Bark's Lounge

Lou Reed was a true artist, one who channeled his art through music like an unstoppable train. He was a rare breed. I hate the term "legend", but it most certainly applies to him... maybe reluctantly on his part. Lou Reed may have expired in the physical sense - but his music will last many more lifetimes. Rest well my friend.

Nothing is certain in the world in which we live. I would consider my wife and myself, middle class - probably on the lower end. At times we give a little charity towards Cancer foundations, but most of our charity is focused towards my sister and her children. The society we live in is reaching a critical mass. I do recognize that there is a good amount of people who actually put a great effort in to helping the poor, destitute, and unfortunate of this country, but I think that self obsession and greed is winning the day. For the most part, we have lost our way in the wilderness of modern times. We are too advanced of a species to let greed and self obsession consume us and to let our fellow man suffer the consequence of not being in the winner's circle. Universal health care for one and all! I grew up in the ghetto and for the majority of the systems in place for the children of these areas, there is no way out, young people need positive guidance, not beaten down parents or drug addict parents... for the most part, these kids follow what they know, and they learn it well, becoming very problematic pieces of our society. These kids need a chance to survive in a safe environment and a chance to survive on terms that are optimistic. I hope that someday soon the Republicans, Democrats, and special interest parties are extinct and we can have a government that truly has the peoples' best interest in mind. I am not sure what the right solution is, but as Americans we need to take care of our own and give them a fighting chance to be healthy and productive... right? Right now, we are doing a **** Job.

That sounds like it should be an Ennio Morricone Composition for a Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western... Cool.

The clubhouse aspect might be overrated, but I believe it is immensely important to have a fiery leader on a ballclub. A individual that can lift up the spirits of his fellow teammates, make some promises he cannot keep, but sometimes does performance wise, and if not shrug it off. I have to face the truths that are in my face. The present day Twins are super vanilla and I do not see a player who can uplift a team when it is in a gutter. I have seen a little passion from Deduno and Arcia, but for the most part this team seems soulless. I am a Joe Mauer fan, but this is not a role will ever suit him. Sure, you can have the most talented team and win a World Championship without a pure leader, but the Twins will never have the most talented team in MLB... they need a leading player and a driving force. I do not want Hunter to play for the Twins again, but I do recognize what he brings to the table of passion and leadership. I hope the Twins can find a guy to fit this role.

The Rule of thumb for me is that once the Twins are eliminated from Postseason contention or from the post season - I will never root for an AL Central Team to win, after the AL Central is out of the equation, all my focus goes towards rooting for the Senior Circuit to take the WS Championship. As for Hunter's postseason dreams, I hope his club loses the series to the A's. Putting my disdain for our fellow AL Central opponents aside, as a fan, the A's pique my interest a bit more and I hope they make it to the World Series... to ultimately lose of course, but they are a fun team and a club that is easy root for. I cannot see Hunter returning to the Twins as a player after his contract with the Tigers expires, but stranger things have happened. I'd like to say we have too many OF prospects who should be playing full-time by then to entertain bringing Hunter back in 2015, but after watching this past season... All Bets are Off - I no longer rely on the hope of such notions. If Hunter did return to the Twins to close out his career, I believe that most Twins fans would be pretty happy about that. Hunter has his MN detractors, but overall, I think he is beloved amongst most Twins Fans. I think he talks too much for his own good, but like you said in your article, team mates seem to love him. No matter anyone's opinion on Hunter, he is a leader. Leave it or take it. Unless he is with the Twins - I have no interest in seeing T-Hunt win a World Championship.

I might be going out on a limb here, but I am assuming you are no fan of the Braves and Brian McCann.

This seems like a safe thread to post this picture. What the hell is going on in this picture? Captions? I miss the game threads...

Let's take a time machine back to the offseason of 2001-2002 when it was threatened that the Twins might be contracted. This is a question of personal speculation, but it might be fun or interesting to read a TD participant's point of view on the topic of "What if the Twins were contracted." Let's say the Twins ceased to exist after the 2002 season. How would you have felt at the time and how would you feel now?

Great guess. I still wear that green shirt from 1986 and I still have the perm in place - minus the middle section of my hair... think Steven Wright with a million dollar smile. I'm not very good at taking compliments, but thank you kind sir. Believe me when I say - "A tear is dropping my eye" as I type this response. Mucho Respect, Bark

Agreed. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ENgVcx4tEYc/US0nI8rEoFI/AAAAAAAAQyE/45WEZu6NDQ8/s1600/jets85.jpg

My vote goes to the song Epizootics off the latest album of the Legendary Scott Walker.

