k-bro’s blog

 

Twins 11 - Texas 4

Aaaaaaah. Wasn’t that nice? Finally, a game that I could just have on TV and not worry about it. Every time I looked up, I saw another Twin getting another hit. Very nice. Perhaps yesterday’s exciting escapade woke them up a little.

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A big “atta boy” to Glen Perkins for his first major league win. Nice work. And a big shout out goes to Brian Bass for finishing the game and letting all the other pitchers rest.

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I’m super bummed to read that Matt “Tigger” Tolbert needs surgery on his thumb. I was really rooting for him to do well here. It sounds like the ligament separated from the bone. OUCH! ICK! Here’s hoping he recovers quickly.

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I was happy to see that the official picture of Sidney Ponson, who’s starting for the Rangers tomorrow, has been updated to this year’s version.

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Time for bed; last night’s game really took it out of me.

Twins 7 - Texas 6 (12)

Well, wasn’t that the most hair-twisting, nail-biting, ulcer-inducing game so far this year? Blowing leads, leaving men on base, losing our DH and making the pitchers hit. A little something for everyone. And a little something for everyone to scream at the TV for.
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Who needs everyday players? Let’s just have the back-ups, fill-ins, and recent call-ups go ahead and win this one.
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Big love to Alexi Casilla for his first major league homer, to Howie Clark for the game winning RBI, and to Joey for keeping us in the game with some timely hitting. But mostly to Bobby Korecky for having the intestinal fortitude to wiggle out of the 11th with the bases loaded and only one out, for getting his first major league hit, and for pitching the 12th like he’s been here before. Bobby honey, you get the gold star.

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And mad props to Jon Lester of the Red Sox for tossing a no-hitter, because that’s just a really, really cool thing to do.

 

Friday: Twins 4 - Rockies 2
Saturday: Twins 2 - Rockies 3
Sunday: Twins 2 - Rockies 6

Well, at least this time we don’t have to get the dustbunnies out. But seriously, I think we could have done better. Maybe the boys were tired. Maybe it was the thin air. Maybe it was the humidor balls. Who knows, but it just seemed like they were kind of flat.

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Friday’s game was kind of fun, and it was nice to break up that little losing streak. But Nathonator once again made it waaaay too interesting. Luckily, Go-Go made that nice catch to end the game. Too bad it cost him starting the next two games. And doesn’t it seem that if Go-Go isn’t in the game, the Twins just aren’t the same team? Has anyone figured out what our record is with him in versus without him in? (I know I could probably figure it out myself, but I don’t wanna. Besides, chances are that someone else already has, and why double the effort?)

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Saturday’s game was pretty good until I started paying attention. Sorry. I guess Livan had a perfect game going through the fifth. Of course, right when I got home and turned on the TV, I saw Justin Morneau try to catch Matt Holliday’s foul ball that could have been called fan interference but wasn’t. Then he doubled, and that was pretty much the end of the perfect game, eventually the shutout, and then the lead.

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And another thing, while being taking a perfect game through five innings is terrific, especially for a contact-type pitcher like Livan, I think that the KARE11 sports team needs to settle down. They teased the coverage by saying something like “Hernandez flirts with perfection.” Um, five innings isn’t “flirting” with perfection. Eight, or maybe even seven, innings is flirting. Five innings is looking up from the end of the bar and noticing that perfection keeps looking over at you. You’re not even thinking about buying it a drink yet after five.

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I missed today’s game because I was at a youth baseball tournament. (Yes, I was freezing. Thanks for asking.) I listened to the post-game coverage on the radio after we were done, and from the sound of Gardy’s reaction to the game, I think the 11 and 12-year-olds I watched play had a more polished game than our Twins.

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Excuse me, yes, I’d like to order a round of bubble wrap for the remaining healthy players please.

Let’s assess the most recent damage:

• Matt “Tigger” Tolbert is on the DL for shredding his thumb sliding head-first into first. Poor guy; he was beginning to make a good impression, and now this. And the extent of the injury (ligament damage) sounds like it’s going to take quite a bit more than a 15-day recovery.
• Then there’s Go-Go’s catch into the wall that tweaked his wrist. According to the Twins website, there’s a real possibility that he’ll land on the DL as well.
• Plus, Joey’s got a crick in his neck.

Tuesday: Twins 3 - Jays 5
Wednesday: Twins 5 - Jays 6
Thursday: Twins 2 - Jays 3 (11)

So if we get the broom out when we sweep the other guys, what do we get out when the other guys sweep us? The dustbunny? Ick.

Which pretty much sums up this series. In fact, it was pretty frustrating to watch/listen to. It just seemed like nothing would go right. Like a whole bunch of false-starts. And right when everyone was getting all excited about how well things were going. But that’s all I have to say about that, because if I say any more, this will just turn into some kind of negative-fest. No one wants that.

