Happy Friday! I hope you made it through the week and you are looking forward to the weekend. It's hard to believe that it is already the 13th of July. Where is the time going from this summer? Make sure you spend some time this weekend enjoying the warm weather and the wonderful outdoors. It won't be long and we will all be stuck inside for another frigid winter across Twins Territory. At least the Wild should be worth watching this season with their newest additions.

The Twins resume play tonight for the first time since the All-Star Break. For the first week, the Twins play all of their games at Target Field so that should be beneficial to the club. This weekend the A's come to town to match-up with the Twins for three games and that is followed by a four-game set with the Baltimore Orioles. As I wrote about yesterday, there are still some headlines to follow in the second half that should make the Twins fun to watch.

Before the Twins resume play and before you head out for the weekend, make sure to check out the links I have provided below. There were some great interviews and Twins stories this week so make sure to enjoy this edition of "Friday Links-N-Thinks."

• For those with hope, what would it take for the Twins to come back in the second half?
  
• Terry Ryan did a very good interview with FanGraphs about his experiences as GM of the Twins.
  
• It's getting close to the time when the Twins might need to be concerned about the payroll situation for 2013.
  
• Many Twins fans might not have known that Glen Perkins is a stat-head.
  
• One of the best pieces of news for Twins fans this week was that Kyle Gibson pitched in his first game since undergoing Tommy John surgery.
  
• Twins minor league pitcher BJ Hermsen made the Double-A All-Star Game but he still has plenty to prove.
  
• There are plenty of trade candidates for the Twins including the Orioles, the Nationals, and the Pirates.
  
• Watching the lightning strike during the Twins game on Sunday was scary and funny at the same time.
  
• A decade ago the All-Star Game ended in a tie but it still featured one of the best Twins All-Star moments with Torii Hunter robbing Barry Bonds of a home run.
  
• Here are the top five performances from Twins in the All-Star Game.
  
• Last year's first round pick Levi Michael is now on Twitter.
  
• This is a great picture of former Twins player Michael Cuddyer.
  

• Cuddyer has also meant a lot to his new teammates in Colorado.
  
• After making some controversial comments about Kirby Puckett and Bert Blyleven, Reggie Jackson apologized earlier this week.
  
• A $3 million collection of baseball cards was found in an attic in Ohio. Guess it's time for me to sort through my old baseball cards.
  
• Slow down a minute. The A's are a .500 baseball team at the break. How did that happen?
  
• This new rule for baseball would really confuse the casual fans that attend games.
  
• Did you know that Buffalo, NY was close to getting an MLB franchise in the late 80's and early 90's?
  
• I hate being at Target Field and not getting to see close plays shown on the big screen. Apparently the Red Sox got in trouble for doing this in a game versus the Yankees.
  
• Are the Twins going to rename their spring training stadium? They would like to and there are some other plans in the works.
  
• The Saint Paul Saints are having a night specifically for atheists and the team will be called the Saint Paul Aints for the night.
  
• The Twins grounds crew has been working hard to get the field back in shape after the first concert in the history of the venue.
  
• A report came out that Danny Valencia is not happy in Triple-A but he needs to hit better if he wants to make it back to the big leagues.
  

My Weekly Rundown

• Monday: Handing out Twins Mid-Season Awards
  
• Tuesday: Tuesday Morning Tidbits
  
• Thursday: Twins second-half headlines to watch
  

Video of the Week: Season ticket holders for the Twins were asked to send in questions for Twins GM Terry Ryan. It was cool to listen to some of his answers and he even answered a question that I sent in. My question has about the lack of pitching depth in the entire organization but they took out some of the words that I used but it was still a cool concept.