Mild Weather and Mild Baseball

Cleveland 7, Twins 3 in 12 innings

Today I hurt: my head hurts, my heart hurts and my Twins hurts.

12 innings are summarized with…
Hi Ho Silva did averagely okay
One inning of great offense
Barty is struggling for his SS groove
Morneausey is having a bad streak
One grape martini, one blueberry vodka mix, one Philly sushi roll, edamame and three hours of gossip all prevented me from catching the first four innings
Jesse Crain (or Crainadian by Pulling a Blyleven) did not do so well (understatement of the year?)
When Torii hit his homerun they played the StarWars theme song.

RedSox Swept Yankees? Hey Chicken Little, is the sky falling?

Is it bad that I laugh at the Yankees getting swept by the Red Sox? Is it bad that my two favorite teams are the Twins and whoever is playing the Yankees? Man, I sound like a Packer vs. Vikings football fan. Yikes! It is not that I hate the Yankees, they just make me mental!

In Twins news: The only non-televised game this weekend ended up being the only one we won. D’oh! Friday was painful, Saturday sounded funny and Sunday was poor. Come on boys!!! Don’t make me break out my lucky charms again *insert squeaky Irish accent saying “Ye can’t get me lucky charms!”* Oh, I know Amy is beating her head right now and that makes me giggle.

Tonight the Twins are back in against the Indians! Watch out for some girls wearing pink shirts that call themselves “Grady’s Ladies.” Eek! I guess it is no worse than the girls here wearing pink Joe “Baby Jesus” Mauer jerseys.
Oh and Hi Ho Silva is pitching. Let’s sit back and judge!

Twins 6, Mariners 5 - the last inning was a nail biter

Minnesota Twins 6, Mariners 5

Whew, it was a pretty scary ending and ya’ll know how I don’t like scary movies. As the game progressed it was less about the status of the game and more about getting the W(in) for Santana.

Tonight I headed over to Amy’s apartment to watch the game and celebrate her signing away her life and closing on her first house (townhouse in Maple Grove). We watched the game whilst eating pizza.

Here are a few observations and comments tossed around the game viewing (please remember that we love baseball, understand the way it is played and respect the talent and skills it takes, however we also can be kind of girly):

· Low and behold it is Baby Jesus’ (Joe Mauer) birthday. Happy Birthday Baby Jesus!!! 24, man I am old!
· In the third inning I caught the Joe Mauer Birthday Montage that FSN produced.
· In honor of Joe’s birthday he got a hit and got hit (a nasty pitch to the elbow…ouch!)
· Bert Blyleven saying not once but twice that the pitchers are the best athletes on the field. Biased? Nah!
· Amy kept getting distracted by Sherrill’s (Mariner’s) pitch delivery. It was kind of a Vegas Showgirl kick.
· Sexon (1B Mariners) is 6’9” which is very tall when I am only 5’3”. We liked to compare him to other players that made it to first base. Casilla was only to his elbow.
· This next observation is in honor of Amy and her love of Morneau. It has become commonplace that when Morneausey strikes out he likes to say a particular swear word (starts with F and ends with UCK). Anyways, I think the camera people are catching on and make a point to not show him during that moment. Tonight they must have forgotten because in the slow motion replay of his strike out we got to see Morneausey drop the F-Bomb in slow-mo. Nice.
· Corrections! Bert is going for a triple threat. He just commented that pitchers are the best athletes. Third time’s a charm.

Random non-baseball news:
· The Wild are in Anaheim playing their little Minnesota Glory hearts out trying to line up the match. Right now it is 3 games (Anaheim) to 1 Wild. Come on guys!!! Captain Stanley would like a vacation to the Xcel Center.
· I washed my hands in Amy’s bathroom and dried them with a collections edition of a Harry Potter “Hogswart’s” hand towel. Nice touch. I hope she puts that out in her new place!

Twins 11, Seattle 2 - Felt secure enough to go to bed early

Ah, life vest! You make me feel so secure. Kind of like Ortiz in our pitching line up. Oh, if only Silva could obtain that status.