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I’m looking forward to the Colorado series. First of all, I love National League style play because I like it when pitchers bat. Also, I have a huge crush on Matt Holliday, and I’m excited to see him.
cutie
However, Matt honey, could’ya please just not play quite as well as normal? Just for the weekend? Thanks.

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And to the Twins, don’t get down, enjoy Colorado, and have fun.

Twins 7 - The Team That Calls Itself World Champions 3
Twins take series 3-1

So, most of us had a choice last night. What did you decide? The ESPN yahoos or our lovable Dick-n-Bert? Me? I chose Dick-n-Bert. I guess I just like familiarity. And I think I made a good choice. Did ESPN show shots of Boof unraveling a baseball? I doubt it. But our guys stuck with the story until conclusion and Boof got to the core of the matter.

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Up until the seventh, Boof’s unwrapping adventure was the most adorable moment of the game. Then Cuddy did his little juggling magic trick pulling a baseball out of his hat. That play will probably be the most adorable moment of the whole season. And Dick laughing about it was almost as adorable.

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In fact, the whole game was pretty much adorable. Coming from behind is adorable. Stringing hits together for runs is adorable. And even though giving up three runs in the first isn’t so much adorable, settling down and not allowing any more might be. However, catching a screaming liner and stinging your hand is adorable. And, in a weird way, watching the opposing pitcher throw a temper tantrum is adorable. In fact, in honor of all the adorableness, I’ll post this adorable picture.

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It seems that Livan likes the pixie vests - he’s two for two at home with them. I guess if he keeps getting these results, I’ll get used to them.

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A non-adorable moment was when Delmon rolled his ankle running the basepaths. Fortunately, it doesn’t sound like it’s too serious. I hope he’ll be fine.

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And finally, the “even though it happened to a division rival, it’s still really cool” moment of the day: Last night, Asdrubal Cabrera of the Cleveland Indians completed an unassisted triple play. It’s like only the 14th in major league history. Pretty groovy.

 

Twins 9 - Sox of the Red 8

Miss me? I guess I have some catching up to do. I’m also watching the game as I write this, so I’ll be flip-flopping between my thoughts of the past week with my thoughts of the game. Forgive me if I’m confusing.

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First of all, Happy Mother’s Day! If you’re a mom, I hope you enjoyed your day. If you’re not a mom, I hoped you hugged a mom.
To my mom: Love you. Sorry I didn’t actually hug you today. I told the cat to hug you for me; I hope she did.

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Top first: Hey Eeyore, nice job striking out Youkilis and Lowell. *grin*

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Speaking of Mother’s Day, mine was very nice. My kids gave me a really cool Twins shirt. I think they’ve got me pretty well figured out.

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Tuesday’s game: Gavin Floyd nearly no-hit the Twins. That must’ve been ugly. Thank goodness for Joey to break that up for us.

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Bottom second: Nice jack, Craig. *woot* Hey, has anyone come up with a good nickname for him yet?
Seriously? Adam “Adam” Everett hit a homer? Cool.

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Wednesday’s game: Go-Go hits for the cycle. I loved that. And I also loved reading his quotes. Fun stuff. I was also very impressed with Livan for taking a shutout to the ninth and completing the game.

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Bottom third: Who put the fear of God into Mike Lamb lately?

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The best way to catch a knuckleball is to wait until the ball stops rolling and then pick it up. ~Bob Uecker
Ok, so how many times did Morgan-n-Miller say the word “knuckleball” tonight?

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Thursday’s game: I actually caught part of that game on a lunch break. But it was a big yawner.

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Bottom fourth: *snicker* Big Papi was goofing around when they were interviewing Francona. In fact, he was way more interesting than Francona.

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Notes to the Injured:
Dear Pat-Pat, I wish I could take it away from you so you can get better. Rehab well and come back next year better than ever.
Dear Nicky, Get better quick.

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Friday’s game: Wow. A come-from-behind win and Lammers is the hero. Way to go!

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Bottom seventh: Hello again Mr. Monroe!
What’s up with Mike Timlin’s camouflage glove?

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Top ninth: Dear Nathanator, That was waaaaaay too interesting for my liking. But you managed to do the job, so thanks.

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And finally, one thing I learned about Vancouver that surprised me: I expected hockey to be very popular. They’re still following the Stanley Cup playoffs closely even though their team is out of it. Between hockey games, they do follow baseball. I figured that since Vancouver is so close to Seattle, they’d follow the Mariners. Nope. They follow the Blue Jays, even though they’re three time zones away. I guess all of Canada follows Canada’s only team, eh?

 

Twins 7 - Tigers 6

Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Oh! Yes! Yes! Oh! Yes! (Sorry if I’m being a little too much “I’ll have what she’s having” here, but that was exciting.)

