Minneapolis / St. Paul News Blog

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                                                           Image courtesy of the University of Minnesota

5. Lauren Gibbemeyer

As you might imagine -- Gibbemeyer isn't the only Cretin-Derham alum on this list.  After being named a Division I All-American third teamer in 2008, the ebullient Gophers volleyball mid blocker was named a first team All-American selection in this, her junior season.  Gibbemeyer concluded the campaign ranked in the nation's top-15 in both blocks and hitting percentage, and led the Gophers to their third National Semifinal appearance since 2003.  In doing so, she set the Minnesota single-season record for blocks.

 

                                                                               Images courtesy of Keith Allison

If Joe Mauer ever trended toward any illicit behavior, he's likely never had a problem getting out of a parking ticket or two.  Now -- the Twins' catcher can do whatever the hell he wants!

The St. Paul-native captured the American League Most Valuable Player award today, receiving 27 of 28 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America.  Claiming the award that forever eluded St. Paul luminaries & hardball Hall of Famers Paul Molitor and Dave Winfield will no doubt prove a leviathan bargaining chip in the catcher's contract negotiations.  His present contract, which will pay him $12.5 million this season, expires after the year.

​There are some fans that simply cannot wait to get a first glimpse of Target Field. Construction fencing and plenty of warnings don't seem to stop some of them. But maybe the risk of being banned from the first season would be enough to stop a die-hard fan.

Officials at the Twins future stadium say they have had a handful of attempts to get into the construction zone, including some visiting Canadians sneaking in after bar close.

If construction workers are on site, they usually chase the trespassers away, but often the police are called to the scene. The Twins can then ban you from attending the first season.

We understand the risk is half the fun, but just hold your horses for the first game and it will make the first game that much more exciting.

Check out the KSTP report below.

 

                                                                                                                   Images courtesy of SOM​

"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

                   -F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The Great Gatsby"

 

As the proverb goes: the dog barks, the caravan moves on.  As the ALCS moves on without us, gentle reader, I hope you can suffer me one more baseball bark.

Throughout this season, the Twins last in the Dome, we've taken four prior strolls to recognize the club's now-previous environs.  To revisit these pieces, please click upon the number for each respective column: 1  2  3  4.

Before engendering coverage of Vikings and Gophers football in this space, please enjoy this fifth and final entry, whereupon myriad Twins fans were kind enough to share their video impressions of their own Metrodome Memories and the team's move to Target Field.  Many thanks to all who participated back on 9/15 when the Boys were 5.5 games out with little hope at the postseason.  In about a month from now, we'll hopefully have opportunity to celebrate Joe Mauer's deserved American League MVP, earned via his unprecedented third batting title for a catcher, the highest batting average ever attained by a player at his position(.365), and league-leading slugging (.587) and on-base (.444) percentages.  Until that late-November date, please enjoy the videos below:

After the Yankees swept the Minnesota Twins in the first playoff series, the team had to come back home for moving day. Metrodome field workers made permanent changes, filling in clay pits with cement and sweeping away the mounds of dirt for the last time. Twins players had to pack up their locker gear and say goodbye to their old facility. The Metrodome will now be a football stadium. It was a good run, but now it's time to embrace the idea of playing baseball in the snow. How lovely.

KARE11 has a video report on the changes and team move:

 

​                                                       Images courtesy of Keith Allison, ConspiracyofHappiness

In the bottom of the 7th of last night's season-ending loss to the Yankees, Delmon Young managed to hit himself in the nuts (with batted ball) during an at-bat.  The moment felt symbolic of the Twins playoff experience as a whole.

Young would later double in the at-bat.  That the Twins' were unable to bring him around to notch the score at 2's would seem another microcosm of the club's ALDS sweepage at the hands of New York.  Few believed that the Twins could outlast what was baseball's most-winning club during the regular season, however after having led in all three contests -- the chill in our baseball hearts is mirrored only by the snow upon our autumnal ground.

This series hurt; underground media outlets reported this morning that local noose sales rose 20 percent.

 

​                                                      Images courtesy of Keith Allison, Wigstruck

The term "Must Win" has become stale at best.  Really: "If we lose we're screwed" offers more candor and edge.  So says history.

After Wednesday's 7-2 loss to the Yanks in Game 1 of the ALDS, the Twins took the day off Thursday and, from our vantage 1,200 miles away, we can only hope & trust that they Boys got some much needed rest.

