Twins Baseball Frustrating

Todays Pioneer Press Minnesota Twins headline;

"Ron Gardenhire rages after Minnesota Twins end up on short end against Baltimore Orioles"


Gardy isn’t the only one raging. I can’t believe how terrible the Twins luck has been lately. Whether it’s the conspiracy to shorten games in the home teams favor due to bad weather (Baltimore last night) or the flukey bounces of the ball lately that have caused some embarrassing fielding errors for the Twins, not to mention the terrible pitching which doesn’t look anything like it did in spring training.

It just seems nothing can go right for the Minnesota Twins lately (except for baby Jesus Mauer coming back) – Twins baseball is so frustrating….then again, I think that is just the destiny for a Minnesota sports fan in general…FRUSTRATION.

Gardy likes Punto, so do I

I read over in the Pioneer Press that Ron Gardenhire is pushing to re-sign free agent shortstop Nick Punto. In fact, he has guaranteed him a starting spot:

"If we sign Nick Punto, he would be my starting shortstop," Gardenhire said.

What happens if we don’t sign Nick Punto? “If we lose Nicky, I'm not afraid to take a look at Casilla over there." said Gardy.

I don’t dislike Alexi Casilla, but I would prefer to see Nick Punto back on the field for the Minnesota Twins in 2009. I think he is a better choice for shortstop and a great batter. Punto has reportedly received inquiries from three or four other teams.

I think the Twins should sign Nick Punto to a multi-year deal and make sure he is a part of opening up Target Field in 2010 as well. I am sure the front office is thinking of that as well, you know, building a team for 2010. Let’s hope good decisions are made so we can have a strong team to finish up the Metrodome Legacy and an even better team to start the new legacy in 2010.

Justin and Joe Make the MVP List

Most people say that second place is really just the firs loser, but I still think it is an honor to be second in Most Valuable Player voting. Think of all the other baseball players that didn’t even make the top five. My favorite Minnesota Twin, Justin Morneau was this years MVP runner-up (some guy from the Red Sox won) and Joe Mauer (or minnesota twin ‘baby jesus’ as my dad calls him) ended up fourth in the voting. Hmmmmm….a team with TWO (2!) players on the MVP list and we didn’t even make it past the first round playoffs? WTH? (what the heck?)


Oh yeah and the Twins signed manager Ron Gardenhire to a two year extension – no surprise there, but it sure would be nice if we could make it a little farther in the playoffs Gardy.

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.

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.

Ron Gardenhire Quote

My new favorite Ron Gardenhire quote:

"We're going to be thinking about winning as many games as we can and irritating the living heck out of a lot of people who said we can't play," Gardenhire said. "Whether we can or not, we want to make it look like they have no clue what they're talking about. That's our goal."

The guy cracks me up! I bet the dugout really gets going on a good day. If you have other favorite Gardy quotes – leave them in my Minnesota Twins Blog comments!

Twins Roster is all but set

Ron Gardenhire keeps telling the media that the Twins starting line-up is not set until opening day, but I think most Twins players and Twins fans knows who is starting where and when. The media has been all over the fact that Carlos Gomez will be the starting centerfielder and I am 99% certain that Nick Punto is out and Brendan Harris will be the Twins starting second baseman. Then there is shortstop Adam Everett and third baseman Mike Lamb that are all on the starting team and of course Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer.

Back to the centerfield debate, I don’t think we have seen the last of Denard Span…mark my words, he will be back this year. This guy is ready for the big leagues.

Francisco Liriano Status

Ok, this Minnesota Twins fan must be living in a fantasy world. I had visions of Francisco Liriano swooping in to save the day and that at the end of this season, every Twins fan would be saying, “Johan who?”

But I read over at the PP that Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire sees it differently. In fact after reading Gardenhires comments regarding Francisco Liriano, I am not sure I want to buy too many Twins Tickets if I can’t count on a solid pitching rotation. Perhaps I am just being too emotional and I should wait until the completion of Spring Training to make my verdict on this year’s Twins pitchers. Let’s also hope Francisco can stay sober enough to make it through the season – remember that DUI charge that's holding him up.

Happy Birthday Coach

Happy 50th Birthday, Ron Gardenhire. I bet you wish you were getting ready for the World Series . . . sigh.

Twins Need to Play Harder

It’s no secret that the Cleveland Indians are a better baseball team than the Minnesota Twins. The Indians swept the Twins last week at the Dome and deflated any possible hopes of the Twins making the playoffs. This Minnesota Twins fan was disgusted that not even one of the three games were even close. The Indians beat the Twins 0-5, 5-7, 2-6 in the three game series.

Following the depressing Indian series, the Twins traveled to U.S. Cellular Field to play the Chicago White Sox where they lost two of the three games in that series. The Chicago White Sox are at the bottom of the AL Central and the Twins should have been able to win at least two of the games. Word on the street is that Ron Gardenhire had a team meeting after the second White Sox loss that included a long lecture about playing tough baseball even if they aren’t making the playoffs. Gardy is known for his “you’re a professional baseball player so act like it” speeches and this verbal spanking must have worked because the Twins have won three games in a row including beating the Kansas City Royals two games this week and are predicted to beat them again this afternoon (see the fan poll below.) At over 50% odds, this Minnesota Twins fan will take any positive Minnesota Twins news she can get. Go Twins! Don’t quit on me yet! The Minnesota Twins Schedule goes until the very last day of September, ya know!

Twins Get Timely Win

Thank goodness the Minnesota Twins were able to pull out an 8-5 win over the Anaheim Angels on Wednesday night to salvage an overall dismal West Coast road trip. The Twins enter interleague play this weekend, where they have traditionally dominated National League teams. Wednesday night’s win helped to gather momentum going into the series with the Washington Nationals, one of the National League’s worst. Hopefully the Twins will be inspired to go for a home-stand sweep against them before taking on some tougher National League foes.

It doesn’t feel like it, but the Twins finished 2-4 on the road trip, sandwiching four straight losses versus some uncanny opponent pitching. They would like to play .500 baseball on the road but after how bad the offense performed in the four losses, the Twins should feel lucky. The offense will most likely be bolstered this weekend, as manager Ron Gardenhire plans on activating Joe Mauer from the disabled list. Gardenhire wants to bat Mauer in the No. 2 spot in the order in hopes of getting greater production from the spot. The move also allows Michael Cuddyer and Justin Morneau to stay in their current batting spots.