Minnesota Twins All-Stars

Congrats you big All-Star!

Milwaukee Brewers at Metrodome Minneapolis

I am guessing that after the Minnesota Twins last 6-0 homestand, the demand for Minnesota Twins tickets will be higher than ever. Couple the winning momentum and the border battle rivalry of the Milwaukee Brewers and you have a recipe for a tight ticket. I just checked Ticket King and I see they have Minnesota Twins vs Milwaukee Brewers tickets for around $40 each on a $30 face ticket. I figured it would be more than that – I guess not as many people are planning on heading to the Dome as I thought. I hope the Twins put on a great show . . .so far the National League games have been good ones. Go Twins!

One more Random Twins Fact

Ron Gardenhire’s wife is very athletic and often takes their Greyhound dog for runs. The Gardenhires live on the same lake as my asphalt contractor. After I told my contractor that I had a Twins blog, he felt it necessary to share that with me. Oh yeah, the Greyhound dog was a gift from Tom Kelly. And if the driveway turns out awesome, I will plug my contractor at a later date, but for now he just gets credit for the random Ron Gardenhire fact.

Juan Rincon goes to Cleveland Indians

I don’t think I have mentioned this yet so I thought I would just put a blurb out here about the circumstances of pitcher Juan Rincon. The Minnesota Twins designated Rincon for AAA on June 12th, Rincon turned down the Minnesota Twins assignment to pitch for AAA (giving the Twins 10 days to trade or release him), he became a free agent (he had zero trade value). It was reported today that Juan Rincon signed a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians. There will be no love lost from this Minnesota Twins fan. The fact is that without his steroids, Juan Rincon’s slider just didn’t snap like it used to. I am against using steroids in sports and I felt betrayed when Rincon was suspended in 2005 for testing positive, but I felt even worse when I realized he couldn’t pitch without the drugs.

Random Minnesota Twins Facts

Once in awhile I have random Minnesota Twins facts that I want to share, but I don’t really feel like putting them into a true blog post. I really just want to spew them out. So here are the latest random Minnesota Twins facts that I just can’t keep under my hat (my baseball hat, of course).

Alexi Casilla has either scored a run or driven in a run in 25 of his 35 games played this season.

Michael Cuddyer’s wife, Claudia, gave birth to the couple’s first child Friday June 20th…Casey Jonathan Cuddyer was born at 3:23 pm at Fairview Southdale Hospital and he weighed in at 7 pounds, 8 ounces and is 20 inches long. Born on the first day of summer, kind of gives a new meaning to “the boys of summer” doesn’t it?

Livan Hernandez home record this season: 6-0.

Brendan Harris finished theTwins last homestand with eight hits in 19 at-bats (.421) with four doubles, a triple, six runs scored and two runs batted in. wow.

Justin Morneau Fan

This could be me. It's not, but it could be. My name is very similar to his girlfriends name and if the mood strikes me, I like to tell strangers that I am his girlfriend. Sick, I know. Usually, they look down at my wedding ring and know I am not telling the truth, but it is fun for that one small moment to feel like I am the wife of a MLB star, especially the stong blue eyed canuck that my heart pitter patters for.

Twins Sweep Arizona Diamondbacks

The Minnesota Twins swept the Arizona Diamondbacks and made it a perfect 6-0 home stand. YEAH! Way to go Twins. I had a great time at the game on Friday night and saw a t-shirt that said “My boys play for the Twins” it was really cute and now I am kicking myself for not buying it. There seemed like a lot of empty seats at the HHH Metrodome on Friday night, but they announced the attendance at 29,000 something. The couple of other week day games I have been to were only like 21,000 so it was considerably fuller, I guess. Randy Johnson has been having a tough year for the Arizona Diamonbacks, any one else think he is washed up?

Twins vs. Diamondbacks
Fri Jun 20 Twins 7, Dbacks 2
Sat Jun 21 Twins 6, Dbacks 1
Sun Jun 22 Twins 5, Dbacks 3

Twins vs Diamondbacks – Tonight!

All week long, I’ve been feeling down since the weather has (finally) turned to summer here in Minneapolis and I’ve been stuck behind my desk. Luckily for me, however, my boss just hooked me up with four free tickets to see the Twins play the Arizona Diamondbacks at the Metrodome tonight. That cheered me right up. The icing on the cake happened when I found out that these free tickets are 6 rows behind home plate!! So, I get busy checking out the Twins website, and I find out that Randy Johnson is the starting pitcher for the Diamondbacks. It’s so nice when good things happen for no reason. I can stop feeling so blue about being inside when it’s 85 degrees and beautiful because my alternative is sitting behind home plate and watching the Minnesota Twins take on a veteran pitcher like the legendary Randy Johnson in an air-conditioned ballpark. Maybe I can make a great sign and get Bert Blyleven to circle me on the air. So, if you’re watching the game tonight, look for the happiest girl in her Justin Morneau jersey behind home plate; I’ll wave to you!

Twins face Diamondbacks at Home

After finishing the series with the Washington Nationals at the Metrodome, the Minnesota Twins will now play the Arizona Diamonbacks in a three game series. The back to back Metrodome series could prove beneficial to the Minnesota Twins and their place in the AL Central…that is if they can muster up a few wins against the National League West leader Diamondbacks. There are still cheap Twins tickets available from local ticket brokers like Ticket King so buy your Twin Tickets and head out to the Metrodome this weekend to see the boys of summer in action! Go Twins!

