Riverbrian

The Lineups are coming... ChiTown the Lineup and Weather Condition Queen will post them in this space. The LUAWC Queen... It's a new nickname option for us all to use. Game-time forecast: 58 deg F, partly cloudy (sun sets at 19:59 hrs), winds from the WNW at 12 mph (I never know how to interpret that; if they are coming from the WNW, does that mean they are blowing to the ESE?) Lineups TWINS: Santana SS Hunter RF Mauer 1B Dozier 2B Plouffe 3B (our) Escobar DH Arcia LF Suzuki C Schafer CF Gibson P ROYALS: (their) Escobar SS Moustakas 3B Hosmer 1B Morales DH Gordon CF Perez C Orlando RF Colon 2B Dyson LF Volquez P

Things ain't so bad in the Twins camp right now. We just won a series against the Indians and before that we won a series against the Royals. Because of a scheduling Quirk... We are playing the AL Central again tonight. We apparently don't play teams outside of the AL Central until September. It's those Royals again tonight and the Royals are still all hopped on adrenaline. Ventura is ready to get mad at everyone and needs to be walked around by his catcher to calm him down. This works because he calms down right before he hurts a fingernail and has to leave the game. The injuries are piling up on the Royals but they still win anyway... The Twins are going to have to play hard. Here are some Things to Think About: 1. Bean Balls and Hard Slides -- Kansas City was all over the highlights this weekend because Brett Lawrie of the Oakland A's was playing baseball just like he's supposed to. With a hard slide into second... Brett Lawrie injured Royals starting SS Alcedes Escobar and the Royals fired back with a couple message pitches at Lawrie on Saturday AND SUNDAY. This led to ejections and a couple of moments where the benches and bullpens emptied and everybody tried to look tough as they exchanged recipes. We can certainly discuss if it was necessary for Brett Lawrie to slide that far off the bag... We can certainly discuss if it was even necessary to break up a double play at the time since Lawrie was safe at 2nd on the play. Here's how I see it... You play the game hard. It's really hard when you are busting ass to 2nd to determine with certainty if the DP is no longer an option. You go in hard and you break it up. I don't want to hear about unwritten rules... play the game hard. So... obviously... I've concluded that Kansas City was wrong to start throwing baseballs at Lawrie. Nope... I think that's OK as well because as stupid as it is... and it is stupid... and dangerous... It's why Kansas City is one of the best teams around despite not being one of the best teams on papers. You play hard against us... We will play hard right back at you. It's baseball and each game and play matters. If you take a play off because of unwritten rules or because it's only game 12 out of 162. You are ripping off the fans who pay money and your salaries. 2. Unwritten Rules -- Baseball has a bunch of unwritten rules... So does life... Here are some of those: If you walk into a Men's bathroom with 10 urinals on the wall... And a guy is using urinal #3... Do not use Urinal #2 or #4... #1 and #5 are OK... But... #10 is the best choice. If you have a staff meeting in the Afternoon... Do not eat a Fiber One Bar in the Morning. If you are sharing Starbursts with someone... Only give the other person the colors you like least. Never lick a strangers face without explaining why you are doing it first. When you can't find paper to jot something down... do not write on the person next to you. They usually walk away and you will lose the information. Keep in mind... these are unwritten rules and if you are going to play life hard... you may have to break a few of these along the way. 3. Edison Volquez -- He's a 31 year old right-hander from the Dominican Republic. He's the Guy the Texas Rangers traded to the Reds to acquire Josh Hamilton. So How did that trade work out? Both were fantastic for awhile and then terrible for awhile. Both have had drug issues. Edison took performance enhancing drugs while Josh took drugs that make you laugh at stuff you wouldn't normally laugh at. The type of drugs that I recommend that you take before participating in the game thread. The Volquez fastball is low to mid 90's and he mixes in a change and a curve. If he throws strikes he can be very difficult. If he doesn't... He can be torched. 4. OF Defense -- It's amazing how much better the OF D is when balls are hit near the outfielders. 5. Stock Market -- I recently bought stock in a company that I believed in as a long term play. I won't reveal it here because I don't want anyone following my recommendations... cuz... that would be like asking Stevie Wonder what color you should paint the walls. But... I told my wife I thought it would be a nice stock to own 10 years from now. And My Wife said... "You bought a stock that will pay off 10 years from now? With your diet? Click here to view the article

