Dear Readers,

BG will not be able to monitor this thread, but Jeb will be on troll watch. If anyone comes in to be annoying, though, please ignore them. And go Twins!

Love,
BG

What about those of us who come in with intentions of not being annoying, but who tend to annoy anyway? What about us?

Kick ass today Twins,
YankeeFan

I'm heading to the dome too, I wonder if I'll be able to spy Batgirl and Batmom there.

Twingo too! Oh what fun!

I have tickets to todays game, but I have to work :(
Guess I'll have to stick to 'CCO

look for the utility belts, its a dead giveaway...

have fun at the dome, i havent been there since kirby puckett bobblehead day...but i am eagerly awaiting their trip out to play the Jokeland Athletics

Congrats on the page2 mention

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=neel/050420

YankeeFan -

You are too funny and cool to be a real Yankees fan. What gives?

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=neel/050420

I love the Twins too, but can we please win our own division before we try to win the AL West too?

OK if Gassner gets sent down; always good to know that we've got insurance in the minors. I could say the same thing for Tiffee, but I still would like to see a Tiffee 3rd/Cuddyer 2nd lineup (even though I know Cuddyer hasn't been tearing it up either).

I'll be watching (or listening, actually) for a good performance from Bartlett today.

Win Twins.

I'm sitting at home right now. Why am I not at the game?

Gassner's looking more like a rookie today. Ugh.

did he make an error throwing home?

It sounds like they had deJesus at third and Gassner threw the ball away.

Gameday is already frozen. What's up with that?

Dave Gassner: Eminently hittable.

It can't be a good thing when MLB.TV turns on, and before the picture even shows up, the damned royals announcers say "...and just like that its 2-0 royals".

Oh well, maybe we're gonna get back into that early season deal where we fall early and then storm back and kick thier asses... unlike yesterdays 8th inning squeaker..

Go get'em Lad Gasske!

whitesox caught the twins bug--bases loaded rowan strikes out, a.j. flies out. glad to see it's been passed along...

Good start, Stewie!

Does anybody think Gassner has a legitimate chance to pitch himself on to the team today? I know he's gotten off to a bad start, but it would show true character if he came back, toughened up, and shut the Royals down for the rest of the game. Even so, can you imagine any scenario that they'd let him stay? Sounds like they're not ready to give up on Lohse just yet...

Damned double play balls.... Whoa, when did Bartlet get fast like that?!

I went to college with Gassner! (Not that I knew him or anything, he graduated after my freshman year)

Unfortunately for me, I have to get to class before the conclusion of this one :(

just like that, its 2-2...nice job torii

Yay! Torii!

Is it just me, or are the WCCO announcers deader than driftwood today? They need some coffee, or something... when your team hits a homerun, you show some enthusiasm!

SWEETCHEEKS!!! YOU'RE SO BEAUTIFUL! DAMN THAT WAS HOT!

Torii! Torii!

Ouch....guess we'll have to come-from-behind again. *yawn*

If you're using internet explorer as your browser, you've got to go with CBS Sportsline, hands-down. Very reliable, with comparable features to Gameday. I live in NY, so these things need to work for me, or else I would just wander the streets in a hopeless daze.

...and BAM! I love Torii.

bartlett has some speed, i think i remember him stealing 40 or 50 bases one year at AA

That had to be the worst home run call ever. Gordo trying to figure out who the fielder is, mumbling and then finally mumbling ... "uh ... and it's gone." very meekly after the crowd has already let you know that.

Hey, back to back jacks!

Matty!!! Silence the critics, yo!

I have class, too Ryan -- I mean, one I'm teaching. But that won't stop me from keeping an eye on Gameday. :-)

Woohoo! Back to backs!

WOOHOO!!!

Way to go, Matty!

Torii is on pace for over 30 homers this year!

Oh, good. Mr. Donut is playing again. Dammit...

I was watching sports center today, Turns out last night, Andruw Jones left 5 guys on base himself...

HOLY BACK TO BACK HOMERUNS!! WOW!!!! SWEET

always nice when he doesn't need speed to get around the bases. I'm gonna call him mr. donut more often

1/3rd of an inning and they've already given Gassner 3 times more run support than Radke for the whole game.

Tinger, mind if I steal that one? We all call him FatHead around here, but I like Mr. Donut better.

whats with the KC pitchers throwin at Jones' nuts every day!? damn thats mean.

Alright, lets see Gasske bounce back here... 1,2,3..

Why is Lew batting ahead of Jacque today? That seems like Gardy doesnt want Jacque to get any RBIs in this game.

M- By all means, i'd hate to take the truth and keep it for myself!

I just called him that becasuse last night, i told him that there was a donut on second base, and, by gum, he ended up there! (that was the single he put off the wall, but he DID get to second eventually!)

Tell me Corky (Corky) Miller isn't catching today... please?

that third base ump is making a case for B.O.D. after that call.... oh well, a K is a K!

Nope, he's sitting on the bench...he'll put up better offensive numbers there anyway.

Don't you think that if the pitcher is the guy who made the error that it should still be charged as an earned run to him. I mean lord, come on Gassner, Just keep your chin up I guess and remember you are playing against the Royals.

WCCO is actually putting me to sleep...

Oh good, its Redmond. I feel better allready.

Ryan, because against a lefty Jacque will either K (40%), ground weakly to first (59.2%), or hit a moonshot (0.8%).

Sorry for so much stat-talk (fake or real).

ESPN's gamecast is horrible, I am considering paying for mlb live

Carrie, that'll happen with these early games... I'm guessing Gordo and the Dazzleman were out late celebrating the win last night... give 'em a few innings, and a couple of waters, they'll come around. At least, thats what usually works for me!