Twins Game Winning Secret: Pitching

After a disappointing loss against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday, can the Minnesota Twins make a comeback? Twins fans seem to be asking themselves the same question lately, "how can the Twins make this comeback?" A question with a simple solution, find a new pitcher. Eisler Livan Hernandez (or just Livan Hernandez to the casual Twins fan) will start todays home game against Washington Nationals. With twelve different pitchers to choose from, has Rick Anderson (pitching coach) made the right choice by starting Hernandez? I would say a definite yes! Hernandez has thrown more strike outs than Joe Nathan himself. Hernandez will choose the Twins' fate on how the game against The Washington Nationals will go.

Gardenhire Gets Thrown out of Brewers Game

The out come of Sunday's Twins Brewers game shocked many game viewers including head manager Ron Gardenhire. Gardenhire was so shocked, his feelings threw him out of the game by the 8th inning. I am sure most Twins fans saw this clip on the local news (I was surprised I didn't see it on SportsCenter) when Brendan Harris was up to bat and the Twins were down by one run. Harris batted two outs and felt as if he was given no time to prepare. Harris asked the umpire for more time, but no answer was given. To make a long story short Guillermo Mota, the Brewers pitcher, pitches to Harris while he wasn't looking and Harris strikes out. It was crazy. Like many Minnesota Twins fans, Ron Gardenhire wonders if the Twins could have won the game if the umpire would have granted Harris more time. Gardenhire is probably right and the Twins could have won. I am guessing that ump won't be making the Gardy Christmas Card list. Better luck next time Twinkies.

MLB All-Star Team = Red Sox Team

Wow, this years All-Star team is going to be basically the Boston Red Sox with A-Rod and Derek Jeter. Take a look at the vote count for the American League, Red Sox, Red Sox, Red Sox. Perhaps the Boston Red Sox fans are just trying to jab the New York Yankees fans since the game will be played July 15th at Yankee Stadium. You know how crazy those Red Sox fans are at jinxing those Yankees, well, apparently they all got internet access and voted! Very interesting. It doesn’t look like Twin Justin Morneau or Joe Mauer will be starting this year…sad. Then again, neither one of them has been playing at All-Star levels, let’s hope they both pick up the pace.

Twins Break Losing Streak, Finally!

The Minnesota Twins beat the Cleveland Indians last night in Cleveland 8-5. The Twins built up a big run lead and then tried to give it away (have they been taking lessons from the Minnesota Vikings?), but managed to hold on to snap their six game losing streak. The Twins played hard in the third inning when Justin Morneau hit a two-run double, Michael Cuddyer had an RBI double, and Jason Kubel hit a two-run homer – woo hoo! It was about time the Twins gave the fans something to be excited about. I thought Dennys Reyes was going to give it away, but Jesse Crain came in to get the Twins out of a tough spot and Joe Nathan came in to “close the door.” Sing it with me, you know you want to! Let’s hope the Twins can build on this momentum and put a few more notches in the win column.

Minnesota Twins lose to Chicago White Sox again and again

The road has not been good to the Minnesota Twins, not good at all. Who would have thought the Chicago White Sox would make the Minnesota Twins look so silly. The Twins lost all four games in Chicago, all four! What the heck happened?!?! The series was a chance for the Twins to stay near the top of the AL Central, but instead the Twins fell further behind the White Sox. Ugh! The games weren’t even close, they were just plain embarrassing. The Twins will have a chance to redeem themselves at the end of July when the White Sox come to the Metrodome. Come on Twins, get it together!

Minnesota Twins on the Road

After finishing up a straight seven day home stand, the Minnesota Twins hit the road for a straight 10 away games. Ten is a lot! It’s a Midwest trip with stops vs. Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians and Milwaukee Brewers. What will I do without my Minnesota Twins at the Metrodome for 10 whole days? It will be a ghost town around here. It will be an important road trip as far as the AL Central Standings are concerned. The White Sox hold a small lead over the Twins and the Indians aren’t too far back in third place. I won’t be able to trot over to the dome to see my boys of summer so I will have to belly up to the TV to catch the games over the next week! Go Twins!

Twins Yankees Series

The Minnesota Twins vs New York Yankees series is always one of my favorites, even if the Twins don’t always come out on top, but hey they split the series so bravo!

The Twins lost on Friday night 5-6 and Saturday night 6-7, but managed to win Sunday afternoon 5-1 and Monday night 6-5. The Saturday night game went 12 innings and was the longest game of the season lasting 4 hours and 35 minutes. The coolest thing? The Metrodome actually looked pretty full from start to finish. The announced game attendance was 36,441 – that has to be one of the highest of the season as well. It was probably one of my favorite games of the season and had the Twins pulled off a win, it would be my favorite. I love a good overtime battle (that’s why I love the NHL playoffs as well). The Twins played hard and pulled all the punches including putting in every pitcher we could. I have to say there were a lot of groans when Juan Rincon took the mound (Juan needs to find a different bullpen, I am sick and tire of him dragging down the Minnesota Twins). Mauer still hasn’t hit a homer and apparently the pressure is getting to him because the Yankees stole four bases on Saturday night, it was the first time that had happened in Mauer’s career.

Who would have thought? The Minnesota Twins are still in the hunt for first place in the AL Central – woohoo!

Joe Mauer Finally Hits a Homerun

Joe Mauer hit his first home run of the season tonight, finally! He must have read my Minnesota Twins blog and dug out that old dusty quickswing! It was Mauer’s first homerun since a September 29, 2007 game vs. Boston Red Sox. That’s a span of 217 plate appearances between home runs – oh my! I had been slamming Joe Mauer the past couple of weeks (much to my sisters dismay) – I guess I will have to let up a bit now that he broke through the fence.