Game-time forecast: Mostly sunny. Winds blowing from right to left field at 10-15 m.p.h. Temperature around 75. The Twins are at home... They didn't do well on the road... Will the lineup clearly display this home happiness... Only one way to find out... Wait right here and ChiTown will bring the smiles or... Cookies... She likes to bake. Bri, I think at this point, only cookies will do the trick, no matter what. ROYALS: SP, Duffy Cain RF Hosmer 1B Butler DH Gordon LF Perez C Infante 2B Moustakas 3B Escobar SS Dyson CF TWINS: SP, Pino Dozier 2B Suzuki C Mauer 1B Willingham LF Morales DH Plouffe 3B Parmelee RF Nunez SS Fuld CF --------------------------------------------------------------------- Things to Think About: 1. The CDC -- There are some who can explain hitting using a series of numbers produced by piles of data and compiled in such a fashion that a somewhat reasonable hypothesis can be formed to explain hitting as it comes and goes. I like to dabble in such things myself however... I believe... that bad hitting is a disease and in order to support my hypothesis... I contacted the CDC and they told me that it was indeed a disease and it's widespread world wide. 99.9 percent of the population is inflicted with this bad hitting disease. It's especially epidemic among the elderly and children. It effects everybody in Europe and Africa no matter the age... It's also pretty bad in Canada... You can find quite a few bad hitters up north although it's usually because they are constantly holding a LaBatts in their hands. The only cure for bad hitting is: Practice and complete focus at the plate. Hitters bust out of slumps by understanding that the pitcher doesn't want to throw a pitch in the happy zone. You gotta man up and realize that each at bat is a game inside of a game and you gotta be ready to pounce on a mistake. Trying to pull home run into the upper deck on a pitch low and away will not help cure this terrible disease. You can say what you want... I called the CDC... They confirmed it... It's a disease and the Royals had it in their clubhouse earlier this year and the Twins have it now. 2. The Royals -- For the fine folks of Western Missouri and the State of Kansas... The Royals have been maddeningly frustratingly inconsistent. Expectations are perhaps as a high as they have ever been and yet they started slow... only to get hot and jump into first place... only to cool off and start falling games behind. It's a long season and I suppose they gotta another run in them but at some point... I think everyone supporting them would like to see things level off a little into consistent good play. They got Hitting and They Got Pitching and They got Fielding and they got base running. They got all the tools needed to compete but they can't seem to consistently compete. The Royals are like some girls... They'd get themselves together and the girls sheer beauty will hold you captivated. Then some days they wake up unshaven, smoking cigars and belching after downing a beer and crushing the can. 3. Danny Duffy -- 25 Years old... Lefthanded... From Goleta California... I actually had to look up where Goleta California is... I thought I knew them all... I don't... It's around 55,000 people and just outside of Santa Barbara. Danny isn't the only famous person from Goleta... Katy Perry is also from Goleta and so is Kim Wilson... the Lead Singer of the Fabulous T-Birds... Ain't that Tuff Enuff. I have no idea if Danny Duffy can sing but I'm pretty sure that Katy Perry can't pitch. Danny Duffy was drafted by the Royals in the third round of the 2007 Draft out of high school. Danny was cruising through the minors and was invited to spring training in 2010... However... Danny threw the Royals a real big curve ball by telling them that he was retiring from baseball... Stating the need to reassess his life priorities. This was in March of 2010... He returned to the Royals in June of 2010... It was 3 months of personal and life reflection... Danny realized that during those 3 months... He found that the life reflection market is very soft... It just doesn't pay well. Since returning to the Royals... his career is back on track and he's been tough in 2014. He's got a 2.69 ERA and 1.07 WHIP. That's pretty good and when I've seen him pitch... It sure looks real to me. His stuff is pretty obvious to any who watch him. He's commanding that stuff now... Look Out!!! 4. Pino or Plouffe or Nunez -- I can't decide if I should think about Pino or Think About Plouffe or even Nunez. A quick thought on Pino... He was great in his first start and he was bad in his 2nd start... What happens in start number three... Stay Tuned. As for Plouffe... He's back from his injury and in the starting lineup tonight and so is Nunez. I was expecting Plouffe to be activated today but Nunez surprised me a little. Any way... Welcome back... The Lineup looks a little less diseased with both of those players in the lineup tonight. 5. Class Reunion Conversations -- Yep... My 30 Year Class Reunion was this weekend. I figure that with all the conversations I had... I'm supplied with enough #5 thoughts to last a little while. There were some old friends that I recognized right away and there were some where I had no clue at all and I felt there was no reason to pretend... If I wanted to learn who they are... I'd say... Who are You? It's the only way to do it. I was talking with someone who was surprised about my fearless honesty but he saw the logic at our age. He Said "Yeah... I guess I'm forgetting more things these days... It's only natural". I replied... "Yeah... First you forget the names and then you forget the faces". He replied by saying "He's at the age where to forgets to pull his zipper up". We laughed at that and I replied that "I'm at the age where I forget to pull my zipper down".