Despite what looks to be a brilliantly played ball game, I'm going to have to head out, and learn or something. Go Twins!

C'mon, Gasske, you can do better than this. Relax. Deep breaths.

During Pregame, Sweetcheeks should go over to left field with the guys who play there and give them some throwing lessons... this bouncing the ball at shortstop makes it look like they're pitching in a cricket match...

They seriously have Lecroy playing 1b instead of DH, I have a bad feeling about this

48 pitches and not through the 2nd inning. Ugh.

Damn, ya know, i liked Gassner's last start ALOT better...

Even better Gassner has single handedly raised the collective batting averages of today's KC starters by about .100.

This is beginning to sting... poor little Gasske.

Have a nice flight back to Rochester, Gasman.

Well, Gasske... why don't you head back down and maybe we'll see ya later in the year... when you're better, like your first game form...

Weren't a lot of people wondering whether Gassner should be sent back down?

Poor Gasske. I liked him so much last week.

Although slightly dissappointing, i find happiness in the fact that the Jackal will be back for his next start...

I just caught myself questioning the decision to skip Kyle this time. Please help me!

Thank you Guerrier.

On with the bats!

Gotta go to a meeting. Back in a bit. I hope I can refersh and see some more offense ... from the Twins that is.

Hmm. Shaggy just doesn't look quite as shaggy without the chin pubes...

Apparently Batgirl's attendence at the game made Mr.Gassner nervous - go Shaggy!!!

Cheer louder Batgirl - I cannot hear you =)

much love
Wonder Woman

As a side note, those home run calls were by Herb....

But they were a little lackluster...

Guerrier is French for Warrior.

Once again, the Royals show why they don't have the moral high ground. Yeah Stewart.

Go J.B.!

An extra-base hit! Gasp!

Ok, so i have a bone to pick with MLB.TV...

I switch computers so i can watch the game while i work, and i get the message "you've logged onto your account too many times. Please try again later."

First of all, how do i log on too many times?! Didn't i pay for unlimited access to all the games?!

secondly, by logging in "later", how is that going to cut down the number of logins so i will be able to log on.. BASTARDS!!!

Awesome, nice set of hitting boys... now lets see Sweetcheeks (who's on fire as of late) continue this trend!

YES! base hit! that calls for some special secret handshakes when Tor gets back to the dugout!

No GIDP for Torii today. We're making progress!

Mr. Donut, do something donutworthy here.

Am I the only one relieved that we didn't load the bases on LeCroy's at bat???

Now we're on to something...

Ok, so cbs locked up on me after the 5th foul ball... does that lead me to believe that Mr. Donut GIDP? i don't know... someone, anyone.. HELP!!!

Torii, thanks for not getting picked off, but I think you broke Gameday...

I'd like Leroy to take the intentional out here. Kind of like an intentional walk, but just strike out on purpose, that way we have first and third with one out instead of suffering through another DP.

MK, I noticed that, too.

Yay Lew! Tee!

Is Torii Hunter baseball's best overall player?

Maybe.

Leeewwwww!!!

This is a nice change of pace from loading the bases and then grounding into a double play isn't it?

Atta boy Torii! SB eliminated GIDP, YES!

I figured Torii would swipe second...but now its stuck on 3-2 to DoNut. OH man, there it goes... Nice work DoNut, i'll take ya to crispy cremes after the game!

Tinger, they had Torii picked off at first, but Sweeney never made the tag. Torii advanced to second while everyone was arguing. Then Matty hit a single that 3B Graffanino dropped to score Bartlett and tie the game.

Nice...we're getting back to normal with the JJ GIDP

Matty gets an infield single! How often does that happen?

Aaaand...off to work. Don't let the Royals regain the lead, everyone!

JJ we don't hit into DP's anymore. Did you miss that memo?

Thank you very much, Mr. Sweeny...

Nice to see we can GIDP and still keep scoring afterward, this is sure a fun inning.

Its a good thing we're playing the Royals, or id have been worried about giving up 5 runs in the first 2 innings...

Batgirl - see what happens when you cheer louder!!
Yay a lead!!

Now I have to get back to work =)

Much love
Wonder Woman =)

MK,
Thanks for the help! I would have liked to see the poor fool at Gameday try to explain that one, though.

Yeah, i guess we SHOULD spread our runs out a little bit... 3 or 4 every couple of innings, should make for a good day of offensive stats!

Still, as much fun as this is, i can't help but hurt on the inside a little bit for the Royals.

No kidding.... and this is only the end of the third.

Guerrier feels like making the most out of this outing, I guess... five strikeouts so far.

There's the first 1-2-3 inning so far this ballgame. Gurrerier seems to be doing well.

Ok, had to go do some work for a few minutes, i see we K'ed a few guys. Nice. Back to the bats!

I sure am glad all the Pope talk is over...

Man, a single from Rivas! Now that's really something. This is certainly an interesting game.

Wow, you know its a good night when Rivas is getting singles.

There go the royals again, non-moral high ground... its hard *not* to feel bad for them.

Shannon Stewart - the consummate lead-off batter. (although, I'm angry they charged him with an AB for reaching on that error)

I'd like to congratulate Michael Cuddyer on his 3rd Inning RBI. Nice work, Mike.

I'm feeling very happy with the squad right now, and I'm doing absolutely no work.

Luis (not my Boyfriend, but I like to think he's mine on the side) has been hitting quite well thus far. Wonder how well he'd do if Gardy didn't bench him every third game.

Too much scoring activity has apparently broken Gameday (again). Why do they do this to me?

was that the old "jeff nelson" (fake to third fake to first move)?

YF

Gurrier's wife didn't have a baby in the first inning did she? i mean, that woulda been about 58 minutes before He went in to pitch... and he's kinda resembling El Presidente out there tongiht...