I don't like the Best-of-five format.  That's not said to bemoan our chances at this stage (really), it's truly a broader brush painting the frustrating fact that since baseball brought in the Wild Card and Divisional Series 5-game format in 1995, just four teams -- Seattle ('95), Red Sox (99'), Yankees ('01), Red Sox ('03) -- have ever come back from an 0-2 deficit to win a Divisional series.  These should be seven games, which afford teams the true opportunity to flesh out their personalities.  After grinding through 162 (or more) contests, why the hell not just play it all the way out?  The best-of-five can take a team (that's not to say us) from an emotional zenith to, well, vacation, in four damn days.

Really, the Twins are far from being out of this.  Keep faith, gentle readers.  And enjoy capsules for the next two playoffs ballgames -- Game 2 today at 5 Central in NYC and Game 3 back here at home on Sunday at 6 p.m. Central.  If necessary: times are now also listed for Game 4 (Metrodome, Monday 10/12 at 4 p.m. Central) and Game 5 (Yankee Stadium, Wednesday, 10/14 at 5 p.m. Central).

 

​                                                                 Images courtesy of Keith Allison 

Have you ever tried a Whippet?  In brief, it's a little cartridge of nitrous oxide that, when inhaled, offers a brief aura of elation, followed by the sensation of feeling like your brain is kinda dead.  My apologies for beginning herein with an untoward recreational reference, but after the Twins intoxicating House of Cards win on Tuesday night, Wednesday's 7-2 ALDS loss to the Yankees proved achingly-sobering.

The Boys came out of the gates with impressive pluck, evidencing little malaise after capturing the Central crown just 20 hours prior and arriving at their New York hotel circa 4 a.m.  But the inspiring 2-0 lead the Twins took into the bottom of the third proved ultimately short-lived, as Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter pounded a Brain Duensing off-speed offering into the left field stands to notch the score.  An inning later, the Yankees took a 3-2 edge off Duensing compliments of a Nick Swisher double and the Pinstripes never looked back. 

​Span, Cabrera, Mauer and Punto had two hits apiece for the Twins.  C.C. Sabathia allowed just one earned run in 6.2 innings of work to get the win.  To see the box score, please click here.

We're gonna win Twins, we're gonna score. We're gonna win Twins watch that baseball soar. Knock out a homerun shout a hip-hooray, cheer for the Minnesota Twins today.

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They're the evil Empire to the Twins' scrappy rebels. If that's not enough to make you hate the Yankees, here's 10 more good reasons.

 

​                                                          Images courtesy of Keith Allison

Perhaps someone should inform New Yorkers that -- at least for the last six days -- our T.C. sporting universe has become the city that never sleeps.  In a nearly five-hour affair that took on the bizarre dimensions of a Kubrick film, Alexi Casilla singled in Carlos Gomez in the bottom of the 12th last night to down the Tigers 6-5 and give the Twins the Central Division title.  The victory elevated our Boys to a best-of-five American League Divisional Series playoff showdown with the New York Yankees, who sported baseball's best record at 103-59.  Emblematic of the insanity was the fact that Casilla's game-winner was just his fourth hit since August 25th; in addition, the knock rescued him from the infamy of a 10th inning base running miscue that could have likely given the Twins a victory an hour prior.

To see the box score, please click here.

The Twins' victory was wrought with more history than a Stephen Ambrose biography and capped an unprecedented and wholly maniacal span of sport in the Twin Cities.  Said stretch began with the Twins vs. Royals series at the Dome last Friday, continued with Twin Cities Marathon, proceeded with the Gophers and Badgers game at TCF Stadium, corralled the nation's televisions via Brett Favre's vengeance against the Packers, and concluded in ecstasy last night.  The win tasted especially sweet considering the club's 1-0 tiebreaker loss to the Chicago White Sox in game #163 from last season.

​ While most Minnesotans were continuing their celebrations after the big Vikings win at the Metrodome last night against the Packers, workers at the Metrodome were anxious for everyone to get off the field and out of the building so they could start their work converting the field back into a baseball diamond. While going from baseball to football only takes up to five hours, the conversion from football to baseball usually takes about 16.

Not last night. Workers had to speed up the process to 12 hours last night to guarantee a field ready for batting practice this afternoon. The field should be ready right about now for the Twins to prep for their one-game playoff tonight against the Detroit Tigers.

