The Twins start their second home series of the week tomorrow against the Los Angeles Angels. With the up and down record that the Twins have been posting so far this season, this is one Twins fan who is very hopeful that the Metrodome Magic does its thing.

The Los Angeles Angels have had a pretty strong season and with Bobby Abreu turning out to be a white-hot second half hitter, the Twins are going to need to put all of their past pitching issues aside and pull out some real tricks.

Although he has not on the active roster, the Los Angles Angels coming also means that Torii Hunter former Twins player will be back in town which means that this game is sure to be a busy one, Twins Tickets will go fast for the whole series so buy them now!

Twins vs. Yankees disappoints but Gomez steps up

Although the Twins have had a rough series against the New York Yankees this week, losing 2-10 on Wednesday and 3-4 last night, there may be a bright spot on the Twins roster. Carlos Gomez, the centerfielder who replaced Torii Hunter in 2008 seems to be finding his place in the outfield at the Metrodome. After a season of watching him hit the wall over and over again, many Twins fans, myself included, were begging for Torii back. But in an interview with first base coach Jerry White, Gomez may be just working out the kinks.


White has been working with Gomez to move around in the outfield, trying to help him find where the wall is and how far he can go. "We had to do the same thing with Torii, he went through the same process trying to get him to move here" White said.

Twins fans may be starting to see the fruits of that labor. On Tuesday with the bases loaded, Gomez caught a deep fly over the fence that kept the Yankees from scoring a grand slam. And even though the game ended badly, it is encouraging to hear that Torii Hunter, the beloved former Twins centerfield, told Gomez that he has what it takes to win the Golden Glove Award. With all of the heartbreak we have had to endure, this may be exactly what we as Twins fans need to hear... there is hope.

The centerfield competition continues to heat up

The list of potential Minnesota Twins Centerfielders just keeps getting longer. With the Johan Santana trade complete, the Twins picked up 22 year old Carlos Gomez from the Mets. Gomez is expected to compete for the opening in center field left by Torii Hunter's departure, and could provide the team with an option for the leadoff spot. Hmmm…..

The centerfield competition continues to heat up

The list of potential Minnesota Twins Centerfielders just keeps getting longer. With the Johan Santana trade complete, the Twins picked up 22 year old Carlos Gomez from the Mets. Gomez is expected to compete for the opening in center field left by Torii Hunter's departure, and could provide the team with an option for the leadoff spot. Hmmm…..

Torii at the Metrodome

I was just looking at the 2008 Minnesota Twins Schedule and realized that Torii Hunter will be on the Metrodome turf on opening day of the Twins season. Granted he will be in an Angels uniform and will be sitting in the visitors dug out, but Twins fans wanted Torii there on opening day and they will get him. I wonder what the reaction will be? I am pretty sure I am in the minority of Twins fans when I say that I don’t think Torii is all that and I certainly won’t be giving the greedy outfielder a standing ovation.

11/23 Torrii Hunter signs with the Angels

Minnesota Twins centerfielder Torii Hunter signed a five year deal with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Associated Press reported that the deal is worth $90 million.

"These guys shocked me," Hunter said of the Angels deal that came quickly together. I wanted to play with these guys. For me, they were one of the teams I was looking at, but I didn't know if they were looking at me. We shocked the world. Now I'm an Angel. I'm going to hopefully finish my career as a Halo, and hopefully get about three [World Series] rings out of this thing."

I have to admit I thought Hunter was destined for Chicago or Texas, not the sunny beaches of California. Hunter will be missed by Minnesota Twins fans. He was definitely one of the reasons to buy a Twins Ticket.

Torii Bidding War

Centerfielder Torii Hunter is sure to bring home a nice wage the next few years as several MLB teams are bidding for his commitment. The Chicago White Sox remain serious about acquiring the center fielder with a free-agent contract that could reach $80 million over five years. The New York Yankees, Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals also are expected to be bidders. Hmmmm…I hope the release of Hunter and doesn’t turn out like the release of Kevin Garnett. The Boston Celtics are undefeated and the Timberwolves haven’t won a game yet. Ouch.

Torri Hunter counting the Days

Word on the street is that the Minnesota Twins have made no progress in negotiating a deal with outfielder Torii Hunter. Hunter rejected the Twins three-year, $45 million offer and will be a free agent after the World Series. I am sure Torii Hunter is nervous about testing the free agent waters, but only time will tell if it was a wise decision.