Minnesota Twins 11, Seattle 2

Damn you West Coast for having the game start at 9:00 p.m. This girl can’t stay awake until midnight! Especially when I wake up at 5:45 a.m. Argh! Another bad side effect…It is too late to call Amy with random baseball talk.

You know, it was a good thing that Stacy was sitting in the dining room last night. She may have not have been paying attention to me but if she wasn’t there I would have looked like a crazy person talking to myself. Well, crazier than normal.

If you were quietly observing me in the corner here are a few things you may have overheard me say whilst watching the Baseball game…

Oh good! They have Bartlett back in
Hey! Baby Jesus is going to be 25 on Thursday, man I am old
We are on fire!
Uh oh, Bert already said something wrong. I think Dick just gently corrected his blooper about a triple versus a double
The pirantas are back? When did they leave? Hey, I saw piranhas in the Bahamas. Not that I saw them outside of a glass box aquarium or anything
Dude, 7 to 1? I guess I can go to bed early!
Whoa! The Wild are up 4 to 1. That is going to be a good game. I bet Gregg is really hung over tomorrow.
Stacy! Come look! There is a big fight on the ice. So, this Anaheim guy hit the Wild guy but it was a bad, unsportsmanlike like hit. Look! Did you see that?
What? They are walking Morneausey to load the bases. I hate when they do that. I feel bad for the next player up. It is like he is the last picked for dodge ball. Come on Hunter!!!
Holy Shit! Hunter just hit a homerun! *insert evil laughter* I guess that will teach the Mariners to think it would be better to face Hunter than Morneausey. Mmmwwwahahaaha
Oh, one of the Wild players is on the ice “taking a lap”. The announcer just said that he felt bad for the Refs in Anaheim who inherit the fight issue. Man, I gotta watch that on Thursday. Come on Wild!!!No Stacy, don’t worry. I won’t be double-timing between hockey and baseball. I won’t cheat on baseball that way.
Uh, it is almost 11:00, I am going to bed.

Sailing the Seas and Missing Baseball

I have been removed from baseball and the MN Twins the last four days due to my brief stint on a cruise ship. Here are the stats from the three games:
Tampa Bay Run
Thursday 4/12: Twins 3, TB 2 – Win
Friday 4/13: Twins 2, TB 4 – Loss
Saturday 4/14: Twins 12, TB 5 – Win
Sunday 4/15: Twins 4, TB 6 – Loss

Next run is at Seattle! Sheesh, I don’t know if I can make it through an entire 9:00 p.m. CT start time but I will try!

Do you believe in miracles?

Yeah, that is a hokey play off the World’s Greatest Sporting Moment EVER! Hey, I am from Minnesota: Land of Herb Brooks, breeder of 1980’s Team USA Hockey, red carpet event for the Disney Miracle movie. I can get away with it.

And onto baseball…
Twins 5, Yankees 1
Last night was a great game, not just because we won but because we actually played! Ortiz is keeping strong and on the fast track to be Minnesota’s Darling. I used my mad-remote control skills last night in order to flip between The Game and Criminal Minds/CSI: NY. I believe I was successful.

On a personal girly note: I was much bummed to see that Bartlett wasn’t playing last night. Dick & Bert said it was because he had a sore leg but other articles said it was because of his stats. Man, can you give the guy a break? Hello? We leave Hi Ho Silva in for six ugly innings and Ponson in for 5 2/3? Huh!

Segueing from Pitch Bitching onto our Cy Young…

Reading in a CNN Sports Illustrated article that highlights Terry Ryan's decision of signing three Journeymen onto our rotation:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/jon_heyman/04/11/baseball0416/index.html

Despite the recent setback in negotiations, the Twins aren't abandoning hope that they can get a deal done with their ace (Santana).
And why not? Surprising results are their trademark.

I am not sure if they mean that in a positive way or not. Hmm…

In other Sporting News:
The Wild lost the first playoff game in Anaheim last night.

I am trying to hang on and watch the game!

