OH MY WORD! God bless Joe Mauer! And Radke, what a warrior! AND BART!! *faints*

So happy. No words.

Jumping up and down for joy. Unbelievable. Wonderful. Splendiforous. You go, guys!

You must still be on Minnesota time, BG .... it's almost 11:00 for us East Coasters.

On to the game -

Wasn't that Magic?????

Thing is, we still have to sweep the Bitch Sox to have a chance - the Royals aren't going to beat the Tigers twice.

Hey, shouldn't it be 3-1? That was a walk-of ground-rule double!

I CRIED THREE TIMES DURING THIS GAME. REAL TEARS. FREAKING AMAZING.

HECK FRICKIN YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Officially a single, since once the first run crosses the plate, the game is over.

AWESOME win though, I gotta admit I was rather bummed coming into the bottom of the 9th, but Joe brightened my day.

Great call on dual BOD. They both earned it.

Blyleven protocol! Great call Batgirl.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! Amazing! I want Bartlett in there too. We were meant to get the win tonight because my internet finally was working right and I could watch the whole game... fish glue, hitting dragon and game winning run.

Smell that? It's the division lead.

Radke's possible playoff performance depends on how his shoulder feels on Sunday, but if that was his last game as a Minnesota Twin, it was a hell of a way to go out. I'll miss this guy.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! Amazing! I want Bartlett in there too. We were meant to get the win tonight because my internet finally was working right and I could watch the whole game... fish glue, hitting dragon and game winning run.

Smell that? It's the division lead.

If you can't count both bases in a ground-rule double, you shouldn't count the unnecessary RBIs in a walk-off homer either. Bartlett was robbed!

Someone pass the smelling salts, please.

L'equipe du destin!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! Amazing! I want Bartlett in there too. We were meant to get the win tonight because my internet finally was working right and I could watch the whole game... fish glue, hitting dragon and game winning run.

Smell that? It's the division lead.

Mauer to the people! That was two of the most exciting innings of Gameday internet baseball I've ever had. You know it's emotional when the browser refresh gets your heart pumping. I love the Twins! Lots of positive vibes from Seattle. I think a lot of people around the country will be pulling for the Twins if they end up playing the Yankees.

Nervous tics were developing as I sat staring at the computer. Bouts of Tourettes syndrome were beginning to surface. Thanks to you, Chairman Mauer, I didn't get kicked out of the library tonight. Win Twins!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! Amazing! I want Bartlett in there too. We were meant to get the win tonight because my internet finally was working right and I could watch the whole game... fish glue, hitting dragon and game winning run.

Smell that? It's the division lead.

(sorry, folks, I can't help it)

In the movie of this storybook season, Brad Radke should be played by:

a) Clint Eastwood (in the man-with-no-name days)
b) Charles Bronson
c) John Cleese
d) Brad Radke.

::::: bowing to BG and her Solomonesque wisdom for tonight's award ::::::

Silo, I'm in your camp as well. I don't understand why it's not 3-1.

I was displeased for 8 2/3 innings; then I was very pleased; then I was very, very pleased. I am cleverly using "very" here for emphasis.When Juan loaded the bases-no out in the ninth, I was somewhat reluctant to sing his praises, but he got out of it all by hisself. Thank you sucky regal baseball team from Missouri, the "I don't have to show you shit" state.

Good gravy, that game! And a battery-powered BOD. Amazing what they can do with bionics and fish glue.

Once the first WINNING run crosses the plate = Game Over.

Consider this: Even if Bartlett had hit a home run, if only Morneau crossed the plate while the rest of the players were mobbed on their way around the bases and never touched home plate, we would have only won 2-1.

I don't think Lew actually came around to home plate, therefore: 2-1 game.

Just wanted to get this semantic argument out of the way so I could say

I LOVE THIS MOTHER%*&^ING TEAM!

Pretty amazing game. wow.

Very appropriate co-BOD award and as long as you were Berting the protocol, you could have thrown Bart a bone in there too... but why quibble?

And how about that lil guy at second base tonight turning all those DPs like he's been doing it all year? Nice job Alexi.