Torii Hater

Am I the only Minnesota Twins fan that doesn’t think Torii Hunter hung the moon? Sure he can swing a bat and catch a few balls, but his attitude doesn’t rub me the right way. His constant whining and complaining about an outdoor stadium and his inability to play in the cold weather makes me want to buy him a turtleneck and tell him to keep his mouth shut to conserve body heat. His lack of team spirit and support for the city of Minneapolis and the entire state of Minnesota when he decided not to show up to the new stadium ground breaking was enough to make me want to cut him loose and now he is criticizing other players for being injured. Is Torii Hunter a doctor? Does he know if players are well enough to play? Come on, Minnesota Twins fans, Torii Hunter is not all that (as my teenagers say). I wish him well…anywhere other than with the Minnesota Twins.

Twins in the All-Star game

The All-Star game was a fine midsummer outlet for our beloved Minnesota Twins baseball stars. Twins Pitcher Johan Santana pitched a perfect 1,2,3 seventh inning when he struck out Carlos Lee swinging, caught Alfonso Soriano looking on a third strike and got Jose Reyes to ground out. Santana threw ten pitches, nine of them for strikes. Johan Santana definitely showed off his dominance as a pitcher and made Minnesota Twins fans proud. Santana felt good about his performance as well and said, "It felt good. It's always good to have an opportunity to come in and perform and help out the team. I knew that I would pitch just the one inning, so I was giving it everything I had."

It was nice to see Twins first baseman Justin Morneau take the field when he entered the game in the bottom of the fourth inning replacing starting first baseman David Ortiz of the Red Sox, but it didn’t feel like Morneau gave it all he had at the plate. Morneau went 0 for 2 in his two at-bats. He flew out to Reds right fielder Ken Griffey Jr. and then he popped out in foul territory to Pirates third baseman Freddy Sanchez.

The Twins other powerhouse hitter didn’t fare any better. Torii Hunter also went 0 for 2 after replacing starter Ichiro Suzuki in center field in the bottom of the fifth inning. Hunter flew out to Soriano in left field and grounded out to Sanchez in the ninth.

Despite the poor offensive representation by the Minnesota Twins, the American League managed to pull off a dramatic 5-4 victory in the 78th All-Star Game at AT&T Park in San Francisco. This Minnesota Twins fan hopes to see even more Twins All-Stars next year and hopes the rest of this Twins season will be filled with All-Star moments.

Twins Players going to All-Star Baseball Game

The Minnesota Twins will not have a starter in this year’s MLB All-Star game in San Francisco. Of course, reigning AL MVP Justin Morneau didn't get voted to start by fans because there are a million more people in Boston to vote in their “first base” candidate, David Ortiz. Ortiz doesn’t even play first base as he is primarily a designated hitter. You have to hand Ortiz some credit though: Many players aren’t comfortable in the designated hitter position as they don’t feel like they are contributing to the team enough by not playing defense. Ortiz has thrived in the position, and that is admirable in itself.

So will the MVP go to this year’s All-Star game? Yes as the reserve chosen by the fans. Other Twins that made the midsummer classic are center fielder Torii Hunter and pitcher Johan Santana who made it based on managers choice. Joe Mauer missed out most likely due to the injury that caused him to miss precious at-bats. Congrats to our Twins players heading to the All-Star Game!

Twins vs Tigers Series Review

The Minnesota Twins vs. Detroit Tigers baseball series was filled with headlines. Twins get spanked, Sidney Ponson gets fired, Justin Morneau breaks his nose and Torii hunter has a magic bat!

The first game vs. the Detroit Tigers was on Friday night and Johan Santana pitched a good game giving up only two earned runs on six hits in six innings. Despite the solid starting pitching, a Michael Cuddyer RBI single in the first inning and a Justin Morneau two-run homer to make it a two-run game in the eighth, the Twins fell short losing the game 3-7. Jesse Crain, Matt Guerrier, Juan Rincon just couldn’t hold the Tigers batters off and the Twins just couldn’t hit the ball when they really needed to.

The second game vs. the Tigers was Saturday afternoon. It’s odd for the Twins to have a 2:45pm game on a Saturday, but the schedule was changed by the power that be and the start time was only the beginning of odd things to happen. Justin Morneau broke his nose in the eighth inning after a Nick Punto throw from third base bounced off a seam in the turf and struck Morneau in the face. Morneau exited the game and the Twins lost 2-8. Sidney Ponson had pitching problems from the start, allowing each of the first four batters he faced to reach base. Two runs would score during that span on RBI singles by Gary Sheffield and Magglio Ordonez. Ponson managed to escape the first with just that damage, but more trouble was on the way and the game was definitely his season ender with the Minnesota Twins.

