Riverbrian

Brett Lawrie Nope... not current I'll keep thinking

I agree... The seats should be selling. The games matter.

http://www.thechocolatestore.com/images/product-pictures/104_L_jellybean-carrot-bags.jpg

Some Nerd: Paul... we are facing the left hander Brett Anderson tonight. According to his splits... oddly... lefthanders are hitting .423 off of him so my recommendation is to play lefthanders. Molitor: OK... Kepler is in Some Nerd: Not so fast... Kepler is hitting .129 against lefthanders. Molitor: Do me a favor... take this note to Falvey. Some Nerd: I will... what does it say. Molitor: Fire the guy handing you this note.

I'm travelin' down that lonesome road Feel like I'm dragging a heavy load Yeah I've tried to turn my head away, Feels about the same most every day You know what I'm talking about, Chief?

IMO Berrios has good nights when that breaking pitch is sharp. Looking sharp so far

Since the fall of the peacemakers

They are tricky. Possessive at times

The Twins open up a 4-game series with the Blue Jays tonight and you gotta stay focused this time of year. No doubt the players need to be focused but so do the fans, even more so. It isn’t as simple as just watching the Twins right now, we gotta watch the Twins while also paying attention to what the Yankees, Angels, Rangers, Royals, Mariners, Orioles and Rays are doing. The players can get tunnel vision and deal exclusively with the team in the other dugout, but that's the easy job; fans have it harder because we gotta watch them all. If I were a player, I’d hate to be a fan right now. It’s way too stressful. Here are some things to think about: 1. International Falls – With an estimated population of 6,068, the town that calls itself the "Icebox Of The Nation" is in sharp decline. Back in 1990 the paper mill was going strong and International Falls was bursting at the seams with a population of 87 million plus. That was the apex of the population curve because since that time, we all stopped using paper and International Falls took the hit. Computers rule the new green society as we store our documents electronically, jot down notes on our phones and write reminders to ourselves on our foreheads. Steve Carell had to leave Dunder Mifflin as a result of the across-the-board downsizing in the industry and has been forced to eke out a living by acting. 2. Our Twins – As Polanco was batting in the 10th, I was overwhelmed with the feeling that Rosario was going to end the game. Didn’t care about the Polanco pop up… I was pretty sure Rosario had it. As I was driving home on Tuesday night, listening to the game on the radio, Vargas was hitting in the seventh inning… I had an overwhelming feeling that Vargas was going yard. I used to have these type of premonitions of Twins success last year and they never came true. I’m glad I’m getting better at it. 3. The Blue Jays – If the Blue Jays are going to make the playoffs they will have to climb over seven teams to do it. I know how they feel because I once attempted to move seven spaces up in line (to join my family) at a church fish fry. Which is roughly the same thing. 4. Today’s Joe M Conversation: Maddon: This makes no sense at all… why do I have to go to jail? Morgan: That’s the way it goes sometimes. Maddon: I have followed the rules. I’ve always been honest. I’ve done nothing wrong. Jail!!! I’m in Jail!!! I’m not sure how I can face anybody now. How do I explain this to my wife… my kids… the Cubs organization, the city of Chicago? How do I explain this to others when I can’t explain it to myself? Montana: I don’t know… this is what PR departments are for. Maddon: Jail… like I’m a criminal or something. Mauer: OK… that’s enough... it’s my turn… rolled a seven… Marvin Gardens… I’ll buy it. Rock Concert – Back in the 80’s I went to a Molly Hatchet concert. The ticket taker and security guard were slightly distracted so I took off at full speed and ran right past them into the venue. It wasn’t unnoticed and this led to a lengthy chase around the arena. After 15 minutes of this, I was getting worn out so I decided to stop and show him my ticket. ____________________ Lineups: BLUE JAYS Richard Urena SS Josh Donaldson 3B Justin Smoak 1B Jose Bautista RF Kendrys Morales DH Kevin Pillar CF Russell Martin C Ezequiel Carrera LF Ryan Goins 2B Brett Anderson P TWINS Brian Dozier 2B Joe Mauer DH Jorge Polanco SS Eduardo Escobar 3B Byron Buxton CF Eddie Rosario RF Kennys Vargas 1B Jason Castro C Ehire Adrianza LF Jose Berrios P Weather: Clear and sunny (until sunset at 7:27pm), 84 deg F, winds at 10mph from the SSE. Enjoy! Click here to view the article

