weird is that the difference between contending and being a cellar dweller is often these types of things. And when a team starts to lose all of the time, you aren't having these types of things happening.

It's still a very long season, and things like Nolasco's ERA will soon catch up with the Twins.

But they haven't yet.  That's what makes it fun.

Mauer Power!

Joe Mauer hit his first home run of the season last night.

And it was a biggie. The Twins had been shutout from the second to the twelfth inning before Mauer's 13th inning blast. Perkins made it scary looking in the bottom of the 13th, but the Twins held on for win number 23.That's his major league-leading 15th save!

Basically 1/4 of the season is now over and the Twins are on pace for a 92 win season.

Did I mention Torri's 3 RBIs in the first? I don't know why Torri is having his best season in years, but he was 3 for 5 last night, and is still playing like a man in his 20's. Mike Pelfrey had another great start last night as well.

The bad? KC won again last night, too. They are on a pace for a 104 win season. So the Twins are still three back.

Though the Twins are having a great season, they aren't having the best turn around in the league. The Astros spent some real money in the off season and it's paying dividends for them so far this season. At 27-14, they have the AL's best record.

I'm happy to be contending either way. This is the first time in at least five seasons that I'm still excited this late in the season.

The Twins aren't the Wolves at least.

But they are still 3 back in the standings. KC is not going to be an easy team to catch.

Twins Clip Liriano

It only took a couple of innings for the Twins to get Liriano out of there. Nolasco got the win, but he didn't pitch all that well himself. That second inning was a thing of beauty, and Perkins got his 14th save of the season.

No complaints, but we're still three back of the Royals.

Extra Point Change

After all the big talk of changing the rule this year, the NFL didn't do much. The extra point attempts will be a few yards further back, and teams will be able to run back two-point attempt turnovers.

Nobody is going to see the difference.

Wolves Get First Pick

Being inept losers for decades has FINALLY paid off. The T-Wolves literally won the lottery last night that gives them the rights to the best player available in this year's draft. They've never done that before.

What's interesting is that they got last year's number one pick from Cleveland in a trade for Kevin Love. MOST analysts say ONE top pick in ONE year doesn't do much to turn a franchise around, but two in two definitely increases your chances.

The problem with that theory is that you have to pick the BEST guy available, and by all accounts, there doesn't seem to be a consensus number one player this year. I've already seen at least half a dozen players mentioned as the best. On years like this, winning the rights to the first pick becomes a curse IF you pick wrong.

Knowing the Wolves, I can only think that will be the case. The number two player chosen will become the biggest star of all-time. Our choice will be bagging groceries at Whole Foods in two years...

It's a Minnesota sports thing.

You get used to it.

Dan Jennings and Stephen Curry

Dan Jennings was a high school baseball coach just like his dad. He never played minor league or major league ball and, until last night, had never managed at either level either. But he has been in the business side of baseball for about 30 years. His last job was GM of the Marlins. His last act? Making himself the team's manager.

This is unprecedented. He's not a former player or manager, yet he finds himself in the dugout of the Marlins, steering their unsteady ship for the foreseeable future. All I can say is, "Go Dan!" This is the ultimate fantasy event. And I do think that a guy who has been around and followed baseball his whole life can be a successful manager. He certainly knows his team's personnel as well as anyone.

Does he have what it takes? I don't know, but former Twin's catcher Mike Redmond didn't appear to. That's why they fired him.

Dan and the Marlins lost in 14 innings last night. So he's off to a bad start. And at this point no one is even sure if the Marlins are good enough to be a good team. But Dan's living a dream, so he doesn't care. I say it again, "Go Dan."


I was watching ESPN this morning, and the general consensus of those talking was that Stephen Curry is the best pure shooter in the league's history. One of their stats? Stephen Curry once made 94 out of a hundred three-point shots in practice. At one point making 77 consecutive three-point shots.

I'm going to be watching Golden State in some playoff games. I'm also going to start paying more attention to the league's MVP. He sounds like he's worth investing some viewing time in.

Twins

Yesterday was one of those days. The Rays seem to be a much improved team this year, so if they have a blowout win against us like we've had against so many others already this year, I'm certainly not going to complain.

