Alas, I don't have a good lyric to insert here

Oh man, this blog may not be suitable for anyone. Especially if you are offended by swear words or would like to fight me on some issues. This entry was definitely not made to explain stats or facts. This is a 100% feeling and 99% of that is frustration.

Congratulations Pohlad, Ryan, and all the front staff. If you wanted to beat down your players and break the fans hearts…well, you succeeded. It is a sad mother fucking day in baseball when you end a season beat down. It is also a sad day when I read articles about Santana not knowing if he’ll be back because he will be expensive. That ya’ll might shop our ace out. I mean, after all it worked when we traded Knoblauch, why not do it again. Right? (Insert the sarcasm.) And then there is Hunter. No one can blame the guy for just wanting the trade to be done with. I mean, between the Powers That Be and the media he has been hounded with this since mid-season. I think the only people that really care are the fans and we all know we have no power to change the outcome.
Here is an interesting quote from Hunters interview:

"Somebody needs to slap a couple people around and say, 'You've got to play no matter what," Hunter said.
He then added, "If you don't play every day, and you're a good player, then how can you help the team win?"
Hunter was asked if he meant Joe Mauer, referring to speculation earlier this season that Mauer wasn't doing enough to play through leg injuries, and Hunter said he didn't. Rather he pointed to the fact he feels it's a different group of players on the Twins than when he first arrived.
"It's a different breed. I don't know what's going on in the Minor Leagues, but it's different," Hunter said.

Well, if you were expecting to see a noble, head-held high style from the Twins going out of 2007 you will be sadly disappointed. Like it is said, there is no crying in baseball, but there is a lot of bitching and moaning. Instead of a fitting tribute to most of the players and all of the fans, hoping to see a respectable ending, we have injured players leaving the season a few days early, we have veterans frustrated and we have respected players being treated like shit. Yeah, I know…I can sit in my cubicle and write about how wussy everyone is. Yeah, I know that if I was hurt I would be the first one lying on the bench whilst someone fanned me and brought me Gatorade. Yeah, I know that it is a long season and it is embarrassing and frustrating to keep playing under this disguise of mockery. However…I also know that this kind of shit wouldn’t fly in my Land O’Cubicles, there would be a pretty pink slip waiting for me the next morning. Alas, I don’t get paid in millions, I get paid in handfuls.

And so ends my cranky/bitter rant. Don’t worry…I won’t be ending my baseball blogging season on this note (ahem…) I will come back and write a witty memory-filled tribute to 2007 that hopefully will overshadow this disappointing week.

I look forward to seeing some good old fashioned competitive baseball in October (as long as it isn’t the Yankees all the way through.)

It is said…
A band-wagon fan jumps on and off with the highs and lows. A real fan stays on and cheers when winning and bitches when losing. What kind of fan are you?

Take this sinking boat and point it home / We've still got time

Raise your hopeful voice you had a choice / You've made it now - Falling Slowly, The Frames (Glen Hansard) from the motion picture "Once"

Well, color me surprised. Silva pitched well. He pitched into the 8th without giving up a run. Sure, Detroit had 7 hits but our great defense shut them down after they got on base. On a slightly snarky Silva note (say that three times fast) I like how the review of the game had a flavor of Silva and LeCroy making a great duo and that they will most likely be paired up for Silva’s final start. Are you f-ing telling me that all it takes is having LeCroy behind the plate? Are you telling me that Baby Jesus, Red or that other kid weren’t the right match up? Now, I know, I know…that’s not what they meant but it sure looked like someone (cough) is grasping at straws to find a reason why Silva had a crappy year (much like last years.) Yeah, again…I know, I know his numbers aren’t bad but this year we needed better than “not bad.” I am not saying that Silva is to blame for our crap-tacular (yes, this word was necessary) year but he was part of it. And that is the end of my slightly snarky Silva rant.

And on to another…
Right now we are sitting at a record of 77-79. I know I am not the only one who feels that this wouldn’t be a good year to have a losing season (the first since 2000.) We need something to hold us through April (or February if you are obsessive compulsive) so we really need them to win four out of the next six games.

