Article: Game Thread: Twins @ Tigers, 9/21@6:10pm CT

[Riverbrian]

New York was absolutely no fun at all, but it’s ok… we got time to have some fun yet. We have a 4-game series in Detroit that begins tonight.

Yesterday was my birthday, and to be honest, at the age of 52 my brain is pretty much mush. It’s been mush for a while but it gets mushier with each passing year. In consideration of that mushiness, I’ve decided to re-cycle my birthday game thread opener from last year.

Yes I was born on September 20th and my family will probably take me out to Buffalo Wild Wings or Red Lobster for supper. They said I could pick where my surprise party will be at. A birthday is just one day out of 365 and in most cases… it’s a pretty routine day. However… in my case… some very unique things have happened to me on my birthday in the past.

Here are some things to think about:

 

1. 1966 – Mom baked me a cake and brought it to my high chair and then the power went out. She grabbed a candle and put it down to find something to light it. Then the power came back on and everyone started laughing because she put the candle down right in the middle of the cake by accident. Every subsequent birthday that followed, she would add a candle until the cake was a fire hazard and this eventually spread across the globe as the standard birthday celebration tradition, with a slight alteration… instead of blowing out the candles… we eat them.

2. 1971 – It was on my birthday that I discovered that animals can sense changes in the weather. There was a tornado that day and we were warned by the strange behavior of our family dog prior to the storm arriving. Our dog started barking while she circled around the living room a couple of times and then she grabbed the keys to the car and drove to a neighboring town.

3. 1976 – President Carter wasn’t sure if he should do an interview with Playboy magazine. He was worried that they may ask uncomfortable questions about things that were not presidential to talk about. It was my birthday when I told him that he had nothing to worry about because nobody ever reads those articles anyway.

4. 1985 – I made my first trip to Walt Disney World on my birthday and I was there the very day that they reached the 200 million guest mark. All 200 million were at the park waiting in front of me for all rides.

5. 1987 – It was a painful time in my life so I don’t talk about it much, but September 20th 1987 was the day I was fired from the group N.W.A. as the result of a power struggle between Eazy-E and myself. Cube and Dre’ were absolutely on my side but E became too powerful and I was forced out the door. My departure caused a divide and it never healed and eventually led to Cube going solo. I even recorded and rapped my own verse on “Straight Outta Compton” that was edited out.

I’m Straight Outta Compton…
Well… no, not really… I’m from Minnesota so that would be silly.
I eat hot dish.... when the weather goes cold… I dress warmly when it’s 20 below.
I take walleye… from the lake… the DNR tells me how much I can take.
Officer Jim… he is my neighbor… when I need something… he’ll do me a favor.

Today’s Joe M Conversation:

Mauer: What’s wrong, Joe?

McCarthy: My neighbors think I’m an alcoholic.

Morgan: Why would they think that?

McCarthy: They can see what is in my recycling bins in my front yard.
____________________

Lineups:

TWINS
Brian Dozier 2B
Joe Mauer 1B
Jorge Polanco SS
Eddie Rosario LF
Eduardo Escobar 3B
Max Kepler RF
Byron Buxton CF
Jason Castro C
Robbie Grossman DH

Adalberto Mejia P

TIGERS
Ian Kinsler 2B
Jeimer Candelario 3B
Miguel Cabrera 1B
Nick Castellanos RF
Mikie Mahtook LF
James McCann C
John Hicks DH
JaCoby Jones CF
Jose Iglesias SS

Jordan Zimmermann P

Weather: Clear, sunny (until 7:32pm ET), 81 deg F, winds at 7mph from the SSE, not rainy.

Go Twins! Play ball!

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[Blake]

52? Explains a lot.

 

Good job!

[sampleSizeOfOne]

What would you like for yer birthday, RB?

[ThejacKmp]

 

What would you like for yer birthday, RB?

 

Lets get him a Twins win and an Angels loss.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

Lets get him a Twins win and an Angels loss.

Which one am i responsible for?

 

The win or the loss?

 

(Man, that's a tall order... I was just hoping to provide something creative, like a joke or a poem...)

[Riverbrian]

 

Lets get him a Twins win and an Angels loss.

 

Sounds Good to me... Belated or not... I'll take it. 

[Riverbrian]

 

Which one am i responsible for?

The win or the loss?

(Man, that's a tall order... I was just hoping to provide something creative, like a joke or a poem...)

 

Get me the Win... You won't even have to wrap it or provide a card.

 

 

I'll take it as is. 

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

Lets get him a Twins win and an Angels loss.

 

You aim to low.  World Series victory in 2017...

[Dantes929]

RB,  its your birthday so I figure now is a good time to tell you how I really feel.....I feel fine.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

Get me the Win... You won't even have to wrap it or provide a card.

 

 

I'll take it as is.

If belated is okay, i can't really take credit for the Twins winning one of their remaining games.

 

Somehow it wouldn't feel right without a card though. And considering all the exciting intros you write, it would be small reward if it were tame and bland...

[glunn]

Great setup, and belated Happy Birthday my friend.

 

Was it Red Lobster or Buffalo Wild Wings?

[Broker]

McCarthy: They can see what is in my recycling bins in my front yard.

 

That's why I keep my recycle bin lid closed.

[Winston Smith]

Wish I could remember what 52 felt like. Really I wish I could remember what yesterday felt like... Now I remember happy birthday old man river.

 

Brian the brain is a lot like the food you eat, the older you get the mushier the food has to be...

[ashbury]

Hey Brian, my dad's birthday was the day before yours, and we took him to Red Lobster too.

 

So. congratulations: you have something in common with a 95 year old man.

[wsnydes]

Happy Unbirthday, RB!

 

I hope that you got an extra cheddar bay biscuit yesterday.

[notoriousgod71]

Mejia provides little confidence.

[Craig Arko]

On FS-1 tonight.

[TwinsCD]

Angels lose 4-1.  Big opportunity tonight.

[mickeymental]

cleveland 4, angels 1. upton 0-for-4. sad.

[TwinsCD]

 

Mejia provides little confidence.

 

Would we feel better about Slegers or Gee in this spot?  I know I was a little surprised to see Mejia back in the rotation last week and wasn't feeling all that great about it before he had the poor outing.

[amjgt]

The Tigers have a lot of starters who's name starts with J

[John Kelsey]

Mejia actually looks pretty sharp. 

[Mill1634]

These announcers suck 

[John Kelsey]

Kepler got screwed more than once in that at bat. 

[drock2190]

 

These announcers suck 

 

Really? I thought these FS1 announcers are a breath of fresh air. Learned a few cool statistics I didn't know.

[drock2190]

I picked up Mahtook in fantasy for this series. Last series I rolled with Gardner and Ellsbury. Makes it a double edged sword if they do good or bad.

[John Kelsey]

 

I picked up Mahtook in fantasy for this series. Last series I rolled with Gardner and Ellsbury. Makes it a double edged sword if they do good or bad.

 

I did the same with Ellsbury. 

[TwinsCD]

Link to the Wall Street Journal feature on Buxton that the FS1 announcers mentioned last inning:

 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-tracking-technology-helped-baseballs-best-fielding-outfielder-1505923095?mod=e2fb

[drock2190]

 

Link to the Wall Street Journal feature on Buxton that the FS1 announcers mentioned last inning:

 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-tracking-technology-helped-baseballs-best-fielding-outfielder-1505923095?mod=e2fb

 

You have a subscription?

[PDX Twin]

If the home-plate dirt is going to be shaped like home plate, I think the pitching dirt should be rectangular like the pitching rubber.