D.C. Twins Fan

Exciting News

2009-05-26T20:32:00.000-07:00

Well I'm excited by it.

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Heroes of the Wins

2009-05-25T21:22:00.000-07:00

We've missed a few wins here, so we'll throw out H.O.W.'s for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We're going for brevity, since who wants to read a recap of games from several days ago, right? So, here goes:

The cycle gives Cuddyer Friday's Hero Of the Win.
General awesomeness gives Mauer Saturday's Hero Of the Win.
And even though only players can get H.O.W.'s, we're bending the rules for Sunday's game, where winning an argument with an ump gives Gardy the Hero Of the Win.

Season total: Mauer 5, Crede 3, Blackburn 2, Cuddy 2, Morneau 2, Slowey 2, , Casilla 1, Harris 1, Kubel 1, Nathan 1, Perkins 1, Gardy 1

Memorial Break

2009-05-21T17:21:00.000-07:00

Due to some significant computer problems and a nice long weekend trip with Mrs. DCTF, the site will be silent over the next few days. For all of the Twins' victories I'll determine an H.O.W. and post the results when we return.

And when we come back hopefully we'll be ready to make a nifty little announcement!

Hero Of the Win 5/21/09

2009-05-21T17:19:00.000-07:00

Offense is great, but we were in dire need of some amazing pitching. Rule 2 comes into play, and today's Hero Of the Win is Nick Blackburn.

Season total: Mauer 4, Crede 3, Blackburn 2, Morneau 2, Slowey 2, , Casilla 1, Cuddy 1, Harris 1, Kubel 1, Nathan 1, Perkins 1

Ten Things:

2009-05-18T20:07:00.001-07:00

It would be easy to focus on the negative after four painful losses to the hatable Yankees, but here at DCTF we pride ourselves on our ability to take the long-view, to highlight the positive, and to appreciate the inherent worth in good baseball the way a philatelist might appreciate the new Simpsons stamps.

So what we're going to do today is a list of the 10 things we liked to see in this series. It's time to focus our energy on what makes Twins baseball lovable, even in such dark moments.

1. I liked seeing the Twins. I almost always listen to the games, but since a whopping 50% of the games were on national T.V. (that's like Mauer OBP rates!) I actually got to see them play.
2. Morneau hitting 2 homers on his birthday. Why is it that players always seem to do better on their birthday? I remember the same effect going all the way back to little league. Anyone?
3. I liked Gomez drawing a walk in the 9th tonight, after being down to his last strike. That's growth.
4. The fact that our bullpen pitched 7+ innings of 1 run ball today is a good sign. Even Ayala looked pretty sharp.
5. Mauer's amazing play in Sunday's game. What sheer brilliance! What amazing baseball IQ! What a stud!
6. Damon getting tossed in the first game delighted me, as did Jeter's dumbfounded look when he was called out looking on Monday. I know those aren't Twins highlights, so much as they are Yankee lowlights, but man that's fun stuff. Along the same lines, I took some glee in seeing open seats. That'll teach you to be unaffordable, Yankees. (We have the same issue here in D.C. Dern Nats...).
6b. (A Twins related good thing). Only 1 error. Despite the frustrating outcomes and batting the Twins weren't bringing their struggles into the field.
7. Hearing the TBS crew rave about the Twins, particularly Slowey. Even if they're not winning games, people seem to be noticing the players on our team. And they seem to think that these are character-building games, which might pay off for us in the future.
8. How about that slide play from Punto behind third base? That was pretty awesome, right?
9. Speedy Gomez stealing second even when he was picked off was pretty fun. Take that, Mr. Best-pick-off-move-in-baseball.
10. I really like R.A.'s beard. That's a nice look for him, right? Maybe it's the fact that I can't manage to grow a beard, but in a totally non-sexual way I appreciate his facial hair. On the other hand, Joe Crede needs to remove that hairball from his chin. It does not work.

Alright, there you have it. 10 things it was great to see this weekend. Let's hope the great things we see in Chicago are wins.

May 17th, Twins vs. Yankees

2009-05-17T20:31:00.000-07:00

A great date overall (it is, after all, my birthday), but not a great date for the Twins to play the Yankees.

1998 David Wells throws a perfect game against the Twins.
2002 Jason Giambi walk-off grand slam with the Yankees down by 3 in the 14th.
2009 Walk-off homer by Johnny Damon makes the third straight walk-off win for the Yankees against the Twins.

See what I mean? You just know what's going to happen when these two teams meet on my birthday. Which just makes this birthday e-mail I recieved all that much better:

Dear DCTwinsFan,

I hope you had a wonderful birthday experiencing yet another gut-wrenching, yet altogether predictable Twins loss to the Yankees.

Sincerely,

The baseball gods

Eternal Recurrence

2009-05-15T21:30:00.000-07:00

A long time ago, in a galaxy identical to our own, I went to see Star Wars: Attack of the Clones on my twenty-first birthday. (This probably says something about me, that rather than go to a bar I opted for a sci-fi flick (there was some drinking at midnight the eve before, but still...)). It was May 17, 2002, and I will forever remember the Twins game from that day.

They were playing the Yankees in New York that night, and my friends and I had caught a good portion of the game prior to the screening of the film. It was the end of the 6th inning when we went into the film, and the Twins had just pulled ahead 9-8, with a 6 run outburst. We were feeling pretty good when we walked into the theater. Walking back out we were still feeling good, though slightly numbed from George Lucas' awful dialogue. We decided we'd find a restaurant where we could catch a bite to eat and a last birthday brew.

Getting back into the car we were shocked to hear that the game was still on. The Yankees had tied it up in the bottom of the 9th on a home run by Bernie Williams. We came in at the end of the 13th, where a perfect relay from Denny Hocking caught Jason Giambi at the plate as he tried to score the winning run. Giambi was in his first season as a Yankee, and really hadn't done anything noteworthy yet. It felt pretty good to hear our defense keep that frustration going.

They moved quickly into the 14th inning, and things were going well. As we drove to the bar the Twins strung together a bunch of hits and pulled ahead, 12 to 9. The inning ended and the Yankees were coming to bat as we pulled into the restaurant. The Twins were up by three and we felt like celebrating. We got out of the car. Some other friends had rethought staying out, as we'd caravaned to the restaurant, and so they were going to head back home. We said our goodbyes and they pulled away.

This all took a while, and by the time we actually made it into the restaurant the Yankees had the bases loaded. Jason Giambi stepped to the plate. We walked through the door, looked up at the TV screen above the bar, watched the ball sail out of the park for a game-winning walk-off grand slam. Ouch.

I honestly don't remember if we stayed at the restaurant or just turned around and walked out. All I know is that we had been on a high. A Twins win had seemed almost certain. They were up by 3 in the 14th. What are the odds? But that's the way it goes with the Yankees: they're a team that causes an utter obliteration of joy.