Baseball and Vodka, bringing people together
Well, I can safely say that my quirky knowledge of baseball paid off last night. Whilst at happy hour(s) I entered into a heated baseball debate with a stranger two stools down. As the 6th and 7th innings passed we found a mutual respect between our teams…Twins and Rockies. Jim/Bob/Bill was so impressed with my skillz (yeah, with a z) that he bought Tiff and I another round (at full price) to convince us to stay and watch the end of the game. Not only did I get my free drink but I got to watch my team beat Los Tigres whilst sharing the secrets of our beloved Twins. Thank you Bill/Bob/Jim/whatever your name and thank you Baseball.

What if no one's watching/What if when we're dead, we're just dead

What if it's just us down here/What if God ain't looking down/What if he's looking up instead - What If No One's Watching, Ani DiFranco

I know there is no crying in baseball but watching Torii leaving the field in the 9th to a standing ovation…I cried. Stacy Cried. Curlz (Risa) sent me a text that she was crying. Man, baseball is tough.

I missed a lot of the games due to circumstances outside of my control (social life) but I did catch what I could.
Friday, 9/21: L 4-6 (missed to due Ani DiFranco)
Saturday, 9/22: L 3-8 (missed due to the live action production of My Little Pony’s World’s Largest Freak show/Tea Party)
Sunday, 9/23: W 7-1 (watched whilst dozing on sofa)

Tonight Hi Ho Silva takes the mound. It isn’t a secret that I have been anti-Silva most of this season but I always reserve judgment one more game…so we’ll see how he does tonight.

Seven games left.

When Baseball Bloggers Attack!

Well, we really didn’t attack or anything but we met-up.

Last night was a quadruple threat of the female baseball bloggers at the Dome. Besides myself there was Third Base Line, Curlz and Curveballs (although Curveballs is a boy) and Karleeee from OMG MN Twins.

I met up with Third Base Line to enjoy my last game of the season. I can safely say that she is as cool, witty, sarcastic and basebally (I know it isn’t an actual word) in person as she projects in her blog. We talked of many things including baseball (shocker, eh), tattoos, pink jerseys, Mrs. Joe Mauer shirts, The Levelers (see, I remembered), vegetarian food, beer, more music, the wave, being granola, a smidge of politics and the fact Punto is batting .209.

Can I pick ‘em or what? Last night’s game was fantastic. There was mystery, intrigue, saves, wins, homeruns, my fave blue uniforms, jeering, mocking and it ended with a sweep. This series put the “fun” back into basefunball.

T-shirt of the game: A girl wearing a homemade “I’m Nuddy for Cuddy” t-shirt.

Dear Curlz/Risa,
I do forgive you for hanging up on me in order to take photos of Guerrier. I would really, really forgive you if you share photos and/or stories, especially of meeting with Barty (shallow, I know.)

Dear Amy,
I hope you enjoy your new office water glass that once held my Diet Coke. I felt that it was fate stepping in which provided me with a Morneausey cup. I think it is a sappy and fitting end to the season.

It can’t be wrong / When it feels so right / ’Cause you / You light up my life

We all knew it would happen. We all knew that the Twins would play ball like they uses. That they would play ball like they used to and it wouldn’t matter because the playoff runs were over for us. Oh well, it was a great game anyways. It wasn’t a great game for the Rangers though…especially the shortstop Young. We all know it is exciting when the other team has an error but there’s a point where you are like “D’oh dude, what are you doing?” …as our player trots home for a run. Yeah, I caught most of the game but there were two kids in the house and I was an assistant babysitter and there was throwing up (not by me) and screaming (only partially from me.) Oye.

I am going to my final live game of the season tonight thanks to Third Base Line. I am excited to see what happens at our final game against the Rangers, chat with TBL and bust out my traditions and oddities/eccentric-ness one last time.

Hey Curlz, maybe I will see you at the game tonight. You and Curveball should try really hard to get on the Kiss Cam so I can point and say “Hey, I know them!”

PS: Nice to see that Silva is stepping up his game since his future with the Twins is uncertain right now. Yeah, maybe if he stepped up during a few more pivotal games earlier in the year his future wouldn’t be uncertain. Ah, why am I so mean to that man? Probably because my Silva-loving/Hunter-hater co-worker got me all riled up this morning. Oh, and I don’t think anyone was more shocked than I was to see him get out of that ugly moment in the sixth when he had the bases loaded. Whoa baby, color me shock ‘n awed.

