Game Thread, Twins vs. Cubs, 6/20 @ 1:10 pm CT

[formerly33]

Saturday 6/20, 1:10 PM CT at Target Field

TV: FS-N; Radio: Go 96.3, TIBN

 

 

Weather:

 

Mostly cloudy, with a high near 80. South wind 10 to 15 mph becoming west southwest 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.

 

 

Lineups:

 

CUBS (35-30): [We're waiting on you, Mr. Madden...]

1. Fowler, CF

2. Rizzo, 1B

3. Bryant, 3B

4. Coghlan, LF

5. Castro, SS

6. Schwarber, DH

7. Denorfia, RF

8. Ross, C

9. Russell, 2B

 

Jon Lester, LHP (4-5, 3.99 ERA)

 

 

TWINS (37-30):

1. Dozier, 2B

2. Rosario, LF

3. Mauer, DH

4. Plouffe, 3B

5. Hunter, RF

6. Suzuki, C

7. Vargas, 1B

8. Escobar, SS

9. Buxton, CF

 

Trevor May, RHP (4-5, 4.26 ERA)

 

 

Shhh … it looks like the Twins are un-slumping.

 

June - At one point this month, the Twins were 3-9. That's worse than we were at any other time this year, even in April. However, we split a split series with the Cardinals (the correct terminology fails to come to mind), and, considering that the Cards are the best team in baseball, that's something to be proud of. It reminds me of earlier this season when the Twins were in an eerily similar scenario but managed to win a series against the Royals (then the best team in baseball), and from then on we've been pretty generally recognized as the surprise team of the year - when people stop to think about us, that is. Sadly, our current record for June is only 7-11 (if I counted correctly), and yet somehow we are still 7 games above .500 ball and the second best team in the AL Central … and when you stop to think that just the other day it was 4-11 … we can dry our eyes. I think that I can safely say that this is no accidental call-up team, and if we can get on another roll similar to the one in May....

 

Playoffs - Okay, I know it's still way early, but I was thinking about this possibility, and this is what I came up with. The Twins got off to a terrible start in April, but we pulled out of it and rocketed through May until we were the best team in the AL. Unfortunately we got off to another bad start in June, but if we could pull out of it and repeat the May performance in July, I think we'd have a little pattern going. So is it totally unreasonable for me to assume that we'll get off to a terrible August and then steal September, ending with the best record in the AL, and then (this is where my woes start) would we … ahem … get off to a terrible October?

 

Twins, I think it's time to rethink your plans when you still have time, or this'll end up looking too much like the Gardy regime.

 

Cubs Fans - I think that the general consensus among Minnesotans when it comes to Chicagoan teams is that the Cubs are more lovable than the Sox, and I won't disagree. They actually hold quite a special place in my heart since I can't help but like the teams that are building up from the minors and at the moment have top prospects coming up in waves. In fact, if it weren't for their unrivaled fan base, the Cubs would probably be my favorite NL team, but as it is, I'm forced in my loyalty to Morneau to stick with the Rockies.

 

There's no fan like the Cubs fan. They are some of the greatest baseball minds out there, and, considering that even the oldest and wisest of them all can't remember winning a World Series, I'd have to say that they win the prize for fidelity, too. They don't have a bit of the bandwagon about them, and they never stop believin'.

 

One of their greatest traits is the way they run from stadium to stadium in their sagacious realization that MLB offers the best chain of bars in all the world, and Wrigley with its rats and ivy and ancient urinals is the center of the universe and therefore the one to sing praises of when attending any other. At the ballpark, they're smart enough to know that baseball is just a secondary form of entertainment, kind of like waitresses; what baseball games are really all about is beer, cotton candy, throwing garbage on the field, counting cute girls in the stands, and screaming insults at the opposing team whenever they remember that small but important detail.

 

 

They'll drink so much before the 7th inning that I'm pretty sure they're still somewhat tipsy by the time the next game rolls around, and no doubt they put their extreme and celebrated intelligence into play and have the foresight to buy extra beer to last them through the 15th inning if necessary.

 

The greatest cause of all comes only when visiting one of the 29 other bars in the MLB chain: it is the attempt to convert young and innocent fans of the home team into rooting for their darling Cubbies. They cleverly start out by talking about what a terrible team the kids are rooting for, and after about five minutes of that they begin to drive the point home that the Cubs hold the proudest, most legendary position in all of baseball history, meanwhile interjecting words of vile profanity whenever they feel the need (but even more often when they don't).

 

Now that I think of it, I won't deny them the honor of Most Legendary Position in Baseball History. But the rest … cough.

 

 

When conversing with a slightly older age group, they're sure to throw in talk about how the Cubs' farm system is so much better than the Twins' or Red Sox'. In fact, their farm system is so magnificent, they quack, neigh, oink, and moo to drive their point home until the only thing you can think about is how to get rid of this constant cock-a-doodle-doo.

 

Their incredible baseball acumen enables them to sleuth out the most amazing and miniscule (and always disgracefully overlooked) facts to back their statements about how the Cubs are the one and only team in baseball. Of course there's always the comeback response of "scoreboard" or simply "1908" (unless you're from Milwaukee, in which instance they'll retort "2108"), but if they happen to win a game (or worse yet, a series) against your team, you'll never hear the end of it, even if six years later you sweep them twice in a row.

 

To condense all of that into a single sentence, they certainly know how to hold a special and permanent place in your mind.