I still feel the pain of that game to this day. Everyone has those painful baseball memories. For me, that game is number one on the list of worst baseball moments.

It seems too that ever since that game the Twins play the Yankees every year around my birthday. Maybe not exactly, but sometime in mid-May. And it always seems like they're some of the most painful losses we could ever suffer.

This year again the Yankees took a birthday - Morneau's - and crushed his otherwise beautiful day (2 HR!). I felt good throughout the game, but I've learned my lesson, and wasn't too surprised when things ended the way they did. I'm expecting much the same when my birthday rolls around on Sunday.

I know better than to trust a lead in Yankee stadium in mid-May. It's just a prelude to the pain.

Hero Of the Win - 5/14/09

2009-05-14T21:12:00.000-07:00

The second rule of Hero Of the Win is that when the team has been lacking in one area and a player comes through with a much needed performance that changes all of that, then that player needs to be given extra love.

The third rule of Hero Of the Win, heretofore unseen, is that proxies are allowed, specifically in consideration of the bullpen, where all H.O.W.s will go Captain Closer Joe Nathan (provided he appears in the game).

Over the past handful of games we've seen some rough bullpen outings. Even when we've won it's been a bit nerve wracking. Last night, for example, was a mixed bag. But today was a whole different story. Breslow, Guerrier, and Nathan put it all together. It was much needed, and helped boost my confidence that not every game will be a train wreck when we hand it over to the 'pen. And for that reason the relief corp and Joe Nathan get today's Hero Of the Win.

Season total: Mauer 4, Crede 3, Morneau 2, Slowey 2, Blackburn 1, Casilla 1, Cuddy 1, Harris 1, Kubel 1, Nathan 1, Perkins 1

Hero Of the Win - 5/13/09

2009-05-13T22:19:00.000-07:00

Let me say that this was a rough night to be a D.C. sports fan. Ryan Zimmerman's fantastic 30-game hit streak came to an end and the evil Penguins smushed the Caps in the NHL playoffs. Painful.

But nights like tonight make me glad to be a D.C. Twins fan. Because all the pain of Washinton's awfulness was erased on Kubel's home run, Punto's scoring dash from second in the 13th, and Crede's grand slam. I can only pick one hero, but I'll take a note from hockey and give two assists tonight. Well done on those two plays, Kubel and Punto.

The bottom line of course is that Joe Crede is clutch. Clutch like Brian's Song. And for that he gets tonight's Hero Of the Win.

Season total: Mauer 4, Crede 3, Morneau 2, Slowey 2, Blackburn 1, Casilla 1, Cuddy 1, Harris 1, Kubel 1, Perkins 1

Hero Of the Win - 5/12/09

2009-05-12T21:50:00.001-07:00

Yeah, that's right, it's Mauer again. I almost went for the other Joe (Crede, not Nathan), but good grief, Mauer is hitting .500. Five-freaking-hundred! With 4 homers. And he basically didn't have a spring training to get up to speed. Sure, he's only played in 10 games, but .500 is still incredible. The man is amazing. And tonight's Hero Of the Win.

Season total: Mauer 4, Crede 2, Morneau 2, Slowey 2, Blackburn 1, Casilla 1, Cuddy 1, Harris 1, Kubel 1, Perkins 1

Hero Of the Win - 5/9/09

2009-05-09T20:09:00.000-07:00

For the second day in a row the Chairman has impressed. No need to rest him like they had originally planned... 2 for 3 with two walks, a homer, 3 RBI, 2 runs, and he threw out a runner. Beautiful. He's even better than I remembered. And that's why Mauer gets his second Hero Of the Win in a row.

Season total: Mauer 3, Crede 2, Morneau 2, Slowey 2, Blackburn 1, Casilla 1, Cuddy 1, Harris 1, Kubel 1, Perkins 1

Baltimore Photos

2009-05-08T23:20:00.001-07:00

A couple of photos from the game the other night.

Morneau and Punto appeared to be dancing during warm ups:

Do si do.

Crede streching before the game:

The same hamstring he'd apparently hurt later that night...

Cuddy was blowing bubbles:

The fans kept yelling stupid Minnesota-oriented lines at Cuddy. Some of them had the good sense to stop when I pointed out that he's from Virginia.

La Velle?:

He seemed to be the only African American in the pressbox.

The Iron Man was there:

My all-time favorite non-Twins player.

Hero Of the Win - 5/8/09

2009-05-08T22:32:00.000-07:00

Tonight, instead of listening to the game, I went to see Star Trek. As such, my hero is Captain James T. Kirk. But since he no longer plays for the Twins I've got to pick someone else. Looking over the box score it comes down to Harris and Mauer. Tonight, Mauer gets the edge. Because, to be totally honest, his brilliance and relative stoicism evoke tones of Spock, which just seems appropriate.

I present you tonight's Hero Of the Win, Joe Mauer. May he live long and prosper.

P.S. That movie was awesome.

Season total: Crede 2, Mauer 2, Morneau 2, Slowey 2, Blackburn 1, Casilla 1, Cuddy 1, Harris 1, Kubel 1, Perkins 1

Seeing The Twins At Camden

2009-05-07T21:07:00.000-07:00

There will be pictures aplenty to follow. A real quick rundown of my impressions from my first in-person game this summer (hopefully I'll get to at least one at the dome later).

The Twins hit the ball pretty well, they just didn't seem to find too many holes, or at least manage to group their hits together. Kubel looked a bit foolish at the plate, but everyone else looked pretty good. Morneau missed a homer by about three feet, right in front of me. Literally. We were sitting in the front row of right center. It was a really nice catch. Darnit.

The O's on the other hand seemed to just get the ball in the right places. When they scored in the 8th it was a couple of weak singles that did the trick. Of course the two homers were hit well. Mora's was just crushed. If only Morneau's ball would have gotten out too... ah well.

There were some crazy O's fans there. Usually they're really nice to Twins fans but tonight there seemed to be an awful lot of hostility. Not sure why. Mrs. DCTF and I laughed for a bit when the fans in our section kept calling for a double play even though there were two outs. And the people who kept telling us Matt Weiters is currently a better catcher than Mauer (which, you know, explains why Weiters is playing AAA...). Oh Baltimore... you're so funny.

It was a gorgeous night for a game. Twins fans, you're gonna love the new stadium. That's how baseball is supposed to be played.

Finally, we caught the train up to Baltimore from D.C. Usually we catch the buses that run back to D.C. after the game (because the train stops running). Turns out though that they've eliminated the bus service due to budget cuts. Which meant we had to figure out a way back. We got on a local train that took us to Penn station. The driver had no idea if trains were running to D.C., but she was willing to yell at the drunk guy who kept singing. The driver was not a happy person.

We got to Penn Station, found out there was a train to D.C. in 5 minutes, and headed to the platform. We got on, but apparently the tickets we had weren't any good. So the conductor tried to kick us off. We asked if we could buy tickets. He seemed very put out and reluctantly agreed. He also was not a happy person. We finally made it back to D.C., and here I am, reflecting on the night.