They keep trying pickoff attempts, but you KNOW we're gonna just steal on them the next throw to home anyway!

No, it's not the scoring that breaks it, its the pickoff attempts. >_

well, it wasn't a double play... so we got that goin for us. And we got a run. Nice AB, J.B.

Thats ok Sweetcheeks, you can get out once in a while when you're getting 15 hits a series...

Isn't that two games in a row they hit Mr. Donut!? they must be afraid he's going to eat one of their guys...

COME ON LEWWWWWWWWWWW

Man... they hit LeRoy AGAIN?!?!?! come on guys.. I thought he actually looked a little SMALLER this year than last season...

In Detroit it's 3-2 Tigers in the seventh with Abe Lincoln on the mound for the Kitties. Seriously, check out this guy's mug on Gameday.
I'm just waiting for him to give up four scores.

I agree that the announcers seem unusually sedate today. And gamecast just blows. It stays on the same pitch for 10 minutes, then jumps ahead 2 innings. I'm wondering if the video feed at MLB is worth it. Kind of steep price to pay, especially if the quality isn't great. Has anyone tried it? Is it fairly reliable?

Hi all -- first time poster here. Saw the site once before, thought it was cool... forgot about it. Page2 linked again, bookmarked this time, so I hope to be back. Just read through the month's archives.

Anyway... I may just have to pick up the Twins as my AL favorite team. Been a Cubs fan for years, so they'll be number one, but needed somebody in the AL for a while now. Especially since the Red Sox won, so I don't need to cheer for them anymore. (Not sure if I was cheering for them to finally win, or for people to finally shut up about them.)

0-0, Cubs-Cardinals... Can't believe the Cubs forgot to wear their anti-injury caps AGAIN yesterday.

...holy crud... Just saw a clip of the Padres... with camoflage uniforms. What the hell?

p.s.
Just saw it didn't get submitted, they want my email address, ah, what the heck, I can spam filter if needed. Anyway... now I know where the Twins' ass-bats went. Isn't Busch supposed to be a hitters' ballpark?

Good to see we can still turn the DP and we're hitting into fewer of them tonight...

*knock on wood*

lets see, according to the gameplan so far, we should be due for 3 or 4 more runs this AB! Cool.

Dear readers,

Batgirl sends her greetings from the game. She reports that everyone is having a good time now and that, "Matt Guerrier is good at playing baseball."

Yours,

Jeb

Boy, that was a quick top of the 5th.

Thanks for the tip on Sportsline.com's GameCenter!

You know, I've always liked LeCroy as a back up everything. Never understood why he gets so much static.

Beavis thinks it's funny that Mike "Wood" is pitching for the Royales w/Cheese.

Gopher, I've enjoyed watching MLB.TV, it *HAS* been pretty reliable, until tongiht, all of a sudden it tells me i've logged in too many times and i should try later... i don't know whats so unlimited about it if theres a limit on number of times you can log in...

Dammit, why's this wood guy gotta keep hittin us?

so anyway, back to my story... the feed is usually good, and its alot better than watching little symbols move around a screen... but if they're gonna be limiting how many games you can watch, i think thats ass-crap.

I do not like Mike Wood and his dirty thigh-hunting tactics.

Wait, that didn't come out right at all.

"Matt Guerrier is good at playing baseball."

That cracked me up for some reason. Good job, Guerrier!!

I love this whole scoring thing.

Spoke too soon. :(

my Gamecast must be broken.

It says the Twins didn't score any runs in the 5th.

YF

*sigh*

Damn, who's this Buck guy and why's he gotta be hitting homers? Thats just crap.

I love the twins!
I am particularly fond of Mr. Torii Hunter.

now it is going haywire!

YF :)

I'd think the limit would be higher than the number of games played on a given day. They're probably just trying to make sure you don't share your account with other people, I dunno... but if you haven't, then that's definitely

Man, does Gurrier have some sort of Lyle chip in him? or maybe its just that Lyle is pissed becasuse Kyle got skipped in the rotation, and he's haunting all of our guys...

Shake it off Gurrier. Go back to the "good" baseball. Its more fun for us! And more rewarding for YOU.

THAT IS NOT GOOD BASEBALL! DAMMIT

*insert very bad word here*

(*#$&@%(*&@)*#$#()*)@(&#%#*$)@(&#%)@*#$

Oh yeah... I know we aren't supposed to respond to trolls, but I'd just like to let you know I hate you for reminding me who the Cubs' closer is with The Underrated One, Joe Borowski, injured.

No wonder Joe pitched two months injured last season -- he still did better than the healthy guys in the bullpen did.

Dang it Romero!

I'm sorry, but you don't earn your keep in MLB by giving up a walk and two HR's to the 6-7-8 hitters on one of the worst teams in the league.

Just get it done.

Please, PLEASE tell me this is the Good J.C.

Oh dear...............
Shaggy must have been worried about the Mystery Machine that was parked at a meter

[As a side note, Stacy...I sent you an email:)]

COME ON GUYS! We were doing great! What's going wrong?!

sigh. Apparantly there's some html coding used here so I can't use greater than and less than here. Anyway, my above post (the one above the one above htis one) was supposed to end "that's definitely (insert witty ass-related saying here)" but I used greater than and less than so it didn't show up.

High Moral Ground, J.C.
Feilding errors aren't High Moral Ground.
NEITHER IS A @*#$&$@ BALK!!!!!

what the hell is happening?!

Romero! WTF??!!

Thanks for the feedback Tinger

Thats not twins baseball!! Thats not even Expos baseball!!!!

So it's crudball today. Good thing we get the last at-bat.

Whew...

Cripes.