The third game of the series was Sunday May 13th, Mothers Day. The evening game was sure to be well attended by mothers from around the state and the Minnesota Twins did not want to disappoint. Boof Bonser pitched an OK game for the Twins, but the real stars of the game came at the plate. The Twins pulled in a season-high 22 hits and 16 runs. It was a night of banging the ball around like the Twins had not seen in some time. The Twins club knocked the Tigers around in a 16-4 victory at the Metrodome. A few of the Twins players used special pink bats in honor of Mothers Day and to support Breast Cancer Awareness. Perhaps the pink bats added enough magic to the moment, but most of the Twins victory had to do with Torii Hunter delivering some big hits. Just a few nights after Hunter made what he called one of the top five catches of his career, he followed it up with one of his best offensive career performances. Hunter delivered a career-high seven RBIs as part of a two-home run night. Torii has been hot at the plate and he has been key to keeping the Twins ballclub from sinking into oblivion.

Next up the Minnesota Twins face the Cleveland Indians on the road. The Indians are playing solid baseball and the Twins will be lucky to escape the road trip with a victory.

Twins need to put White Sox behind them

The Twins vs. White Sox series is always one of my favorite of the season. The teams are big rivals and the Sox always give the Twins a run for the money. This weeks’ series at the Metrodome was no exception. The White Sox caught the Twins sleeping at home. The White Sox won the series 2-1. It was a good thing the Twins won the first game or it would have been an easy White Sox sweep.

The first game on Tuesday May 8th went into overtime and after hitting a solo homer early in the game, Justin Morneau blasted a three-run walk-off homer to beat the White Sox in the 10th inning. Good thing my boy Justin was ready to go the extra mile to win a game for the Twins. Other stars of the game included Jason Bartlett, Luis Castillo and Torii Hunter as they led a three-run eighth inning that dug the Twins out of a three-run hole and forced the overtime innings. The Twins ended the game with a 7-4 victory.

On Wednesday night, the Twins couldn’t dig out of the hole set by pitcher Ramon Ortiz when he allowed four runs on four hits and two walks, including one with the bases loaded, in just the first inning! Ortiz dropped his third straight game and is now 3-3 for the season. Besides Torii Hunter extending his hitting streak to 23 games, the Minnesota Twins just couldn’t get moving offensively and lost the game 3-6.

Last night was a real downer when the Twins didn’t even get a run losing the game 0-3. The Twins weren’t even tackling baseball fundamentals with their usual prowess. Their hitting was terrible and the White Sox pitcher looked like he was on fire and hardly had to do any work. Poor baserunning caused an unnecessary out, an inability to lay down a bunt to move a runner over looked pathetic and the Twins made mistakes when trying to get an out on a steal attempt. "It was a frustrating game today," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We made too many mistakes. We talked about this in our little meeting. You talk about being fundamentally sound, and doing this right and playing the game -- well, you have to do it out on the field. You can't just do it talking about it and talking about it in the press; we have to do it out on the field. Obviously we're making too many mistakes out there."

I have a message for my Minnesota Twins, put the White Sox series behind you and get back on track. I am sure if the Twins could just get one big hit or a super strong pitching performance they could get back to the kind of Minnesota Twins baseball us fans love and have to come to expect.

Santana is pitching on the mound tonight vs. the Detroit Tigers, maybe our ace can inspire the team to win the big ballgame! I try to get to as many Twins baseball games as I can and I especially like to go on Santana pitching nights! There are still great Twins Tickets out there for fans that want to make the trip to the Metrodome and if you go to the Dome on Mothers Day you get to see some Twins players using pink bats to support the breast cancer cause! Go Twins!

Sidney Ponson gets the Win

This Minnesota Twins Fan was starting to think Sidney Ponson was not a good fit for the Minnesota Twins. The Twins signed Ponson to bring a veteran presence to the rotation and to fill the void left by Brad Radke and Francisco Liriano. Yesterday was the first time that Ponson showed why the Twins took a chance on him, tossing seven strong innings in a 9-1 win over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The strong showing was a do or die situation for Ponson and the win very well might have saved his job. The embattled veteran pitcher now has two victories this season, both coming against Tampa Bay. I am a big Matt Garza fan and I was half expecting him to switch out with Ponson in the next few weeks, but if Ponson can continue to prove himself, Matty may have to wait.

The pitching wasn’t only thing that looked great yesterday. The Minnesota Twins bats were swinging and the base running was solid. I am sure many Twins fans saw the Michael Cuddyer gymnastics roll as he caught a toe running to the base, but all in all the Twins looked like a very solid ball club getting a victory on the road. Torii Hunter's seventh-inning double extended his career-high hitting streak to 16 games and I know Torii will be gunning for another hit tonight when the Minnesota Twins face off against the Devil Rays again. St. Petersburg native Boof Bonser will be on the mound for the Twins as he tries to pitch his way to another Twins victory.