The New York Times wrote a piece about the process, which includes scrubbing off the lines of latex paint from the artificial turf. And KARE11 has some video of the process.

Photo by The U.S. National Archives

​Minnesota Twins fans are so determined to get their hands on tickets to the one-game playoff Tuesday that the offices can't even handle all the calls. Who calls to get tickets anymore? As you might imagine, Twins officials are telling fans to try online, but at this point the game is so close to being sold out that you are probably screwed.

Next year, invest in the Internet.

 

                                                                  Images courtesy of SOM,  Keith Allison ​

Amidst an unparalleled and wholly electric span of days that found our Twin'd Cities holding a marathon, hosting a Gopher vs. Badgers game in the dapper environs of "The Bank," and celebrating Brett Favre's vengeance against Packer brass -- our Minnesota Twins have

blended an historic recipe of equal parts Magic and Nostalgia to schedule at least one more day of 2009 baseball.

 

It's almost as if the club is leaving a nest that isn't quite ready to let go of its sons.

While Sunday eve's postgame Metrodome salute proved wholly entertaining and brilliantly organized -- the event was also wonderfully premature.  The Twins' 13-4 win over K.C. secured

​a Central Division tie with the Tigers, whose 5-3 victory over the Chi Sox salvaged their nearly six-month stronghold on the division.  The teams meet this afternoon (4 p.m. CST) in a one-game tiebreaker to determine which club's season will end, and which will make travel plans to New York for an American League Divisional Series with the Yankees.  The Twins are 11-7 on the year versus the Tigers. 

This is a fascinating video that deconstructs how Joe Mauer allegedly steals signs from the Detroit Tigers catcher and signals to his teammate Jason Kubel so that he knows what to expect coming across the plate.

 

​                                                                   Images courtesy of SOM, Wiki,

After a heated, contentious, and season-saving 8-3 win at Detroit yesterday, the Twins return home with enough breath left in their 2009 season to keep the Metrodome inflated for at least three more games.  Thursday's nooner victory gave the Twins a split for the four-game series, keeping the Tigers magic number for the Central at 2 games, meaning any combination of Twins losses & Tiger wins that reaches said number will ascend Detroit to the postseason. 

The Twins hope to dull that magic with a sweep of the Royals in what will be the final regular season ballgames at the Dome.  Meanwhile, the Tigers aim to make memories of 2008's last-place finish wholly vanish with a three-game set at home against the White Sox, versus whom they're 8-7 on the year.  Chicago has been fielding a really soupy lineup in the season's final week; however they offer Twin hopes in both manager Ozzie Guillen's adoration of our club, and also a trio of pitchers -- Jake Peavy, Freddy Garcia, and John Danks -- that sport a collective lifetime record of 18-9 with a 3.73 ERA against the Tigers.

The heat of the weekend is stoked with irony via the Garcia start.  Recall last season's makeup game #162 for the Chi Sox? They needed a win to tie the Twins and play onward to our #163.  That ballgame was against Detroit who offered Garcia as their starter.  Freddy was respectable in that 8-2 Detroit loss, albeit far from dominant, surrendering 2 runs in 5 innings of work.  Perhaps he can do the Bread Basket a bigger favor this weekend.

 

                                                                           ​Images courtesy of SD Dirk, Keith Allison 

Déjà vu isn't a bad thing if the senses rekindled are of a pleasing nature.  For the second consecutive year -- and the third time in the past four seasons -- the Twins bring a hardball campaign down to the final week, beginning tonight with a four-game set against a Tiger club holding a two game lead in the Central.  Past becoming Prologue wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing for this 2009 version of the Bread Basket, considering that the club ascended past 162 games in both 2006 and 2008 before losing in the ALDS and in game #163, respectively.

The Twins' mantra this past weekend should have been labeled: Gain Ground.  And if they indeed monikered their time in K.C. as such, then the club's objectives were realized as we scooped up a game on the Tigers, who dropped two of three to the Chi Sox while the Twins took the first two from the Royals before getting shut down by likely Cy winner Zach Greinke.

The Twins have won nine of 14 versus Detroit this season, including the two of three we took from the Tigers on 9/18-9/20.  Previous to those three ballgames in which the clubs combined for 19 runs, the Twins and Tigers had collectively averaged 12.8 runs per in their prior 11 contests.  The average for the most recent series?  About half that at 6.3.  As the adage goes: Offense sells tickets, pitching wins titles.  It will be wholly interesting to see which clubs has more (or less) juice to squeeze as the pressure cooker now bubbles at full tilt.

