Twins

Message to Gardenhire, Anderson: Please do not pitch to Raul Ibanez

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In 124 games this season, the 36-year-old Raul Ibanez has hit .288 with 18 homers and 76 RBI in 483 at-bats. Which isn't bad. But in his other six games--against the Twins--the Mariners slugger is batting .538 with two homers and 12 RBI in 26 at-bats.

As the Twins kick off a three-game set in Seattle this evening, is it too much to ask not to give the guy anything to hit? Especially since he's batting in front of a dude, Adrian Beltre, who's hitting .246 on the season, and who has only two careers homers against active Twins pitchers in 87 at-bats, and an average of .253?

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Posted by Jonathan Kaminsky at August 25, 2008 7:00 AM | Comments (3)

 

Things I learned at the Twins Game

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1. Never talk smack to Jack Cust. While the pudgy Athletics’ outfielder is an easy target, he responds to hecklers by jacking line drives. So if there is ever the urge to yell, “Hey Cust! You got man boobs! Maaaaan boooooooooobs!” try your best to stay quiet.

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Posted by Bradley Campbell at August 19, 2008 12:13 PM | Comments (4)

 

The Twins strike out against homelessness

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This weekend the Twins host a pregame benefit for the homeless.

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Posted by Jessica Armbruster at July 17, 2008 4:58 PM | Comments (0)

 

Pat Neshek: The vegan reliever

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Pat Neshek, the baseball card trading, heavy metal loving Twins reliever is profiled in an ESPN web feature about athletes who don't eat meat. Turns out Neshek is a vegan (since January) and a juicing fanatic (the fruit and vegetable kind). Here's some of what the ESPN piece has to say:

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Posted by Jeff Severns Guntzel at June 16, 2008 9:59 PM | Comments (3)

 

Froggy Doo

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This genius bit is from today's Charley Walters column:

Ex-Twins pitcher Scott Erickson and his wife, Lisa Guerrero, will be in town this weekend to promote a movie they have produced, "A Plumm Summer," about a TV puppet named Froggy Doo who is "frog-napped" instead of kidnapped.

Apparently this is a real movie. Henry Winkler's in it. No word on whether Erickson's old pal Sidney Ponson is part of the production

Posted by Paul Demko at April 8, 2008 5:10 AM | Comments (0)

 

So Long, Santana

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USA Today and ESPN are reporting that the Twins have agreed to trade two-time Cy Young award winner Johan Santana to the New York Mets.

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Posted by Ben Palosaari at January 29, 2008 4:20 PM | Comments (3)

 

In January, a Dome For Baseball Makes Good Sense

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Tucked neatly inside a busy weekend theater schedule for me was a visit to the upended doggy bowl we affectionately call the Metrodome (or just Metrodome, if you work at KFAN) for TwinsFest 2008. Luckily, a visit to the Twins' web site the night before warned me about what to expect.

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Posted by Quinton Skinner at January 28, 2008 10:26 AM | Comments (3)

 

Twins acquire Craig Monroe; occasional wailing breaks through the yawns

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I heard a bad joke last night that makes me think of yesterday afternoon's acquisition of Craig Monroe by the Twins -- which, to be fair, is actually itself a bad joke.

The joke goes like this. A physicist, a chemist, and a statistician walk into a bar. Shortly thereafter, they see that there is a fire in the wastebasket. While the other patrons run out, the physicist says, "We have to cool down the materials so that their temperature is lower than the ignition temperature; then the fire will go out!" The chemist says, "No! Let's cut off the supply of oxygen; that way, the fire will go out due to lack of one of the reactants!"

Then they notice that the statistician is moving around the bar, starting other fires. "What are you doing?" they cry. Says the statistician: "Trying to get an adequate sample size."

This is not, you will note, funny. But neither is the trade, which makes me also want to start fires. And the joke holds a clue as to why I'm reaching for matches.

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Posted by Jeff Shaw at November 14, 2007 7:03 AM | Comments (0)

 

Swept, and That's All

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Things didn't go so well this afternoon. Before an announced crowd of almost 14,000 (though any observer could see that there were fewer cranks than that), the Twins were swept by the Cleveland Indians, losing 6-2. The Tribe has won 16 of their last 20, boasts a lineup that is dangerous from top to bottom, and have sent a message to the Central in the clearest possible terms: this year's division title goes through them. To the rest of the league: see you in October.

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Posted by Peter Schilling Jr. at September 5, 2007 3:13 PM | Comments (0)

 

When the Present's This Ugly, Might As Well Look to the Future...

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It was certainly a struggle today. C. C. Sabathia ripped through the Twins line-up, scattering six moribund hits over his eight innings... though four of those were from one player. Although Johan Santana has certainly seen better days, giving up four runs in today's 5-0 loss, the Indians didn't have a big inning, not once. In fact, they gathered their nine hits one inning at a time. A walk here, a key hit there, a home run one inning (Santana's 30th), and that was all she wrote. The 13th shutout against the Twins, the league record. Sigh.

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Posted by Peter Schilling Jr. at September 3, 2007 3:44 PM | Comments (0)

 

The Shreveport Slinger

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Wow. I mean, like wow! Scott Baker came within three outs of throwing a perfect game last evening against the Kansas City Royals. Moseying to the mound in the ninth, the kid showed nothing that resembled a man with a belly full of butterflies. Right away, he walked a guy and gave up a hit, the perfect game and no-no was over, but it didn't matter. This kid is on fire, and the future of the Twins pitching staff seems assured. This is what Minnesota baseball in September is about this year: gazing into the crystal ball and liking what you see.

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Posted by Peter Schilling Jr. at September 1, 2007 11:21 AM | Comments (0)

 

Let's All Go Ask Some Tough Questions Tonight

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As I wrote in my City Pages A-List entry, tonight is the official groundbreaking of the forthcoming Twins Stadium. Needless to say, it's only going to remain "Twins Stadium" until old Carl gets his many millions from whatever corporation showers him and his minions with more cash. Target Field? General Mills Stadium? Taxpayer Park?

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Posted by Peter Schilling Jr. at August 30, 2007 9:53 AM | Comments (0)

 

Can't We Just Agree That The Season's Over?

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Look: it doesn't matter that the Twins came into Cleveland with a five game win streak under their belts. If there was momentum, the Indians didn't feel it. After all, four of those victories were against an Orioles team that is nearly as woeful at the plate as the Twins, but also lacks our depth in the arms department. As if to really drive the point home that we are floundering, Cleveland bludgeoned the Twins 8-3, turned a triple play (a wonderful thing), while across Lake Erie and up the Detroit River the Tigers thumped the suddenly vulnerable Yanks 16-0.

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Posted by Peter Schilling Jr. at August 28, 2007 9:09 AM | Comments (0)

 

Is Winning Losing (Part II)?

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Well, the Twins certainly asserted themselves mightily today, beating the Seattle M's 8-4 after a 7-run first inning. The initial frame included a grand slam by one Michael Cuddyer. The game got so out of hand that Dan Gladden and Jack Morris started yakking about anything and everything (though they do this in tight games as well). In the gabfest Gladden mused about young players coming up and going down to Rochester, and stated that Terry Ryan sometimes agonizes over calling up the better prospects because it might hurt the farm clubs during a tight pennant race. Which only makes this scribe say: Huh?

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Posted by Peter Schilling Jr. at August 22, 2007 3:24 PM | Comments (0)

 

Is Winning Losing?

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Since there is virtually nothing to be written about last night's 9-4 bludgeoning at the hands of the Seattle Mariners, let's ponder instead Patrick Reusse's column of August 19. Mr. Reusse looks to be examining, and perhaps explaining, the challenges of being Terry Ryan, the Twins highly regarded GM. Reusse writes: "Baseball is the only sport in this country where the triumph is in the pursuit as much as in the ultimate result." Although there's some truth to that, it's depressing when that appears to be your team's core philosophy.

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Posted by Peter Schilling Jr. at August 21, 2007 1:32 PM | Comments (0)