I loved you from the start/’cause Christmas ain’t the time/for breaking each other’s heart

I believe it is time to discuss salary caps
“A-rod set another record for baseball’s highest contract, finalizing his $275 million, 10-year agreement with the Yankees.” Are you kidding me? 275 million real-world-dollars? When I read that I think I threw up in my mouth a little. Ah, my friends, this baseball loving, trash talking gal is a little bitter/peeved about this kind of stuff.

The Mitchell Reports
Wow, the names are really stacking up. Tejada, Clemens, Knoblauch, Pettitte, David Justice are just a few early leaks. I guess we’ll see the entire list at 1:00 p.m. CT.

Ouch.
Last night I stayed out way too late drinking and socializing with my fellow cubicle dwellers. My head hurts. My eyes burn. My throat is sore. Hell, even my hair hurts. In my Land O’Cubicles we have a rule that if you can go out on a work night and whoop-it-up than you better damn well pay the piper the next day and drag your sorry ass to the office. Well, this morning we all made it in but no one is looking very well-off. In fact, one of us (not naming names) is a little green and sensitive to loud noises. Hmm…I wonder if it is cruel that I keep calling his desk phone and giggling when it rings shrilly. Eh, such is life.

Video Advent Calendar – 12 Days Until Christmas
Who doesn’t love the Ramones!!! When I found my favorite cake Punk band had a Christmas video, well, I had to put it on my countdown.

The Ramones – Merry Christmas Baby

And the rule of thumb don't apply on me / 'Cause the table are turning

Lyrics from “Trying to Pull Away” featured in the motion picture “Once”, written by Glen Hansard

I have been a horrible, HORRIBLE baseball blogger. Contrary to popular belief I haven’t been blogless due to the fact the Twins were having a rough patch. Actually, if you look close enough I have been so busy rumbling with the nay-sayers. It is a bit like Westside Story. I take the humble, downtrodden approach of the Jets whilst my statistics ridden joy-killing co-workers represent the Sharks. All I need is some whistling and skipping and we would be a Rogers & Hammerstein flick. You know, anytime I can use a musical reference is a good day.

Here we start a hot, muggy and sunny Monday morning. This week will be better since I haven’t imbibed in alcohol or have stayed out way past my bedtime. I am getting too old to recover quickly from one rock and roll night. *shakes head sadly* It was a good a good weekend for baseball, at least for the Twins. Saturday and Sunday chalked up two wins for us (and mayhaps quieted to doubters for a wee bit.) The best part of the wins? Seeing the players that are normally struggling, part-time players step up and deliver big plays (Leeew and Tyner.) I caught the tail end of the game on Saturday since I was out being “cultured” during daylight hours. Non-baseball: I ventured to Uptown (Minneapolis) to catch a “special showing” of this Irish music film called “Once.” They advertised a discussion after the film. I decided to be a brave little toaster and go solo (since my friends break into Baseball and Drinking categories, except Amy.) I arrived at the theater early and sat reading the local entertainment magazine. As the lights were dimming I glanced around and saw eight (8!) other people in the theater. I was slightly worried this would be the world’s lamest post-movie discussion. The movie was fantastic. If you like music, all music, then you should check out the movie or soundtrack. Needless to say I put on my thinking cap and came up with a few discussion and question topics for after the movie. *pats self on back* Back to baseball: Amy is in Wisconsin Dells enjoying waterslides and family time so I have been texting her updates during the weekend’s games. I got to sink into the sofa and watch the entire game on Sunday. It was a pleasure to get back into the line-up.

Stats are a necessary evil. Sometimes I get so involved in numbers that I feel like Rainman so I have to step out of that environment. This time of year normally drives me bonkers since it is all about “Will we make the playoffs? What is our standing in the Wildcard?” Seriously, every pitch, hit, run, ejection and pop-fly changes the numbers and my brain doesn’t have enough memory to deal with that. So, for a few more days I am going to take a break from the World O’Stats and enjoy good old fashioned baseball. One way I am managing that is another co-worker from Salt Lake City is in town this week and we are venturing to the Metrodome to watch the Twins take on the Kansas City Royals. Easy, you say? Oh no, earlier this season I said the same thing about the Nationals and I had to eat a lot of crow.

News Flash: Thursday is the official ground breaking of the new Twins stadium in the Warehouse District. I will probably attend if a.) the weather cooperates, b.) I can drag Amy with me and c.) they don’t make it into a circus.

Let's get the stats out of the way...

Here we are up close and personal to TC the Bear!

55 days until home-opener

Co-baseball team-mate Amy will be in AZ for three weeks. That means she will miss the Spring Training game opener on February 28 but we’ll adjust.



On to the business of baseball!
Today we’ll be taking care of the non-funny, non-gossipy side of Real World Baseball – Statistics. After some research on various sites (official Twins page, Sports Illustrated and MLB.com) I have written my lists.

Projected Line-up for 2007
2B Luis Castillo - .296 BA, 3 HR, 49 RBI in 2006
3B Nick Punto - .290 BA, 1 HR, 45 RBI in 2006
C Joe Mauer - .347 BA, 13 HR, 84 RBI in 2006
RF Michael Cuddyer - .284 BA, 24 HR, 109 RBI in 2006
1B Justin Morneau - .321 BA, 34 HR, 130 RBI in 2006
CF Torii Hunter - .278 BA, 31 HR, 98 RBI in 2006
LF Rondell White - .246 BA, 7 HR, 38 RBI in 2006
DH Jason Kubel - .248 BA, 8 HR, 26 RBI in 2006
SS Jason Bartlett - .309 BA, 2 HR, 32 RBI in 2006

Pitching Rotation for 2007
LHP Johan Santana 19-6, 2.77 ERA
RHP Boof Bonser 7-6, 4.22 ERA
RHP Ramon Ortiz 11-16, 5.57 ERA
RHP Carlos Silva 11-15, 5.94 ERA
LHP Glen Perkins 0-0, 1.59 ERA

Bullpen for 2007
Closer: Joe Nathan – 36 saves, 1.58 ERA
RH Set-up Jesse Crain – 3.52 ERA
LH Set-up Dennys Reyes - .89 ERA

*I promise that the next entry will have some action and adventure.

Non-baseball related sporting news:
Hockey Alert! I watched the Detroit Redwings at New York Rangers game last night. Where were the Rangers? They started big and then gave up. I had to watch the game on the sly whilst Stacy was busy with other activities since evidently baseball is enough of a household sport. Between baseball and hockey there would always be a sport on television.