Sure, the Twins lost, but all in all it was a great night. A bit of adventure, some nice baseball, a beautiful park and a gorgeous night. Wonderful.

Rain Rain Go Away

2009-05-06T20:30:00.000-07:00

Rain is funny stuff. We hadn't had very much rain in D.C. all spring until this last week. Now we've seen some rain literally every day for more than a week. Crazy stuff.

The Twins are obviously dealing with it tonight in Baltimore, just up the road. We're in the same storm here in D.C. Actually, because it was storming I decided to catch a cab, rather than walk to the metro, and as a result saw President Obama's motorcade as it drove by the Lincoln Memorial. Twice. They apparently got lost or circled around the block or something. It was kind of strange. But very cool.

The Twins are in the middle of their fourth delay as I write this, and hopefully they'll get back on the field and catch up in the near future. I'm kind of doubting that'll happen though. I hate losing rain shortened games.

Rain delays themselves can be pretty fun though. This is something we've missed out on having the dome for so many years. Delays are just part of baseball, and it's something we've been lacking. A rain delay provides extra opportunities for fans to explore the stadium and appreciate other things that are around. Obviously there's no reason to explore the Dome, but if the new stadium is anything like the new stadium here in D.C., there'll be plenty of stuff to check out.

Rain delays also give folks a chance to just talk ball. Some of the best baseball conversations I've had have come during rain delays at games. It's also fun to just screw off. Rainouts and delays give you the bonus challenge of having to come up with something to do using only the limited materials surrounding you. You've gotta make your own fun at the stadium, and people can come up with all sorts of crazy ways to entertain themselves. And we've all seen plenty of footage of baseball players screwing around in rain delays, so we know they do too. And after reading La Velle's blog tonight, we know the scribes have the same issues.

Yeah, rain delays are just a part of baseball. And I know some people aren't excited about having to face them in the new Twins' stadium, but as someone who has been to multiple delayed and rained-out games I can attest that it's not all bad. And when the sun comes out tomorrow, you can always play two. And that's baseball at it's best.

When You Don't Want To Look Back

2009-05-05T19:29:00.000-07:00

...Look ahead. Like when tonight's game was all sorts of not-fun I can just focus on the fact that in two days I'll be in Baltimore watching the Twins in an amazing stadium.

If anyone else is going to be in Baltimore for the games let me know. We'll almost certainly be sitting in the center field seats. The best game I ever saw was watched from those seats, and I've gone back to them ever since. I even caught a Kubel home run ball sitting there. It's a great stadium.

Yeah, I'm excited. I get to see the Twins in person so rarely that it's always a big treat. Looking forward is definitely the right move after the drubbing in Detroit.

Hero Of the Win - 5/4/09

2009-05-04T19:36:00.000-07:00

Another box score H.O.W. tonight. Things have been crazy busy here in DCTF land (a.k.a, D.C.). I've been quite occupied with a comedy course I'm taking. Discovering how unfunny I am hasn't exactly encouraged the creative process. That'll be winding up in just a little over a week and my devotion to this site will pick up a bit then.

Tonight's game went entirely unheard by yours truly. It's too bad because I caught the painful stuff this weekend and wanted to having something good to cleanse my palate. Looking at the recap just doesn't quite do the trick, though I'll admit to some measure of relief when I saw the final score. A quick perusal of the box score seems to show that Cuddy played a pretty critical role, and so for that reason he gets tonight's Hero Of the Win.

Season total: Crede 2, Morneau 2, Slowey 2, Blackburn 1, Casilla 1, Cuddy 1, Harris 1, Kubel 1, Mauer 1, Perkins 1

Hero Of the Win - 5/1/09

2009-05-01T19:56:00.001-07:00

Used with permission!

I love Joe Mauer. He is my favorite baseball player. He will always be my favorite baseball player. My own child could play professional ball and I would prefer Joe Mauer to him. He is simply the best and he makes those around him better.

I waited through his high school career to see him move into professional ball. The fact that he was drafted by the Twins made that all the sweeter. Even if had been a different team drafting him he would still be my favorite player. The hometown pick just made the whole deal even more perfect.

I waited through his minor league career to see him move into the bigs. Some thought Mark Prior would have been the better pick, but I knew that when Joe got to the majors he'd show everyone that the Twins had made the right choice. I waited through his derailed first season, anticipating even more how great an addition he would be to the team.

I waited through this April for Mauer to get healthy and up to game speed; looking forward to watching him work with our young pitchers; to knock in De Nard Dog and Casilla; to help Morneau and Kubel pump up their RBI totals.

And I waited through this game to give Mauer his first Hero Of the Win in 2009.

It has all been worth the wait.

Hail the Conquering Hero

2009-05-01T09:35:00.000-07:00

He's back!

A very hastily made image. I used MS Paint. It shows.

Souhan wrote a terrific column on Mauer. If you haven't already read it, I would highly recommend you stop on over and check it out.

Hero Of the Win - 4/29/09

2009-04-29T20:25:00.000-07:00

I was unable to listen to the game tonight because my real life interfered with my Twins duties, so this is a box-score determined H.O.W. And, having looked at the box score I have to say that it was nice to see production from the short stop position. I'm not one of the folks who hates LNP, but I do like to see Harris get a chance to showcase his offensive skills. And because he's been doing that pretty well lately, and because he played a role in two of the big rallies tonight, he gets tonight's Hero Of the Win.

Season total: Crede 2, Morneau 2, Slowey 2, Blackburn 1, Casilla 1, Harris 1, Kubel 1, Perkins 1

Gordo is Goodo

2009-04-28T20:43:00.000-07:00

I think I might have figured out why yesterday's game seemed so boring. It was the same reason tonight's game seemed kind of boring. John Gordon wasn't doing the play-by-play. I'm hoping that he's just taking a couple days off and isn't in ill health or anything. If he is, could someone please let me know in the comments? That'd be awful.

Since Gordo (as Gladen always calls him) is out, Kris Atteberry has been taking over the duties. Now Atteberry does a decent job, and he asks some terrific questions of Gladden. They have pretty solid conversations. But the play-by-play is just far too monotonous. Atteberry usually does the post-game recap, which he handles expertly, but his live coverage has that same unceremonious feel as his summaries. Atteberry gives accurate descriptions and paints clear pictures. I can't complain that. But there's just no life in his announcing, no immediate excitement.

While we were listening to the game a commercial for Cambria came on, voiced by Gordo. It was a stark contrast. Gordon is able to capture excitement without sounding hokey. If most people tried to play with the rise and fall of their voice like Gordo does it would just sound comical, but somehow he pulls it off. We've been lucky having John Gordon for 23 seasons. He's an amazing talent and has a special ability to make a radio broadcast more than just another game. We're lucky to have him Twins fans. Very lucky.

