Twins Video
Greeting from Morehead, Kentucky. That was quite a weekend for our Twins. It wasn’t a sweep of the D-Backs, it was a high powered leaf blowing of the D-Backs. It was snake handling at the expert level, scoring 27 runs on what was the 2nd best team ERA in baseball. The Twins get to follow that with a 5-game series in Chicago starting with a big, Monday doubleheader. The White Sox are not run by Bill Veeck anymore. You can tell that those days are gone because I can’t find anything special happening at Guaranteed Rate Field during the solar eclipse, other than a start time of game 1 that is well past the 1:18 event. Eighty-seven percent coverage of the sun is expected in Chicago with maybe 26% coverage of the game by the media. Bill Veeck would have at least invited everyone to the ball park early and gave away free optometrists to the first 10,000 fans.
Myself, I didn’t make plans to view the eclipse but I will be driving from Kentucky to Georgia today and my car will be crossing the center line path on the way, so I’ll probably stop driving somewhere in Tennessee, find a nearby park and watch a total eclipse of the park. After many requests that I do so over my lifetime, it’s a chance to finally stick it where the sun don’t shine. After it is over… I will attempt to finish my drive to Atlanta like Stevie Wonder would. Which will only be a slight decline from my usual inattentive driving style.
At first I thought it was going be a total ellipse... and with my overuse of that punctuation... it made sense that I was there. Turns out... it's just an eclipse... but... I'll take a look anyway.
[NOTE: If you use a welder's helmet to watch the eclipse, as seen in the photo of the article, make sure the glass is #14 glass.]
Here are some things to think about:
1. Carbondale – In extreme Southern Illinois lies the city of Carbondale. I’m out of things about which to make fun of Chicago, and since a large chunk of Chicagoans will be in Carbondale for the eclipse, I thought I’d focus on this place of mainly Cardinals Fans. Nearly 26,000 people live in Carbondale year round but they estimate 60,000 people will invade the city today. Oddly enough, Shawn Colvin grew up in Carbondale, talk about “Sunny Came Home.” Carbondale was named after a nearby coal deposit by Daniel Brush who was the first area landowner. That’s how close the city came to being named Coaldaniel.
2. Our Twins – It was a great weekend and I hope it leads to a great week and great month of September. In Today’s doubleheader we have a couple of interesting pitchers. Dillon Gee and Tim “Call me Ishmael” Melville will throw for the Twins. Gee has been pretty good out of the pen for us so I am hopeful for a decent start today. Melville I know very little about; all I know is that he has spent a little time in the majors some years ago, never mind how precisely. I hope he has a whale of a game.
3. The White Sox – After many years of trying to win with expensive free agents, the White Sox have gone the opposite direction and the youth is starting to bubble to the surface. The Twins will get to see Yoan Moncada, Carson Fulmer and Lucas Giolito during this series. The cool thing about rookies is that they make the minimum. They are paid a minimum guaranteed rate at Guaranteed Rate Field.
4. Today’s Joe M Conversation:
Maddon: Joe… do you alter your approach at the plate depending on the pitcher you are facing?
Mauer: I do… When I face Kluber for example… I like to see as many pitches as I can to get a feel for what he is throwing.
Morgan: That’s smart because Kluber has 5 different pitches that he can throw effectively.
McCarthy: What about a left hander like Chris Sale?
Montana: Yeah… Sale… with that big slider from the left side.
Mauer: Exactly… with Sale you have to be aware of that slider. So with him… I like to see as many pitches as I can.
Maddon: What would you do against one of my guys? Jake Arrieta for example.
Mauer: With Arrieta you got treat him a little differently. He’s got that cross body style that can be a little confusing because it’s unique. So… I like to see as many pitches as I can.
5. Explanations – My youngest son asked me “Dad… can you explain what an eclipse is?” Naturally I shook my head and replied, “No Sun.” And I dropped the Mic.
Yes... I use a Microphone when I talk to my kids.
____________________
Lineups:
TWINS
Brian Dozier 2B
Joe Mauer DH
Byron Buxton CF
Eduardo Escobar 3B
Chris Gimenez C
Eddie Rosario LF
Mitch Garver 1B
Max Kepler RF
Jorge Polanco SS
Tim Melville P
WHITE SOX
Leury Garcia LF
Yoan Moncada 2B
Jose Abreu 1B
Nicky Delmonico DH
Avisail Garcia RF
Holmer Sanchez 3B
Tim Anderson SS
Omar Narvaez C
Adam Engel CF
Carlos Rodon P
Weather: 80s, humid, cloudy ... rain is coming, but let's hope it hits after the 2nd game tonight. But even so, it shouldn't be so much to cancel/postpone a game.
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