Hells bells/Hells bells, you got me ringing/Hells bells, my temperature’s high/Hells bells

Well, hells bells. Just when the getting gets down the Twins stage a classic moment for us to get sucked into again. Last nights game was fun, plain old fashioned fun. Alas, due to obligatory Monday Night Happy Hour I missed the first six innings of the game but I saw the important moments on the highlight reel. Besides, the last few innings were the best!
Lucky Risa (Curlz) was at the game enjoying another fantastic baseball moment. I received a text towards the end of the game. Hey Curlz, did you make it on the Kiss Cam?
With that being said...Did you all see Barty have a great game? What about Cuddy? Oh, anyone else laugh when Gardy reenacted the first base incident with Barty and the Rangers first baseman? And then he was ejected. No one was surprised.

Well, five home games left and then we are in Detroit and Boston. I am going to sit back and enjoy the remaining games whilst obsessively following the Wild Card standings. I am sure you all have a few teams you would like to not make the playoffs.

My motto’s always been; when it’s right, it’s right / Why wait until the middle of a cold dark night

Sky rockets in flight / Afternoon delight / Oh, afternoon delight.

How can you not love the Starland Vocal Band? These lyrics are in honor of Gregg who is a closet fan of the Starland Vocal Band (along with the Doodletown Fifers.)

Friday 9/14 vs Los Tigres – L 2-4
Saturday 9/15 vs Los Tigres – L 3-4
Sunday 9/16 vs Los Tigres – L 4-6

Sad.

Dear Baseball,
I am not neglecting you. I am passively watching you whilst weaning you out of my day to day lifestyle. It is going to be hard but I’ll make it. Afterall, March isn’t that far away…is it?

That being said, I did catch some of the game on Saturday whilst nerding out at Amy’s house. Occasionally we like to gather in one spot and be geeks together. We watched the BBC America version of the new Robin Hood and then some of the Sci-Fi show Torchwood but took time out to watch Santana rock the mound. Well, rock probably isn’t the word I am looking for but it is Santana and he is a rock star. That first inning was disheartening.
Sunday was the same feeling. I was flipping between baseball and football (Wait! I was watching football because The Uncle was over and that’s his thing. If The Uncle wants to watch football we better damn well be watching football.)

There are six home games left. Who wants to hit one of them up? I need to go to at least one more game and say goodbye to the 2007 Season in person.
Any takers?

The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead / When the skies of November turn gloomy

- The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, Gordon Lightfoot

In honor of someone feeling the love for Glen Campbell (glad I am not alone on that) I am breaking out a little Gordon Lightfoot.

The Twins Sisters must have brought a little luck on their road trip to KC.
Monday 9/10 – W 4-2
Tuesday 9/11 – W 6-3

I watched most of the game last night with a few interruptions. I chatted with Amy (via my new Sidekick) for some portions of the game. However, every time something big happened I was either in the kitchen, in the basement or flipping to watch the pilot episode of The Office. Damn you, viewing conflicts! Due to the miracle of technology I did watch the last inning this morning at 5:45 a.m. whilst getting ready for work. Nathan came in for his third Save in a row.

Anyone else notice that the games have been a little slow in KC? Last nights game ran over and the night before also. Let’s pick it up a little.

Today I will be watching the game from the comfort of my cubicle via Game Day.

Two and a half weeks left of Minnesota Twins baseball…sniff.

Come on, come on, love me for the money/Come on, come on, listen to the moneytalk

Jon Heyman’s “Daily Scoop” centered on the Twins and the non-talking money

“Leavin’ Minnesota? Low offers may drive away Twins’ Hunter, Santana”

Seriously, this is starting to piss me the fuck off. Here are a few blurbs that got my baseball blood boiling.

They have a long history of being trouble free, good teammates and loyal to the core (although their loyalty is being used against them here with these stunningly low offers).

Pohlad, ranked by Forbes as the 107th richest man in America with an estimated $2.6 billion, has seen the value of his team rise by an estimated six times since buying the Twins for $44 million in 1984.

Pohlad for years also been baseball's tightest multibillionaire (also perhaps its only multibillionaire).

The Twins did well to sign star catcher and hometown hero Joe Mauer to a four-year deal this winter, but bids to extend Justin Morneau and Joe Nathan went nowhere.