Hero Of the Win - 4/28/09

2009-04-28T20:24:00.001-07:00

Is there any doubt?

Justin Morneau has always been an advocate for the addition
of Christmas trees in the Metrodome.

Season total: Crede 2, Morneau 2, Slowey 2, Blackburn 1, Casilla 1, Kubel 1, Perkins 1

Yawn

2009-04-27T20:25:00.000-07:00

Did anyone else feel like today's game took forever? It was only a three hour game but it just seemed to drag. I don't think it was just because the Twins were losing, it just seemed like a really dull night of baseball. I even fell asleep.

That might have had more to do with the getting up early to go to the dentist and then having a long day at work thing though... Yeah, I had to go to the dentist this morning. There were drills involved. Start with a dentist, end with a boring Twins' loss. Not an ideal day.

Hero Of the Win - 4/25/09

2009-04-25T19:06:00.000-07:00

Well it's hard to argue with that. It's too bad Slowey didn't get the shut-out. It was still an awesome pitching performance though. We've been picking a lot of pitchers here lately, but they've been dominating. Kubel gets a strong second place finish for his two homers, but Kevin Slowey is tonight's Hero Of the Win.

Season total: Crede 2, Slowey 2, Blackburn 1, Casilla 1, Kubel 1, Morneau 1, Perkins 1

Hero Of the Win - 4/24/09

2009-04-24T21:23:00.000-07:00

Just the other day Mrs. DCTF and I were reminiscing about the good ol' days, when, once every five days, we could practically tally the win before the game was played.

"I miss Johan," she said.
"Me too."
"I miss all the K's."
"And all the bitches sitting down."
"And those broad shoulders," she said, her voice drifting off into dreams of Santana carrying the team to victory.
"And that cute little face," I said, my voice doing very much the same thing.

Here in D.C. we DCTFers appreciate a good pitching performance. Why just tonight Mr. Santana sat down 10 Nationals bitches in 6 innings. Remember how good that felt? Remember the joy? The hope? The love? Remember how Santana just toyed with the batters who were asking for it? How the people who deserved to be humiliated were professionally treated to a new level of embarrassment, their weak half-swings flailing at pitches far too nasty for them to even contemplate hitting? I expected to see something special every time he took the mound.
How can you help but miss that?

None of our pitchers is Johan - not even Liriano, who we thought might be the second coming of Johan - and we'll never feel the same way about any other starter as we will about Santana. But just because we've had the best doesn't mean we can't love the rest. We loved Perkins in his last outing. We loved Slowey before that. And tonight we loved Blackburn, who got it done in style, and earned himself the Hero Of the Win.

Season total: Crede 2, Blackburn 1, Casilla 1, Kubel 1, Morneau 1, Perkins, 1, Slowey 1

A Rough Stretch

2009-04-22T22:28:00.000-07:00

Off days are always a little disappointing, but after today... ugh, I'm looking forward to the fact that the Twins won't be crushed on Thursday.

I hate the Red Sox. I hate them more than I hate any other baseball team. Our division rivals are hated, but only because of my love for the Twins. The Red Sox are different. They are the most uniquely hateable team in baseball, independent of any loyalties or other factor. I hate them. You should hate them too. The whole world should be filled with hate for the hatedly hateable Red Sox. Hate.

People can hate the Yankees too, that's just fine. I happen to have a grudging respect for the history and majesty of the Yankees, but I can understand the hate. But hate for the Yankees shouldn't mitigate hate for the Red Sox. Every sin that the Yankees are guilty of, the Red Sox are too. But there's so much more to hate about the Red Sox then there is any other team. I could go into a litany here, and the list would run on and on. I'll save you that pain (this time around... the next time we play them, we'll see).

The point here is that the only reason anyone should root for the Red Sox is immediate geographic presence. People who live inside Massachusetts are given a pass. Anybody else who likes the Red Sox should be forced to see the error of their ways and made to recant. I don't want to suggest too much as to how this goal might be accomplished, but let me just say this... The Inquisition wasn't all bad.

For the Twins to lose in such brutal fashion to such a morally awful team is really painful. To see evil triumph so decisively, multiple times, in short order; it hurts. Let's just hope beating up on a division rival over the weekend will take away some of this bitter taste.

Also, what's up with Baker's proficiency at giving up the 2-run HR?

Hero Of the Win - 4/19/09

2009-04-19T15:27:00.001-07:00

The man can bake.

Season total: Crede 2, Casilla 1, Kubel 1, Morneau 1, Slowey 1

Hero Of the Win - 4/18/09

2009-04-18T21:46:00.000-07:00

We've utilized the first rule of Hero of the Win twice already (walk off hits). There is a second rule to assigning the Hero of the Win and tonight that comes into play.

The second rule is that when the team has been lacking in one area and a player comes through with a much needed performance that changes all of that, then that player needs to be given extra love.

And because our pitching has been suffering lately, and because Kevin Slowey pitched a strong 7 innings to lead the Twins to a decisive victory and save the overworked arms of the bullpen and just generally help put all of Twins Territory at ease, he gets tonight's H.O.W.

Season total: Crede 2, Casilla 1, Kubel 1, Morneau 1, Slowey 1

Hero Of the Win - 4/17/09

2009-04-17T20:27:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time yours truly played Little League baseball. I still have vivid memories of a multi-city tournament that we played in. Young DCTF's team did pretty well, but didn't make the championship game. One of the other teams from DCTF's city did make the final - The Angels - and in a show of support we all stuck around to cheer them on. It was one of the best games I have ever seen, and I remember one of the Angel's performances specifically. His name was Rob, and he'd already hit a single, double and triple when he came up to bat in the last inning. His team was down by three, and sure enough, he hit a go-ahead grand slam. Young DCTF and his teammates cheered their little heads off.

Part of what made Rob's performance so memorable was the sense of poetry and drama that it achieved. When a player hits for the cycle there is often a current of fate running through the game. With just one more hit to go the entire crowd is aware of the opportunity to see something special. They know which hit is needed, and all of the fans are wishing for that hit to fall. There's a collective will to see the cycle, a unique focus on that particular hit. And when it turns out that hit would be the game-winner? And a grand slam at that? The poetic pull is just too strong. It seems like fate itself has conspired to create this perfect balance of desire and consequence. Fate has turned the cycle from a mere nifty rarity into a dramatic inevitability. The outcome has a gravity too strong to escape its pull and everyone is sucked in to the awesomeness of the moment.

When Little Leaguer Rob hit for the cycle it was dramatic. Tonight Jason Kubel topped that. We'd like to give Joe Nathan an assist, because DCTF appreciates his no-nonsense approach so very, very much. But frankly, we're afraid to interfere with the dictates of fate. There was a special rhythm to Kubel's game tonight, and, like a set of catchy lyrics, the poetry of the moment will be playing over in my head for a while to come.