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I’m so giddy right now that I don’t know where to start. First, a thousand apologies to Boof for all the awful, rotten things that I screamed at the TV during the first. But I have a big shout out to his intestinal fortitude for settling down, not giving up, and pitching very well the next five innings. And a hat-tip to the batters for also not giving up and scraping together hits and runs (and taking advantage of a little luck) to make this a big, big win. And to think, I almost turn the TV off; I’m really glad I didn’t.

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SWEEEEEP! Time for a broom. And a good broom too (no measly large paintbrush here). In fact, a special platinum-handled, blinged-out broom because they swept a good hitting team, in a regular three-game series, and had to work really hard to earn it.

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The Twins are first in the division. The Twins are first in the division. Not the Tigers. Not the Indians. The Twins are first in the division. Yipee!

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k-bro’s kwazy logic: As I’m writing this, I’m watching the Mets / D-backs game. Johan is pitching, and he’s doing all right, but not spectacular. At the moment, he has four wild pitches. Four! He’s never done that before. He does have a bunch of strikeouts, but the pitches that aren’t in the dirt are up in the zone. Now here’s the kwazy logic part - could it be his catcher? I really think that Joey or Mike would have saved at least three of those wild pitches. And after the first couple wilds, maybe Johan didn’t trust the catcher to handle the changeup anymore. Who knows, but maybe great pitchers can attribute some of their success to their catchers, and maybe the Twins are really fortunate to have two of the best.

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And finally, the “Gee, I Hope They Make It To The Game On Time” moment of the day: I was running errands this morning, and on my way home I happened upon a school bus that was stranded at an intersection and a bunch of kids milling about on the sidewalk. As I got closer, I notice the kids all had Twins shirts on and were carrying signs. Aw man! They’re on their way to the Twins game. I hope they got another bus and were able to go. More importantly, I hope they stayed for the whole thing.

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Blog Note: No blogging the rest of this week. I’ll be at a conference in Vancouver. If I happen to run into Mr. and Mrs. Morneau, I’ll be sure to say “hi”.

 

Twins 4 - Detroit 1

Once again, I have to admit that I was worried about this game - this time when we found out that Scotty was coming out and Brian Bass was coming in. Thank goodness for Brian Bass. Big congratulations on your first major league win. But more importantly, thank you, thank you, thank you for pitching bueno. I want to dedicate a picture to you, but I can’t decide which one was best. So I’ll give them all to you.

  

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My Dearest Scotty,
Please get better very soon.
Love,
k-bro

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My Dearest Twins Players,
I have grown weary of writing get well letters. Please consider not getting hurt.
Thank you,
k-bro

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Speaking of Scotty’s injury, how many times did we hear the word “groin” tonight?

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Hey Craig, nice jack. Against your former team, too. Sweeeeet.

 

Twins 11 - Tigers 1

Ok, I have to admit that during the pre-game, I was really worried about this game. They were talking about how the Tigers have been playing well lately (notice that I didn’t say “as of late” - that’s another topic all together*), ever since the last time they played the Twins. And Livan was pitching, and we all know what happened last time he did that. To top it off, they were wearing the ridiculous pixie vests. In my mind, all this added up to a feeling of dread. Luckily, my instincts were way off. And if it turns out that the pixie vests were the good luck charms, well I guess I’m willing to give them another chance. It’ll be interesting to see if Livan is superstitious.

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My Dearest Go-Go,
Please be ok.
Love, k-bro

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Speaking of Go-Go’s injury, I was really impressed that Pudge marched out there to make sure he was ok. It even looked like the umpire tried to stop him, but he would have none of that.

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My favorite thing about the game: Livan’s 61 mph curveball falling in for a strike.

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Sad news about Gardy’s brother. It reminds me that I need to remember what’s important in my life. Extra hugs and kisses for my family this weekend.

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And finally, the “Ain’t No Way You Can Get Me To Say That Word On Air Again” moment of the game: Dick-N-Bert were talking about Miguel Cabrera’s reaction to the aforementioned 61 mph curveball. Apparently he didn’t like it and told Livan so. Dick said something about not knowing how to read lips and not knowing Spanish, but pretty sure he still knew what he said. And then Bert said, “I’m not gonna say it, you say it.” Heh heh.

*Why do sportscasters feel the need to say “as of late” when they mean “lately”? No one else says “as of late” (“Hey Jim, what’ve you been up to as of late?” “Well Bob, not much, but as of late Joyce has been nagging me to take her on a cruise.”). What’s wrong with “lately”? It’s a perfectly nice word, and not a snooty.

 

Twins 4 - Pasty Hose 3

Yay! Twins sweep a series. Time for the broom. But it was a small series, so it really only deserves a small broom. How about a large paintbrush?

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A day game today and no game tomorrow? Sounds like I have to get a life for the next couple evenings. Hmmm…. Nah.

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Bummer that Joey’s hitting streak is over. Start a new one on Friday, ‘k?

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Thanks to FSN for airing the Squeeze Play show. I really like catching the important parts of the game, even though I already know what happened.