I tuned in late yesterday, so I didn't feel like I really had to waste much time on it. While Gibson wasn't horrible, I did catch Duensing being pretty bad. That's when I turned it off.

It's a long season. And they get the day off today.

Pittsburgh is next. Liriano is expected to pitch. I'm looking forward to seeing him again.

Zip Lock Bags

I can't be the only person that hates these things. My hotdogs come with them. My shredded cheese comes with them. My sunflower seeds come with them. Even some of my chips come with them. What do they all have in common?

They don't work very well. I'll give you some examples. IF you pour a little shredded cheese out of the bag, some of the cheese will inevitably get stuck in the the zip lock. You will then be squishing the perfectly good cheese there. Until a time or two later when the bag no longer seals, and then you will have dry crusty cheese with half a pack to go. It's not that I didn't go through the proper motions to seal it again. It simply stops responding to the sealing movement.

My Oscar Mayer hotdogs are worse. The zip lock easily tears and doesn't reseal that easily. What you end up with is messy hotdog juice in the fridge when the package tips over, and you won't discover it until its sticky and on everything else. And its not like this is the kind of juice you'd drink even if it was fresh. It's the stuff you would throw away when you're done with the wieners.

And you THOUGHT you did everything right until you find the mess in the fridge late the next day.

But the worst? My Good Sense sunflower seeds. The packages are made so they stand up straight on my counter looking perfect after you reseal them. The problem is they look just as perfect if you DON'T reseal them properly. And you can't always feel the obvious difference once you pour some on your salad. But you'll sure discover the difference two days later in a humid Minnesota house after two days of being open. The crispest, tastiest sunflower seeds on the planet become gooey inedible paste in just two days of these damp conditions.

I find myself going out of my way, as of late, to find packages that AREN'T made for MY CONVENIENCE. I clip the top off, fold the top over and put a clothespin on it. It's faster, easier, and less messy.

No more weiner juice and sunflower seed paste for me.

I don't know when convenience stopped being convenient in our society, but I at least recognize some of the symptoms.

And if I can help just one other person with the struggle, I can say that I've done my job.

Twins Do It Again

So far this year, the Twins are 2-7 against the Tigers, and 18-9 against everyone else. What's nice is that they are done with half of their Tiger games for the year and they have over 3/4 of the season left.  We will be virtually "Tiger-Free" for weeks.

Miguel Sano homered twice for Chattanooga Friday night. That gives him eight homers for the season. The bad? He's still hitting an anemic .231 at Double A.

Hughes 3-0 in May

That was a good game.

Great starting pitching, a comeback in the seventh, and a good relief effort, added up to a very satisfying win for the Twins. Perkins got his 100th save as a Twin last night. It's hard to believe he's had that many already.

Everybody else won in the Al Central yesterday, too. So the standings remain exactly the same.

Deflate Gate

http://wellsreportcontext.com/

The Patriots responded to the Well's report with a point by point online rebuttal. I find it fascinating that most people laugh at the response, assuming that the Patriots cheated.

More than anything, New England is upset that the NFL initially leaked incorrect massive information to media sources that was INCORRECT, making it look like the Patriots were guilty of everything they were accused of.

That incorrect initial release made it impossible for New England to ever look good or be given the benefit of a doubt in this matter. AND then the league NEVER admitted that the original leak was wrong.

The haters look at the Patriots as cheaters. Reasonable people who rely on logic, science, and evidence look at the whole matter as a travesty of justice.

IF the Patriots cheated in any way, it HAD to happen in the one minute and 40 seconds that their ball attendant was in the bathroom. Their late middle-aged, overweight man, who would not be allowed to use the bathroom again for over two hours, would take that time to take the balls out of two bags, on a sloping floor, release a little air from each, put them back in the bags, and leave INSTEAD OF GOING TO THE BATHROOM.

As a fifty-five year old guy myself, If I was on the jury, I know how I would vote.

As a person who recently blew up over 20 basketballs in a similar situation, I laugh at the time frame.

I learned a lot from reading the report.

1) Cheap air-pressure guages are inconsistent. Even the manufacturers admit this. Different people using more than one, will come up with a wide range of results.

