Off to a GREAT start!

What a fun year to be a Twins fan! I am so used to making excuses, and looking ahead to the eventual improvement as the young team finds their footing. But here we are 10 games into a new season at .700. Last year we were only 4-6 (.400).

What does the early success mean for the rest of the year? Only time will tell. We have been a team that has revelled in the underdog role. Give us a challenge and we posture and somewhere down deep find a fighting spirit. This year we may not be the underdog. Does that mean we will become apathetic or pompous? Possibly. But I doubt it. One stat I saw (that I have not verified) is that the last time we were in this position was 1987. We know what happened that year!

I believe that we have enough of a young and hungry team that will fight the entire season. But this year we also have the veterans to guide the young players on how to get through a very long season. I hate to jinx us but I really think we have a chance this year.

But no matter what, they have already made it a very fun season to watch. I am loving baseball in Minnesota this year!

Oh yeah - and WHO got the first Target Field homerun??? Way to go Jason Kubel!!!

Go Twins!!!

Game 1

Well, it was a late night last night. So what is your opinion of the first game?

It was not a great game, and at times hard to watch. But what surprised me the most was the tweets and blogs that were so unbelievably negative. It was ONE game. Had this been in the middle of a winning streak, it would have been written off as just another stinker of a game, but go you amazing WS bound Twins! It seems many are already writing the team off for the year.

I believe that the spring hype over the team with the new aquisitions and resignings may have contributed to last night's negativity. We believed for an instant that we were invincible. Watch out world, the Twins are new and improved. But we forgot that this is a game, and the best players have bad days, and moderate players can make amazing plays.

So we had a bad game. It could have been worse. We had a few good plays. We had a few disasters. Yes, we left a lot of men on base (my biggest frustration) but to leave that many on base meant we GOT that many on base.

Call it for what it was - ONE bad game.

161 to prove the nay-sayers wrong.

Still saying - GO TWINS!!!

Opening Day Tomorrow!

Dear family,

It has been fun spending time with you and getting to talk to you these last few months.

But, baseball season starts again tomorrow. Yes, I realize I have been listening and watching Spring Training games for a month, but this is the "real" season. I apologize in advance for all the screams of joy or anguish that will wake you from that nap on the couch, the nuked meals so I can concentrate on what is important (the game), the long dissertations about all things baseball which you neither understand nor care about, and all the things I will say I will do that don't get done because I wasn't really listening to you when I nodded in assent. (Actually want to get my attention? Try starting your sentences with the word Kubel.)

I will try not to scoff when you ask questions such as, "What team does Span play for?" I may not understand your lack of interest in the greatest game on Earth, but I will try to be patient with you. After all, you are my family.

I love you all! See you in November!!!

All arbitration eligible players signed

All eight arbitration eligible players have signed deals.

• Crain - 1 year $2mil
• Pavano - 1 year $7mil
• Liriano - 1 year $1.6mil
• Guerrier - 1 year $3.15mil
• Neshek - 1 year $625K
• Young - 1 year $2.6mil
• Hardy -1 year $5.1mil
• Harris - 2 year $3.2mil

Welcome back for another year, guys!

Gonna miss Redmond

Mike Redmond has signed a one year deal with the Indians. No details have yet been released. While nobody is surprised about the signing, I personally am gonna miss him on the team. Maybe not for his amazing abilities, but more for being one of those all around great guys that help make a team cohesive. His antics in the locker room are well known and publisized. Players often discuss his leadership. He seems like one of those rare genuine men who are really just little boys who LOVE the game and never grew up. It couldn't have been easy being back up to Mauer and seeing so few games. Anyone who plays sports knows that shaking off the rust after a long time on the bench is really hard. But he always came out and gave it his all with a huge smile on his face. I really hope that he comes back to Minnesota as part of the coaching staff in a few years. I wish him well!

Goodbye HHH Metrodome

Game 163 Cheap Seats!






