The whining is unbecoming of you, Bat-Girl! Of the three game series, this was the one the Sox were most likely to win. They've beat up on Silva in the past, and Buerhle is now 13-4 against the Twinkiedoodles lifetime. The rest of the series favors the Twinkies with Radke against Garcia in his first game for the Sox and Santana against Mr. Inconsistency, Jon Garland.

Then again, who knows what the Sox are capable of, free from the shackles of Jerry Manuel.

This team though is not a very good offensive team. They have never been very good at the offense and expecting them to generate too many more runs than they are now is really wishful thinking.

Although, allow me to repeat myself: all the times the Twins have been hot, it has been with Shannon Stewart in the lineup. Not because Shannon Stewart is incredible because he's not, he's good but not mind-blowing, yet for some reason we win with him.

What I wonder, is why THREE Minnesota sports stars all got afflicted with the most annoying injury EVER planar fascitis!

I would like to point out that Batgirl is correct in that there is a lot of baseball yet to be played, but (I can't believe I'm going to disagree with My Hero) winning and losing in this series counts a little more. Not to stray from sassiness into statisticality, but when we get a win, they get a loss (and vice versa). Okay, that's obvious, but it's different than waiting for the sportscast to see how the division lead is shaking out and hoping someone else ground them to dust. It's more of an immediate gratification kind of thing.

Dear Mr. Joe,

If Batgirl sounds bitter (she distinctly does not whine) it is because in the last three years, the Sox have not given the Twins an ounce of credit. It grew tiresome to be constantly hearing how much better they were than we, I just wanted them to show a little respect. But I do think the attitude of the team is much improved this year. Ozzie Guillen must be an extremely good influence. It will, however, take about a year of respectful treatment of the Twins for me to start calling the team by their given name.

Sincerely,
Batgirl

Dear Ms. Regina,

You are absolutely right. I should have said that losing will give us ground to make up. Much better to be in first. It certainly matters in that respect. I just mean it's not a crisis.

Sincerely,
Batgirl

Dear Ms. Ru,

Goober, too, had plantar fasciitis.

Sincerely,
Batgirl

Dear Goober,

I know you disagree with me about the Twins and their prospects. But Batgirl is essentially an optimist. Optimism is what this country is all about.

Sincerely,
Batgirl

Well, they need him; the Twins played like crap warmed over in May and the Bitch Sox failed to take advantage. They had every opportunity in the world to build themselves a healthy division lead, and they did not

The Twins have played the 28th ranked schedule so far this season. If anyone should have a lead built up it should be them. The sox have not played Detroit a single time yet, and have the Royals 10 times.

The Twins played the 'easiest' second half in baseball last season, and they took advantage of it. They've played one of the easiest schedules thus far, and haven't.

Dear Batgirl -

In response to your question about Silva pitching into the 9th - it was kind of a wierd game. Both Silva and Buehrle had very low pitch counts (under 100 in the 8th inning), and the game went very fast. But there was something surreal about it, being there. Despite the real-time fast pace, it seemed like things were going in slow motion - especially watching Michael Cuddyer chase the Diva's first inning double-to-what-turned-out-to-be-a-gap.

Anyway, Silva was pitching OK, and never really got into great heaps o' trouble (not enough to get anyone's attention, anyway), until the Uribe-tater. I suspect that Gardy may have been trying to give the much-maligned (unfairly, if I may say so) bullpen a wee little break.

Well the more tired sinker-ball pitchers are, the better they generally pitch right?

Also, Goober had it too? Wolvesgeek, Goober, Stewart, Moss, Szcerbiak, ARGH! It was revealed yesterday that my friend has it! So many afflictions of the same ailment, the mystery deepens...

I am a pessimist. They stink. Torii Hunter is as far from being an all star as one can get, with his Babe Ruth League approach at the plate. I am glad Dougie enjoys fishing, and feels bad about being a powerless .230 hitter, but it is time for him to go away, at least from the dugout.We cannot keep pretending that this year is like the last two years: we are worse, they are better, that makes this year different, and management does nothing, and I hate when that happens, why are they soft in the middle there?