2) People, including officials, have awful memories, and don't remember the little details of their work. Details that would sometimes mean a lot later on. And they can be pressured by those in charge to change their minds on those details.

3) Old, part-time employees are going to be blamed for a lot for things.

4) If a person that's writing the "official" report is going to be lead investigator, prosecuter, judge, and jury, he's probably going to slant it the way the person who hired him wants it slanted, to the point of drawing ridiculous conclusions off faulty conjecture. 5 million dollars will buy you an awful lot of biased/slanted opinions.

And you will get away with it because

5) The average American polled on things like this is uninformed and has no ability to read or think clearly.

6) People are fast to judge and rarely change their minds.


You'll notice that through all of this that I never once said the Patriots didn't do it. Brady and the equipment guys may very well have come up with, what they thought was the perfect plan to beat the system.

But the current evidence doesn't even come close to proving they did anything out of the ordinary that day. The science doesn't support the league's contention at all. And American justice demands reasonable guilt.

Which brings me to point number seven...

7) Because of things like blogs and Facebook, people have come to the conclusion that what they feel, their opinions, mean as much as evidence and facts. And as a result, the prospect of a trial by jury, in this country, has never been scarier.

Twins Lose

The Tigers really have the Twins number so far this year.

Nolasco, Mauer, Hunter

The veterans were out in force last night.

Torii had another homerun, Joe drove in three, and Ricky pitched his best game as a Twin.

It's as if these old guys are trying to show my opinion of them is wrong.

Good. This is one of those times I want to be wrong. The Twins NEED the old guys to play this well to have a chance at competing for the division title, and I'm enjoying this sudden resurgence.

Go Twins!!!

Marvel Entertainment

I got to see the latest Avengers' movie this weekend. As a major comic book fan who has actually read thousands of comics in my lifetime, I can say it is one of the best comic book movies ever. But I'm afraid that most people who have seen it we're probably left gasping for breath. They really did try to shoe-horn too many characters, and too much dialog and action into one two-hour movie.

I could follow it because I knew who everybody was going in. But there was so much of EVERYTHING that they really couldn't take there time with much of anything. The best part? Hawkeye having a family was a nice touch. The developing relationship between Black Window and Bruce Banner made the Hulk so much more likable and human was good as well. The worst? The "bad language" humor line that fell flat and wouldn't go away.

But like all action movies, there was too much action. I usually kind of zone during action sequences in movies because I just don't think they add too much to the overall plot. I was pleasantly surprised that I could follow most of it this time because so many of those scenes added to the overall story. For me, that doesn't happen often.

This movie would have been better as a two-parter. I read somewhere that the NEXT story (with the Infinity Gems) will be told as TWO movies. I hope so. It's just that Marvel has so many movies in the works that they had to get ALL of this accomplished before the next Captain America and Thor movies come out, so I guess I understand the rush.

I like the more relaxed pace of Marvels Agents of Shield so much more. That show does a better job of giving us a few characters at a time over a whole season. Last night they put an awful lot into their two-hour finale as well, but it was a satisfying ending with some surprising character deaths. They even set up next season's story lines. Season two was so much better than their first season. There was humor, but they took themselves far more seriously. That was a major step in the right direction.

I still can't believe how comic books have become so mainstream. People don't actually read the comics anymore, but they sure follow the movies.

Twins Lose

Remember how a couple days ago I said I'd rather lose 8-1 than 2-1?

The Twins lost 2-1 in extra innings last night.

That game confirmed my statement from a couple of days ago. I definitely hate losing that way more.

Brady Suspended

The NFL wanted to punish someone for a crime that probably (and generally) was not committed. And the "unbiased" organization that was hired to leap to inept conclusions, used poor logic, and faulty reasoning while being paid a boatload of money, on a regular basis, by the NFL. Even the e-mail messages don't clearly indicate they were talking about breaking league rules, but merely providing Brady lower-inflated balls, all of the time as a matter of course, because he preferred them, and that he has preferred them that way his whole career. There was no conspiracy.
 IF you wish to read a more accurate account of what happened, and why it was so wrong, you may find this well-researched article enlightening:

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/05/10/pressure-gauge-discrepancies-undermine-wells-report/

The NFL doesn't conclusively have a victim, a perp, or a smoking gun, but they decided to punish the Patriots anyway. This misbegotten case will be discussed in law schools for decades.

