Baseball and Birthdays

Today is my 16th birthday and what a great present MLB brings me every year around this time: Opening Day and the Regular Season.

We have all waited months for baseball to start back up again and I am super excited. We've got new players, a renewed attitude to win the division without an extra game, and, SI rated the Twins to be #1 in the Central Divison (Yeaaaahhhh!)

I was looking at all the new players in each of the teams and I didn't even realize how many NY Yankees were traded/not signed this offseason. Heideki Matsui, Johnny Damon, Melky Cabrera, etc. I couldn't believe it! And, we won't have to deal with pestery Polonco anymore in Detroit :).

~Spring Training stuff and Pre-Season thoughts~

1. I am pissed that Tolbert won't be up in the Majors to start the year.

2. Slowey is going to ROCK

3. Peterson, Revere, and Portes are going to be awesome in the future.

4. Nathan...well, that sucks. Stupid Elbows...

5. Twins beating the Yanks in Spring Training CAN and WILL carry over to the regular season

6. Yay Orlando Hudson and J.J. Hardy!...and Thome I guess :)
7. Punto/Harris at 3rd: So hard! If Punto could just get some spark in his bat he would have that spot so fast! Kudos to Harris however, he has been swinging the bat really well this Spring

8. Mijares still scares me a little.

9. Rauch...he's tall!
10. Outside Spring ball to Outside Summer ball for the first time in a LONG time! Hoorah!

Lets start of the season well...expecially in the new stadium. I sure hope the Gophers didn't curse it!

This is for Harris :)

Baker Time

Great Performance last night Scotty (well, we won't count the 9th inning). You were nearly unhittable. You were really cookin'!

Great to see some more HR power last night too. Morneau, so happy you are actually thinking and not just trying to be macho. And Kubel, well, you just do your thing! (P.S. Bremer SO called the 3 run homerun last night).

Oh, have you seen this guy who is about 6 foot 1, 210 pounds, and last name starts with 'H' and ends in 'Arris'? Because he, is on Fire right now. The look of dissapointment on his face when his double didn't clear the fence. He tries so hard every game, and that's why he is my BF of the day. (one flaw, he does like to watch strike 3 and make a big deal over how it "wasn't even close")

And....Delmon Young. You proved me wrong last night, and I am glad you did! This was the first time this year I was actually happy you were in the line-up. Now that is something you don't hear from me everyday!!

Thumbs up for you Delmon Young!


Lets focus on winning the rest of this road trip, ok guys? (and please encourage Liriano to do good today...please)

Rain Rain go away....

Cuz I wanna watch some Twins Baseball here!!!

Ok, I am a very lazy blogger and am sorry of the delay(s) so here we go on the recap of the week:

~We gained a whole 1.5 games in 1 day
~As of Today we are 1 game behind, have 2 games today while the sox have ZERO! (yay!)
~Blackburn and Slowey got a win!
~Guerrier blew another game on a day we could have gained ground...darn Guerrier...
~We lost both coinflips on who gets home-field advantage in a tie situation :(
~Morneau is only 4 RBIs behind Hamilton for RBI leaders!!!!!
~Liriano got cheated Thursday :(
~Twins are awesome (cept Matt Guerrier as of now)

Yes. A good and bad week. Mostly good.

And as of now, Morneau is only 2, yes, TWO! RBI's behind Hamilton. hoorah! And we are beating the Orioles! Hoorah again! (In game uno)

I have also come to a conclusion on why we have been so terrible the past 3/4 weeks: It's because Harris hasn't been able to play that often. And when you think about it, he didn't get to play hardly at all. Brenden Harris is the Key to Success! :-D

Anyway, lets hope the Twins win tonite, and they will [most likely] win tonite unless the Birds can come back from being down 7-2 in the 7th against BOOF-ie.

I can tell you know that I am really nervous for when we go to St.Petersburg....soooo nervous.

