Bark's Lounge

Well, I think that is enough Twins Baseball for me tonight. I think I will go finish up my screenplay for "Police Academy 8 - The Return of Mahoney." Does anyone know any Hollywood Motion Picture Executives you could connect me with to set up a meeting? Regards, Steve Guttenberg

I'll give it a go... but... but... I am really afraid to do this.

Yeah, nothing good to report on the Burton scene.. He was good last year - and was good until the last 2 weeks or so of this season. I have not been able to see all of his crumby outings as I am in conflict with my wife about TV privileges. Housewives of Orange County won tonight. I'm not sure if last year's Burton wash a a flash in the pan or if the Twins using him often as the main set-up guy day in and day out has scuffed his shine. I do not think he should be our high leverage 8th inning guy anymore, or at least for the time being. I really don't think we have that high leverage set-up guy anymore. This may be the start of the Twins paying the price for their awful starting pitching in the beginning months of the season. It appears the bullpen is overtaxed and in all reality coming back to earth. P.S. My wife is upset with me that I let it be known that she likes the "Housewives" series on BRAVO.

Well, at least the last 1/3 of it.

Frank Robinson cried.

I was in Alabama a few years ago. Went Conoeing down the the Choctawhatchie River with an old friend who lives in Southern Alabama. Seen some lizards, seen some hillbillies flee from the shore when we were approaching. When reflecting upon this - I feel pretty fortunate that I did not have to reenact Ned Beatty's performance in Deliverance.

Not there. Alabama is preferred.

Hello to you. Catch any Hillbillies... drink any moonshine?

Sad times. Sad times indeed.

Agreed.

Sure, the Twins could trade Morneau for a bag of peanuts... they will not get much more than that if a trade is made. Morneau has meant a lot to this franchise over the last decade. Obviously he is nowhere close to being what he once was. The thing is - Morneau has hit enough to be valuable to the Twins for the most part. Maybe instead of trading him for some Dollar store trinkets, the Twins should not trade him, play him everyday, and have a few month celebration in terms of saying our goodbyes and paying him the respect that he deserves. If Morneau could garner a decent return on the trade market - maybe my viewpoint would be different. That is not an issue at this point. Who knows, maybe Morneau's power bat will come alive in the second half of the season and he will end up with 20ish HR's, OPS .825 and have a grip load of ribbies... fingers crossed. The real issue to me is unloading Willingham. He is holding back some young players who should be playing everyday, but they need to play him and get his engines roaring so he has some decent trade value. If the Twins cannot do that, it keeps the drain clogged that we expediently need to have wide open.

I agree with your take on Mauer and that the Royals have some nice pieces in place. I retract my statement "We should have had this one." - What was I thinking? The pitching is what it is - they did not over perform today. You have to give Plouffe some credit for going deep on Holland - that dude is filthy.

This is a tough one to swallow. We should have had this one. I Bleepin' despise the Royals. Oh well - at least it was an entertaining game.

Where do you live?

No Jinxes here - I wasn't going to have him fix it. I was just stating that I was greatful I have a plumber as a good friend. For some stupid reason, Plumbers are intriguing to me. Sorry for the confusion.

Well it wasn't perfect. It must have been a Canadian Penny. Hey, at least we tied it up. If we win this one, I will consider the $20, but it will be all $1 Bills Canadian style. I have some left over cash from a Vacation to Victoria, BC from a couple years back. Thank goodness I have a good friend who is a plumber.

The time to strike is going to be this inning. Morneau Walks - Plouffe, Arcia, Parmelee - BACK TO BACK TO BACK! I just threw a penny into my toilet for good luck.

My Motto Today: A Day Late and a Dollar Short.

Geez. Mauer is really stinkin' up the joint this series.

I have a microwave that heats up BBQ Meatball Hot Pockets. I wouldn't recommend coming to Barksville in Lounge County for BBQ.

Sorry RB - you beat me to it.

I've heard of this McDonald's place that is suppose to serve up some pretty decent hamburgers.

What's that you say? I can take an airplane flight to China?

Don't make any reservations for Buxton. A year from now he could be an All-Star in MLB. I am not saying that will happen by any measure, but the Twins should have an OF opening come next season. Stranger things have happened.

If the Twins are to option Hicks to AAA, they should do it now and let his minor league clock start ticking ASAP (Note: I am unclear on rehab assignment rules). This way, the folks who were in the camp of Hicks being on the big club the whole year won't be too upset and the camp who wants to retain Hicks' rights for another year will be satisfied in full. Being a member of the group who wanted Hicks up from the start - as humans we seem to be beings who need instant gratification, but for the most part, memories are short - and you don't really miss what you don't have. If there was a fate scenario where both factions could be satisfied - this would seem to be the ideal time and place to execute this action. After Hicks spends the amount of time in Rochester to retain another year of service from him - call him up pronto! Hopefully, by this time, Willingham has been traded and our outfield consists of Arcia in LF, Hicks in CF and Parmelee in RF. I have no beef with Willingham - he is a good RH power bat that has very good use to a ballclub., but let's be honest - last year was a career year for the southern gent. Although Arcia and Parmelee are LH hitters... it is time to ride it out with those 2 day in and day out post July 31. Morneau is untradeable... at least in terms of what your trade return would be. I think the best bet would be for him to play most days throughout the rest of the season - giving him the opportunity to have a farewell tour of sorts to the Twins' Fans. Morneau can hit a little still, but he is a shadow of his former self. I think it would be fitting for the MN fans to get their chance to show their appreciation to him and to say their goodbyes bypassing the awkwardness of a garbage trade. I feel pretty confident that Arcia will hit about 20 Jacks this year with acceptable all around numbers and if Parmelee gets that chance he will not be far off. I believe in these guys. The Twins are playing better than or are what we thought they would be - it is what it is. This has to be a transition year for the betterment of the future of this ballclub. 2014 could be a different animal. Sorry to take this thread off point, but I needed to exorcise my demons.