It’s just a little two-game series starting tonight at Target Field against the San Diego Padres. Padre is a nice universal word that means “Father” in Portuguese, Spanish and Italian. In major league baseball… Padres means 100 to 1 odds. Here are some things to think about: 1. Hills, Minnesota – Just as San Diego is tucked into the extreme Southwestern corner of the United States, Hills is tucked into the extreme Southwestern corner of Minnesota. There are many similarities, such as, if you travel due south you enter Iowa where very few speak English. If you travel due east, there is a vast expanse of nothingness until you die. And San Diego and Hills have both won the exact same number of professional sports championships. 2. Our Twins – There are 162 games in the major league baseball schedule. The Twins have played 143 of them and that leaves them with 19 games to go. If the Twins win the remaining 19 games… they will still finish 13 games behind the Cleveland Indians who will never lose another game. 3. The Padres – They are young and they think they are building something and they just might be doing that. One thing is for sure… they won’t have to worry about losing players to free agency anytime soon. None of the position players in the starting lineup have over 3.15 years’ service time. This makes most Padre fans sad because they were hoping to lose them quicker. 4. Today’s Joe M Conversation: Morgan: The glass is half empty! Montana: The glass if half full! Maddon: Guys… please… use a coaster! McCarthy: I’m not going to get involved with this debate… not today Mauer: What is special about today, Joe? McCarthy: It was 75 years ago today that I asked the girl of my dreams on a date. Maddon: That is impressive… 75 Years. McCarthy: And today I asked her to marry me. Montana: Nice touch… well done. McCarthy: She turned me down both times. 5. Road Rage – On my way home from work yesterday… some guy was texting and driving and he drifted into my lane so I shouted at him, “Stop texting and pay attention!” He shouted back… “Go to Hell!” and took off down the road. I walked into the house and told my wife that I was just told to go to hell by a crazy driver and she replied… “And you came straight to me.” ____________________ Lineups: PADRES Manuel Margot CF Carlos Asuaje 2B Yangervis Solarte DH Wil Myers 1B Cory Spangenberg 3B Jabari Blash RF Erick Aybar SS Matt Szczur LF Austin Hedges C Travis Wood P TWINS Brian Dozier 2B Joe Mauer 1B Jorge Polanco SS Eduardo Escobar 3B Byron Buxton CF Eddie Rosario RF Robbie Grossman DH Jason Castro C Ehire Adrianza LF Kyle Gibson P Weather: clear and sunny, until sunset at 7:31pm, 81 deg F to start but dropping into the 70s, no sign of rain, winds at 6mph from the SSE. Now that's a nice night for baseball! Play ball! Go Twins! Click here to view the article

I'm still waiting to see an actual log jam with the Twins. A log jam where you can legitimately say... "we got too many good players". Maybe some day... and wouldn't that be wonderful.

Stay safe... The Panhandle or Montana seems like a decent place to visit right now.

Are your parents riding with or in a safe place?

You are right That is something that Souhan cultivated over the years. That type of thing comes at a cost.