TQD - Bradke is ,ost definitely played by Clint. just hink of him [eering over his mitt, looking in for the sign, gritting his teeth through the pain as he delivers. only Clint. unshaven, too.

this, of course, brings up that most entertaining discussion-cum-parlor-game: who plays the Twins in the movie presentation of this season?

I wanna see a division title celebrated in front of the Bitch Sox.

Bartlett will most definately be played by ralph macchio. That's all I've got.

LOL-- "i don't have to show you **** state" -classic al!

YEAH!

that was fabulous.

so i was sitting at the newspaper office, ready to go home, but there were only 2 outs left and i figured, i can stay and watch two outs (this is on gameday, unfortunately). and so then kubes grounds out and i'm a bit bummed, and then mauer comes to the plate. and i say to my co-worker, aw wouldn't it be awesome if joe mauer hit a home run? and he's from montana so he doesn't really know what i'm talking about, but he humors me.

and then. JOE MAUER HITS A HOME RUN. bottom 9, 2 outs. it just doesn't get much better than that.

and now, even if we lose it tomorrow, we can at least say that we were on top of the division. even if it was a tie, and even if it's just for a day, we were there. and can't nobody take that away.

also, what's up with intentionally walking jason tyner? i wouldn't think he really strikes fear in the heart of most pitchers...

Unbelievable! This game was truly amazing. I was just about ready to say, "Well, I guess we really didn't want the division anyway." Then WHAM!!! What a joyful call by Gordo too! And at that point it doesn't take much faith to believe the Twins will win. After all, the late innings are really the Twins'home turf.

Excited, tired, happy, nervous, and did I say happy?

[big BIG smiles]

1st place

It cut off the rest of my comment. I adore Brad Radke.

FIRST PLACE, BABY! FIRST PLACE! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Not to be a stickler here, but official MLB rule 4.11(c): "(c) If the home team scores the winning run in its half of the ninth inning (or its half of an extra inning after a tie), the game ends immediately when the winning run is scored. EXCEPTION: If the last batter in a game hits a home run out of the playing field, the batter-runner and all runners on base are permitted to score, in accordance with the base-running rules, and the game ends when the batter-runner touches home plate."

That said, WHAT AN INCREDIBLE, UNBELIEVABLE, I'D-LIKE-TO-BUY-THE-WORLD-A-COKE, FINISH!! Rincon attmpts to give it away, then changes his mind. Twins spend all evening through 8 2/3 innings confusing the Royals pitching with the Tigers, then the Chairman changes THEIR minds. DeJesus uses the ground to keep Torii's flyball in his glove (alias, a trap), but sells the catch to the ump to keep the Doctor at first. So Rondell calls back on his childhood pinball skills to move the good Doctor to 3rd. Tyner's mighty physique clearly scares the Royals into an IBB. And then that sweet stroke by Bartman...

I can't tell you how many times this year I've thought, well it's been a good run, but it couldn't last forever. Now I've changed MY mind. I mean, we tie for first place - for the first time this year - after game 159!!?! If you wrote this script, no one would believe it!!

I was at the 'dome, and it felt a lot like that 1-0 loss to the A's when our other injured ace tried to make his returm. I thought, "oh no, deja vu all over again." But Radke held up--no, excelled-- through five. The crowd was behind the boys, and never more so than when Rincon escaped his 9th inning mess--until Mauer's storybook heroics, and when Justin came up to thunderous MVP chants and got a hit, you could really feel something coming, somehting named Bartlett. just a great, jubilant mood afterward, the crowd standing and cheering, not rushig up the aisles, still cheering out in the concourse and outside like it was a playoff win. GO TWINS!

Woo Hoo for the co-boyfriends! Yea for fish glue! Hurrah for the most amazing catcher ever!

Anna-

They walked Tyner to set up the force play at home. That way, if Bartlett would have hit a grounder that wasn't a good double play ball, they would have had an easier chance to at least get the out at home.

I beg to differ. We were in first place by ourselves for about 8 hours a few days ago.
Broker

Good point, Broker. And I don't feel like being negative about this first place thing...so I'll be quiet and just enjoy this beautiful win! :)

Nothing like battery boyfriends.

That sounds wrong, but I don't care.

