Riverbrian

Polaroid I remember when instant photos were amazing. You'd have to wave them in the air to make the photo appear quicker.

Like Garrison Keillor said... "Hit em where they ain't"

Polanco already has more MLB hits before age 21 than Ryan Braun did.

i always tell them... Put your cell phone away... The ump doesn't want to wait until you finish texting.

I know... Yet... They never call me!!!

The bats have got to get going

It's quite impressive... Not easily done

He's gotta stop with the flyballs a little. He needs to slide a couple up the middle.

I know... And the trademark goes away when you get them wet.

I think Parm is a great Outfielder... In CF though... That's kinda like putting a Giraffe in a shopping cart. If you need to put a giraffe in a shopping cart... You didn't think it through.

The Twins switching bats made by Louisville Slugger to Ramen may have been a mistake in hindsight.

Awesome Set Up!!! Love it... Wonderful pinch hitters knocking it out of the park.

Game-time forecast: Sunny. Winds blowing in from center field at 15-20 m.p.h. Temperature near 85. I'm beginning to believe that ChiTown is somehow behind this losing streak. Maybe she could help us out if she considered posting the lineups in a new font? Ummm ... okay ... TWINS: SP, Correia Dozier 2B Suzuki C Mauer 1B Willingham LF Morales DH Arcia RF Escobar 3B Fuld CF Florimon SS RANGERS: SP, Tepesch Choo LF Andrus SS Pena 1B Beltre DH Rios RF Martin CF Gimenez C Sardinas 3B Oder 2B ------------------------------------------------------------ Things to Think About: 1. Dallas/Arlington -- I don't know who turned the Dallas area into such an affluent area of the United States but there is a bunch of money in that town. Perhaps Debbie did it... Whatever you do in Dallas... I really don't know... But they have lots of money and they like to drink while wearing big hats and talking loudly. The population is a little over 1.2 million souls. The largest employer in Dallas is American Airlines with over 24,000 employees... After that... Nobody works in Dallas... They just own stuff and they don't pay state income tax in Texas. The Rangers play in Arlington... Arlington is just a city south of Dallas and Ft. Worth where they store stuff. Things like sport stadiums and Six Flag Theme Parks. The State of Texas does have a rather vicious strain of a lethal disease called capital punishment that they haven't found a cure for. 2. The Rangers -- A team in a death spiral right now... They have lost 8 games in a row and currently sit 13 games behind the AL West leading Oakland A's. Obviously effected by the injury bug... Kevin Kouzmanoff underwent back surgery and how any team can overcome this... I have no idea. I think there are a couple of other players who don't really matter on the DL as well. The Twins have lost 3 in a row and the Rangers have lost 8 in a row... No doubt about it... They always have to have things bigger in Texas. This is a chance for the Twins to get healthy. If they don't get healthy this weekend. The Rubberband is broke for sure. 3. Nick Tepesch -- Starting for the Rangers tonight... Something called Nick Tepesch. He's 25 years old from Kansas City. He was 28th round pick of the Red Sox in 2007... Decided to turn down a bonus of Burger King coups and attended the University of Missouri. The Rangers later drafted him in the 14th round in 2010... By this time he had enough of all that learning and he signed. It was quick journey through the farm system. He became one of those players who was handed a chance to pitch in the majors after every other option was hospitalized. 4. Jorge Polanco -- Ladies and Gentlemen... Meet Jorge Polanco... He's 20 years old and he hails from San Pedro de Macoris in the Dominican Republic which is known as the Shortstop capital of the world. Tony Fernandez, Jose Offerman and Cal Ripken all come from San Pedro de Macoris. Jorge is a young player that the Twins have high hopes for and he has made an early appearance in the majors because everybody else is hurt. It may not be his time right now but it's his time right now... yet we are all hoping his time does come... later. 5. Class Reunion -- This weekend is my 30 year class reunion... I'm looking forward to seeing some old faces. I've given it a lot of thought and I've decided that I'm going to tell everyone that I invented the Maroon colored Ink Pen. One day... I noticed the bright red pen and thought... Yeah... how about Maroon? and the rest is history... I'm that guy. I think they will believe me.

Yeah... But Some Cheap Sunglasses wouldn't have been a bad idea either.

I know piling on Florimon is fun and all... But... Escobar also wheeled away because he couldn't see it either. The Sun can happen to anyone. Now... as for his hitting. I don't think the sun is in his eyes at the plate.

I was so nervous... After that last second goal by Portugal... I could just imagine it all collapsing. But... Onward the US goes.