The Twins arrive in Kansas City for a 4-game series starting tonight. After winning only one game out of three in Tampa, it sure looks like the Twins are leaving Florida just in time. An obvious statement for anyone watching the news. It’s been a rough year for hurricanes. The truth is we won’t get a real handle on how rough a year it's been until October. We’ve all seen the news and we know it is bad, but how bad it can get is yet to be determined. I will pray for those directly involved while I remain safely distanced watching the video from home. I encourage hopefulness but let’s face facts… if Jeff Skinner is your leading scorer and Scott Darling is your goaltender, it'll probably be a rough year for the Hurricanes. Here are some things to think about: 1. Kansas City – With an estimated population of 481,420, it is the largest city in Missouri with St. Louis coming in 2nd. It isn’t an accident that the two major population centers of Missouri are tucked closely to the eastern and western borders; it is because everybody needs to be able to abandon the state at a moment’s notice. This need to leave is closely tied to the Missouri state motto, “The Show Me State." People from Missouri don’t want to hear a lot of words… they need to be shown, and since they need to be shown… they have seen some things... things that keep the bags packed just in case. For example, they’ve been to Branson and have seen a town created by a horrific collision of a televangelist and ventriloquist with a subsequent permanent melding together. They have seen the hundreds of miles of caves located under the their state... and they have seen the millions of zombie like creatures that live in those caves... and they know they come out at night and run for the state legislature. They have seen multiple tornadoes in their lifetime and have reached a breaking point because they are tired of fetching grandma from underneath the rubble. 2. Our Twins – Things have tightened up in the wild card race after the Rays took two games. The Twins have a half-game lead over the Angels, a one-game lead over the Orioles, a 1.5-game lead over the Rangers, 2.5 over the Royals and a 3-game lead over the Rays. Things are so close, the Twins only have a 5-game lead over the Richmond Flying Squirrels. 3. The Royals – They haven’t been playing amazing baseball as they float around the edges of the wild card race. However, Lorenzo Cain is hot at the moment and so is Melky Cabrera. Players get hot in order to support their immune system’s attempt to gain advantage over infectious agents, such as viruses, bacteria and barbecue sauce. 4. Today’s Joe M Conversation: Montana: What did you make for us today, Joe? Maddon: A special request from Mr. Morgan. Morgan: Yes, sir... Cincinnati chili. I love this stuff! Mauer: What is this? There are noodles in here. You said it’s chili? Maddon: That’s what Cincinnati chili is… this is served 5-way so it’s spaghetti, chili, cheese, onions and beans. McCarthy: Wow… this is pretty good. Montana: I agree… it's delicious! Oops… damn it... I just spilled chili sauce all over my new shirt. Morgan: Aww, man... that's a white shirt. That’s going to be tough to get out. Montana: I know… I look like a pig Mauer: You do look like a pig… and you spilled chili sauce on your shirt. 5. Marathon – I’ll be running this weekend in a marathon. I didn’t want to do it at first but it is for blind and disabled kids so I think I have a decent chance of winning. ____________________ TWINS Brian Dozier 2B Joe Mauer 1B Jorge Polanco SS Eddie Rosario LF Byron Buxton CF Max Kepler RF Eduardo Escobar 3B Jason Castro C Robbie Grossman DH Kyle Gibson P ROYALS Whit Merrifield 2B Lorenzo Cain CF Melky Cabrera RF Eric Hosmer 1B Salvador Perez C Mike Moustakas DH Alcides Escobar SS Alex Gordon LF Ramon Torres 3B Sam Gaviglio P Weather: clear, sunny (until 7:40pm), 77 Click here to view the article

I have often thought about this point that I separated from your other points. We are all our own worst enemy. We'd love to know what is happening inside the walls but as soon as we learn something from inside the walls... we destroy it. After all the damage is done from our reactions... we are left with PR Departments, Carefully Crafted Messages and Overused Cliches. We all want the truth... But we can't handle the truth. It's not that the GM's, Managers and Players don't want to speak... they have learned that speaking only leads to a public punch in the mouth. We all caused this and we continue to cause it. Now I'm going to step aside and impulse buy a National Enquirer.

Yep that was there Along with "Sano is 24 and until this week he had not suffered any injuries related to his bulk" A perfect contradiction and this makes him the front runner for the 2017 Muddled Point Award.

Personally, I'm not concerned about the timing, access or fat shaming. He got fed some info and he ran with it and that's the way it works. It's a column about weight and that will always blur the delicate lines. I'm just simply amazed how a good experienced writer like Souhan can fail to make his point so badly. If his point was that Sano's injury was caused by his weight... judging by the reaction... he succeeded however... he claims that it wasn't his point. He did a crappy job on the article and the term I would use to describe it is "Phoning it in". How it got past his editors... I have no idea. Here's a quote from his blog Somehow, this was turned, by local trolls and national know-nothings, into a story about how I had said that Sano’s weight caused his injury. I never said or wrote that. These people are lying. And quotes from the Article Sano is 24 and until this week he had not suffered any injuries related to his bulk, But logic can apply to injury analysis. Saturday night, Miguel Sano, the Twins’ best player, hit a ground ball and barely made it halfway down the line. This is not merely a problem. This is a flashing red light on the franchise’s dashboard. If they are lying... it's because he led them there. He phoned in an article... the point he claims he was trying to make was never clearly expressed and then he got angry at those who didn't understand and they didn't understand because he made it impossible to understand. Here's another interesting quote from the blog My sports editor was puzzled by the negative reaction, and the editor of the paper complimented it. IMO, The sports editor and the editor of the paper are either: A. Not very good at what they do B. In possession of research that suggests this type of stuff sells C. Placating Jim Souhan for some reason D. Were so busy with other stuff that they barely read it.

IMO... I think he did a terrible job making his point and that is why many misunderstood what he meant in the original article. I don't put that on the reader... I put that on the writer. That doesn't mean he is a terrible writer... just not very good this time. I immediately forgave him for that. Now... The blog that followed? Way too much ego. It was a bad idea from the start. He needed to go for a walk before sending.

DOZIER

And the Padres took 3 out of 4 from the Dodgers. It's baseball. The Margins are always thin. No shame losing to the Rays. It's just plain ole shame... losing to anyone right now.

The wins are gonna feel good and the losses are gonna hurt. There is no getting around this. Its how September is supposed to feel.