DAMN!

sometimes we make the other team play nine innings, and sometimes we make them play ten.

Bradke was amazing! I love these guys.

Bradke: "I am not dead yet!"

Also, I was miffed when I read it... But Section 10 of the rule book governs the official scorer and 10.07 says this.... (basically the same as markominne said, the rulebook repeats itself alot)

GAME-ENDING HITS
(f) Subject to the provisions of 10.07 (g), when the batter ends a game with a safe hit which drives in as many runs as are necessary to put his team in the lead, he shall be credited with only as many bases on his hit as are advanced by the runner who scores the winning run, and then only if the batter runs out his hit for as many bases as are advanced by the runner who scores the winning run. NOTE: Apply this rule even when the batter is theoretically entitled to more bases because of being awarded an “automatic” extra-base hit under various provisions of Playing Rules 6.09 and 7.05. (g) When the batter ends a game with a home run hit out of the playing field, he and any runners on base are entitled to score.
----------------------------
I am lucky enough to live a 20 min bike ride from The HHH and was soooooo happy to see Bradke pitch like he'd always pitched! The Kid (what I called Joe from the moment he was called up and will always call him) and the Chipmunk (Barty) made it that much sweeter.
-----------
Will,
I think they actually walked Tyner due to the "righty pitcher/lefty batter" matchup. They didn't have a lefty out of the bullpen that they could use.

Giddily yours,

Big Sev

I, too, was at the game and it was as if the light rail ride to my cozy bicycle at 38th Street, and subsequent ride home were entirely on air. I've seen the word "unbeliveable" above, and I agree.

I couldn't believe that some people down the row from me (who had been up and down at least 8 times each throughout the game) chose the 2-out mark in the 9th to leave. I was thinking to myself, "What're you thinking? Mauer's up."

Let's hope that the Landed Gentry are so pumped up about losing tonight, that they'll take it out on Dee-troit all weekend long.

I was at the game tonight - WOW! It would have been awful if it hadn't been so wonderful.
One of the best parts of the night was the group of kids from Roseville High School. A group of guys had shirts that together spelled out "L-E-T-S-G-O" and then written in red on their chest were letters that spelled "P-U-N-T-O"
So they chanted "Let's go..." and then in unison whipped up thier shirts yelling "Punto".
They kept it up through his entire at bat everytime he was up. It was great! In the 8th when Rincon was trying to pitch out of his jam they chanted, "De-fense!" clap, clap "De-fense!" clap, clap.
Sign these guys up for the play-offs!

PJ, That is freaking awesome.

Oh, yes. Co-BODs was the only appropriate ending to tonight. I can't be sure, but I think we've just wandered in to a storybook....

Wow. This game was amazing. Wow.

First place. Freakin' first place.

Brad Radke, I bow down to your greatness.

Oh, man. Just got back from the Metrodome and I, too, am still walking on air. What a game! What a team!

Mauer came up in the bottom of the ninth and I found myself barely peeking through my fingers from up in the nosebleed seats, whispering, "Do it for Brad, Joe! For Brad!" And whaddya know.

And the end of the 10th was oh-so-sweet! Atta boy, Barty.

Tied for first? We have not yet begun to fight!

gina,
It was so great - the Roseville choir sang the Nat'l athem tonight. Just shows what an infusion of youth can do...

Big Sev-

I think the lefty/righty thing wasn't much of a factor. Tyner is only batting 16 points higher than Bartlett against righties, but Bartlett is outslugging him by 33 points. Obviously neither guy is much of a power hitter, but Bartlett was definitely the guy with the greater chance of sending a ball to the outfield.

Plus, both guys have good speed, so it doesn't make a ground ball double play even remotely a sure thing, which is why the force at home would be important for a grounder that wasn't a good double play ball.

I think considering that both guys hit righties pretty much the same, but Bartlett's got a bit more outfield power, I don't think they would have chosen Bartlett to pitch because they thought he'd be the easier out. I think they were trying to put themselves in a position where they had a greater chance of not losing the game on that at-bat.

MLB decribes the play naming bartlett as a pinch hitter...???