If I were New England or Tom Brady, I would go after the person writing the conclusions in the Wells Report, and find out who pressured him to come to such poor conclusions. That's where the real story is.

I can't wait to see what happens next.

On an unrelated but equally compelling sports report: A higher court ruled that Barry Bonds was innocent of all wrong-doing in the government's multi-million dollar case against him several years ago. That reversed an earlier court ruling. Their conclusion? There was no real evidence against him. Everything was conjecture with poor reasoning, and that conjecture should have never been allowed in a court of law in the first place. The case should have never been taken to court in the first place. Of course, no one heard this final report because there was no media coverage.

Baseball wanted him found guilty. It took years, but baseball failed. There is a lesson there for NFL officials. Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.

One last point, if YOU were married to the most well-known fashion model in the world, and you could take pictures with your smart phone, would YOU turn over YOUR phone to investigators who wish to look at your "e-mails"? I wouldn't either. Pictures have a way of showing up on the internet.

And privacy and confidentiality has never been a sports league's strong suit.

Salazar Way Better Than Twins

A great pitcher beat the Twins yesterday. And I'd much rather lose 8-2 than 2-1. For one thing, I don't have to watch the whole game.

Now Detroit.

Hunter...AGAIN!!

Hughes with another win and Hunter with another multiple hit game, including a homerun.

This is fun. And the standings are looking pretty sweet, too.

Gardy

Ron Gardenhire has let baseball know he wants to get back into managing. He thought he had an opportunity at the Milwaukee job this week. But history came into play.

Three of the big names for the Brewers are Carlos Gomez, Kyle Lohse, and Matt Garza. If you're a long-time Twins fan you recognize all three of those names. The biggest thing they all have in common? The all had major run-ins with a stubborn Ron Gardenhire when they were in Minnesota. In every case, somebody had to leave town. And it wasn't Gardenhire.

The Brewers weren't going to risk a clash between their new manager and their three stars now, when the season had already went sour, so they passed on Gardy. Gardy's finding out his past mistakes and stubborn attitude is making people more cautious about his future prospects.

They hired Craig Counsell instead, a younger, in-house guy who takes metrics as seriously as anybody in baseball. Gardy might be considered a dog who is too old to learn new tricks. And old war horses aren't as much in demand as they used to be either.

The game is changing.  Gardy is going to have acknowledge that to remain relevant.

Hunter

Other than some sloppy baserunning, it's hard to complain about Torii Hunter's last 10 games. 4 hits including ANOTHER homer, and 4 more RBI last night gave Mike Pelfrey ANOTHER win.

The Twins hadn't even been three games above .500 since late 2010, now they're FOUR games over.

Wow. Just wow. If Pelfrey and Hunter want to keep on having amazing seasons, I sure won't stop them. The whole team is playing well above expectations. Runs, ERA, defense. All among league leaders for the last three weeks.

Still expecting the worst, as to not be disappointed, but enjoying the unexpected surge. And Detroit and KC are busy playing each other this weekend. Nice.

Over a month into the season and it's still exciting.

Go Twins!!

Strategy

I've been thinking of Cranky Curtis' pitching strategy the last two weeks: You start a lefty or righty and take him out after ONE pitch to frustrate a manager who stacked his batting lineup for the starter, thereby frustrating the opposing teams manager's strategy the rest of the game.

I like that idea, but you couldn't use it much because of rotation schedules.

I've got another idea, based on that, one that you could use all the time.

Since MOST starters no longer pitch complete games and you need a relief corp at the end to finish most games, what if you had TWO really good closers, but one was a little nervous about closing games because of the intense pressure involved?  Many teams will use that guy as the set-up man, perhaps grooming him to be the closer in a less intense situation in the eight inning.

My idea? Instead of starters, have OPENERS. This would be a guy (or guys) who would pitch the first inning of every game and then pass the game off to the regular starter in the second inning. Much like the Cranky one's plan, switching to a pitcher who throws from the other side.