Bad: Errors.
Worse: Balk.
Worst of all: Balking in the winning run.

Happened to the Cubs last season. I'm still bitter.

Guerrier,

You sucked today. Please stop this crap.

Thanks,
Stacy

And just when you think your team is screwing up, you realize you are playing the Royals.

Nice squeeze.

Suicide, that it is.

Why don't I feel so badly about the Royals tieing up this game? I'd be smokin' if it was the bitchsox.

Ok, now it's our turn to have some fun, score some runs.

now THAT'S Twins Baseball!! Caught stealing by catcher?! Don't tell me they missed on a squeeze bunt... WOW...

I've said it before and i'll say it again.. at least we're only playing the Royals...

"Gotay to second on balk."

Kinda says it all. JC is just trying to solidify his spot in the Mighty Triumvirate of Suck, since he's jealous that Lyle and Luis are so firmly entrenched in their spots.

I dearly love every member of this team. Except for those three, who suck totally a lot.

And we've come full circle to Mr. Gotay. "Gotay caught stealing, catcher." Err, what? They CAN'T have tried to steal home... ball get away from Redmond and he tried to steal a run or something?

Oh yeah, that reminds me -- I've got a league game tonight. I don't think I need to tell you why it reminds me. The good news is, most of our opponents are equally incompetent. Still no fun when the other team gets a hit, two walks, then an inside-the-park grand slam.

I'm missing most of a pretty entertaining game, looks like.

I'd like to see J.B. come through with an extra base hit here...

See, at least you guys tried a suicide squeeze. We just wait for the catcher to drop one.

Anyone else extremely annoyed by the last name 'Gotay'?

damn, he battles so hard up there every time, then he always gets out... J.B. is gonna be one heck of a player some day.. hopefully soon.

Come on Torii, do something pretty here.

Okay, this ground-out thing is getting old.

Stacy,

I am. Why is that?

YankeeFan

Note to Torii: Lining out to left doesn't classify as "pretty".

I like when the Royals ground out, though. Just not the Twins.

Dearest YF,

I'm glad it's not just me. I want to pull my hair out when I hear his name. Not sure why though.

-Stacy

Wonderful job, Jesse!!

On the other hand, that was extremely pretty from Crain.

Berroa this game:

AB1: Grounded out
AB2: Lined out
AB3: Fouled out
AB4: Popped out

i'm gonna guess if he gets up again, he's gonna strike out. but thats just me.

Whoever said that cbs sportsline had the best pitch-by-pitch tracking was right on. I thought that ESPN did everything better, but Gamecast blows.

Stacy, i'm the same way.. i don't know what it is.. its kinda like my hatred for Florida State. I don't have a reason to hate them, I just do. It just happens.

I'm glad I can count on all of you to keep me posted on the game. Either my radio sucks or the station that's carrying the broadcast sucks, but every 2 minutes or so it will be dead silent. It's incredibly annoying when I'm at work and can't do much about it!

Tinger,

Good thing Mauer didn't go there to play football, eh?

Gopher, i think it was AT that brought it up a few games ago, but don't let him fool you.. i told him about it.

NO DONUT FOR LEROY!

Ford earned it instead. he could use a donut now and then, just as long as he doesn't let it get out of control. (I'm lookin at you, Matty)

Darn tootin, Stacy! Then again, if he'd have chosen FSU over the twins, i'd have probably liked him considerably less.... and still hated the 'Noles. Sure am glad i dind't have to put myself throught that hell!

Wow, what has gotten into Lil' Sweetcheeks this year?! i think he's allready got as many walks this year as he had all of last year combined! and probably the year before!

dp for cuddy? I'm predicting it.....

He's being patient at the plate and it's just so confusing.

Cuddy! Jeez!

Dang it, Dimples!

I don't know whats better... Cuddyer striking out, or Cuddyer not hitting into a DP. And, for that matter, i'm still a little shaky about a walk in that situation, to load them up... but its messed up to think that the best case scenario there was for him to K...

these twins have me so confused this year!

Guys, please do something positive...like score a run...so I don't have to throw my Gatorade bottle. There's still Gatorade in there, I would like to finish it. So, please. Do something.

I'd be mad at the Cubs' bullpen for blowing a great start by Dempster, but there was nothing to blow, thanks to the ass-bats. I love that term. Thanks, Bat-girl.

Maybe the Twins will win.

Maybe the Twins' game will be over before the Cubs finally die here.

Ah, there we go. Stupid getting two runners on with 2 out in the ninth inning just to give us a minimal amount of hope before crushing it.

*moan*

see, now i'm confused, becasuse we dind't score, which isn't good. But we didn't GIDP, so its like a step forward... i guess its kinda like a step forward on a treadmill...

Clutch hitting there by Cuddy and Redmond.

I just punched my computer.

Dearest Morneau,

Please come back tomorrow. We are very sick of LeCroy on 1st.

-Stacy

"i guess its kinda like a step forward on a treadmill..."

Classic. Simply classic.

YF

Someone just give me a tranquilizer.

Jesse, that is NOT good pitching.

someone who was watching, is there a good reason he went to first on that play instead of third? Man i hope there was....

Oh, Lordy...c'mon Crain...

I can't breathe....

why was Redmond not pinch hit for right there? what's the point of having FOUR catchers if you can't pinch hit for Redmond in the 7th inning with 2 runners on?

*bites off nails*'

Oh, thank God. Out at the plate. Yay Rivas.

*deep breaths*

BOO!

I'd be more excited, however, if the treadmill cut out while the step forward was going on, and he who was walking forward on said treadmill ran into the damned thing. That would be more entertaining than what i'm seeing right now...

Does anyone else hear William Shatner's voice saying "Jesse Crain" whenever Crain pitches? Just me then. Okay fine.