And so another exciting season ends. Damned Yankees! But we did not lay down for the Yankees. We made them look not so mighty. Both teams had good plays, amazing plays and a few stinkers. I think we let our nerves get the best of us. Expected I guess when you have a young team playing the Yankees.


Thank you Twins for another amazing season. I went to my first last dome game with a week left in the season. Of course I had a blast and said my goodbyes to the dome. And then Sunday drew closer... All it took was a call from a friend asking if we shouldn't get tickets for the last dome game. Thanks to a scalper we were there. Another exciting game! I screamed my voice out. And with the win came another dilemma. Tuesday? Yup, again went to a scalper on craigslist. But when I didn't hear back on where to meet by Tuesday morning and he didn't return my calls by Tuesday afternoon, I got nervous. Rightfully so. The son-of-a-bitch sold them out from under me. But he didn't let me know until 2pm, when game time was 4pm. I was livid, and sad. Luckily I quickly scanned craigslist again and there was another set of cheapseats for the same price. I called and told her my story. We met by the dome and she told me there were 20 calls after mine, all offering more. But since she knew my story she told them no. What an amazing person. So my lesson for you all is do NOT buy tickets that matter off of Craigslist unless you can meet them right away to secure them. It is too easy for them to sell them to the next caller at a higher price. Lesson learned!


I know I might have lost readers since I did not write much this year. I will be back next year. A fresh start. This year was hard in that we have gone through many personal problems. It has been hard to justify the time to watch the games, let alone analyze and write about them and the players. We have struggled and the struggle isn't over, it is maybe just starting. But I have loved watching the Twins this year, even if I haven't been telling you about it. It has helped cheer me up when I have been depressed, gotten me out of the house when it has been hard to leave the safety of my home, and let me attend a few of the best games I have ever attended. When the stress was too much, turning on a game (I had to DVR most of them) at midnight and watching it would help relax me. I even would feel even more blue on the days there were no games. I will sorely miss it over the next few months. Yes, I am way too addicted.


The naysayers are spouting off again about how we never stood a chance, we don't get quality players and that, in general, we suck. Took them a whole 5 minutes to reload the muck throwers, and change out of their fair weather fan garb. But I am pleased that despite everything that was stacked against us, we made it to the playoffs and stood up to the powerhouse Yankees. We may have lost all three games, but we held our own.


Way to go Twins! I am proud of all of you!


Can't wait for next year and outdoor baseball!


Goodbye HHH Metrodome for fourth and last time!

Back in the saddle

Sometimes life gets busy! Things have been a little nuts, and I expect them to continue to be for another month. I am walking in the Breast Cancer 3 Day in three weeks, and my training takes 2-6 hours per day just walking, and now I need to do some heavy fundraising, too. I have been watching every game on DVR but that is the extent of most days. I haven't had time for all the reading and chatting that I had grown to love. I miss it! So I am going to do my best to squeeze in a little more time for at least keeping up with my favorite pages.

I went to the game Sunday and I have to admit that it was the first game I was actually out walking the concourse DURING the game! Okay, it was only for maybe 15 minutes, but I have never done that. I chose to go because I wanted to see the Angels, and I knew it was going to be rough. I was hoping it would be closer, though. But I still had a blast. The game started with 41K and I would guess after the stretch there were less than 20K.

But here is a question I would really be curious to ask the players - When the crowd gives up on them and gets quiet or leaves the stadium, how much are they affected by it? There was a real change in atmosphere once it became obvious that the results for that game would be the same as the previous two. Heavy, quiet, bored... you know what I mean. I know they can feel it, but to what extent? Is it enough of an impact where if the crowd stayed in the game and was cheering and loud that they could turn it around and win a game?

I for one did my part and cheered the entire game, sometimes (okay - often) being the only one clapping in my area.

Let's hope for a much better result against the Indians and get some energy back into the fans!

Go Twins!!!