It would be the perfect roll for fireballering/sinker specialists who can't take closing pressure, but could get you off to a great first inning several times a week. The best part? You could SCHEDULE their use just like the starters. That way you couldn't misuse them or their arms. Start one guy every other game, or two games in a row ( just like closers) but allow someone else to  be in that roll on the off day.

This accomplishes much. Starters could then pitch at least one inning DEEPER in every single game still getting credit for the win, BUT they would be off the hook for the loss if the opener would have a bad first.

Much like the closer roll. These openers would become very specialized. And good. You could have two guys on a team opening 50-60 games a year. And starters starting an occasional game just like they used to.

It wasn't that long ago that every pitcher was expected to go all nine innings. The relief roll is a modern invention. Since the games always evolving, this could be the next step.

Opener: 1 inning
Starter (with different name): 6-8 innings
Closer: When needed. Just like now.

Set-up men and openers would have very similar job descriptions except openers would be scheduled, causing less wear and tear on the arms. The evolution of the game...

Twins Win

How do you know when you're on a roll?

When Nolasco starts. Pitches as poorly as ever. You get FIVE hits, and STILL win 6-5.

Two games back. Who would have thunk it?

Cleveland next.

Wild Swept

The end.

sigh

Inflate Gate

It's been awhile, but the NFL issued their report on the AFC Championship game scandal yesterday. 250 plus pages of "we THINK this happened..."

When the best the NFL can come up with is, "a couple of New England equipment managers PROBABLY deflated the balls" because of e-mails they had on their phones indicating that Brady preferred softer balls to throw. We already KNEW that. Brady has always said he prefers the lower end inflation rates.  ( I mean for YEARS he's been asking the league about that,,,) The report also said that "Brady was generally aware of the softer balls. "Again that's not much of an indictment for somebody who always requests lower inflation from his equipment guys.

"Probably" and "generally" are words that would probably and generally get you laughed out of court.

There was no specific demonstration on HOW they accomplished this for THAT game. In other words, they are still just guessing. Doing it would have required Mission Impossible-like subterfuge. No one even took a crack at describing how they supposedly did it.

What a waste of time and money.

Commentators saying anything else are idiots.

I think they will see fireworks if they try to get Brady punished over this. Just make sure you figure out a better way of watching and checking game balls from now on. Officials do your job better. Check AND maintain the balls.

That's what I was saying at the very beginning of this mess.

TWINS...BOOM! BOOM! BOOOOOOM!!!!

Those blasts last night were impressive. Torii continues to turn back the clock. Eddie Rosario, who I wanted to replace Torii this year, made his case for me with one pitch, and Vargas hit a ball that's still traveling...

All of that AND we had another great pitching performance from one of the young guys.

It was a great night to be a Twins fan. We're killing the struggling teams while playing good ball against the contenders. That's how you keep fan interest. That's how you give your franchise hope. That's why we keep watching.

Rosario on his FIRST pitch. That was really cool.

Low Scoring Losses

The Wild are probably done.

The Twins faced some great pitching.

That's sports.

Torii!!

Phil Hughes had his worst start of the season last night. It's kind of hard to comeback from giving up a first inning grandslam, but Torii Hunter answered with a three-run blast of his own in the bottom of the sixth, and Perkins managed a shaky ninth to pull out the win for Hughes 8-7.

whew.

 What made this even cooler was the Star Wars theme of the night.

May the Fourth Be With You.

And

Hughes the Force, Phil.

The Hughes Star Wars action figure was sweet as well.


All I have got to say is, "Go Twins!"

Twins Aren't the Worst!!!!!

As long as the White Sox keep playing that poorly, we will look good in comparison. Much of what the Twins did the last four games was really good, but Chicago was doing everything wrong. I'm glad we could take advantage of that.

The Wild took another step in the wrong direction last night. I watched it until Chicago was up 2-0 and went to bed. I'm not smelling Lord Stanley's cup any more...

Draft

The Vikings final draft pick was another linebacker, Edmond Robinson. He's the first pick ever from Division II Newberry. Ben Goessling from ESPN says at 6' 3'' and 245 he's going to have to ADD WEIGHT to have a chance with Minnesota.