Glove-boy's summary is about right. Despite the score, the Twins actually wound up throwing fewer pitches by my count, and couldn't capitalize on the hits they got. I completely understand leaving Silva in the pitch the 7th, he'd only thrown about 70 pitches by then and had a quality start. However the 7th is where the 2-run homer got hit, and despite the still-low pitch count I don't think he should have been in there for the 8th.

No walks were issued the entire game. That's another factor in how quickly it got played.

I was at the game too, and I'll say Shingo Takatsu is impressive. He threw a 66 MPH change-up to Mauer that got taken for a ball, but it just crawled across the plate. That's a pitch I think he'll be able to get aggressive hitters with for a while.

>If Batgirl sounds bitter (she distinctly does not whine) it is because in the last three years, the Sox have not given the Twins an ounce of credit.

If it makes you feel any better, the cubs give the white sox absolutly no credit despite the fact that they have beaten us in the season series 2 of the past 3 years (the other we tied). The sux seems to have always had an unfounded disrespect for the twins especially considering how they had a chance to win the division last september, and the twins knocked them out of the race. I think it all stems from the fact that in the city of Chicago when it comes to baseball, the Sox are a distant, distant second.

In a recent poll on the Sux radio station, fans were asked which series was more important, this current series VS the twins or last weekends series VS the cubs. Despite constant chiding by the hosts to vote for the twins series, the cubs series won by a decent margin. Its just sad in my opinion.

Bullies, generally, suffer from some sort of inferiority complex. At home they have an abusive father, or get picked on by older brothers or whatever. So when they get amongst their peers they feel the need to lash out at those weaker or smaller. The Sox are always chicago's 2nd team. they're a footnote, the cubs are the headline. Because of this perceived slight (deserved in my opinion), they feel the need to lash out at someone in their league (division). The twin cities are less populous than chicago. So the Sox think since they are bigger, they can pick on yall. Probably jealous because the Twins had something the Sux severely lacked, team chemistry.

The reason the sox seem better this year is because now they are trying to take on the city's big dog. They have an entire advertising campaign geared towards bashing the cubs. Their players, coaches, managers, and suits all have been talking smack about the cubs in the papers. They put up Bartman pictures on the jumbotron. McDonalds ads even feature an old man in a sox shirt letting their air out of a little kids bike because it had a cubs flag on it. Funny sure, but it just goes to show how caught up they are in being #2. The cubs have just let all this roll off their back. We sell tickets, they sell hatred. So unfortunately I dont believe the sux have changed for the good in terms of respecting the Twins. They have just redirected their anger/jealous/inferiority towards the cubs. And the cubs are busy trying to win our division, another playoff series, a league championship, and a world series.

So in summation, screw the Sux and their childish antics. They should be ignored, like the obnoxious kid in the back of class.

I WON at TWINGO!

And that was pretty much the only positive experience of the whole game. Well, that and my strawberry Maui Wowie.

Dear Batgirl,

You have a sound policy of allowing the comments section to include heated debate, but still maintaining some civility and decency. Given that policy, I find it peculiar that Mike S' comment made it through the filter. Not only is it unduly unpleasant, it also adds nothing to the conversation and is basically incorrect.

It is indeed true that many Sox fans hate the Cubs and hope they will lose. But Mike S' explanation is silly. There are also many Cubs fans, including a few here in Minnesota, who hate the Sox and hope they will lose. Similarly, there are a ton of Yankees fans who root against the Mets, Giants fans who root against the A's, Cardinal fans who root against the Royals, etc. None of these fans could be suffering from an "inferiority complex," as their teams get most of the press and are generally more loved. To assume, therefore, that what drives Cubs-hating Sox fans is an inferiority complex is pretty unpersuasive.

