All together now: "MVP! MVP!"

1. Before his big two-run, go-ahead double in the eighth last night, Justin Morneau was a footnote in the ongoing national debate over who deserves the AL MVP. Jeter and Ortiz have been jawing to the press about it, proving once again that nobody on the East Coast pays attention to what's going on in the rest of the country. Luckily, a few sports columnists and most of the 20,000 fans at the game last night know who the real contender is.

2. Speaking of which, it's nice to see the national media finally drooling over the Twins.

3. The Twins now have viable candidates for MVP (Morneau, Santana), Cy Young (Santana), batting champ (Joe Mauer) and Rookie of the Year (Liriano). There's almost no chance that all of those awards will go to a single team--that's never happened and probably never will. Still, think about that for a second.

4. All this MVP talk might be off-point, because, in the words of the great Derek Jeter, the Twins still have something to play for.

I'm eating a Dome Dog for lunch today. How about you?

UPDATE:

Well, this hurts. After cruising for two innings on 28 pitches, something inside Liriano's arm broke. Looks like he's out for the season. More bad news: The Twins dropped the game, and I didn't even get a Dome Dog. (Turns out it was Hormel dollar-dog day, so I went for the cheapies instead of my regular "rally Dome Dog." I take full responsibility for the loss.)

On a brighter note, Garza stepped in for Liriano and pitched the best major league game of his life, giving up just one run in six solid innings and earning a standing ovation as he walked off the field. Time to root against the White Sox.