Season total: Crede 2, Casilla 1, Kubel 1, Morneau 1

Minnesota's Got Talent

2009-04-16T21:14:00.001-07:00

Sometimes you just want to forget a series. Ignore that it ever happened. The Twinkies got crushed by the Jays and there aren't too many positives to take from what we saw. Quite frankly, the Twins looked like some kind of frumpy never-been-kissed cat lady from Scotland.

So let's turn the page on the frumpy series we just had and dream a dream of Twins success!

Crede's Song

2009-04-14T21:02:00.000-07:00

After Monday's painful loss the Twins' backup catcher and resident old guy, Mike Redmond, pulled the rest of the team aside.

"Guys," he said, "have a seat. I want to talk to you about what it means to be clutch."

"You want us to be a stick shift?" asked Denard Span.

"I really prefer automatics," said Nick Punto, "They're easier to drive."

Mike Redmond patiently corrected them. "No you guys, I don't want you to be a clutch. I want you to perform in the clutch."

"You want us to get in a situation where the bad guys have the upper hand?" asked Denard Span.

"I don't want to be in the clutches of evil," said Nick Punto.

Redmond just shook his head, "No you guys, I don't mean in the clutches of an evildoer. I just mean that you have to play clutch."

"Play clutch? Like, competitively grab things? " asked Denard Span

"Like a bat? I can grab a bat," said Nick Punto. He grabbed a bat.

"Or a ball? I can grab a ball." He grabbed a ball.

"Or a helmet? I can grab a helmet." He grabbed a helmet.

"Am I winning now?" asked Punto.

Redmond was growing frustrated. "No, no, no. That's clutching an object. You've gotta be clutch with your team!"

Denard Span and Nick Punto grabbed each other's hands. "Like this?" they asked.

Redmond was just about at his wits end. "No, not like that. That's clutching a person! That's like the scene from Brian's Song."

"What's Brian's Song," asked Denard

"Who sings it?" asked Punto.

"Brian's Song was a movie," answered Redmond. "It was about two football players, Brian Piccolo and Gale Sayers. When Piccolo has cancer Sayers stays by his side, to comfort him when he needs him most of all. In a very dramatic scene the two players share 'the clutch,' which symbolized how close they had become."

Joe Crede, who had been sitting in the corner, piped up, "Oh, I heard about this. Didn't they play for the Bears?"

"I met someone who played for the Bears once," said Nick Punto. "William Perry. He reminded me of some kind of kitchen appliance... Probably a stove."

Redmond redirected the conversation. "We're getting off topic here guys. The point is, we need to be clutch. We need to come through for our team when things are dire."

"Like Gale Sayers!" said Denard.

"Like William Perry!" said Punto.

"I suppose so," said Redmond, who didn't think he was getting through to anyone.

But he was. Joe Crede, who had been sitting in the corner, put it all together.

"Not like Gale Sayers," he thought.

"Not like William Perry, " he thought.
"Not even like Brian's Song. I need to be clutch like Joe Crede."

Hero Of the Win - 4/14/09

2009-04-14T20:59:00.000-07:00

Once again it's time to break out the first rule of H.O.W.:

Any player who hits a game-winning walk-off hit automatically wins the award.

Thus your Hero Of the Win tonight is Joe Crede.

Season total: Crede 2, Morneau 1, Casilla 1

This Guy? Seriously?

2009-04-13T20:48:00.000-07:00

The Twins reached a whole new level of anti-clutch tonight. It was downright painful. I think the Twins need to re-educate themselves on the Heimlich maneuver, and maybe then they'll stop choking.

Although the offense finally scored some runs they failed to come through when we really needed it. Those three K's with a runner at third... ouch. GIDP in the ninth... ouch. 15 left on base... ouch. I think it's fair to say that the offense left a little something to be desired.

But what really hurt was the pitching. Every time the Twins scored a little our pitchers just went right back out and handed Toronto a few more runs. We couldn't extend our lead. And then, when Gardy brought in Luis Ayala... is there anyone who thought that would end well?

I've seen Ayala up close and personal when he was with the Nats. Bringing him in as our clutch bullpen guy was not a smart move. Actually, if the Twins were smart, they would just institute a rule against former Nationals players. I've been to their games. I've watched them play. Take it from me: the Nationals are not a good basebal team.

The first rule for running a succesful front office.

Watching Ayala pitch hurt most of all. One of the runs he gave up was charged to Guerrier, but it was Ayala's fault. Heck, I'm willing to say that most of the runs Slowey gave up were Ayala's fault too. And probably the three double plays we hit into. Frankly, I think the guy is just bad luck. Last year he went from the Nats to the Mets and they choked away a playoff berth. Now he's with the Twins and they're choking too... Coincidence? I think not.

Ayala in the traditional Nationals' pose: head hung in shame

Easter Sunday - Bad Guys 6, Twins 1.

2009-04-12T13:40:00.000-07:00

I love Easter. I love that when I wake up Mrs. DCTF has a basket full of jelly beany/chocolatey/marshmallows-shaped-like-animals-and-covered-in-sugary goodness waiting for me. I love biting the ears off of all the various bunny-shaped candies. I love going to church in my best suit. I love Easter egg fights. I love going out for brunch. It's all just so happy and hopeful. It's a time of new birth, of growth, and potential. I love that about Easter.

What I don't like about Easter - or at least this Easter - is the Twins losing to the White Sox. That's exactly the opposite of the hopeful and happy Easter experience. Today's loss, and dropping two of three over the weekend, just feels bad.

The season is still young and it should feel new and hopeful. Really, it should match up perfectly with Easter. Well, not so much in the Jesus rising from the dead/forgiveness of all our sins sense (Although religious humor certainly has it's place (most notably in Monty Python sketches), we're not much for blasphemy around DCTF. And besides, I can't really come up with a way to analogize the Resurrection to baseball... you try making it work. It ain't easy.). But in that Easter is a time of hope and potential and the young baseball season is a time of hope and potential, those two synch up pretty nicely. And thus we have our analogy.

But after the last two games I don't feel especially hopeful. The White Sox have taken away our hope. You might wonder, "Why would they do such a thing? Don't they like Easter?" And you would be right to wonder. Because the truth of the matter is that the White Sox hate Easter. If the White Sox had lived at the same time as Jesus they would have been Judas. All of them. And I heard a rumor that one time Jermaine Dye and AJ Pierzynski beat up the guy in the Easter Bunny costume at the mall. And it's common knowledge that Ozzie Guillen likes to run around and point out where all the eggs are hidden so that little kids can't have the fun of finding them for themselves.

Anyway, the point here is that the White Sox hate Easter. But because they can't take a holiday away (see, for example: Grinch Stole Christmas, How the) they have to do the next best thing: take away our early season hopes.