Twins 1, Yankees 7 – Bottom of the 8th

Why don’t ya’ll just kick me while I am down!?!?

I missed the first two innings of the game but Amy called me at the end of the 1st to tell me that we were already down 2 – 0. At the time I was stuck in the carwash, marveling over the Tri-Color Foam (which wasn’t the brilliant jewel tones as advertised). I was impressed by the fact that the Tri-Color Foam smelled just like a Dairy Queen Cherry Artic Blast Mr. Misty Freeze. Mmm…I want one now!

Positive notes:
I really like when we (the Twins) wear the dark blue uniforms. They look snazzy, especially Bartlett. *sigh* I “heart” him.

Even though I don’t like the Yankees I do really love Jorge Posada. He is such a classy guy.

We are one step closer to our new ballpark!
Board Ruling Favors Twins in Park Bid:
http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070410&content_id=1890964&vkey=news_min&fext=.jsp&c_id=min

Alternative Sporting Note:
GO WILD!!! They will start the first round of playoffs against the Ducks!

Twins 2, Yankees 8 - Ouch!

Twins 2, Yankees 8 - Ouch!

Here is my limerick
I will not rant
I will not whine
I will not complain
About wasted time
Yes, it hurt
Yes, I cried
I will not sigh
Over wasted time

I thought I would share some snippets from the phone conversations between Amy and myself during the game last night:

After the commercial for Spotlight on Joe Mauer Night (Baby Jesus is being honored all through the night plus a post-game show. You know, just in case you didn’t know everything about him.)
J: Did you just see that commercial and hear Baby Jesus’ (Joe Mauer’s) new theme song?
A: Yeah *insert singing*
J: *Insert singing along*

After Kubel’s missed catch
J: And that is why we don’t particularly like him!
A: True that, sistah!

Jeeter’s walk after being “hit” by a pitch
J: Did Ponson just hit Jeeter in the crotch? I think he purposely walked into that!

A: *Insert laughter*
J: *Insert inappropriate comment*
A: *Insert a return inappropriate comment*

A-Rod: Love vs. Hate
No one runs more hot and cold than the Yankee fans regarding A-Rod. I find the articles and debates regarding him (especially since last year) very interesting. I guess now that he has five home-runs under his gilded belt he is loved. Well, except that one time when he missed a catch and was booed, then he was hated. But, he did hit two homeruns that game so the fans forgave him. Oh, except he missed a foul fly and they booed him again. Man, it would be really hard to be A-Rod. Good thing he has piles of money to keep him warm.

A Random Trip Around Baseball:
I saw a photo of C.J. Wilson, pitcher for Texas Rangers. His “stance” looks like an inverted Karate Kid crane pose.

Twins 3, Orioles 2, Soapbox and 160 games to go!

To quote our noble FSN sports announcers Dick Bremer and Bert Blyleven “The Boof is on fire!” Insert *groan*

Twins 3, Oh-ri-Oh-ri-Oles 2
Standard line heard throughout game and this morning’s articles: The Piranha’s are back!

Please note: I am a girl and the following comment may only be understood by fellow “girls” who get goosebumps during video montages and says “What a nice guy!” when a player on the opposing team helps up a fallen player. This all leads into a quote I found in an article this morning regarding our team last night:

''They're a great little team,'' Orioles designated hitter Kevin Millar said. ''They're very fundamentally sound. They pitch, they pitch and they pitch, and they've got enough offensively that they match up well.''

Doesn’t that give you a warm, fuzzy feeling with a side of “Duh, it is about time!”? This segues into my topic irrational rant today…

Are the Twins invisible?

It seems our press coverage and prediction votes get pushed aside for glamorous Japanese pitchers and NY tiffs. When we do win we get an almost surprised respect from other teams, sports writers and news guys. “What a great little team?” Little team? Did we just start? Last time I checked we weren’t new to winning? I know we have had some down times but I think the pennants speak for themselves. “They are scrappy?” Come on! Scrappy? What are we? Boney kneed twelve year olds? Yes, I like when they refer to us in a positive light but let’s not be surprised by the Twins. We may not have the street-cred like the Yankees, Whitesox and Tigers but we do deliver.
Okay, I am getting of my soapbox now.