"I LOVE THIS MOTHER%*&^ING TEAM!"
I 2nd that.
I had (out of desperation) just proclaimed, "they suck" and then after thinking about it for a moment added "Tonight" and than...BOOM!
Even my Mom (who is not so into base-ball) looked up because hearing a groan man’s voice crack and as he says “Way back.” And another Yell (at the same time) "Get out of here" is not something you hear every day. That is unless you are a Twins fan who listens to CCO. I don’t know where I am going with this But,
I LOVE THIS MOTHER &*%$ING TEAM!

DeJesus uses the ground to keep Torii's flyball in his glove (alias, a trap),

Dunno if you were at the game or watching it at home, but it landed in his glove and almost popped out, turning it into a snowcone catch. It never touched the ground, so it was a legitimate catch.

But, I don't want to suck the wind out of this win - the Twins avoided their 15th shutout of the year and turned it into a win! Looking forward to the weekend series, and hopefully we'll end the season as Division Champions!

KC announcers seemed to think it was because Bartlett was like 0 fer 13 or 14 coming in to that at bat. :shrugs:

But walking the bases loaded in that situation to get a better chance at the force at home is not unheard of.

It's the morning after and I still don't have the upper register of my voice.

Oh, good Gwynn, thank you for smiling upon the Radke and the Mauer and the Bart. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to see that game, to strain something in my shoulder from throwing my arms up SO HARD when that dinger plunked into the seats, to laugh at the people around us that went home early then came crawling back to their seats with sheepish grins, to sit there for a full ten minutes basking in the glow of the LED screen that said

MINNESOTA --
DETROIT --
CHICAGO 8 1/2

and know that it wasn't going to last a mere three hours, to laugh at the fact that the Yankees got one hit (too bad it had to be from Cano), to see the Punto love in the stands (finally. Aurora and I have known for, like, years how aces LNP truly is, hee), and to experience the best comeback for this team that I have ever seen. It was truly a freaking awesome night.

(Did anyone else see that marriage proposal? "You are freaking awesome. Will you marry me?" I laughed my ass off.)

Amazing game... amazing Radke. I hope he retires, and moves right into a pitching coach role and someday fills Gardy's shoes... OK, maybe I'm giddy.
Alexi made SportsCenter's top ten plays -- congrats, Rookie.
Also, heard this is a major league first for division tie furthest into the season, or something like that.
I'm putting Morneau (great two-strike at bat in the extras) and Rondell (clutch single in extras) on my own personal BOD. They all played like crap for nine (ex Mauer) and then just about everyone contributes...
This is realy fun!!!!

I was wondering how you'd handle BOD today. This is a once-in-a-lifetime occasion; you can't not give it to either of them. Truly, the BODSHC knows all.

Just read this disturbing article in the Redeye (Chicago’s free newspaper)
Chicago's Hot
"We're No.1
Yes, we know the White Sox missed the playoffs and won't be able to defend their title. And, yes, we know the Cubs are among the worst teams in baseball.
But Chicago baseball fans still have plenty to celebrate. According to a SI poll of 415 major-league players, we have the most attractive fans in baseball.
Almost a quarter (22%) of the players said Chicago's fans wer the best-looking fans around. Rounding out the top five were LA (18%); San Diego (13%); Atlanta (10%) and Phoenix (9%).
While the Tigers and Twins are playing in the playoffs this year, just remember this; Detroit and Minnesota didn't draw a single vote in the poll."
All I have to say is Yikes... I am glad Chicago has found a way to fell good about them selves...

Dear FH,

The Punto love from the stands was great. That group of guys were hilarious, and by the end of the night they had the whole place going.

Did anyone else notice that Brad came back and pitched after being out for 34 days? That special number is everywhere this season...

Thanks to Third Base Line for compiling the stats a few days ago (click my name for the link). And from the Star Tribune:

Radke pitching after a forced 34-day layoff and the Twins tying for first place -- that combination of odds-defying performances left manager Ron Gardenhire giggling and mumbling, "You've got to be kidding me -- we're tied for first."

And it all left the usually stoic Radke fighting back tears. He is planning to retire after the season, but he no longer plans on the end of the season coming any time soon.

"I'm amazed," he said. "I'm amazed at what happened out there."

Good call.