That said, I want to add one additonal thought. Batgirl, you run a great blog and I enjoy reading it and commenting. I even tolerate the basically intolerable naming of my team the "Bitch Sox," because it is funny and also leads to some good spirited arguing and razzing. But Mike S has crossed the line, not with his poor logic, poor writing, and poor spelling, but with his unnecessarily unpleasant messages. If he continues with such terms as "screw the Sox" and "the Sux", it will be impossible not to respond in kind. I don't want to bring the blog down to that level, but there are limits to what any true Sox fan can take. Please let me know where you want to go with this.

Sincerely,

Sox Fan

P.S. Go Sox!

^^^

now that's whining

Congrats, She-Ra! What's the prize for a Twingo victory?

I was too busy keeping score for real to bother with a Twingo card. Last year a friend of mine was playing, was one "6-4-3" away from winning something and they announced all the prizes had been awarded. This resulted in my usually mild-mannered friend to shout "F*%* Twingo, I'm never playing this horse$*!% game again!" which at the time was pretty funny. He then proceeded to write in his planner on every Tuesday and Wednesday through the rest of the season "Do not play Twingo".

Anyhow, if you won something lame like extra keychains from last night's promotion or a DVD full of "Car Soup" commercials it might make him feel better about his loss.

Thanks Skorch!

I had a nice easy line on my card, my last blank was a 1-3...wasn't going to play, but then we forgot to pick up the Gameday, so I had no scorecard! Worked out nicely, I'd say!

I think I was the fifth or sixth person to report in--apparently they're going to mail a voucher for four complimentary tickets. The person right after me got a free pizza, I think.

I now feel much better about never being a Wiener Winner.

Dear Mr. S. and Mr. Fan,

Forgive me for not being able to respond earlier; Batgirl was otherwise occupied. I very much appreciate, Mr. Fan, how you have remained respectful of the fact that this is a Twins blog and the Sox are our division rivals and that rivarly is very heated. Your comments have never descended to taunting in any way. I appreciate your respect for the Twins fans and the nature of the blog.

I found much of Mr. S's analysis very interesting and I must my first reaction was not, "He's picking on the Sox," because, well, that would be rather hypocritical, plus I tend not to think too much about the Sox and their feelings, which is my own failing as a Batgirl. This is, after all, baseball--a glorious and profound pursuit, but still not one worth getting too riled up about, and all of Batgirl is designed to be a reminder that this game of ours is supposed to be fun, even if we do lose to our division rivals in a rather inauspicious fashion. Teasing of other teams, even the Bitch Sox, is supposed to be all in good fun. And as heated as Batgirl herself gets over the Sox and Yankees as institutions, she must remember there are little Batgirls in those states that love their team very much, and isn't that what it's all about?

I certainly see now that Mr. S's final comments may have crossed a line that could easily descend into flaming, which I try very hard to avoid. But Mr. Fan, I believe your response was quite eloquent and so I will leave both comments in tact, and in the future I hope that Bat-Girl is a place where Cubs fans and Sox fans can come together and share their feelings for the cuddliest team in baseball, the Minnesota Twins.

Lovingly,
Batgirl

Dear Mr. Amundson,

Normally, I would have deleted your comment, but I have not been able to attend to the site today and as a result I believe said comment has already been seen. Batgirl has an explicit policy against attacking other posters--I do understand your frustration. Being a bullpen catcher can't be very much fun, especially given how hard Grant Balfour throws. But I do ask you before you post next time to breathe in deeply and say, "Batgirl is love." It might work well, too, if you get caught with the Barbie backpack.

Sincerely,
Batgirl

sorry bat-girl.

they never let me have the good snacks in the backpak, just the spree fruit chews and the zag-nuts

Dear Mr. Amundson,

I completely understand. Here at Batgirl, you can have all the primo snacks.

Sincerely,
Batgirl

"This resulted in my usually mild-mannered friend to shout "F*%* Twingo, I'm never playing this horse$*!% game again!" which at the time was pretty funny. He then proceeded to write in his planner on every Tuesday and Wednesday through the rest of the season "Do not play Twingo"."
-----------------

That's *still* really funny. Especially the part about the planner. On a day when the Bitch Sox just swept our team *at home*, I needed that laugh. Thanks.