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvnubpG6ZI8

I'm counting that as mine. Just an inning later I'd like to share this victory... with my good friend Halsey

Bummer I was ready to get all cocky and stuff

Get your wallet umm... whatever out.

TIE GAME TIE GAME TIE GAME VOODOO JINX VOODOO TIE GAME JINX TIE GAME

Sorry all... Got a series of Family Calls. Ok,...Lets bring this thing home

SHUT OUT SHUT OUT SHUT OUT VOODOO JINX VOODOO SHUT OUT JINX SHUT OUT

NO HITTER... NO HITTER... NO HITTER... PERFECT GAME... PERFECT GAME... PERFECT GAME... VOODOO... JINX... VOODOO... JINX... NO HITTER... PERFECT GAME... NO HITTER

And Sample Size can Elf that thing!!!!

Dew'll Do!!! Thanks All... I didn't intend to post bummer news on a happy game thread... It just happened an hour ago so it's on my mind.

Unique way to give up a run. I'll give them a B for creativity.

Yeah.. The Temp might hit 71 tomorrow!!!

Ahh... That's well said

That'll do

He played guitar and sang in a classic country band well into his 80's. We are talking Hank Williams country. They'd play a gig in the middle of nowhere and the place would be packed with Grandpa's and Grandma's just dancing up a storm. There simply wasn't another band playing that material anywhere. They were one of a kind because of it... Talent level didn't matter at all... They just got up and did it and made a whole bunch folks happy. I'd just watch them and think to myself... That's my Uncle and I just loved it. He came out and watched my band once... He says to me... You guys are too loud. I think you're good though... but you guys are too loud. I got to sing Cotton Fields with them once... It was a highlight for me... I was thinking that my Mom would have loved to have seen her brother and son on stage together.

Thanks... The family was prepped for it and Harold wouldn't want anybody moaning about it. He'd want a beer on him. So I'm finishing this coffee and having a beer... That should screw my body up nicely before bed time.

Hey All... Do me a favor and raise your glass (of whatever you are drinking... it's a cup of coffee for me). Raise your glass for my Uncle Harold. Lost him today.

I was going to like this post but I didn't want any implication that I liked you breaking your wrist. So Until... I'm able to like specific sentences... I had to avoid the like button. You and JB have something in common know... That's a good thing... kinda

