Twins Video
1. The 2nd Half -- Tonight begins the 2nd half of the season. I know... it's quirky but the All Star Break has always been the dividing line. Never mind that the first half was 89 games and the 2nd half is 73 games. It's like sharing your dessert with your wife when she asks for half of your cheesecake. She gets that little tip of the triangle while you keep the bulk of the slice and you call it half. This year... that little tip of cheesecake matters, which is such an improvement from the recent past. In the 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2011 seasons... nobody touched that little tip of cheesecake. It got bus'd by the busboy. It ended up in the garbage or the dishwasher took a break and finished it off in the back along with the prime rib from table 22 that was a little too big for Grandma to finish. This year... we are hungry for more. We are having our cake and eating it, too. Games in September will matter.
2. How??? -- Nobody thought we would be here. Nobody on TD thought we'd be here. The national pundits didn't think we'd be here... Let's be honest... the players didn't think it either. Oh sure... they'd talk about being here when interviewed before the season started but they didn't think it. So how did this happen? I'll boil it down to two words… Starting. Pitching. Gibson and Milone are sub 3.00 and Pelfrey, May and Hughes haven't been disgusting. We usually have 3 starters who have been a disgusting 5.00 plus. Our starters have kept us in games and given the offense a chance to win it... somehow... someway.
3. Molitor/Gardenhire -- Did Paul fix everything or is Molitor benefiting from all of Gardenhire's gardening? Did Gardy do all the work of planting and Molitor gets to enjoy the fruits of that labor? I really don't know but I think Molitor is removing weeds much more efficiently than Gardy did. Gardy kinda got comfortable with having the weeds around... in my opinion of course and based upon... nothing. I really don't know what Gardy thought of those weeds. I'm just saying... I'm under the impression that Molly has been more proactive. A little more willing to change the batting order... a little more willing to think outside the box; and after watching Molitor shift things around... rightly or wrongly... fair or unfair to Gardy... I'm looking back and feeling like Gardy was set in his ways... 2002 ways. DISCLAIMER: Thought #3 should be read with 5,000 grains of salt. It is based on an outsiders gut feeling... a gut feeling which is based on a few observations that can and have been twisted to fit a narrative... a narrative which becomes more and more flimsy as I continue to type this disclaimer. The only thing I know is that things are better this year and I'm giving some credit to Paul for fixing a few things because that's what it feels like to me.
4. Rick Anderson -- The Starting Pitching has clearly been an improvement over years past and I really believe it's the #1 factor in our sudden good fortune. So, yes... that leads to the obvious question. What does the sudden turnaround say about Rick Anderson? I really believe that we often give coaches too much credit and more often too much blame. But, seeing the pitchers all turn it around like a bunch of lemmings successfully avoiding a cliff, you can't help but wonder. Liriano turning it around in Pittsburgh also makes you wonder. I'm just wondering, that's all... Please read the disclaimer from thought #3.
5. Bigfoot and ET -- I recently hired a guy who firmly believes in Bigfoot. Obviously I need to expand the scope of my due diligence before making such hires, but the subject of Bigfoot never came up in the interview. A few days on the job... he walks into my office and asks... "Do you believe in Bigfoot? Because I do." I said, "No... scientists... or lumberjacks would have found a carcass by now." He immediately turned in his resignation. Thank God... I hate firing people.
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Game-time forecast: 68 deg F and cooling, no chance of rain (which, is unfortunate for that area, drought and all), winds from the WNW at 14mph.
Lineups:
TWINS
Dozier 2B
Hunter RF
Mauer 1B
Sano DH
Plouffe 3B
Rosario LF
Hicks CF
Suzuki C
Santana SS
Santana P
ATHLETICS
Burns CF
Vogt C
Zobrist LF
Reddick RF
Butler DH
Davis 1B
Lawrie 3B
Sogard 2B
Semien SS
Gray P
Go Twins! Play ball!







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