It's Justin, not Jason, thank you very much!

I've been reading the blogs and listening to the commentary on t.v. go on and on about how Josh Hamilton should have won the Homerun Derby last night. No doubt we will be hearing about it all night during the All-star game. But enough already.

I know...I was mezmorized by Hamilton’s show as well...and his story is inspiring. A part of me would have been happy had he won.

But being a Twins fan, I was thrilled to see Morneau--the last man invited to the derby--win. Did we hear anything of Morneau's story? Nope. Hell, the State Farm corporate drone couldn’t even come up with the right first name (It’s Justin, not Jason, thank you very much). Um, Justin was the 2006 AL MVP...did anyone on ESPN even mention that? Probably not, cause those Yankees fans thought he stole the MVP from Jeters (another time Morneau didn’t get his due). How in the world could a honest, hard-working player from a nothing team like the Twins be MVP? Or for that matter, win the Home run Derby?

I know I may be singing to the choir here, but Morneau is a good guy, who always plays hard, gives back to the community...He does represent what is good about baseball--and that story should be celebrated as well. He is loyal to his team and his fans--he chose to stay here in Minnesota, rather than seek his fame and fortune in those bigger markets that we despise here in the quiet Midwest.

I’m not saying that Hamilton isn’t the same, but Morneau, without the dramatic backdrop, was not the network’s story last night. Certainly, Hamilton's performance and life story provided greater dramatic flair for the media.

Don't get me wrong--I hope Hamilton continues to have an incredible season. It certainly looks like he's headed that way. Maybe he will be the MVP this season.

But Morneau didn’t write the rules. He just played the game and came out the winner.

Who can fault him for that?

Our very own Homerun Derby Winner!

Justin Morneau! Justin, last player to be invited to the Homerun Derby, claimed the Homerun Derby title tonight! Yes! Yes! Yes! I watched the derby and I know that Josh Hamilton put on a hell of a show. Hamilton hit 28 homeruns in the first round and 5 more in a shortened 2nd round (he elected not to hit the full 2nd round). Maybe Hamilton even deserved to win the title, but the rules are what they are--and the rules are that the 2 finalists start with a clean slate for the final round. Justin hit first in the final round and came up with just 5 homeruns (which is fairly typical for the final round). No one thought he would walk away the winner. But Josh Hamilton had obviously worn himself out and failed to show his earlier power--he only hit 3 homeruns in the final round.

I love it! I love that Justin won! I love that the Twins have 3 players at the All-star game (and I also love that Hunter and Santana aren't there...just for 1 year I want them to sit it out and think about the good thing they had going here in Minnesota).


So tomorrow night we can enjoy the All-star game. The Twins enter the second half of the season just 1 1/2 games out of first place. Not bad. Certainly better than what was expected of them this season.

I like this team. One striking difference between this team and last year's team--they don't give up. Whether they are down a run or a half dozen runs, they still play to win. And that attitude has won them more than a few ballgames.

I hope to be writing more the second half of the season--all the way through the Twins winning the World Series. That nasty little bug I was fighting the last time I wrote turned out to be Salmonella--yup, the same salmonella that is part of the nationwide outbreak (which happens to be called "salmonella saintpaul"). It knocked me flat for quite some time. Finally, I'm ready for dome dogs again!

Sweep! Sweep!

I have been laying in bed much of the past several days, fighting off whatever nasty bug I picked up. Since I was feeling so lousy, we didn't make any games this weekend (although Curveball did make it to the autograph party). I have been watching the games on tv though (with occasional naps) and was thrilled that the Twins pulled off another sweep today! Way to go guys!

Doing their part to help us out, the Chicago Cubs just pulled off a sweep of the Chicago White Sox. Very sweet indeed. I really hope the Cubs can continue to play so well--their home record is now 32-8. Incredible.

And the best part is the Cubs and White Sox play again next weekend (this time on the Sox home field).

Go Cubs!

Go Twins! Only 1 1/2 games back!

Back to the blogging world

Here we are celebrating our 1-year anniversary at a Twins game earlier in June.

I am not going to offer any explanations or excuses for my lack of blogging: it's just life getting in the way, as well as a bit of the writing doldrums. (Some days I just don't feel witty. In my defense, I do write two other blogs)

I have been watching baseball, even going to a few Twins games (last night, for example), but my lack-of-blogging guilt has kept me from reading my fellow bloggers' posts.

Sorry. I'll try to do better.

That out of the way, let me say:

Except for that nasty road trip, I am generally happy with how the Twins are playing. I am still nervous though and frustrated that we can't seem to make up any ground on the dreaded White Sox. And now the Tigers are gaining steam.

Pitching has been hard to watch at times. It seems so different from the last few seasons. Yes, I miss watching Santana pitch, but the bullpen makes me hold my breath every time they take the ball (and some of that is on the starters who have struggled of late making it through even 6 innings). I miss Neshek. While I feel bad for Rincon, I was ready to see him go. I'm also worried that Boof will not be able to find his best stuff any time soon. Is it time to cut our losses there as well?

Hitting seems to be improving...although I'm anxious for Morneau to hit a hot streak. I would LOVE to see Delmon relax a bit and hit a few homers. Hit anything really.

Random Notes:

• I like how when Slowey comes on the field to pitch, they play Slow Ride (I'm not sure that's the actual title).