I know, you have all heard it before…if Pohlad can run around buying jewelry stores, radio stations, contributing to political campaigns, yadda yadda yadda…why the hell can’t he put up a little more money in his investment? What is that saying that shopahoilcs always say to defend themselves when spending extravagantly? You gotta spend money to save money? Or, I guess it would be “You gotta spend money to earn even more money that you can roll around on in your million-acre McMansion.

This weekend in baseball
Friday – Lose by one (10-11)
Saturday – Lose by one (7-8)
Sunday – Win by Kubel’s homerun! (5-2)

Non-money ranting baseball topic: Ah, druggies. We all know one; we all have them in our lives somehow. However, if you are a professional baseball player is it really worth it? I guess you don’t have to answer that unless you are caught. I am just bringing this up because the top three headlines under Sports Illustrated MLB are Doping, Steroids and Accusations. There are few “pure” things left in the sporting world I would rather not have to hang my head ashamedly due to crazy drug issues. End public service announcement.

Like a rhinestone cowboy / Riding out on a horse in a star-spangled rodeo

The title is in continuance of getting catchy songs stuck in peoples head.

Well, yesterday’s day game was sad/painful/depressing/frustrating. All of those words seem to be commonly used as descriptions this last series against Grady’s Ladies (Cleveland for those who don’t know about my mocking of Grady Sizemore's fan club.)

It appears as if everyone has given up in the clubhouse. Maybe it is time to shake things up and make these last three weeks of baseball fun, fun for the players and fun for the fans. I really am looking forward to these games. I know that once the final out happens at the bottom of the 9th on September 30 in Boston it will be all over for the Twins until February of next year when players start reporting to Spring Training. Yeah, I know that the four months that my world is without baseball is really a short period of time in the grand scheme of life. However, there is no baseball. Nothing to watch whilst drinking beer or crocheting. Nothing to distract me during Monday Night Happy hours. Nothing to make me obsessively check my cell for score updates when I am not by a television. Nothing to doze on the sofa on a Sunday afternoon. No Dollar Dog Night, no Circle me Bert, no Twingo, no Full Count, no late nights at the Dome, no bleary eyed morning afters. Nothing.

Well, I hate to leave you on that depressing note but hey, thems the apples.

You take the good, you take the bad / You take them both and there you have

Here is the new deck at the house. This is where I sat drinking a beer and listening to the games.

Before you all panic and start threatening me (uh, Curlz?) I have not gone over to the dark side, to football. Not even in baseball’s off season. (I don’t like my sports to overlap.) I will enjoy hockey and curling during the snowy months.

And on to the point of this blog…baseball.
To quote the lyrics to a well known television series that struck home with many viewers “You take the good, you take the bad / you take them both and there you have / The Facts of Life, the Facts of Life."
The same can be said about baseball, specifically the MN Twins.

Here we are into our last month of baseball. Last year at this time there was an air of nervous energy. We were fighting for our spot in postseason, toiling for the Wildcard race. In the end, due to some very erratic circumstances we secured our spot as American League Central Champs. (I get goose bumps thinking about that game, you know “that” one.) In the present moment I find myself just wanting to enjoy the remaining games that we have in September.

The results are in…
Friday, Aug 31 - L 4-9, W 5-0
Saturday, Sept 1 - W 6-4
Sunday, Sept 2 - L 1-8
Monday, Sept 3 - L 0-5
Tuesday, Sept 4 - L 5-7 (in painful extra innings)

Last night's game was a heartbreaker, an old fashioned up and down game of baseball. I think Dick & Bert cursed it when in the 6th Inning they were talking about Guerrier and how tonight Slowey would get the Win and/or Nathan would get the Save (that Guerrier knows his role and it isn’t to get Wins or Saves.) Then it goes in to the 9th with Nathan at the mound. A homerun tied the game. I tried but I couldn’t watch past the 10th. This morning I woke up to catch the 11th being replayed on FSN. I watched as DePaula had the bases loaded and the inning ended with Cleveland pulling ahead with 7 runs. Ouch. I guess it is time to shake off the dust and go in to the day game today and play again. (By the way, I was offered suite tickets again but due to Amy not having PTO to use for a half day and me not wanting to go with anyone else we aren’t going.)

Aren’t you impressed that I can write a lot and really not “say” anything?