This is a preliminary map of the trip that Beyer and I are planning for May 2011. It kicks off on my birthday with the Twins in KC. We will catch up to the Local 9 in Boston toward the end of this 9-Day, 10 Game, 3200 mile adventure.

I am officially in planning mode, and I am getting more excited by the day. It is still 6 months away. Don't care. Hooray for baseball!

The Google doesn't let me use numbers as icons for these map points, so let me talk you through it.

Green is where I start- MPLS. The red icons are the start and finish (KC and Pittsburgh). We are going to rent a car, so I am hoping to fly back from Pitt after Game 10.

4/30/11 - My 28th birthday! Twins at Royals. I have never been here, so I'm pumped.

5/1/11 - Still in KC. Twins baseball on Sunday is as close as I get to church.

5/2/11 - Marlins at Cardinals.

5/3/11 - Yankees at TIgers. I will be cheering for the division rival. Sue me.

5/4/11 - Astros at Reds. This game being scheduled for 2:00pm is the key to the whole trip. Thank you Cincinnati schedulers!

5/5/11 - Attempting the impossible: Two-state Double-Header! Giants at Mets FOLLOWED BY Nationals at Phillies! Can we get from NYC to Philly in 3.5 hours?

5/6/11 - Twins at Red Sox. I have long dreamed of seeing a real game at Fenway. I took the tour once, but it wasn't enough. After a 12 hour drive combined with a double-header, this game will rejuvenate our souls.

5/7/11 - Rays at Orioles. I have already been to Oriole Park at Camden Yards, but it was wondeful, and I don't think I did a good job of cementing the memory.

5/8/11 - Astros at Pirates. We see the Astros twice on this trip, and both are away!

Beyer and I are really going to test the friendship on this adventure. I think our best bet is lots of No-Doze and some books on tape.

Check out the map, and if you live in one of these cities you should feel obligated to offer your couches/floors to our sorry nomadic asses.


View

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Meatloaf Said it Best...

Two out of Three Ain't Bad!!!

I was extremely worried about this series versus Philly, and I gotta tell you, these two wins feel better that any series sweep has (except 2006 White Sox in September... that was some sweet action). I was watching the Saturday game on my couch and had the same thoughts that most of the Territory must have had, "this game is disgusting, I should probably go do something productive." Luckily my obsession has reached the level wherein if I have the means to be watching a Twins game, I am not missing a minute. This game was awesome!

Manship with a quality 4 1/3! Thome off the bench! BUTERA OFF THE BENCH! Rauch with an 0-2 sac bunt! Mauer using his man-strength! Punto reaching base 4 times from the 8-hole (HUGE during inter-league play- you never want to make the 3rd out when the pitcher is on deck)!

I hope to always remember this game. Thank you to the six people that were texting and facebook chatting with me during the game. Even though I was alone at home, it felt like a real community win.

Add to that the consistency with which we drove in runners today, and Pavano's amazing leadership with a complete game, this series will be something we can look at to keep focus and confidence down the stretch.

Great job team! In lieu of actual analysis for this series I am going to instead give you something awesome to think about.

LNP has been using Phil Collins' "In The Air Tonight" as his intro music this season. While I do not appreciate the allusion to his many pop-outs, it does create an awesome game to play between innings. How many Phil Collins songs lend themselves to Nick Punto jokes? I'll get you started with a small list.

Against All Odds (easy)
Easy (G)Lover (puns!)
Take Me Home
Don't Lose My Number (put me in coach!)
One More Night
Invisible Touch

If all three of us are at a game at the same time I will get at least one Sussido-related text from Paul and Stacy... Puun, Puun, Puuun-to!

NOW

Dear Gardy-

Get rid of Brendo.

-Everyone

ps- The CrainWreck shouldn't be far behind.

Gardy! Come on!!!

There have been some very mysterious managing decisions lately, but Saturday's game versus the Brewers has ended my silence on the matter.

The Twins blew the lead in the top of the ninth and came up to bat in the bottom half down by one run. It's okay though, because we have got the meat of the order coming to the plate. Morneau doubles, Cuddyer singles, Kubel strikes out (my Mom puts her head through a wall), and Delmon hits a ground-rule double. Now the game is tied back up, we've got runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out.