Since this is all about Baseball but my version of being a fan, I would like to chat about wardrobe options at a game:
No maintenance fans: T-shirt/jersey, ball cap (optional), jeans, comfortable shoes
Low maintenance fans: Twins t-shirt/jersey, combed hair, matching jewelry, cute shoes
High maintenance: Club-wear. Why would you come to a game wear strappy high heeled sandals, skirt/gaucho pants (gaucho’s have to be worn with high heeled knee-high boots), fancy top, lots of make-up and big hoop earrings? *sigh*

Forecast: We get to see our new pitcher Ortiz in action and Andy Pettitte opens for the Yanks.

2 games down, 160 to go!

Home Opener: Minnesota Twins, 7 vs. Baltimore Orioles, 4

TWINS WIN 7-4!!!
There were threats of cold weather and rain but I knew the baseball Gods wouldn’t let it rain on Home Opener!!! Although our game is hosted under the World’s Ugliest Dome (Metrodome) and the dome is covered, who wants it to rain on baseball’s greatest day? Peeks of sun and mild temperatures confirmed that the baseball Gods had my back!

Here is my recap:
· My Home Opener posse: Gregg “Al Franken”, Geoff, Patrick, Amy and Foley.
· Pre-game happy hour was at Matty B’s bar (owned by MN Viking, Matt Birk). We got to see Matt Birk live and in person. He is actually kind of hunky! I was going to wave him over for a photo with the guys but they totally freaked out on me. I wish I captured the look of utter embarrassment on their faces. You would think they were teenage girls and I was the mom waving over a Backstreet Boy and embarrassing them. Sheesh!
· I consumed two beers, one Mike’s Hard Lemonade, one Brat, and one Giant Pretzel.
· Our seats were kind of crappy due to the fact people were walking up and down during the entire game, instead of observing standard baseball etiquette. See below for rant.
· Back to back homeruns by Morneausey and Torii Hunter. Lots of screaming and High-Fiving!
· Gregg hates: signs, the wave, fans that throw back the opposing team’s homerun ball (which I kind of agree with but I wouldn’t want to get beat up so I would follow the tradition) and fans running on the field.
· I like: to make fun of Gregg, doing the wave to piss Gregg off and when the stupid fan streaks the field and gets tackled by security. Yeah!!!

Noteworthy:
· I am going to miss most of the game tonight due to my volunteer job! Damn me for being a “giver”! I will try to catch the end of the game on the car radio.
· Wednesday night you will find me at the Park Tavern watching the game, eating chicken wings, drinking beer and cheering the Twins with Amy. Stop on by!
· I wore my Santana t-shirt with a black cardigan, jeans and black shoes. I neglected to bring my Giant Foam Finger but I will remember it next time! Hey, my blog is called Lipgloss & Baseball!
· I will post photos once I load them on my computer.

Pitching Preview:
· Monday, April 2 (HOME OPENER) vs. Baltimore Orioles – Johan “2x Cy Young" Santana
· Tuesday, April 3 vs. Baltimore Orioles – Boof Bonser
· Wednesday, April 4 vs. Baltimore Orioles – Ramon Ortiz
· Friday, April 3 at Chicago Whitesox – Carlos Silva pitching – eek!
· Saturday, April 7 at Chicago Whitesox – Sidney Ponson

What happened around the leagues on Opening Day?
AL
MIN, 7 vs. BAL, 4
NYY, 9 vs. TB, 5
TOR, 5 vs. DET, 3
CLE, 12 vs. CWS, 5
KC, 7, vs. BOS, 1
SEA, 4 vs. OAK, 0
LAA, 4 vs. TEX, 1

NL
ATL, 5 vs. PHI, 3
FLA, 9 vs. WSH, 2
MIL, 7 vs. LAD, 1
CIN, 5 vs. CHC, 1
ARI, 8 vs. COL, 6
PIT, 4 vs. HOU, 2