Game-time forecast: Partly cloudy. Winds blowing out to left field at 5-10 m.p.h. Temperature near 80. I'm getting my thoughts out early today so I can concentrate on the USA/Germany and Portugal/Ghana. ChiTown is going to post the lineups right here. Twins: SP, Nolasco Fuld CF Dozier 2B Mauer DH Morales 1B Arcia RF Suzuki C Parmelee LF Escobar 3B Florimon SS Angels: SP, Weaver Calhoun RF Trout CF Pujols DH Hamilton LF Aybar SS Kendrick 2B Conger C Freese 3B Navarro 1B ---------------------------------------------------- Things to Think About: 1. Timing -- The course of a season can be determined by who and when you play them. Sometimes we tend to focus on the team we cheer for and forget about the opponent. This is mistake because both teams are trying to win baseball games and sometimes it isn't what the Twins do wrong but what the other team is doing right. Ask yourself if the Twins were just hot when they swept 4 games from the White Sox or if the Twins were cold as the Angels knocked the ball around the park these last two games. The Angels have won 5 games in a row... It's just not a good time to be playing the Angels. Sometimes... you have to step back and factor in the opponent. If the Angels are hitting... It doesn't mean our pitching sucks. Or if we are hitting it doesn't always mean that we are great. Baseball just isn't that simple. 2. Jered Weaver -- The Angels have Southern California guys all over their rotation. The Weaver clan is from Northridge in the San Fernando Valley. The San Fernando valley is like a giant hole in the mountains. Kind of like Melissa McCarthy fell over and created the valley. If those mountains surrounding the valley ever decided to work together and move inward at the same time... The Carnage would be horrible and CNN would certainly cover the event and Fox News would blame Obama. The first thing the mountains would need to do is shed all roads. This would force people to escape on foot and it would cause a bottleneck around Burbank. Or the mountains could close that gap in the Burbank area and then fill the entire valley with Hot Lava like a soup bowl. That should take care of all the Valley residents quickly. Totally... Like... Whatever... As If. Glunn should be safe in Beverly Hills but he will probably be able to hear the screams. What were we talking about? Oh Yeah... Jered Weaver... He's pretty good but as a Baseball Coach I would never let a young kid watch him pitch. Mechanically he just does it wrong. His Strike Foot consistently lands to the right side of the rubber and this forces him to throw across his body every time. Don't get me wrong... it creates a different angle for batters to look at and this makes him somewhat difficult but it's also a reason why his fastball lacks zip. He owns a cross body no hitter against the Twins. Lets hope the Twins get at least one hit today. 3. Depth -- This should really be thought #1 today... With all of the concern expressed by Gardenhire over not having a backup catcher at times. Unless I'm missing someone... No one has been flown to Anaheim to serve as a backup at 2B, 3B, SS and CF. I'm pretty sure that Fuld, Dozier, Escobar and Florimon will be in the lineup today because they have nobody else. With an injury to any of those 4 players today. The Twins will have to throw someone at 3B with absolutely no 3B experience... Mauer or Fryer or Hammer. If Fuld gets hurt... Parmelee in CF. I don't blame the Twins front office for lacking IF depth today. Everybody got hurt at once and the Twins have done quite a bit to supply IF depth this year... Although... I'm not sure why someone wasn't placed in an airplane last night when Santana came off the field. I do continue to point fingers at the Twins for the lack of organizational depth at CF. 4. Why Not Us -- This was a front office statement after signing Kendrys Morales... I agree and I say it all the time... Why not Us??? However... Let's get it going... The Tigers have won 6 in a row and the Twins are currently 7 games back and 4.5 back from the last wildcard spot. The Twins need to get it going and it will be helpful to get some players back from the DL and get out of L.A. 5. Marriage -- I work with someone who has been dating this girl for a little less than a year. She stopped by work this morning and I chatted with both of them for a bit. During the course of the small talk... The subject of marriage came up and I mentioned that I will have been married for 24 years next month. She looked at her boyfriend and said "I'm hoping to get married one day". He replied... "You're terrific... You are going to make a great wife... I hope you meet someone wonderful". I laughed out loud and she punched him.

I'm a Bloody Mary and Buffalo Wings kinda girl. Wait... Umm... Guy.

Most likely... Or Pressly. But whoever comes up will probably go down again in quick fashion after a weekend.

Yeah... It's gonna be interesting.

Or Rally Rhino

Call me Jimmy John

This is my guess... Pino Down and infielder here quick. I'm not sure who they remove from the 40. New pitcher comes up when Plouffe comes off the DL.

I gotta make a note... Girls are not Motörhead Fans! ok... Got it.

Yeah... This is gonna be interesting.