Triple-A call-up Trevor Plouffe is scheduled to hit next. He went 2 for 5 yesterday, and so far in this game he already has a sacrifice fly. All we need is a fly ball deep enough that Cuddyer can tag from third base and win us the damn game. Keep in mind that Nick Punto, who I love with my whole heart, but cannot hit a ball that is going more than 92 mph, is in the on-deck circle.

Ron Gardenhire, in his infinite wisdom, pinch-hits veteran slugger Jim Thome for the rookie. OBVIOUSLY with first base open the Brewers intentionally walk him to load the bases for Punto, re-opening the option for an inning-ending ground ball double play. Duh.

What I would have done is a little gutsy, but I think has much better odds and doesn't burn two bench players (Thome always gets a pinch-runner as soon as he reaches first base) when the possibility for extra innings is looming.

I let Trevor "Plouffe! There it is!" go ahead and try to win us the ballgame. All he needs to do is hit a fly ball. Or poke something through the infield. Or at least hit a ground ball to someone's backhand so that they have a tough time throwing home to beat Cuddyer. We have one out to burn, and there is basically no easy way for him to hit into a double play. I mean, they will obviously walk Thome there, I just don't see a point to making that move.

Now, if Plouffe can't get it done, THEN you can pinch hit Thome for Punto if you want. If they walk him there it will be to get to Denard Span, who despite being 0-5 in this game, is still a threat with the bat.

Nicky looked like a goat yesterday, but so did a lot of guys. Mahay being #1 on that list. Kubel being #2 with that UGLY strikeout I mentioned earlier. Lucky for him, he redeemed himself. How many of the guys that were not clutch yesterday also turned a SWEET ASS 2-player double play? Well, Alexi Casilla did, but he was actually pretty awesome with the 3 fantastic walks he took. For real, that was totally sweet. Way to go Tumnus!

Okay, moving on. SWEEP TODAY TWINS!!!! Do it for the front row and do it for the stands!!

Historical Significance

I went to all four games versus Baltimore this weekend. That rain out on Friday was perfect, as it allowed me to buy a ticket to the make up game that I would normally have missed due to my second job. Not only did I get to attend both games of my first Double Header, but I got to see something completely remarkable.

I am so excited by the turn of events on Saturday night that I almost started a twitter account just so that I could tell Ken Tremendous about it (as well as compliment Parks and Rec).

Nick Punto, THE Nick Punto, Mr. .210, was INTENTIONALLY WALKED. Big deal you say? It was done to preserve force outs with first base empty. So what, right? Sure, he has become synonymous with the phrase "offensive liability," but hey, a baseball decision is a baseball decision right?

Nick Punto was intentionally walked to load the bases for THE CHOSEN ONE, JOE FUCKING MAUER.

Granted, Casilla was technically putting on a good little show in the on-deck circle, but with Harris pinch-running for Thome, the writing was on the wall that Alexi was leaving the game.

Keep-Swinging-Charlie-Maybe-You'll-Give-'em-a-Cold was given a free pass for the reigning MVP and Batting, Slugging, and On-Base Percentage Champion.

AND IT WORKED! Mauer struck out. A good decision by Mike Trembley. Who the hell would have put money on that?

Man, the atmosphere in The Bullseye when Punto started his jog down to first with a grin on his face was fantastic. Then we hear T.I. being pumped through the speakers...

"What you know about that? What you know about that?"
"Pinch hitting for Alexi Casilla... JOE MAUER!"

The crowd went fucking nuts. It was the best it has been at The Bullseye all year, for my money. And follow that up with Super Foxy Drew Butera's second career hit and first two RBI, and a game on Sunday that can only be described as a Pirahna Feeding Frenzy, and we have ourselves some exciting Twins baseball!

I know it's only been a month...

... but I am just going to say it anyway. I love the Twins. I love them. It is too soon to say that 2010 is going to be a magical year, but in a way hasn't it already been?

Our lineup is producing like we said it would, and yet look at all the men we are leaving on base! We are scoring runs and winning games, and yet we are still just scraping the edge of our potential! We should be scoring 10 runs instead of 7 or 8. We are hitting a record amount of home runs, and yet our main DH is only slugging .316. (I vow to never mention BA as an important stat on this blog ever).

