After seeing the title, I thought someone had prayed to Pope John Paul to resurrect Silva's career, and that yesterday's miracle outing would be considered while deciding whether the late Pope would be deemed a saint. (...since the nun who was cured after prayers to him is in the news today.)

Wow... that's.... cold!

Clever, very funny, and unfortunately quite well founded... but COLD!

I love "The Sound of Music" and "How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?" But when you put it in the context of baseball, the Twins, and Carlos Silva? Priceless.

JC,
I was feeling a bit aggrieved while dashing off this entry. On the bright side, my Photoshop skills are limited so you've been spared the image of Carlos wearing a habit and wimple.

twayn, thanks for sparing me that image.

dfb, I'm going to have to look up orgiastic before responding much... but while I agree it certainly was not complimentary toward the Jackal, I would offer that it was not totally uncharacteristic of a BG entry. We could dig through the archives and find numerous entries that are quite critical of various players and other personnel, but in a "sassy" tone. I'm only one person, but I felt this was similar and I enjoy that aspect of the site, even when I don't necessarily agree with the sentiment/opinion expressed.

Just my 2 cents.

Oops. In trying to deal with a spam bomb Batgirl just deleted several comments. "Twas an accident. Please carry on, unless you are spamming, and then please don't.

OK kelly Thesier is officaly out of it!!!!
http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070328&content_id=1863845&vkey=news_min&fext=.jsp&c_id=min
Mat Garza or Carlos Silva as our #5

And Jeff Cirillo, as our DH no mention of Kubel at all. what the H-E-(double tooth picks)

My comment got deleted:-( Anyways, I basically said even though I didn't really want Silva in the rotation, we need to support him cause he's a Twin. Also, if everyone is ragging on him, he will fail (the self-fulfilling prophacy). I feel sorry for him and I hope he proves everyone wrong. And if I here people booing him before he starts pitching at his first home start I'll be super pissed.

Here's hoping Silva proves us all wrong...

I want to like him, I really do. *sigh*

I agree AnnaM - the more Silva hears about everyone's doubts, the more that'll stay in his mind. I really think his issues are all mental, that he doesn't believe he can pitch as well as he used to, and that's a dangerous thing.

Twin-X, I think Kelly is just describing the batting order on Opening Day, which will include Cirillo as the DH since they're facing a lefty from the Orioles. She clearly says he's going to be the DH against lefties. The reference to Garza as a "co-5th starter" probably just reflects a relatively common belief that he'll be in that role before long. I would agree that she could have been clearer. I think she's one of the better beat writers but this wasn't her best work, I agree.

But Carlos did make the bullpen those adorable outfits out of the drapes...

I downloaded "Maria" and sang these lyrics over it. I'm a little embarassed right now.

JC,
I agree that Kelly is good at what she does, in fact I have almost always had good things to say about her. Thanks for straightening me out on the Cirillo thing. Must say including the rotation in an opening day lineup article was just down right confusing.

Twayn,
He can pitch almost as well as any girl.
Hey I resent that. ;-)

Oh, and *takes out a small club in preparation to beat that horse* she did say,
"So with Opening Day right around the corner, this is the outlook for the Twins this season:"
Right before listing the line-up.
Sorry I'm done now.
PS sorry.

Yeah I saw that, too. Like I said, not her best effort. It was almost like she sat down to write one article... went to dinner... and came back and finished writing it with a somewhat different idea. Really not like her.

That is exactly what I was thinking when I read it. Thanks JC.
Did any one else see the small note on twinsbaseball.com about how Hintz plays (I'm paraphrasing here) "any thing but shortstop."? I found this very interesting, does anyone know if he actually played anything besides C in the minors?

twayn - you win at life for this post. wow.

So.. I hope Silva proves us all (well.. most of us that are completely against him wearing a major league uniform anyway) wrong, but I'd say odds are he won't. Is this just a chance to give Garza a couple AAA starts before calling him up or what? I cannot to the best of my ability understand why this man is in the starting rotation of the Minnesota Twins.

As much as I usually enjoy Twayn's posts, that one made me sad. I kept hoping for a chorus or two that had redemption for the good Jackal. I've had a soft spot for him ever since I won his Jersey at Jersey-off-their-backs night and I also don't want to be heckled when I wear it to games. I have faith in you Carlos - make us proud!

Complete subject change but has anyone read this article by Reusse about our beloved ex-Twin, current Canadian Cordel? It made me very sad.

http://www.startribune.com/508/story/1091714.html

I just wish a couple of times in my career I worked for a few managers and supervisors who supported me as much as the Twins management is supporting Carlos. The world would be a better place if more management teams did this for their employees. Too often this world measures us by the “what have you done for me lately” rule. Never mind what we accomplished in the past.

Remember the fire Carlos had in 2005? He threw a ball into the upper deck after a particularly great outing. He pitched a complete game in under 80 pitches! You could count on him to get the batter to hit into an inning ending double play.

I, too, have been critical of Carlos this spring myself. It just seems like we are pilling on. I agree that I like the "sas" here at bat-girl.com and I don't want that “sas” to go away.

That being said, getting personal crosses the line. “He's a creampuff! He’s a headcase! He's a sham! He is useless! He's a child!”

In my view Carlos has earned the right for us to give him a break. When he is introduced to the home crowd this month I plan on cheering loud for Carlos.

"When he is introduced to the home crowd this month I plan on cheering loud for Carlos."
As do I.

