Tuesday, June 28, 2011

St. Paul Pride. 4 Eva.

Yup, I'm already tired of the Mauer bashing and will not be doing it here. Plenty of others are (quite predictably and derivatively) all over the clearly the problem is Mauer bandwagon. So, if that's what you are looking for, feel free to disembark. You're on the wrong ride, folks.

I'll be honest: I am a fan. A big, fat Joe Mauer fan. You know how you have a very few certain players in your life as a sports fan, maybe just one ever, whom you choose to get behind and from whose allegiance you do not waiver?

Joe is that guy for me. Mauer means something to me; he stands for more than numbers, be it dollars in his contract or his batting average. I am willing to give Joe-- MVP, twice batting champ as a catcher-- the benefit of the doubt and trust him to work it out. I believe he has earned that.

And I don't think he's perfect-- of course not. I see the faults, especially related to the injuries and the recovery time (but this is a larger, Twins-wide problem, in my opinion-- it's like they just don't work out hard enough and have weak cores. And ankles. And wrists. And knees), but the idea that the Twins' major malfunction this season is Mauer is pretty ridiculous and not one I will entertaining here at So It Goes Baseball.

OK, I'm getting redundant, I know. But it's my blog, so there.

Ciao.
-christine

P.S., Readers, I'd love to hear about those players you love no matter, be it Twins or not. Please comment.

 

Friday, June 17, 2011

Relievers Relieve and Closers Close

Allow me: Where on earth have I been? I know. I'm sorry. I've been a bad blogger. It's not like I don't have a lot to say because, well... that's just never true. So let's just get to it.

I could seriously french kiss every single Twin for making this whole thing fun again. I know breaking .400 isn't something typically to get all slobbery over, but come on-- the last time we talked we were hovering at 17 games back and now we're 9. This is a big deal. The Twins are putting together a lot of wins and reminding us all just how fast the standings can change in a very long season that is not yet at the halfway point.

It's been particularly fantastic -- and reminiscent of the old "piranha" baseball that so nicely described Twins baseball (ah, the accidental eloquence of Ozzie Guillen) -- to watch it getting done by a bunch of young scrappers, all of whom I truly believe when they say they are just happy to be here.

For awhile, my only answer to the WTF, Twins? question was something about the Twins being Murphy's Law in cleats: everything that could go wrong was indeed going very wrong. No need to rehash it all, but it seems, at least right now, that many of the issues on that long list of wrongs are on their way to being righted.

Most notably, we seem to have remembered that this is major league baseball and execution matters. Pitchers throw strikes, infielders turn double plays, hitters get their asses to first somehow and then the next guy moves him over to second or they steal their way there themselves, relievers relieve, and closers close. And some other stuff, too.

No, it looks good. I mean, I prefer the 'stach but this is cool, too.
In all honesty, it might be the superb starting pitching that is the biggest part of this turn around-- the effects of these consistent, in-command, efficient, winning performances are evident all over the field, the bullpen, behind the plate and in the stands.

Seriously, what is sexier than back-to-back complete games?

Nothing, Carl, nothing is sexier.

This week we see Nishioka and MAUER return, which, even though we have been on this streak without them, can only be a good thing. I think. I am curious about when Span and some the rest of the big boys start returning... I mean, I kind of feel that maybe Ben Revere is here to stay.



Play on, playas. This is fun.

Ciao.
-christine

p.s., "Fucking sardines" now, Ozzie?

p. p. s., I would pay cash money for a spontaneous Ozzie Guillen breakdown of every MLB team and the fish they correspond to and why. Somebody please ask him that question.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Not Much to See Here, Twins Fans

So how about we take a look at some other teams doing awesome things...


SF Giants release an "It Gets Better" video



The first of these great videos from a professional sports team, this is a big deal. Really great work, Giants.



Wilson Valdez shifts from second to... excuse me?



This kid not only gets Votto to pop out, but he doesn't give up a hit. And he gets the win. I love that he shook off the catcher.

I know-- he looked better than most of the Twins relievers, didn't he? I would suggest moving our second baseman to the mound for a shot, why not, but we don't even really have a second baseman. So, whatever.


Zack Greinke hit a pretty sweet homerun.



Well, that is just fun.



And back to the Giants being awesome again. Show offs.

Brian Wilson --  honoring his father with a big fat donation to the Air Force, establishing the Michael Wilson scholarship.

The largest single donation in Air Force history, as a matter of fact.

It's fun to see B Weezy break character for a minute and show that his heart is as big as his beard.

> Want to play with Brian Wilson's beard ?





Ciao, buddies.
-cr.

p.s., Hang in there, kittens; it's June now and the Twins have been known to have a hot June before. And, Alexi Casilla seems to have figured out that he plays major league baseball. Thome is back. Morneau's hitting the ball harder and farther. Blackburn's looking pretty. Swarzak pitched like a badass. Mauer hasn't gotten any worse.