Johan K. Santana is on the cover of the April 8th issue of Sporting News. Cover story is "Baseball's 50 Best Players."
http://www.sportingnews.com/experts/stan-mcneal/20050328.html

He's not the only Twin who made the list this year, either. Excellent.

Oops, I forgot to sing Art's praises for still more wonderful pictures. These are great! Thanks to everyone who has sent them along and to BatGirl for posting them. They've been wonderful.

**LOVE**

SWOON!!!

Yay for Art! Laurel's "sing Art's praises" inspired me to want to write a song for Art. And the I realized my poetry is bad, I have no musical knowledge, and no one wants to hear me sing. So, Art, I'll tell you: Thanks for the awesome pictures! You're a gem!

Uh, sorry to be this way, but has anyone else noticed the number of h.r.s Lou and the Doctor have hit since last June say? After the Doctor got hit on the hand, he hit about 3, and none{0} this spring. Then we carry 6 extra catchers cuz of one guy's knee, and we have guys like Rivas, and Castro in the lineup at times. Are we going to rely on the veteran leadership of Jacque and Torii, with their reknowned plate discipline? How can Gardenshire possibly "like" Corky Miller? In the late inningings of a tight game, it will be reassuring to know that Miller, Punto, and Castro await the call on the bench. How did this happen? Where are Resto and Tiff?

Uh, uh, uh, WOW at the last picture. Thank you so much Art!

Amazin'

Very Good VIVA JOHAN SANTANA!

An congratulations from you homepage

I passed out when I saw the last picture. Wow, Mauer! CLASSIC headline!!

The only thing I am not looking forward to about the regular season starting is no more Art Shots from ST. :(

And Jessie Crain stinks, but, it is all about pictures and butts, so who cares?

Al,

I don't have much use for butts, either. Butt let folks grab onto whatever they want. Baseball is a game. Games are fun. End of lecture.

RD

Dear Mr. Al,

The season is about to begin and for many of it is time for optimism, for what is more optimistic than a beginning? Batgirl is sanguine--players have slumps, but the Doctor will figure his out, and in the meantime we have spanky new players like Jason Bartlett and this mysterious new third baseman, DJ Cuddy Boom Boom. Let us hope, for spring is here and baseball is about to begin.

Sincerely,
BG

p.s. BG has been blogging on low-power mode all winter, but will begin in earnest on Monday.

But, R.D., these are legit concerns, and no one connected to this blog,including posters has mentioned anything but pictures and butts. I'm trying to give up butts, so, I know how hard it can be, however, our defense is weaker, Morneau has not hit h.r.s since the hbp, Mauer is our best player, and he has the knee thing, Crain has not been effective, and this does not even mention Rivas and Castro. Don't get me wrong, I am picking them to win, but I gots worries, I does.

Al,

You're one of my favorite grouches, so all is cool with your residing in Apprehensionville. I'm thinking back to last year, when we were worried at season's start about the new guys in the bullpen, whether we could afford a slick fielding first baseman with no punch, Guzy's lackluster play at short, an outfield with no depth, whether Joe Mauer was for real and why Terry Ryan was so psyched about adding the 103-year-old Terry Mulholland to the staff. And, of course, there was the Rivas thing.

Then we discovered Lew as an everyday player, Nathan and Rincon in the bullpen made us forget the Eddie/LaTroy combo, JustinCredible made Dougie Defence expendable and Mulholland saved the friggin' season on that Sunday afternoon in Cleveland.

I think the 4-catcher thing is weird and I'm kinda worried about JustinCredible and I'm sorta worried about Rincon. And this knee thing with Mauer still leaves me skeptical.

However, I'm willing to have faith in TR and Gardy in a way that I don't have in McHale/Taylor, Red/Tice and whoever runs the hockey team in St. Paul. Things will work out, in one way or another. I feel that.

As far as what people are talking about here during spring training, it's a perfect time for pictures and butt talk. It's not my area of expertise, but I'm more of a regular-season guy, anyway.

Your buddy, RD

Ron,
I wish I could have explained it half as eloquently. Let's enjoy the season.

Dearest Mr. Davis,

There's a hockey team in St. Paul?

Love,
BG

Okay, I'm not mr sunshine, but there are a lot of questions, and the fact that a lot of questions last year worked out well, means zip- nada-not much. Castro? 4 catchers? That last happened in "Bang the Drum Slowly", and one of them died.R.D., I admire you greatly, but these things can't be ignored. Al

Dearest Mr. Al,

You are Mr. Sunshine, at least to Batgirl. Fret not. All will be well. Batgirl has faith. Besides, we can hardly be said to have four catchers, as that would mean we were calling Matthew LeRoy a catcher. And that is just silly.