• While we were standing at the radio station's prize-spinning wheel last night (outside the dome) we saw Harmon Killebrew walk right in front of us to get to the radio's station trailer (to do an interview). I should say I saw Killebrew. I had to nudge Curveball. He was floating on Cloud 9 the rest of the evening because he hung around and got his autograph. He will also be going to the Autograph Party this coming Saturday.


• Punto became a new daddy and Cuddy is waiting for his little one to arrive as well. I have never figured out: how come these guys don't figure out how to have babies that arrive in the off-season?


• I find it humorous that crabby-faced, cantankerous Ponson has been picked up by the Yankees. He'll fit right in there.


• I encourage everyone to vote for Mauer and Morneau for the all-star team. It's really easy to do (repeatedly) online.


• And finally, hats off to the Twins for sweeping the Nationals! Way to go team!

Going for the sweep...

The past two nights have made for interesting Twins baseball. Tuesday Blackburn pitched an excellent ballgame, only to see the lead slip away in the 9th. Blackburn's pitching has been far better than his record indicates. In the end, more specifically in the 12th inning, we pulled out a win. And that is what really matters.

Last night I have to admit to half-heartedly watching the game while putzing around & working on the computer. I was paying attention to the game, but there wasn't alot to pay attention to...that is until the the 9th inning. Down 8-3 in the 9th, I had no illusions of the Twins even coming close to tying the game, let alone winning it. But hit by hit, runners got on base and a few even crossed homeplate. And then with 2 outs and 2 on, Monroe came up to the plate--representing the tying run. It still seemed like a long shot at best, but my attention was now glued to the tv nonetheless.

And then the unthinkable happened--Monroe hit a 3-run homer--breaking his hitting slump. And with that, the impossible seemed possible--again. And true enough, Morneau came up as the first batter in the 10th and on the first pitch hit one out of the park.

That's all it took. As uplifting as these past 2 wins have been for the Twins and our fans, these 2 losses have been even more disappointing for the Royals. They have now lost 10 in a row. I sort of feel bad for Royal fans--I've been to Kauffman Stadium and the fans there are very kind to visitors. I want the Royals to win.

Right after we leave town.

I want the Twins to sweep the Royals tonight. Going into the 6th inning, the Twins lead 5-0, but after the last 2 nights I know better than to count this as a win until the final pitch is thrown.

And following this sweep, I hope the Twins come home to sweep the last-place Yankees (I love saying that "last-place Yankees").

And then the Royals can win a few games.

Fun Is Good!

Joel with former Twins assistant coach (now with Fort Worth) Wayne Terwilliger.

The ump giving a feeding to the Saint's piglet.

The view from our seats--just 5 rows behind home plate!

Team mascot "Mudonna"

Joel planting one on Mudonna

I am still a Twins' fan (although lack of blogging doesn't necessarily indicate that)--but since the Twins were out of town this weekend, I surprised Joel on Friday's Date Night with tickets to a St. Paul Saints game. We have never gone to a Saints game, although we've talked about it several times.

The idea to go watch the Saints popped into my head Friday morning. I was searching for something fun to do in town for the long weekend. I wanted to enjoy the nice weather outside and with that thought catching a Saints game came in to mind.

I had no idea, however, if there would be any decent tickets available. I jumped online and went to the Saints website. I was in luck! There were plenty of seats--including 2 seats right behind home plate (5 rows up). I snatched those up in a heartbeat.

I didn't give Joel a clue until I got home later in the afternoon. I think he was pleasantly surprised. We got dressed and ready for a night of fun!

It was a lovely night for outdoor baseball (although it did get quite chilly--I was happy I brought along socks). The seats we got normally belong to a season ticket holder, who obviously had "returned" the tickets for a credit. Pretty much everyone around us were season ticket holders that knew one another by name.

I think Major League baseball could take a few lessons in fun from teams like the Saints--that is if Bud Selig could ever get the stick out of his you-know-what. There are fun antics played out on the field and stands between every inning. Fun music is played throughout. Each year the Saints adopt a little piglet (that grows into a not-so-little piglet by season's end) and piglet is trotted out on the field and even receives a feeding from the homeplate ump. For the 7th inning stretch, bags of peanuts are tossed into the stands. And controversial calls are even replayed on the teams "jumbotron"...MLB won't do that, lest the fans boo the umps. Don't you want the fans to get into the game?

The Saints lost, but it was fun nonetheless. And until 2010 we'll be catching some outdoor baseball by going to the Saints.

(I will add that I was thrilled to hear following the Saints' game about the Twins win...but what happened Saturday? OUCH!!! Today was much sweeter, with a win for Perkins and a grand slam by Kubel--a pretty sweet way to celebrate your 26th birthday! Happy Birthday Jason! The important thing is we took 2 out of 3 games and we remain in 2nd place!)

Well done!

Well, it was worth waiting nearly 2 hours for last night's rain delayed-game! GoGo Gomez hit for the cycle...it was the sort of thing that you "woke up" to watch (I was starting to nod off)...and fun to see Gomez enjoy it so.

And besides all that, the Twins had about a dozen other hits, scoring 13 runs. Nice way to follow up a game where the Twins only mustered up 1 hit! And to top all that off, Hernandez pitched a complete game--only allowing one run!

Well done boys, well done!