To that end, the White Sox deployed Jim Thome. Thome is that guy in every baseball movie who represents the toughest player to get out. You know the one: he's 6'10" with giant muscles, has a name like 'Mash' Johnson, and is introduced by the announcer as "The always dangerous...". He appears in one of the first games and hits a towering home run that dashes the hopes of the protagonist team. And then he shows up again at the climax of the movie, when the good guys need just one more out to clinch the pennant, and inevitably strikes out or pops up or (if they made a baseball movie these days) gets suspended for steroid use. Yup, that's Jim Thome. He is the 'Mash' Johnson to our hero Twins.

[Just to be clear, I'm not saying Jim Thome uses steroids, just that's he's a villain, like someone who uses steroids.]

So the White Sox, in their blind hatred of Easter, had Jim Thome hit a towering go-ahead home run. That was the defining moment of the game. That was when things got bleak. It hurt. My hope was crushed.

But here's the good news: we're still in the movie's first act. There's a long way to go. And before things are done our players are going to come together as a team and learn to believe in themselves. Best of all, the next time around, Mash - er, I mean, Thome - isn't going to get the best of us. There might be some tense moments, and probably some zany fans providing comic relief, but in the end our protagonists are going to prevail.

Which means that, despite the White Sox's best efforts, we still have reason to hope. Happy Easter!

Hero Of the Win - 4/10/09

2009-04-10T21:10:00.000-07:00

In a game like this, with tons of runs, you could pick just about any player out of the lineup to be the Hero. Justin Morneau had an amazing game, with the HR and 4 RBI. LNP had some key hits, scored two runs, and solid defense. Casilla and De Nard Dog had three hits apiece. We could pick just about anyone. Now that's the kind of baseball we like to see from the Twinkies.

That means we have to turn to a different criteria to pick the H.O.W. So I'll tell you where we're gonna go with this:

One of the greatest things about baseball is the stories. More than any other sport baseball is where stories matter. Heroes and goats, good guys and bad guys, legacy and curses. There's a plot line to every game, every series, and every season. When you have a heated rivalry there's even more storylines. Twins vs. White Sox has always been full of the kind of dramatic tension a good writer aspires to, and after the one game playoff that ended last year we'll expect plenty more in the '09 campaign. Adding to this year's drama is the pickup of Joe Crede, who, much like Darth Vader at the end of Return of the Jedi, has finally seen the light and decided to switch sides.

In his first game against his old team, in his very first at bat, Return of the Crede hit a home run. Until that point the Sox fans had been cheering their old hero. With that swing of the bat they realized which side Crede was really on. He is now one of the good guys. It was the perfect storyline, a poetic baseball moment. That's exactly the kind of thing that makes for good baseball.

And so, for delivering a great baseball story, and throwing the White Sox fans down that reactor shaft, Joe Return of the Crede is today's Hero Of the Win.

Twins Get Shut Out

2009-04-09T12:23:00.000-07:00

First, I want to take a moment to recognize the tragic death of the Angel's Nick Adenhart, who died in a car crash. It's always sad when someone so young (22) dies, and when that person is a public figure such as a ballplayer it gives us all pause. Best wishes go out to Adenhart's family, friends, and teammates.

Now, on to the game.

I don't know if the reality bears this out, but it has always seemed to me that the Twins' offense is generally anemic during weekday afternoon games. Whenever they play during the day I like to pull up the Gameday Audio and listen at work. I've got one of those great jobs where, as long as you're getting your work done, you can listen to the radio or whatever. Sure, sometimes I have obligations that get in the way of listening to the Twins games, but I've been able to catch quite a few of their day games over the past couple years.

Maybe my perception isn't totally accurate on this, but after listening to these afternoon games for a couple of years, it sure feels like these daytime games are little hidden traps in the Twins' schedule. Little losses that pop up and nick the Twins as they go along. They're just games that aren't going to go our way, preordained losses designated by the scheduling computer. Rather then print "12:10" on the schedule they should just write "Loss, 2-0." Because that's how it feels they always turn out.

Like today's game, for instance. It was totally winnable. All the Twins needed to do was score two or three runs on Jared Washburn (and Brandon Morrow). Washburn is not a spectacular pitcher. Two runs should be an achievable target. Heck, the other day they scored three off of Morrow alone. But it was a day game, and the Twins didn't seem to play with any urgency. They got down in the first, and buckled down on pitching and defense. But they forgot that you have to score runs too. It was like someone was playing a baseball video game and just put down the controller every time his team came to bad. Some quality defense and pitching, sure... but it turns out runs mean something in baseball. Half-games still count as a full loss.

And then, all of a sudden, the game was over, and the Twins hadn't done anything all day.

The game ended and the Twins took another tick in the loss column. We never saw the passion, didn't feel any of the fight that they'd had the past two nights. Even if they still would have lost, it would have been nice to feel some of that fight. But it was weekday afternoon game, and I can't remember the last time I felt some fight from the Twins on a weekday afternoon. Maybe this loss won't hurt us in the end. Maybe it will. Either way, I can't help but feel that the Twins slept through today's game.

Hopefully they were at least dreaming about the fire they'll display next time.

Hero Of the Win - 4/8/09

2009-04-08T20:06:00.000-07:00

No recap tonight folks. I didn't catch any of the game, except on Gameday. Lost was on. Hey, I have a life outside this blog you know.

It looked like it would have been fun to be around for the first couple innings, with the Twins tagging Silva for a bunch. And I kept a pretty close eye on the bullpen. Hopefully they can do so well the rest of the season too.

But there's only one obvious candidate for Hero Of the Win today: Justin Morneau, who decided his first hit of the season would be a two-run homer. He also decided to knock in the tying run with a double and, just one batter later, score the winning run. Here at DCTF we support that kind of quality decision making. We don't necessarily agree with his earlier decision to take the first two days of the season off so that he could spot the rest of the AL players a head start in the MVP race, but we're confident enough in his powers of discernment that we'll overlook that for now. And so, for his all-around awesome offensive output this eve, Justin Morneau is today's H.O.W.

Did you know: Justin likes to pose for pictures in

front of trees that he chopped down himself.

Hero Of the Win

2009-04-07T21:31:00.001-07:00

Is this a direct rip-off of Batgirl? Yes.
Do I care? No.

Because frankly, it's important to recognize the daily heroes who help propel the Twins to greatness. And so, for every Twins win, I will recognize the player who was the hero of the win (or H.O.W., as in "H.O.W. the Twins won... works out pretty nice that way, huh?).

The first win of the season is not only the first opportunity for a H.O.W., it's also the perfect chance to explain the first rule of H.O.W.: any player who hits a game-winning walk-off hit automatically wins the award.

This makes Alexi Casilla the very first Hero Of the Win.

Happy Birthday Mrs. DCTF

2009-04-07T19:59:00.000-07:00

So says the Minnesota Twins.

It was Mrs. DCTF's birthday today and we weren't able to catch most of the game as a result. When we weren't out for dinner she was fielding calls from friends and family, and so the computer (gameday audio) was turned all they way down. She got off the phone right at the start of the 9th inning. We heard Seattle get their insurance run, and I must confess that I thought the game was over.

