ashbury

This might be a partial explanation for the need for so many.

I tried.

He dood it!!! Two hits and two walks in 6.1 innings against a potent Cleveland offense. A solo home run in the fourth inning accounted for the only score while he was on the mound, and then a fluke triple after he departed plated the runner from first, denying him the decision in the eventual win. Three strikeouts. Nice debut for the tall guy!

Finally! Some swing and miss pitches!

"I Wish I Knew How To Start You." http://v2.cdn.ringring.vn/mncLnn7ESyO87REfISuw/198x110x8/news/0/0/133/136424.jpg

The Twins have not granted us the ability to issue Perkins warning points, much less ban him.

I loves me some Escobar.

Named in honor of Standing O'Vation, the well known Irish fan.

They kind of frown on players being brought in from the street.

Kepler, you are forgiven.

Son of a gun!

Heck of a debut by Aaron Sliders.

To save time, here's my full list of people and their walks of life: O'Beer, Beryl - Brewer O'Cooking, Joey - Recipe author O'Day, Collette - Clock watcher O'Dendron, Phil - Horticulturist O'Dontal, Perry - Dental surgeon O'Furniture, Patty - Owner of garden shop O'Good, Upton - Burglar O'Krime, Kermit - Prisoner O'Late, Amadeus - Procrastinator O'Leum, Lynn - Flooring contractor O'Logical, Jeannie - Family tree expert O'Pectate, Kay - Fry cook at diner O'Plant, Al - Miracle healer O'Plasty, Angie - Heart surgeon O'Roney, Royce - San Francisco restauranteur O'Teen, Nick - Tobacco magnate O'Wheat, Kareem - Dietician for basketball team

Yes. Both were named after an Irishman of some distinction, Nick O'Let.

Sour.

This is a good summary. I especially am moved by the description, which typified the devastation Northern invaders inflicted upon Southern homesteads. It's like, "you punched us in the nose when we tried to leave, and at the end expected us to rejoin your union with smiles and no hard feelings." And Kentucky hardly had the worst of it, though they may have had the misfortune of being on the route for one or more armies on their way to Atlanta. I hope there is a little balance to this in the presentation given by the other markers, but at first glance I have no problem with this monument. War is heck. I have more of a problem with a statue in a different location in clear honor of a general who fought to keep the status quo when the tide of history was manifest in favor of individual liberty. These were guys who were big on Manifest Destiny in other contexts.

You mean this? http://stat.ameba.jp/user_images/20150629/13/kokoro-no-soko/1a/b1/g/t02200161_0380027813351204846.gif The Stars and Bars is what the Confederacy kicked off with and kept for the majority of its time (they added stars as more states joined the club). I don't see it very often on car bumpers. What I much more often see is this: USMCTwin helpfully pointed out that we're talking about battle flags here. I think this one is of the Tennessee Army, although there are variations and maybe it's only something close - there are square ones, rectangular ones of varying ratio, and it's hard for me to keep them all straight. Later on, the Confederacy adopted a new national (or whatever they called themselves) flag, with a version of this southern-cross battle insignia on a white (heh) field, and later with a red vertical stripe to keep it from looking like an all-white (heh) flag of truce when the wind wasn't blowing. Consult Wikipedia, Snopes, or any source you prefer, if you want the fine details - I can't claim to have absorbed them all. I don't see those on car bumpers either. Anyway, this isn't directed so much to you specifically, but I don't think it's much of a stretch to insist that this distinction be kept in mind. One is of a government, one is of a fighting force. If you are part of an oppressed minority today, doesn't the singular focus on the fighting force of the Confederacy, as distinguished from the folkloric genteel way of life, give you a little additional pause when you see it just beneath someone's gun rack? And is it unreasonable to kindly ask that people stop displaying the insignia of a supposedly defunct military?

Because what you asked me to respond to wasn't remotely what I had said.

He's my Adopt-a-Prospect guy, so you would think I'd have been lobbying for him to get called up sooner, but I think it's fine. It's not like he's been buried at AAA for years, it's his first. And even though he's 24, most college guys need time in the pros just like high schoolers do. Terry Ryan used to preach consistency, both to demonstrate it but also to acquire it, and Ryan knows a thing or two about prospects. You don't acquire consistency except by repetition, and each level is different. So I think the time is right, but it's not greatly overdue.

Here's what I'll be watching for. In my copious amount of direct observation (basically one spring game on the back fields in Ft Myers), when he's going good the batters just can't get a read on him for some reason. Hesitant checked swings that come in for called strikes, for instance. I have my doubts that major leaguers will be similarly fooled by his motion or whatever, but if the first few batters show hesitation then I will be very encouraged. At least, until the second or third time through the lineup. Like you say, this type of profile sounds like a reliever when I write it up like that, but he's had success so let's see what he can do as a starter. Maybe he'll turn out to be the greatest non-tipper-of-pitches in history.

Maybe no one will wonder about this, but I feel like mentioning that giving the pitcher the benefit of the doubt is not simply one scorer's opinion, or even the collective wisdom of the guild of scorers down through the years, but is written explicitly in the rulebook.

Straw man.

He's going to The Show! Derek Wetmore reports (as relayed by TD poster SwainZag) that Aaron will pitch the second game of Thursday's doubleheader, and thus accrue his first day of MLB service time. Fingers crossed!

He has to be added to the 40-man. Is a corresponding move required? I count only 38 currently on the MLB Reserve List (with 4 additional 60-day DL denizens) which surprises me, but if so they can just add him. I thought the roster was full.

Another Fun With Numbers Project would be the relative ages of Twins farmhands on each of their respective teams. I started at the top and had to work my way all the way down to the Dominican farm team to find even a half of a roster (in their case the batters) who were younger than the league average. While simply flooding teams with over-age nobodies won't win any minor league pennants, and having all-winning teams is an accomplishment, I still feel as though the farm system is giving themselves a leg up for building gaudy W/L records apart from developmental progress.