The Twins kick off a brand new series with the Indians tonight. Rolling with a two game winning streak... The Twins face a team that smells funny right now. If you've ever been to Cleveland... Smelling funny isn't surprising. It's Pelfrey vs. Kluber and that sounds like Lawyer vs Lawyer to me. Here are some Things to Think About:1. The Indians -- Hey... Things ain't so rosy in Cleveland Ohio either. At least our Twins can say that we have a two game winning streak!!! The Indians are working on a puny little 1 game winning streak so the Twins can claim a doubling in that department. The Indians are 3-5 and the Twins are 3-6... Both teams were swept by the Tigers and both teams managed a win against the White Sox. The Difference is one extra game against the Pale Hose... After that... The Twins won two games against the Royals who participated in the World Series and the Indians won two games against the Astros... Who were extremely not in the World Series last year. So... Get out your scratch paper and do the math... The Twins are in better shape than the Indians are right now. The Twins also are better because they are not based in Cleveland. 2. The Cy Young Award -- Apparently they give these things out to just about anybody these days. Corey Kluber is on the mound to face us tonight and he won the Cy Young Award Last year. I'm not saying he didn't deserve it... He had a fantastic 2014... I guess I'm implying that... umm... I'm implying... Well... Who the Hell is Corey Kluber and where did he come from? That's what I'm implying!!! He was drafted by the Padres and traded to the Indians in a 3 team deal in 2010... He was called up to the Indians in September 2011 after he posted a 5.56 ERA in Columbus that year. He comes at you in standard formation with an arsenal that a lot of pitchers have... Low 90's fastball with a cutter... curve and change. If Kluber can win the Cy Young... Anybody can grow up to be President of the United States. 3. Losing your Mind Early -- It happens every time in the first two weeks of the season. People lose their mind because everybody is paying attention. People in Atlanta think this is the Braves year because they started well... People in Washington are planning for 2016 because the Nationals have started slow. It's a long season and 162 games has a way of balancing itself out. Bad or good stretches in June and July largely go unnoticed because of a lack of stamina. This early season panic is very similar to almost anything else in life. If your kid gets his driver's license... You are a nervous wreck for the first couple of weeks... A year later... your kid is still a pretty bad driver but you still give them the keys knowing that they trying to do Dukes of Hazzard type jumps with your car. If the Doctor tells you that you have to start eating branches and twigs... You freak out because you know that actual flavor is no longer part of your meals. 6 months later... It's not as big a deal anymore because you've stopped eating branches and twigs after you realize that Moose don't live that long anyway. Early season baseball is just like everything is life. 4. The Outfield D -- Ignore thought #3... I'm still worried about the Outfield D. Ignore #2 and #1 if you'd like as well. It's probably smart if you do. 5. Wild Fires -- We had a serious of Fires around the Grand Forks Area on Wednesday. Dry conditions and winds gusting around 50 MPH (Just little more than normal) made for a busy day for fire fighters. There were a couple of fires just outside of Grand Forks... A rather large one right next to the town of Manvel (go ahead and check your atlas for location) and several more all the way up to the Canadian border. They had to close down the Interstate for a stretch because of visibility and before they did... a rather large chain reaction accident sent some folks to the hospital. I was near Manvel ND and actually saw the big one with my own eyes... I could feel the heat of it in my car as I drove past. Officials believe the fires may have been started by a semi that was dragging something down the Interstate. Seriously... That's all it takes? A simple Spark? Bruce Springsteen says you can't start a fire without a spark so It must be true but I have a hard time believing it because whenever I try to start a fire... It takes me a full box of matches. I gave up my career as an arsonist because of that. I concluded it was too hard and I decided to try something else. Click here to view the article

When is it time to take action? In regards to OF defense... The time is right now. You wont know when its time to address the bullpen or starting pitching if balls keep dropping in the OF that nearly every other team catches. Pitching stats will be skewed to the negative. The OF defense can only get marginally better as is. I don't think it can be better enough. OF D needs immediate attention.

If Buxton is tearing it up... By All Means... If Hicks has found the light bulb... By All Means... Same for Rosario. But I'm not a fan of calling up players to burn service time while learning on the job or out of desperation. If what I've seen so far... Is actually what it is in the OF. I think the Twins have to make an immediate trade for an elite defensive OF with Range/Speed. I don't care about the bat... Get someone who can run down the baseball.... Bring Revere Back... Bourjos in St. Louis... Anybody with elite defensive skill. Call Seattle and make a deal for Franklin "Death to Flying Things" Gutierrez... He's just sitting there with no hope in Tacoma. After the trade... Hunter will need to be an expensive 4th OF. Then we are going to need Mauer and Plouffe, Arcia and Vargas to step it up and replace what we lose offensively. Move Schafer to LF and Arcia to RF/DH. If Plouffe... Arcia and Vargas don't step it up... It will force the Need for Sano... regardless if he's still striking out at 98% clip. If the Twins can't swing a deal... And the OF Range remains this bad. The Twins will also have no choice but to call up the kids... regardless if they are ready or not. OK... I've slapped myself again... It's just 7 games... Relax... Nope... It still isn't working.