Defensively we are phenomenal. If you remove the two errors assigned to Liriano and Butera, the real defense has only committed four errors all season, and three out of those four are on outfielders! Our infield has committed one error- one- in the first 26 games of the year. Come on!

The rookie production has also been huge. Alex Burnett has been a strong addition to our bullpen. He had a shaky appearance on Saturday, but has been strong overall. Luke Hughes came up and hit a jack in his first at bat. His defense was solid as well. Drew Butera has been an excellent backstop for us, calling great games and working very well with the pitching staff. He is also extremely attractive to the point where I might be able to name him Hottest Twin Ever without reservation. I guess the use of the word "might" in and of itself is a reservation. Fine- Hottest Twin EVER.

Wilson Ramos. What a hitter! What a league! I was talking to Cy Jungkunz about him yesterday and we agreed that, while a 4-hit debut performance is incredibly impressive, the greatest part of his first career game at the major league level was his ability to settle Frankie "The Headcase" Liriano down after a rough first inning and get a solid 8-inning start out of him. Do you know how huge that was? Our entire pen, save for Rauch, had been taxed the night before. Also, The Cisco Kid operates almost entirely on momentum. Getting that impressive a performance out of his pitcher after that awful first inning was what impressed upon me the most that Ramos is going to be an outstanding major league catcher.

This team is really coming together. Coomer hits on this all the time, so I will regurgitate it now- our offense is just starting to get rolling! We have so much more in us, so many runners on base that aren't being driven in. We could get scary-good if we can catch fire. I am so happy that I have my 20-game pack, because with the way The Bullseye is selling tickets, the days of just heading to the ballpark for a cheap seat on a whim are long gone.

NICK PUNTO LIL' GEM OF THE WEEK: My Boy was activated off of the DL on May 1st. It is now May 3rd and I have counted 11 excellent defensive plays. His range is fucking amazing, but I have recently been focusing on an aspect of his defense that is unsung. He can get that ball out of his glove faster than anyone I have ever seen. His catch-and-throw motion is fluid and instantaneous. Match that up with the tiny little canon of an arm, and he can turn an around-the-horn double play on a laser down the line with effortless grace. I have missed him so much! (You thought I was going to talk about his 3 RBI day on Sunday, didn't you? Philistine).

Go Twins! I am going to four games in the 7 day span from Thursday to Wednesday, so I will absolutely have more to say then. Also, I just broke down and got cable, so after only listening to the April games on the radio, I will now have a much better feel for the team being able to actually watch every game.

Ugh, I am in love!

Opening Day!!!!

This is the best day of the year!

Yeah, yeah, I guess some zombie came back to life a couple of thousand years ago. Great stuff. More importantly, baseball is back!

I am currently watching Yankees/BoSox on the bootleg website channelsurfing.net. I hate Jon Miller and Joe Morgan as broadcasters, but I'll take what I can get.

Seriously though, Joe Morgan sucks. Jorge Posada just hit the first home run of the season, and he hit it off of historic Pesky's Pole in Fenway Park. Now, I am not from Boston, but I am very familiar with the existence of Pesky's Pole. Most baseball fans are. Jon Miller called the home run, then did a quick little sidenote about how back in the day the BoSox gave Johnny Pesky a hard time about his lack of power and how they joked he could only hit a home run if it went off of the right field foul pole at a meager 302 ft (thus the name of the foul pole). Joe Morgan, former professional baseball player and long-time broadcaster, says to him "so they probably used to call it Pesky's Pole." Jon Miller, already exasperated at the idiocy of his partner, replies "They still do, which is why I called it that." Joe had the decency to just respond with "Oh."

Leaving that alone for a minute, I am already bummed that the Yankees hit two two-out home runs off of Josh Beckett. Seriously? We're less than a half-hour into the 2010 season and the damned Bronx Bombers already have two dingers.

This is why I don't believe in that 2000 year old zombie. A fair and just god would never allow the Yankees to exist.

The countdown to my afternoon nap that will prepare me to stay up and watch the Twins at 9:05(!!!!) is at 21 hours!!