​​                                                              Images courtesy of Wiki, Keith Allison 

 

Ever hear of the old "K.C. Lou"?  It's the hardball lexicon to describe a first-and-third scenario with the shortstop cutting off a catcher's throw to second on a steal, designed to catch the runner on third off guard.  With just 10 games left to play in a suddenly sizzling September playoff chase, our Bread Basket needs to metaphorically step before that toss, and find the Central-leading Tigers dumfounded between third and home.

With wins in nine of our last 10, the Twins are now baseball's hottest team at a time when the MLB regular season stage is most illuminated.  With Detroit's 6-5 win over the Indians last night, the Boys trail the Tigers by 3 in the division, with a four-game set (Monday-Thursday) awaiting the two clubs next week in Motown.  While the Tigers play three in Chicago this weekend (against whom they're 7-5 on the season), the Twins have a really sneaky series at Kansas City, facing a Royals club versus whom we've taken seven of 12 on the year.

Before looking forward to the K.C. weekend, it's worthy of note herein that the Twins' nascent heat has the potential to be the stuff of September legend.  A la the 2007 Colorado Rockies that won 14 of their last 15 to force a Wild Card playoff (which they won), the Twins have tapped into a near-mystical Indian Summer that defies convention.  Consider that in taking the last two in our sweep of the Chi Sox, the Boys sported two starting pitchers with a (now) combined five career wins.  In addition, with Morneau and Span down, our lineup offered only two .300-hitting regulars, no 30 home run sluggers, zero 90 RBI batsmen, and nobody with more than 15 steals.  Offensively: Mauer's MVP candidacy, Cuddyer's crazy September, and Kubel's consistency proudly don the stat sheet.  Beyond that?  Fill the lineup card with "Smoke," "Mirror," "Duct Tape," "Tolbert," "Super Glue," and the magical autumn elixir known only as "Hot Streak."

There's something in the water now.  Drink it in full, and enjoy your Twins vs. Royals capsule: 

 

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Three games. Three little games.

Sounds like a hair's breadth, doesn't it?

Well, think of it this way-- if the Twins don't sweep the Royals, who are playing hotter baseball than any team in the American league, they'll head into their four game series with Detroit desperate for wins. It's not Chicken Little posturing when we say that if the Twins don't perform this weekend at scenic Kaufman Stadium, their postseason hopes will go dark.

photo by laffy4k

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Here's an angle of our new stadium many people are now seeing as planes scoot over downtown Minneapolis on their descent to the airport. Taken from a DC9 as it was landing at Minneapolis/St. Paul International, it's almost like we're looking at a miniature replica of the completed stadium. Don't be fooled. It's just the distorted airplane window causing the cool effect.

Photo by kla4067, more photos on Flickr.

 

                                                               Images courtesy of Wiki, Keith Allison

Sunday's 6-2 loss to Detroit snapped the Twins longest winning streak of the season at six and, in a sense, tripled our potential one game deficit in the Central.  Instead, the Boys now look up at Detroit holding a three game edge with both teams scheduled for just 13 games left to play.  The Bread Basket engenders the season's final road trip of the season (10 games) beginning with tonight's first of three versus the Chi Sox, against whom the Twins are 9-6 this season.  The Tigers have the day off before playing three at Cleveland, against whom they hold an 11-4 edge in '09.

In a an active T.C. sporting weekend -- with the Gophers hosting Cal on Saturday and the Purple visiting the Lions on Sunday -- the Twins' rewarded the faithful by taking two-of-three from the Tigers, reducing their Central stronghold by a game.  Attendance was impressive at the Dome, with nearly 113,000 taking in the three games, including over 43,000 on Saturday, the club's largest home body count since Opening Day.  This is noted only to indicate that the Bread Basket still breathes, and that the collective antennae of our baseball attentions remain raised to see if the club can unseat the Tigers divisional lead for the first time since early-May.

Should you remain among the believers, gentle reader, please read on for a Twins @ Chi Sox series capsule:

 

​It's a Minnesota vs. Michigan set, led by the leviathan gravity of the Twins & Tigers series at the Dome.  Here's your handicap for the unique sporting weekend: