I love Torii Hunter. He’s a genuinely fine character, and he had a tremendous game last night against the Diamondbacks. But, my God, why would anybody in their right mind throw Hunter a strike, let alone a hanging breaking ball? The man is up there to swing the bat, and he’s not exactly what I … Read more
Each of the Twins three Division titles has been sort of strange, and in almost exactly the same regard. Every year the team confounds expectations every which way, and still finds a way to win. I don’t know why I expected this year would be any different, but I know I wasn’t alone. I watch … Read more
I’m headed out of town for a brief spell. I’ll be back early next week. This seems as good a time as any for a breather, since we seem to be basically recycling plotlines the last several days. I’ll leave you with some fine links to explore (and I’d encourage you to investigate the links … Read more
I don’t know about you, but I spent the day not watching baseball. I did tune in briefly to the end of the White Sox game tonight, but what I saw was not encouraging. I saw a tough and resiliant team which is, at least at the moment, showing why it’s the best –and certainly … Read more
–Illustration by James Dankert It’s my older brother Rich’s 25th wedding anniversary this weekend, and his wife’s family is throwing a big party for the special occasion. There are almost certainly no two words in tandem that I hate more than “special occasion.” My brother and his wife may be the only couple on the … Read more
The bad news is that the Twins aren’t scoring many runs. The good news is that neither are the White Sox. As I mentioned the other day, the Central race looks increasingly like it’s going to come down to which team’s pitching can carry it the longest. There is, of course, always the possibility that … Read more
Tonight Jesse Crain picked up his fourth win of the season out of the bullpen, and it looks like he’s on his way to eventually supplanting Juan Rincon as the main set-up man for Joe Nathan. He’s also looking like pretty good insurance for Nathan in the event that disaster strikes. I love Crain enough … Read more
–Illustration by James Dankert Fridays aren’t gonna work for me. I’m not a writer, dammit. I can’t be expected to drag my ass home from the day job (and I do mean drag my ass; some days it feels like I’m hauling a Volkswagon Beetle behind me), watch a baseball game, and then sit down … Read more
“Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad” would be an appropriate, if obnoxious, theme song for Ron Gardenhire’s Twins, for this or any season. The mantra in the Minnesota clubhouse during Gardenhire’s tenure has always been, “We’re just trying to win each series. The rest will take care of itself.” That’s a decent, ambitious goal for … Read more
Okay, let’s add one more to that list of truths we hold self-evident: keep the fraggin’ ball in the damn park. I suppose it was inevitable that Johan Santana would eventually run into a little patch like this, but what’s been sort of disturbing is how hard he’s getting hit. The Blue Jays had four … Read more