JB_Iowa

Okay, guys, question. Hammer's pop out was to the left of the first baseman. It that to the left of 1st or right of first? Do you say it from the 1st baseman's standpoint or the hitter's standpoint? In any event, it was in foul territory.

And it is 3-0 after Romero walks. Pitching change.

Bases loaded after walks to Mauer, Arcia, Suzuki (Willingham popped out to the left of 1st).

Probably not but I'd rather see them be aggressive early on in spring training. They can always tone down the aggression but it may be harder to ramp it back up.

They were trying to get Hicks scoring from 1st. Ball got there about the same time as Hicks but Hicks was clearly safe. Then the Jays' catcher was apparently sleeping on the job and let Dozier score. Weird play.

Thanks, Mike.

Mauer walks.

2-0, Twins Dozier scored after the late throw had come to the plate. Tryng to get Hicks or just prevent Dozier? Not sure but it was not good fielding by the Jays. And it was VERY aggressive baserunning by the Twins.

Dozier with a gounder up the left field line for what should have been a double. Hicks scores from 1st and then Dozier comes around and scores.

Hicks with a single up the middle to lead off the 1st.

Phil Mackey ‏@PhilMackey 32m Rob Plummer, agent for Miguel Sano, says his client was 100% opposed to surgery, which is the main reason why it didn't happen in November.

No, it doesn't come down entirely to performance -- especially when one is talking about a rung lower than the very top performers in the game. We are all more willing to put up with a cr*ppy attitude from a "Superstar" ... not so much when it comes to a journeyman. Statistics are important. They are not the be all or end all.

I tried to read the line-up sheets photographed by Bollinger and Berardino but photography isn't either of their strong suits (I even imported to Photoshop). It looks like Buxton's name may be on the travel sheet (Orioles game) but I wouldn't guarantee it. It didn't look like his name was on this home sheet at all. But there are a lot of last name "B" on the team right now so it gets hard to tell.

Cory Provus ‏@CoryProvus 1h Instant replay will be available for today's game at Hammond. Gardy will be in Sarasota, so any challenges fall on Steinbach/Molitor.

I don't think it is "looking for show boaters", it is looking for overt leadership and enthusiasm. I keep going back to this part of an article about what the Red Sox looked for in the 2012-2013 off-season: The offseason plan was built on four cornerstone ideas: hold contract lengths to three years, even if it meant overpaying on an average annual value; find a manager, unlike the last one, familiar with the local landscape and AL baseball from, oh, maybe the last decade or so; seek out extroverted baseball rats who would watch the game from the top step of the dugout and not behind a bucket of fried chicken in the clubhouse; and pack the lineup again with hitters who grind out at-bats. Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mlb/news/20131009/boston-red-sox-alcs-alds/#ixzz2uuWeRvXL "Seek out extroverted Baseball Rats who would watch the game from the top step of the dugout" -- in a sense, I think that is what Gardenhire is talking about here. As much as I sometimes have problems with Gardy, the one thing he has emphasized over the years is that baseball is a GAME and games are meant to be fun. There is a reason he liked the Nick Punto's and Michael Cuddyer's on the team -- they were hustling extroverts. The Twins have lost a lot of that. Joe Mauer is a very professional, confident ballplayer -- I'm sure he has some great leadership qualities and that younger players can learn a lot from him but as the "face of the team", he just isn't what I think of as a "fun guy" or an "extroverted" baseball rat. This new generation of prospects has an opportunity to bring back overt enthusiasm and a little a**-kicking.

I thought that this column was timely: http://msn.foxsports.com/north/story/molitor-working-to-improve-twins-defensive-positioning-030214 While there's no indication that the new analysis played into what Molitor saw, it is clear that Goin and his team will be able to pull up even more video and other data for Molitor and other coaches. In the long run, that's what this is about.

I am also someone whose fingers often get ahead of my brain. I've on occasion found myself typing "two" instead of "too", etc. I try to go back and re-read (and often go back and edit even after I've posted) but I know I still miss things sometimes. But there seems to be a difference between that type of problem and repetitive misuse of certain words like lose-loose or your-you're, etc. Many of us screw up occasionally -- it's when I see it repetitively that I start to wonder. There are sites were "loose" or "loosing" is used more often than "lose" or "losing". (And if you want any even bigger complaint from me, it is the constant misuse of "myself" by a wide portion of the populace including many people regularly speaking on our television screens. It appears that "myself" is now a 1st person pronoun -- it makes me want to scream.) I hold articles to a significantly higher standard than I do forum posts. I greatly appreciate the people who are creative enough and knowledgeable enough to write an article and I appreciate the time that they take to do so but I also believe that they need to take the time to double-check spelling and grammar. That is seldom a problem on TD -- the contributors are very good about creating good quality articles (content, grammar & spelling). Overall, I believe the quality of the forum posts on Twins Daily are also superior to most sites. There seems to be more maturity in constructing posts than is present on many other sites. I commented on grammar/spelling in this thread because that's what it's about. I have very rarely commented on it in normal threads where, for the most part, all I care about is whether I understand the ideas put forth. (And I'll probably remember how to spell Parmelee from now on!)

I don't think Mauer will be catching even in an emergency. And I'm not sure he should. Moving him to 1B is all about protecting his health. It seems to me one of the easiest ways for him to get hurt would be to get behind the plate on an emergency basis when he hasn't been preparing for it and is in a totally different mode.

After being buzzed back a couple of times. #noIntimidation

This is a portion of a post by Heezy1323 in the "Ligaments Are Stuipid" thread. Heezy is an orthopedist who has actually taken training under Dr. James Andrews (given the quality of his/her posts and previous posts, I believe that he/she is telling the truth about that): Most guys that have UCL reconstruction don't have a completely torn ligament on MRI. The vast majority (probably 80% or more) have a partial tear. Some can play with a partial tear... some can't. Many variables in play including mechanics, degree of partial tear, condition of shoulder/elbow musculature, etc. Many lay people (as well as many baseball people) assume the success rate of UCL reconstruction is 100%. Not true. It is a highly successful operation, but most literature puts success rate around 85-90%. So that means one out of ten is unable to return to the same level of play. This is the main reason for trying conservative treatment (rest, rehab, PRP) prior to proceeding with surgery. It is true some position players can play without an intact UCL, but these are usually not players at positions requiring hard throws (3B, RF). I reposted the info here because I think it gives some really good info. To me, it looks like the question isn't really whether the torn UCL would "heal" in the sense of repair itself (like most of us would anticipate) but that it would "improve"/"stabilize" in such a way that the player could continue to play even though the tear remains.

"Tighters", I think!

Do they have the Treasure Island Radio Network in Florida? I think that's what the Twins network is called now. If not, you probably have to pay. Around here I can just dig out a radio and listen. From Berardino's tweets, it looks like the Twins are showing good patience at the plate: Mike Berardino ‏@MikeBerardino 16m Alex Cobb lifted before finishing the 2nd. Those battlin' #mntwins wore him out (34 pitches). Sandoval on to face Fryer.

While I agree that it would be nice if we would all spell players' names correctly, I'm vastly more concerned about the substantial number of posters on the internet who do not know the difference between common English words like "lose" and "loose".

Getting junk done ... such a great way to spend a Sunday. On the other hand, since most of us are still in the land of sub-zero, inside chores sound pretty good.

Really? When I looked at the Rays' site, it only refers to radio. That's why I assumed no TV at all. Makes me think again about mlb.tv.