But not Mrs. DCTF. She knew better. "Let's go see if anyone sent me a birthday card," she said, "and when we come back the Twins will have a birthday miracle for me." And so, before the top of the 9th was even complete, we headed down to the lobby to check our mail. When we came back the Twins were just coming to bat.

"Time for a birthday miracle," she said.
"I don't know," I said.

Joe Crede struck out swinging.

"It's going to happen," she said.
"Probably not," I said.

Delmon Young flied out.

"Well of course there are two outs," she said. "A birthday miracle has to be miraculous. It wouldn't even count if there weren't two outs."
"I still don't think it will happen," I said.

I should have listened. Because the Twins didn't deliver just one birthday miracle, they gave her a whole slew:

Carlos Gomez walked! A birthday miracle!
With only one injured replacement available Gardy still pinch hit for a catcher! A birthday miracle!
Gardy pinch hit for Nick Punto! A birthday miracle!
A chopper that Beltre couldn't make a play on! A birthday miracle!

And then, oh yes, the birthday miracle of them all: the game-winning walk-off hit.

"I told you so," said Mrs. DCTF.
"I was wrong," I said, "I admit it."

"Now that's a birthday miracle."

All That A Season Opening Loss Means...

2009-04-07T07:34:00.000-07:00

Is that the Twins can still go 161-1.

Starting Up

2009-04-05T22:11:00.000-07:00

Ok folks, it's baseball season, and I'm back. We'll start off the year with my best guesses as to who wins what this season. And remember, these are only guesses. If you want to know the actual results ahead of time, you'll have to buy the premium package.

National League
NL East: You know, when the Mets died last year I just laughed. It was really kind of a nice, sweet feeling of inevitability as they perfected their collapse. It was almost like watching the Cubs. I can't imagine we'd be so lucky as to see it happen three years in a row, and I think they have the pieces to be solid, so I'm picking them to win the NL East. After that, I kind of like the Braves, but they just don't have the offense, and it's hard to pick against the World Series winners, especially because they can really hit. The Nationals, on the other hand, are abysmal. They're my local team, so I'll still root for 'em, but man are they bad. The good news is that now that Bowden is gone they can star getting better. So I'm predicting the East to finish: Mets, Phillies, Braves, Marlins, Nats.

NL Central: This is never a fun division to pick because there are so many middling teams, and it's baseball's biggest division. I think the Cubs aren't quite as middling as the rest, so they'll win the division by a couple. I've always kind of liked the Brewers, and watching their resurgence has been fun. I also think St. Louis could probably surprise people. A lot has been written about the new and improved Reds, but I just think they're too young, and not a complete enough team. Picking young has been the way to go lately in baseball it seems (the Rays for example), but I just don't think the Reds have enough polish. They're still better than the Astros and Pirates though. NL Central in order: Cubs, Brewers, Cards, Reds, Astros, Pirates.

NL West: Well we can count San Diego out, right? I'd say they, the Nationals, and the Pirates will all probably compete for worst team, right? And the Giants are still rebuilding, though I hear they have a lot of pieces in their minor leagues that we'll see soon enough. I don't think the Rockies are back to where they were two years ago, but they're a fun team. That leaves the Diamondbacks and the Dodgers. With Manny the Dodgers have plenty of offense to go around, while the Diamondbacks play a great team game. Is this getting to be a heated rivalry? I don't know, because the NL West is probably my least-followed division, but there should be a good battle between these two again. I'm going to give the edge to the Dodgers, since Torre knows how to keep a team plugging away. Your NL West finishes Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Giants, Padres.

NL Wild Card: East or West? It's between Arizona and Philly. I like the Diamondbacks more, but I don't feel right picking against a reigning Champion team that didn't lose any pieces. Well, I don't feel right doing it now. Just wait until we get to the AL. Phillies take the Wild Card.

MVP: David Wright leads the Mets to a East title over the Phillies and takes home the MVP trophy as a result.
Cy Young: Mr. Johan "Still a Twin at Heart" Santana sits bitches down and takes home his third (should be fourth) Cy.
Rookie: This is always hard, so I just go with a prospect whose name I've heard before: Cameron Maybin? Maybe? Maybin. Maybe.

American League
AL East: Hmm. The Rays won the East last year, made it to the World Series, didn't lose any pieces, and have David Price available for a full year if they want. And yet... I'm going to pick the Yankees. They're old, I know, and that's not good. Age will certainly handcuff their offense a little more than it has in the past (though Texiera should help with all of that). But they added some pitching, which they just haven't had the last couple years, and that's going to make them a more well-rounded team. And they'll have the magic of the new stadium, so that'll help propel them too. Boston is going to be right there with them, but I hate the Red Sox, so they won't get any more love than that nod. The East finishes up: Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, Jays, O's.

AL Central: Last year was a rebuilding year for the Twins and they surpassed my expectations. This year they return to the top of the heap. I'm a bit worried about Mauer, just because the injury is kind of strange and no one can predict when he'll be back, or whether the injury will return. And I'm excited to watch Liriano, Span, Casilla, Gomez and Young all build on what they did last year. I'm sure some of them will take a step back at times, but I think overall they'll all add more to their games (setting them up for their World Series title in 2010... but I'm a year ahead of myself). And they've got really great pitching. Liriano might be an ace, but every other guy on the staff is no worse than a number 3 pitcher, and they're all working with two of the smartest catchers in baseball, so that helps them step up their game. The White Sox took a step back in the offseason, but that was happening no matter what. They were smart enough to do so in a way that puts them in a good place in the future. The Indians... they're gonna be good. Grady Sizemore is an amazing player. This is a team that always manages to play a bit below where they should, and so I think that'll keep 'em from winning it all, but it'll be a battle. The AL Central goes: Twins, Indians, White Sox, Tigers, Royals.

AL West: The Angels absolutely ran away with it last year. This year it'll be much closer, but what they lost in Texiera and Rodriguez isn't enough to keep them out of first. Oakland is on their way to building another contend-every-year-but-not-good-enough group, just like in the first part of the decade. Seattle takes a step forward with better pitching performances and Ken Griffey Junior's smile. The West goes down: Angels, Athletics, Mariners, Rangers.

AL Wild Card: Once again, screw you Boston. Indians take the wild card.

MVP: Grady Sizemore, but a healthy Joe Mauer would give him a run for his money.
Cy Young: I'm gonna go with Liriano, because I root for the Twins, and I don't know who else I would pick. Plus the way he finished the year last year was spectacular, so if he can carry that through, this isn't entirely crazy.
Rookie: Well, he's starting in the minors, but Matt Weiters is apparently going to be a very good addition to the O's.

Playoffs

NLS: Cubs over Mets, Dodgers over Phillies.
NLCS: Cubs over Dodgers.
ALS: Indians over Angels, Yankees over Twins (though I'll happily take more, just making the playoffs is a worthy goal for this year).
ALCS: Yankees over Indians
World Series: Yankees over Cubs. I almost went the other way with this... but that's just crazy.

