Freealonzo sends this delightful communique from Fort Meyers:
Ron Gardenhire is like a kid in a candy store, always smiling, laughing, giving everyone a hard time, clearly he loves what he is doing.Posted by Batgirl at February 23, 2005 12:15 PMIt's pretty easy to understand why Matty Lacroix gets so much ribbing. He's easily the most vocal person out there, always giving teammates a hard time, and a lot of self-deprecating humor.
According to Freealonzo's wife, Michael Restovich would be her boyfriend. Freealonzo's mom was partial to Terry Tiffle. Cuddyer was sporting new facial hair which according to both Freealonzo's wife and mother, took away from his boyfriendness.
Speaking of boyfriends, there are a number of women at spring training looking to make a Twin or two their boyfriend.
Finally the Chairman's knee looked pretty good. He took part in all drills and to my eye didn't seem to limp, favor his knee, or look like he was in any pain.
Tell the Batlings who are heading to Fort Myers that if they want to see the pitchers, they have to get at the fields early (9:30 am) as they do their warmups and then they are in the club house. Also, the rumor was that Torii and Jacque were also already at camp but that they work out early and then they go inside.
The pitchers and catchers start at 9:30. They get done at around 11:30 to noon. Today, Joe Nathan signed autographs for a good half hour til everyone had one. Mauer was still signing when I left at 11:40 or so.
As far as the rest of the players, the infielders and outfielders are here. He must of missed them. They are on the 2 farther fields. The outfielders hit on one and in infielders on the next one. They were done around 10:30-10:45. Torii stood and signed for everyone today also. But at that field, so if you're after autos, spot who you want and follow them. Today, it was impossible to get both Torii and Johan, as they signed at the same time about 200 yards apart.
I like Mike's chin whiskers. Tommorrow this guy is going to be in his foursome for the golf tourney. It should be a blast!
Posted by: insider at February 23, 2005 12:43 PMI'd seen pictures of Michael Cuddyer with facial hair and, while he was cute, I thought he could do better. He wasn't sporting any facial hair at Twins Fest, and I was right: he is much cuter without it. Restovich, my sister and I agree, is the cutest Twin. (But Cuddyer is my boyfriend. Jason Kubel was hers, but she'll take the Doctor, too.)
I'm jealous of you guys down there. Thanks so much for the reports!
Just Beth
P.S. Does Cuddyer prefer "Mike" or "Michael"? I've mostly heard/seen him as Michael.
Dearest Insider
Enjoy your golfing tomorrow-I know you will have a blast!! Keep Michael from tweaking anything - my sister would be most sad if the got hurt - she has grown quite fond of him - she would prefer he play second but she's just happy that he gets to play now. Thank you again for the pictures and the mini-reports!! Heck go kick some a$$ on the golf course!! I prefer no whiskers on Michael;-)
Oh and if we're picking boyfriends -needless to say my would be Boo -
Much Love -
Wonder Woman
I've been to Spring Training, at it really is terrific. It's a fun little town, and you get to see the Twins play outside, and it's nothing in Fort Myers to order a martini at 11:00 AM. Good times, good times.
Posted by: Kurtis Scaletta at February 23, 2005 06:11 PMTo quote Frau Blucher,
"He vas my BOYFRIEND!!!"
And he still is...
Joe Nathan, the Nathanest of all Joe's.
Posted by: bubblemint at February 23, 2005 08:19 PMNEEEEEEEEEEEIGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!
Posted by: a horse in the background at February 23, 2005 11:59 PMFor anyone who has ever paid attention to my posts, this shouldn't be a surprise, but I'm going to make it official:
I claim Luis Rivas as my boyfriend.
Anyone have a problem with that? :)
Posted by: Say Rah! at February 24, 2005 08:47 AMI do.
Posted by: Cristian Guzman at February 24, 2005 09:31 AM>>I do.
Posted by Cristian Guzman at February 24, 2005 09:31 AM <<
The funniest thing I've read in a long time. I laughed so hard that my co-workers were looking over the cubicle farm to see what was so funny.
If we're calling out boyfriends, mine is Bradke. I love pitchers. And although Johan is very fun to watch, he's really only a crush. My heart belongs to the control freak.
Oh, and Mr. Bro's boyfriend: Wally the Beerman.
Yours,
k-bro
Bring it on Guzie!
Actually, I imagine Cristian is probably too lazy to do anything about it, so I'm not too worried.
Johan is definitely #2, but I'm being very careful with him; I'll stick with Rivas for now - with that no one can accuse me of being a bandwagon girlfriend!!!
Posted by: Say Rah! at February 24, 2005 12:36 PMNo, I think it's safe to say that Rivas doesn't have a bandwagon, although if he's the starting 2B on Opening Day I'm thinking of organizing a candlelight vigil. Hay-oh!!! :)
Posted by: frightwig at February 24, 2005 03:11 PMSay Rah:
I empathize. Although I'm not sure I'd call him my boyfriend (I'm having trouble deciding---mmm, buffet), it makes me sad to see Rivas get so little credit and so much razzing around here!
Posted by: twink at February 24, 2005 10:03 PMOk, as someone who has often razzed Rivas, I'd like to know for what we should be giving him credit. It's hard to read tone in online posts so I have to say, I'm being sincere here not combative.
Posted by: mmmarkiep at February 24, 2005 11:14 PMMmmarkiep,
I guess this is a tough one to answer. First, I have an innate adoration for any Twinkie of long (more than 1 1/2 seasons) standing. Second, Rivas was brought up at a ridiculously young age. I worry that he's the 2nd twin (besides lyle) that was brought up too young and left to languish without adequate attention to player development. One wonders what could become of some of these guys that were brought up so early, with the right guidance (I think of Papi Ortiz...not that Rivas would be a power hitter or anything). Next, I hear the games on the radio, don't get to see them, so I have to take Dan and John at face value. They describe Rivas as laying himself out for balls that are beyond his reach, even if it means he'll draw an error. And every once in a while, he pulls that ball in. (Yeah, I know he face-plants for reachable balls and misses them, too). Finally, he hit ten homers last year, which is respectable, if not spectacular, for a middle infielder. I know that, put together, it's not a lot to hang one's hat on, but I'll take it if it means we can afford to keep El Presidente (not the least of Rivas' contributions).
--twink
Posted by: twink at February 26, 2005 02:12 AM