Into the second half with a blast

The Twins appear to be off on the right foot into the second half *relief*. The game yesterday was so fun to watch. Expecially in the 7th inning when we got 4 runs.

Perkins pitched phenominaly and the offense was on the spot. Bushbaby and Ice Kubes both drove in 2 and Delmy went 4-4.

The Twins also shut out the Rangers for the first time since August 21st and snapped Ian Kinsler's (see photos below) 25 game hitting streak.

Here are some photo's I took at the game yesterday:

Bushbaby at the plate

Nick Blackburn golfing....he won too :)

Ian Kinsler....

Ian Kinsler...again

Brendan Harris :D

The Highsocks boys: Harris and Kinsler

Morneau's Homerun Trophe

Gomez....picking his nose...haha!

The one and only Dirt Shirt

Ian Kinsler...hehe

Josh Hamiltion

Pitchers row

Ian Kinsler...I swear I am not obsessed! ;)

Cleveland Sweep!

Whoa! The Twins beat Cliff Lee! I was so happy when they got the lead after being down 3 to nothing for much of the game. I then laughed at how the Twins are so good at rallying back to win.

When the Twins Tied the game, Glen was so happy that he could maybe get the win. He was dissapointed that they didn't send Young who was on second base home on Nick Punto's bases loaded single. His face went from: YEAH!!! To: oh....

I also think Brendan Harris is doing great at 3rd base. Every play he has made has been great and his throws to Morneau are rockets. Brendan Harris: Mr. Infield.

And Today the Indians traded away their Ace C.C. Sabathia to the Brewers. At least the Twins won't have to face him as much anymore. However, they play the Brewers every year in Interleague, so it isn't the last of Sabathia for the Twins.

Twins win streak is at 5 and up next is the Boston Red Sox. It would be hillarious to knock down the Sox in a sweep. The Twins should play well at Fenway. Many Twins players say this is their favorite Park to play in, so they better make it worth while and win!

First Place, Here we come

Eight in a row. EIGHT in a row. ONE HALF game behind Chicago. *Excitement!*

Harris, you must be eating like 2 steaks a day. 2 homers in 2 days! Amazing! Both breaking the Twins out of a tie.

When the Padres scored 3 runs in 2 innings, I was beginning to worry until we scored 3 in the 3rd inning and Perkins gave up no more runs in the rest of his innings pitched. And when we got the score to 6-3, I knew we were gunna win. I mean, we are the Twins on a roll here...

Poor Justin Morneau...2 errors in 1 game (well, it was one error, but the popfly one should have been ruled as an error). How does a major leaguer's glove break in the middle of a game? How do you miss a pop fly?

Craig Monroe hit a 2 run homerun as a pinch hitter. He is so good at that job. Coming in the game in the late innings and drilling one over the fence.

Perkins, you did well. After the 2nd inning, you were just cruising along. And you got the win. Whoo Hoo Perkins!

One more game and we head back to the Metrodome. Keep it going Twins!

7 Straight!

Wow. How magical the Twins can be. They were just on a 6 game losing streak 2 weeks ago and now they are on a 7 game winning streak!

Last nights game was very boring until later in the game (i.e. The 9th inning). Harris and Buscher both drove one over the fence. Not to mention those homers were back to back.

I was so dissapointed when they had Slowey bunt. DIDN'T YOU SEE HOW HE HIT LAST TIME? Now Slowey won't be able to hit the rest of the season since our last interleague game is at home. However, he did a great job pitching (Heck, when DOESN'T he?), but unfortunatly he gave up one run and so Reyes got the win.

The Twins won, but sadly the White Sox also won leaving the Twins hovering at 1.5 games back. Twins are 5 games over .500, the highest they have been. And what's this? Cleveland nearly in last place of the Central Division? (Probably because they just got Rincon)

One more thing: Twins did awesome hitting against Mr. Cy Young Peavy. Peavy is weird and scares me....