YF

P.S. Stacy - Gotay aint so bad, eh? :)

Great play! Way to not let "gazoo" tell you what to do on that rivas!

*starts breathing again*

*exhale*

My love-hate relationship with Luis Rivas is firmly on the LOVE side.

This whole treadmill thing is absolutely entertaining! I am lovin it!

so now you're telling me that Rivas is getting base hits *and* making good feilding decisions...

what a messed up day overall...

Our fifth pitcher of the day, presumably with Nathan still to come. Sheesh. At least he's a good one.

Enter the BOO!!!!

Boo: Yeah.

Boo! you are the man. seriously

So, according to my math, 4 of our other pitchers equals 1/2 of Santana when he's distracted. Awesome.

Carmen,

That's nice of you. I still totally hate him. I'm relieved he decided not to suck on that play, though. Even a broken watch is right twice a day.

Regards,

Chris

Yay! we survived the 8th!

And... Exit the Boo! nice work kid.

Now lets do that thing we did in the first inning... or the third inning... and then we can bring in the VP and this rollercoaster of emotions can finally end!

I was kind of hoping we could see KC's closer. Do they have one?

Yes! Way to go Boo!

Now, let's see if Rivas can keep up the good work...

Rivas. Don't look at the ump. Just when I was ready to say nice things about you.

Hmmnnn.....

...one can say Bitchsox, yet one can't talk about the twinkies. Censorship is a bitch (Hello Comcast!) " The truth hurts, but tastes better with soy sauce!" -- Yao Ming

Jeez, you don't have to swing at *everything*...

(shakes head, sighs)

I keep waiting for you to prove me wrong, Luis.

I'm looking at Gameday, and there's this scrolling thing at the bottom that says, "Stewarts shoots Twins past Royals". Isn't that just a bit premature?

Dear Mr. Gardy,

Did it ever occur to you that we have players on the bench that don't so much suck, and perhaps NOW would be a good time to do some pinch hitting?! You seem to enjoy substituting people every other game, why not give it a shot DURING the game. Still, i am amazed at your unorthodox ways that always seem to work.

Sincerely,
Tinger

C'mon, Bartlett, c'mon, pretty please, pretty pretty please...

Damn. Damn damn damn.

Make your predictions for 9th inning hero now!
Hunter?
Leroy?
Ford?

A scoreless 8th inning. Grrreeaat.

And... Enter the Boo!!!! (again)

Dear Mr. Rincon,

Please don't slip into the act that the rest of the pitching staff seems to be in tongiht, where they come out looking good, then suck. Thank you.

Respectably,
Tinger

Oh, Lew. Always Lew.

I say Lew. If anybody. I'm about worn out by this point.

Jacque. Thank you, Jacque.

Hmmmm.. predictions for the hero... Question, is there a Donut involved? or is this a fair, clean fight?

"Make your predictions for 9th inning hero now!
Hunter?
Leroy?
Ford?

Inside the park HR by Matt "Speedy" LeCroy.

My money's on Lew.

Now is a good time for that DP ball...

SEE THAT GARDY! a pinch hitter... crazy, crazy K.C.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lew!

Balk? Another balk? What's with all the balks? Can we stop that, please?

Tinger, I am new here and I have known you a matter of hours and I like ya already.

Nice job Rincon.

WAIT. I TAKE IT BACK.

Is this balk day? For the love.

Mauer should pinch hit in the 9th.

I'm gonna have to go outside the box on the Hero and say... Joe Nathan!

There will be no tears when we wave goodbye to Mr. Sweeney.

Balk? I am watching sportsline.com Game Center. Rincon didn't move at all. Not a twitch. But man Sweeney is fast. Blink, and darn it all if he wasn't standing on second. :)

AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oh crap

One more balk, boys, and I'm going to be very very upset with you.

Oh Lord. That OX Sweeney...this doesn't sound good...

Between the GIDP and balks, I am really starting to question the mental prepardness of this team.

And that's not being cute, I'm serious.

I've seen more balks in the past week then ever before...

Well, at least he's walking.

And if even one BitchSox fan says we had this coming...

No. Please no.

Why Corky? Why are we bringing in Corky?

/single tear

Dear Mr. Gardenhire-

What are you doing?

Sincerly,
Belle

Sharp eye! Whew!

Wow, talk about your all-time great catching substitutions. Who knew that was coming?

That upsets me greatly. What the hell is the big idea, giving the royals a lead in the 9th inning? Jumpin Jehosefats!

Now i'm a little bit upset and even slightly worried... OH FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!! THEY PUT CORKY (CORKY) MILLER IN AT CATCHER?!

sweet jeebus, didn't the black sox scandle teach us ANYTHING about throwing games?! i'm both angry and hurt. and its a deep hurt.

Tell me I am dreaming. Tell me we are not down to the frickin Royals. Please...?

Talk about a surprise!

I smell a 9th inning rally here

HA. Stealing third? Greedy, greedy, greedy. Pigs get slaughtered, KC.

But for the love. Our catcher goes down, and our offense needs a pick up in a hurry. So who does Gardy go to? CORKY. Over Joe Mauer. I'm sure there's some hidden genius that I'll appreciate in retrospect. Right now, it looks like jackassery.

Theres still hope...

Carmen, maybe Gardy has the show us why he needs 4 freaking catchers????

Chris, there's no such thing as a "Great" anything, including catching substitutions, if Corky (corky) Miller is involved. We're down a run, and we need hits to get said run. Corky (corky) miller doesn't get hits. he just sits there and sucks. Mauer could have thrown him out too. AND gotten a hit.

COME ON OFFENSE!!!!!

*rocks back and forth*

A walk is good, right?