 

Well, besides Morneau, that's pretty much all that keeps the Cubs from being my favorite NL team. The worst thing about it is that I personally know more of their fans than I know of any other team besides the Twins (and the Packers, of course). Luckily the one who's going to be harassing me if we lose this series at least understands the game. He's a pretty respectable man and thank heavens is a native of Chicago, but nevertheless, he still knows how to get under my skin like a true pro … um, Cubs fan. Whenever I talk to him about the Twins, he interrupts before I'm even a third of the way through my first sentence to tell me that the Cubs are catching up. It was humorous for a little while, but after months of repetition, it's getting pretty old and my teeth are always worn down to mental stubs by the time my conversations with him are over.

 

Now that I've given what I consider to be a pretty good representation of most Cubs fans (yes, naturally there are smart ones out there, too, so I can't say all), I'll add that I personally like White Sox fans better than Cubs fans. Way better. They know about baseball, they know how to root for their team in Target Field while showing at least some amount of tolerable respect for the home team and fans, and (best of all) they know that beating the Twins is more important than beating some silly neighboring rival that the Chicago Tribune touts as being better than them just to get on their nerves. To put it simply, they just have brains in their heads.

 

And that is why it's so important to me that we win this game. In fact, this is basically the most important series of the whole year for me thus far.

 

That said, I hope I managed to avoid excessive negativity while discussing the plague of my life. If not … well, I promise I'll avoid the subject altogether tomorrow.

 

Oh, and it should be noted that no doubt I'd hate Sox fans just as much if they swarmed the streets of Minnesota like the Cubs fans do, but from my experience, they know they're not welcome and hold back just a little. Thank you, Sox fans. Much appreciated.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

Now there's an image. The MLB cub prawl... I mean pub crawl!

 

If you have the same seats for a series, can you stay between games?

 

(No need to answer it. Not exactly rhetorical, but sometimes i prefer my flights of fantasy)

[formerly33]

SSo1 ... so sorry I stole this from you. I thought I was supposed to do it.

 

Let's hope that Byron Buxton steals home as unexpectedly today.

[Blake]

May the Cubs win except when playing the Twins.

[USAFChief]

I am going to predict Buxton breaks out today, big time.

 

He'll get an infield single.

 

In all seriousness, I think he should look for a first pitch "get me over" curve and rip it. He gets that pitch almost every AB, it seems.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

SSo1 ... so sorry I stole this from you. I thought I was supposed to do it.

 

Let's hope that Byron Buxton steals home as unexpectedly today.

I think the official scoring would be "Fielder indifference."

 

And as far as i'm concerned, you timed it perfectly, as i had just gotten up to start writing a thread intro when i saw yours.

 

Come to think of it, now i wonder if a steal of home has ever been ruled fielder indifference?

[Craig Arko]

It's interesting times when the game thread becomes the beacon of sanity. Still, between the depressing stuff and the pointless bickering stuff, it looks like a winner already.

 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

My favorite part of your game setup today is that you let Harry Caray select the photos

[Blake]

Even though Buxton isn't hitting, he is still proving the value of a center fielder who can actually run down a fly ball.

[Craig Arko]

Pssst, the game's about to start. Odd time for a Saturday.

[USAFChief]

May fools nobody, gets a 1-2-3 top of the first.

 

CBU.

[Mill1634]

Why is this a day game...its Saturday 

[sampleSizeOfOne]

Why is this a day game...its Saturday

Yes.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Sounded like 3 hard, loud outs, throw in a couple loud foul balls.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Rosario. Love this guy.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

Rosario on second.

 

My, that was quick.

[Mill1634]

Love the early aggressiveness 

[stringer bell]

May really has a nice mix, both in speed and break. It seems to me that both Rizzo and Bryant didn't quite time their swings and kept the balls in the park.

[Mill1634]

Plofuta. That was rough. Rally killer

[sampleSizeOfOne]

Oh well.

 

I guess today is a different game than yesterday.

 

Plouffe, meet double play.

 

0-0 before 2, if you are of the CBU persuasion...

[Brock Beauchamp]

That went nowhere in a hurry.

[stringer bell]

Maybe Rosario lets himself be hit by that bouncer? Has anyone mentioned that Plouffe is slow?

[Mill1634]

FSNwhy do we care if your producer went down some slide?

[Riverbrian]

Plouffe tried the Ole bring the runner home with a routine double play ball trick again.

 

Castro was ready for it this time.

 

I hope the Cubs haven't hacked into our computer system. Castro seemed to know it was coming.

[USAFChief]

Baseball is weird.  Lester is a good pitcher, and can throw the 60 ft to home plate with precision over and over, at over 90 MPH.

 

But he develops some sort of inexplicable inability to throw the ball to first base, and teams run wild on him.

 

Baseball is weird.

[Riverbrian]

FSNwhy do we care if your producer went down some slide?

We don't care but Wisconsin Dells obviously spent money with FSN in case we do.

[USAFChief]

 

Maybe Rosario lets himself be hit by that bouncer? Has anyone mentioned that Plouffe is slow?

Interesting idea.

 

Yes.

[Craig Arko]

Baseball is weird.  Lester is a good pitcher, and can throw the 60 ft to home plate with precision over and over, at over 90 MPH.

 

But he develops some sort of inexplicable inability to throw the ball to first base, and teams run wild on him.

 

Baseball is weird.

Baseball is weird.

 

http://youtu.be/qmXacL0Uny0

[USAFChief]

 

We don't care but Wisconsin Dells obviously spent money with FSN in case we do.

I admit...even at my age, I loves me some water slide.  

 

That.  Looked.  AWESOME.

[Riverbrian]

I cooked for the first time in Michigan

 

Followed the recipe and it tastes alright.

 

Although... When the instructions say simmer for 10 minutes... I'm not sure what number that is on the dial thing.