Yowza - too much meat in that photo. I'm getting a gout flare up.

I don't think too many people will argue the fact that Rodriguez is guilty and I for one would be glad if he never steps on the MLB field of play again. Assuming that A-Rod didn't cheat until his Texas years - it is a shame as he was a generational talent and exciting to watch play the game in his Mariners years. Baseball changed his life for the better and he thanked the game by cheating and being one of many who soiled 2 decades of baseball that many cannot look back upon and view the offensive statistics as legitimate. When you label a kid the next great legend of baseball, eat a mile of his (Bleep) to get to him, tell him everything he wants to hear and throw him millions of dollars - it is hard to be surprised when the train comes off the tracks. 20 years later there is another kid in the position A-Rod was in - Bryce Harper - Hopefully he is watching this debacle with a keen eye and taking notes on not what to do. I suppose, deep within the core of my person, where most people think their soul resides, there is a tar pit, and within that tar pit is a little pocket of air that represents me feeling a little sorry for Alex Rodriguez. It's too bad he didn't have better people surrounding him to keep him grounded and to give him better advice... but, who knows, he may have, and he told them to (bleep) off. Either way, I won't be losing any sleep over it.

My guess is the Twins Hire Glynn or Molitor to coach 3B (most likely Glynn) and reassign Vavra to Assistant Hitting Coach. In truth, I do not think this will happen - but wouldn't that be a mind (bleep) if it did. Personally, I am not super stoked about the decisions the Twins have made very early into this offseason and after the crap that's been served to us fans the last few years - My motto is "Seeing is Believing". "Blind Faith" is an obsolete term. I guess we'll see what happens... Fasten your seat belts folks.

Well... yeah... that's a story for another day.

I have a high tolerance for pain and annoyance. For some reason this one broke through my force field. Because of the voices that have been constantly running through my head for the last twenty-something odd years - I have built a somewhat strong tolerance. I call them (the voices) Banjo and McMurtry.

My highlight of the season was when Chris Herrmann hit the first Grand Slam by a Twin this season against the Angels a couple months ago. Before that happened Dick Bremer kept bringing up the fact that no Twin had hit a Grand Slam this season every time the Twins loaded the bases. It really started to grate on my nerves. Thanks Chris.

True Dat Brother!

Hey Chief. I have not found the full press conference on the interwebs. I did watch it when it aired today at 2:30. It was in all so many words towing the company line and during the Q&A portion of the Press Conference Jim Pohlad made a few jokes. (1.) about having the ability to get Ron his 1,000 victory in the next 2 years and (2.) some kind of joke about Gardy wearing a moo moo (over my head). Meh. This is the link to Gardenhire's statement at the beginning of the press conference on MLB.com. Video: Ryan, Gardenhire on extension for Twins skipper | MLB.com

I don't think Hicks not playing winter ball is anything to stress or get one's panties in a bunch about. He had a bad year and battled some injuries after June. I would hope he feels let down and frustrated with his performance this year. Every person is different and combats their demons in different ways. For Hicks, maybe it would serve him better to clear his head and come to spring training in 2014 mentally and physically refreshed. I recall reading an interview with Hicks on this site where he had said this was going to be his first off season that he was not playing baseball since he was drafted. I have a hard time believing that Hicks will be partying every night, eating at Chinese Buffets daily and chain smoking Lucky Strikes. I am sure he will keep himself in good shape and I read someplace that he will be working with Rod Carew in SoCal this off season. His foot will still be dangling in the waters of baseball. Hopefully it works out. The guy has a tremendous amount of talent. I dread the thought of having Alex Presley as the Twins Opening Day CF.

Thanks Mom. You're the Best! Love, Lil' Barky

I hope so. I was banking on that to get me through the offseason.

Hey game threaders. I want to thank you all for bringing some good times and a ton of laughs to the table. If I offended, annoyed, or step out of bounds on anyone this season - you have my sincerest apologies. I am a work in progress. "The coldest winter I ever spent was watching the Twins in the Summer of 2013" (2013 is interchangeable with 2011 & 2012) Here's to wishing everyone a fantastic offseason!!!

Well my friends - we have 2 more games to go. Let's make them memorable.