Matty, please, for the love of God, no GIDPs....

Well, I think it's very possible that if we get down to the number 8 hitter, Gardy could put in Mauer.

Torri draws a leadoff, 4-pitch walk? This looks like a good omen!

Good start, Torii. Hell of an eye there.

Good start...

E-9, let it be said that no one, I mean NO ONE, is going to out-catcher the Minnesota Twins this season.

COME ON BOYS!!

What's with all the White Sox fans trying to flame the game threads?

Ack! Ack! Ack!

Torii, I love you, but don't do that to me. Thank God you have your own personal luck spirits.

How did Redmond injure his chest?
"Minnesota Twins catcher Mike Redmond left the game due to an injured chest."

They do have a closer! Also, run Torii run. God knows we can't depend on LeCroy.

Well, i'm not suprised that MacDougal is a little wild... he's the Royals closer, how many opportunities does he get in a year?

DONUT!! DONUT DAMMIT!! HIT THE BALL! SON OF A...!!!

i'm speechless...

Where's the Bitch Sox patrol here? See AJ's comments if you don't know what I'm talking about here.

Sucks about Redmond's bruised ribs, because now we'll have to see a lot more of Corky (Corky) Miller!

Please, please, please rally! I cannot bear the humiliation of a loss to the Royals!

Matty, I ask you... gah...

LEEEEWWWW!!!! Please, please, please....

Come on Lew! Put it over the fence!

This umpire is awful.

Just ignore the sox fans... they'll go away.

Lewwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

Matty, I ask you... gah...

LEEEEWWWW!!!! Please, please, please....

JHK,

Little people with little minds and not enough to do. Let's just keep ignoring them, there's too much for us to think about.

Oh for the love of God, the Hayseed strikes out. But GREAT JOB Torii McSpeedster.

I can't see anyone being B.O.D. except for Torii tongiht. The guy's done about all he can do, plus picked up the slack for Mr. Donut.

Ack, ack, ack.........

Yay Lew, but..... why not home? was it really that close?

Ack.........

LEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

Oh I love Lew Ford. Third hit of the game, holla!

YEESSSSSS!!!!! LEEEWWWWW!!!!

Can't tell from gameday. Could Torri have scored, or was it a good move stopping at 3rd?

YES!!!!

the office erupts!!!! (we got game on the speakers)

LEWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! alright lil' sweetcheeks, time to earn your paycheck!!!

Thank you jacque for getting torii home to tie...Thats why i call you Sexual Jacquelate

YAYY!!!! *#Y$(*Y#$(*(&*#(&$&(#$#$

YES YES YES YES YES!!!

I am in a library and cannot make noise and it is killing me

I knew you could do it, boys!!!

Now finish 'em off.

Nevermind

Yes! Yes! Yes!!

Late entry, but better late than never. COME ON CUDDYER!!! BE A HERO!!

Cuddy knew he just needed a deep fly ball right? RIGHT?

YF

Mauer. Sensible.

Come on, we need some MAUER PAUER!!!

YESSS!!!! ATTABOY JONESY!!!!!

something about this makes me nervous, however, having Cuddy and then Corky(corky) Miller coming up... i'd feel better seeing Cuddy then Mauer...

Oh no.. Well, if nothing else, here's a chance for Corky (corky) miller to earn some respect. But only some. he still sucks. Regardless of this play.

WHOA BABY!! YESSSS!!! ENTER THE CHAIRMAN!!!! GAME SET MATCH!

Holy God, we are going to use ALL of our catchers. In one game.

Oh come on Terry!!!

Michael, did anyone ever tell you that you do NOT ground out to third with runners at second and third?

Nice move Gardy.

They're walking the Chairman to get to Rivas. Bastards.

Terry, Terry, Terry..... get a hit here, and we won't send you back....

Oh please. That was pitiful.

Who'll pinch hit for Rivas? Someone? Anyone? Please?

I just got back from class, expecting to read BG's recap of a win (It was 7-5 when I left), but instead caught Torii's steal and Lew and Jacque's heroics. GO TIFFEE!!! BE THE HERO!!

Gardy with the Pinch hitting mastery!

QUICK! PH for rivas!! HURRY!!!

YES!!!!! GARDY YOU THE MAN!!!!

Come on TT

Can't breathe again....

AJ, FredSox, whoever else...as a fellow sox fan, please shut up.

I, like you, am greatly enjoying this reversal of fortunes where our team seems to pull out almost every game, while the twins struggle with timely hitting, worthless hitters, and have defensive issues.

But revel in it silently. Gloating on a Twins blog is just asking for the baseball gods to change their minds and have things return to normal. And it's far too early in the season to think things will stay this way. Got it? (See, the game's tied again..)

Alright, back to lurking.

come on broken treadmill!!!!!

extra innings :(

I HATE MY LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh no. Not extra innings.

Every time the Twins leave the bases loaded, a little part of me dies inside.

Cuddyer is raising my blood pressure daily.

jhadfl;ja;kldfj;akl jkl`~!$#!@#$#$!!!!

gahhh.... Why do we keep DOING THIS?!?!?!?!?

We could populate a new country with the number of men we leave on base this season.. geesh..

*improves mood by contemplating entire island populated by Twins players and me... *

I know this is some sick joke they like playing with us. Rip your heart out one moment, just to put it back in and get your hopes up and make things exciting. Just win the damn game!!

Babs, don't you think you'd get tired?

Adrian, thanks for reprimanding your foolish compatriots. (And you're right, it is early. Come back in August. We'll see where you're at.)

Oh, here's Nathan, thank the Lord. Siddown, Buck.

So where the hell is everyone now? Who's at second?

Tiffee at third

Cuddyer at second

LeCroy is still at first *nods*

Whoever made the comment about mental preparedness... I'm with you.