This is after the brief discussion the Nimble One and I had yesterday about the 225 pound linebacker (Eric Kendrik) we got in round two. (His LISTED weight of 232 is an exaggeration.) I'm 225 pounds. I couldn't move a 350 pound lineman if my life depended on it. And I'm deceptively quick as well (at my age I've been known to get from my bed to the bathroom in under two minutes...)

It's amazing what a good weight program will do for these guys in the next couple of years. I'm looking forward to the Vikings this season. Except for one dark cloud...

Money Mayweather

There is only one name in boxing now that commands top dollar and attention, Floyd Mayweather. It's HIS name that elevates the fights and opponents he faces and, last night, he reigned supreme once more. He never knocks those opponents out any more. He just out finesses them for the decisions.

And he's brilliant in those decisions.

I missed last night's fight. That's the first one I've missed in quite a while. The price was too high for my blood, but I was pretty confident it would look just like his other fights. According to experts, he did what he always does.

He's already retired twice. And he made more money last night than anybody ever made in one night. But he's still so good that another fight is not out of the question. Pacquiao was good enough to get the rematch.

And there's all that MONEY still left on the table.

Nolasco, Plouffe, Hunter...BOOOOOOM!!!

I can't believe how much I'm enjoying this season. After that abysmal start, the Twins have already scratched and clawed their way back to .500.

As my dad used to say, "I didn't look for that."

And Pelfrey is pitching today!

Low expectations are still far better than hope, though. I'd rather be surprised than disappointed at this point.

More Draft

The Vikings picked an under-sized middle linebacker, Eric Kendrik from UCLA, as their second pick in the draft. He's got a great rep.

Danielle Hunter, a 250 pound defensive end from LSU was their third pick.

The Vikings make defense a priority every season. Most analysts think we got some great picks.

All we can do is sit back and see.

Gibson!!!!!!

I sure have been using A LOT of exclamation points lately. Great defense, including a nice catch by Torii, superb pitching, and heads up base running by the Man Mountain (!?!) known only as Vargas, produced the only run, and one of the coolest wins of the season.

More good news?  Stauffer, who has been worthless the whole season, has went on the disabled list. I don't wish ill-will on anyone, but the Twins weren't going to admit they made a mistake in signing him by taking him off the roster, so the situation took care of itself. With Fien on the DL as well, the Twins have room for the returning Nolasco and Duensing, both back from the DL.

The Twins have also decided that Ryan Pressly is a greater asset than Caleb Thielbar. As a result Caleb is going back to Rochester to make room for Ryan.

I'm a bit bummed that Tommy Milone is heading to Rochester, too, because his past record has been better than either Nolasco or Pelfrey. But LATELY he has stunk up the place, and something had to give. And the other guys have less options in their contracts.

He's probably only a pitching injury away from being called back, though. Those injuries just won't stop...

Wild Lose

Minnesota got off to a horrible start. Gave us hope. Then turned into a typical Minnesota team and lost.

sigh

The Draft

Winston and Mariota went one and two last night, as expected. The Vikings took a 6 foot cornerback, Trae Waynes, from Michigan State in round one. He is the highest-drafted defensive back in the team's history. This continues the trend that the Vikings started in 2012 with Harrison Smith. EIGHT of their last 30 draft picks have been defensive backs.

On a sadder note, the Vikings still say they refuse to trade the child-beater who shall remain nameless.

I won't be able to enjoy the Vikings until he's gone. No matter what they do.

Wild Tonight

They have to beat Chicago on the road in this series. Their last six playoff games AT Chicago? 0-6.

Go Wild!!!

BOOOOM!!!!

Now, that's more like it.

Trevor May was good. Mauer is batting over .400 in his last 9 games (including some pretty nice extra base hits) AND that third inning was spectacular.

All of this with at least three pitchers currently on the disabled list.

I don't want to say the Twins have hope. That's the Curse of Death, (ask the Cranky One about that) but I will say that the Twins are playing well against average teams while playing better against the good ones.

And they've been BUNTING lately, for hits!

It's like they've been reading my blog.

Go Twins!!!