For one, he looks like he is going to throw up, and for 2, Don't his blue eyes just pierce you?

Happy Birthday Redmond!

These off days K-Y-L me.

So Redmond gets a day off for his birthday (like he needs one, he never plays anywayz)

***Important Twins News***

Word on the street (aka Kayla) says that Slowey may be coming back Thursday...HUZZAAAHH!

I cant wait to see him pitch again...its been too long...

(random letter)

Hey Harris,

Your awesome.

Love, Me.

Todays game was awesome....because I was there

My first live twins game of 2008 was pretty spectacular.

Wow, I almost cried for boof and myself in the first inning. I mean EVERYBODY in Detroits Lineup (cept 1) had a hit for the Tigers in the first cycle of everyone...and then the Twins came in and did nothing...till the 4th inning.

At first, I was fine that we had 1 run...I just thought "well, at least we can't be shut out..."

Punto's little double/triple thing really changed my mind and at that point...I knew we were gunna win.

And, then good ol' Mauer, who always pulls through, got the game leading single.

WHO'S TOP OF THE AL CENTRAL? TWWWINS!!!

It was even more awesome because today was Gardenhire bobble head day. Unfortunatly, Gardee wasn't there (mucho condolenses Gardee, mucho, mucho condolenses...) But hey, who says Ulliger is doing bad? He's gotten the Twins a sweep. I am sure Gardee is very proud.

In honor of Nathan making a super save, I bought a Nathan jersey in memory of him. *randomly admires Gardee bobblehead*

BTW, the last game (That Kick ass Bass got the win of) was very awesome. I thought that when Ordoniez tied the game, it was going to be a very close game....wrong i was.

In that game, Brenden Harris hit a homerun, so he is now in 3rd place in the Twins HR club.

Random thoughts:
~Seeing Brenden Harris play up close makes me love him even more...
~Happy Birthday Matt Tolbert AND **KEVIN SLOWEY**

**Today, I also got to see Kubel's new baby in it's stroller being pushed by Mr. Kubel himself.

Ah, Great game...


When is Slowey coming back?

A blackout by Blackburn; and a great pitchers duel for Baker

Blackburn, You is amazin'. You make Indians sit and cry. I love you :P
Score: Twins 3, Indians NADA

My opinions of the the game:

-Morneau! You gotz 5 HRs!
-Punto, those wildman throws to first for a double play were AWESOME
-Blackburn: Congrats on your first win in the Major Leagues!


Also, Happy Belated Birthday to Mauer and Reyes!
<--Mauer & Reyes Discussing Birthday Party Ideas

*Anyways, For todays game (ha we won! In yo face BYRDIE!) Baker did supah good. And might I add,I have a VERY special announcement: Harris has been excepted to the HR club! HR Club:
~Morneau: (5)
~Kubel (3)
~HARRIS! (1)

Harris, my opinion was the P.O.G. (ha pog..pogger) because he got the game tying run, and scored the game WINNING run (yes, I know that Morneau pulled through and won for us, but i still think Harris did a better job)

Harris hit a homerun just less than 2 hours after Gardee was asked on "The Gardenhire Radio show" why there were only 2 Twins that had hit homeruns, and his respose was:

"Yeah, you know thats just how the season goes, I know that Young will be hitting
a bunch this year and Lamb is due to hit one and we also know that Gomez and
HARRIS can hit the ball far also."

To Morneau:
Wow, you really surprised me. I thought for sure you were going to strike out there in the 10th inning...but you showed me.Good job budie!

To Gomez:
Nice Catch in Center! That saved the game you know. Good thing you got your wind back so you didn't have to have Span come in for you.

P.S. You need to learn how to bunt.

Twins are tied for 2nd in the ALC! (2.5 games behind Chicago) (3 games ahead of Detroit)

Up Next (Tuesday) Twins vs. Oakland (the land of oaks, and LeCroy)