Come on VP!

Attaboy! Sit down, bitch!

Good to see Nathan because you know they won't score, but what if we dont either? we'll have to leave it up to the old man? eeeehhhhhhggggccchhhhhbbbblllllrrrrrrrgggggggggg

Com'on Count! Thats the way we like it.

Tinger, tell me you've seen 'The Birdcage.' If that's where 'I hate my life' came from, then I am in love with you.

MMMM.. *smile*

I'm a very high energy person so it would take awhile. But what a lovely way to earn a nights rest.

Of course, the only problem with that scenario is that we never leave Santana or Nathan on base...

Sexy, sexy, sexy.

N N N !!!!!

If we go any more innings, we'll just give Lohse his start back..starting in the 10th.

Tiffee at 3rd, Bartlet at short, Cuddyer at second, Mr. Donut at first, Chairman behind the plate... thats the way things should look more often (minus the donut)

WOW SIT DOWN BITCH! and SIT DOWN BITCH!

holy crap the dude's a lawn mower.

I downright insist on having Joe Nathan's babies.

I'm really good

Eat my cheese.

C'mon Stewie!

Actually, Carmen, I got it from a fraternity brother who got it from the bird cage. I've never seen it myself, however. As far as being in love with me... take a number! Now serving 34!! :)

P.S. i'm sticking with VP as my Hero, and Hunter as BOD....

Come on, Bartlett, take him downtown.

Waaaait, did they just say Shawn Kemp is pitching?

Uncle Joe, way to go!!

Bartlett! Yay! You beautiful boy, you!

Bah I say Adrian. If I can't have fun in April and May, why should Twinkie fans have a right to have fun in September?

As a Sox fan you should know, get it while the getting is good, and curses are for the morons on the North Side.

12-4! Let's end the season now!!!!

And before anyone asks why I do this on a Twins blog...what fun is it doing it somewhere where EVERYONE agrees with you. That's boring.

:P

Bartlett, you are the Shiznit.

Oh, look. Torii's up. Isn't that convenient. and he can't hit into a DP. I'm one happy little Twins fan right now.

Jason is my non-sexual man-crush.

Matty, for the love of God... please do your clutch magic here...

Crap. Walked him to get to the Donut. This can't be happening...

ANOTHER intentional walk? Gimme a break!

But Matty can!

Come on Matty, you're just a double and a triple away from the cycle!!!

you see.. now, we all know that LeCroy can actually hit the ball every once in awhile..

Matty.. honey, now would be a REALLY good time!! Lew will give you his donut!!

Damn it LeRoy - Make something of your life.

Oh Donut. Please, please, please...

2 on, 1 out. This is looking promising?

Tinger,

The fact that it comes from the Birdcage is enough. You are officially my favorite person of the day. Maybe the week.

HAYSEED. Hit the ball.

Matty! Way to redeem yourself!

KRISPIE KREMES FOR EVERYONE!!!!!!

The bases loaded again. This is killing me. PLEASE, Lew, PLEASE! No GIDP

E-9. That had me guffawing.

LEWWWWWWWWW!!

I picked Lew as the hero...

Quick, when was the last time a Twins player had 4 hits in a game?

Tinger, dude, you have a lot of hostility toward LeCroy. He's a sensitive man... let's be nice!

Someone give Lew a donut!

Whew...finally. I really had to pee but couldn't leave the radio. Way to go Lew!!!!!

LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!

yea twins.

Whoa. It was such a momentous win, that Bat-Girl's server crashed!

Yay Lew! Yay Nathanator! Yay! Yay! Yay!

Clarification: The non-sexual man-crush remark had me guffawing.

I love Lew Ford. Really.

Who would think that two games against KC would be nail-biters?

this just in

Morneau, Silva are back off the DL

Gassner, Tiffee off to Roch you go

man.. a LOT of stuff crashed.. I thought my work had lost its internet connection. I was just sitting here thanking the baseball gods that it didn't decide to crash WHILE Joe was pitching that last inning.

I would have broken something.

I must say, nailbiter aside, it is cool to see Nathan get a win. He's still my boyfriend and always will be.

Good job Twins, way to finish the game. Can't wait to read what Bat-Girl has to say about this game. =D

Sox fans get krispie kremes too?

Fred - Alright, I agree somewhat. I'm definitely enjoying the state of things in the Central and watching twins fans suffer in similar fashion to how we've suffered the last 3 years. Sure, comment a bit on our teams current superiority...but 'AJ's comments were pointless and stupid. And no, I don't believe in a curse...but the vague idea of baseball gods or karma or just the fact that there are 146 games left makes me think maybe it's not a good idea to gloat on the rival's site this early in the year.

But whatever, that's just my take.

Some of the comments from the Twins fans in this here thread are more venomously anti-Twins than those of the SoxTrolls. Whatever happened to patience and faith? Just wanted to get on the record about that. kthxbye

I think I'm starting the Matthew LeCroy fan club/support group. No, I don't want to see him starting, but he can PH, DH, backup 1B, backup C. He hustles, he's batting .333. He's got decent power. He cuts a dashing figure in tennis shorts. And still he gets no love. Jeepers, today he hit a HR, went 3 for 5 and had two RBIs, and was still getting static. Damn the critics Matty, full speed ahead.

Twins fans are suffering right now? Where? Why?

I'm suffering because of all the men left on base in the last week. It's REALLY getting irritating.

I am all for taking up a "Donuts for LeRoy" collection. When he does well, we give him donuts, when he sucks, we don't.

I love the Game Notes on the story on espn.com

Game notes
With his ninth steal in as many attempts, Hunter moved into the major league lead. ... The Royals have lost 11 of their last 12 games at the Metrodome. ... The Twins have grounded into 20 double plays, most in the majors.

