Welcome to the Bandwagon

omg... that game was so exciting I think I peed a little. (Sorry - an inside joke from our hockey team.) I could not sit still during the last out and was told by everyone in my house to keep it down during the last two innings. But hey - if they had been watching that game, I bet even they would have had trouble not getting caught up in the excitement. I did notice one thing while watching... the full dome. Now maybe it was due to the camo cap (which I really wanted), but I think it is more to the fair weather fans jumping on the bandwagon in droves. I am backed up by the fact that I have been there during good giveaways during losing streaks (not so impressive to go double digits the other way - is it?) and people have gotten the giveaway and then left. Hate that btw - since you know they are only getting it to sell on ebay, since a true fan would stay to watch the game.

According to Bert during the game today, this would be only the 7th double digit winning streak since inception. The last one was during June of what year people? 1991!!! Is it an omen? Ok - coming down from the high, and no, I don't believe we are WS bound. But the ride sure is fun ain't it!

(And yes - I realized I jinxed him... feeling horrible! But I still love the guy!)

On the mound tonight...

Nick Blackburn (6-4 ~ which just happens to also be his height).

Of the newbies, he is on his way to replacing Baker as my fav pitcher. This kid is putting up some good consistent numbers, especially for a team that has had inconsistent pitching this season. (Yes, I know we are in the midst of an incredible streak that has shown much more consistency. I am hoping, along with all fans, that it will continue.) His current 3.68 ERA has ranged only between 3.32 and 3.94 during his last 10 games. Of his 15 starts, 9 of them have been quality starts.

I have to admit I started watching him more closely after the Yankees game that looked as though he might be out for a while. Lucky for us, he hasn't skipped a beat.

I was bored and drew this on my nail. (It was hard to take a picture one handed with my left hand, so this is the best pic I could get, sorry. It is the Twins TC logo if you can't tell.)

Impressive if you remember that I had to draw it with my left hand (think about it...) Lindsey thought it was a decal, so I done did alright! She, despite being duly impressed by my previously unknown artistic ability, has determined that I have crossed the official sanity line and have a very slim chance of recovering from my geek-dom.

Go Twins!!!!

Bye-bye Juan

I have to admit that I am not sad to see Juan Rincon go after he was assigned yesterday. Today he declined assignment so the Twins have 10 days to trade him or release him. I know that he was a good pitcher for us in the past, but I am admittedly an emotional supporter of players, and he just never cut it as far as I am concerned. If I don't feel good about them, they will never rate with me no matter how good they are for the team. I am, however, easy to turn. Just show motivation, dedication and an absolute love of what you are doing, and I can forgive a lot. For some reason that I cannot put my finger (no jokes people) on, I have never been a huge Rincon fan. Maybe because every game (literally) that I went to that Juan pitched in, we ended up losing because of his pitching. Hard to watch time after time... Pitchers struggle from time to time, I am not naive enough to believe otherwise. It just seemed to be more than that for him last year. Then I started to notice a drop in excitement from him with each passing failure. Sort of a downward spiral, I think. Could he have turned it around eventually? My hope for him is that he can, even if it is for another team.

So the assignment made me curious on how the whole contract part works. (Newbie - remember?) So, for those like me who don't know - here is the scoop.

Juan's twelve years on the teams earns him the designation as a veteran. Only five years are required to be deemed a veteran. Being a veteran gives you a few extra rights. So, when he was assigned to the Rochester AAA he had the right as a veteran to reject the assignment, which he did today. Had he been with the team less than 5 years, he could have been sent down once during his career without his permission. Since Juan chose not to go to Rochester, the Twins have 10 days to try to trade him to limit the financial burden. If they trade him to a team for a smaller contract, they will have to make up the difference. However, if they cannot trade him, they will pay the full remainder of the contract. So I guess we hope he gets traded.

There has been a lot of discussion about carrying 13 vs 12 pitchers. I am in a way worried by the fact that our pitching has been inconsistent at best and having one more pitcher available could help during one of the horribly out of control games. However, I like Buscher, so we will have to see if this is the spark that ignites the team.

Good luck to you Juan!

It's back...

The Twins are adding more of the all you can eat nights. For about an additional $12 per ticket in certain sections holders get all the dome dogs, nachos and other assorted goodies they can scarf down during the game. Ok, now does anyone honestly believe that they are doing this out of the goodness of their hearts? They obviously plan to come out ahead, and if the first all you can eat game is an indicator of how it will go, I believe they will make a fortune! (Why do you think they added SIX more games after the initial trial!) First game they had one section and one concessions stand for that section. The line at times stretched back several sections. For the next games they generously added a section, but I noticed that they did not add a concession stand. Each person is limited to two items per visit, and to make up your $12 you would need to hit the stand 1-2 times just to break even. A person hoping to come out ahead will plan on making several visits.

Now here is my question - those who are so concerned about getting as much value out of the wristband as possible, why are they not so concerned about getting the value out of the other portion of their ticket? You know, the portion they paid for a seat in the stadium to watch - hello - a ballgame that is sitting unused for most of the game so they can stand in line for the free food. Those who actually care about seeing the game will probably quit after 1 trip meaning that they will actually most likely come out behind, making a nice donation to the dome. I plead ignorance as to who benefits the most from these nights, but my guess is that it isn't most ticket holders.

My suggestion - if you are that desperate for stadium food, head to your local arena and load up on hotdogs, popcorn and nachos there. You can do a lot of damage and still be way under the $30. Then, go home and watch the game on tv.