I have no idea if anyone has posted this yet, but here's Justin and Johan's commercial for the New Era hats... I love it!

Anyone know when it'll be on TV?

http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/newera/27310/

I would hope any Twins fan would cheer for him for as long as he's wearing a Twins uniform and giving his best. That's not really the point, to me.

I'm a Twins fan... not a fan of any particular player. I'm all for whomever is wearing my team's jersey. And every time Carlos takes the ball, I'll be all for him.

I do, however, reserve the right to be critical of any player, coach, manager or front office person if I feel they are not performing up to expectations.

As for more employers being this supportive, I really dont think it would be "better" if employers widely held on to workers who no longer could do their jobs just because they used to do a good job.

Having Silva in the rotation terrifies me, but it makes perfect baseball sense.

It's low-risk: If Silva starts (err... continues) to pitch like the Silva of last season, you send him down to the bullpen or the minors, and you bring up any one of the 5 potential starters we have slinging in Rochester. No problem. I think most Twins fans would prefer a not-fully-developed Garza in the rotation over a fully-declining Silva.

It's high-reward: If Silva can silence his detractors and pitch like the Silva of 2005... He's a great pitcher. And you then give these young arms in Rochester another year to hone their stuff.

Honestly, I like Silva. I wish him well. Aside from his penchant for lying to the press about his preparedness for the season, and the occasional pulling-himself-out of games in Tampa Bay, he seems like a decent person. Let's just hope he can find that g$*^amned sinker of his.

Where'd you last see it, Carlos? Do you remember where you put it? In the future, it might be wise to put in in the bowl in the foyer, along with your keys and wallet.

There's no other way to really say it, but I hate this post. Absolutely hate it. This post called Silva flabby, flighty, a creampuff, a headcase, a sham, useless, wild, a child, and a trainwreck among *many* other disparaging comments.

I don't hate it because it's critical of Silva (although I am sick of hearing about the rotation at this point), it's because it took that criticism, stripped away every layer of reasoned argument and just threw in every known juvenile insult that happened to rhyme and set it to some song. That's not clever. That's borderline vindictive.

Well, we know the election for "2007 Most Despised Twin" is over, so - someone (please) please present Carlos the "Luis Rivas Trophy."

IMO, the issue really isn't "should Garza be in the rotation to start the year ahead of Silva?" If Garza was the #5, that would mean he's the guy whose spot gets skipped in April & May to keep the 1-4 starters "on rest," which means Garza misses a number of starts. Seems to me to be a way to delay Garza's development - take a kid used to starting every 5 days, scatter his starts throughout 6-8 weeks with varying degrees of rest, keep him from getting into the routine & groove he's used to, let him stew on a bad start for 2 weeks while you skip his starts in the meantime, etc.

IMO, when Garza gets up here to stay, we want him in one of the slots that doesn't get skipped. To get there this spring, he'd have to pass two of Ortiz, Ponson & Silva. While that may happen by mid-season, Gardy would never go there off spring training alone.

Of the options, getting Garza starting every 5 days (and hopefully forcing him to throw all his pitches in all situations) so he can get up to the Twins in mid/late May ready to go strikes me as the best of the available options.

Nice, Citizen twayn. If you'd worked "Krivsky" into the lyrics somewhere, it would have been over the top.

i guess my post, which seemed to start this whole volley, got deleted (i think mine was post #5). i have to say i am pleased & very heartened by all the support we denizens of bat-girl have shown for Carlos here. i certainly hope the crowd cheers him loudly when he is introduced for his first home start. and i am very glad some of you recall his 2005 season, which was truly phenomenal. incedentally, twinskid, that game where he threw the ball into the stands - that was his complete game shut-out of the Angels - an 11-hit complete game shut-out! that was when i fell in love with Carlos Silva. shut-outs are usually supposed to speak of complete pitcher dominance - but Carlos turned that on its head. he let them hit it - into the dirt every time. i loved it.

RIP Herb Carneal. Died of congestive heart failure. Click name for Strib story.

Oh man. Herb. You'll be missed. So sorry, so sad.

Dear Batlings,

Sometimes you step to the plate and connect for a solid hit. Sometimes you strike out. Sometimes, it seems, you can do both in the same at-bat. Thank you all for your comments – the positive and the negative. A unique aspect of the blog format is that the readers are also the reviewers and the feedback is immediate. We all get to express our opinions, and as long as they are honest and genuine, they are all equally valid. In retrospect, I can understand why some people didn’t care for this post. Baseball and Batgirl, after all, are supposed to be all about fun, and for some readers that aspect seemed to be lacking. As a guest of Batgirl, I try to be sensitive to and considerate of the feelings of all the other guests here. Because even if we disagree about some things, we all agree that we love baseball and the Twins. And having fun. Opening Day is nearly upon us, and with it new hope and a new beginning. My new hope is that Silva finds his mojo, and that the Twins have a miraculous season of winning, and take the division, and beat the White Sox and Yankees in the playoffs, and become World Series champions once again. And that we all have a lot of fun watching it happen.

And rest in peace, Herb. You were the best.

Twayn

Herb was great. RIP, Amen.

Batgirl, this was a home run, there was no stike out in this at bat.

People, if you can't stand the Sass, get out of the sass-making-place.

For the record, twayn, I have enjoyed most of the other stuff you've posted on the site. Just thought your sassiness was a bit misguided this particular time. That's all.