I'm with you there gopher... I keep finding myself sticking up for underdogs on our team apparently. I think Matty is great and provides necessary grounding for the boys in addition to being a good backup player.

You guys think he doesn't KNOW he's not the greatest first baseman!??!?! He just does everything Gardy asks him too... and provides the right attitude while he does it. And he is GREAT as a DH. We knew the situation for Morneau was temporary so it's not like we have to worry about the future there.

Go LeROY!!!

Quantitive proof of my irritation: so far this season, with the bases loaded, they're 3-FOR-22 (.136)!!!

Good to get 2Ws from the Royals - even though the boys didn't play their best. Time to head east and go beat up on Dmitri and the Tiggers.

I'm sorry for my hostility towards Mr. Donut. He's just such an all or nothing kinda guy. If he gets a hit, its usually a home run. Then he earns a donut, because he likes donuts. If he gets nothing, well, a donut is kinda metaphor for Zero. So it just works so well both ways. either He gets a donut, or he is a donut. Regardless of the whole donut situation, The good Doctor is back, and LeRoy can take up his position as the bench guy that comes in and kicks ass. Thats when he's at his best. He can only do so many good things at a time.

Nail biters against the royals are kinda odd. I dont like them. Not one bit.

Adrian- Krispy Kremes for you too.

I'm just gonna go and relax for a couple of hours, its been a couple of hours since i was relaxed.

In Closing, Yay Twins.

Didn't they say redmond is hurt??? If so Tiffee might get to play with the big boys for a little while yet...

Count me in with the LaCroix support group. Perhaps if he spelled his name like fancy sparkling water, people would appreciate him more. He kind of reminds me of Coomer - good PH, good DH, good guy in the clubhouse, just don't make him wear a glove too often. Plus he hit a HR on Circle Me Bert's B-day.

Caught a mention of your site on ESPN page 2, and figured I would check it out being a diehard white sox fan, lover of 80s music and a solid web journal. I called a white sox title this year after game two, see my web journal!

Anyways, in all seriousness, your site is great, i have a lot of respect for the twins, and agree about the "bitch sox" thing the last few years, but not this one. The sox had no soul the past few years, unlike the Twins. I figured this years sox could either be the worst team in the league or like the mariners when they won the record number of games. Best of luck to the twins, i look forward to an intense fun year. And dont be deceived by an empty U.S cellular field...sox fans do exist =)

I think Gardy deserves some kind of kudos for putting Joe in to blow away the side in the top of the 10th. That had to be pretty demoralizing for the Landed Gentry.

On an unrelated note, Christian Guzman is really struggling with the bat here in DC and threw the Nats game away with an error today.

Let me preface this by saying that I know this is not the way the Twins build their teams.

but...

What if we were to enter the battle to get Todd Helton in a trade?

Helton has many times spoken about being frustrated in Colorado, and Baltimore has spoken openly about trying to acquire him.

Given that we are plugging an extra OF into the lineup as DH every game, why not take advantage of our surplus and try to get a premier power hitter to add to our lineup?

How does J. Jones and a combination of two prospects for Todd Helton sound? Put Stew in RF, Lew in LF, Morneau can DH and Helton at 1B.

Thoughts?

Go to bed, Tinger. Isn't it, like, yesterday there?

No. No. No. Stay away from Helton. *puts arms protectively around Todd* Stay far, far away.

Don't worry Carrie--Ol Scrooge Pohlad would never fork over the extra dough for Helton. Jacque makes some dough, but definately never recieved a 9 year extension for $141 million like Helton did in 2001.

It's an intriguing idea though, but I don't think it'd be worth it, even if Pohlad would do it, b/c he's older (31) has a huge long term contract (til 2011) and would hurt our depth in the outfield. Aside from Lew, there isn't another player ready to play division winning caliber outfield until Kubel comes back, so any injuries could be devastating.

No, no, no, no, Eric! (puts arms protectively around Jacque Jones). Doggedly persistent trade rumors in the offseason (every offseason) are bad enough, but don't touch JJ when he's got 8 walks to his 6 strikeouts, a BA hovering around the .400 mark, and an OPS that's just eye-popping. Sorry about the stats, but this year they actually back up what I've thought all along--JJ is really, really good.

Jeb, yeah, its 3 am here. But i'm on duty till 6 am, then i eat some breakfast, and get to bed about 7ish. If i sleep in the office, for some reason, military people bitch. I don't understand it either.

I do love LeCroy, though, really, in all seriousness. Just that sometimes i love him more as a pinch hitter. Its kinda a tough love, but it gets me by.

I just noticed something about today's game discussion that I thought it would be enlightening to share.

Did anyone notice that our Catcher, Mr. NBP, took a nasty hit at the plate by Sweeney. That hit was so hard in fact that NBP was a bit disoriented and had to leave the game. And not one complaint of dirty ball... not one single person here claimed that Sweeney is the dirtiest SOB of a ball player to ever live.

Sweeney was playing the game. He was in a tight game and playing it hard. That is what he was supposed to do and there was no talk of the VP going after him with a "wild" pitch. No talk of retaliation of any kind.

Just thought I would point that out.

I thought about that when the play happened. Just didnt say anything

BTW... I heard on the post-game show on the radio that Redmond is day-to-day

Hey! NO trading my Boyfriend (Mr. Jones)!

Babs-
I think that might have something to do with the fact that they're the Royals, and its just so hard to be threatened by them no matter what. Its like when a puppy bites you. You can't really get mad at it, you just say "NO!", and then said puppy looks at you with those sad eyes like "oh i'm so sorry". and then you give the puppy a big hug and talk to it in puppy talk...