Love,
BG

He is also a first baseman/not.Remember, I've backed these guys since 1953, and, while very little was expected of them for 12 years, they finally won it all[despite 85 regular season wins]. Then, there was you young folks era of futility from '71 -'86.Then{for you really young folks}there was '93 thru 2000. That is a lot of bad times, and I did not count '92 nor '01 when they, at least, were in it. I don't want '05 to be like one of those latter 2 years, and, when everyone hops on your band wagon{Gammons et al} it is time to get on another wagon.I address this to Ms. Girl who stole my heart and mind long ago, but who seems to be allowing her unbounded joy re the opening of a new season to blind her to some very scary problems: I hope it wasn't the butts; try chewing lots of gum.Al

I am just back from 9 days in Spring Training Land and I, for one, refuse to spoil Opening Day in pointless worrying. I hope to do a little report for y'all at some point but right now my typing is somewhat hampered by Smitty-Kitty #1, who is trying to make up for 9 days of lap deprivation. Granted, the Twins happened to win all four games I went to so I missed out on the losses, but what I saw has left me very sanguine. Cuddyer was on fire (including a beautiful stop at 3rd in the Mayor's Cup final), and all I can say about Rivas is, I think the Twins should never sign him to more than a one-year contract and should make a point of having one or two hot 2B prospects in the wings at all times. Triples are fun! Nathan looked awesome and Terence's rubber arm seems to be in fine fettle. (BTW, I don't know who the hell Denard Span is, but the kid runs like the second coming of Cristian Guzman.) The point is, yes, there will be some setbacks this year -- though personally, I don't think Mauer's knee will be one. If Morneau and Mauer come around and Cuddyer keeps it up and Torii and Johan and Brad keep on being Torii and Johan and Brad, we are definitely going all the way, and if not, well... Put it this way: I disagree that the fact that things worked out last year means nada. I think it means mucho. This is not a team that is built around a Barry Bonds -- or even a Joe Mauer. This is an organization that can take what it has to work with, and make it work. And we have some great stuff to work with. Play Ball!

Smitty

While RD was at the gym trying to get into Opening Day shape, he was watching the Cubs-Mariners game and saw Todd Walker playing second base for the Cubs. Suddenly, Luis Rivas seemed like Roberto Alomar in his prime.

Al, Al, Al.

Here's the way I see it. I think you have legitimate concerns about our bench strength offensively. However, let's look at the concerns versus the positives, shall we?

Sure, Morneau had a wrist thing and then he came into camp way behind because of his off season biblical plagues. Let's see what he can do when he's back in shape, then judge. I think he's getting his strength up and his timing back. Give him a little time.

Crain, well, he struggled, sure, but what's the back up plan? There are several pitchers waiting in the wings that can step up, Baker, Balfour off the DL, TRD, and a few others that got some long lingering looks during camp. That Gassner kid will be up in the next year or two, I'm pretty sure.

I think to say Mauer is our best player is stretching it. I'd say he has the the most upside and long term potential. But Hunter, defensively, surely is a better player at his position. And Stewart has proven himself a mighty force at the plate. Let's give Joe the Messiah a full season before we start erecting any churches. As for his knee, well, let's let that play out. Redmond is an upgrade over Blanco, I think and Miller can handle the off days if needed.

If The Knee holds up, then I think we'll see Tiffee back with the big club soon. But in the meantime, Punto's a switch hitter and isn't exactly chopped liver at the plate nor in the field. Look, I like Resto. I wish him well, I do. But if he was really the threat at the plate that people have imagined him to be, he'd be playing right field instead of Jones. Or for that matter, he'd have a spot in the Devil Rays starting lineup. But, I just don't think he has it. If he did, he wouldn't have been passed up by Ford, and Kubel. And, one little question, when, in the last three Central Division winning teams have we had any real power coming off the bench?

Now, on to the things we have to look forward to this year. That Bartlett kid made believers out of Newman and Gardy and that's not easy. He's put in the work to make himself better defensively. At the plate, he's showing that he can hit in the number 2 spot. That's impressive. I miss Koskie. He was great in the field, had some pop in his bat and, equally important was a team leader and an asset to the community. But, have you watched Cuddyer play this Spring and last year during the playoffs? He's no slouch at the plate and his fielding is pretty damn good. He's another one who's put in the extra work to make sure he's not a weak link on this team. No one can replace Corey Koskie but I'll be damned if Cuddyer isn't doing his damndest to try.

Let's talk pitching, again. Brad Radke had some ridiculous number of no decisions last year. This year, the team is showing that it's going to put up more runs. That bodes well for a defense that isn't showing much of a drop off in the field. Santana isn't showing any signs of slowing down, either. Silva, granted, may not match what he did last year and Lohse is still a question mark in my mind. But Mays, a former 17 game winner, is the FIFTH starter on this staff. Granted, he's only had that one good season, but even with elbow problems, he still managed an 8-8 record. This is an experienced staff with the lowest ERA in the league last year. Now, with more run support.

Run support. This team has always been a move them around the bases team with a weak hitting bottom of the order. Score a couple at the top of the order and then pitch and play defense has been the game plan. But, the top of the order has improved and the bottom half, with the exception of Rivas has few hitters and OBP guys, too, now. I'm not getting carried away and saying we're the Yankees with killers at 1-9, but Stewart through Morneau is a tough part of the lineup. Then you get to Hunter, Jones, Ford, Cuddyer and Rivas. It wasn't that long ago that Hunter and Jones were top of the order guys. Ford spent a lot of last year there, too. And Cuddyer proved he could hit even in the pressure of a playoff series against the Yankees. It's almost a Top of the Order Light. Well, except Rivas is batting clean up, but who knows? Maybe his poor Spring at the plate was adjusting to the changes that Carew and Ullger were getting him to make? Maybe the end of the Spring, when he picked it up was the result? Or maybe he'll be replaced by Nick Punto halfway through the season.

All I'm saying is the bench is a little light and we have some questions about the 'pen. But the team is solid with starting pitching, improved at the plate, defensively not much if any drop off, and the closer is right on schedule. Anything can happen but, on paper, this team is as good as any we've had.

And, some of the guys are good looking with nice butts, or so I've heard.