Congratulations Phillies

2008-10-30T07:52:00.000-07:00

What the heck is this thing?

Chicago Baseball

2008-10-03T21:45:00.000-07:00

I traded a couple of e-mails with my co-worker today. You know, the bad luck Chicago guy. He's Cubs/White Sox all the way, and the losses seem to be taking a toll. Fortunately for him, I'm not the type to rub it in his face. Either that or I was just really busy this morning and didn't have a chance to e-taunt him. I forget which. Eventually he sent out an e-mail:

Well, you have been a very professional fan. I will be the first to say that watching that 2nd inning last night was painful. You can call it a tragedy of errors or the Cubs being the same “old Cubs”. Nonetheless, the Cubs are not dead yet and it has been done before. I think only once before. But better a live dog than a dead lion. Go ahead let me know what you think.

My response:

Oh [Bad Luck Chicago Guy] ::Shaking my head:: The reason I’m being so professional is because, believe it or not, the imminent failure was never a question. This result was decided long ago, probably by some type of deity. I can’t gloat now because it has been destined from the start. I was not insightful, you were just missing the obvious. I hope for sake of the very young Cubs fans out there that the Cubs win the next two and then lose a brutally close battle in game 5.

I didn't even touch the White Sox.

See, it's a good thing that both Chicago teams are losing. It's just a good thing for very different reasons. It's good that the White Sox are losing because they're evil. Very evil. They are the most naturally evil team in baseball. The Yankees and Red Sox are close, but their evil comes from their actions, and isn't innate in the very soul of their existence. The White Sox are evil no matter how good or bad their teams are, no matter how much money they're spending, etc. If the Yankees and Red Sox didn't spend a fortune, they wouldn't be nearly as evil. The White Sox on the other hand... it's just a condition of their being. By their very nature they are the bad guys.

And so seeing them lose is excellent. Watching the White Sox lose makes us all better people.

But the Cubs are a different story entirely. They're the lovable losers. They're one of baseball's premier good guys. We can all get behind them. We can all love their players, their history, their ivy-covered walls. The Cubs are a team that connects us with our baseball roots. The Cubs are an entire baseball subculture.

But if they won... that'd all be gone. Baseball would no longer have a team of lovable losers. Baseball would no longer have a cursed team. Baseball would lose an entire subculture, simply wiped from existence with one little World Championship.

Someday it'll be time for the Cubs to win the World Series. Maybe another hundred years. Maybe another 900. But certainly not yet. We need at least one more cursed team. And these things take ages to build. We need to take the long view. 1000 years from now, when there's 1100+ years of baseball history, people will look back and marvel at this curse in a way we can only begin to fathom. To hope the Cubs win is to hope that baseball itself becomes worse off.

Because these things matter in baseball. History, curses, magic, lovable losers, and all the rest. If the Cubs win the World Series, they become just another team. They'd go from being good guys to being bad guys. They'd just be another team like the Red Sox or Yankees. And God knows we don't need any more of those! If the Cubs win now, we lose so much of what makes baseball special. And we'd lose one of our good guys.

Yes, that's right: we need to root against the Cubs winning, so that we can continue to root for them.

Well, We Tried

2008-09-30T22:06:00.000-07:00

What can you say? It was an amazing game. We came out on the bottom, the bad guys came out on top. Our offense struggled, but really, so did theirs. I was really hopeful the Twins would win, and didn't find myself getting discouraged, even when our offense was flailing away. Looking back though, there were plenty of bad omens that should have tipped me off that the Twins would lose.

Like the fact that I had to see one of my coworkers today. He's usually at a different location, and we just e-mail back and forth, but today he brought his Chicago born-and-bred bad luck to my office. He stepped into my office and started to unbutton his shirt, to reveal the black t-shirt he was wearing underneath. It was like having a black cat cross my path, only I was also forced to watch a large and unattractive man start to undress. There's just no way to undo that curse.

On my way out to the bar to watch the game (we don't currently have TBS at the DCTF household) a beautiful day turned into a stormy night. Lightning and thunder pounded the D.C. suburbs, and a storm cloud opened up directly on top of me.

Once I got to the bar, I caught about 5 minutes of the game before the satellite dish was knocked out. The game was gone, and I was going to have to find somewhere else to watch. I headed to another local bar - fewer TVs, but better food - but they weren't showing the game.

So I was reduced to my one last option: watching the game at my least favorite restaurant. This restaurant is absolutely the pits. The atmosphere is crummy, the service is non-existent, and the food... ugh. I kid you not, they screwed up frozen hamburger patties. Literally. But the game was on, I was hungry, and I didn't have much choice.

I guess I should have seen the loss coming. Everything was against us tonight. We just didn't have the luck we needed. And really, considering the way everything was stacked against us, I think the result was pretty respectable.

Unlike the burger.

Cest La Vie

2008-09-30T19:05:00.000-07:00

At least we can take solace knowing that all of the White Sox players will die horribly from syphilis.

The One Game Playoff

2008-09-29T22:16:00.001-07:00

I can only remember feeling like this one other time. It was back in 2002. Game 5 of the ALDS against the Athletics. Do or die. I was too young to feel this way in '87 and '91, and we haven't had an all-or-nothing situation since 2002.

Even your standard elimination games don't feel this tense, because if you manage to survive to another day there's always a chance you'll just be eliminated the next time out. But not in a go on or go home situation. If you win, you win big. If you lose, you lose big. Not just the dread of an elimination game, but the hope of a clinching game too. Hope and dread. Two sides on the same coin.

And until game time that coin is just standing on edge.

It's gonna be a long day at the office.

Hope and dread.

Welcome!

2008-09-29T21:05:00.000-07:00

On this, the eve of the first one game playoff in Twins' history, I'm gonna go ahead and start the Twins' blog I've been meaning to start for ages.

The goal will be to provide a more human side of the game. The blogosphere is plenty crammed with statisticians. I'm a big fan of the blogs that already out there, and I have neither the ability nor the inclination to add to the work they do.

Plus, I'm really more of a heart 'n' soul guy. I love the magic of baseball, the storylines, the heroes and goats, the good guys and the bad guys. So that's the goal. Content geared towards the drama and laughter we share through baseball.

I'm a MN expat, living and working in the D.C. suburbs. I follow the Twins with a deep passion, listen to the games almost daily, watch as many as I can, and manage to make it to at least one or two a year when they're in Baltimore (or I'm in Minny). I'm a Twins fan, through-and-through, and it pains me to be away from the team I love so much. I don't know that my outside-of-the-state status lends me any perspective on the team, but at very least I've developed a deep and overwhelming sense of relief that I am not primarily a Nationals fan.

Now, onto the blogs. And go Twins!

Hopefully they'll manage to beat the bad guys, and give me at least 3 more games of live-action content.